Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Interferon‐γ Inhibits Arterial Stenosis After Injury

BackgroundArterial injury initiates a proliferative response among the smooth muscle cells of the artery. This leads- to the formation of a thickened intima that may reduce the diameter of the arterial lumen. Such intimal lesions often develop after vascular surgery and angioplastic procedures. Previous cell culture studies have shown that the lymphokine, interferon-y (gIFN), inhibits smooth muscle cell proliferation. Methods and ResultsWe therefore tested whether administration of exogenous gIFN could inhibit the development of intimal lesions. Rat carotid arteries were denuded with a balloon catheter, resulting in, the formation of a standardized intimal lesion. The animals were then treated with recombinant rat gIFN at 200,000 units (approximately 400,000 units or 100 pig/kg body wt) administered parenterally once daily for 7 days. Autoradiographic analysis of 3H-thymidine incorporation revealed that gIFN reduced the early smooth muscle replication by approximately 75%. gIFN treatment for 1 week resulted in a 50%o reduction of intimal cross-section area at 2 weeks after injury when compared to control rats injected with buffer alone. The difference in lesion development persisted in rats analyzed 10 weeks after injury, suggesting that proliferative events during the first week determine the long-term development of the intima. Inhibition of lesion development was accompanied by expression of the class II histocompatibility (1a) gene, RT1B, suggesting that both were directly related to the administration of gIFN. ConclusionsThese results show that gIFN is a potent inhibitor of the formation of arterial proliferative lesions in vivo. It is possible that gIFN could be useful in preventing arterial stenosis after surgery and angioplasty in man.
The effects of acute tryptophan depletion on speech and behavioural mimicry in individuals at familial risk for depression

Major depressive disorder (MDD) has been associated with abnormalities in speech and behavioural mimicry. These abnormalities may contribute to the impairments in interpersonal functioning that are often seen in MDD patients. MDD has also been associated with disturbances in the brain serotonin system, but the extent to which serotonin regulates speech and behavioural mimicry remains unclear. In a randomized, double-blind, crossover study, we induced acute tryptophan depletion (ATD) in individuals with or without a family history of MDD. Five hours afterwards, participants engaged in two behavioural-mimicry experiments in which speech and behaviour were recorded. ATD reduced the time participants waited before speaking, which might indicate increased impulsivity. However, ATD did not significantly alter speech otherwise, nor did it affect mimicry. This suggests that a brief lowering of brain serotonin has limited effects on verbal and non-verbal social behaviour. The null findings may be due to low test sensitivity, but they otherwise suggest that low serotonin has little effect on social interaction quality in never-depressed individuals. It remains possible that recovered MDD patients are more strongly affected.
RF fingerprinting based GSM indoor localization

The demand for location-based services (LBS) in indoor environments such as shopping malls and airports has increased recently. In order to support such LBS applications accurate indoor localization systems are required. Therefore, in this paper, K-Nearest Neighbor (K-NN) and Random Decision Forest (RDF) algorithms for GSM RSS based RF fingerprinting method are presented in order find the location of mobile users in indoor environments. For studying the performance of these two algoritms in realistic indoor environments, a measurement campaign is conducted in Istanbul AtaŞehir Palladium shopping mall using GSM cellular networks. The location estimation error performance of these two algoritms are obtained in the form of CDF results by using the collected GSM RSS data. Moreover, the effects of different mobile phone brands (Sony Ericsson and Nokia) on the location estimation error performance are investigated using the measurement data. According to the results, RDF method performs slightly better than K-NN method. Additionally, Sony Ericsson mobile phone provides better location estimation performance than that of Nokia mobile phone.
Massive M2M access with reliability guarantees in LTE systems

Machine-to-Machine (M2M) communications are one of the major drivers of the cellular network evolution towards 5G systems. One of the key challenges is on how to provide reliability guarantees to each accessing device in a situation in which there is a massive number of almost-simultaneous arrivals from a large set of M2M devices. The existing solutions take a reactive approach in dealing with massive arrivals, such as non-selective barring when a massive arrival event occurs, which implies that the devices cannot get individual reliability guarantees. In this paper we propose a proactive approach, based on a standard operation of the cellular access. The access procedure is divided into two phases, an estimation phase and a serving phase. In the estimation phase the number of arrivals is estimated and this information is used to tune the amount of resources allocated in the serving phase. Our results show that the proactive approach is instrumental in delivering high access reliability to the M2M devices.
Organic mulch can increase the survival of a weed biological control agent during laboratory mass rearing

ABSTRACT Mass rearing agent organisms is a critical component to classical biological control programmes. Maximising survival of each life stage necessitates that ideal, stage-specific conditions are available in the rearing protocol. We investigated a method to improve pupal survival of Pseudophilothrips ichini Hood (Thysanoptera: Phlaeothripidae), a proposed biological control agent of the highly invasive Brazilian peppertree, Schinus terebinthifolia Raddi (Sapindales: Anacardiaceae). Specifically, we tested the effect of organic mulch on the number of adults emerging. Either compressed coconut fibre, dried Brazilian peppertree leaves, or dried sphagnum moss were added to the soil surface of potted Brazilian peppertrees. Nothing was added to untreated control plants. Each plant was sealed in a clear acrylic cylinder and 50 s instar thrips were added. The number of adults emerging was compared between mulch treatments. The greatest number of adults emerged from plants with sphagnum moss, with no differences among the other mulches and the control. We confirmed that the majority of thrips pupated in the moss rather than in the soil. Relative humidity was higher in the mulch layers compared to the plant canopy. Sphagnum moss likely provided the most ideal harbourages for thigmotactic pupae and the humid microhabitat minimised desiccation. We discuss the use of organic mulches in ecological contexts and emphasise the benefits of organic mulch in captive rearing operations that involve insects with soil-dwelling stages.
PARCEL-BASED IMAGE CLASSIFICATION AS A DECISION-MAKING SUPPORTING TOO L FOR THE LAND BANK OF GALICIA (SPAIN)

The results obtained after the application of parcel-oriented classification over two geographic areas of Galicia, in the northwest of Spain, are presented. In this region, forest and shrublands in mountain environments are very heterogeneous, with many private unproductive parcels, some of which are in a high state of abandonment. This situation entails a low economic productivity of the land and a higher vulnerability to wildfires and degradation in the affected areas. In this sense, the local government is promoting new methodologies based on high resolution images in order to classify the territory in basic and generic land uses. This land database will be used to plan specific actions for the sustainable management of degraded parcels, including the creation of a land bank. The data used were 0.5 m/pixel visible and near infrared aerial imagery, and cadastral cartography employed to define the image objects (parcels) to be analysed. A set of features was computed from the images to quantitative describe different properties of the objects: spectral, texture and structural. In addition, several shape features were extracted from the parcel polygons. The classification was performed by means of decision trees, combined using the boosting technique. For the evaluation, field data samples were collected. An additional test using as a descriptive feature the land use class contained in a previous thematic database was performed. The overall accuracies of the classifications obtained are always above 90%. In one of the two areas tested, where forest and shrublands are especially undefined, the discrimination between these two classes is low. In conclusion, the use of automatic parcel-oriented classification techniques for land use updating tasks, particularly when broad and well defined classes are required, seems to be effective in some of the areas tested.
RNA-DV: an interactive tool for editing and visualizing RNA secondary structures

Although many tools were developed for visualization of RNA secondary structure, RNA-DV is a tool which provides a flexible and powerful interface for RNA secondary structure design and visualization. Being able to dynamically make modification and visualize the result is the most significant contribution of RNA-DV. The ability to allow researcher to make edit and visualize the resulting structure help set apart RNA-DV from other existing tools. The structural modification is achieved through a combination of mouse and keyboard operations. The direct and intuitive interface allows the structure prediction researcher to visualize the structure. Furthermore, RNA-DV provides the necessary tool for structure designers to explore the effect of various structural elements in terms of thermodynamic contributions. Four different thermodynamic energy models (efn2, HotKnots, Major and RNAeval) were incorporated allowing users to observe real-time energy changes while designing the structure. Visualizing and editing of pseudo-knotted structure is also supported in RNA-DV.
PLEDS: A Personalized Entity Detection System Based on Web Log Mining Techniques

With the expansion of the internet, many specialized, high-profile sites have become available that bring very technical subject matter to readers with non-technical backgrounds. While the theme of these sites may be of interest to these readers, the posts themselves may contain terms that non-experts may be unfamiliar with and may wish to know more about. We developed PLEDS, a personalized entity detection system which identifies interesting entities and provides related information for individual users by mining web logs and query logs. The experimental results of a systemic user study shows that with PLEDS's aid, users can experience the benefits of an enriched internet surfing experience.
Trans‐Sarcolemmal Ca2+ Movements Associated With Contraction of the Rabbit Right Ventricular Wall

The purpose of this study was to examine the movements of Ca2+ into the myocardium from the extracellular space during the course of muscle contraction. Equilibration of the rabbit right ventricular wall with perfusate containing 45Ca was measured by collecting effluent droplets over time. This protocol was carried out in a quiescent muscle and then repeated 15-20 minutes later in an identical fashion except that halfway through the collection period the muscle was stimulated to contract. We were thus able to quantitate the contraction-dependent changes in 45Ca movements. In control experiments using [S8Co]EDTA as an extracellular space marker, we observed that contraction altered the volume of this space. This alteration in extracellular space was relatively small, and the quantitation of 45Ca movements was corrected for this change. The addition of 1 μM Bay K 8644 to the perfusate stimulated tension and augmented Ca2+ depletion from the extracellular space. The addition of 15 μM nifedipine to the perfusate significantly reduced both tension development and Ca2+depletion from the extracellular space of the muscle. Net contraction-dependent movement of Ca2+from the extracellular space into the myocardium under control conditions at 1 mM [Ca2+] was 10-14 μmol Ca2+/kg tissue wet wt/beat. This value indicates either a large contribution of Ca2+-induced Ca2+release from the sarcoplasmic reticulum and/or significant contribution of sarcolemmal bound Ca2+to excitation-contraction coupling in the rabbit ventricle.
Variational Iteration Method for Solving Nonlinear Coupled Equations in 2-Dimensional Space in Fluid Mechanics

In this paper, we shall use the variational iteration method to introduce a framework for analytic treatment of linearized Burgers’ equation and coupled Burgers’ equations in 2- dimensional space. For these equations, the exact solutions are obtained. The paper confirms the power and efficiency of the method in reducing the size of the calculation, also the simplicity of the method compared with the other methods.
Pricing CDOs with Correlated Variance Gamma Distributions

In this article, we propose a method for synthetic CDO pricing with Variance Gamma processes and distributions. First, we extend a structural model proposed by Luciano and Schoutens [2005] by allowing a more general dependence structure. We show that our extension leads to a correlation smile as observed in liquid index tranches. Since this method is not adequate for practical purposes, we extract the dependence structure into a factor approach based on Variance Gamma distributions. This approach allows for an analytical solution for the portfolio loss distribution. The model fits to prices of liquid CDS index tranches. It can be used to price bespoke CDOs in a consistent way.
Analysis of 3-D shape estimation using bistatic multi-channel radar systems

We estimate the radius of a perfect electric conductor (PEC) half-sphere placed on a ground plane, given six bi-conical antennas that suffer from manufacturing errors. The results are complemented by an analytical model of the sensor system and the scatterer. The analytical model includes the front-end electronics in combination with the antenna radiation impedance and the radiation field function.
Removal of Hydrogen Sulfide in a Biotrickling Filter under Extremely Acidic Conditions

Hydrogen sulfide (H2S), an extremely corrosive and toxic gas, was commonly generated by urban treatment plants, gas and oil refineries, paper and pulp industries and so on. Biofiltration, which was considered as cost-effective and environment-friendly, evoked substantial attention in recent years. In this study, a biotrickling filter filled with polypropylene pall rings was constructed, where efficient removal of H2S under extremely acidic conditions (pH 1.0) took place. The effects of empty bed resident time (EBRT), inlet H2S concentration, pH on the performance of the reactor were investigated. H2S removal efficiency was consistently above 90% after a start-up period of 18 d and a maximum elimination capacity of 52.0 g/m3·h was obtained after operation for 58 d. A high removal efficiency of 100% was achieved with EBRT in the range of 13-30 s. A maximal elimination capacity of 70.2 g/m3·h was obtained with an inlet H2S concentration of 400 mg/m3, when H2S removal efficiency was only 73.1%. These results demonstrated that the system could be operated well under extremely low pH, which is economical and convenient for H2S removal process where hydrogen ions were accumulated.
SASeq: A Selective and Adaptive Shrinkage Approach to Detect and Quantify Active Transcripts using RNA-Seq

Identification and quantification of condition-specific transcripts using RNA-Seq is vital in transcriptomics research. While initial efforts using mathematical or statistical modeling of read counts or per-base exonic signal have been successful, they may suffer from model overfitting since not all the reference transcripts in a database are expressed under a specific biological condition. Standard shrinkage approaches, such as Lasso, shrink all the transcript abundances to zero in a non-discriminative manner. Thus it does not necessarily yield the set of condition-specific transcripts. Informed shrinkage approaches, using the observed exonic coverage signal, are thus desirable. Motivated by ubiquitous uncovered exonic regions in RNA-Seq data, termed as "naked exons", we propose a new computational approach that first filters out the reference transcripts not supported by splicing and paired-end reads, then followed by fitting a new mathematical model of per-base exonic coverage signal and the underlying transcripts structure. We introduce a tuning parameter to penalize the specific regions of the selected transcripts that were not supported by the naked exons. Our approach compares favorably with the selected competing methods in terms of both time complexity and accuracy using simulated and real-world data. Our method is implemented in SAMMate, a GUI software suite freely available from this http URL
Assessment of the Integration Strategy between GPS and Body-Worn MEMS Sensors with Application to Sports

This paper describes experiments that were performed involving a professional downhill skier equipped with a low-cost L1 GPS receiver and a MEMS-IMU composed of 3 single axis gyroscopes, accelerometers and magnetometers. In addition, the skier carried an L1/L2 GPS receiver and a tactical-grade IMU (LN200). The experiments aimed to assess the navigation performance of different GPS/MEMS-IMU integration strategies compared to high-quality GPS/INS integration. After presenting an overview of currently applied integration methods, the unscented Kalman filter approach in loosely coupled mode. The relevance of the simple MEMS-IMU sensor error model was verified by comparing the filter output to the reference data.
PE-Miner: Realtime Mining of 'Structural Information' to Detect Zero-Day Malicious Portable Executables

In this paper, we present an accurate and realtime PE-Miner framework that automatically extracts distinguishing features from portable executables (PE) to detect zero-day malware without any a priori knowledge about them. The distinguishing features are extracted using the structural information standardized by the Microsoft Windows operating system for executables, DLLs and object files. We follow a threefold research methodology: (1) identify a set of structural features for PE files, which is computable in realtime, (2) use an efficient preprocessor for removing redundancy in the features’ set, and (3) select an efficient data mining algorithm for final classification. The primary objective of PE-Miner is to distinguish between the benign and malicious executables; while its secondary task is to categorize the malicious executables as a function of their payload. We evaluated PE-Miner on two malware collections, VX Heavens and Malfease datasets that contain 11 and 5 thousand malicious PE files respectively. The results of our experiments show that PE-Miner achieves more than 99% detection rate with less than 0.5% false alarm rate for distinguishing between the benign and malicious executables. Furthermore, it achieves an average detection rate of 90% with an average false alarm rate of less than 5% for categorizing the malicious executables as a function of their payload. It is important to emphasize that PE-Miner has low processing overheads and takes only0.244 seconds on the average to scan a given PE file. Finally, we evaluate the robustness and reliability of PE-Miner under several regression tests. Our results show that extracted features are “robust” to different packing techniques and PE-Miner is also resilient to majority of “crafty” evasion strategies. The research presented in this paper is conducted at nexGIN RC and is funded by National ICT R&D Fund, Ministry of Information Technology, Government of Pakistan under the grant # ICTRDF/AN/2007/37. The information, data, comments, and views detailed herein may not necessarily reflect the endorsements of views of the National ICT R&D Fund.
Concurrency control for high contention environments

Future transaction processing systems may have substantially higher levels of concurrency due to reasons which include: (1) increasing disparity between processor speeds and data access latencies, (2) large numbers of processors, and (3) distributed databases. Another influence is the trend towards longer or more complex transactions. A possible consequence is substantially more data contention, which could limit total achievable throughput. In particular, it is known that the usual locking method of concurrency control is not well suited to environments where data contention is a significant factor. Here we consider a number of concurrency control concepts and transaction scheduling techniques that are applicable to high contention environments, and that do not rely on database semantics to reduce contention. These include access invariance and its application to prefetching of data, approximations to essential blocking such as wait depth limited scheduling, and phase dependent control. The performance of various concurrency control methods based on these concepts are studied using detailed simulation models. The results indicate that the new techniques can offer substantial benefits for systems with high levels of data contention.
Phylogeography and colonization history of Lesser Black‐backed Gulls (Larus fuscus) as revealed by mtDNA sequences

Abstract Because of the differential amplitude of climatic oscillations, species living at northern latitudes are subject to more frequent and more severe range oscillations than species at southern latitudes. As a consequence, northern populations should, on average, be phylogenetically younger and possess less phylogeographical structure than closely related taxa further south. To test these predictions, we studied the mitochondrial‐genetic population structure of NW Palearctic Lesser Black‐backed Gulls (Larus fuscus group [=LBBG], five taxa) breeding at temperate to boreal latitudes from Iceland to the Taimyr Peninsula. Results were compared with those previously obtained (Liebers et al. 2001. Mol. Ecol.10: 2447) for more southerly breeding Yellow‐legged Gulls (Larus cachinnans group, six taxa from the Atlantic Islands to Mongolia). Sequences of the hypervariable region I (HVR‐I) of the mitochondrial control region revealed low within‐ and between‐taxon sequence divergence, little genetic variation, a shallow haplotype phylogeny and poor phylogeographical structure in LBBGs compared with Yellow‐legged Gulls. Haplotype frequencies among the five northern taxa formed a stepped cline with significant gene flow restriction between the forms heuglini and fuscus, probably indicating a secondary contact with (partial? ) reproductive isolation. Western forms of LBBG, among which mitochondrial gene flow appears unrestricted, show genetic signs of postglacial range expansion and population growth. The Larus fuscus group is derived from a cachinnans‐like ancestral population, probably in the Aralo‐Caspian basin, and spread from east (NW Siberia) to west within the Palearctic.