Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Mullineux involution and twisted affine Lie algebras

We use Naito-Sagaki’s work [S. Naito & D. Sagaki, J. Algebra 245 (2001) 395–412, J. Algebra 251 (2002) 461–474] on LakshmibaiSeshadri paths fixed by diagram automorphisms to study the partitions fixed by Mullineux involution. We characterize the set of Mullineux-fixed partitions in terms of crystal graph of basic representations of twisted affine Lie algebras of type A (2) 2l and of type D (2) l+1. We set up bijections between the set of symmetric partitions and the set of partitions into distinct parts. We propose a notion of double restricted strict partitions. Bijections between the set of restricted strict partitions (resp., the set of double restricted strict partitions) and the set of Mullineux-fixed partitions in the odd case (resp., in the even case) are obtained. ∗Keyword: Lakshmibai-Seshadri paths, orbit Lie algebras, Mullineux involution. ∗Research supported by the URF of Victoria University of Wellington and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Project 10401005). The author wishes to thank the School of Mathematics, Statistics and Computer Science at VUW for their hospitality during his visit in 2005.
State-dependent phonetic tied mixtures with pronunciation modeling for spontaneous speech recognition

We propose a method of incorporating pronunciation modeling into acoustic models with high discriminative power and low complexity to improve spontaneous speech recognition accuracy. Spontaneous speech contains a higher level of phonetic and acoustic confusions due to the larger degree of pronunciation variations caused by speaking rate, speaker style, speaking mode, speaker accent, etc. In general data-driven complexity-reduction methods without explicit modeling of pronunciation variations, the acoustic model is not robust enough to capture the flexible phonetic confusions and pronunciation variants in spontaneous speech. We propose a state-dependent phonetic tied-mixture (PTM) model with variable codebook size to improve the coverage of phonetic variations while maintaining model discriminative ability. Our state-dependent PTM model incorporates a state-level pronunciation model for better discrimination of phonetic and acoustic confusions, while reducing model complexity. Experimental results on the spontaneous speech part of Mandarin Broadcast News shows that our model outperforms state tying and mixture tying models by 2.46% and 3.51% absolute syllable error rate reduction, respectively, with comparable model complexity. After adding Gaussian sharing to the latter models, our proposed model still yields an additional 1% and 2.6% absolute syllable error rate reduction. In addition, unlike many complexity reduction methods, our method does not lead to any performance degradation on read speech.
Scalable Sparse Subspace Clustering by Orthogonal Matching Pursuit

Subspace clustering methods based on ℓ1, ℓ2 or nuclear norm regularization have become very popular due to their simplicity, theoretical guarantees and empirical success. However, the choice of the regularizer can greatly impact both theory and practice. For instance, ℓ1 regularization is guaranteed to give a subspace-preserving affinity (i.e., there are no connections between points from different subspaces) under broad conditions (e.g., arbitrary subspaces and corrupted data). However, it requires solving a large scale convex optimization problem. On the other hand, ℓ2 and nuclear norm regularization provide efficient closed form solutions, but require very strong assumptions to guarantee a subspace-preserving affinity, e.g., independent subspaces and uncorrupted data. In this paper we study a subspace clustering method based on orthogonal matching pursuit. We show that the method is both computationally efficient and guaranteed to give a subspace-preserving affinity under broad conditions. Experiments on synthetic data verify our theoretical analysis, and applications in handwritten digit and face clustering show that our approach achieves the best trade off between accuracy and efficiency. Moreover, our approach is the first one to handle 100,000 data points.
Subcellular localization and expression of bamboo mosaic virus satellite RNA-encoded protein

The satellite RNA of bamboo mosaic virus (satBaMV) has a single open reading frame encoding a non-structural protein, P20, which facilitates long-distance movement of satBaMV in BaMV and satBaMV co-infected plants. Immunohistochemistry and immunoelectron microscopy revealed that the P20 protein accumulated in the cytoplasm and nuclei in co-infected cells. P20 and the helper virus coat protein (CP) were highly similar in their subcellular localization, except that aggregates of BaMV virions were not labelled with anti-P20 serum. The BaMV CP protein was fairly abundant in mesophyll cells, whilst P20 was more frequently detected in mesophyll cells and vascular tissues. The expression kinetics of the P20 protein was similar to but slightly earlier than that of CP in co-infected Bambusa oldhamii protoplasts and Nicotiana benthamiana leaves. However, satBaMV-encoded protein levels declined rapidly in the late phase of co-infection. During co-infection, in addition to the intact P20, a low-molecular-mass polypeptide of 16 kDa was identified as a P20 C-terminally truncated product; the possible method of generation of the truncated protein is discussed.
VISUAL ALGORITHM SIMULATION

Understanding data structures and algorithms, both of which are abstract concepts, is an integral part of software engineering and elementary computer science education. However, people usually have difficulty in understanding abstract concepts and processes such as procedural encoding of algorithms and data structures. One way to improve their understanding is to provide visualizations to make the abstract concepts more concrete. This thesis presents the design, implementation and evaluation for the Matrix application framework that occupies a unique niche between the following two domains. In the first domain, called algorithm animation, abstractions of the behavior of fundamental computer program operations are visualized. In the second domain, called algorithm simulation, the framework for exploring and understanding algorithms and data structures is exhibited. First, an overview and theoretical basis for the application framework is presented. Second, the different roles are defined and examined for realizing the idea of algorithm simulation. The roles considered includes users (i.e., learners and instructors), visualizers (those who specify the visualizations), programmers (those who wrote the original algorithms to be visualized), and the developers (those who continue to design and implement the Matrix framework). Finally, the effectiveness of the algorithm simulation exercises, the main application embodied in the framework, is studied. The current tool is utilized for delivering, representing, solving, and submitting tracing exercises that can be automatically assessed, and thus provides meaningful feedback on learners performance.
Transcriptional Expression of the tceA Gene in a Dehalococcoides-Containing Microbial Enrichment

ABSTRACT Dynamic changes in the transcriptional expression of the tceA gene, which encodes a trichloroethene reductive dehalogenase, were characterized in a Dehalococcoides-containing microbial enrichment culture. Expression was quantified by real-time PCR as the number of tceA transcripts per tceA gene. Expression of tceA increased 40-fold after chlorinated ethene-starved cells were exposed to trichloroethene (TCE), cis-dichloroethene (DCE), or 1,1-DCE but did not increase after exposure to tetrachloroethene or vinyl chloride. Surprisingly, tceA expression also increased 30-fold after cellular exposure to the nonmetabolic substrate trans-DCE, indicating that expression of tceA is induced by both growth-supporting and non-growth-supporting chlorinated ethenes. Additional experiments revealed that the level of tceA expression was independent of the concentration of chlorinated ethenes (sum concentrations of TCE and DCEs of 2.2 to 333 μM), the concentration of the electron donor hydrogen (concentrations of 12 nM to 17 μM), and the presence of alternate bacterial electron acceptors (5 mM concentrations of fumarate, sulfate, sulfite, thiosulfate, nitrate, or nitrite) but was highly dependent on incubation temperature.
General scale interpolation via context-aware autoregressive model and multiplanar constraint

In this paper, we propose a novel image interpolation algorithm suitable for general scale enlargement. Different from previous AR-based interpolation algorithms which employ predetermined reference configuration to predict pixel values, we consider the context information when building AR models. Optimal references are selected by incorporating nonlocal-based correlation coefficient and the indicator for local edge direction. Furthermore, the multiplanar constraint among similar patches is applied to enhance the correlation within the estimation window and serves as a kind of supplement to data fidelity term in AR model. The experimental results show that our method is effective in several enlargement scales and successfully alleviate the artifacts nearby edges and preserve their sharpness. The comparison experiments demonstrate that the proposed method can obtain desirable performance in terms of both objective and subjective results.
Cystic Renal Lesions : Ignore , Observe , or Treat ?

AJR:204, June 2015 base shows that up to 1.4% of patients with renal tumors 1 cm or smaller will present with metastatic disease, with 3.5% of these patients dying of RCC by 5 years after diagnosis [12]. This suggests that a very small percentage of patients with tiny renal tumors have micrometastatic disease at presentation [12]. Clearly the vast majority of small (≤ 3–4 cm) renal tumors are indolent, but a tiny fraction are aggressive and ultimately deadly. Therefore, the urologic community, which has traditionally based management of renal lesions on the size of the lesion, is actively trying to evaluate other markers of tumor biology (grade, histology, molecular markers, etc.) to better differentiate benignbehaving from aggressive lesions [13]. The aforementioned discussion relates to all renal cancers, of which cystic renal neoplasms represent up to 15% [14, 15]. Additionally, the data are with regard to the classic definition of “small,” which is less than or equal to 3–4 cm. This article will discuss the challenging situation of the very small cystic renal lesion; here, “very small” refers to a lesion smaller than 1.5 cm, and “cystic” refers to either a lesion that, on imaging, has a cystic growth pattern and a solid portion occupying a maximum of 25% of the tumor [16–18] or a mass that is predominantly composed of spaces filled with fluid [19]. Cystic RCCs have been reported to have lower malignant potential than solid RCCs [16, 17, 20, 21], as long as extensively necrotic solid RCCs are not mistaken for cystic renal lesions [22]. For small renal lesions, the concern that necrosis in a solid lesion could Approach to Very Small (< 1.5 cm) Cystic Renal Lesions: Ignore, Observe, or Treat?
Association of Respiratory Viruses with Outcomes of Severe Childhood Pneumonia in Botswana

Background The highest incidence of childhood acute lower respiratory tract infection (ALRI) is in low- and middle-income countries. Few studies examined whether detection of respiratory viruses predicts ALRI outcomes in these settings. Methods We conducted prospective cohort and case-control studies of children 1-23 months of age in Botswana. Cases met clinical criteria for pneumonia and were recruited within six hours of presentation to a referral hospital. Controls were children without pneumonia matched to cases by primary care clinic and date of enrollment. Nasopharyngeal specimens were tested for respiratory viruses using polymerase chain reaction. We compared detection rates of specific viruses in matched case-control pairs. We examined the effect of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and other respiratory viruses on pneumonia outcomes. Results Between April 2012 and August 2014, we enrolled 310 cases, of which 133 had matched controls. Median ages of cases and controls were 6.1 and 6.4 months, respectively. One or more viruses were detected from 75% of cases and 34% of controls. RSV and human metapneumovirus were more frequent among cases than controls, but only enterovirus/rhinovirus was detected from asymptomatic controls. Compared with non-RSV viruses, RSV was associated with an increased risk of treatment failure at 48 hours [risk ratio (RR): 1.85; 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.20, 2.84], more days of respiratory support [mean difference (MD): 1.26 days; 95% CI: 0.30, 2.22 days], and longer duration of hospitalization [MD: 1.35 days; 95% CI: 0.20, 2.50 days], but lower in-hospital mortality [RR: 0.09; 95% CI: 0.01, 0.80] in children with pneumonia. Conclusions Respiratory viruses were detected from most children hospitalized with ALRI in Botswana, but only RSV and human metapneumovirus were more frequent than among children without ALRI. Detection of RSV from children with ALRI predicted a protracted illness course but lower mortality compared with non-RSV viruses.
A comparison of paravertebral nerve block catheters and thoracic epidural catheters for postoperative analgesia following the Nuss procedure for pectus excavatum repair

Thoracic epidurals (TE) have been advocated as a superior method for controlling postoperative pain after repair of pectus excavatum with a Nuss procedure. However, three recent reports of permanent neurologic injury after the Nuss procedure with concurrent TE analgesia have raised concerns about the safety of this combination. Paravertebral nerve blocks (PVNB) are used successfully for analgesia of the chest, but no studies are available comparing TE and PVNB catheters for postoperative analgesia in this patient population. This study was conducted to compare the efficacy of PVNB catheters with TE catheters for postoperative analgesia in pediatric patients undergoing the Nuss procedure.
Kappa distribution and hard X-ray emission of solar flares

Aims. We investigate whether the so-called kappa distribution, often used to fit electron distributions detected in situ in the solar wind, can describe electrons producing the hard X-ray emission in solar flares. Methods. Using Ramaty High Energy Solar Spectroscopic imager (RHESSI) flare data we fit spatially- and feature-integrated spectra, assuming a kappa distribution for the mean electron flux spectrum. Results. We show that a single kappa distribution generally cannot describe spatially integrated X-ray emission composed of both footpoint and coronal sources. In contrast, the kappa distribution is consistent with mean electron spectra producing hard X-ray emission in some coronal sources.
Thickness dependent conduction behavior of various particles for conductive adhesive applications

In order to gain insight into the film thickness dependent conduction behavior of adhesives containing conductive particles of different size, shape and type, the effect of adhesive film thickness was studied. Epon 830 resin was used as the base resin, and 4-7 /spl mu/m silver powder was used as the base particle for comparative purposes. Adhesive films of length 2.0 cm, and width 0.7 cm were cast subsequent to mixing with conductive particles in the amount of 25% by volume. The conductive particles were 100% Ag or 50% by weight mixture of Ag with Ni powder, flakes, or filaments. Silver coated Ni flakes of size 20 /spl mu/m were also mixed in 50% proportion with Ag powder to assess the effect of silver coating. Subsequent to cure, the resistance of the filled films was measured by the four-point method, and resistivities were calculated based on these measurements.
Behavioural Effects of Co-Administration of Δ9-Tetrahydrocannabinol with Fluoxetine in Rats

Previous studies have suggested panic induced by cannabinoids may be potentiated by concurrently using selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors. We therefore tested for panic and anxiety-related behaviour in rats coadministered with the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor fluoxetine hydrochloride and the CB1 agonist Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol. Although each drug alone elicited behaviours consistent with previous studies, we did not find that coadministration of these drugs potentiated or reduced the effects of either drug alone. Specifically, fluoxetine treatment did not cause any increase in freezing behaviour, decrease in social interaction or exploration in an adverse environment, change preference for outer or inner zones, or modulate rearing behaviour in rats receiving Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol.
Correlation-Based Detection of OFDM Signals in the Angular Domain

Spectrum sensing is an essential part of future cognitive radios, as the spectrum sensor provides information about the utilization of the surrounding radio spectrum. Several approaches to implementing spectrum sensing have been proposed in the literature, one of them being the class of feature detectors. Cyclostationary feature detectors are, in general, considered to be superior in performance but suffer from high implementation complexity. Therefore, most studies still utilize energy detectors, which may not reach the performance requirements set for practical implementations. This paper presents angular domain feature detection algorithms that are based on cyclostationary properties. Angular domain signal processing is shown to simplify the implementation considerably while preserving comparable performance. Moreover, a new detection algorithm that leads to multiplier-free implementation and reduces the memory requirements, compared with any previous approaches, is proposed.
Design of a digital harmonic-cancelling sine-wave synthesizer with 100 MHz output frequency, 43.5 dB SFDR, and 2.26 mW power

An on-chip sine-wave synthesizer design with fast programmability and low hardware cost is presented. The design makes use of a harmonic cancellation technique to digitally synthesize an approximation to a sine-wave, which does not contain lower order harmonic distortions. The remaining higher order harmonics are attenuated with the use of a low pass filter (LPF) to synthesize a spectrally pure sine-wave. The simple nature of the sine-wave synthesis approach allows for a design with low hardware cost while maintaining high output spectral purity. The generic design of the aptly named digital harmonic-cancelling sine-wave synthesizer (DHSS) is discussed along with parasitic extracted simulation results from a prototype designed in a 0.13 μm CMOS process. Simulation results demonstrate that the DHSS prototype is capable of synthesizing up to 100 MHz output frequency, with 43.5 dB SFDR, while consuming only 2.26 mW of power.
Use of the 5'-nuclease reaction for single nucleotide polymorphism genotyping in Chinook salmon

Abstract Migratory and stock composition studies of Chinook salmon Oncorhynchus tshawytscha require genetic markers by which a large number of individuals can be processed in a relatively short time. Given the multijurisdictional geographic range of this species, it is further desirable that genetic markers and the corresponding data be transportable across laboratories. We developed 10 single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) genotyping assays in Chinook salmon based on the 5′-nuclease reaction. Using these assays, a single technician with two thermal cyclers can generate thousands of genotypes per day. The genotyping assays described here are easy to standardize across laboratories, and the resulting genotype data are readily combined with those collected by means of any other sequence detection platform. The rapid rate at which genotyping may be done using these markers and the fact that SNP data are standardized across laboratories and platforms much more readily than are data from other genetic marker cl.
Mechanosensitive channels: feeling tension in a world under pressure

Plants, like other organisms, are facing multiple mechanical constraints generated both in their tissues and by the surrounding environments. They need to sense and adapt to these forces throughout their lifetimes. To do so, different mechanisms devoted to force transduction have emerged. Here we focus on fascinating proteins: the mechanosensitive (MS) channels. Mechanosensing in plants has been described for centuries but the molecular identification of MS channels occurred only recently. This review is aimed at plant biologists and plant biomechanists who want to be introduced to MS channel identity, how they work and what they might do in planta? In this review, electrophysiological properties, regulations, and functions of well-characterized MS channels belonging to bacteria and animals are compared with those of plants. Common and specific properties are discussed. We deduce which tools and concepts from animal and bacterial fields could be helpful for improving our understanding of plant mechanotransduction. MS channels embedded in their plasma membrane are sandwiched between the cell wall and the cytoskeleton. The consequences of this peculiar situation are analyzed and discussed. We also stress how important it is to probe mechanical forces at cellular and subcellular levels in planta in order to reveal the intimate relationship linking the membrane with MS channel activity. Finally we will propose new tracks to help to reveal their physiological functions at tissue and plant levels.
Influence of the Fluidity of Liposome Compositions on Percutaneous Absorption

The penetration into the stratum corneum of fluorescein, as the acid form or as a sodium salt, encapsulated in liposomes formed by liquid- or gel-state phospholipids, with or without cholesterol, was investigated in humans by the stripping method. Liposomes prepared by extrusion were applied to the forearms of healthy human volunteers and 30 min later, strippings were performed. Fluorescein was extracted and determined by spectrofluorimetry. The skin penetration of sodium fluorescein was higher from fluid liposomes (phosphatidylcholine) than from rigid liposomes (hydrogenated phosphatidylcholine), but it was independent of the content of cholesterol. It seems that the liquid-crystalline state of the lipids is the main aspect involved in the fluidity of the liposome bilayer itself as well as in the interaction with the lipids of the stratum corneum. The similar enhanced penetration behavior obtained for unsaturated liposomes containing sodium or acid fluorescein seems to support the hypothesis of a previous destruction of the vesicles during its passage through the lipid intercellular pathway in the stratum corneum.