Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Long-Term Potentiation of Excitatory Synaptic Strength in Spinothalamic Tract Neurons of the Rat Spinal Cord

Spinal dorsal horn nociceptive neurons have been shown to undergo long-term synaptic plasticity, including long-term potentiation (LTP) and long-term depression (LTD). Here, we focused on the spinothalamic tract (STT) neurons that are the main nociceptive neurons projecting from the spinal cord to the thalamus. Optical technique using fluorescent dye has made it possible to identify the STT neurons in the spinal cord. Evoked fast mono-synaptic, excitatory postsynaptic currents (eEPSCs) were measured in the STT neurons. Time-based tetanic stimulation (TBS) was employed to induce long-term potentiation (LTP) in the STT neurons. Coincident stimulation of both pre- and postsynaptic neurons using TBS showed immediate and persistent increase in AMPA receptor-mediated EPSCs. LTP can also be induced by postsynaptic spiking together with pharmacological stimulation using chemical NMDA. TBS-induced LTP observed in STT neurons was blocked by internal BAPTA, or Ni2+, a T-type VOCC blocker. However, LTP was intact in the presence of L-type VOCC blocker. These results suggest that long-term plastic change of STT neurons requires NMDA receptor activation and postsynaptic calcium but is differentially sensitive to T-type VOCCs.
Team Knowledge and Coordination in Geographically Distributed Software Development

Coordination is important in software development because it leads to benefits such as cost savings, shorter development cycles, and better-integrated products. Team cognition research suggests that members coordinate through team knowledge, but this perspective has only been investigated in real-time collocated tasks and we know little about which types of team knowledge best help coordination in the most geographically distributed software work. In this field study, we investigate the coordination needs of software teams, how team knowledge affects coordination, and how this effect is influenced by geographic dispersion. Our findings show that software teams have three distinct types of coordination needs—technical, temporal, and process—and that these needs vary with the members' role; geographic distance has a negative effect on coordination, but is mitigated by shared knowledge of the team and presence awareness; and shared task knowledge is more important for coordination among collocated members. We articulate propositions for future research in this area based on our analysis.
Numerically controlled oscillators with hybrid function generators

Numerically controlled oscillators (NCOs), with a hybrid scheme of both look-up tables (LUT) and coordinate transformation digital computer (CORDIC) algorithms for a hardware efficient, high performance sine/cosine function generation are investigated. This scheme combines fast access and power efficiency of reasonably sized LUTs, and arbitrary precision obtainable from a rigorous iteration algorithm. Systematic studies using hardware description language (HDL) models and synthesis lead to optimum LUT/CORDIC ratios, which minimize power consumption and silicon area for a given operating clock frequency. First order error models are presented as guidelines for choosing internal NCO parameters. The NCO accuracy is tested with HDL simulations for all algorithmic states to limit output errors to 1 least significant bit (LSB) and by spectra derived from discrete Fourier transform (DFT) for typical frequency inputs f, resulting in a signal to noise ratio (SNR) of better than 100 dB for an amplitude word length AW of 16 bit. Two benchmark designs were adopted for the two clock frequencies 200 MHz and 20 MHz, as "high" and "moderate" performance, respectively. The NCO models are synthesized in a 0.35 /spl mu/m CMOS standard cell target technology and optimized to actually achieve after layout maximum clock frequencies exceeding 310 MHz, i.e., signal frequencies of up to 100 MHz.
Intracranial Migration of Hardware 16 Years Following Craniosynostosis Repair

Introduction: The techniques used to fixate osteotomized segments of bone have evolved alongside the treatment of craniosynostosis. The use of nonresorbable metal plates and screws offered a method of rigidly stabilizing repositioned segments of bone. Several reports specify the tendency for these fixation systems to “migrate” transcranially. Methods: We present a unique case of a patient who initially underwent treatment of multisuture craniosynostosis utilizing titanium miniplates at 6 months of age. At 16 years of age, the patient was returned to the operating room with complaints of pain and contour irregularities, and intracranial migration of the screws and plates was observed. Results: The hardware was extracted and the cranium reconstructed. Symptoms resolved and bony contour was improved. Conclusion: The craniofacial surgeon considering metal plate fixation in the pediatric population should be aware of the possibility for transcranial plate and screw migration.
Visual rehabilitation: visual scanning, multisensory stimulation and vision restoration trainings

Neuropsychological training methods of visual rehabilitation for homonymous vision loss caused by postchiasmatic damage fall into two fundamental paradigms: “compensation” and “restoration”. Existing methods can be classified into three groups: Visual Scanning Training (VST), Audio-Visual Scanning Training (AViST) and Vision Restoration Training (VRT). VST and AViST aim at compensating vision loss by training eye scanning movements, whereas VRT aims at improving lost vision by activating residual visual functions by training light detection and discrimination of visual stimuli. This review discusses the rationale underlying these paradigms and summarizes the available evidence with respect to treatment efficacy. The issues raised in our review should help guide clinical care and stimulate new ideas for future research uncovering the underlying neural correlates of the different treatment paradigms. We propose that both local “within-system” interactions (i.e., relying on plasticity within peri-lesional spared tissue) and changes in more global “between-system” networks (i.e., recruiting alternative visual pathways) contribute to both vision restoration and compensatory rehabilitation, which ultimately have implications for the rehabilitation of cognitive functions.
KIC 9533489: a genuine gamma Doradus-delta Scuti Kepler hybrid pulsator with transit events

Context: Several hundred candidate hybrid pulsators of type A-F have been identified from space-based observations. Their large number allows both statistical analyses and detailed investigations of individual stars. This offers the opportunity to study the full interior of the genuine hybrids, in which both low-radial-order p- and high-order g-modes are self-excited at the same time. However, a few other physical processes can also be responsible for the observed hybrid nature, related to binarity or to surface inhomogeneities. The finding that most delta Scuti stars also show long-period light variations represents a real challenge for theory. Methods: Fourier analysis of all the available Kepler light curves. Investigation of the frequency and period spacings. Determination of the stellar physical parameters from spectroscopic observations. Modelling of the transit events. Results: The Fourier analysis of the Kepler light curves revealed 55 significant frequencies clustered into two groups, which are separated by a gap between 15 and 27 c/d. The light variations are dominated by the beating of two dominant frequencies located at around 4 c/d. The amplitudes of these two frequencies show a monotonic long-term trend. The frequency spacing analysis revealed two possibilities: the pulsator is either a highly inclined moderate rotator (v~70 km/s, i > 70 deg) or a fast rotator (v~200 km/s) with i~20 deg. The transit analysis disclosed that the transit events which occur with a ~197 c/d period may be caused by a 1.6 R_Jup body orbiting a fainter star, which would be spatially coincident with KIC 9533489.
Heterogeneous acinar localization of the asialoglycoprotein internalization system in rat hepatocytes

Desialylated glycoprotein is rapidly cleared from plasma by a receptor‐mediated endocytic mechanism located on hepatocytes. We studied the hepatic acinar distribution of this asialoglycoprotein transport system with the ligand 125I‐asialoorosomucoid using rat liver perfused in either antegrade or retrograde direction in combination with quantitative light microscopic autoradiography. Grain distribution along the acinus appeared dependent on the perfusion direction. A rather shallow zone 1 to zone 3 gradient was observed if livers were perfused in the normal direction. However, a statistically significantly steeper zone 3 to zone 1 gradient was detected in retrograde perfusions. Kinetic analysis of perfusate clearance profiles yielded a hepatic clearance of 21.6 ± 1.3 ml per min in antegradely perfused liver. Hepatic extraction was calculated to be 60.1 ± 7.4%. Biliary secretion of radioactivity amounted to 1.89 ± 0.18% of the dose within 1 hr after injection and consisted of intact material (1.39 ± 0.25%) and radioactive low‐molecular‐weight degradation products (0.52 ± 0.08%), of which more than 90% could be accounted for by 125I−. Apart from a minor difference regarding biliary secretion of an unidentified glycopeptide (less than 0.1% of the injected dose), transport data for the retrogradely perfused livers were identical to those obtained with livers perfused in antegrade direction, emphasizing the functional equivalence of both groups of livers. The autoradiographic data indicate that zone 3 hepatocytes take up 125I‐asialoorosomucoid more avidly than zone 1 cells. The kinetic and biochemical data indicate that further processing in the hepatocytes is virtually similar in the two zones. The functional significance of this higher uptake in zone 3 is presently unknown. A possible role in the mechanism of removal of senescent plasma proteins is discussed.
Quasi-orthogonal STBC with minimum decoding complexity

In this paper, we consider a quasi-orthogonal (QO) space-time block code (STBC) with minimum decoding complexity (MDC-QO-STBC). We formulate its algebraic structure and propose a systematic method for its construction. We show that a maximum-likelihood (ML) decoder for this MDC-QO-STBC, for any number of transmit antennas, only requires the joint detection of two real symbols. Assuming the use of a square or rectangular quadratic-amplitude modulation (QAM) or multiple phase-shift keying (MPSK) modulation for this MDC-QO-STBC, we also obtain the optimum constellation rotation angle, in order to achieve full diversity and optimum coding gain. We show that the maximum achievable code rate of these MDC-QO-STBC is 1 for three and four antennas and 3/4 for five to eight antennas. We also show that the proposed MDC-QO-STBC has several desirable properties, such as a more even power distribution among antennas and better scalability in adjusting the number of transmit antennas, compared with the coordinate interleaved orthogonal design (CIOD) and asymmetric CIOD (ACIOD) codes. For the case of an odd number of transmit antennas, MDC-QO-STBC also has better decoding performance than CIOD.
Electron Mobility in Silicon Nanowires

The low-field electron mobility in rectangular silicon nanowire (SiNW) transistors was computed using a self-consistent Poisson-Schroumldinger-Monte Carlo solver. The behavior of the phonon-limited and surface-roughness-limited components of the mobility was investigated by decreasing the wire width from 30 to 8 nm, the width range capturing a crossover between two-dimensional and one-dimensional electron transport. The phonon-limited mobility, which characterizes transport at low and moderate transverse fields, is found to decrease with decreasing wire width due to an increase in the electron-phonon wavefunction overlap. In contrast, the mobility at very high transverse fields, which is limited by surface roughness scattering, increases with decreasing wire width due to volume inversion. The importance of acoustic phonon confinement is also discussed briefly
ICTNET at Microblog Track in TREC 2013

Microblogging services, in which users can publish and share personal status, are now very popular, and attracting more and more industrial and scientific interests. Twitter is one of the most famous microblogging services. On twitter, Users can post personal updates, which are called tweets and limited to 140 characters long. In tweets, users can share interesting messages to their friends by retweeting(RT), push some tweets to specific users using @ mention, and indicate the topics of their tweets using # hashtags. The short-text characteristic and social attributes such as RT, @ mention and # hashtags, make traditional problems, like search, rank, and recommendation etc, quite different in microblogging settings.
A Flexible Regression Model for Count Data

Poisson regression is a popular tool for modeling count data and is applied in a vast array of applications from the social to the physical sciences and beyond. Real data, however, are often over- or under-dispersed and, thus, not conducive to Poisson regression. We propose a regression model based on the Conway-Maxwell-Poisson (CMP) distribution to address this problem. The CMP regression generalizes the well-known Poisson and logistic regression models, and is suitable for fitting count data with a wide range of dispersion levels. With a GLM approach that takes advantage of exponential family properties, we discuss model estimation, inference, diagnostics, and interpretation, and present a test for determining the need for a CMP regression over a standard Poisson regression. We compare the CMP to several alternatives and illustrate its advantages and usefulness using four datasets with varying dispersion.
HLA associations with inclusion body myositis

Inclusion body myositis (IBM) is defined clinically by a characteristic pattern of progressive proximal and distal limb muscle weakness and resistance to steroid therapy, and histologically by the presence of distinctive rimmed vacuoles and filamentous inclusions as well as a mononuclear infiltrate in which CD8+ T cells are predominant. Muscle damage is believed to be mediated by autoimmune mechanisms, but very little information is available on the immunogenic features of IBM. MHC class I and DR antigens were typed on 13 caucasoid patients with IBM using standard serological techniques or by allele‐specific oligonucleotide typing. Complement components C4 and properdin factor B (Bf) were typed by immunofixation after electrophoresis. Restriction fragment length polymorphisms (RFLP) in the class ITT region were analysed using cDNA probes for C4 and 21‐hydroxylase (CYP21) after Taq 1 digestion. IBM was associated with DR3 (92%), DR52 (100%) and HLA B8 (75%). The phenotype data were examined for likely haplotypes by considering together the alleles at the class T, DR and complement loci along with the C4 and CYP21 RFLP. Ten of the DR3+ subjects had a 6 4‐kb C4‐hybridizing fragment characteristic of a deletion of C4A and CYP21‐A. These patients probably carried all, or at least the class II and III regions, of the extended haplotype marked by B8/C4A*Q0/C4Bl/BfS/DR3/DR52, which has been associated with several autoimmune diseases and is present in 11% of the healthy Caucasoid population. Of the remaining subjects, two had evidence of the extended haplotype marked by B]8/C4A3/C4BQ*0/BfFl/DR3, which is present in less than 5% of the healthy population and has been associated with insulin‐dependent diabetes mellitus. These data provide support for an autoimmune etiology for, and genetic predisposition to, IBM.
Entrepreneurial Intensions of Business Students - A Benchmarking Study

It is widely accepted that the educational system of universities has to provide an academic environment that may serve as a catalyst for high-technology start-ups. The academic tradition of entrepreneurship in India is very short. Until recently, fostering innovations and new product development through entrepreneurship has not been regarded as a primary task of universities. However, perspectives have changed in this respect, and there have been numerous attempts to enhance the role of B-school graduates as founders of innovative businesses. In this paper, an attempt has been made to compare the entrepreneurial intentions of students as two B-schools with the corresponding results for a leading instititution in this field: Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). I found very distinct patterns of entrepreneurial spirit in these B-Schools. The results also suggest that the lower level of founding intentions amond students may be attributed to their less distinctive entrepreneurship education. This leaves a great deal of room for improvement.
Differential regulation of the mitogen-activated protein and stress-activated protein kinase cascades by adrenergic agonists in quiescent and regenerating adult rat hepatocytes

To study the mechanisms by which catecholamines regulate hepatocyte proliferation after partial hepatectomy (PHX), hepatocytes were isolated from adult male rats 24 h after sham operation or two-thirds PHX and treated with catecholamines and other agonists. In freshly isolated sham cells, p42 mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinase activity was stimulated by the alpha1-adrenergic agonist phenylephrine (PHE). Activation of p42 MAP kinase by growth factors was blunted by pretreatment of sham hepatocytes with glucagon but not by that with the beta2-adrenergic agonist isoproterenol (ISO). In PHX cells, the ability of PHE to activate p42 MAP kinase was dramatically reduced, whereas ISO became competent to inhibit p42 MAP kinase activation. PHE treatment of sham but not PHX and ISO treatment of PHX but not sham hepatocytes also activated the stress-activated protein (SAP) kinases p46/54 SAP kinase and p38 SAP kinase. These data demonstrate that an alpha1- to beta2-adrenergic receptor switch occurs upon PHX and results in an increase in SAP kinase versus MAP kinase signaling by catecholamines. In primary cultures of hepatocytes, ISO treatment of PHX but not sham cells inhibited [3H]thymidine incorporation. In contrast, PHE treatment of sham but not PHX cells stimulated [3H]thymidine incorporation, which was reduced by approximately 25 and approximately 95% with specific inhibitors of p42 MAP kinase and p38 SAP kinase function, respectively. Inhibition of the p38 SAP kinase also dramatically reduced basal [3H]thymidine incorporation. These data suggest that p38 SAP kinase plays a permissive role in liver regeneration. Alterations in the abilities of catecholamines to modulate the activities of protein kinase A and the MAP and SAP kinase pathways may represent one physiological mechanism by which these agonists can regulate hepatocyte proliferation after PHX.
Wind Tunnel Testing of Subspace Predictive Repetitive Control for Variable Pitch Wind Turbines

An increasing number of wind turbines implement individual blade pitch control (IPC) to reduce turbine dynamic loading, and thereby, to reduce the capital and operational costs associated with energy production. The aim of this paper is to demonstrate IPC on a wind turbine prototype, in a model-free data-driven manner and with reduced pitch activity. For this, subspace predictive repetitive control (RC) is used, which combines online system identification with the continuous implementation of RC to form a fully adaptive control law. The controller is tested on a scaled two-bladed wind turbine with active pitchable blades, placed in an open-jet wind tunnel. Substantial load reductions to an extent of 68% are observed, and strict control over actuator signal frequency content is achieved. The control law also demonstrates the ability to adjust to changes in system dynamics while maintaining a high degree of load alleviation.
Collaborative scaffolding in online task-based voice interactions between advanced learners

Abstract This paper reports some of the findings of a distinctive innovative use of audio-conferencing involving a population (campus-based advanced learners) and a type of application (task-based language learning) that have received little attention to date: the use of Wimba Voice Tools to provide additional opportunities for spoken interactions between advanced learners of French. The experiment had a dual aim: (a) to examine the suitability of Wimba Voice Tools as an environment for sustained interactive talk, and (b) to study the nature of interactions between advanced learners, with particular reference to the processes supporting collaborative activity. After a brief summary of the rationale and main characteristics of the experiment, the paper focuses on the strategies used by three non-native speaker (NNS) dyads to resolve language problems as they worked on a set of four tasks. Extending the classical model of negotiation for meaning to cover other instances of language-related episodes identified through discourse analysis of the empirical data, the study offers a detailed account of the incidence and nature of negotiated interaction and collaboration between partners. This leads to a discussion covering the impact of functionalities, scaffolding and task effects. The paper ends with some suggestions for future research.
Autonomous discovery, localization and recognition of smart objects through WSN and image features

This paper presents a framework that enables the interaction of robotic systems and wireless sensor network technologies for discovering, localizing and recognizing a number of smart objects (SO) placed in an unknown environment. Starting with no a priori knowledge of the environment, the robot will progressively build a virtual reconstruction of the surroundings in three phases: first, it discovers the SOs located in the area by using radio communication; second, it performs a rough localization of the SOs by using a range-only SLAM algorithm based on the RSSI-range measurements; third, it refines the SOs localization by comparing the descriptors extracted from the images acquired by the onboard camera with those transmitted by the motes attached to the SOs. Experimental results show how the combined use of the RSSI data and of the image features allows to discover and localize the SOs located in the environment with a good accuracy.
Age-related changes in the temporal dynamics of executive control: a study in 5- and 6-year-old children

Based on the Dual Mechanisms of Control theory (Braver et al., 2007), this study conducted in 5- and 6-year-olds, tested for a possible shift between two modes of control, proactive vs. reactive, which differ in the way goal information is retrieved and maintained in working memory. To this end, we developed a children-adapted version of the AX-Continuous-Performance Task (AX-CPT). Twenty-nine 5-year-olds and 28-6-year-olds performed the task in both low and high working-memory load conditions (corresponding, respectively, to a short and a long cue-probe delay). Analyses suggested that a qualitative change in the mode of control occurs within the 5-year-old group. However, quantitative, more graded changes were also observed both within the 5-year-olds, and between 5 and 6 years of age. These graded changes demonstrated an increasing efficiency in proactive control with age. The increase in working memory load did not impact the type of dynamics of control, but had a detrimental effect on sensitivity to cue information. These findings highlight that the development of the temporal dynamics of control can be characterized by a shift from reactive to proactive control together with a more protracted and gradual improvement in the efficiency of proactive control. Moreover, the question of whether the observed shift in the mode of control is task dependant is debated.