Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Focusing ISAR Images Using Adaptive Joint Time-Frequency Algorithm on Simulated and Experimental Radar Data

Abstract : When target motion is confined to a two-dimensional plane during coherent processing intervals, the adaptive joint time-frequency algorithms is shown to be an effective method for achieving rotational motion compensation in ISAR imaging. We illustrate the algorithm using both simulated and measured experimental radar data sets. The results show that the adaptive joint time-frequency algorithm performed very well in achieving a focused image of the target. Results also demonstrate that adaptive joint time-frequency techniques can significantly improve the distorted ISAR image over what can be achieved by conventional Fourier transform methods when the rotational motion of the target is confined to a two-dimensional plane. This study also adds insight into the distortion mechanisms that affect the ISAR images of a target in motion.
Tropism and Induction of Cytokines in Human Embryonic-Stem Cells-Derived Neural Progenitors upon Inoculation with Highly- Pathogenic Avian H5N1 Influenza Virus

Central nervous system (CNS) dysfunction caused by neurovirulent influenza viruses is a dreaded complication of infection, and may play a role in some neurodegenerative conditions, such as Parkinson-like diseases and encephalitis lethargica. Although CNS infection by highly pathogenic H5N1 virus has been demonstrated, it is unknown whether H5N1 infects neural progenitor cells, nor whether such infection plays a role in the neuroinflammation and neurodegeneration. To pursue this question, we infected human neural progenitor cells (hNPCs) differentiated from human embryonic stem cells in vitro with H5N1 virus, and studied the resulting cytopathology, cytokine expression, and genes involved in the differentiation. Human embryonic stem cells (BG01) were maintained and differentiated into the neural progenitors, and then infected by H5N1 virus (A/Chicken/Thailand/CUK2/04) at a multiplicity of infection of 1. At 6, 24, 48, and 72 hours post-infection (hpi), cytopathic effects were observed. Then cells were characterized by immunofluorescence and electron microscopy, supernatants quantified for virus titers, and sampled cells studied for candidate genes.The hNPCs were susceptible to H5N1 virus infection as determined by morphological observation and immunofluorescence. The infection was characterized by a significant up-regulation of TNF-α gene expression, while expressions of IFN-α2, IFN-β1, IFN-γ and IL-6 remained unchanged compared to mock-infected controls. Moreover, H5N1 infection did not appear to alter expression of neuronal and astrocytic markers of hNPCs, such as β-III tubulin and GFAP, respectively. The results indicate that hNPCs support H5N1 virus infection and may play a role in the neuroinflammation during acute viral encephalitis.
Effect of platelet‐rich plasma (PRP) concentration on proliferation, neurotrophic function and migration of Schwann cells in vitro

Platelet‐rich plasma (PRP) contains various growth factors and appears to have the potential to promote peripheral nerve regeneration, but evidence is lacking regarding its biological effect on Schwann cells (SCs). The present study was designed to investigate the effect of PRP concentration on SCs in order to determine the plausibility of using this plasma‐derived therapy for peripheral nerve injury. PRP was obtained from rats by double‐step centrifugation and was characterized by determining platelet numbers and growth factor concentrations. Primary cultures of rat SCs were exposed to various concentrations of PRP (40%, 20%, 10%, 5% and 2.5%). Cell proliferation assays and flow cytometry were performed to study to assess SC proliferation. Quantitative real‐time PCR and ELISA analysis were performed to determine the ability of PRP to induce SCs to produce nerve growth factor (NGF) and glial cell line‐derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF). Microchemotaxis assay was used to analyse the cell migration capacity. The results obtained indicated that the platelet concentration and growth factors in our PRP preparations were significantly higher than in whole blood. Cell culture experiments showed that 2.5–20% PRP significantly stimulated SC proliferation and migration compared to untreated controls in a dose‐dependent manner. In addition, the expression and secretion of NGF and GDNF were significantly increased. However, the above effects of SCs were suppressed by high PRP concentrations (40%). In conclusion, the appropriate concentration of PRP had the potency to stimulate cell proliferation, induced the synthesis of neurotrophic factors and significantly increased migration of SCs dose‐dependently. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
The SR Family Proteins B52 and dASF/SF2 Modulate Development of the Drosophila Visual System by Regulating Specific RNA Targets

ABSTRACT Deciphering the role of alternative splicing in developmental processes relies on the identification of key genes whose expression is controlled by splicing regulators throughout the growth of a whole organism. Modulating the expression levels of five SR proteins in the developing eye of Drosophila melanogaster revealed that these splicing factors induce various phenotypic alterations in eye organogenesis and also affect viability. Although the SR proteins dASF/SF2 and B52 caused defects in ommatidia structure, only B52 impaired normal axonal projections of photoreceptors and neurogenesis in visual ganglia. Microarray analyses revealed that many transcripts involved in brain organogenesis have altered splicing profiles upon both loss and gain of B52 function. Conversely, a large proportion of transcripts regulated by dASF/SF2 are involved in eye development. These differential and specific effects of SR proteins indicate that they function to confer accuracy to developmental gene expression programs by facilitating the cell lineage decisions that underline the generation of tissue identities.
Organizational Citizenship Behavior: Its Nature, Antecedents, and Consequences

The Good Sam The Study of OCB: Its Roots, Structure, and Frameworks OCB in the Context of Organization Theory Attitudinal and Dispositional Antecendents of OCB The Impact of Leadership and Work Environments on OCB The Effects of OCB on Performance Evaluations and Judgments The Effects of OCB on Organizational Performance and Success Implications for HR Practitioners and OCB Researchers Appendix References Index About the Authors
k-ary n-trees: high performance networks for massively parallel architectures

The past few years have seen a rise in popularity of massively parallel architectures that use fat-trees as their interconnection networks. In this paper we study the communication performance of a parametric family of fat-trees, the k-ary n-trees, built with constant arity switches interconnected in a regular topology. Through simulation on a 4-ary 4-tree with 256 nodes, we analyze some variants of an adaptive algorithm that utilize wormhole routing with one, two and four virtual channels. The experimental results show that the uniform, bit reversal and transpose traffic patterns are very sensitive to the flow control strategy. In all these cases, the saturation points are between 35-40% of the network capacity with one virtual channel, 55-60% with two virtual channels and around 75% with four virtual channels. The complement traffic, a representative of the class of the congestion-free communication patterns, reaches an optimal performance, with a saturation point at 97% of the capacity for all flow control strategies.
Sources of non-physiologic noise in simultaneous EEG-fMRI data: A phantom study

Simultaneous EEG-fMRI studies require an understanding of the noise characteristics of the acquisition environment so that appropriate pre-processing steps may be taken to remove known artifacts from the data stream. Using a phantom approach, we have developed a general methodology for characterizing non-physiologic noise in EEG signal and demonstrate the use of this methodology for a specific MR scanner and EEG data acquisition system configuration. Our results show the δ frequency band is significantly impacted by baseline drift or baseline correction algorithms while the β and γ bands are impacted by residual gradient artifact and gradient corrections.
Methods and tools for mass spectrometric lipidome analysis

This thesis consists of four parts. The first part addresses issues related to quantitative analysis of phospholipid compositions of cells and tissues by mass spectrometry. In particular, the effects of phospholipid structure and concentration were investigated. The second part describes a new computational method for calculation of the unit resolution isotopic distribution for any compound, given the isotope abundances of the elements it consists of. In the third part, software (LIMSA) for processing mass spectrometric data from complex lipid samples was developed and tested. The fourth part of the thesis makes use of the tools listed above and a novel mass-spectrometric approach was developed to determine the substrate specificities of three secretory phospholipases in unprecedented detail.
Human Cytomegalovirus Seropositivity Is Associated With Impaired Vascular Function

Background—Herpesvirus infection is a possible risk factor for atherogenesis, and diabetics may be at particular risk. Endothelial dysfunction is an early marker for atherosclerosis, and the present study tests the hypotheses that (1) prior infection with cytomegalovirus (CMV) and herpes simplex virus (HSV) is associated with endothelial dysfunction and (2) this may be more marked in diabetics. Methods and Results—Serum samples were tested for anti-IgG antibodies to CMV and HSV from 400 subjects (mean age for diabetics and nondiabetics, 37.8±4.3 and 37.9±3.7 [SD]). We also assessed Helicobacter pylori and Chlamydia pneumoniae serology. Coronary atheroma was quantified by means of electron beam computed tomography. Subjects (n=157) underwent venous occlusion plethysmography with acetylcholine, bradykinin, glyceryl trinitrate, norepinephrine, and l-NG-monomethyl-l-arginine. Individuals who were seropositive for CMV had reduced responses to bradykinin (P =0.005) and glyceryl trinitrate (P =0.006). The reduced response to bradykinin remained significant (P =0.045) after adjusting for the response to glyceryl trinitrate and was independent of conventional risk factors. Positive serology for the other organisms did not have an independent effect on reactivity. There was a weaker association between CMV and coronary artery calcification (P =0.09). Positive serology for each of the other pathogens did not affect reactivity, but there was a relation between total pathogen burden and impaired vascular reactivity. No significant differences were found between diabetics and nondiabetics. Conclusions—This study shows that CMV-seropositive individuals have endothelial dysfunction and impaired responses to NO. This association was independent of conventional risk factors and may be associated with increased atherosclerosis burden.
Sentinel lymphadenectomy does not increase the incidence of in-transit metastases in primary melanoma.

PURPOSE Recent reports by European investigators suggest that sentinel lymphadenectomy (SLND), a mainstay of melanoma diagnosis and treatment planning, increases the risk of in-transit metastasis (ITM) and should be abandoned. This study compared the incidence of ITM after wide local excision (WLE), WLE plus SLND (SLND), or WLE plus elective lymphadenectomy (ELND) for primary melanoma. PATIENTS AND METHODS Review of our prospective database identified 4,412 patients who underwent WLE (n = 2,771), SLND (n = 1,016), or ELND (n = 625) for stage I/II melanoma (1971 through 2002). The incidence of ITM overall and as a first recurrence was examined before and after computerized prognostic matching of treatment groups. Intergroup statistical comparisons used chi(2) analysis and log-rank test. RESULTS The incidence of ITM increased with Breslow depth, Clark level, and T stage. Although overall incidence of ITM was significantly higher (P = .0008) after ELND (6.56%) versus WLE (3.36%) or SLND (3.64%), the ELND group had higher risk primaries. Treatment groups matched by T stage (1,875 patients; 625 per group) or by age, sex, Breslow depth, and primary location (1,680 patients; 560 per group), showed no significant differences in ITM overall or as a first recurrence. CONCLUSION There is no relationship between SLND and ITM. Recent reports to the contrary reflect analysis of significantly smaller cohorts not matched for confounding variables such as T stage. The phase III Multicenter Selective Lymphadenectomy Trial will definitively settle the issue; until then, use of SLND, the most accurate staging procedure for early-stage melanoma, should continue.
The Political Economy of Emigration and Immigration

Trebilcock and Sudak consider the economic effects of both emigration and immigration and analyze optimal migration policies in source and destination countries with a view to evaluating their potential compatibility. Although emigration poses risks of fiscal loss and human capital depletion, the empirical basis for these fears is unclear given possible offsetting factors such as remittances, return migration, and skills transfer, initial incentives for education, and dynamic investment effects of citizens living abroad. Studies find mostly positive welfare gains from migration in immigration countries, with the possible exception of native workers with very low skills. In the labor market, immigration has not been shown generally to significantly depress wages or raise unemployment levels; it is generally a net fiscal benefit to source countries.Emigration countries should implement policies that address both the desire to leave and the fact of exit. Human capital is retained best when economic and, in some cases, political conditions improve. The authors urge a cautious approach to physical and economic barriers to exit in source countries. Such barriers can raise serious concerns about individual welfare and could be harmful to domestic welfare. Given the fact of exit, emigration countries will be made best off by policies that facilitate remittances, trade, investment, and return migration. Emigrants are properly viewed not as a sunk cost, but as a resource to be cultivated, and one that has too often been ignored. Immigration countries would be well served by a more decentralized and market-driven approach to migration that permits certain immigrant classes relatively unhindered entry, subject to standard criminality, health, and national security checks. Fiscally induced migration can be limited by requiring immigrants (or their sponsors) to buy private social program insurance to insulate destination countries from drawings against non-contributory social programs over a period of time. Family class immigrants and sponsored overseas refugees could also avail themselves of this program (although this does not preclude. refugee applications based on humanitarian grounds). In addition, countries could benefit by relaxing citizenship requirements, allowing certain temporary workers to obtain permanent resident status, and facilitating the citizenship of students studying on a temporary basis.Potential incompatibilities exist primarily in two areas. First, the emphasis in destination countries on skilled immigrants might aggravate concerns about human capital loss in source countries. Second, the goal of maximizing remittances represents a transfer of wealth from immigration to emigration countries.
The Roles of p63 in Cancer

p63 plays an important role in skin and limb development. This has been clearly demonstrated using mouse models and from studies on human patients harboring p63 mutations. One question that remains unanswered is whether p63 is a tumor suppressor gene or an oncogene. The complexity of the study of p63 is due to the existence of multiple isoforms with opposing functions. The lack of antibodies that distinguish between these isoforms has made the ability to analyze the expression of p63 difficult in human tumors. Many studies have found that p63 is overexpressed in human tumors while other studies have shown a loss of expression of p63. Here, we review the roles of p63 in tumor development and suppression in mouse models and human tumors.
Response of Bean (Vicia faba L.) Plants to Low Sink Demand by Measuring the Gas Exchange Rates and Chlorophyll a Fluorescence Kinetics

Background The decline of photosynthesis in plants under low sink demand is well known. Previous studies focused on the relationship between stomatal conductance (g s) and net photosynthetic rate (P n). These studies investigated the effect of changes in Photosystem II (PSII) function on the P n decline under low sink demand. However, little is known about its effects on different limiting steps of electron transport chain in PSII under this condition. Methodology/Principal Finding Two-month-old bean plants were processed by removing pods and flowers (low sink demand). On the 1st day after low sink demand treatment, a decline of P n was accompanied by a decrease in g s and internal-to-ambient CO2 concentration ratio (C i/C a). From the 3rd to 9th day, P n and g s declined continuously while C i/C a ratio remained stable in the treatment. Moreover, these values were lower than that of control. Wk (a parameter reflecting the damage to oxygen evolving complex of the donor side of PSII) values in the treatment were significantly higher than their corresponding control values. However, RCQA (a parameter reflecting the number of active RCs per excited cross-section of PSII) values in the treatment were significantly lower than control from the 5th day. From the 11th to 21st day, P n and g s of the treatment continued to decline and were lower than control. This was accompanied by a decrease of RCQA, and an increase of Wk. Furthermore, the quantum yield parameters φ Po, φ Eo and ψ Eo in the treatment were lower than in control; however, C i/C a values in the treatment gradually increased and were significantly higher than control on the 21st day. Conclusions Stomatal limitation during the early stage, whereas a combination of stomatal and non-stomatal limitation during the middle stage might be responsible for the reduction of P n under low sink demand. Non-stomatal limitation during the late stages after the removal of the sink of roots and pods may also cause P n reduction. The non-stomatal limitation was associated with the inhibition of PSII electron transport chain. Our data suggests that the donor side of PSII was the most sensitive to low sink demand followed by the reaction center of PSII. The acceptor side of PSII may be the least sensitive.
Short-Term Belowground Responses to Thinning and Burning Treatments in Southwestern Ponderosa Pine Forests of the USA

Microbial-mediated decomposition and nutrient mineralization are major drivers of forest productivity. As landscape-scale fuel reduction treatments are being implemented throughout the fire-prone western United States of America, it is important to evaluate operationally how these wildfire mitigation treatments alter belowground processes. We quantified these important belowground components before and after management-applied fuel treatments of thinning alone, thinning combined with prescribed fire, and prescribed fire in ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa) stands at the Southwest Plateau, Fire and Fire Surrogate site, Arizona. Fuel treatments did not alter pH, total carbon and nitrogen (N) concentrations, or base cations of the forest floor (O horizon) or mineral soil (0-5 cm) during this 2-year study. In situ rates of net N mineralization and nitrification in the surface mineral soil (0-15 cm) increased 6 months after thinning with prescribed fire treatments; thinning only resulted in net N immobilization. The rates returned to pre-treatment levels after one year. Based on phospholipid fatty acid composition, microbial communities in treated areas were similar to untreated areas (control) in the surface organic horizon and mineral soil (0-5 cm) after treatments. Soil potential enzyme activities were not significantly altered by any of the three fuel treatments. Our results suggest that a variety of one-time alternative fuel treatments can reduce fire hazard without degrading soil fertility.
Magnetic Field Evolution in Merging Clusters of Galaxies

We present initial results from the first three-dimensional numerical magnetohydrodynamical (MHD) simulations of magnetic field evolution in merging clusters of galaxies. Within the framework of idealized initial conditions similar to our previous work, we look at the gas dynamics and the magnetic field evolution during a major merger event in order to examine the suggestion that shocks and turbulence generated during a cluster/subcluster merger can produce magnetic field amplification and relativistic particle acceleration and, as such, may play a role in the formation and evolution of cluster-wide radio halos. The intracluster medium (ICM), as represented by the equations of ideal MHD, is evolved self-consistently within a changing gravitational potential defined largely by the collisionless dark matter component represented by an N-body particle distribution. The MHD equations are solved by the Eulerian, finite-difference code, ZEUS. The particles are evolved by a standard particle-mesh (PM) code. We find significant evolution of the magnetic field structure and strength during two distinct epochs of the merger evolution. In the first, the field becomes quite filamentary as a result of stretching and compression caused by shocks and bulk flows during infall, but only minimal amplification occurs. In the second, amplification of the field occurs more rapidly, particularly in localized regions, as the bulk flow is replaced by turbulent motions (i.e., eddies). The total magnetic field energy is seen to increase by nearly a factor of 3 over that seen in a nonmerging cluster. In localized regions (associated with high vorticity), the magnetic energy can increase by a factor of 20 or more. A power spectrum analysis of the magnetic energy shows the amplification is largely confined to scales comparable to and smaller than the cluster cores, indicating that the core dimensions define the injection scale. Although the cluster cores are numerically well-resolved, we cannot resolve the formation of eddies on scales smaller than approximately half a core radius. Consequently, the field amplification noted here likely represents a lower limit. We discuss the effects of anomalous resistivity associated with the finite numerical resolution of our simulations on the observed field amplification.
Traditional used Plants against Cognitive Decline and Alzheimer Disease

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disorder characterized clinically by progressive memory deficits, impaired cognitive function, and altered and inappropriate behavior. Aging represents the most important risk factor for AD and the global trend in the phenomenon of population aging has dramatic consequences for public health, healthcare financing, and delivery systems in the word and, especially in developing countries. Mounting evidence obtained in in vitro and in vivo studies, suggests that various traditionally used plants in Asia, India, and Europe significantly affect key metabolic alterations culminating in AD-typical neurodegeneration. The present article aims to bring the reader up-to-date on the most recent studies and advances describing the direct and indirect activities of traditional used plants and its constituents possibly relieving features of AD. A variety of traditional used plants and its extracts exerted activities on AD related drug targets including AChE activity, antioxidative activity, modulation of Aβ-producing secretase activities, Aβ-degradation, heavy metal chelating, induction of neurotrophic factors, and cell death mechanisms. Although pre-clinical investigations identified promising drug candidates for AD, clinical evidences are still pending.