Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The complex iron line of NGC 5506

The bright Narrow Emission Line Galaxy, NGC 5506, has been observed simultaneously by XMM-Newton and BeppoSAX. The iron line is complex, with at least two components: one narrow and corresponding to neutral iron, the second one broad and corresponding to ionized iron. The latter line is equally well fitted by a truly broad line or by a blend of He- and H-like narrow lines. The bulk of the Compton reflection continuum originates in neutral matter, and is therefore associated with the narrow line: they are most likely emitted in distant matter. The origin of the ionized line(s) is less certain, but the solution in terms of a blend of narrow lines from photoionized matter seems to be preferable to emission from an ionized, relativistic accretion disc.
Aspiration-Based Reinforcement Learning in Repeated Interaction Games: an Overview

In models of aspiration-based reinforcement learning, agents adapt by comparing payos achieved from actions chosen in the past with an aspiration level. Though such models are well-established in behavioural psychology, only recently have they begun to receive attention in game theory and its applications to economics and politics. This paper provides an informal overview of a range of such theories applied to repeated interaction games. We describe dierent models of aspiration formation: where (1) aspirations are xed but required to be consistent with longrun average payos; (2) aspirations evolve based on past personal experience or of previous generations of players; and (3) aspirations are based on the experience of peers. Convergence to non-Nash outcomes may result in either of these formulations. Indeed, cooperative behaviour can emerge and survive in the long run, even though it may be a strictly dominated strategy in the stage game, and despite the myopic adaptation of stage game strategies. Dierences between reinforcement learning and evolutionary game theory are also discussed.
Neural Systems Underlying Spatial Language in American Sign Language

A [(15)O]water PET experiment was conducted to investigate the neural regions engaged in processing constructions unique to signed languages: classifier predicates in which the position of the hands in signing space schematically represents spatial relations among objects. Ten deaf native signers viewed line drawings depicting a spatial relation between two objects (e.g., a cup on a table) and were asked either to produce a classifier construction or an American Sign Language (ASL) preposition that described the spatial relation or to name the figure object (colored red). Compared to naming objects, describing spatial relationships with classifier constructions engaged the supramarginal gyrus (SMG) within both hemispheres. Compared to naming objects, naming spatial relations with ASL prepositions engaged only the right SMG. Previous research indicates that retrieval of English prepositions engages both right and left SMG, but more inferiorly than for ASL classifier constructions. Compared to ASL prepositions, naming spatial relations with classifier constructions engaged left inferior temporal (IT) cortex, a region activated when naming concrete objects in either ASL or English. Left IT may be engaged because the handshapes in classifier constructions encode information about object type (e.g., flat surface). Overall, the results suggest more right hemisphere involvement when expressing spatial relations in ASL, perhaps because signing space is used to encode the spatial relationship between objects.
Source Camera Identification for Low Resolution Heavily Compressed Images

In this paper, we propose a method to exploit photo response non-uniformity (PRNU) to identify the source camera of heavily JPEG compressed digital photographs of resolution 640 times 480 pixels. Similarly to research reported previously, we extract the PRNU patterns from both reference and questioned images using a two-dimensional high-pass filter and compare these patterns by calculating the correlation coefficient between them. To deal with the low quality compressed image material, we propose a simple and effective way to obtain the PRNU. We did extensive experiments for both the closed and open set source camera identification problem with a set of 38 cameras of four different types. For the closed set problem accuracies as high as 83% for single images and 100% for around 20 simultaneously identified questioned images were obtained. For the open set problem, decision levels were obtained for several numbers of simultaneously identified questioned images. The corresponding false rejection rates were unsatisfactory for single images, but improved substantially for simultaneous identification of multiple questioned images.
Inequalities for a new data-based method for selecting nonparametric density estimates

We continue the development of a method for the selection of a bandwidth or a number of design parameters in density estimation. We provide explicit non-asymptotic density-free inequalities that relate the $L_1$ error of the selected estimate with that of the best possible estimate, and study in particular the connection between the richness of the class of density estimates and the performance bound. For example, our method allows one to pick the bandwidth and kernel order in the kernel estimate simultaneously and still assure that for {\it all densities}, the $L_1$ error of the corresponding kernel estimate is not larger than about three times the error of the estimate with the optimal smoothing factor and kernel plus a constant times $\sqrt{\log n/n}$, where $n$ is the sample size, and the constant only depends on the complexity of the family of kernels used in the estimate. Further applications include multivariate kernel estimates, transformed kernel estimates, and variable kernel estimates.
Sex Hormones Promote Opposite Effects on ACE and ACE2 Activity, Hypertrophy and Cardiac Contractility in Spontaneously Hypertensive Rats

Background There is growing interest in sex differences and RAS components. However, whether gender influences cardiac angiotensin I-converting enzyme (ACE) and angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) activity is still unknown. In the present work, we determined the relationship between ACE and ACE2 activity, left ventricular function and gender in spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHRs). Methodology / Principal Findings Twelve-week-old female (F) and male (M) SHRs were divided into 2 experimental groups (n = 7 in each group): sham (S) and gonadectomized (G). Fifty days after gonadectomy, we measured positive and negative first derivatives (dP/dt maximum left ventricle (LV) and dP/dt minimum LV, respectively), hypertrophy (morphometric analysis) and ACE and ACE2 catalytic activity (fluorimetrically). Expression of calcium handling proteins was measured by western blot. Male rats exhibited higher cardiac ACE and ACE2 activity as well as hypertrophy compared to female rats. Orchiectomy decreased the activity of these enzymes and hypertrophy, while ovariectomy increased hypertrophy and ACE2, but did not change ACE activity. For cardiac function, the male sham group had a lower +dP/dt than the female sham group. After gonadectomy, the +dP/dt increased in males and reduced in females. The male sham group had a lower -dP/dt than the female group. After gonadectomy, the -dP/dt increased in the male and decreased in the female groups when compared to the sham group. No difference was observed among the groups in SERCA2a protein expression. Gonadectomy increased protein expression of PLB (phospholamban) and the PLB to SERCA2a ratio in female rats, but did not change in male rats. Conclusion Ovariectomy leads to increased cardiac hypertrophy, ACE2 activity, PLB expression and PLB to SERCA2a ratio, and worsening of hemodynamic variables, whereas in males the removal of testosterone has the opposite effects on RAS components.
Role of enteroendocrine L‐cells in arginine vasopressin‐mediated inhibition of colonic anion secretion

Arginine vasopressin (AVP) stimulates the release of enteroendocrine L‐cell derived hormones glucagon‐like peptide‐1 (GLP‐1) and peptide YY (PYY) in vitro from mouse and human colons. This is mediated by the AVP receptor 1B, which is highly enriched in colonic L‐cells and linked to the elevation of L‐cell calcium and cAMP concentrations. By means of Ussing chambers, we show that AVP reduced colonic anion secretion, although this was blocked by a specific neuropeptide Y receptor Y1 receptor antagonist, suggesting that L‐cell‐released PYY acts locally on the epithelium to modulate fluid balance. In human serum samples, PYY concentrations were higher in samples with raised osmolality and copeptin (surrogate marker for AVP). These findings describe, for the first time, the role of L‐cells in AVP regulated intestinal fluid secretion, potentially linking together hormonal control of blood volume and blood glucose levels, and thus adding to our understanding of the complex pathways involved in the gut hormonal response to different stimuli.
Multimodal sensory integration in single cerebellar granule cells in vivo

The mammalian cerebellum is a highly multimodal structure, receiving inputs from multiple sensory modalities and integrating them during complex sensorimotor coordination tasks. Previously, using cell-type-specific anatomical projection mapping, it was shown that multimodal pathways converge onto individual cerebellar granule cells (Huang et al., 2013). Here we directly measure synaptic currents using in vivo patch-clamp recordings and confirm that a subset of single granule cells receive convergent functional multimodal (somatosensory, auditory, and visual) inputs via separate mossy fibers. Furthermore, we show that the integration of multimodal signals by granule cells can enhance action potential output. These recordings directly demonstrate functional convergence of multimodal signals onto single granule cells. DOI: http://dx.doi. org/10.7554/eLife.12916. 001
Extinction calculations of multi-sphere polycrystalline graphitic clusters - A comparison with the 2175 Å peak and between a rigorous solution and discrete-dipole approximations

Certain dust particles in space are expected to appear as clusters of individual grains. The morphology of these clusters could be fractal or compact. In this paper we study the extinction by compact and fractal polycrystalline graphitic clusters consisting of touching identical spheres, based on the dielectric function of graphite from Draine & Lee (1984). We compare three general methods for computing the extinction of the clusters in the wavelength range 0:1 100 m, namely, a rigorous solution (G erardy & Ausloos 1982) and two dierent discrete-dipole approximation methods { MarCODES (Markel 1998) and DDSCAT (Draine & Flatau 1994). We consider clusters of N = 4, 7, 8, 27, 32, 49, 108 and 343 particles of radii either 10 nm or 50 nm, arranged in three dierent geometries: open fractal (dimension D =1 :77), simple cubic and face-centred cubic. The rigorous solution shows that the extinction of the fractal clusters, with N 50 and particle radii 10 nm, displays a peak within 2% of the location of the observed interstellar extinction peak at4.6 m 1 ; the smaller the cluster, the closer its peak gets to this value. By contrast, the peak in the extinction of the more compact clusters lie more than 4% from 4:6 m 1 . At short wavelengths (0:1 0:5 m), all the methods show that fractal clusters have markedly dierent extinction from those of non-fractal clusters. At wavelengths >5 m, the rigorous solution indicates that the extinction from fractal and compact clusters are of the same order of magnitude. It was only possible to compute fully converged results of the rigorous solution for the smaller clusters, due to computational limitations, however, we nd that both discrete-dipole approximation methods overestimate the computed extinction of the smaller fractal clusters.
MIMO Wiretap Channel Under Receiver-Side Power Constraints With Applications to Wireless Power Transfer and Cognitive Radio

We consider the multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) wiretap channel under a minimum receiver-side power constraint in addition to the usual maximum transmitter-side power constraint. This problem is motivated by energy harvesting communications with wireless energy transfer, where an added goal is to deliver a minimum amount of energy to a receiver in addition to delivering secure data to another receiver. In this paper, we characterize the exact secrecy capacity of the MIMO wiretap channel under transmitter and receiver-side power constraints. We first show that solving this problem is equivalent to solving the secrecy capacity of the wiretap channel under a double-sided correlation matrix constraint on the channel input. We show the converse by extending the channel enhancement technique to our case. We present two achievable schemes that achieve the secrecy capacity: the first achievable scheme uses a Gaussian codebook with a fixed mean, and the second achievable scheme uses artificial noise (or cooperative jamming) together with a Gaussian codebook. The role of the mean or the artificial noise is to enable energy transfer without sacrificing from the secure rate. This is the first instance of a channel model where either the use of a mean signal or the use of channel prefixing via artificial noise is strictly necessary for the MIMO wiretap channel. We then extend our work to consider a maximum receiver-side power constraint instead of a minimum receiver-side power constraint. This problem is motivated by cognitive radio applications, where an added goal is to decrease the received signal energy (interference temperature) at a receiver. We further extend our results to: requiring receiver-side power constraints at both receivers; considering secrecy constraints at both receivers to study broadcast channels with confidential messages; and removing the secrecy constraints to study the classical broadcast channel.
The coordination of signaling during Fc receptor‐mediated phagocytosis

Phagocytosis by macrophages can be initiated by Fcγ receptors (FcR) in membranes that bind to Fc regions of immunoglobulin G (IgG). Activated FcR transduce signals to cytoplasm, which regulate the internalization of IgG‐coated particles into plasma membrane‐derived vacuoles, phagosomes. Particles internalized by phagocytosis are much larger than FcR, which prompts questions of if and how the receptors are coordinated with each other. FcR‐mediated signal transduction entails recruitment of proteins from cytoplasm to the receptor, largely via protein phosphorylation. These FcR signaling complexes then activate proteins that regulate actin, myosin, membrane fusion, and the production of reactive oxygen intermediates. Recent fluorescence microscopic studies of phagocytosis in macrophages indicate that signaling by FcR occurs as a sequence of distinct stages, evident in the spatial and temporal patterns of phosphoinositides, protein kinase C, and Rho‐family GTPase activation on forming phagosomes. The coordination of these stages may be regulated by lipids or lipid‐anchored proteins, which diffuse away from FcR complexes. Lateral diffusion of FcR‐derived signals could integrate FcR‐dependent responses over large areas of membrane in the forming phagosome.
High Levels of S100A8/A9 Proteins Aggravate Ventilator-Induced Lung Injury via TLR4 Signaling

Background Bacterial products add to mechanical ventilation in enhancing lung injury. The role of endogenous triggers of innate immunity herein is less well understood. S100A8/A9 proteins are released by phagocytes during inflammation. The present study investigates the role of S100A8/A9 proteins in ventilator-induced lung injury. Methods Pulmonary S100A8/A9 levels were measured in samples obtained from patients with and without lung injury. Furthermore, wild-type and S100A9 knock-out mice, naive and with lipopolysaccharide-induced injured lungs, were randomized to 5 hours of spontaneously breathing or mechanical ventilation with low or high tidal volume (VT). In addition, healthy spontaneously breathing and high VT ventilated mice received S100A8/A9, S100A8 or vehicle intratracheal. Furthermore, the role of Toll-like receptor 4 herein was investigated. Results S100A8/A9 protein levels were elevated in patients and mice with lung injury. S100A8/A9 levels synergistically increased upon the lipopolysaccharide/high VT MV double hit. Markers of alveolar barrier dysfunction, cytokine and chemokine levels, and histology scores were attenuated in S100A9 knockout mice undergoing the double-hit. Exogenous S100A8/A9 and S100A8 induced neutrophil influx in spontaneously breathing mice. In ventilated mice, these proteins clearly amplified inflammation: neutrophil influx, cytokine, and chemokine levels were increased compared to ventilated vehicle-treated mice. In contrast, administration of S100A8/A9 to ventilated Toll-like receptor 4 mutant mice did not augment inflammation. Conclusion S100A8/A9 proteins increase during lung injury and contribute to inflammation induced by HVT MV combined with lipopolysaccharide. In the absence of lipopolysaccharide, high levels of extracellular S100A8/A9 still amplify ventilator-induced lung injury via Toll-like receptor 4.
CLINICAL PREDICTORS OF FAMILIAL DEPRESSION IN HAN CHINESE WOMEN

A number of clinical features potentially reflect an individual's familial vulnerability to major depression (MD), including early age at onset, recurrence, impairment, episode duration, and the number and pattern of depressive symptoms. However, these results are drawn from studies that have exclusively examined individuals from a European ethnic background. We investigated which clinical features of depressive illness index familial vulnerability in Han Chinese females with MD.
Reaction to Deviates and Conformers: The Effect of Regulatory Fit

Adherence to group norms is an important determinant of how members judge one another, with conformers typically being evaluated more positively than deviates (Levine & Kerr, 2007). This study tested predictions about reaction to conformers and deviates derived from Regulatory Fit Theory (Higgins, 2102), which takes account of people’s regulatory focus (promotion vs. prevention) and their manner of goal pursuit (eager vs. vigilant). According to the theory, because fit sustains an individual’s regulatory focus, it produces greater task engagement and intensification of affective responses to salient stimuli. The present study used a 2 (regulatory focus: promotion or prevention) x 2 (target status: deviate or conformer) x 2 (target advocacy style: eager or vigilant) between-participants design. After being induced to have either a promotion or prevention regulatory focus, male and female undergraduates in three-person groups reached consensus on a proposed senior thesis requirement, with most groups opposing the requirement (25 groups/condition). Participants then watched an ostensible student argue either for (deviate) or against (conformer) the requirement using either an eager or a vigilant advocacy style. Afterwards, participants discussed and evaluated the speaker and his message. For exploratory purposes, participants’ opinion change and the content and valence of their comments during the discussion were also assessed. Major predictions were that (a) regulatory fit would produce more task engagement (longer group discussions) than nonfit; (b) conformers would be evaluated more positively than deviates; (c) fit would intensify positive evaluations of conformers and negative evaluations of deviates; and (d) task engagement would mediate the impact of fit on reaction to both targets. Only the hypothesis that conformers would be evaluated more positively than deviates was confirmed. Additional analyses found that participants were more engaged when discussing deviates than conformers. There was also some evidence of minority influence by deviates. Finally, analyses of group discussions indicated that target status influenced both the content and valence of participants’ comments, and content and valence scores were related to the evaluation of the target. These results were interpreted, and directions for future research were suggested.
Spin-disorder resistivity of ferromagnetic metals from first principles: The disordered-local-moment approach

The paramagnetic spin-disorder resistivity (SDR) of transition-metal ferromagnets Fe, Co, Ni, ordered transition metal alloys Ni3Mn and Fe3Si as well as Ni2MnX (X = In,Sn,Sb) Heusler alloys is determined from first principles. SDR is evaluated similar to the residual resistivity by using the disordered local moment (DLM) model combined with the Kubo-Greenwood linear response calculation. The electronic structure is determined within the tight-binding linear muffin-tin orbital method and the coherent potential approximation (CPA) applied to the DLM state. We also estimate the temperature dependence of the resistivity below the Curie temperature using a simple model. The results agree well with the supercell Landauer-Büttiker calculations and, generally, with experimental data. For the Ni2MnSb Heusler alloy it is necessary to include substitutional disorder of B2-type to explain the experimental data.
Genome‐Wide Association Scan Allowing for Epistasis in Type 2 Diabetes

In the presence of epistasis multilocus association tests of human complex traits can provide powerful methods to detect susceptibility variants. We undertook multilocus analyses in 1924 type 2 diabetes cases and 2938 controls from the Wellcome Trust Case Control Consortium (WTCCC). We performed a two‐dimensional genome‐wide association (GWA) scan using joint two‐locus tests of association including main and epistatic effects in 70,236 markers tagging common variants. We found two‐locus association at 79 SNP‐pairs at a Bonferroni‐corrected P‐value = 0.05 (uncorrected P‐value = 2.14 × 10−11). The 79 pair‐wise results always contained rs11196205 in TCF7L2 paired with 79 variants including confirmed variants in FTO, TSPAN8, and CDKAL1, which are associated in the absence of epistasis. However, the majority (82%) of the 79 variants did not have compelling single‐locus association signals (P‐value = 5 × 10−4). Analyses conditional on the single‐locus effects at TCF7L2 established that the joint two‐locus results could be attributed to single‐locus association at TCF7L2 alone. Interaction analyses among the peak 80 regions and among 23 previously established diabetes candidate genes identified five SNP‐pairs with case‐control and case‐only epistatic signals. Our results demonstrate the feasibility of systematic scans in GWA data, but confirm that single‐locus association can underlie and obscure multilocus findings.
On the relation between 2+1 Einstein gravity and Chern-Simons theory

A simple example is given to show that the gauge equivalence classes of physical states in Chern-Simons theory are not in one-to-one correspondence with those of Einstein gravity in three spacetime dimensions. The two theories are therefore not equivalent. It is shown that including singular metrics into general relativity has more, and in fact a quite counter-intuitive, impact on the theory than one naively expects.