Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
CCA-TR-2007-02 Investigating Transfer Learning in the Urban Combat Testbed Investigators

We have developed a complex agent capable of transferring learned declarative knowledge between tasks in order to improve performance in a rich domain developed to test transfer performance (the Urban Combat Testbed). We present and discuss our experiments and results which demonstrate successful transfer learning. To better understand the underlying sources of transfer in this domain, we empirically evaluate the types of knowledge that contribute to the observed improvement in performance due to transfer, and discuss the implications of our analysis for general transfer learning research.
Genetics of meat quality and carcass traits and the impact of tenderstretching in two tropical beef genotypes

Meat quality and carcass traits were measured for 2180 feedlot finished Brahman (BRAH) and Tropical Composite (TCOMP) steers to investigate genetic and non-genetic influences on shear force, and other meat quality traits. Genetic and phenotypic correlations were estimated between carcass and meat quality traits, and with live animal measurements collected in steers from weaning to feedlot exit, and their heifer half-sibs up to their first mating, which were managed in Australia’s tropical or subtropical environments. Left sides of carcasses were tenderstretched (hung by the aitch-bone) while right sides were conventionally hung (by the Achilles tendon). Tenderstretching reduced mean shear force by 1.04 kg, and phenotypic variance by 77% of that observed in conventionally hung sides. Genotype differences existed for carcass traits, with TCOMP carcasses significantly heavier, fatter, with greater eye muscle area, and lower retail beef yield than BRAH. TCOMP had lower shear force, and higher percent intramuscular fat. Meat quality and carcass traits were moderately heritable, with estimates for shear force and compression of 0.33 and 0.19 for BRAH and 0.32 and 0.20 for TCOMP respectively. In both genotypes, estimates of heritability for carcass traits (carcass weight, P8 and rib fat depths, eye muscle area and retail beef yield) were consistently moderate to high (0.21 to 0.56). Shear force and compression were genetically correlated with percent intramuscular fat (r g = –0.26 and –0.57, respectively), and meat colour (r g = –0.41 and –0.68, respectively). For TCOMP, lower shear force was genetically related to decreased carcass P8 fat depth (r g = 0.51). For BRAH steers and heifers measured at pasture, fatness traits and growth rates were genetically correlated with shear force, although the magnitude of these relationships varied with time of measurement. Net feed intake was significantly genetically correlated with carcass rib fat depth (r g = 0.49), eye muscle area (r g = –0.42) and retail beef yield (r g = –0.61). These results demonstrate that selection to improve production and carcass traits can impact meat quality traits in tropically adapted cattle, and that genotype specific evaluations will be necessary to accommodate different genetic relationships between meat quality, carcass and live animal traits.
Simulation of the effects of aerosol on mixed‐phase orographic clouds using the WRF model with a detailed bin microphysics scheme

The Weather Research Forecast (WRF) mesoscale model coupled with a detailed bin microphysics scheme is used to investigate the impact of aerosol particles serving as cloud condensation nuclei and ice nuclei on orographic clouds and precipitation. A mixed‐phase orographic cloud developed under two scenarios of aerosol (a typical continental background and a relatively polluted urban condition) and ice nuclei over an idealized mountain is simulated. The results show that, when the initial aerosol condition is changed from the relatively clean case to the polluted scenario, more droplets are activated, leading to a delay in precipitation, but the precipitation amount over the terrain is increased by about 10%. A detailed analysis of the microphysical processes indicates that ice‐phase particles play an important role in cloud development, and their contribution to precipitation becomes more important with increasing aerosol particle concentrations. The growth of ice‐phase particles through riming and Wegener‐Bergeron‐Findeisen regime is more effective under more polluted conditions, mainly due to the increased number of droplets with a diameter of 10–30 µm. Sensitivity tests also show that a tenfold increase in the concentration of ice crystals formed from ice nucleation leads to about 7% increase in precipitation, and the sensitivity of the precipitation to changes in the concentration and size distribution of aerosol particles is becoming less pronounced when the concentration of ice crystals is also increased.
On the spectral efficiency of space-constrained massive MIMO with linear receivers

In this paper, we investigate the spectral efficiency (SE) of massive multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) systems with a large number of antennas at the base station (BS) accounting for physical space constraints. In contrast to the vast body of related literature, which considers fixed inter-element spacing, we elaborate on a practical topology in which an increase in the number of antennas in a fixed total space induces an inversely proportional decrease in the inter-antenna distance. For this scenario, we derive exact and approximate expressions, as well as simplified upper/lower bounds, for the SE of maximum-ratio combining (MRC), zero-forcing (ZF) and minimum mean-squared error receivers (MMSE) receivers. In particular, our analysis shows that the MRC receiver is non-optimal for space-constrained massive MIMO topologies. On the other hand, ZF and MMSE receivers can still deliver an increasing SE as the number of BS antennas grows large. Numerical results corroborate our analysis and show the effect of the number of antennas, the number of users, and the total antenna array space on the sum SE performance.
Improved efficacy of mitoxantrone in patients with castration-resistant prostate cancer after vaccination with GM-CSF-transduced allogeneic prostate cancer cells

ABSTRACT Previous vaccination studies in patients with castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC) showed improved survival without prolongation of progression-free survival (PFS). This might be explained by enhanced efficacy of subsequent therapies because of heightened immune status. We therefore evaluated the efficacy of chemotherapy in CRPC patients after immunotherapy. We retrospectively analyzed 28 patients who were treated with ipilimumab and GVAX, an allogeneic vaccine, and 21 patients who were randomized to GVAX or no vaccination. To study whether immune status was related to the efficacy of chemotherapy, frequencies of myeloid and lymphocyte subsets were determined. Of 28 patients treated with GVAX and ipilimumab, 23 patients received docetaxel and 13 patients mitoxantrone. Median PFS after docetaxel was 6.4 mo (range 0.8–11.2), while median PFS after mitoxantrone was markedly longer than expected (4.8 mo; range 1.4–13.7). High CD8+ICOS+ Tcell/Treg and pDC/mMDSC ratios were associated with relatively long PFS after mitoxantrone, suggesting a correlation between activated immune status and benefit of mitoxantrone. Analysis of 21 patients, randomized to GVAX or not, revealed a median PFS after docetaxel of 9.9 mo for vaccinated patients and 7.1 mo for unvaccinated patients. Interestingly, PFS after mitoxantrone (n = 14) was significantly longer in vaccinated patients as compared to controls (5.9 vs. 1.6 mo, p = 0.0048). In conclusion, mitoxantrone seems more effective in CRPC patients after immunotherapy, which may be related to the immune-stimulating effect of mitoxantrone in patients with heightened antitumor immunity. As this was a retrospective study with limited sample size, prospective studies are warranted to definitively show proof of principle.
DNA damage in Chinese hamster cells repeatedly exposed to low doses of X-rays

In a recent paper we reported the results of an experiment carried out by analysing chromosomal damage in Chinese hamster (CHO) cells exposed to low doses of X-rays. The present investigation was undertaken in order to validate those results using a different approach, the single cell gel electrophoresis assay (comet assay) immediately after irradiation. Cells were cultured during 14 cycles, irradiation treatment was performed once per cycle when the cells were at 90–95% of confluence. Doses of 2.5, 5.0 and 10.0 mSv were used. Sequential irradiation of CHO cells induced a decrease of cells without migration and an increase of cells showing DNA damage with the three doses employed. Significant increases of low-level damaged cells (p < 0.001) were found for the 14 exposures when compared to controls except for the first irradiations with 2.5 and 10 mSv, respectively. No significant increase of the frequency of cells with severe damage was observed in any case. These findings could be explained by assuming a complex interactive process of cell recovery, DNA damage and repair together with the induction of genomic instability, the incidence of bystander effects as well as some kind of radioadaptative response of the cells. If these phenomena are limited to the cell line employed deserves further investigation.
Mouse thymic epithelial cell lines interact with and select a CD3lowCD4+CD8+ thymocyte subset through an LFA-1-dependent adhesion--de-adhesion mechanism.

Differentiation of bone-marrow-derived precursor cells into mature mouse T lymphocytes occurs in the thymus and involves sequential interactions with MHC-positive hemopoietic and epithelial stromal cells. To study the in vitro molecular mechanisms at play during the lympho-epithelial cell adhesion, we derived thymic stromal cell lines which were shown to possess cytokeratin filaments and tight junctions. These mouse thymic epithelial (MTE) cell lines did not express the classical hemopoietic stromal cell surface markers (i.e. LFA-1, Mac-1, and CD45) but expressed ICAM-1, NCAM, J11d, CD44, and MHC molecules. A quantitative cell adhesion assay was used to evaluate the interaction of various lymphoid cell subsets with MTE cells. Two cell interaction patterns could be defined: first, a rapid adhesion of a fraction of CD4+CD8+ and of a few CD4-CD8- immature thymocytes to MTE cells was observed at 4 degrees C. The CD8 molecule was shown to be partially involved in this initial contact. The strength of adhesion between MTE cells and distinct thymocyte subsets was evaluated and found to be maximal with neonatal thymocytes. Second, a temperature-dependent adhesion step characterized by a rapid and active stabilization of the interaction of MTE cells with 20% of CD4+CD8+CD3low thymocytes was seen, followed by a more progressive de-adhesion step. This active process of engagement was highly LFA-1-dependent, involved the CD4 and CD8 molecules, and required protein kinase C activation and cytoskeletal integrity. The results are consistent with the involvement of LFA-1 in a transient and regulated cell adhesion under the control of the TCR-CD3 complex that progressively appears on maturing cells. This phenomenon might contribute to the selection of a subset of immature thymocytes by epithelial cells occurring during the process of maturation of these cells.
Optimum decision feedback multiuser equalization with successive decoding achieves the total capacity of the Gaussian multiple-access channel

The complex Gaussian multiple-access channel (GMAC) Y_=AX_+N_ is considered. The transmitters send information independently with a power constraint so that X_ has a product distribution with E[|X/sub k/|/sup 2/]/spl les/P/sub k/. It is known that multiuser codes exist that will achieve any rate-tuple in the capacity region of the GMAC provided that an optimum joint decoder is used. However, little progress has been made in multiuser coding, and moreover, optimum joint decoding would be too complex. We restrict the decoder to be of a successive decoding type with equalization. Such a decoder is parameterized by feedforward and feedback equalization vectors. The optimum successive decoder (OSD) is obtained by maximizing the mutual information for each user over those vectors. The key result of this paper is that the OSD achieves the total capacity of the GMAC at any vertex of the capacity region. With the OSD, each transmitter can use a single-user code independently of the other users. The complexity of equalization is also only linear in the number of users. For the conventional GMAC, Y=/spl Sigma//sub i=1//sup M/ X/sub i/+N, where A is a row vector with unit elements, the OSD is degenerate and involves no equalization. It reduces to the well-known successive decoder for that channel as described by Wynter (1974) and Cover (1975). Furthermore, for the particular case of the uncoded channel, the OSD reduces to a new decision feedback multiuser detector. This detector is optimum in the sense that it maximizes signal-to-interference ratio for each user.
Selection of Resistant Bacteria at Very Low Antibiotic Concentrations

The widespread use of antibiotics is selecting for a variety of resistance mechanisms that seriously challenge our ability to treat bacterial infections. Resistant bacteria can be selected at the high concentrations of antibiotics used therapeutically, but what role the much lower antibiotic concentrations present in many environments plays in selection remains largely unclear. Here we show using highly sensitive competition experiments that selection of resistant bacteria occurs at extremely low antibiotic concentrations. Thus, for three clinically important antibiotics, drug concentrations up to several hundred-fold below the minimal inhibitory concentration of susceptible bacteria could enrich for resistant bacteria, even when present at a very low initial fraction. We also show that de novo mutants can be selected at sub-MIC concentrations of antibiotics, and we provide a mathematical model predicting how rapidly such mutants would take over in a susceptible population. These results add another dimension to the evolution of resistance and suggest that the low antibiotic concentrations found in many natural environments are important for enrichment and maintenance of resistance in bacterial populations.
Autocrine Growth of Transitional Cell Carcinoma of the Bladder Induced by Granulocyte-Colony Stimulating Factor 1

Granulocyte-colony stimulating factor (G-CSF) produced by nonhematopoietic malignant cells has been reported to be capable of inducing a leukemoid reaction in the host through intense stimulation of leukocyte production. Furthermore, this is frequently associated with aggressive tumor cell growth and a detrimental clinical outcome. In this study, we identified bladder cancer cells producing G-CSF with the expression of the functional receptor, which provides direct evidence of autocrine growth of bladder cancer cells induced by G-CSF. The cancer cells used in this study were obtained from a 76-year-old man who had a metastatic transitional cell carcinoma of the bladder and who demonstrated marked leukocytosis; his peripheral blood leukocyte count was 94,900 leukocytes/ mm3, and his serum G-CSF level was 103 pg/ml. The culture medium in which the cancer cells were grown exclusively contained a significant amount of G-CSF (5560 pg/ml). Significant G-CSF inKN A expression and G-CSF receptor mRNA expression in the cultured cells were demon strated by the reverse transcription-PCR method. In addition, binding studies with the use of radiolabeled recombinant G-CSF demonstrated the presence of high-affinity G-CSF binding receptors on the cultured cancer cells. Finally, the proliferation of the cultured cancer cells was stimulated by exogenous G-CSF administration, and this stimulation was inhibited by adding anti-G-CSF antibody, as demonstrated by both the flow cytometric bromodeoxyuridine incorporation technique and the | 'lI |lh\miilinc incor poration assay. These results strongly suggest that G-CSF production by the bladder cancer cells studied augments autocrine growth. Therefore, we recommend exercising caution in the clinical use of G-CSF for bladder cancer patients.
Assessment of runoff water quality for an integrated best management practice system in an agricultural watershed

To better understand, implement, and integrate best management practices (BMPs) in agricultural watersheds, critical information on their effectiveness is required. A representative agricultural watershed, Beasley Lake, was used to compare runoff water quality draining through an integrated system of BMPs from row crop cultivated subdrainages as part of the national Conservation Effects Assessment Project (CEAP). From 2011 to 2014, runoff samples were collected across three subdrainages representing two integrated BMPs and three subdrainages representing row crop cultivation. Best management practice sites studied were two vegetated drainage ditches (east [EDV] and west [WDV]) that subsequently flowed into a vegetated sedimentation pond (SP). A suite of critical water quality parameters were assessed and included total suspended solids (TSS), total phosphorus (TP), total nitrogen (TN), nitrate-nitrogen (NO3-N), ammonium-nitrogen (NH4-N), and orthophosphate-phosphorus (PO4-P). During the four-year study period, integrated BMPs were effective at mitigating TSS runoff loads relative to row crop, but less effective at mitigating nutrient runoff loads. Runoff from WDV and SP were only moderately effective in mitigating nutrients in runoff with only TN and TP consistently reduced relative to row crop. Effectiveness of BMPs were primarily a result of the amount of area in tillage practices and crops planted relative to BMP within subdrainage basin area. Decreasing tillage:BMP and/or crop:BMP area ratios produced a subsequent decrease in runoff loads with the exception of NH4-N and PO4-P.
Deciphering TGF‐β3 function in medial edge epithelium specification and fusion during mouse secondary palate development

Background: Transforming growth factor‐β3 (TGF‐β3) plays a central role in mediating secondary palate fusion along the facial midline. However, the mechanisms by which TGF‐β3 functions during secondary palate fusion are still poorly understood. Results: We found that mouse cytokeratin 6α and 17 mRNAs were expressed exclusively in the palate medial edge epithelium on embryonic day 14.5, and this expression was completely abolished in Tgf‐β3 mutant embryos. In contrast, we found that Jagged2 was initially expressed throughout the palate epithelium, but was specifically down‐regulated in the medial edge epithelium during palatal fusion. Jagged2 down‐regulation was regulated by TGF‐β3, since Jagged2 was persistently expressed in palatal medial edge epithelium in Tgf‐β3 null mutant embryos. Moreover, addition of DAPT, a specific inhibitor of Notch signaling, partially rescued the fusion defects in Tgf‐β3 null mutant palatal shelves. Conclusions: Based on these results, together with the previous study indicating that the loss of Jagged2 function promotes embryonic oral epithelial fusion, we concluded that TGF‐β3 mediates palate fusion in part by down‐regulating Jagged2 expression in palatal medial edge epithelium. In addition, cytokeratin 6α and 17 are two TGF‐β3 downstream target genes in palate medial edge epithelium differentiation. Developmental Dynamics 243:1536–1543, 2014. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Influenza-Associated Disease Burden in Kenya: A Systematic Review of Literature

Background In Kenya data on the burden of influenza disease are needed to inform influenza control policies. Methods We conducted a systematic review of published data describing the influenza disease burden in Kenya using surveillance data collected until December 2013. We included studies with laboratory confirmation of influenza, well-defined catchment populations, case definitions used to sample patients for testing and a description of the laboratory methods used for influenza testing. Studies with or without any adjustments on the incidence rates were included. Results Ten studies reporting the incidence of medically-attended and non-medically attended influenza were reviewed. For all age groups, the influenza positive proportion ranged from 5–10% among hospitalized patients, and 5–27% among all medically-attended patients (a combination of in- and outpatients). The adjusted incidence rate of hospitalizations with influenza among children <5 years ranged from 2.7–4.7 per 1,000 [5.7 per 1,000 in children <6 months old], and were 7–10 times higher compared to persons aged ≥5 years. The adjusted incidence of all medically-attended influenza among children aged <5 years ranged from 13.0–58.0 per 1,000 compared to 4.3–26.0 per 1,000 among persons aged ≥5 years. Conclusions Our review shows an expanding set of literature on disease burden associated with influenza in Kenya, with a substantial burden in children under five years of age. Hospitalizations with influenza in these children were 2–3 times higher than reported in the United States. These findings highlight the possible value of an influenza vaccination program in Kenya, with children <5 years and pregnant women being potentially important targets.
A New Look at the Power Method for Fast Subspace Tracking

A class of fast subspace tracking methods such as the Oja method, the projection approximation subspace tracking (PAST) method, and the novel information criterion (NIC) method can be viewed as power-based methods. Unlike many non-power-based methods such as the Given's rotation based URV updating method and the operator restriction algorithm, the power-based methods with arbitrary initial conditions are convergent to the principal subspace of a vector sequence under a mild assumption. This paper elaborates on a natural version of the power method. The natural power method is shown to have the fastest convergence rate among the power-based methods. Three types of implementations of the natural power method are presented in detail, which require respectively O(n2p), O(np2), and O(np) flops of computation at each iteration (update), where n is the dimension of the vector sequence and p is the dimension of the principal subspace. All of the three implementations are shown to be globally convergent under a mild assumption. The O(np) implementation of the natural power method is shown to be superior to the O(np) equivalent of the Oja, PAST, and NIC methods. Like all power-based methods, the natural power method can be easily modified via subspace deflation to track the principal components and, hence, the rank of the principal subspace.