Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Cell-Autonomous Regulation of Dendritic Spine Density by PirB

Visual Abstract Synapse density on cortical pyramidal neurons is modulated by experience. This process is highest during developmental critical periods, when mechanisms of synaptic plasticity are fully engaged. In mouse visual cortex, the critical period for ocular dominance (OD) plasticity coincides with the developmental pruning of synapses. At this time, mice lacking paired Ig-like receptor B (PirB) have excess numbers of dendritic spines on L5 neurons; these spines persist and are thought to underlie the juvenile-like OD plasticity observed in adulthood. Here we examine whether PirB is required specifically in excitatory neurons to exert its effect on dendritic spine and synapse density during the critical period. In mice with a conditional allele of PirB (PirBfl/fl), PirB was deleted only from L2/3 cortical pyramidal neurons in vivo by timed in utero electroporation of Cre recombinase. Sparse mosaic expression of Cre produced neurons lacking PirB in a sea of wild-type neurons and glia. These neurons had significantly elevated dendritic spine density, as well as increased frequency of miniature EPSCs, suggesting that they receive a greater number of synaptic inputs relative to Cre– neighbors. The effect of cell-specific PirB deletion on dendritic spine density was not accompanied by changes in dendritic branching complexity or axonal bouton density. Together, results imply a neuron-specific, cell-autonomous action of PirB on synaptic density in L2/3 pyramidal cells of visual cortex. Moreover, they are consistent with the idea that PirB functions normally to corepress spine density and synaptic plasticity, thereby maintaining headroom for cells to encode ongoing experience-dependent structural change throughout life.
Neural-Specific Deletion of Htra2 Causes Cerebellar Neurodegeneration and Defective Processing of Mitochondrial OPA1

HTRA2, a serine protease in the intermembrane space, has important functions in mitochondrial stress signaling while its abnormal activity may contribute to the development of Parkinson’s disease. Mice with a missense or null mutation of Htra2 fail to thrive, suffer striatal neuronal loss, and a parkinsonian phenotype that leads to death at 30–40 days of age. While informative, these mouse models cannot separate neural contributions from systemic effects due to the complex phenotypes of HTRA2 deficiency. Hence, we developed mice carrying a Htra2-floxed allele to query the consequences of tissue-specific HTRA2 deficiency. We found that mice with neural-specific deletion of Htra2 exhibited atrophy of the thymus and spleen, cessation to gain weight past postnatal (P) day 18, neurological symptoms including ataxia and complete penetrance of premature death by P40. Histologically, increased apoptosis was detected in the cerebellum, and to a lesser degree in the striatum and the entorhinal cortex, from P25. Even earlier at P20, mitochondria in the cerebella already exhibited abnormal morphology, including swelling, vesiculation, and fragmentation of the cristae. Furthermore, the onset of these structural anomalies was accompanied by defective processing of OPA1, a key molecule for mitochondrial fusion and cristae remodeling, leading to depletion of the L-isoform. Together, these findings suggest that HTRA2 is essential for maintenance of the mitochondrial integrity in neurons. Without functional HTRA2, a lifespan as short as 40 days accumulates a large quantity of dysfunctional mitochondria that contributes to the demise of mutant mice.
Design and implementation of an integrated beamformer and uplink scheduler for OFDMA femtocells

Beamforming is a signal processing technique with numerous benefits. Unlike with omni-directional communications, it focuses the energy of the transmitted and/or the received signal in a particular direction. Although beamforming has been extensively studied on conventional systems such as WiFi, little is known about its practical impact on OFDMA femtocell deployments. Since OFDMA schedules multiple clients (users) in the same frame (in contrast to WiFi), designing intelligent scheduling mechanisms and at the same time leveraging beamforming, is a challenging task. Unlike downlink, we show that the integration of beamforming with uplink scheduling projects an interesting trade-off between beamforming gain on the one hand, and the power pooling gain resulting from joint multi-user scheduling on the other hand. This, in turn, makes the uplink scheduling problem even hard to approximate. To address this, we propose algorithms that are simple to implement, yet provably efficient with a worst case guarantee of half. We implement our solutions on a real WiMAX femtocell platform integrated with an eight-element phased array beamforming antenna. Evaluations from both prototype implementation and trace-driven simulations show that our solution delivers throughput gains of over 40% compared to an omni-directional scheme.
Na+/K+-ATPase resistance and cardenolide sequestration: basal adaptations to host plant toxins in the milkweed bugs (Hemiptera: Lygaeidae: Lygaeinae)

Despite sequestration of toxins being a common coevolutionary response to plant defence in phytophagous insects, the macroevolution of the traits involved is largely unaddressed. Using a phylogenetic approach comprising species from four continents, we analysed the ability to sequester toxic cardenolides in the hemipteran subfamily Lygaeinae, which is widely associated with cardenolide-producing Apocynaceae. In addition, we analysed cardenolide resistance of their Na+/K+-ATPases, the molecular target of cardenolides. Our data indicate that cardenolide sequestration and cardenolide-resistant Na+/K+-ATPase are basal adaptations in the Lygaeinae. In two species that shifted to non-apocynaceous hosts, the ability to sequester was secondarily reduced, yet Na+/K+-ATPase resistance was maintained. We suggest that both traits evolved together and represent major coevolutionary adaptations responsible for the evolutionary success of lygaeine bugs. Moreover, specialization on cardenolides was not an evolutionary dead end, but enabled this insect lineage to host shift to cardenolide-producing plants from distantly related families.
A Jurassic peraluminous leucogranite from Yiwulüshan, western Liaoning, North China craton: age, origin and tectonic significance

Abstract The Gangjia granite stock is a garnet-bearing muscovite leucogranitic body emplaced in Yiwulüshan in Western Liaoning Province at the eastern segment of the Yanshan orogenic belt, North China craton. The SHRIMP U–Pb zircon age is 153±5 Ma. The Gangjia granites are peraluminous with A/CNK of more than 1.14, and exhibit a tetrad effect in their REE distribution patterns, as well as non-charge-and-radius-controlled trace element behaviour. This is in contrast to the LREE-enriched patterns of the host Lüshan monzogranites. These geochemical characteristics, together with low Th/U ratios in zircon, suggest that the parental magmas for the Gangjia granites have experienced extensive magmatic differentiation, including interaction between residual melt and a coexisting high-temperature aqueous fluid. Their similar ϵNd(t), model ages, compatible age patterns and common volcanic arc signature in source materials between the Gangjia granites and the host Lüshan monzogranites indicate their comagmatic relationship. These unusual peraluminous leucogranites, coupled with the voluminous adakitic granites hosting them, represent typical post-orogenic magmatism developed under an intra-continental extensional tectonic regime. At the very end of the prolonged Jurassic magmatic evolution in Western Liaoning, extensive fractionation of most probably ferromagnesian phases and plagioclase from a calc-alkaline magma parental to the host Lüshan pluton, with overprint of the magmatic hydrothermal fluid, produced highly evolved peraluminous parental magmas for the Gangjia granites.
A 2-D Finite-Element Analysis for a Permanent Magnet Synchronous Motor Taking an Overhang Effect Into Consideration

In the two-dimensional (2-D) finite-element (FE) analysis, the overhang effect can be considered through an increase in the remanence flux density of the permanent magnet in order to reflect the increment of the air-gap flux density due to the overhang structure. However, a repetitive 2-D FE analysis was performed in order to match the air-gap flux density with it in the three-dimensional (3-D) FE analysis. The proposed method accurately accounts for the overhang effect without trial and error. From the results of the 3-D FE analysis, the validity of the proposed method is verified.
LAMAIDS: A Lightweight Adaptive Mobile Agent-based Intrusion Detection System

Intrusion detection system (IDS) has become an essential component of a computer security scheme as the number of security-breaking attempts originating inside organizations is increasing steadily. The idea of filtering the traffic at the “entrance door” (by firewalls, for instance) is not completely successful since it does not allow monitoring of local traffic. This paper presents a lightweight and adaptive mobile agent-based intrusion detection system (LAMAIDS) that detects intrusion from outside the network as well as from inside. A main machine, being a typical intrusion detection system residing at a secure location, creates mobile IDS agents and dispatches them into the network. The mobile IDS agents are equipped with lightweight IDS capabilities and decision-making. On each hop, the agents sniff the network traffic and look for abnormal activities using a set of rules supplied by the main machine. Simulation results based on real-world scenarios demonstrate significant improvements in terms of detection rate, network overhead, and adaptability, scalability, and fault tolerance.
Estimating a life expectancy of high-density recordable optical disks

We examine a lifetime estimation method for high-density recordable optical disks. It is based on the Eyring acceleration model and statistical analysis. The statistical distribution of life data for the optical disk assumed a lognormal distribution. The standardized life expectancy of an optical disk is defined as the minimum lifetime of 95% survival probability at 25°C / 50%RH with a 95% confidence level. An acceleration test was conducted under stress conditions of temperature and relative humidity. Results have demonstrated that the statistical distribution of lifetime data using the digital error criterion item can be applied to a lognormal distribution. Thereby, we can estimate a standard life expectancy of high-density recordable optical disks as the minimum lifetime of 95% survival probability at a 95% confidence level.
Comparison of Two Acute Toxicity Test Methods for the Silkworm (Lepidoptera: Bombycidae)

ABSTRACT Silkworm (Bombyx mori) is an economically important insect and an ideal nontarget organism to study the environmental assessment of pesticides. Two acute toxicity test methods, leaf-dipping and quantitative spraying, with five insecticides, were compared for pesticide risk assessment. Based on LC50 values of these insecticides by both methods, the order of toxicity levels of five insecticides tested against silkworm was as follows: emamectin benzoate>lambda-cyhalothrin>imidacloprid>chlorpyrifos>dimethoate. Means of relative confidence interval values for individual insecticides of leaf-dipping and quantitative spraying method were—emamectin benzoate (22.55 and 19.03%), lambda-cyhalothrin (18.03 and 17.71%), imidacloprid (19.21 and 16.96%), chlorpyrifos (17.20 and 15.97%), and dimethoate (17.78 and 15.81%). The coefficient of variation values were—emamectin benzoate (17.74 and 5.44%), lambda-cyhalothrin (21.15 and 5.16%), imidacloprid (13.01 and 5.65%), chlorpyrifos (16.72 and 4.85%), and dimethoate (28.36 and 7.93%). The results of the study show that the quantitative spraying method is more effective than the leaf-dipping method in precision and reproducibility. The results of this study will offer a useful reference for selecting a more scientific and rational method for pesticide risk assessment.
Comparison of Family History of Sudden Cardiac Death in Nonischemic and Ischemic Heart Disease

Background— Recent studies have identified the presence of familial clustering of ischemic sudden cardiac death (SCD) as a clinical expression of coronary artery disease. The purpose of this study was to determine whether nonischemic SCD has a similar familial background, which would be evidence of a genetic predisposition. Methods and Results— The retrospective case-control study included (1) consecutive victims of nonischemic SCD (n=223), (2) consecutive victims of ischemic SCD (n=596), whose deaths and diagnosis were verified at medicolegal autopsy, and (3) control subjects without heart disease (n=475). In each study group, the family history of SCD among the first-degree relatives was determined and verified from death certificates. The prevalence of SCD in ≥1 first-degree relative was significantly higher in victims of ischemic (34.2%) than nonischemic SCD (13.4%; P<0.001) or controls (17.6%; P<0.001). The history of SCD in first-degree relatives did not differ from controls in nonischemic SCD victims (P=0.155). In a subgroup analysis of victims of ischemic SCD, the prevalence of family history of SCD in first-degree relatives did not differ between those with or without a prior infarct scar at autopsy (33.1% versus 29.9%, respectively; P=0.222). Conclusions— Ischemic SCD has a strong familial background both in cases with and without a prior myocardial infarction. The family history of SCD is not significantly increased in victims of nonischemic SCD, suggesting a larger role of sporadic occurrence than inherited traits as the cause of nonischemic SCD.
Crustal shear (S) velocity and Poisson's ratio structure along the INDEPTH IV profile in northeast Tibet as derived from wide‐angle seismic data

SUMMARY From the S-wave data collected along a 270-km-long profile spanning the Kunlun mountains in NE Tibet, 14595 Sg phase arrivals and 21 SmS phase arrivals were utilized to derive a whole-crustal S velocity model and, together with a previously derived P velocity model, a Poisson's ratio (σ) model beneath the profile. The final tomogram for the upper 10–15 km of the crust reveals the lower velocities associated with the predominantly Neogene-Quaternary sediments of the Qaidam basin to the north and the higher velocities associated with the predominantly Palaeozoic and Mesozoic upper crustal sequences of the Songpan-Ganzi terrane and Kunlun mountains to the south. This study finds no evidence that the Kunlun mountains are involved in large-scale northward overriding of the Qaidam basin along a shallow south-dipping thrust. The σ in the upper 10–15 km of the crust are often lower than 0.25, indicating a preponderance of quartz-rich rocks in the upper crust beneath the profile. Below 10–15 km depth, the remainder of the crust down to the Moho has an average σ of 0.24 beneath the Songpan-Ganzi terrane and Kunlun mountains and 0.25 below the Qaidam basin. These low σ are similar to other low σ found along other profiles in the northeastern part of the plateau. Assuming an isotropic situation and no significant variation in σ between 10–15 km depth and the Moho, then the lower crust between 25–30 km depth below sea level and the Moho with P velocities varying from 6.6 km s−1 at the top to around 6.9 km s−1 at the base and σ of 0.24–0.25 should comprise intermediate granulites in the upper part transitioning to granulite facies metapelites in the lower part. As the pre-Cenozoic Qaidam basin crust has probably not lost any of its lower crust during the present Himalayan orogenic cycle in the Cenozoic and only has a σ of 0.245–0.25, then it appears that the pre-Cenozoic Qaidam basin crust involved in the collision is more felsic and thus weaker and more easily deformable than normal continental crust with a global average σ of 0.265–0.27 and the Tarim and Sichuan basin crusts. This situation then probably facilitates the collision and promotes the formation of new high plateau crust at the NE margin of Tibet. South of the Qaidam basin, the crust of the Songpan-Ganzi terrane and Kunlun mountains has an even lower average crustal σ of 0.23–0.24 and is thus presumably even weaker and more easily deformable than the crust beneath the Qaidam basin. This then supports the hypothesis of Karplus et al. that ‘the high Tibetan Plateau may be thickening northward into south Qaidam as its weak, thickened lower crust is injected beneath stronger Qaidam crust'.
Performance of the Fecal Immunochemical Test for Colorectal Cancer Screening Using Different Stool-Collection Devices: Preliminary Results from a Randomized Controlled Trial

Background/Aims We are in the process of conducting a randomized trial to determine whether compliance with the fecal immunochemical test (FIT) for colorectal cancer screening differs according to the stool-collection method. This study was an interim analysis of the performance of two stool-collection devices (sampling bottle vs conventional container). Methods In total, 1,701 individuals (age range, 50 to 74 years) were randomized into the sampling bottle group (intervention arm) or the conventional container group (control arm). In both groups, we evaluated the FIT positivity rate, the positive predictive value for advanced neoplasia, and the detection rate for advanced neoplasia. Results The FIT positivity rates were 4.1% for the sampling bottles and 2.0% for the conventional containers; these values were significantly different. The positive predictive values for advanced neoplasia in the sampling bottles and conventional containers were 11.1% (95% confidence interval [CI], −3.4 to 25.6) and 12.0% (95% CI, −0.7 to 24.7), respectively. The detection rates for advanced neoplasia in the sampling bottles and conventional containers were 4.5 per 1,000 persons (95% CI, 2.0 to 11.0) and 2.4 per 1,000 persons (95% CI, 0.0 to 5.0), respectively. Conclusions The impact of these findings on FIT screening performance was unclear in this interim analysis. This impact should therefore be evaluated in the final analysis following the final enrollment period.
Integration of heterogeneous data for real world domain

There are a large number of companies that have abundant amount of data presented in unstructured forms. For example, accounting firms and banking sectors have clients who may provide financial data for them. However, these clients have data which is of diverse nature. To make this data presentable in a meaningful way, companies usually use their employees to key in data manually to their own systems. This approach is tedious and labor intensive. To facilitate the data processing, these companies normally prefer to have automated softwares that can easily recognize the different formats of data, process and present them in a usable form suitable for further processing. However, there are currently no automated software tools which can perform this task. In this paper, we propose a novel ontological tool in this study to extract data from heterogeneous sources. Our tool will be able to analyze the semantic properties of the various data.
Configuration of the microcirculation in pre-eclampsia: possible role of the venular system

Objective To test the hypothesis that during pre-eclampsia microvascular function and structure are disturbed, which contributes to raised venular resistance. Methods The microcirculation of the skin and bulbar conjunctiva was studied in 11 women with preeclampsia and nine parous controls, both in the third trimester and 3 months postpartum. Using intravital videomicroscopy, arteriolar and venular diameters were determined in the conjunctiva. In addition, skin capillary densities and morphology were determined. Results Conjunctival venular diameters were 30% smaller in pre-eclampsia compared with controls, both during pregnancy (P < 0.01) and postpartum (P = 0.045). Arteriolar diameters also tended to be smaller; however, this difference was not statistically significant. In women with pre-eclampsia we found a higher percentage of tortuous/dilated skin capillaries (5%) compared with controls (0%; P < 0.05). Three months postpartum, this difference had disappeared. Skin capillary densities did not differ between the groups. Conclusion Women with severe pre-eclampsia have narrow venules, both during manifest disease and postpartum. Possibly, these narrow venules raise venular resistance and with it, hydrostatic pressure in the capillary bed. The latter, in turn, may explain the higher number of tortuous/dilated capillaries in women with preeclampsia. These findings support an important role of the venous system in the pathogenesis of pre-eclampsia.
Web-scale classification: web classification in the big data era

This paper provides an overview of the workshop Web-Scale Classification: Web Classification in the Big Data Era which was held in New York City, on February 28th as a workshop of the seventh International Conference on Web Search and Data Mining. The goal of the workshop was to discuss and assess recent research focusing on classification and mining in Web-scale category systems. The workshop brought together members of several communities such web mining, machine learning, text classification and social media mining.
Buddhism and Adolescent Alcohol Use in Thailand

A sample of 2019 Thai secondary school students in grades equivalent to U.S. 10 through 12 completed a 43-item alcohol expectancy questionnaire in June 2000. Factor analysis revealed four factors: (a) positive expectancies, (b) negative expectancies, (c) sex and power expectancies, and (d) religious expectancies. Practicing Buddhists were less likely to drink than nonpracticing Buddhists and had fewer positive and more negative expectancies about alcohol. Among students who did drink, Buddhist beliefs did not appear to influence whether or not they were binge drinkers. Buddhist beliefs may influence decisions to drink but not decisions related to drinking patterns.
LAGE‐1, a new gene with tumor specificity

Representational difference analysis was used to identify genes that are expressed in a human melanoma cell line and not in normal skin. A cDNA clone that appeared to be specific for tumors was obtained and the corresponding gene was sequenced. This new gene was named LAGE‐1. Using a LAGE‐1 probe to screen a cDNA library from the same melanoma cell line, we identified a closely related gene, which proved to be identical to NY‐ESO‐1, a gene recently reported to code for an antigen recognized by autologous antibodies in an esophageal squamous cell carcinoma. Gene LAGE‐1 maps to Xq28. It comprises 3 exons. Alternative splicing produces 2 major transcripts encoding polypeptides of 210 and 180 residues, respectively. Expression of LAGE‐1 was observed in 25–50% of tumor samples of melanomas, non‐small‐cell lung carcinomas, bladder, prostate and head and neck cancers. The only normal tissue that expressed the gene was testis. As for MAGE‐A1, expression of LAGE‐1 is induced by deoxy‐azacytidine in lymphoblastoid cells, suggesting that tumoral expression is due to demethylation. The expression of LAGE‐1 is strongly correlated with that of NY‐ESO‐1. It is also clearly correlated with the expression of MAGE genes. Int. J. Cancer 76:903–908, 1998. © 1998 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Securing the border gateway routing protocol

We analyze the security of the border gateway routing protocol and identify a number of vulnerabilities in its design and the corresponding threats. We then present a set of proposed modifications to the protocol which minimize or eliminate the most significant threats. The innovation we introduce is the protection of the second-to-last information contained in the autonomous path attributes by the digital signatures, and the use of techniques developed for detecting loops in path-finding protocols to verify the selected route's path information. With these techniques we are able to secure full path information in near constant space, and avoid the recursive protection mechanisms previously assumed necessary.