Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Expanding the primate body schema in sensorimotor cortex by virtual touches of an avatar

The brain representation of the body, called the body schema, is susceptible to plasticity. For instance, subjects experiencing a rubber hand illusion develop a sense of ownership of a mannequin hand when they view it being touched while tactile stimuli are simultaneously applied to their own hand. Here, the cortical basis of such an embodiment was investigated through concurrent recordings from primary somatosensory (i.e., S1) and motor (i.e., M1) cortical neuronal ensembles while two monkeys observed an avatar arm being touched by a virtual ball. Following a period when virtual touches occurred synchronously with physical brushes of the monkeys' arms, neurons in S1 and M1 started to respond to virtual touches applied alone. Responses to virtual touch occurred 50 to 70 ms later than to physical touch, consistent with the involvement of polysynaptic pathways linking the visual cortex to S1 and M1. We propose that S1 and M1 contribute to the rubber hand illusion and that, by taking advantage of plasticity in these areas, patients may assimilate neuroprosthetic limbs as parts of their body schema.
Field, geochemical, and isotopic evidence for magma mixing and assimilation and fractional crystallization processes in the Quottoon Igneous Complex, northwestern British Columbia and southeastern Alaska

The quartz dioritic Quottoon Igneous Complex (QIC) is a major Paleogene (65-56 Ma) magmatic body in northwestern British Columbia and southeastern Alaska that was emplaced along the Coast shear zone. The QIC contains two different igneous suites that provide information about source regions and magmatic processes. Heterogeneous suite I rocks (e.g., along Steamer Passage) have a pervasive solid-state fabric, abundant mafic enclaves and late-stage dikes, metasedimentary screens, and variable color indices (25-50). The homogeneous suite II rocks (e.g., along Quottoon Inlet) have a weak fabric developed in the magmatic state (aligned feldspars, melt-filled shears) and more uniform color indices (24-34) than in suite I. Suite I rocks have Sr concentrations 750 ppm, average LaN/YbN = 23, and initial 87Sr/86Sr ratios that range from 0.70617 to 0.70686. This study suggests .
Postpolymerization detyrosination of alpha-tubulin: a mechanism for subcellular differentiation of microtubules

Tyrosinated (Tyr) and detyrosinated (Glu) alpha-tubulin, species interconverted by posttranslational modification, are largely segregated in separate populations of microtubules in interphase cultured cells. We sought to understand how distinct Tyr and Glu microtubules are generated in vivo, by examining time-dependent alterations in Tyr and Glu tubulin levels (by immunoblots probed with antibodies specific for each species) and distributions (by immunofluorescence) after microtubule regrowth and stabilization. When microtubules were allowed to regrow after complete depolymerization by microtubule antagonists, Glu microtubules reappeared with a delay of approximately 25 min after the complete array of Tyr microtubules had regrown. In these experiments, Tyr tubulin immunofluorescence first appeared as an aster of distinct microtubules, while Glu tubulin staining first appeared as a grainy pattern that was not altered by detergent extraction, suggesting that Glu microtubules were created by detyrosination of Tyr microtubules. Treatments with taxol, azide, or vinblastine, to stabilize polymeric tubulin, all resulted in time- dependent increases in polymeric Glu tubulin levels, further supporting the hypothesis of postpolymerization detyrosination. Analysis of monomer and polymer fractions during microtubule regrowth and in microtubule stabilization experiments were also consistent with postpolymerization detyrosination; in each case, Glu polymer levels increased in the absence of detectable Glu monomer. The low level of Glu monomer in untreated or nocodazole-treated cells (we estimate that Glu tubulin comprises less than 2% of the monomer pool) also suggested that Glu tubulin entering the monomer pool is efficiently retyrosinated. Taken together these results demonstrate that microtubules are polymerized from Tyr tubulin and are then rapidly converted to Glu microtubules. When Glu microtubules depolymerize, the resulting Glu monomer is retyrosinated. This cycle generates structurally, and perhaps functionally, distinct microtubules.
Electron density measurements in a single wafer etch reactor

By using microwaves, abs. values of electron densities were obtained in a modified single wafer etch reactor. By using CF4 as the etch gas electron densities were found in the range of 2 * 1014 to 5 * 1016 m-3 at pressures of 5 * 10-2 - 0.5 torr and powers of 5 * 10-2 - 1 W/cm2. The decay time of the electron d. was also measured and is 1.7 - 7 msec. [on SciFinder (R)]
The prevalence of atypical presentations and comorbidities of benign childhood epilepsy with centrotemporal spikes

Purpose: Benign childhood epilepsy with centrotemporal spikes (BCECTS) is the most common epileptic syndrome in childhood. The outcome is usually excellent, but there are some atypical forms of BCECTS with less favorable outcomes. The aim of this study was to delineate the frequency of these atypical features among patients with BCECTS.
Silicon-on-insulator optical rib waveguides: loss, mode characteristics, bends and y-junctions

Optical rib waveguides with widths from 2.73 to 7.73 microns have been formed in SIMOX-based silicon-on-insulator (SOI) structures consisting of a 4.32 micron thick surface-silicon layer and a 0.398 micron buried-oxide layer. The effect of waveguide width, bend radius, y-junction splitting and interface roughness on loss and mode characteristics have been studied at wavelengths of 1.15 and 1.523 microns. The experimental results support the hypothesis that certain rib dimensions can lead to single-mode waveguides even though planar SOI waveguides of similar multimicron dimension are multimode. The propagation losses of waveguides 3.72 microns wide were found to be nominally 0.0 dB/cm and 0.4 dB/cm for the TE and TM modes, respectively, when measured at 1.523 microns, where the measurement error was +or-0.5 dB/cm. This means that the loss is experimentally indistinguishable from pure bulk silicon. These results are thought to be the lowest loss measurements for silicon integrated optical waveguides reported to date.
Reduced expression of connexin‐43 and functional gap junction coupling in human gliomas

Gap junctions are an important means for intercellular communication during development, processes of tissue differentiation, and in maintenance of adult tissue homeostasis. We investigated the expression levels and distribution of connexin‐43 (Cx‐43), the most abundant astrocytic gap junction protein, in acutely isolated astrocytes and glioma cells from biopsy tissue obtained from patients diagnosed with glioblastoma multiforme (GBM), low‐grade astrocytomas (LGAs), or mesial temporal lobe epilepsy. Western blot and immunohistochemical analyses indicated an inverse correlation between the amount of Cx‐43 protein and tumor malignancy grade, as assessed by calculating tissue mitotic indexes (MI) obtained using anti–Ki‐67 nuclear antigen staining. Samples from epilepsy patients had a low MI and were intensely positive for Cx‐43 staining, while LGA tissue samples exhibited moderate staining for Cx‐43 and average MI, and GBM biopsies showed significantly lower levels of Cx‐43 and high MI. Functional coupling was assayed using fluorescence recovery after photobleach (FRAP). We found that cells from glioma cell lines and primary cultures of human astrocytes from GBM tissues displayed significantly lower degrees of gap junction intercellular communication (GJIC) as indicated by longer and less complete recovery from photobleaching. Mean recovery values were GBM 23.8% ± 11.4%, LGA 49.4% ± 47%, and nontumor astrocytes 67.2% ± 8.4%. Western blot analysis of several human glioma cell lines and tissue biopsies showed variable expression levels of Cx‐43, which correlated negatively with the extent of recovery in the same samples. Taken together, our findings suggest that high‐grade brain tumors show reduced intercellular communication and a decrease in connexin‐43 protein levels. GLIA 33:107–117, 2001. © 2001 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
F-Box Only Protein 31 (FBXO31) Negatively Regulates p38 Mitogen-activated Protein Kinase (MAPK) Signaling by Mediating Lysine 48-linked Ubiquitination and Degradation of Mitogen-activated Protein Kinase Kinase 6 (MKK6)

Background: The p38 MAPK pathway plays a pivotal role in controlling cell responses to stress. Results: FBXO31 fine-tunes p38 MAPK signaling and protects cancer cells from genotoxic stress by promoting degradation of the p38 activator MKK6. Conclusion: FBXO31 is a novel negative regulator of MKK6-p38 signaling. Significance: This report sheds new light on the protective mechanism of FBXO31 in stress-induced apoptosis. The p38 MAPK signal transduction pathway plays an important role in inflammatory and stress responses. MAPKK6 (MKK6), a dual specificity protein kinase, is a p38 activator. Activation of the MKK6-p38 pathway is kept in check by multiple layers of regulations, including autoinhibition, dimerization, scaffold proteins, and Lys-63-linked polyubiquitination. However, the mechanisms underlying deactivation of MKK6-p38, which is crucial for maintaining the magnitude and duration of signal transduction, are not well understood. Lys-48-linked ubiquitination, which marks substrates for proteasomal degradation, is an important negative posttranslational regulatory machinery for signal pathway transduction. Here we report that the accumulation of F-box only protein 31 (FBXO31), a component of Skp1·Cul1·F-box protein E3 ligase, negatively regulated p38 activation in cancer cells upon genotoxic stresses. Our results show that FBXO31 binds to MKK6 and mediates its Lys-48-linked polyubiquitination and degradation, thereby functioning as a negative regulator of MKK6-p38 signaling and protecting cells from stress-induced cell apoptosis. Taken together, our findings uncover a new mechanism of deactivation of MKK6-p38 and substantiate a novel regulatory role of FBXO31 in stress response.
Performance of formulas for estimating glomerular filtration rate in Indigenous Australians with and without Type 2 diabetes: the eGFR Study

It has been proposed that the Chronic Kidney Disease Epidemiology Collaboration formula estimates glomerular filtration rate more accurately than the Modification of Diet in Renal Disease formula. With the very high incidence of diabetes and end‐stage kidney disease in Indigenous Australians, accurate estimation of glomerular filtration rate is vital in early detection of kidney disease. We aimed to assess the performance of the Chronic Kidney Disease Epidemiology Collaboration, Modification of Diet in Renal Disease and Cockcroft–Gault formulas in Indigenous Australians with and without diabetes.
Overexpression of C1q/Tumor Necrosis Factor–Related Protein-3 Promotes Phosphate-Induced Vascular Smooth Muscle Cell Calcification Both In Vivo and In Vitro

Objective—Vascular calcification is highly correlated with increased cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. C1q/tumor necrosis factor–related protein-3 (CTRP3) is a newly identified adipokine that plays important roles in cardiovascular system. Here, we investigated the role of CTRP3 in vascular calcification and its underlying mechanism. Approach and Results—Adenine-induced chronic renal failure rat model was used to mimic the process of arterial medial calcification. The level of CTRP3 was elevated in serum and abdominal aorta of chronic renal failure rats. Periadventitial gene delivery of CTRP3 significantly accelerated the calcification of abdominal aorta and arterial ring. In cultured vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs), CTRP3 increased &bgr;-glycerophosphate–induced calcium deposition and alkaline phosphatase activity. Although CTRP3 alone was not sufficient to induce calcification in VSMCs, it upregulated the expression of osteogenic marker genes including runt-related transcription factor 2 (Runx2), bone morphogenetic protein 2, and osteopontin. CTRP3 further enhanced &bgr;-glycerophosphate–induced downregulation of smooth muscle &agr;-actin and smooth muscle 22&agr;, while augmenting osteogenic marker expression in VSMCs induced by &bgr;-glycerophosphate. In contrast, knockdown of CTRP3 in VSMCs potently suppressed &bgr;-glycerophosphate–induced calcification. Mechanistically, knockdown of Runx2 inhibited CTRP3-promoted VSMC calcification. CTRP3 increased extracellular signal–regulated kinase 1/2 phosphorylation and reactive oxygen species production. Preincubation with U0126, an extracellular signal–regulated kinase 1/2 upstream kinase inhibitor, had no effect on CTRP3-induced reactive oxygen species production. However, pretreatment with N-acetyl-L-cysteine, a reactive oxygen species scavenger, suppressed CTRP3-induced extracellular signal–regulated kinase 1/2 phosphorylation. Both N-acetyl-L-cysteine and U0126 significantly inhibited CTRP3-induced upregulation of Runx2 and calcified nodule formation. Conclusions—CTRP3 promotes vascular calcification by enhancing phosphate-induced osteogenic transition of VSMC through reactive oxygen species–extracellular signal–regulated kinase 1/2–Runx2 pathway.
Improved laser diode for high power and high temperature applications

The industry of laser marking, direct application and solid state laser pumping requires highly reliable and highly efficient laser diodes. In general, all applications demand improved brightness and temperature stability, and this by decreasing costs per watt. Instead of increasing the cavity length, we demonstrate in this paper an increase of power with standard cavity length with a clear focus of cost reduction and high efficiency. Improvements in the semiconductor material and packaging enable higher power and higher operation temperature. This technology raised the efficiency by 6 % of 808 nm bar with 50 % filling factor and a resonator length of 1.5 mm. Now, passively cooled diode lasers have reached nearly the performance of actively cooled ones. With this new design new fiber coupling modules with high brightness and high operation temperature for air cooled systems can be achieved.
A Subset of Ubiquitin-Conjugating Enzymes Is Essential for Plant Immunity1[OPEN]

The tomato genome encodes 40 ubiquitin-conjugating enzymes (E2), among which members of group III are required for the suppression of host immunity by the AvrPtoB effector and for plant pattern-triggered immunity. Of the three classes of enzymes involved in ubiquitination, ubiquitin-conjugating enzymes (E2) have been often incorrectly considered to play merely an auxiliary role in the process, and few E2 enzymes have been investigated in plants. To reveal the role of E2 in plant innate immunity, we identified and cloned 40 tomato genes encoding ubiquitin E2 proteins. Thioester assays indicated that the majority of the genes encode enzymatically active E2. Phylogenetic analysis classified the 40 tomato E2 enzymes into 13 groups, of which members of group III were found to interact and act specifically with AvrPtoB, a Pseudomonas syringae pv tomato effector that uses its ubiquitin ligase (E3) activity to suppress host immunity. Knocking down the expression of group III E2 genes in Nicotiana benthamiana diminished the AvrPtoB-promoted degradation of the Fen kinase and the AvrPtoB suppression of host immunity-associated programmed cell death. Importantly, silencing group III E2 genes also resulted in reduced pattern-triggered immunity (PTI). By contrast, programmed cell death induced by several effector-triggered immunity elicitors was not affected on group III-silenced plants. Functional characterization suggested redundancy among group III members for their role in the suppression of plant immunity by AvrPtoB and in PTI and identified UBIQUITIN-CONJUGATING11 (UBC11), UBC28, UBC29, UBC39, and UBC40 as playing a more significant role in PTI than other group III members. Our work builds a foundation for the further characterization of E2s in plant immunity and reveals that AvrPtoB has evolved a strategy for suppressing host immunity that is difficult for the plant to thwart.
Lagrange multipliers and maximum information leakage in different observational models

This paper explores two fundamental issues in Language based security. The first is to provide a quantitative definition of information leakage valid in several attacker's models. We consider attackers with different capabilities; the strongest one is able to observe the value of the low variables at each step during the execution of a program; the weakest one can only observe a single low value at some stage of the execution. We will provide a uniform definition of leakage, based on Information Theory, that will allow us to formalize and prove some intuitive relationships between the amount leaked by the same program in different models. The second issue is Channel Capacity, which in security terms amounts to answering the questions: given a program and an observational model, what is the maximum amount that the program can leak? And which input distribution causes the maximum leakage? To answer those questions we will introduce techniques from constrained non-linear optimization, mainly Lagrange multipliers and we will show how they provide a workable solution in all observational models considered. In the simplest setting, i.e. under minimal constraints, we will show that channel capacity is achieved by any input distribution which induces a uniform distribution on the observables.
A Search for Wolf-Rayet Stars in the Small Magellanic Cloud

We report on a comprehensive search for Wolf-Rayet (W-R) stars in the SMC using interference filter imaging. Photometry of over 1.6 million stellar images on multiple, overlapping fields covering 9.6 deg2 found the previously known W-R stars at very high significance levels, two known Of-type stars, plus additional candidates, which we examined with slit spectroscopy. We discovered two new Wolf-Rayet stars, both of type "WN3 + abs," bringing the total number in the SMC to 11. We discuss their spectra, as well as reclassifying the previously known ones with our new data. Our survey also revealed four newly found Of-type stars, including one of the O5f? p type, which is one of the earliest type stars known in the SMC. Another newly identified Of star is AV 398 (O8.5 If), a star often used in extinction studies under the assumption that it is of early B type. We recover S18 (AV 154), a B[e] star whose spectrum currently lacks He II λ4686 emission but which must have had strong emission a year earlier; we compare this star to S Dor, suggesting that it is indeed a luminous blue variable. We also find a previously unknown symbiotic star whose spectrum is nearly identical to the Galactic symbiotic AG Dra. More important, perhaps, than any of these discoveries is the demonstration that there is not a significant number of W-R stars waiting to be discovered in the SMC. The number of W-R stars is a factor of 3 times lower in the SMC (per unit luminosity) than in the LMC. This strongly suggests that at the low metallicity that characterizes the SMC only the most massive stars can evolve to W-R type.
Proactive key dissemination-based fast authentication for in-motion inductive EV charging

In-motion inductive charging, or dynamic charging, is an emerging technology that allows electric vehicles (EVs) to be charged while on the move. Accurate billing for dynamic EV charging requires secure communication between the EVs and the utility, and could potentially require the secure delivery of small messages from the EVs to the utility at a very high rate, which is infeasible with the currently available solutions. In this paper we propose Fast Authentication for Dynamic EV Charging (FADEC) designed to meet the communication needs of in-motion inductive EV charging. FADEC features fast signing and verification, low communication overhead, and fast hand-off authentication to support EV mobility. Our simulations show that compared with ECDSA mandated by 802.11p standard, FADEC reduces data delivery delay by up to 97%, increases the data delivery ratio by more than an order of magnitude and enables timely data delivery even in a resource constrained environment.
Optimized Training Sequences for Spatially Correlated MIMO-OFDM

In this paper, the training sequence design for multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) systems under the minimum mean square error (MMSE) criterion is addressed. The optimal training sequence for channel estimation in spatially correlated MIMO-OFDM systems was not known for an arbitrary signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). Only one class of training sequences was proposed in the literature in which the power allocation is given only for the extreme conditions of low and high SNRs. The current paper presents a necessary and sufficient condition for the optimal training sequence, and reformulates the training design problem as a convex optimization problem whose optimal solution is efficiently solved. In addition, tight upper bounds for MMSE and resulting low complexity iterative algorithms with the closed-form expression in iterations to find the optimum training sequence are derived. Simulation results confirm the superiority of the proposed design over the existing one in terms of both MSE estimation and BER performance. The proposed methods are also shown to be robust with respect to the spatial correlation mismatch at the transmitter.
Orthogonal Matching Pursuit from Noisy Measurements : A New Analysis ∗

A well-known analysis of Tropp and Gilbert shows that orthog onal matching pursuit (OMP) can recover ak-sparsen-dimensional real vector fromm = 4k log(n) noise-free linear measurements obtained through a random G aussian measurement matrix with a probability that approaches one a s n → ∞. This work strengthens this result by showing that a lower number o f measurements, m = 2k log(n − k), is in fact sufficient for asymptotic recovery. More generally, when the sparsity level satisfies kmin ≤ k ≤ kmax but is unknown, m = 2kmax log(n − kmin) measurements is sufficient. Furthermore, this number of measurements is also sufficient for detection of the spars ity pattern (support) of the vector with measurement errors provided the signal-t o-noise ratio (SNR) scales to infinity. The scaling m = 2k log(n− k) exactly matches the number of measurements required by the more complex lasso method for s ignal recovery in a similar SNR scaling.
Motor Simulation and the Bodily Self

Previous studies demonstrated the human ability to implicitly recognize their own body. When submitted to a visual matching task, participants showed the so-called self-advantage, that is, a better performance with self rather than others' body or body parts. Here, we investigated whether the body self-advantage relies upon a motor representation of one's body. Participants were submitted to a laterality judgment of self and others' hands (Experiment 1 and 3), which involves a sensory-motor mental simulation. Moreover, to investigate whether the self-advantage emerges also when an explicit self processing is required, the same participants were submitted to an explicit self-body recognition task (Experiment 2). Participants showed the self-advantage when performing the laterality judgment, but not when self-recognition was explicitly required. Thus, implicit and explicit recognition of the bodily self dissociate and only an implicit recognition of the bodily self, mapped in motor terms, allows the self-advantage to emerge.