Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A comparative study of therapeutic benefits of intraspinal and intravenous bone marrow stromal cell administration to spinal cord injuries.

BACKGROUND Recent reports demonstrated that intravenous route, as a minimally invasive method and similar to direct injection, is suitable for bone marrow stromal cell (BMSC) transplantation. In this study, we made a comparison of intraspinal and intravenous route of BMSC administration to repair injured spinal cord tissue. METHODS Six groups of adult female rats were used in this study. Laminectomy and spinal cord injury were carried out at first lumbar vertebra level (L1). Labeled stromal cells were administered intraspinally and intravenously in experimental groups one week after spinal cord injury. In control groups, serum was administered in the same way. Another groups consisted of laminectomy alone and spinal cord injury. Behavioral testing was performed weekly to 5 weeks post injury. Tissue processing and immune-histochemical studies were performed four weeks after cell transplantation. RESULTS Mean of Basso-Beattie-Bresnehan (BBB) scale scores in intraspinal and intravenous groups were 15.8 +/- 0.44 and 15.6 +/- 0.54, while in their controls were 10.6 +/- 0.33 and 10.6 +/- 0.56, respectively. BBB scale in laminectomy and spinal cord injury groups were 21 and 10.5 +/- 0.36, respectively. Immuno-histochemical staining visualized BMSC in the site of injury. Differentiation of a few implanted cells to neuron and glial cell was detected in intravenous group, while only differentiation to glial cells was detected in intraspinal group. CONCLUSION The results of this study suggest that intravenous administration of BMSC, such as intraspinal method, provides therapeutic benefits for SCI.
Bounded queries in recursion theory: a survey

The author surveys much of the work that has been done on the following two questions: (1) What functions can one compute with m queries to A? and (2) Are there functions that can be computed with m queries to A that cannot be computed with m-1 queries to A? To any set X? The framework is recursion-theoretic; the computations have no time or space bound. <<ETX>>
Organizational Controls and Performance Outcomes

Managing employees and external partners effectively has been a primary concern for organizations and their managers. Many studies have investigated the effectiveness of organizational controls in a wide variety of contexts. Using organizational controls literature that discriminates among outcome, behavior, and clan control, this study synthesizes the research on the effectiveness of these controls. In particular, the study examines 23,839 organizational controls–performance relationships from 120 independent samples, and tests several new hypotheses using advanced meta-analytic methods. The results indicate that outcome, behavior, and clan controls generally enhance performance, with each control having a distinct performance effect. Our analysis also demonstrates that controls function as complements to one another. This finding indicates that one form of control increases the effectiveness of other forms of control. We also examine the organizational controls–performance relationships across various contexts, and our results show that they vary according to the type of task. The paper concludes with a discussion on the theoretical and managerial implications of these findings.
Spectral theory of damped quantum chaotic systems

We investigate the spectral distribution of the damped wave equation on a compact Riemannian manifold, especially in the case of a metric of negative curvature, for which the geodesic flow is Anosov. The main application is to obtain conditions (in terms of the geodesic flow on $X$ and the damping function) for which the energy of the waves decays exponentially fast, at least for smooth enough initial data. We review various estimates for the high frequency spectrum in terms of dynamically defined quantities, like the value distribution of the time-averaged damping. We also present a new condition for a spectral gap, depending on the set of minimally damped trajectories.
A Parallel DBMS Approach to IR in TREC-3

In this our first year of TREC participation, we implemented an IR system using an AT&T DBC-1012 Model 4 parallel relational database machine. We started with the premise that a relational system could be used to implement an IR system. After implementing a prototype to verify that premise, we then began to investigate the performance of a parallel relational database system for this application. We only used the category B data, but our initial results are encouraging as processing load was balanced across the processors for a variety of different queries. We also tested the effect of query reduction on accuracy and found that queries can be reduced prior to their implementation without incurring a significant loss in precision/recall. This reduction also serves to improve run-time performance. Finally, in a separate set of work, we implemented Damashek's n-gram algorithm for n=3 and were able to show similar results as found when n=5.
Effective Relay Selection for Underwater Cooperative Acoustic Networks

Cooperative communication has been studied extensively as a promising technique for improving the performance of terrestrial wireless networks. However, in underwater cooperative acoustic networks, long propagation delays and complex acoustic channels make the conventional relay selection schemes designed for terrestrial wireless networks inefficient. In this paper, we develop a new best relay selection criterion, called COoperative Best Relay Assessment (COBRA), for underwater cooperative acoustic networks to minimize the one-way packet transmission time. The new criterion takes into account both the spectral efficiency and the underwater long propagation delay to improve the overall throughput performance of the network with energy constraint. A best relay selection algorithm is also proposed based on COBRA criterion. This algorithm only requires the channel statistical information instead of the instantaneous channel state. Our simulation results show a significant decrease on one-way packet transmission time with COBRA. The throughput and delivery ratio performance improvement further verifies the advantages of our proposed criterion over the conventional channel state based algorithms.
Evolving Optimal Neural Networks Using Genetic Algorithms with Occam's Razor

Genetic algorithms have had two primary applications for neural networks: optimization of network architecture, and training weights of a fixed architecture. While most previous work focuses on one or the other of these options, this paper investigates an alternative evolutionary approach-breeder genetic programming (BGP)-in which the architecture and the weights are optimized simultaneously. In this method, the genotype of each network is represented as a tree whose depth and width are dynamically adapted to the particular application by specifically defined genetic operators. The weights are trained by a next-ascent hillclimbing search . A new fitness function is proposed that quantifies the principle of Occam's razor ; it makes an optimal trade-off between the error fitting ability and the parsimony of the network. Simulation results on two benchmark problems of differing complexity suggest that the method finds minimal networks on clean data. The experiments on noisy data show that using Occam's razor not only improves the generalization performance, it also accelerates convergence.
A new stellar library in the region of the CO index at 2.3 mu m - New index definition and empirical fitting functions

Context. The analysis of unresolved stellar populations demands evolutionary synthesis models with realistic physical ingredients and extended wavelength coverage. Aims. We quantitatively describe the first CO bandhead at 2.3 mu m to allow stellar population models to provide improved predictions in this wavelength range. Methods. We observed a new stellar library with a better coverage of the stellar atmospheric parameter space than in earlier works. We performed a detailed analysis of the robustness of previous CO index definitions with spectral resolution, wavelength calibration, signal-to-noise ratio, and flux calibration. Results. We define a new line-strength index for the first CO bandhead at 2.3 mu m, DCO, better suited for stellar population studies than previous index definitions. We derive empirical fitting functions for the CO feature as a function of the stellar parameters (T(eff), log g and [Fe/H]), showing a detailed quantitative metallicity dependence.
Confounding Effect of Flow on Estuarine Response to Nitrogen Loading

The total maximum daily load ~TMDL! concept provides the basis for regulating pollution load from riverine sources to impaired water bodies. However, load is comprised of two components: flow and concentration. These two components may have confounding, or even conflicting, effects on waterbody attributes of concern. This is particularly the case for dynamic, advective systems, such as estuaries. Resolving these components is critical for properly predicting the response of impaired systems to watershed manage- ment actions. The Neuse River Estuary in North Carolina is an example of such an impaired system. Nitrogen has been identified as the pollutant of concern, and the process of developing a TMDL for nitrogen is underway. We, therefore, analyze the extensive data that have been collected for the Neuse River and estuary to investigate spatiotemporal relationships between river flow, riverine total nitrogen ~TN! inputs, water temperature, dissolved inorganic nitrogen concentration, algal density, and primary productivity. Results support the belief that phytoplankton in the estuary are under substantial riverine control. However, the riverine TN concentration alone has only a minor role in determining estuarine chlorophyll a I concentration. River flow has a stronger influence, likely through its effects on down-estuary nitrogen delivery, residence time, salinity, and turbidity. These results imply that using riverine nitrogen load as the metric to evaluate watershed nutrient management may not be appropriate. While nitrogen controls should reduce loads in the long term, in the short term, river flow is the dominant component of load and has the opposite effect of nitrogen on algae at the up-estuary locations.
Differences in e-commerce behavior between neighboring countries: the case of France and Belgium

It is often (implicitly) assumed that e-commerce behavior is similar in countries with a similar culture in terms of Hofstede's dimensions. Through a study of e-commerce behavior of 969 private consumers and company representatives on 50 products, this paper proves there are actually significant differences in e-commerce behavior (information finding, suppler selection, and purchase) between people from two neighboring, culturally similar countries: Belgium and France. Furthermore, contrary to what was found in various US studies, very few differences in e-commerce behavior were detected between men and women in these two countries. Furthermore, clear differences were detected between age groups for product information finding and supplier selection but not for product purchase. Finally, to a big extent differences in e-commerce behavior between private consumers of two countries also exist between company representatives of the two countries.
Measuring stress signaling responses of stomata in isolated epidermis of graminaceous species

Our current understanding of guard cell signaling pathways is derived from studies in a small number of model species. The ability to study stomatal responses in isolated epidermis has been an important factor in elucidating the mechanisms by which the stomata of these species respond to environmental stresses. However, such approaches have rarely been applied to study guard cell signaling in the stomata of graminaceous species (including many of the world’s major crops), in which the guard cells have a markedly different morphology to those in other plants. Our understanding of guard cell signaling in these important species is therefore much more limited. Here, we describe a procedure for the isolation of abaxial epidermal peels from barley, wheat and Brachypodium distachyon. We show that isolated epidermis from these species contains viable guard cells that exhibit typical responses to abscisic acid (ABA) and CO2, as determined by measurements of stomatal apertures. We use the epidermal peel assay technique to investigate in more detail interactions between different environmental factors in barley guard cells, and demonstrate that stomatal closure in response to external CO2 is inhibited at higher temperatures, whilst sensitivity to ABA is enhanced at 30°C compared to 20 and 40°C.
Using Visual Aids as a Motivational Tool in Enhancing Students Interest in Reading Literary Texts

This study aims to investigate the teachers perceptions on the use of visual aids (e.g., animation videos, pictures, films and projectors) as a motivational tool in enhancing students interest in reading literary texts. To achieve the aim of the study, the mixed-method approach was used to collect the required data. Therefore, 52 English teachers from seven national secondary schools in Kapit, Sarawak, Malaysia were selected. Five of the respondents were also randomly selected for the interview. The analysis of the data indicated that the majority of the teachers had positive perceptions of the use of visual aids. The use of visual aids enable the teachers to engage their students closely with the literary texts despite of being able to facilitate students of different English proficiency level in reading the texts with interest. This aspect is vital as literature helps to generate students creative and critical thinking skills. Although the teachers had positive attitudes towards the use of visual aids, the study suggests that it will be more interesting and precise if it includes students perceptions as well.
Social Trust and Reputation in Online Social Networks

Online social networking systems are rapidly becoming popular on the Internet for users to share, organize and locate interesting content. However, these systems have increasingly been employed as ideal platforms to spread spam and irrelevant content, abusing the valuable human attention and service resource. We propose a social reputation model to guide users to browse the desirable content. First, we compute the statistical correlation between different users to distinguish various user interests, then, since a user's friends are usually trustworthy and share the similar interest, we further exploit the inherent friend relationships to perform the reliable social enhancements of vote history extension and efficient reputation estimation. In addition to providing a strong incentive for user cooperation, our model can handle the practical problems of inactive users, unpopular content and Sybil attacks effectively and efficiently. Our evaluation on a large-scale realistic network validates our analysis, and shows that our social reputation model can help users find the desirable content in various scenarios with a precision of around 94%.
Double Dissociation of Spike Timing–Dependent Potentiation and Depression by Subunit-Preferring NMDA Receptor Antagonists in Mouse Barrel Cortex

Spike timing–dependent plasticity (STDP) is a strong candidate for an N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor-dependent form of synaptic plasticity that could underlie the development of receptive field properties in sensory neocortices. Whilst induction of timing-dependent long-term potentiation (t-LTP) requires postsynaptic NMDA receptors, timing-dependent long-term depression (t-LTD) requires the activation of presynaptic NMDA receptors at layer 4-to-layer 2/3 synapses in barrel cortex. Here we investigated the developmental profile of t-LTD at layer 4-to-layer 2/3 synapses of mouse barrel cortex and studied their NMDA receptor subunit dependence. Timing-dependent LTD emerged in the first postnatal week, was present during the second week and disappeared in the adult, whereas t-LTP persisted in adulthood. An antagonist at GluN2C/D subunit–containing NMDA receptors blocked t-LTD but not t-LTP. Conversely, a GluN2A subunit–preferring antagonist blocked t-LTP but not t-LTD. The GluN2C/D subunit requirement for t-LTD appears to be synapse specific, as GluN2C/D antagonists did not block t-LTD at horizontal cross-columnar layer 2/3-to-layer 2/3 synapses, which was blocked by a GluN2B antagonist instead. These data demonstrate an NMDA receptor subunit-dependent double dissociation of t-LTD and t-LTP mechanisms at layer 4-to-layer 2/3 synapses, and suggest that t-LTD is mediated by distinct molecular mechanisms at different synapses on the same postsynaptic neuron.
Online and Incremental Appearance-based SLAM in Highly Dynamic Environments

In this paper we present a novel method for online and incremental appearance-based localization and mapping in a highly dynamic environment. Using position-invariant robust features (PIRFs), the method can achieve a high rate of recall with 100% precision. It can handle both strong perceptual aliasing and dynamic changes of places efficiently. Its performance also extends beyond conventional images; it is applicable to omnidirectional images for which the major portions of scenes are similar for most places. The proposed PIRF-based Navigation method named PIRF-Nav is evaluated by testing it on two standard datasets in a similar manner as in FAB-MAP and on an additional omnidirectional image dataset that we collected. This extra dataset was collected on 2 days with different specific events, i.e. an open-campus event, to present challenges related to illumination variance and strong dynamic changes, and to test assessment of dynamic scene changes. Results show that PIRF-Nav outperforms FAB-MAP; PIRF-Nav at precision-1 yields a recall rate about twice as high (approximately 80% increase) than that of FAB-MAP. Its computation time is sufficiently short for real-time applications. The method is fully incremental, and requires no offline process for dictionary creation. Additional testing using combined datasets proves that PIRF-Nav can function over the long term and can solve the kidnapped robot problem.
Characterization of inflammatory responses by cervical cytology, cytokine expression and ultrastructure changes in a goat subclinical endometritis model

Endometritis is a common puerperal disease in livestock. Thus, a practical clinical test for the establishment of diagnosis is needed. We developed a goat model for subclinical endometritis diagnosis by examining cytological, ultrastructural features and molecular expression in cervical discharge collected by cervical cytobrush method. A suspension of E. coli was infused into the uterine horn of goats, and cervical discharge, peripheral blood and endomertrial biopsy samples were collected before inoculation and at 3, 6, 12, 24, 72, 120 and 168 hr post-inoculation (pi). In experimental goats, total leukocytes increased at 6–12 hr pi in hematological examinations, abundant neutrophils were observed in cervical discharge smears, and some micro-villi shortened or were lost from the epithelium at 3 hr pi, with some inflammatory cells infiltrated into the uterine glands and lamina propria. The mRNA expression levels of the Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4), cytokines and β-defensin-2 increased significantly within 12 hr pi and returned to pre-inoculation levels at 7 day pi. The results showed that subclinical endometritis was simulated in this bacterial infusion goat model, and the evaluation of cervical cytology was in good agreement with molecular changes of cytokines in cervical discharge, hematology and histology. We thus conclude that the simple cervical cytobrush technique can effectively obtain cervical discharge samples for cytology examination in the early diagnosis of subclinical endometritis in goats.
Are Labour Market Reforms the Answer to Post-Euro-Crisis Management? Reflections on Germany’s Hartz Reforms

This article is an attempt to clarify the effects of the German labour market reforms, commonly known as the Hartz reforms. Competing arguments were used to identify the welfare implications for German society and the German economy in order to explore whether or not such labour market reforms might provide another German answer, following fiscal discipline, to the EU’s post-euro-crisis management. This paper confirms that the Hartz reforms effectively reduced German unemployment, but they did not fundamentally solve the problem. Moreover, such effects appeared to propagate an increase in size of the low-paid sector, declining wages and increasing income inequality. The reforms were not welfare-enhancing for individuals because of increased poverty levels in employment and unemployment, which further implied a counter-productive risk for the German economy because of the contraction of domestic consumption, and potential social instability for German society because of rising inequality and deteriorating living standards. Therefore, Hartz-style reforms are neither a desirable model for other EU countries, nor the answer to Europe’s post-euro-crisis management in a time of fiscal austerity and negative interest rates. The real danger to European integration, as argued in this article, is not the challenge from high unemployment, but from Germany’s complacency of a one-size-fits-all thinking and, being the EU’s leading country, its double standards towards and ignorance of the differential nature and contexts of the European unemployment issue compared with the German one. This article warns that the mishandling of labour market reforms could result in the collapse of the already fragile public confidence in European integration.
Probabilistic Fréchet Means and Statistics on Vineyards

In order to use persistence diagrams as a true statistical tool, it would be very useful to have a good notion of mean and variance for a set of diagrams. In [20], Mileyko and his collaborators made the first study of the properties of the Frechet mean in (Dp,Wp), the space of persistence diagrams equipped with the p-th Wasserstein metric. In particular, they showed that the Frechet mean of a finite set of diagrams always exists, but is not necessarily unique. As an unfortunate consequence, one sees that the means of a continuously-varying set of diagrams do not themselves vary continuously, which presents obvious problems when trying to extend the Frechet mean definition to the realm of vineyards. We fix this problem by altering the original definition of Frechet mean so that it now becomes a probability measure on the set of persistence diagrams; in a nutshell, the mean of a set of diagrams will be a weighted sum of atomic measures, where each atom is itself the (Frechet mean) persistence diagram of a perturbation of the input diagrams. We show that this new definition defines a (Holder) continuous map, for each k, from (Dp) k → P (Dp), and we present several examples to show how it may become a useful statistic on vineyards.
Profitable Business Models and Market Creation in the Context of Deep Poverty: A Strategic View

Executive Overview The bottom of the pyramid (BOP) in the global distribution of income has been promoted as a significant opportunity for companies to grow profitably. Under the BOP approach, poor people are identified as potential customers who can be served if companies learn to fundamentally rethink their existing strategies and business models. This involves acquiring and building new resources and capabilities and forging a multitude of local partnerships. However, current BOP literature remains relatively silent about how to actually implement such a step into the unknown. We use two BOP cases to illustrate a strategic framework that reduces managerial complexity. In our view, existing capabilities and existing local BOP models can be leveraged to build new markets that include the poor and generate sufficient financial returns for companies to justify investments.