Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Auction Mechanisms for Efficient Advertisement Selection on Public Displays

Public electronic displays can be used as an advertising medium when space is a scarce resource, and it is desirable to expose many adverts to as wide an audience as possible. Although the efficiency of such advertising systems can be improved if the display is aware of the identity and interests of the audience, this knowledge is difficult to acquire when users are not actively interacting with the display. To this end, we present BluScreen, an intelligent public display, which selects and displays adverts in response to users detected in the audience. Here, users are identified and their advert viewing history tracked, by detecting any Bluetooth-enabled devices they are carrying (e.g. phones, PDAs, etc.). Within BluScreen we have implemented an agent system that utilises an auction-based marketplace to efficiently select adverts for the display, and deployed this within an installation in our Department. We demonstrate, by means of an empirical evaluation, that the performance of this auction-based mechanism when used with our proposed bidding strategy, efficiently selects the best adverts in response to the audience presence. We bench-marked our advertising method with two other commonly applied selection methods for displaying adverts on public displays; specifically the Round-Robin and the Random approaches. The results show that our auction-based approach, that utilised the novel use of Bluetooth detection, outperforms these two methods by up to 64%.
Pathological demand avoidance: Exploring the behavioural profile

‘Pathological Demand Avoidance’ is a term increasingly used by practitioners in the United Kingdom. It was coined to describe a profile of obsessive resistance to everyday demands and requests, with a tendency to resort to ‘socially manipulative’ behaviour, including outrageous or embarrassing acts. Pathological demand avoidance is thought to share aspects of social impairment with autism spectrum disorders, but autism spectrum disorder–appropriate strategies, such as routine and repetition, are described as unhelpful. Outrageous acts and lack of concern for their effects draw parallels with conduct problems and callous-unemotional traits. However, reward-based techniques, effective with conduct problems and callous-unemotional traits, seem not to work in pathological demand avoidance. Despite increasing interest and controversy over the pathological demand avoidance label, there is only one published study to date. We present the first systematic comparison of the behavioural profile of children receiving the term pathological demand avoidance (N = 25) to children with autism spectrum disorders (N = 39) or conduct problems and callous-unemotional traits (N = 28), using parent-report indices of psychopathology. The pathological demand avoidance group displayed comparable levels of autistic traits and peer problems to the autism spectrum disorders group and anti-social traits approaching those seen in the conduct problems and callous-unemotional traits group. Emotional symptoms in pathological demand avoidance exceeded both comparison groups. Findings highlight the extreme behavioural impairment associated with pathological demand avoidance and the need to explore whether behavioural overlap reflects a similar neurocognitive basis to existing groups.
Cathepsin B Mediates Caspase-Independent Cell Death Induced by Microtubule Stabilizing Agents in Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer Cells

We have previously reported that the microtubule stabilizing agents (MSAs) paclitaxel, epothilone B and discodermolide induce caspase-independent cell death in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) cells. Here we present two lines of evidence indicating a central role for the lysosomal protease cathepsin B in mediating cell death. First, inhibition of cathepsin B, and not of caspases or other proteases, such as cathepsin D or calpains, results in a strong protection against drug-induced cell death in several NSCLC cells. Second, MSAs trigger disruption of lysosomes and release and activation of cathepsin B. Interestingly, inhibition of cathepsin B prevents the appearance of multinucleated cells, an early characteristic of MSA-induced cell death, pointing to a central, proximal role for cathepsin B in this novel cell death pathway.
High-affinity laminin receptor is a receptor for Sindbis virus in mammalian cells

Sindbis virus is an alphavirus with a very wide host range, being able to infect many birds and mammals as well as mosquitoes. We have isolated a monoclonal antibody that largely blocks virus binding to mammalian cells. This antibody was found to be directed against the C-terminal domain of the high-affinity laminin receptor, a 67-kDa protein present on the cell surface that binds with high affinity to basement membrane laminin and that is known to be important in development and in tumor invasion. This receptor is believed to be formed from a 295-amino-acid polypeptide that is modified in some unknown way after translation. The primary sequence of this 295-amino-acid protein is highly conserved among mammals. We found the hamster amino acid sequence to be identical to a mouse sequence and to differ at only two amino acids from a human sequence and at two amino acids from a bovine sequence. To verify the importance of the laminin receptor for infection by Sindbis virus, hamster cells were stably transfected with the gene encoding the 295-amino-acid protein under the control of a high-efficiency promoter. Such transfected hamster cells overexpressed the laminin receptor at the cell surface, bound severalfold more Sindbis virions than did the parental cells, and became infected by Sindbis virus with a higher efficiency. In contrast, cells transfected with the antisense gene expressed less laminin receptor on the surface and were less susceptible to the virus. Binding of the virus varied linearly with the amount of laminin receptor on the cell surface, whereas infectivity measured with a plaque assay varied with the 1.4 power of the receptor concentration, suggesting that interaction with more than one receptor aids virus penetration. By these criteria, the laminin receptor functions as the major receptor for Sindbis virus entry into mammalian cells. We also found that the anti-laminin receptor antibody partially blocked Sindbis virus binding to mosquito cells, suggesting that the laminin receptor is conserved in mosquitoes and functions as a Sindbis virus receptor in this host. The wide distribution of this highly conserved receptor may be in part responsible for the broad host range exhibited by the virus, which infects a wide range of mammals and birds as well as its mosquito vector and can infect many different tissues within these hosts. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)
Cellular DNA rearrangements and early developmental arrest caused by DNA insertion in transgenic mouse embryos

Insertional mutagenesis was investigated in a transgenic mouse strain (HUGH/4) derived from a fertilized egg injected with plasmid DNA containing the human growth hormone gene. Lethality occurred in homozygous embryos and was traced to the egg cylinder stage on days 4 to 5 of gestation, shortly after implantation. The mutation is on chromosome 12 and is distinct in location and integration pattern from another mutation also leading to lethality of homozygotes in the egg cylinder stage. Based on this and other evidence, relatively many genes may be recruited to activity near the time of implantation and may therefore present a large target of vulnerability to mutagenesis. The single insert in HUGH/4, consisting of approximately three tandem copies of plasmid sequences, is flanked by mouse cellular sequences that have undergone rearrangements, including a probable deletion. The data suggest the hypothesis that DNA rearrangements, which appear to be commonplace in transgenic mice, may arise because the initial insertional complex is unstable; stepwise changes may then be generated until a more stable conformation is achieved.
Decreased Seizure Activity in a Human Neonate Treated With Bumetanide, an Inhibitor of the Na+-K+-2Cl- Cotransporter NKCC1

Neonatal seizures have devastating consequences for brain development and are inadequately treated by available antiepileptics. In neonates, g-aminobutyric acid (GABA) is an excitatory neurotransmitter due to elevated levels of intraneuronal chloride achieved by robust activity of the Na+-K+-2Cl - cotransporter (NKCC1). This depolarizing action of GABA likely contributes to the lowered seizure threshold, increased seizure propensity, and poor efficacy of GABAergic anticonvulsants among infants. The diuretic bumetanide inhibits NKCC1 and silences seizure activity in rodent models of neonatal seizures, but its effect on seizures in human neonates is unknown. Continuous electroencephalography (EEG) monitoring was used to quantify the number, duration, and frequency of seizures 2 hours before and after the administration of bumetanide in a neonate with intractable multifocal seizures. Significant reductions in mean seizure duration and frequency were noted following treatment, with no associated clinical side effects or metabolic imbalances. These results suggest bumetanide may exert antiepileptic effects in human neonates.
pbcmc : Permutation-Based Confidence for Molecular Classification

The pbcmc package characterizes uncertainty assessment on gene expression classifiers, a. k. a. molecular signatures, based on a permutation test. In order to achieve this goal, synthetic simulated subjects are obtained by permutations of gene labels. Then, each synthetic subject is tested against the corresponding subtype classifier to build the null distribution. Thus, classification confidence measurement reports can be provided for each subject, to assist physician therapy choice. At present, it is only available for PAM50 implementation in genefu package but, it can easily be extend to other molecular signatures.
Interference-constrained wireless coverage in a protocol model

We present an O(nlogn) algorithm to compute the coverage map of a given set of transmitters under interference constraints. That is, we compute the set of points that lie within the transmission range of one transmitter and lie outside the interference range of every other transmitter. To our knowledge, there is no existing satisfactory algorithm for this purpose. We assume that the transmission and interference ranges of each transmitter are circular disks.We show that for an appropriate choice of 'distance measure', coverage at each point can be computed by considering only certain 'proximate' transmitters. Hence, we partition the plane into proximity regions and the coverage in these proximity regions is computed considering only proximate transmitters. We use an extension of Voronoi diagrams, called 'Power' diagrams, to represent the proximity regions.
Purification and characterization of an extracellular β-glucosidase from the thermophilic fungus Sporotrichum thermophile and its influence on cellulase activity

Multiple forms of β-glucosidase (EC 3.2.1.21) of Sporotrichum thermophile were produced when the fungus was grown in a cellulose medium. One β-glucosidase was purified 16fold from 6dold culture filtrates by ionexchange and gelfiltration chromatography. The purified enzyme was free of cellulase activity. It hydrolysed aryl β-Dglucosides and β-Dlinked diglucosides. It was optimally active at pH 5.4, at 65 °C. The apparent K m values for pnitrophenyl β-Dglucoside (PNPG) and cellobiose were 0.29 and 0.83 mM, respectively. Glucose, fucose, nojirimycin and gluconolactone inhibited β-glucosidase competitively. At high (> 1 mM) substrate concentration, β-glucosidase catalysed a parallel transglycosylation reaction. The transglycosylation product formed from cellobiose appeared to be a β-linked tetramer of glucose. Admixtures of β-glucosidase and cellulase components showed that the concept of cellobiose inhibition of cellulases was not valid for all components of the cellulase system of S. thermophile. β-Glucosidase supplementation also stimulated cellulose hydrolysis by cellulases when there was no accumulation of cellobiose in reaction mixture.
On the First Occurrence of Strings

We consider a game in which players select strings over $\{\,0, 1\,\}$ and observe a series of fair coin tosses, interpreted as a string over $\{\,0, 1\,\}$. The winner of this game is the player whose string appears first. For two players public knowledge of the opponent's string leads to an advantage. In this paper, results for three players are presented. It is shown that given the choices of the first two players, a third string can always be chosen with probability of winning greater than $1/3$. It is also shown that two players can chose strings such that the third player's probability of winning is strictly less than the greater of the other two player's probability of winning, and that whichever string is chosen, it will always have a disadvantage to one of the two other strings.
GSK‐3β controls autophagy by modulating LKB1‐AMPK pathway in prostate cancer cells

Glycogen synthase kinase 3β (GSK3B, GSK‐3β) is a multi‐functional protein kinase involved in various cellular processes and its activity elevates after serum deprivation. We have shown that inhibition of GSK‐3β activity triggered a profound autophagic response and subsequent necrotic cell death after serum deprivation in prostate cancer cells. In this study, we dissected the mechanisms involved in GSK‐3β inhibition‐triggered autophagy.
An Interesting New Mahonian Permutation Statistic

The standard algorithm for generating a random permutation gives rise to an obvious permutation statistic DIS that is readily seen to be Mahonian. We give evidence showing that it is not equal to any previously published statistic. Nor does its joint distribution with the standard Eulerian statistics des and exc appear to coincide with any known Euler-Mahonian pair. A general construction of Skandera yields an Eulerian partner eul such that (eul, DIS) is equidistributed with (des, MAJ). However eul itself appears not to be a known Eulerian statistic. Several ideas for further research on this topic are listed.
Detecting Memory Leaks Statically with Full-Sparse Value-Flow Analysis

We introduce a static detector, Saber, for detecting memory leaks in C programs. Leveraging recent advances on sparse pointer analysis, Saber is the first to use a full-sparse value-flow analysis for detecting memory leaks statically. Saber tracks the flow of values from allocation to free sites using a sparse value-flow graph (SVFG) that captures def-use chains and value flows via assignments for all memory locations represented by both top-level and address-taken pointers. By exploiting field-, flow- and context-sensitivity during different phases of the analysis, Saber detects memory leaks in a program by solving a graph reachability problem on its SVFG. Saber, which is fully implemented in Open64, is effective at detecting 254 leaks in the 15 SPEC2000 C programs and seven applications, while keeping the false positive rate at 18.3 percent. Saber compares favorably with several static leak detectors in terms of accuracy (leaks and false alarms reported) and scalability (LOC analyzed per second). In particular, compared with Fastcheck (which analyzes allocated objects flowing only into top-level pointers) using the 15 SPEC2000 C programs, Saber detects 44.1 percent more leaks at a slightly higher false positive rate but is only a few times slower.
The Incremental Value of Three‐Dimensional Transthoracic Echocardiography in Adult Congenital Heart Disease

Imaging with echocardiography is useful in diagnosing congenital heart disease (CHD). Two‐dimensional (2D) transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) has been the standard cardiac imaging modality, but it forces the reader to mentally create the three‐dimensional (3D) cardiac anatomy to understand these complex diseases. 3D TTE, which has relatively recently emerged to address this limitation, is capable of providing clear and dynamic 3D views of these anatomic defects and offers more insight on how to manage them. This review article will address the benefit of utilizing 3D TTE for proper characterization of different types of CHD in the adult and as a guide to appropriate treatment.
Anaerobic Respiration on Tellurate and Other Metalloids in Bacteria from Hydrothermal Vent Fields in the Eastern Pacific Ocean

ABSTRACT This paper reports the discovery of anaerobic respiration on tellurate by bacteria isolated from deep ocean (1,543 to 1,791 m) hydrothermal vent worms. The first evidence for selenite- and vanadate-respiring bacteria from deep ocean hydrothermal vents is also presented. Enumeration of the anaerobic metal(loid)-resistant microbial community associated with hydrothermal vent animals indicates that a greater proportion of the bacterial community associated with certain vent fauna resists and reduces metal(loid)s anaerobically than aerobically, suggesting that anaerobic metal(loid) respiration might be an important process in bacteria that are symbiotic with vent fauna. Isolates from Axial Volcano and Explorer Ridge were tested for their ability to reduce tellurate, selenite, metavanadate, or orthovanadate in the absence of alternate electron acceptors. In the presence of metal(loid)s, strains showed an ability to grow and produce ATP, whereas in the absence of metal(loid)s, no growth or ATP production was observed. The protonophore carbonyl cyanide m-chlorophenylhydrazone depressed metal(loid) reduction. Anaerobic tellurate respiration will be a significant component in describing biogeochemical cycling of Te at hydrothermal vents.
Tree Preprocessing and Test Outcome Caching for Efficient Hierarchical Delta Debugging

Test case reduction has been automated since the introduction of the minimizing Delta Debugging algorithm, but improving the efficiency of reduction is still the focus of research. This paper focuses on Hierarchical Delta Debugging, already an improvement over the original technique, and describes how its input tree and caching approach can be changed for higher efficiency. The proposed optimizations were evaluated on artificial and real test cases of 6 different input formats, and achieved an average 45% drop in the number of testing steps needed to reach the minimized results - with the best improvement being as high as 82%, giving a more than 5-fold speedup.
Sumatriptan/naproxen sodium combination versus its components administered concomitantly for the acute treatment of migraine: a pragmatic, crossover, open-label outcomes study

Objective: Efficacy and tolerability profiles of Treximet [sumatriptan/naproxen sodium combination tablet (SNC)] have been established in clinical trials but have to date been virtually unstudied in pragmatic research. The primary objective of this study was to compare the overall satisfaction of SNC to its monotherapy components, S/N [one 100 mg Imitrex tablet (S) and two Aleve (naproxen sodium) 220 mg tablets, total dose 440 mg (N)] administered concomitantly using the Patient Perception of Migraine Questionnaire –Revised (PPMQ-R). Methods: Adults with migraine (n = 50) without ‘medication overuse headache’ were treated for up to 18 migraine attacks per 3-month study period with study medication; SNC during one study period and S/N during the other study period. For all endpoints, differences between treatments were compared with paired t tests. Results: The percentage of patients reporting satisfied/very satisfied for Overall Satisfaction of SNC versus S/N (primary endpoint) was 85% versus 72% respectively (p = 0.054). For Overall Effectiveness, the results were 82% for SNC versus 73% for S/N (p = 0.159); and for Overall Side Effects the results were 86% for SNC versus 69% for S/N (p = 0.005). Mean PPMQ-R scores reflect greater satisfaction with SNC than S/N for Total score and for each of four subscales. The difference between SNC and S/N was significant for the Ease of Use subscale (p = 0.004) and met the criterion of being clinically meaningful for both the Total score and Ease of Use. SNC did not differ from S/N with respect to pain-free response 2 h post dose, pain relief 2 h post dose, sustained 24 h pain-free response, or sustained 24 h pain relief. Conclusion: Although the primary endpoint only just failed, the results of this pragmatic outcomes study demonstrate SNC to have benefits over its concomitantly administered components in the acute treatment of migraine.
Regulation of Spine Formation by ErbB4 in PV-Positive Interneurons

The trophic factor neuregulin 1 (Nrg1) and its receptor ErbB4 are schizophrenia candidate genes. NRG1-ErbB4 signaling was thought to regulate spine formation and function in a cell-autonomous manner. Yet, recent studies indicate that ErbB4 expression is largely restricted to GABAergic interneurons and is very low or absent in pyramidal cells. Here, we generated and characterized cell type-specific ErbB4 mutant and transgenic mice. Spine density and the number of excitatory synapses were unaltered by neither deletion nor overexpression of ErbB4 in pyramidal neurons. However, spine density and excitatory synapse number were reduced in PV-ErbB4−/− mice where ErbB4 was selectively ablated in parvalbumin-positive GABAergic interneurons. Concurrently, basal glutamate transmission was impaired in PV-ErbB4−/− mice, but not in mice where ErbB4 was deleted or overexpressed in pyramidal neurons. Our results demonstrate a role of ErbB4 in PV-positive interneurons for spine formation in excitatory neurons.
Formation of the Ras Dimer Is Essential for Raf-1 Activation*

Although it is well established that Ras requires membrane localization for activation of its target molecule, Raf-1, the reason for this requirement is not fully understood. In this study, we found that modified Ras, which is purified from Sf9 cells, could activate Raf-1 in a cell-free system, when incorporated into liposome. Using a bifunctional cross-linker and a protein-fragmentation complementation assay, we detected dimer formation of Ras in the liposome and in the intact cells, respectively. These results suggest that dimerization of Ras in the lipid membrane is essential for activation of Raf-1. To support this, we found that, when fused to glutathione S-transferase (GST), unprocessed Ras expressed in Escherichia coli could bypass the requirement for liposome. A Ras-dependent Raf-1 activator, which we previously reported (Mizutani, S., Koide, H., and Kaziro, Y. (1998)Oncogene 16, 2781–2786), was still required for Raf-1 activation by GST-Ras. Furthermore, an enforced dimerization of unmodified oncogenic Ras mutant in human embryonic kidney (HEK) 293 cells, using a portion of gyrase B or estrogen receptor, also resulted in activation of Raf-1. From these results, we conclude that membrane localization allows Ras to form a dimer, which is essential, although not sufficient, for Raf-1 activation.
An Official Journal of the American Heart Association Metabolism of Circulating Adenosine by the Porcine Isolated Perfused Lung

Adenosine uptake was studied in the piglet isolated perfused lung by means of the single-circulation paired-tracer dilution technique. Adenosine was efficiently taken up from the pulmonary vascular bed, and the process was potently inhibited by dipyridamole. Following uptake, adenosine was incorporated into intraceUular nudeotides, and at low perfusate concentrations, little or none of the incorporated radioactivity returned to the circulation. At higher concentrations, cellular uptake was saturable and products of intraceUular catabolism (inosine and hypoxanthine) were returned to the circulation. Perfusion of low concentrations of adenosine after inhibition of pulmonary adenosine kinase led to a proportional decrease in the retention of nucleotides and to a release of inosine and hypoxanthine. A small proportion of adenosine was metabolised extracellularly by adenosine deaminase; this activity was not released from perfused lungs and is apparently an ecto-enzyme. (Circ Res 53: 1-7, 1983)