Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Energetics of Extensive Meltwater Flooding of Level Arctic Sea Ice

During the spring-to-summer transition, the snow cover on Arctic sea ice melts and meltwater pools on the surface to form melt ponds; however, the timing and extent of the ponding vary between years. In Dease Strait (Nunavut), this transition was particularly dramatic in 2014 when on 18 June meltwater had flooded >95% of the surface. In this study, continuous surface energy balance measurements throughout the transition highlight how the timing of transient weather events influenced seasonal shifts in distinct ice melt stages. The keys to the extensive flooding were (1) the level ice cover, (2) a strong low-pressure system on 24 May that deposited ~10 cm of snow, and (3) freeze-thaw cycling and a subsequent return to subzero air temperatures on 30 May that led to superimposed and interposed ice formation. Without these, melt ponds would have likely developed within days from an initial melt onset on 28 May. After a 2-week delay, snow-melt resumed and lead to near-complete flooding of the surface for 4 days. The albedo of the flooded ice remained high (0.35–0.40), as a result of the bubble-laden superimposed ice layer. Once this layer eroded, the albedo over melt ponds decreased to a more typical level (~0.20). Our observations suggest that the formation of superimposed and interposed ice prevented the vertical drainage of meltwater to the ocean. Future challenges remain to measure the presence of these layers and understand their effect on sea ice permeability and pond evolution, while sea ice temperatures are near the melting point. Plain Language Summary Melt ponds form on Arctic sea ice during the summer melt season, but the timing of their formation and extent varies from year to year. In June 2014 in Dease Strait (Nunavut), melt pond formation occurred later than usual and then caused near complete flooding of the ice surface. We conducted continuous surface energy balance measurements during this period. We observed a link between the occurrence of weather events, such as low-pressure systems, and changes to the sea ice melt progression. The extensive flooding of the ice surface with meltwater could be explained by (1) the flat ice cover, (2) the deposition of 10 cm of new snow and period of warm air temperatures associated with a southerly low-pressure system, and (3) a return to freezing conditions that led to widespread refreezing of snowmeltwater s into ice layers at the sea ice-snow interface (superimposed ice) and within the upper part of the sea ice cover (interposed ice). This refrozen ice reduced the permeability of the ice cover and helped maintain melt ponds on the surface for longer. They also increased the albedo of the snow-free sea ice surface thereby playing a role in slowing the melt progression further.
Ground plane segmentation from multiple visual cues

An approach which uses multiple sources of visual information (or visual cues) to identify and segment the ground plane in indoor mobile robot visual navigation applications is presented. Information from color, contours and corners and their motion are applied, in conjunction with planar homography relations, to identify the navigable area of the ground, which may be textured or non-textured. We have developed new algorithms for both the computation of the homography, in which a highly stable two point method for pure translation is proposed, and the region growing. Also, a new method for applying the homography to measure the height of a visual feature to the ground using an uncalibrated camera is also developed. Regions are segmented by color and also by their sizes and geometric relation and these region boundarys are extracted as contours. By controlled manoeuvres of a mobile robot, the methods of coplanar feature grouping developed in this paper are not only applicable to corner correspondences but also to contours. This leads to robust, accurate segmentation of the ground plane from the other image regions. Results are presented which show the validity of the approach.
Evidence for Increased Bone Formation Following a Brief Endurance‐Type Training Intervention in Adolescent Males

The effect of exercise training, particularly relatively brief periods, on bone turnover markers in adolescents has been poorly studied. Thirty‐eight healthy males (16 ± 0.7 years) participated in a 5‐week summer school program in which 20 subjects were randomly assigned to a training group consisting of 2 h/day, 5 days/week of endurance exercise, and 18 subjects were assigned to a control group. Bone formation was assessed by measurements of circulating osteocalcin, bone‐specific alkaline phosphatase (BSAP), and the C‐terminal procollagen peptide (PICP). Bone resorption was assessed by urinary levels of free deoxypyridinoline cross‐links (dPYR) and the C‐(CTX) and N‐terminal (NTX) telopeptide cross‐links. Prior to training, there was a weak positive correlation between fitness and PICP (r = 0.27, p < 0.05), but no correlations were observed between fitness and either the other markers of bone formation or bone resorption. Training led to a significant increase in (1) osteocalcin (15 ± 4%, p < 0.03), (2) BSAP (21 ± 6%, p < 0.02), and (3) PICP (30 ± 11%, p < 0.03) and to a significant decrease in NTX (−21 ± 3%, p < 0.05). These bone turnover markers did not change in the control subjects (osteocalcin, 0 ± 4%; BSAP, 2 ± 4%; PICP, −4 ± 6%; NTX, −6 ± 4%). There was no change in urinary dPYR and CTX in either control or trained subjects. Fitness is only weakly, if at all, correlated with bone formation, but a relatively brief period of endurance training leads to a substantial increase in bone formation markers in adolescent males. School‐based, short‐term exercise training programs could play a role in enhancing bone formation in adolescents.
FDA -A Scalable Evolutionary Algorithm for the Optimization of Additively Decomposed Functions

The Factorized Distribution Algorithm (FDA) is an evolutionary algorithm which combines mutation and recombination by using a distribution. The distribution is estimated from a set of selected points. In general, a discrete distribution defined for n binary variables has 2n parameters. Therefore it is too expensive to compute. For additively decomposed discrete functions (ADFs) there exist algorithms which factor the distribution into conditional and marginal distributions. This factorization is used by FDA. The scaling of FDA is investigated theoretically and numerically. The scaling depends on the ADF structure and the specific assignment of function values. Difficult functions on a chain or a tree structure are solved in about O(nn) operations. More standard genetic algorithms are not able to optimize these functions. FDA is not restricted to exact factorizations. It also works for approximate factorizations as is shown for a circle and a grid structure. By using results from Bayes networks, FDA is extended to LFDA. LFDA computes an approximate factorization using only the data, not the ADF structure. The scaling of LFDA is compared to the scaling of FDA.
Loss of AKAP150 promotes pathological remodelling and heart failure propensity by disrupting calcium cycling and contractile reserve

Aims Impaired Ca2 + cycling and myocyte contractility are a hallmark of heart failure triggered by pathological stress such as hemodynamic overload. The A-Kinase anchoring protein AKAP150 has been shown to coordinate key aspects of adrenergic regulation of Ca2+ cycling and excitation–contraction in cardiomyocytes. However, the role of the AKAP150 signalling complexes in the pathogenesis of heart failure has not been investigated. Methods and results Here we examined how AKAP150 signalling complexes impact Ca2+ cycling, myocyte contractility, and heart failure susceptibility following pathological stress. We detected a significant reduction of AKAP150 expression in the failing mouse heart induced by pressure overload. Importantly, cardiac-specific AKAP150 knockout mice were predisposed to develop dilated cardiomyopathy with severe cardiac dysfunction and fibrosis after pressure overload. Loss of AKAP150 also promoted pathological remodelling and heart failure progression following myocardial infarction. However, ablation of AKAP150 did not affect calcineurin-nuclear factor of activated T cells signalling in cardiomyocytes or pressure overload- or agonist-induced cardiac hypertrophy. Immunoprecipitation studies showed that AKAP150 was associated with SERCA2, phospholamban, and ryanodine receptor-2, providing a targeted control of sarcoplasmic reticulum Ca2+ regulatory proteins. Mechanistically, loss of AKAP150 led to impaired Ca2+ cycling and reduced myocyte contractility reserve following adrenergic stimulation or pressure overload. Conclusions These findings define a critical role for AKAP150 in regulating Ca2+ cycling and myocardial ionotropy following pathological stress, suggesting the AKAP150 signalling pathway may serve as a novel therapeutic target for heart failure.
Transplanted Olfactory Ensheathing Cells Promote Regeneration of Cut Adult Rat Optic Nerve Axons

Transplantation of olfactory ensheathing cells into spinal cord lesions promotes regeneration of cut axons into terminal fields and functional recovery. This repair involves the formation of a peripheral nerve-like bridge in which perineurial-like fibroblasts are organized into a longitudinal stack of parallel tubular channels, some of which contain regenerating axons enwrapped by Schwann-like olfactory ensheathing cells. The present study examines whether cut retinal ganglion cell axons will also respond to these cells, and if so, whether they form the same type of arrangement. In adult rats, the optic nerve was completely severed behind the optic disc, and a matrix containing cultured olfactory ensheathing cells was inserted between the proximal and distal stumps. After 6 months, the transplanted cells had migrated for up to 10 mm into the distal stump. Anterograde labeling with cholera toxin B showed that cut retinal ganglion cell axons had regenerated through the transplants, entered the distal stump, and elongated for 10 mm together with the transplanted cells. Electron microscopy showed that a peripheral nerve-like tissue had been formed, similar to that seen in the spinal cord transplants. However, in contrast to the spinal cord, the axons did not reach the terminal fields, but terminated in large vesicle-filled expansions beyond which the distal optic nerve stump was reduced to a densely interwoven mass of astrocytic processes.
HANDEDNESS AND COGNITION ACROSS THE HEALTHY LIFESPAN

The relationship between handedness and cognitive function varies across studies, perhaps partly due to the many medical and psychiatric conditions with known cognitive impact. This study examined cognitive performance in 643 healthy individuals (age 5–82) who were categorized as strongly right-handed, moderately right-handed, or left/mixed-handed. Cognitive differences emerged, as left/mixed-handed individuals demonstrating superior psychomotor speed and cognitive flexibility, and strongly and moderately right-handed individuals exhibiting better time estimation skills. No interaction-among handedness, sex, and age were found. These findings indicate cognitive differences associated with handedness exist independent of medical and psychiatric confounds. Further work is needed to clarify these findings.
Dissociation between Goal-directed and Discrete Response Localization in a Patient with Bilateral Cortical Blindness

We investigated localization performance of simple targets in patient TN, who suffered bilateral damage of his primary visual cortex and shows complete cortical blindness. Using a two-alternative forced-choice paradigm, TN was asked to guess the position of left–right targets with goal-directed and discrete manual responses. The results indicate a clear dissociation between goal-directed and discrete responses. TN pointed toward the correct target location in approximately 75% of the trials but was at chance level with discrete responses. This indicates that the residual ability to localize an unseen stimulus depends critically on the possibility to translate a visual signal into a goal-directed motor output at least in certain forms of blindsight.
Mycelial carton galleries of Azteca brevis (Formicidae) as a multi-species network

Apart from growing fungi for nutrition, as seen in the New World Attini, ants cultivate fungi for reinforcement of the walls of their nests or tunnel-shaped runway galleries. These fungi are grown on organic material such as bark, epiphylls or trichomes, and form stable ‘carton structures’. In this study, the carton of the runway galleries built by Azteca brevis (Formicidae, Dolichoderinae) on branches of Tetrathylacium macrophyllum (Flacourtiaceae) is investigated. For the first time, molecular tools are used to address the biodiversity and phylogenetic affinities of fungi involved in tropical ant carton architecture, a previously neglected ant–fungus mutualism. The A. brevis carton involves a complex association of several fungi. All the isolated fungi were unequivocally placed within the Chaetothyriales by DNA sequence data. Whereas five types of fungal hyphae were morphologically distinguishable, our DNA data showed that more species are involved, applying a phylogenetic species concept based on DNA phylogenies and hyphal morphology. In contrast to the New World Attini with their many-to-one (different ant species—one fungal cultivar) pattern, and temperate Lasius with a one-to-two (one ant species—two mutualists) or many-to-one (different ant species share the same mutualist) system, the A. brevis–fungi association is a one-to-many multi-species network. Vertical fungus transmission has not yet been found, indicating that the A. brevis–fungi interaction is rather generalized.
Control-Oriented Modeling and Experimental Validation of a PEMFC Generation System

An experimentally validated control-oriented model that reproduces the most typical features of a laboratory proton exchange membrane fuel cell generation system, is presented in this paper. The proposed representation is a 7th order fully analytical nonlinear model of ordinary differential equations, primarily focused on the system gases dynamics. The complete model is developed following a modular procedure, combining theoretical modeling techniques and empirical analysis based on experimental data. The presented methods can be used as a general modeling guideline for control-oriented purposes, being possible to adapt to other fuel-cell-based systems with similar characteristics.
Downlink scheduling and resource allocation for OFDM systems

We consider scheduling and resource allocation for the downlink of a cellular OFDM system, with various practical considerations including integer tone allocations, different sub-channelization schemes, maximum SNR constraint per tone, and "self-noise" due to channel estimation errors and phase noise. During each time-slot a subset of users must be scheduled, and the available tones and transmission power must be allocated among them. Employing a gradient-based scheduling scheme presented in earlier papers reduces this to an optimization problem to be solved in each time-slot. Using a dual formulation, we give an optimal algorithm for this problem when multiple users can time-share each tone. We then give several low complexity heuristics that enforce integer tone allocations. Simulations are used to compare the performance of different algorithms.
Architectural considerations for cryptanalytic hardwareIan

We examine issues in high-performance cryptanalysis, focusing on the use of programmable logic. Several standard techniques from computer architecture are adapted and applied to this application. We present performance measurements for RC4, A5, DES, and CDMF; these measurements were taken from actual implementations. We conclude by estimating the resources needed to break these encryption algorithms.
Gene Subset Selection for Kernel-Based Classifiers

In microarray data analysis, gene selection has been a central issue in recent years. Gene selection is often used to identify genes most relevant to a specific classification task, for example, those differentiate between normal and cancerous tissue samples. Gene selection plays essential roles in classification tasks; it improves the classification accuracy by using only discriminative genes, saves computational costs by reducing dimensionality, and more importantly, if it is possible to identify a small subset of biologically relevant genes, it may provide insights into understanding the underlying mechanism of a biological phenomenon of interest. This study focuses on kernel methods, which have proven effective in various classification problems of bioinformatics [3]. Our major goal is to find gene subsets that would enhance the performance of kernel-based classifiers. To this end, we propose a new filter approach to gene subset selection. In particular, we show that several well-known class separability criteria can be kernelized. The applicability of our proposed strategy is illustrated on microarray cancer classification problems.
The types II and III transforming growth factor-beta receptors form homo-oligomers

Affinity-labeling experiments have detected hetero-oligomers of the types I, II, and III transforming growth factor beta (TGF-beta) receptors which mediate intracellular signaling by TGF-beta, but the oligomeric state of the individual receptor types remains unknown. Here we use two types of experiments to show that a major portion of the receptor types II and III forms homo-oligomers both in the absence and presence of TGF-beta. Both experiments used COS-7 cells co-transfected with combinations of these receptors carrying different epitope tags at their extracellular termini. In immunoprecipitation experiments, radiolabeled TGF-beta was bound and cross-linked to cells co-expressing two differently tagged type II receptors. Sequential immunoprecipitations using anti-epitope monoclonal antibodies showed that type II TGF-beta receptors form homo-oligomers. In cells co- expressing epitope-tagged types II and III receptors, a low level of co- precipitation of the ligand-labeled receptors was observed, indicating that some hetero-oligomers of the types II and III receptors exist in the presence of ligand. Antibody-mediated cross-linking studies based on double-labeling immunofluorescence explored co-patching of the receptors at the cell surface on live cells. In cells co-expressing two differently tagged type II receptors or two differently tagged type III receptors, forcing one receptor into micropatches by IgG induced co- patching of the receptor carrying the other tag, labeled by noncross- linking monovalent Fab'. These studies showed that homo-oligomers of the types II and III receptors exist on the cell surface in the absence or presence of TGF-beta 1 or -beta 2. In cells co-expressing types II and III receptors, the amount of heterocomplexes at the cell surface was too low to be detected in the immunofluorescence co-patching experiments, confirming that hetero-oligomers of the types II and III receptors are minor and probably transient species.
A New Method for High-Speed Dynamic TSPC Memory by Low-Temperature Poly Silicon TFT Technology

We propose an 8 by 8 dynamic true-single-phase-clock (TSPC) circuit based on low-temperature polycrystalline silicon (LTPS) technology to perform high speed dynamic memory cell. The proposed method allows the memory access rate to reach 25 MHz, in contrast to the traditional LTPS memory, with static circuit design, that operates at a low frequency of only about 6 MHZ. The 8 by 8 dynamic TSPC LTPS memory cell can be applied in high speed circuits. The experimental results show that the proposed 8 by 8 dynamic TSPC LTPS memory cell, operating at 25 MHz, can achieve high speed effectively. We believe it will be the most suitable technology to realize high speed memory for system on a panel (SOP) together with IC chip technology.
Toxic stress prioritizes and imbalances stem cell differentiation: implications for new biomarkers and in vitro toxicology tests

This hypothesis and review introduces rules of stem cell stress responses that provide biomarkers and alternative testing that replaces or reduces gestational tests using whole animals. These rules for the stress responses of cultured stem cells validate the organismal strategy of the stress response and show that it emulates what must happen if the conceptus implants during a response to stress in vivo. Specifically there is a profound threshold during a stress dose response where stem cell accumulation is significantly reduced. Below this threshold stress enzymes manage the stress response by converting anabolic to catabolic processes and by suppressing apoptosis, without affecting differentiation. However above this threshold the stem cell survival response converts to an organismal survival response where stress enzymes switch to new substrates and mediate loss of potency factors, gain of early essential differentiated lineages, and suppression of later essential lineages. Stressed stem cells ‘compensate’ for lower accumulation rates by differentiating a higher fraction of cells, and the organismal survival response further enhances adaptation by prioritizing the differentiation of early essential lineages. Thus compensatory and prioritized differentiation and the sets of markers produced are part of a response of cultured embryos and stem cells that emulate what must happen during implantation of a stressed gestation. Knowledge of these markers and use of stressed stem cell assays in culture should replace or reduce the number of animals needed for developmental toxicity and should produce biomarkers for stressed development in vitro and in vivo.
Simple formulae for circular-polarization axial-ratio calculations

Some simple, approximate formulas are provided for calculating the axial ratio of a circularly polarized (CP) wave, as generated by two radiating elements that have amplitude, phase, orthogonality, and polarization errors. The derivations of the formulas are not presented, but agreement between the exact and approximate results is demonstrated for a set of sample cases, assuming that the above errors are small. <<ETX>>
Biodegradable Polyelectrolyte Microcapsules: Antigen Delivery Tools with Th17 Skewing Activity after Pulmonary Delivery

Because of their large surface area, the lungs appear an attractive route for noninvasive vaccine delivery, harboring the potential to induce local mucosal immune responses in addition to systemic immunity. To evoke adaptive immunity, Ags require the addition of adjuvants that not only enhance the strength of the immune response but also determine the type of response elicited. In this study, we evaluate the adjuvant characteristics of polyelectrolyte microcapsules (PEMs) consisting of the biopolymers dextran-sulfate and poly-l-arginine. PEMs form an entirely new class of microcapsules that are generated by the sequential adsorption of oppositely charged polymers (polyelectrolytes) onto a sacrificial colloidal template, which is subsequently dissolved leaving a hollow microcapsule surrounded by a thin shell. Following intratracheal instillation, PEMs were not only efficiently taken up by APCs but also enhanced their activation status. Pulmonary adaptive immune responses were characterized by the induction of a strongly Th17-polarized response. When compared with a mixture of soluble Ag with empty microcapsules, Ag encapsulation significantly enhanced the strength of this local mucosal response. Given their unique property to selectively generate Th17-polarized immune responses, PEMs may become of significant interest in the development of effective vaccines against fungal and bacterial species.