Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Pivotal Advance: HMGB1 expression in active lesions of human and experimental multiple sclerosis

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic, inflammatory, demyelinating disease of the CNS, most frequently starting with a series of bouts, each followed by complete remission and then a secondary, progressive phase during which the neurological deficit increases steadily. The underlying molecular mechanisms responsible for disease progression are still unclear. Herein, we demonstrate that high mobility group box chromosomal protein 1 (HMGB1), a DNA‐binding protein with proinflammatory properties, is evident in active lesions of MS and experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) and that HMGB1 levels correlate with active inflammation. Furthermore, the expression of the innate HMGB1 receptors—receptor for advanced glycation end products, TLR2, and TLR4—was also highly increased in MS and rodent EAE. Additionally, in vitro activation of rodent CNS‐derived microglia and bone marrow‐derived macrophages demonstrated that microglia were equally as capable as macrophages of translocating HMGB1 following LPS/IFN‐γ stimulation. Significant expression of HMGB1 and its receptors on accumulating activated macrophages and resident microglia may thus provide a positive feedback loop that amplifies the inflammatory response during MS and EAE pathogenesis.
A Theoretical Analysis of Why Hybrid Ensembles Work

Inspired by the group decision making process, ensembles or combinations of classifiers have been found favorable in a wide variety of application domains. Some researchers propose to use the mixture of two different types of classification algorithms to create a hybrid ensemble. Why does such an ensemble work? The question remains. Following the concept of diversity, which is one of the fundamental elements of the success of ensembles, we conduct a theoretical analysis of why hybrid ensembles work, connecting using different algorithms to accuracy gain. We also conduct experiments on classification performance of hybrid ensembles of classifiers created by decision tree and naïve Bayes classification algorithms, each of which is a top data mining algorithm and often used to create non-hybrid ensembles. Therefore, through this paper, we provide a complement to the theoretical foundation of creating and using hybrid ensembles.
Cell cycle kinetics and development of Hydra attenuata. III. Nerve and nematocyte differentiation.

The differentiation of nerve cells and nematocytes in Hydra attenuata has been investigated by labelling interstitial cell precursors with [3H]thymidine and following by autoradiography the appearance of labelled, newly differentiated cells. Nematocyte differentiation occurs only in the gastric region where labelled nematoblasts appear 12 h and labelled nematocytes 72-96 h after addition of [3H]thymidine. Labelled nerves appear in hypostome, gastric region, and basal disk about 18 h after addition of [3H]thymidine. The lag in the appearance of labelled cells includes cell division of the precursor as well as differentiation since nerves and nematocytes have 2n postmitotic nuclear DNA content. A cell flow model is proposed for interstitial cells and their differentiated products. Stem cells occur as single interstitial cells or in pairs. Per cell generation about 60 % of the daughter cells of stem cell divisions remain stem cells and about 40 % differentiate nerves and nematocytes. Nerves differentiate directly from stem cells in about 1 day. Nematocyte differentiation requires 5-7 days including proliferation of a cluster of 4, 8, 16 or 32 interstitial cells and differentiation of a nematocyst capsule in each cell. The numbers of interstitial cells and nematoblasts predicted by the cell flow model from the rates of nerve differentiation (900 nerves/day/ hydra), nematocyte differentiation (1760 nematocyte nests/day/hydra) and stem cell proliferation (stem cell cycle = 24 h), agree with the numbers of these cells observed in hydra. The number of stem cells per hydra is 3000-6000 depending on assumptions about the time of determination. The ratio of nematocyte to nerve differentiation averaged over the whole hydra is 3:1. In the hypostome and basal disk interstitial cell differentiation occurs exclusively to nerve cells while in the gastric region the ratio of nematocyte to nerve differentiation is about 7:1.
Enabling information extraction by inference of regular expressions from sample entities

Regular expressions are the dominant technique to extract business relevant entities (e.g., invoice numbers or product names) from text data (e.g., invoices), since these entity types often follow a strict underlying syntactical pattern. However, the manual construction of regular expressions that guarantee a high recall and precision is a tedious manual task and requires expert knowledge. In this paper, we propose an approach that automatically infers regular expressions from a set of (positive) sample entities, which in turn can be derived either from enterprise databases (e.g., a product catalog) or annotated documents (e.g., historical invoices). The main innovation of our approach is that it learns effective regular expressions that can be easily interpreted and modified by a user. The effectiveness is obtained by a novel method that weights dependent entity features of different granularity (i.e. on character and token level) against each other and selects the most suitable ones to form a regular expression.
Face Value: Towards Robust Estimates of Snow Leopard Densities

When densities of large carnivores fall below certain thresholds, dramatic ecological effects can follow, leading to oversimplified ecosystems. Understanding the population status of such species remains a major challenge as they occur in low densities and their ranges are wide. This paper describes the use of non-invasive data collection techniques combined with recent spatial capture-recapture methods to estimate the density of snow leopards Panthera uncia. It also investigates the influence of environmental and human activity indicators on their spatial distribution. A total of 60 camera traps were systematically set up during a three-month period over a 480 km2 study area in Qilianshan National Nature Reserve, Gansu Province, China. We recorded 76 separate snow leopard captures over 2,906 trap-days, representing an average capture success of 2.62 captures/100 trap-days. We identified a total number of 20 unique individuals from photographs and estimated snow leopard density at 3.31 (SE = 1.01) individuals per 100 km2. Results of our simulation exercise indicate that our estimates from the Spatial Capture Recapture models were not optimal to respect to bias and precision (RMSEs for density parameters less or equal to 0.87). Our results underline the critical challenge in achieving sufficient sample sizes of snow leopard captures and recaptures. Possible performance improvements are discussed, principally by optimising effective camera capture and photographic data quality.
Secrecy gain: A wiretap lattice code design

We propose the notion of secrecy gain as a code design criterion for wiretap lattice codes to be used over an additive white Gaussian noise channel. Our analysis relies on the error probabilites of both the legitimate user and the eavesdropper. We focus on geometrical properties of lattices, described by their theta series, to characterize good wiretap codes.
A Disk Galaxy of Old Stars at z ~ 2.5

We describe observations of a galaxy in the field of the z = 2.483 radio galaxy 4C 23.56, photometrically selected to have a spectral energy distribution consistent with an old stellar population at the redshift of the radio galaxy. Exploration of redshift—stellar-population—reddening constraints from the photometry indicates that the galaxy is indeed at a redshift close to that of 4C 23.56, that the age of the most recent significant star formation is roughly ≳2 Gyr, and that reddening is fairly modest, with more reddening required for the younger end of stellar age range. From analysis of a deep adaptive optics image of the galaxy, we find that an r1/4-law profile, common for local spheroidal galaxies, can be excluded quite strongly. On the other hand, a pure exponential profile fits remarkably well, while the best fit is given by a Sérsic profile with index n = 1.49. Reconstruction of the two-dimensional form of the galaxy from the best-fit model is consistent with a disk galaxy with neither a significant bulge component nor gross azimuthal structure. The assembly of roughly 2L* of old stars into such a configuration this early in the history of the universe is not easily explainable by any of the currently popular scenarios for galaxy formation. A galaxy with these properties would seem to require smooth but rapid infall of the large mass of gas involved, followed by a burst of extremely vigorous and efficient star formation in the resulting disk.
THE UNUSUAL OBJECT IC 2144/MWC 778

IC 2144 is a small reflection nebula located in the zone of avoidance near the Galactic anticenter. It has been investigated here largely on the basis of Keck/HIRES optical spectroscopy (R ≈ 48,000) and a SpeX spectrogram of the near-IR (NIR; R = 2000) obtained at the NASA Infrared Telescope Facility. The only star in the nebula that is obvious in the optical or NIR is the peculiar emission-line object MWC 778 (V = 12.8), which resembles a T Tauri star in some respects. What appear to be F- or G-type absorption features are detectable in its optical region under the very complex emission-line spectrum; their radial velocity agrees with the CO velocity of the larger cloud in which IC 2144 is embedded. There are significant differences between the spectrum of the brightest area of the nebula and of MWC 778, the presumed illuminator, an issue discussed in some detail. The distance of IC 2144 is inferred to be about 1.0 kpc by reference to other star-forming regions in the vicinity. The extinction is large, as demonstrated by [Fe ii] emission-line ratios in the NIR and by the strength of the diffuse interstellar band spectrum; a provisional value of AV of 3.0 mag was assumed. The spectral energy distribution of MWC 778 rises steeply beyond about 1 μm, with a slope characteristic of a Class I source. Integration of the flux distribution leads to an IR luminosity of about 510 L☉. If MWC 778 is indeed an F- or G-type pre-main-sequence star several magnitudes above the zero-age main sequence, a population of faint emission Hα stars would be expected in the vicinity. Such a search, like other investigations that are recommended in this paper, has yet to be carried out.
Towards quality-oriented scheduling for live swarm-based P2P streaming

During recent years, the success of live swarm-based P2P streaming system has been witnessed. Nevertheless, how to design an effective mechanism for mitigating video quality degradation in a lossy network environment is still not thoroughly resolved yet. Unlike conventional client-server paradigm, there is data availability problem in swarm-based P2P streaming system. If we directly conduct the importance-first scheduling strategy (i.e. let the chunks with most distortion-rate efficiency get scheduled first) in swarm-based P2P streaming system, the serious content bottleneck for low priority chunks occurs, particularly when the population size is large. To cope with the above issue, in this work, we propose a dynamic strategy-switching approach that combines the advantages of random scheduling and importance-first scheduling. Our simulation results indicate that compared with existing approaches our approach not only provides better scheduling efficiency, but also is scalable even if population size is large.
Experimental constraints on self-consistent reionization models

A self-consistent formalism to jointly study cosmic reionization and thermal history of the intergalactic medium (IGM) in a ΛCDM cosmology is presented. The model implements most of the relevant physics governing these processes, such as the inhomogeneous IGM density distribution, three different classes of ionizing photon sources [massive Population III (PopIII) stars, Population II (PopII) stars and quasi-stellar objects (QSOs)], and radiative feedback inhibiting star formation in low-mass galaxies. By constraining the model free parameters with available data on redshift evolution of Lyman-limit absorption systems, Gunn–Peterson and electron scattering optical depths, near-infrared background and cosmic star formation history, we select a fiducial model, whose main predictions are as follows. (i) Hydrogen was completely reionized at z≈ 15, while He ii must have been reionized by z≈ 12, allowing for the uncertainties in the ionizing photon efficiencies of stars. At z≈ 7, He iii suffered an almost complete recombination as a result of the extinction of PopIII stars, as required by the interpretation of the NIRB. (ii) A QSO-induced complete He ii reionization occurs at z= 3.5; a similar double H reionization does not take place due to the large number of photons with energies >13.6 eV from PopII stars and QSOs, even after all PopIII stars have disappeared. (iii) Following reionization, the temperature of the IGM corresponding to the mean gas density, T0, is boosted to 1.5 × 104 K; following that it decreases with a relatively flat trend. Observations of T0 are consistent with the fact that He is singly ionized at z≳ 3.5, while they are consistent with He being doubly ionized at z≲ 3.5. This might be interpreted as a signature of (second) He ii reionization. (iv) Only 0.3 per cent of the stars produced by z= 2 need to be PopIII stars in order to achieve the first hydrogen reionization. In addition, we get useful constraints on the ionizing photon efficiencies (which are a combination of the star-forming efficiency and the escape fraction of ionizing photons from collapsed haloes) of PopII and PopIII stars, namely, ePopII < 0.01, 0.002 < ePopIII < 0.03. Varying the efficiencies in these two ranges does not affect the scenario described above. Such a model not only relieves the tension between the Gunn–Peterson optical depth and WMAP observations, but also accounts self-consistently for all known observational constraints. We discuss how the results compare with recent numerical reionization studies and other theoretical arguments.
Health trajectories reveal the dynamic contributions of host genetic resistance and tolerance to infection outcome

Resistance and tolerance are two alternative strategies hosts can adopt to survive infections. Both strategies may be genetically controlled. To date, the relative contribution of resistance and tolerance to infection outcome is poorly understood. Here, we use a bioluminescent Listeria monocytogenes (Lm) infection challenge model to study the genetic determination and dynamic contributions of host resistance and tolerance to listeriosis in four genetically diverse mouse strains. Using conventional statistical analyses, we detect significant genetic variation in both resistance and tolerance, but cannot capture the time-dependent relative importance of either host strategy. We overcome these limitations through the development of novel statistical tools to analyse individual infection trajectories portraying simultaneous changes in infection severity and health. Based on these tools, early expression of resistance followed by expression of tolerance emerge as important hallmarks for surviving Lm infections. Our trajectory analysis further reveals that survivors and non-survivors follow distinct infection paths (which are also genetically determined) and provides new survival thresholds as objective endpoints in infection experiments. Future studies may use trajectories as novel traits for mapping and identifying genes that control infection dynamics and outcome. A Matlab script for user-friendly trajectory analysis is provided.
Genetic and Environmental Factors in Complex Neurodevelopmental Disorders

Complex neurodevelopmental disorders, such as schizophrenia, autism, attention deficit (hyperactivity) disorder, (manic) depressive illness and addiction, are thought to result from an interaction between genetic and environmental factors. Association studies on candidate genes and genome-wide linkage analyses have identified many susceptibility chromosomal regions and genes, but considerable efforts to replicate association have been surprisingly often disappointing. Here, we summarize the current knowledge of the genetic contribution to complex neurodevelopmental disorders, focusing on the findings from association and linkage studies. Furthermore, the contribution of the interaction of the genetic with environmental and epigenetic factors to the aetiology of complex neurodevelopmental disorders as well as suggestions for future research are discussed.
Distributed Caching Algorithms for Content Distribution Networks

The delivery of video content is expected to gain huge momentum, fueled by the popularity of user-generated clips, growth of VoD libraries, and wide-spread deployment of IPTV services with features such as CatchUp/PauseLive TV and NPVR capabilities. The `time-shifted' nature of these personalized applications defies the broadcast paradigm underlying conventional TV networks, and increases the overall bandwidth demands by orders of magnitude. Caching strategies provide an effective mechanism for mitigating these massive bandwidth requirements by replicating the most popular content closer to the network edge, rather than storing it in a central site. The reduction in the traffic load lessens the required transport capacity and capital expense, and alleviates performance bottlenecks. In the present paper, we develop light-weight cooperative cache management algorithms aimed at maximizing the traffic volume served from cache and minimizing the bandwidth cost. As a canonical scenario, we focus on a cluster of distributed caches, either connected directly or via a parent node, and formulate the content placement problem as a linear program in order to benchmark the globally optimal performance. Under certain symmetry assumptions, the optimal solution of the linear program is shown to have a rather simple structure. Besides interesting in its own right, the optimal structure offers valuable guidance for the design of low-complexity cache management and replacement algorithms. We establish that the performance of the proposed algorithms is guaranteed to be within a constant factor from the globally optimal performance, with far more benign worst-case ratios than in prior work, even in asymmetric scenarios. Numerical experiments for typical popularity distributions reveal that the actual performance is far better than the worst-case conditions indicate.
Interoception beyond homeostasis: affect, cognition and mental health

Interoception refers to the sensing of the internal state of one's body. Interoception is distinct from the processing of sensory information concerning external (non-self) stimuli (e.g. vision, hearing, touch and smell) and is the afferent axis to internal (autonomic and hormonal) physiological control. However, the impact of interoception extends beyond homeostatic/allostatic reflexes: it is proposed to be fundamental to motivation, emotion (affective feelings and behaviours), social cognition and self-awareness. This view is supported by a growing body of experimental evidence that links peripheral physiological states to mental processes. Within this framework, the representation of self is constructed from early development through continuous integrative representation of biological data from the body, to form the basis for those aspects of conscious awareness grounded on the subjective sense of being a unique individual. This theme issue of the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B draws together state-of-the-art knowledge concerning theoretical, experimental and clinical facets of interoception with the emphasis on cognitive and affective neuroscience. The multidisciplinary and cross-disciplinary perspectives represented in this theme issue disseminate and entrench knowledge about interoception across the scientific community and provide a reference for the conceptualization and further study of interoception across behavioural sciences.
Statistical Properties of the Sample Semi-variance, with Applications to Emerging Markets' Data

In finance theory, the standard deviation of asset returns is almost universally recognised as a measure of risk. This universality continues to exist even in the presence of the known limitations of using the standard deviation and also alternative risk measures. One possible reason for this persistence is that the sample properties of alternative risk measures are not well understood. This paper attempts to compare the sample distribution of the semi-variance with that of the variance. In particular, it explores the belief that while there are convincing theoretical reasons to sue the semi-variance, the volatility of the sample measure is so high as to make the measure impractical in applied work. It also uses arguments based on stochastic dominance to compare the distribution of the two statistics. Conditions are developed to identify situations in which the semi-variance may be preferred to the variable. An empirical application using equity data from emerging markets demonstrates the approach.
On Semistable Principal Bundles over a Complex Projective Manifold

Let G be a simple linear algebraic group defined over the field of complex numbers. Fix a proper parabolic subgroup P of G, and also fix a nontrivial antidominant character χ of P. We prove that a holomorphic principal G-bundle E G over a connected complex projective manifold M is semistable satisfying the condition that the second Chern class vanishes if and only if the line bundle over E G /P defined by χ is numerically effective. Also, a principal G-bundle E G over M is semistable with if and only if for every pair of the form (Y, ψ), where ψ is a holomorphic map to M from a compact connected Riemann surface Y, and for every holomorphic reduction of structure group E P ⊂ ψ*E G to the subgroup P, the line bundle over Y associated with the principal P-bundle E P for χ is of nonnegative degree. Therefore, E G is semistable with if and only if for each pair (Y, ψ) of the above type the G-bundle ψ*E G over Y is semistable. Similar results remain valid for principal bundles over M with a reductive linear algebraic group as the structure group. These generalize an earlier work of Miyaoka [12], where he gave a characterization of semistable vector bundles over a smooth projective curve. Using these characterizations, one can also produce similar criteria for the semistability of parabolic principal bundles over a compact Riemann surface.
Superconducting transitions of intrinsic arrays of weakly coupled one-dimensional superconducting chains: the case of the extreme quasi-1D superconductor Tl2Mo6Se6

Tl2Mo6Se6 represents a model system for quasi-one-dimensional (quasi-1D) superconductors. We investigate its superconducting transition in detail by means of electrical transport experiments on high-quality single crystalline samples with onset Tc = 6.8 K. Our measurements indicate a highly complex superconducting transition that occurs in different stages, with a characteristic bump in the resistivity and distinct plateau structures in the supercurrent gap imaged by V–I curves. We interpret these features as fingerprints of the gradual establishment of global phase coherence in an array of weakly coupled parallel 1D superconducting bundles. In this way, we demonstrate that superconducting Tl2Mo6Se6 behaves like an intrinsic array of proximity or Josephson junctions, undergoing a complex superconducting phase-ordering transition at 4.5 K that shows many similarities to the Berezinskii–Kosterlitz–Thouless transition.