Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Role of Inflammatory Mediators in the Pathogenesis of Otitis Media and Sequelae

This review deals with the characteristics of various inflammatory mediators identified in the middle ear during otitis media and in cholesteatoma. The role of each inflammatory mediator in the pathogenesis of otitis media and cholesteatoma has been discussed. Further, the relation of each inflammatory mediator to the pathophysiology of the middle and inner ear along with its mechanisms of pathological change has been described. The mechanisms of hearing loss including sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL) as a sequela of otitis media are also discussed. The passage of inflammatory mediators through the round window membrane into the scala tympani is indicated. In an experimental animal model, an application of cytokines and lipopolysaccharide (LPS), a bacterial toxin, on the round window membrane induced sensorineural hearing loss as identified through auditory brainstem response threshold shifts. An increase in permeability of the blood-labyrinth barrier (BLB) was observed following application of these inflammatory mediators and LPS. The leakage of the blood components into the lateral wall of the cochlea through an increase in BLB permeability appears to be related to the sensorineural hearing loss by hindering K+ recycling through the lateral wall disrupting the ion homeostasis of the endolymph. Further studies on the roles of various inflammatory mediators and bacterial toxins in inducing the sensorineumral hearing loss in otitis media should be pursued.
Abnormal vascular network complexity: a new phenotypic marker in hereditary non-polyposis colorectal cancer syndrome

Background: Hereditary non-polyposis colorectal cancer (HNPCC) (Lynch cancer family syndrome I (LCFS1) and II (LCFS2)) is one of the most common hereditary cancer disorders. HNPCC results from dominantly inherited germline mutations in mismatch repair (MMR) genes, leading to genomic instability and cancer. No predictive physical signs of HNPCC are available to date. Aims: Increased complexity in tumour associated vascular growth has been reported. Here, we tested the hypothesis that an increased vascular network complexity is a phenotypic marker for LCFS2. Methods: Fourteen subjects from an LCFS2 kindred (gene carriers, n = 5; non-carriers, n = 9) and 30 controls were examined. Fractal dimension (D) at two scales (D (1–46), and D (1–15), tortuosity (minimum path dimension, Dmin), and relative Lempel-Ziev complexity (L-Z) of the vascular networks from the lower gingival and vestibular oral mucosa were measured. Results: LCFS2 networks exhibited a significantly increased overall complexity at both larger (D (1–46): 1.82 (0.04) v 1.68 (0.08); p<0.0001) and smaller (D (1–15): 1.51 (0.11) v 1.20 (0.09); p<0.0001) scales, increased destructured randomness (L-Z: 0.77 (0.09) v 0.56 (0.03); p<0.0001), and decreased vessel tortuosity (Dmin: 1.02 (0.03) v 1.07 (0.04); p = 0.0005) compared with control patterns. The vascular networks of LCFS2 gene carriers showed higher complexity at the smaller scale (D (1–15): 1.59 (0.12) v 1.47 (0.07); p = 0.034), and higher destructured randomness (L-Z: 0.85 (0.11) v 0.73 (0.05); p = 0.013) than those of non-carriers. Conclusions: Increased oral vascular network complexity is a previously unrecognised phenotypic marker for LCFS2, and is related to gene mutation carrier status.
X-Ray Properties of an Unbiased Hard X-Ray-detected Sample of Active Galactic Nuclei

The Swift gamma-ray observatory’s Burst Alert Telescope (BAT) has detected a sample of AGNs based solely on their hard X-ray flux (14-195 keV). In this paper we present for the first time XMM-Newton X-ray spectra for 22 BAT AGNs with no previously analyzed X-ray spectra. If our sources are a representative sample of the BAT AGNs, as we claim, our results present for the first time global X-ray properties of an unbiased toward absorption (nH < 3 × 1025 cm −2), local ( = 0.03), AGN sample. We find 9/22 low-absorption (nH < 1023 cm −2), simple power-law model sources, where 4 of these sources have a statistically significant soft component. Among these sources, we find the presence of a warm absorber statistically significant for only one Seyfert 1 source, contrasting with the ASCA results of Reynolds and George and coworkers, who find signatures of warm absorption in half or more of their Seyfert 1 samples at similar redshifts. In addition, the remaining sources (13/22) have more complex spectra, well fitted by an absorbed power law at E > 2.0 keV . Five of the complex sources are classified as Compton-thick candidates. Further, we find four more sources with properties consistent with the hidden/buried AGNs reported by Ueda and coworkers. Finally, we include a comparison of the XMM-Newton EPIC spectra with available Swift X-Ray Telescope (XRT) observations. From these comparisons, we find 6/16 sources with varying column densities, 6/16 sources with varying power-law indices, and 13/16 sources with varying fluxes, over periods of hours to months. Flux and power-law index are correlated for objects where both parameters vary.
Binary Neutron Stars Systems: Irrotational Quasi-Equilibrium Sequences

We report on numerical results from an independent formalism to describe the quasi-equilibrium structure of nonsynchronous binary neutron stars in general relativity. This is an important independent test of controversial numerical hydrodynamic simulations which suggested that nonsynchronous neutron stars in a close binary can experience compression and even collapse prior to the last stable circular orbit. We show that the interior density indeed increases as irrotational binary neutron stars approach their last orbits for particular values of the compaction ratio. The observed compression is however at a significantly reduced level.
Hive - A Warehousing Solution Over a Map-Reduce Framework

The size of data sets being collected and analyzed in the industry for business intelligence is growing rapidly, making traditional warehousing solutions prohibitively expensive. Hadoop [3] is a popular open-source map-reduce implementation which is being used as an alternative to store and process extremely large data sets on commodity hardware. However, the map-reduce programming model is very low level and requires developers to write custom programs which are hard to maintain and reuse.
Exploration and exploitation in organizational learning

- This paper considers the relation between the exploration of new possibilities and the exploitation of old certainties in organizational learning. It examines some complications in allocating resources between the two, particularly those introduced by the distribution of costs and benefits across time and space, and the effects of ecological interaction. Two general situations involving the development and use of knowledge in organizations are modeled. The first is the case of mutual learning between members of an organization and an organizational code. The . second is the case of learning and competitive advantage in competition for primacy. The paper develops an argument that adaptive processes, by refining exploitation more rapidly than exploration, are likely to become effective in the short run but self-destructive in the long run. The possibility that certain common organizational practices ameliorate that tendency is assessed.
Genome-wide patterns of regulatory divergence revealed by introgression lines

Understanding the genetic basis for changes in transcriptional regulation is an important aspect of understanding phenotypic evolution. Using interspecific introgression lines, we infer the mechanisms of divergence in genome-wide patterns of gene expression between the nightshades Solanum pennellii and S. lycopersicum (domesticated tomato). We find that cis- and frans-regulatory changes have had qualitatively similar contributions to divergence in this clade, unlike results from other systems. Additionally, expression data from four tissues (shoot apex, ripe fruit, pollen, and seed) suggest that introgressed regions in these hybrid lines tend to be down-regulated, while background (non-introgressed) genes tend to be up-regulated. Finally, we find no evidence for an association between the magnitude of differential expression in NILs and previously determined sterility phenotypes. Our results contradict previous predictions of the predominant role of cis- over frans-regulatory divergence between species, and do not support a major role for gross genome-wide misregulation in reproductive isolation between these species.
Synergistic, Antagonistic, and Asymmetric Media Interactions

Despite the highly touted potential for synergies in cross-media advertising, much has yet to be discovered about how the effects of multiple media combine to shape sales response. Two challenges related to the investigation of media interaction effects are their complex nature and their specification in a sales response model. The authors adopt a flexible modeling approach, multivariate adaptive regression splines (MARS), which captures parsimoniously complex interaction effects and facilitates their measurement and interpretation. Analysis of multiple data sets on brand sales and media spending points to the following typology of media interaction effects: (1) synergistic (positive interactions), (2) antagonistic (negative interactions), and (3) asymmetric, where each medium does not contribute equally to the interaction. The findings show that 44% of media spend produces synergistic effects, whereas 21% produces antagonistic effects. Hence synergy is not the de facto outcome of cross-media advertising. Interestingly, low-budget media play a key role in producing interaction effects.
Bandpass Dependence of X-Ray Temperatures in Galaxy Clusters

We explore the band dependence of the inferred X-ray temperature of the intracluster medium (ICM) for 192 well-observed galaxy clusters selected from the Chandra Data Archive. If the hot ICM is nearly isothermal in the projected region of interest, the X-ray temperature inferred from a broadband (0.7-7.0 keV) spectrum should be identical to the X-ray temperature inferred from a hard-band (2.0-7.0 keV) spectrum. However, if unresolved cool lumps of gas are contributing soft X-ray emission, the temperature of a best-fit single-component thermal model will be cooler for the broadband spectrum than for the hard-band spectrum. Using this difference as a diagnostic, the ratio of best-fitting hard-band and broadband temperatures may indicate the presence of cooler gas even when the X-ray spectrum itself may not have sufficient signal-to-noise ratio (S/N) to resolve multiple temperature components. To test this possible diagnostic, we extract X-ray spectra from core-excised annular regions for each cluster in our archival sample. We compare the X-ray temperatures inferred from single-temperature fits when the energy range of the fit is 0.7-7.0 keV (broad) and when the energy range is 2.0/(1 + z)-7.0 keV (hard). We find that the hard-band temperature is significantly higher, on average, than the broadband temperature. On further exploration, we find this temperature ratio is enhanced preferentially for clusters which are known merging systems. In addition, cool-core clusters tend to have best-fit hard-band temperatures that are in closer agreement with their best-fit broadband temperatures. We show, using simulated spectra, that this diagnostic is sensitive to secondary cool components (TX = 0.5-3.0 keV) with emission measures ≥10-30% of the primary hot component.
Review of Attachment Theory: Familial Predictors, Continuity and Change, and Intrapersonal and Relational Outcomes

ABSTRACT Initially, the major focus of attachment theory was the parent–child relationship, but Bowlby (1988) also described the attachment system as active over the entire life course. Accordingly, a proliferation of research on attachment theory in the past two decades has addressed an array of familial predictors as well as intrapersonal and relational outcomes of attachment. The purpose of this review is to present: 1) measurement of attachment, 2) family violence, parental depression, and parental divorce as predictors of attachment, 3) (in)stability of attachment over time, 4) impact of attachment on emotion regulation and psychopathology, and 5) influence of attachment on romantic relationship. Special attention is paid to the role of attachment as a mediator between family of origin experiences and outcomes among youth and adults.
Single intramuscular dose toxicokinetics of manganese in broiler chicks.

Aim: Manganese (Mn) produces neurobehavioral toxicity in various animal species including the young chicks. The present study examines toxicokinetics of Mn in 7-10-day old chicks after an intramuscular injection at 20 mg/kg. Materials and Methods: Samples of the blood, whole brain, liver and kidney were obtained from chicks (5/each time period) at 0 time (base-line) and then at times between 0.17 to 4 h. The concentrations of Mn in the plasma and tissues were determined by atomic absorption spectrometry. Toxicokinetic parameters of Mn were calculated from the mean metal concentrations in the plasma by a non-compartmental analysis using a Windows-based computer program. Results: Injection of Mn significantly increased the metal levels in the plasma, whole brain, liver and kidney of the chicks when compared to respective base-line control values at times 0.17 to 4 h after the injection (with the exception at 2 and 4 h in the brain). The highest concentration of Mn in the plasma and the whole brain appeared one h after the injection, whereas those of the liver and kidney appeared 4 h post-injection. The concentrations of Mn in the plasma ranged between 0.43 to 1.2 µg/ml within 0.17 to 4 h. Those of the whole brain, liver and kidney were 0.11– 0.46, 6.3–15 and 5.3–22.9 µg/g, respectively. The elimination half-life of Mn was 3.02 h with steady state volume of distribution 24.34 L/kg and total body clearances of 4.78 L/h/kg. The mean residence time of Mn was 5.09 h and its area under the plasma concentration-time curve (0- ) was 4.18 µg. h/ml. The elimination half-life of Mn from the brain was 3.12 h with an elimination rate constant of 0.22 h-1. Conclusion: The data suggest that Mn is well absorbed and rapidly distributed after an intramuscular administration in chicks and further support the reported neurobehavioral toxic effects of the metal which are observed within one h after treatment.
Ambient Intelligence in Water Management

This paper is devoted to a recently running project description with a purpose to get some useful feedback from the AmI community. The main point of the project are attempts to apply approaches developed in the scope of the Ambient Intelligence area in various fields suitable for large-scale applications, like water management. The paper is oriented on investigation of some possibilities of large scale intelligent sensor network solutions for multi-agent based application in various sub-areas of water management. As multi-agent systems are very much suitable also as a framework for ambient intelligence environment, some first ideas about exploitation of these approaches in water management and especially for river basin management will be presented as well. All the results are based on a series of ongoing mutually interconnected research projects.
Acute lymphoid leukemia classification using two-step neural network classifier

Leukemia induced death has been listed in the top ten most dangerous mortality cause for human being. Among many reasons, one of them is the slow decision-making process which make suitable medical treatment cannot be applied on time. Therefore, good clinical decision support system for acute leukemia type classification has always become necessity. In this paper, the author proposed a novel approach to perform acute leukemia type classification using sequential neural network classifier. Our experimental result only cover the first classification process which shows an excellent performance in differentiating normal and abnormal cells. Further research is needed to proof the second neural network classifier effectiveness performance.
Does Social Capital Affect the Financing Decisions of Chinese Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises?

Using a panel of 65,551 firms over the period 2000-2006, this study examines the capital structure determinants of Chinese privately owned small and medium-sized enterprises. Investment in the building and maintenance of social capital, measured by entertainment expenditure, is found to be positively associated with short-term leverage, but negatively associated with long-term leverage, while the opposite is the case for asset structure. This suggests that social capital is important for firms who seek to establish initial relationships with their financiers, while asset structure is more important in the consolidation of these relationships.
Tests of new physics from precise measurements of the Casimir pressure between two gold-coated plates

A micromechanical torsion oscillator has been used to strengthen the limits on new Yukawa forces by determining the Casimir pressure between two gold-coated plates. By significantly reducing the random errors and obtaining the electronic parameters of the gold coatings, we were able to conclusively exclude the predictions of large thermal effects below $1\text{ }\text{ }\ensuremath{\mu}\mathrm{m}$ and strengthen the constraints on Yukawa corrections to Newtonian gravity in the interaction range from 29.5 nm to 86 nm.
Evidence from structural and diffusion tensor imaging for frontotemporal deficits in psychometric schizotypy.

BACKGROUND Previous studies of nonclinical samples exhibiting schizotypal traits have provided support for the existence of a continuous distribution of psychotic symptoms in the general population. Few studies, however, have examined the neural correlates of psychometric schizotypy using structural and diffusion tensor imaging (DTI). METHODS Healthy volunteers between the ages of 18 and 68 were recruited from the community and assessed using the Schizotypal Personality Questionnaire and received structural and DTI exams. Participants with high (N = 67) and low (N = 71) psychometric schizotypy were compared on gray and white matter volume, and cortical thickness in frontal and temporal lobe regions and on fractional anisotropy (FA) within 5 association tracts traversing the frontal and temporal lobes. RESULTS Higher levels of schizotypy were associated with lower overall volumes of gray matter in both the frontal and temporal lobes and lower gray matter thickness in the temporal lobe. Regionally specific effects were evident in both white matter and gray matter volume of the rostral middle frontal cortex and gray matter volume in the pars orbitalis. Moreover, relative to individuals who scored low, those who scored high in schizotypy had lower FA in the inferior fronto-occipital fasciculus as well as greater asymmetry (right > left) in the uncinate fasciculus. CONCLUSIONS These findings are broadly consistent with recent data on the neurobiological correlates of psychometric schizotypy as well as findings in schizotypal personality disorder and schizophrenia and suggest that frontotemporal lobe dysfunction may represent a core component of the psychosis phenotype.
HMM-BASED CLASSIFICATION OF MULTI-CHANNEL NEURAL SPIKE DATA

In earlier work on mapping multi-channel neural spike data (recorded from multiple cortical areas of an owl monkey) to corresponding 3d monkey arm positions, we observed that single continuous function approximators (such as artificial neural networks) have difficulty in jointly estimating 3d arm positions for two distinct cases — namely, when the monkey’s arm is stationary and when it is moving. Therefore, in this paper, we seek to classify the neural spike data into two classes, corresponding to two states of the moneky’s arm: (1) stationary and (2) moving; in our approach, we represent each of these classes using a hidden Markov model (HMM). Based on these temporal statistical models, we present encouraging classification results on 104-channel neural data, and have begun to incorporate our classifier as a gating mechanism for multiple continuous models to improve mapping performance from neural data to 3d arm position.
Secrecy Capacities in Space-Division Multiplexed Fiber Optic Communication Systems

Space-division multiplexed (SDM) fiber optic transmission systems can not only increase system capacity, but also achieve physical-layer security against fiber tapping attacks. In this paper, we examine the information-theoretic security of optical multiple-input-multiple-output (MIMO) SDM by evaluating the tradeoff between the achievable information rate and the confidentiality for different channel dynamics. In particular, we provide problem formulations for secure communication over these channels and study three types of secrecy capacities: 1) guaranteed capacity; 2) outage capacity; and 3) average capacity, each serving as a performance metric for a coding strategy tailored to a specific type of MIMO-SDM channel. We also assess the impact of key system parameters, such as the number of modes, the mode-dependent loss (MDL), and the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), on the various secrecy capacities. Our results indicate that, with a proper design of channel codes that balance information rate and security, an SDM system has the potential of offering confidential data transmission at a rate that could be orders of magnitude higher than what can be achieved through other means of encryption. Moreover, we show that MDL, unavoidably induced by fiber tapping, can allow information-theoretic security even if the SNR of the eavesdropper's receiver is better than that of the legitimate receiver.
Discriminative Blur Detection Features

Ubiquitous image blur brings out a practically important question - what are effective features to differentiate between blurred and unblurred image regions. We address it by studying a few blur feature representations in image gradient, Fourier domain, and data-driven local filters. Unlike previous methods, which are often based on restoration mechanisms, our features are constructed to enhance discriminative power and are adaptive to various blur scales in images. To avail evaluation, we build a new blur perception dataset containing thousands of images with labeled ground-truth. Our results are applied to several applications, including blur region segmentation, deblurring, and blur magnification.
Adaptive replica-management and concurrency-control protocols for indexes in page-server DBMS

In this paper, we present adaptive concurrency-control protocol, adaptive replica-management protocol, and B-link-tree index algorithms for page-server database management systems in which the physical database is organized as a sparse B-link-tree. In these algorithms, a transaction T at client A can update a record r in a U-locked data page (B-link tree leaf-page) P cached at A, while transactions at other clients can simultaneously cache P and fetch available records other than r in P. This would not be possible if T should X-lock P in order to update it (as in the standard concurrency-control protocols). Hence, the degree of concurrency in the page-server system will be increased.
Cost Accounting in Early Regulated Markets: The Case of the Royal Soap Factory of Seville (1525-1692)

(WP 16/03 Clave pdf) Regulated markets and state-owned monopolies characterized the economies of many Southern European territories around the end of the Middle Ages and during the Renaissance. Although this economic form was of considerable importance in implementing public policy at the time, investigation into the functioning of cost accounting in such contexts has been consistently neglected in accounting research. In this paper, we examine the role of cost systems in early regulated markets by focusing on the case of the soap production and distribution monopoly in the City of Seville, Spain.