Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Impaired Elastin Deposition in Fstl1−/− Lung Allograft under the Renal Capsule

Lung alveolar development in late gestation is a process important to postnatal survival. Follistatin-like 1 (Fstl1) is a matricellular protein of the Bmp antagonist class, which is involved in the differentiation/maturation of alveolar epithelial cells during saccular stage of lung development. This study investigates the role of Fstl1 on elastin deposition in mesenchyme and subsequent secondary septation in the late gestation stage of terminal saccular formation. To this aim, we modified the renal capsule allograft model for lung organ culture by grafting diced E15.5 distal lung underneath the renal capsule of syngeneic host and cultured up to 7 days. The saccular development of the diced lung allografts, as indicated by the morphology, epithelial and vascular developments, occurred in a manner similar to that in utero. Fstl1 deficiency caused atelectatic phenotype companied by impaired epithelial differentiation in D3 Fstl1−/− lung allografts, which is similar to that of E18.5 Fstl1−/− lungs, supporting the role of Fstl1 during saccular stage. Inhibition of Bmp signaling by intraperitoneal injection of dorsomorphin in the host mice rescued the pulmonary atelectasis of D3 Fstl1−/− allografts. Furthermore, a marked reduction in elastin expression and deposition was observed in walls of air sacs of E18.5 Fstl1−/− lungs and at the tips of the developing alveolar septae of D7 Fstl1−/− allografts. Thus, in addition to its role on alveolar epithelium, Fstl1 is crucial for elastin expression and deposition in mesenchyme during lung alveologenesis. Our data demonstrates that the modified renal capsule allograft model for lung organ culture is a robust and efficient technique to increase our understanding of saccular stage of lung development.
A comparison of the performance and scalability of Xen and KVM hypervisors

Virtualization is the fundamental technology for corporate data center consolidation and cloud computing. Companies and academic institutions consolidate their servers through virtualization in search for efficient hardware resource usage, lower energy consumption, improved fault tolerance, and increased security. In this paper, we investigate the performance and scalability of two open source virtualization platforms: Xen and Kernel-based Virtual Machine (KVM). We analyze the influence of the number of virtual machines on the performance of several benchmarks that measure compute power, network, and I/O throughput. Virtual machines are running on top of a single physical host. The results show that these two virtualization solutions have similar behavior. An important degradation in the performance is noticed when the number of virtual machines equals or exceeds the number of physical core available. Hyper-threading boots the performance by a small margin. The effect of virtualization on I/O throughput is even more noticeable, although virtual machines were using LVM logical volumes as disk images in our tests.
Systems Intelligence as Opportunity Appreciation Ilkka Leppänen

Options thinking, an opportunity evaluation framework founded on financial options theory, appreciates similar aspects in human decision making that systems intelligence celebrates. A key insight from the distortions in human thinking, that systems intelligence has highlighted, is that often humans make decisions not based on valuable long-term opportunity creation, but rather on hesitation and myopic behaviour. Humans tend to predict ‘cash-flows’, good feeling, social status, and so on; arguably, decisions based on predicting such outcomes are biased towards familiar alternatives with satisfying outcomes. Options theory is used in this essay to argue why opportunities are more valuable than is traditionally understood.
1 CACTI 4 . 0

The original CACTI tool was released in 1994 to give computer architects a fast tool to model SRAM caches. It has been widely adopted and used since. Two new versions were released to add area and active power modeling to CACTI. This new version adds a model for leakage power and updates the basic circuit structure and device parameters to better reflect the advances in scaling semiconductors which have been made in the last ten years. A graphical web interface has also been added to make CACTI more accessible to a larger potential audience.
iTACITUS – Novel Interaction and Tracking Paradigms for Mobile AR

iTACITUS is a sixth framework programme project and aims to privide a mobile cultural heritage information system for the individual. By combining itinerary planning, navigation and rich content on-site information, based upon a dispersed repository of historical and cultural resources it enables a complete information system and media experience for historical interested travellers. This paper covers the development of a “Mobile Augmented Reality (AR) Guide Framework” for Cultural Heritage (CH) sites. The framework delivers advanced markerless tracking on mobile computers as well as new interaction paradigms in AR featuring touch and motion capabilities. In addition to visual components like annotated landscapes and superimposed environments the framework will feature a reactive accoustic AR module. The markerless tracking is based on optical flow. Only pure camera rotation is estimated, assuming the user is staying in place. The system is capable of running at real-time frame rates on mobile computers which allows for wide range of applications both indoors and outdoors. The visual AR application gives users the ability to explore the digital information about the site in a very straight way. By holding a mobile computer in front of a point of interest the user immediately gets further information as AR overlay on the screen. This effect appears like looking through the mobile computer's display and seeing the real world enhanced with virtual objects or information. Virtual Objects are reacting on the user's position. Direct interaction with the virtual objects is possible for example by touching the display or shaking the mobile computer. Spatial accoustic AR transports a place's original ambience. While walking through a room the user gets an accoustic impression about how the place has been before, about people and their activities by listening to the conversations and the environment sounds. Due to the 3D position of the sound the user will create himself an spatial image of the situation. CR
CHARACTERIZATION OF TWO SPLICE VARIANTS OF HUMAN ORGANIC ANION TRANSPORTING POLYPEPTIDE 3 A 1 ( OATP 3 A 1 ) ISOLATED FROM HUMAN BRAIN

In the present study we have isolated two splice variants of the organic anion transporting polypeptide 3A1 (OATP3A1_v1 and OATP3A1_v2) from human brain. OATP3A1_v2 lacks 18 amino acids at the C-terminal end (692 aa) but is otherwise similar in sequence as OATP3A1_v1 (710 aa). OATP3A1_v1 exhibits a wide tissue distribution with expression in testis, various brain regions, heart, lung, spleen, peripheral blood leucocytes and thyroid gland, whereas OATP3A1-v2 is predominantly expressed in testis and brain. On the cellular and subcellular levels OATP3A1_v1 could be immunolocalized in testicular germ cells, the basolateral plasma membrane of choroid plexus epithelial cells and neuroglial cells of the gray matter of human frontal cortex. Immunolocalization of OATP3A1_v2 included Sertoli cells in testis, in apical and/or subapical membranes in choroid plexus epithelial cells and in neurons (cell bodies and axons) of the gray and white matter of human frontal cortex. The rodent orthologue Oatp3a1 was also widely distributed in rat brain and its localization included somatoneurons as well as astroglial cells. Transport studies in cRNA injected Xenopus laevis oocytes and in stably transfected CHO FlpIn cells revealed a similar broad substrate specificity for both splice variants. Transported substrates include the prostaglandins E1 and E2, thyroxin and the cyclic oligopeptides BQ-123 (endothelin antagonist) and vasopressin. These studies provide further evidence for the involvement of OATPs in oligopeptide transport. They specifically suggest that OATP3A1 variants might be involved in the regulation of extracellular vasopressin concentration in human brain and, thus, might influence the neuromodulation of neurotransmission by cerebral neuropeptides such as vasopressin. Page 2 of 45
A ‘tool box’ for deciphering neuronal circuits in the developing chick spinal cord

The genetic dissection of spinal circuits is an essential new means for understanding the neural basis of mammalian behavior. Molecular targeting of specific neuronal populations, a key instrument in the genetic dissection of neuronal circuits in the mouse model, is a complex and time-demanding process. Here we present a circuit-deciphering ‘tool box’ for fast, reliable and cheap genetic targeting of neuronal circuits in the developing spinal cord of the chick. We demonstrate targeting of motoneurons and spinal interneurons, mapping of axonal trajectories and synaptic targeting in both single and populations of spinal interneurons, and viral vector-mediated labeling of pre-motoneurons. We also demonstrate fluorescent imaging of the activity pattern of defined spinal neurons during rhythmic motor behavior, and assess the role of channel rhodopsin-targeted population of interneurons in rhythmic behavior using specific photoactivation.
The Cortisol Awakening Response in Bipolar Illness: A Pilot Study

Objective: A growing body of data suggests that a significantly enhanced salivary cortisol response to waking may indicate an enduring tendency to abnormal cortisol regulation. Our objective was to apply the response test to a population already known to have long-term hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenocortical (HPA) axis dysregulation. We hypothesized that the free cortisol response to waking, believed to be genetically influenced, would be elevated in a significant percentage of cases, regardless of the afternoon Dexamethasone Suppression Test (DST) value. Method: Using the free cortisol response to waking and the short daytime profile, we tested 18 clinically stable, lithium-responsive subjects from our long-term naturalistic follow-up of monthly DSTs. These tests include salivary testing every 15 minutes during the first hour of waking, followed by samples taken at 3:00 PM and 8:00 PM. Results: While clinically stable on lithium prophylaxis, patients with bipolar disorder (BD) showed a significantly enhanced salivary cortisol response to waking, compared with control subjects (P < 0.03). Cortisol levels 30 minutes after waking significantly exceeded those in the large normative data provided in the literature (P < 0.001). Conclusions: Our observations support the hypothesis that the free cortisol response to waking can reflect relatively enduring HPA dysregulation, even when lithium-responsive BD patients are clinically well and their DSTs are normal. Because the test is easy to administer, the free cortisol response to waking may hold promise as a marker in studies of high-risk families predisposed to, or at risk for, mood disorders.
Telomerase-dependent generation of 70-nt-long telomeric single-stranded 3′ overhangs in yeast

Telomeres, the chromatin structures at the ends of eukaryotic chromosomes, are essential for chromosome stability. The telomere terminates with a TG-rich 3′ overhang, which is bound by sequence-specific proteins that both protect the end and regulate the telomerase elongation process. Here, we demonstrate the presence of 3′ overhangs as long as 200 nt in asynchronously growing cells of the budding yeast Saccharomyces castellii. The 3′ overhangs show a wide distribution of 14–200 nt in length, thus resembling the distribution found in human cells. A substantially large fraction of the 3′ overhangs resides in the 70–200 nt range. Remarkably, we found an accumulation of a distinct class of 70-nt-long 3′ overhangs in the S phase of the cell cycle. Cells without a functional telomerase showed the same wide distribution of 3′ overhangs, but significantly, lacked the specific fraction of 70-nt 3′ overhangs. Hence, our data show that the highly defined 70-nt 3′ overhangs are generated by a telomerase-dependent mechanism, which is uncoupled to the mechanisms producing the bulk of the 3′ overhangs. These data provide new insights that will be helpful for deciphering the complex interplay between the specialized telomere replication machinery and the conventional DNA replication.
Smart Home: Integrating Internet of Things with Web Services and Cloud Computing

Smart Home minimizes user's intervention in monitoring home settings and controlling home appliances. This paper presents an approach to the development of Smart Home applications by integrating Internet of Things (IoT) with Web services and Cloud computing. The approach focuses on: (1) embedding intelligence into sensors and actuators using Arduino platform, (2) networking smart things using Zigbee technology, (3) facilitating interactions with smart things using Cloud services, (4) improving data exchange efficiency using JSON data format. Moreover, we implement three use cases to demonstrate the approach's feasibility and efficiency, i.e., measuring home conditions, monitoring home appliances, and controlling home access.
Is Transcranial Alternating Current Stimulation Effective in Modulating Brain Oscillations?

Transcranial alternating current stimulation (tACS) is a promising tool for modulating brain oscillations, as well as a possible therapeutic intervention. However, the lack of conclusive evidence on whether tACS is able to effectively affect cortical activity continues to limit its application. The present study aims to address this issue by exploiting the well-known inhibitory alpha rhythm in the posterior parietal cortex during visual perception and attention orientation. Four groups of healthy volunteers were tested with a Gabor patch detection and discrimination task. All participants were tested at the baseline and selective frequencies of tACS, including Sham, 6 Hz, 10 Hz, and 25 Hz. Stimulation at 6 Hz and 10 Hz over the occipito-parietal area impaired performance in the detection task compared to the baseline. The lack of a retinotopically organised effect and marginal frequency-specificity modulation in the detection task force us to be cautious about the effectiveness of tACS in modulating brain oscillations. Therefore, the present study does not provide significant evidence for tACS reliably inducing direct modulations of brain oscillations that can influence performance in a visual task.
Kernels from Probabilistic Models for Multiclass Classification and Reranking with Arbitrary Loss Function

Many classification problems involve loss functions different from the usual zero-one classification loss. In recent years, several approaches to accommodate loss functions in kernel-based learning algorithms have been suggested, but the construction of kernels has not been motivated by specific loss functions. We propose a method for deriving kernels from probabilistic models, which is tailored to a given loss function. We evaluate this method empirically using a natural language statistical parser as the probabilistic model, a SVM with slack rescaling as the learning algorithm for reranking of candidate parses provided by the statistical parser, and F1 measure over bracketed constituents as the loss function. The method with the proposed kernel achieves a significant improvement in F1 measure over the results with a kernel motivated by a zero-one loss function (a TOP kernel generalization for reranking) and over results of the statistical parser alone.
MelodicBrush: a cross-modal link between ancient and digital art forms

MelodicBrush is a novel cross-modal musical system that connects two ancient art forms: Chinese ink-brush calligraphy and Chinese music. Our system endows the process of calligraphy writing with a novel auditory representation in a natural and intuitive manner to create a novel artistic experience. The writing effect is simulated as though the user were writing on an infinitely large piece of paper viewed through a viewport. The real-time musical generation effects are motivated by principles of metaphoric congruence and statistical music modeling.
Business Suitability Principles for Workflow Modelling

By incorporating aspects of coordination and collaboration, workflow implementations of information systems require a sound conceptualisation of business processing semantics. Traditionally, the success of conceptual modelling techniques has depended largely on the adequacy of conceptualisation, expressive power, comprehensibility and formal foundation. An equally important requirement, particularly with the increased conceptualisation of business aspects, is business suitability. In this paper, the focus is on the business suitability of workflow modelling for a commonly encountered class of (operational) business processing, e.g. those of insurance claims, bank loans and land conveyancing. A general assessment is first conducted on some integrated techniques characterising well-known paradigms structured process modelling, object-oriented modelling, behavioural process modelling and business-oriented modelling. Through this, an insight into business suitability within the broader perspective of technique adequacy, is gained. A specific business suitability diagnosis then follows using a particular characterisation of business processing, i.e. one where the intuitive semantics and inter-relationship of business services and business processes are nuanced. As a result, five business suitability principles are elicited. These are proposed for a more detailed understanding and (synthetic) development of workflow modelling techniques. Accordingly, further insight into workflow specification languages and workflow globalisation in open distributed architectures may also be gained. *Part of this work has been supported by CITEC, a business unit of the Queensland Government’s Department of Public Works and Housing (formerly the Administrative Services Department).
A structural geometrical analysis of weakly infeasible SDPs

In this article, we present a geometric theoretical analysis of semidefinite feasibility problems (SDFPs). This is done by decomposing a SDFP into smaller problems, in a way that preserves most feasibility properties of the original problem. With this technique, we develop a detailed analysis of weakly infeasible SDFPs to understand clearly and systematically how weak infeasibility arises in semidefinite programming. In particular, we show that for a weakly infeasible problem over $n\times n$ matrices, at most $n-1$ directions are required to approach the positive semidefinite cone. We also present a discussion on feasibility certificates for SDFPs and related complexity results.
Demo Abstract: Network-Wide Sensornet Checkpointing Made Practical

Developing sensornet software is difficult partly because of the limited visibility of the system state of deployed nodes. Sensornet checkpointing is a method that allows developers to save and restore full system state of nodes. In this demo, we show an extension module of the Cooja simulator that enables automated sensornet checkpointing on a real testbed. We demonstrate this functionality by connecting Cooja to the TWIST testbed, and show how we can alter the full system state of the network through a simple user interface.
An Efficient Algorithm for Euclidian 2-Center with Outliers ∗

For a set P of n points in R, the Euclidean 2-center problem computes a pair of congruent disks of the minimal radius that cover P . We extend this to the (2, k)-center problem where we compute the minimal radius pair of congruent disks to cover n − k points of P . We present a randomized algorithm with O(nk log n) expected running time for the (2, k)-center problem. We also study the (p, k)-center problem in R under the `∞-metric. We give solutions for p = 4 in O(kn log n) time and for p = 5 in O(kn log n) time.
Introduction to the Cell Broadband Engine Architecture

This paper provides an overview of the Cell Broadband Engine™ Architecture (CBEA). The CBEA defines a revolutionary extension to a more conventional processor organization and serves as the basis for the development of microprocessors targeted at the computer entertainment, multimedia, and real-time market segments. In this paper, the organization of the architecture is described, as well as the instruction set, commands, and facilities defined in the architecture. In many cases, the motivation for these facilities is explained and examples are provided to illustrate their intended use. In addition, this paper introduces the Software Development Kit and the software standards for a CBEA-compliant processor.
A Comparison of Google N-grams and Gigaword Dependencies as Automatically Mined Features in Temporal Relation Extraction

This paper describes a system for learning before-after temporal relations by training on text and dependency relation patterns mined from large-scale corpora. We mined the Google N-gram corpus to extract good text patterns to use as features in a temporal ordering classification system. Though we identified these as being qualitatively good features. Classification results were just above baseline. We compare this set of features to another set of features generated from a corpus of dependency relations in newswire text. The latter set of features improved classification beyond baseline by about 2%, but when combined with existing state-of-theart features, worsened performance by a small amount.
FOC and DTC comparison in PMSM for railway traction application

This paper presents a detailed comparison between two control strategies, field oriented control (FOC) and direct-torque control (DTC), in permanent-magnet synchronous machines (PMSM) for railway traction applications. The analysis is initially carried out in simulation, and some experimental results obtained from a 100 kW test bench are also included.
Sampling-based Motion Planning for Robotic Information Gathering

We propose an incremental sampling-based motion planning algorithm that generates maximally informative trajectories for guiding mobile robots to observe their environment. The goal is to find a trajectory that maximizes an information metric (e.g., variance reduction, information gain, or mutual information) and also falls within a pre-specified budget constraint (e.g., fuel, energy, or time). Prior algorithms have employed combinatorial optimization techniques to solve these problems, but existing techniques are typically restricted to discrete domains and often scale poorly in the size of the problem. Our proposed Rapidly-exploring Information Gathering (RIG) algorithm extends ideas from Rapidly-exploring Random Graphs (RRGs) and combines them with branch and bound techniques to achieve efficient optimization of information gathering while also allowing for operation in continuous space with motion constraints. We provide a rigorous analysis of the asymptotic optimality of our approach, and we present several conservative pruning strategies for modular, submodular, and time-varying information objectives. We demonstrate that our proposed approach finds optimal solutions more quickly than existing combinatorial solvers, and we provide a proof-ofconcept field implementation on an autonomous surface vehicle performing a wireless signal strength monitoring task in a lake.