Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Synaptic Weight Noise During MLP Learning Enhances Fault-Tolerance, Generalization and Learning Trajectory

We analyse the effects of analog noise on the synaptic arithmetic during MultiLayer Perceptron training, by expanding the cost function to include noise-mediated penalty terms. Predictions are made in the light of these calculations which suggest that fault tolerance, generalisation ability and learning trajectory should be improved by such noise-injection. Extensive simulation experiments on two distinct classification problems substantiate the claims. The results appear to be perfectly general for all training schemes where weights are adjusted incrementally, and have wide-ranging implications for all applications, particularly those involving "inaccurate" analog neural VLSI.
Molecular Phylogeography of the Red Deer (Cervus elaphus) Populations in Xinjiang of China: Comparison with other Asian, European, and North American Populations

Abstract To illustrate phylogeography of red deer (Cervus elaphus) populations of Xinjiang, we determined their mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) control region sequences, and then investigated geographic variations and phylogenetic relationships between Xinjiang populations and other populations from Asia, Europe, and North America. The C. elaphus mtDNA control region shared different copy numbers of tandem repeats of 38 to 43-bp motifs which clearly distinguished the Western lineage from the Eastern lineage of this species in Eurasia. The western lineage comprised the Tarim populations from southern Xinjiang and the European populations, all of which had four copies of the motifs. By contrast, the Eastern lineage consisted of populations from northern Xinjiang (Tianshan and Altai Mountains), other Asian areas (Alashan, Gansu, Tibet, Mongolia, and northeastern China), and North America, all of which shared six copies of the motifs. MtDNA phylogenetic trees showed that there are two major clusters of haplotypes which referred to the Western and Eastern lineages, and that subgroupings of haplotypes in each cluster were congruent with their geographic distributions. The present study revealed that a boundary separating the Western lineage from the Eastern lineage occurs between Tarim Basin and Tianshan Mountains in Xinjiang. Meanwhile, North American populations were genetically closer to those of northern Xinjiang, northeastern China, and Mongolia, supporting that C. elaphus immigrated from northeastern Eurasia to North America through the glacier-induced land-bridge (Beringia) which had formed between the two continents after Late Pleistocene.
Perioperative and postoperative risk factors for corneal graft failure

Purpose In this study, we assessed the outcome of penetrating keratoplasties using organ-cultured corneal tissues at the University Eye Hospital, Ludwig-Maximilians-University, Munich, Germany. The goal was to identify perioperative and postoperative risk factors that may affect graft survival. Patients and methods The medical records of 377 patients who underwent a penetrating keratoplasty between 2001 and 2011 were reviewed. Organ-cultured corneal tissue was obtained from the eye bank of Ludwig-Maximilians-University. Perioperative and postoperative risk factors for graft failure were evaluated by univariate and multivariate analyses. Results The 5-year overall survival rate of penetrating keratoplasties was 68%. Graft failure occurred in 26% of patients. High-risk keratoplasties, such as repeat penetrating keratoplasties and emergency penetrating keratoplasties, as well as postoperative conditions, such as glaucoma, retinal surgery, suture problems, persistent epithelial defect, infectious keratitis, and graft rejection, were significantly associated with graft failure in the multivariate analyses. Conclusion This study showed a similar graft-survival rate as demonstrated in previous studies. In addition, a number of perioperative and postoperative risk factors were identified in this specific patient population.
Metabolism of 3-Nitrotyrosine Induces Apoptotic Death in Dopaminergic Cells

Intrastriatal injection of 3-nitrotyrosine, which is a biomarker for nitrating oxidants, provokes dopaminergic neuronal death in rats by unknown mechanisms. Herein, we show that extracellular 3-nitrotyrosine is transported via the l-aromatic amino acid transporter in nondopaminergic NT2 cells, whereas in dopaminergic PC12 cells, it is transported by both the l-aromatic amino acid and the dopamine transporters. In both cell lines, 3-nitrotyrosine is a substrate for tyrosine tubulin ligase, resulting in its incorporation into the C terminus of α-tubulin. In NT2 cells, incorporation of 3-nitrotyrosine into α-tubulin induces a progressive, reversible reorganization of the microtubule architecture. In PC12 cells, 3-nitrotyrosine decreases intracellular dopamine levels and is metabolized by the concerted action of the aromatic amino acid decarboxylase and monoamine oxidase. Intracellular levels of 133 μmol of 3-nitrotyrosine per mole of tyrosine did not alter NT2 viability but induced PC12 apoptosis. The cell death was reversed by caspases and aromatic amino acid decarboxylase and monoamine oxidase inhibitors. 3-Nitrotyrosine induced loss of tyrosine hydroxylase-positive primary rat neurons, which was also prevented by an aromatic amino acid decarboxylase inhibitor. These findings provide a novel mechanism by which products generated by reactive nitrogen species induce dopaminergic neuron death and thus may contribute to the selective neurodegeneration in Parkinson's disease.
On runlength-limited coding with DC control

Constructions are presented of finite-state encoders for certain (d,k) runlength-limited (RLL) constraints with direct current control. In particular, an example is provided for a rate 8:16 encoder for the (2,10)-RLL constraint that requires no look-ahead in decoding, thus, performing favorably compared to the EFMPlus code used in the DVD standard.
Effect of Dentin Surface Treatment Using a Non-Thermal Argon Plasma Brush on the Bond Strength of a Self-Adhesive Resin Composite

1 Postgraduate Student, Department of Operative Dentistry, School of Dentistry, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran 2 Associate Professor, Dental Research Center, Dentistry Research Institute, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran AND Department of Operative Dentistry, School of Dentistry, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran 3 Assistant Professor, Laser Research Center in Dentistry, Dentistry Research Institute, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran AND Department of Operative Dentistry, School of Dentistry, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
Applying ISO 9001:2000, MPS.BR and CMMI to Achieve Software Process Maturity: BL Informatica's Pathway

Customer satisfaction, quality improvement and rework reduction are known to be the most important benefits obtained through deployment of software process maturity models and standards within an organization. Since 2003 BL Informatica has been motivated and has established and maintained its software processes based on international standards (like ISO 9001:2000) and maturity models (like MPS.BR and CMMI). In spite of the lack of financial and human resources, the organization achieved satisfactory results. This paper describes BL Infomatica's software processes improvement plan, lessons learned, difficulties and benefits that where collected during the execution of the improvement plan. It also presents quantitative results that demonstrate the return on investment during these years.
HW-SW partitioning based on genetic algorithm

HW-SW partitioning is an important problem in HW-SW codesign of embedded systems. We establish a HW-SW partitioning model based on system's basic scheduling block (BSB) graph and propose a modified genetic partitioning algorithm (MGPA). By adopting an adaptive fitness function definition and a novel evolving strategy, we enhance the stability, efficiency and result quality of our partitioning algorithm. Experiment results show the algorithm's effectiveness in solving the HW-SW partitioning problem.
Adult Stem Cells for Myocardial Repair

Cell transplantation for myocardial repair has emerged as a promising therapy for patients with heart failure. Recent in vitro and in vivo animal studies have suggested the potential of different cell types to differentiate into tissues required for cardiac repair namely endothelial cells and cardiomyocytes. In this review, we will focus on the potential of adult stem cells obtained from adult muscle and adult bone marrow to regenerate cardiac tissue. There are a number of studies suggesting that autologous myoblast or satellite cells can contribute in vivo to improve cardiac contractility. In fact, several clinical studies have been initiated using autologous ex vivo expanded myoblast in patients with myocardial infarction. We will review the rationale for this approach. Although attractive, the use of muscle derived progenitors has been questioned as these cells may not have the potential to differentiate into cardiac tissues. Besides, initial studies have been associated with a high incidence of cardiac arrythmias. Bone marrow derived stem cells have also been explored in vitro and in animal models in the context of cardiac repair. The potential of adult bone marrow derived stem cells to differentiate into cardiomyocytes and endothelial cells will be summarized as well as the initial results of clinical trials using autologous bone marrow cells.
Cortical vascular abnormalities in the syndrome of celiac disease, epilepsy, bilateral occipital calcifications, and folate deficiency

The pathological changes in the syndrome of celiac disease, folate deficiency, bilateral occipital calcifications, and intractable epilepsy have not been previously described. A child with this disorder had a field defect correlating with active lateralized epileptic discharges and asymmetrical lesions. After resection of the right occipital lobe she was seizure free for 4 years. A cortical vascular abnormality with patchy pial angiomatosis, fibrosed veins, and large jagged microcalcifications was found. These pathological abnormalities were similar though not identical to those found in the Sturge‐Weber syndrome.
Genetic and non genetic effects for lactation curve traits in Holstein-Friesian cows

The objective of this study was to determine the genetic and non genetic effects on lactation curve traits determined by the incomplete gamma function of Wood (1967) for HolsteinFriesian cows in Morocco. Data analysed included 49 262 monthly records of the test-day milk yield from 4 888 lactations of 3 932 cows at their 1st, 2nd or 3rd parity collected during 1990 and 1999 in 232 herds enrolled in the official milk recording. In general, lactation curve traits (A, B, C, peak time [T max ], peak milk yield [Y max ], persistency and 305 day milk yield [MY305]) were affected by herd, parity, age at calving, season of calving and year of calving. Heritability estimates were low and varied from 0.01 for parameter A to 0.10 for Y max . Genetic and phenotypic correlations among traits varied from −0.79 to 1.00 and from −0.80 to 0.96, respectively. Genetic correlations between MY305 and parameter C were negative, but those between MY305 and all the other lactation curve traits were positive. It was concluded that selection for high peak milk yield and persistency will result in higher 305 day milk yield.
Learning task space control through goal directed exploration

We present an autonomous goal-directed strategy to learn how to control a redundant robot in the task space. We discuss the advantages of exploring the state space through goal-directed actions defined in the task space (i.e. learning by trying to do) instead of performing motor babbling in the joints space, and we stress the importance of learning to be performed online, without any separation between training and execution. Our solution relies on learning the forward model and then inverting it for the control; different approaches to learn the forward model are described and compared. Experimental results on a simulated humanoid robot are provided to support our claims. The robot learns autonomously how to perform reaching actions directed toward 3D targets in task space by using arm and waist motion, not relying on any prior knowledge or initial motor babbling. To test the ability of the system to adapt to sudden changes both in the robot structure and in the perceived environment we artificially introduce two different kinds of kinematic perturbations: a modification of the length of one link and a rotation of the task space reference frame. Results demonstrate that the online update of the model allows the robot to cope with such situations.
Etiological diagnosis reduces the use of antibiotics in infants with bronchiolitis

OBJECTIVE: Acute bronchiolitis is a leading cause of infant hospitalization and is most commonly caused by respiratory syncytial virus. Etiological tests are not required for its diagnosis, but the influence of viral screening on the therapeutic approach for acute bronchiolitis remains unclear. METHODS: A historical cohort was performed to assess the impact of viral screening on drug prescriptions. The study included infants up to one year of age who were hospitalized for bronchiolitis. Virus screening was performed using immunofluorescence assays in nasopharyngeal aspirates. The clinical data were obtained from the patients' medical records. Therapeutic changes were considered to be associated with viral screening when made within 24 hours of the release of the results. RESULTS: The frequency of prescriptions for beta agonists, corticosteroids and antibiotics was high at the time of admission and was similar among the 230 patients. The diagnosis of pneumonia and otitis was associated with the introduction of antibiotics but did not influence antibiotics maintenance after the results of the virus screening were obtained. Changes in the prescriptions were more frequent for the respiratory syncytial virus patients compared to patients who had negative viral screening results (p = 0.004), especially the discontinuation of antibiotics (p<0.001). The identification of respiratory syncytial virus was associated with the suspension of antibiotics (p = 0.003), even after adjusting for confounding variables (p = 0.004); however, it did not influence the suspension of beta-agonists or corticosteroids. CONCLUSION: The identification of respiratory syncytial virus in infants with bronchiolitis was independently associated with the discontinuation of antibiotics during hospitalization.
Probability and Symmetry

The Principle of Indifference, which dictates that we ought to assign two outcomes equal probability in the absence of known reasons to do otherwise, is vulnerable to well-known objections. Nevertheless, the appeal of the principle, and of symmetry-based assignments of equal probability, persists. We show that, relative to a given class of symmetries satisfying certain properties, we are justified in calling certain outcomes equally probable, and more generally, in defining what we call relative probabilities. Relative probabilities are useful in providing a generalized approach to conditionalization. The technique is illustrated by application to simple examples.
Partition structures derived from Brownian motion and stable subordinators

Explicit formulae are obtained for the distribution of various random partitions of a positive integer n, both ordered and unordered, derived from the zero set M of a Brownian motion by the following scheme: pick n points uniformly at random from [0, 1], and classify them by whether they fall in the same or different component intervals of the complement of M. Corresponding results are obtained for M the range of a stable subordinator and for bridges defined by conditioning on 1 E M. These formulae are related to discrete renewal theory by a general method of discretizing a subordinator using the points of an independent homogeneous Poisson process.
Necessary conditions for optimal control problems with state constraints

Necessary conditions of optimality are derived for optimal control problems with pathwise state constraints, in which the dynamic constraint is modelled as a differential inclusion. The novel feature of the conditions is the unrestrictive nature of the hypotheses under which these conditions are shown to be valid. An Euler Lagrange type condition is obtained for problems where the multifunction associated with the dynamic constraint has values possibly unbounded, nonconvex sets and satisfies a mild `one-sided' Lipschitz continuity hypothesis. We recover as a special case the sharpest available necessary conditions for state constraint free problems proved in a recent paper by Ioffe. For problems where the multifunction is convex valued it is shown that the necessary conditions are still valid when the one-sided Lipschitz hypothesis is replaced by a milder, local hypothesis. A recent `dualization' theorem permits us to infer a strengthened form of the Hamiltonian inclusion from the Euler Lagrange condition. The necessary conditions for state constrained problems with convex valued multifunctions are derived under hypotheses on the dynamics which are significantly weaker than those invoked by Loewen and Rockafellar to achieve related necessary conditions for state constrained problems, and improve on available results in certain respects even when specialized to the state constraint free case. Proofs make use of recent `decoupling' ideas of the authors, which reduce the optimization problem to one to which Pontryagin's maximum principle is applicable, and a refined penalization technique to deal with the dynamic constraint.
Protein and mRNA Characterization in Human Colorectal Carcinoma Cell Lines with Different Metastatic Potentials

Metastasis, the important characteristic of malignant tumors, is closely associated with a series of changes in the expressions of genes and proteins. In this study, we compared mRNA and protein expressions in a pair of human colorectal carcinoma cell lines named SW620 and SW480 with different metastatic potentials by suppression subtractive hybridization and 2-dimensional gel electrophoresis combined with the matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometer. After suppression subtractive hybridization and differential screening, 24 differentially expressed gene fragments were obtained, including 9 known genes and 15 novel genes. Nine known genes, such as Cytochrome C, Oxidase II and III, Serum amyloid A, Mitotic Control Protein dis3, Eukaryotic Translation Initiation Factor 4A, function in the process of growth and differentiation, transcription, apoptosis, signal transduction. Six novel genes were found to locate in chromosome 5. Northern blot further confirmed the results. For protein analysis, 16 significantly different protein spots were detected using 2-dimensional gel electrophoresis and peptide mass fingerprinting analysis. The results were confirmed by Western blot. The peptide mass fingerprintings of spots were then compared with the NCBI and SWISS PROT database. The differentially expressed proteins included Galectin-1, Annexin A1, Casein kinase 2, Cytochrome c oxidase subunit VIb, S-100D calcium-binding protein, which may be involved in cell differentiation and proliferation, signal transduction, cell adhesion and migration, and tumor evasion of immune responses. An analysis of these genes and proteins reiterated much of our understanding of the metastatic process and also offered some identified targets without previously characterized functions, especially the novel metastasis associated genes, to be further investigated. Moreover, the results of the phenotypic function-related expression mapping analysis at the mRNA and protein level revealed obvious complementarities, providing important clues for further study of the molecular mechanism of metastasis, metastasis control and possible targets for cancer gene therapy.
Microstructure, mechanical properties and residual stress distribution in pulsed tungsten inert gas welding of Ti–5Al–2.5Sn alloy

Pulsed tungsten inert gas welding with full penetration was performed on 1.6 mm thick Ti–5Al–2.5Sn alloy sheet. Hole-drill strain measurement method was employed to measure the distribution of residual stresses across the weld line. Tensile tests were performed on the specimens sectioned in transverse direction of the welded sample. The evolved microstructure in the welded zone was investigated by metallography and X-ray diffraction. Transverse residual stresses of tensile nature were present at different depths below the surface and decreased the yield strength and ultimate tensile strength. However, this decrease was not dependent on the maximum value of transverse residual stress. Fracture location was found to be dependent on the micro-hardness profile and fracture took place in base metal where micro-hardness was the lowest. Furthermore, the presence of tensile residual stresses in the welded sample had no influence on the fractured surface morphology. Peak current and background current had a significant influence on the fusion zone width, heat-affected zone width, and fusion zone grain size.
Efficient computation of the Tikhonov regularization parameter by goal-oriented adaptive discretization

Parameter identification problems for partial differential equations (PDEs) often lead to large-scale inverse problems. For their numerical solution it is necessary to repeatedly solve the forward and even the inverse problem, as it is required for determining the regularization parameter, e.g., according to the discrepancy principle in Tikhonov regularization. To reduce the computational effort, we use adaptive finite-element discretizations based on goal-oriented error estimators. This concept provides an estimate of the error in a so-called quantity of interest, which is a functional of the searched for parameter q and the PDE solution u. Based on this error estimate, the discretizations of q and u are locally refined. The crucial question for parameter identification problems is the choice of an appropriate quantity of interest. A convergence analysis of the Tikhonov regularization with the discrepancy principle on discretized spaces for q and u provides a possible answer: it shows, that in order to determine the correct regularization parameter, one has to guarantee sufficiently high accuracy in the squared residual norm—which is therefore our quantity of interest—whereas q and u themselves need not be computed precisely everywhere. This fact allows for relatively low dimensional adaptive meshes and hence for a considerable reduction of the computational effort. In this paper, we study an efficient inexact Newton algorithm for determining an optimal regularization parameter in Tikhonov regularization according to the discrepancy principle. With the help of error estimators we guide this algorithm and control the accuracy requirements for its convergence. This leads to a highly efficient method for determining the regularization parameter.