Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Serotonin‐caused phase shift of circadian rhythmicity in a photosensitive neuron

In the sixth abdominal ganglion (sixth AG) of the crayfish, two photosensitive neurons are located and have been identified as caudal photoreceptors (CPRs). We have expanded our investigation on the role of 5‐Hydroxytryptamine (5‐HT) as a modulator of the spontaneous and light‐induced activity of the CPR. We located, by using immunocytochemistry, neurons in the sixth AG that contain the 5HT1A receptor. The expression of these receptors was examined by binding assays with [3H] 8‐hydroxy‐2 (di‐n‐propylamino) tetralin ([3H(8‐OH‐DPAT). We examined the exogenous action of both 5HT and its agonist 8‐OH‐DPAT on the phase of circadian rhythms of the spontaneous electrical activity and the photoresponse of the CPR in the isolated sixth AG by conventional extracellular recording methods. Experiments were made on the adult crayfish Procambarus clarkii and Cherax quadricarinatus. Thirteen immunopositive neurons were located, principally near the ventral and dorsal surface of the sixth AG, with the mean diameter of their somata 20 ± 3 μm. The specific binding data showed the presence of 5‐HT1A receptors with a mean level of 22.4 ± 6.6 fmol/mg of wet tissue. Spontaneous and light‐induced electrical activity of the CPR showed circadian variations with their activity more intense at night than in the day. Exogenous application of 5‐HT or 8‐OH‐DPAT causes a circadian phase‐shift in electrical activity of the CPR. Taken together, these results lead us to believe the 5‐HT acts as a modulator of circadian electrical activity of the CPR in the isolated sixth AG of crayfish. Moreover, it suggests that the 5‐HT1A receptor participates in this modulation. Synapse 61:801–808, 2007. © 2007 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Dedifferentiation of Immortalized Human Podocytes in Response to Transforming Growth Factor-β

OBJECTIVE Diabetic nephropathy is associated with dedifferentiation of podocytes, losing the specialized features required for efficient glomerular function and acquiring a number of profibrotic, proinflammatory, and proliferative features. These result from tight junction and cytoskeletal rearrangement, augmented proliferation, and apoptosis. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS Experiments were performed in conditionally immortalized human podocytes developed by transfection with the temperature-sensitive SV40-T gene. Cells were then cultured in the presence of transforming growth factor (TGF)-β1 or angiotensin II in the presence or absence of a selective inhibitor of the TGF-β type I receptor kinase, SB-431542. Gene and protein expression were then examined by real-time RT-PCR and immunofluorescence, and correlated with changes observed in vivo in experimental diabetes. RESULTS Treatment of cells with TGF-β1 resulted in dynamic changes in their morphology, starting with retraction and shortening of foot processes and finishing with the formation of broad and complex tight junctions between adjacent podocytes. This dedifferentiation was also associated with dose- and time-dependent reduction in the expression of glomerular epithelial markers (nephrin, p-cadherin, zonnula occludens-1) and increased expression of mesenchymal markers (α−smooth muscle actin, vimentin, nestin), matrix components (fibronectin, collagen I, and collagen IV α3), cellular proliferation, and apoptosis. The induction of diabetes in mice was also associated with similar changes in morphology, protein expression, and proliferation in glomerular podocytes. CONCLUSIONS In response to TGF-β and other TGF-dependent stimuli, mature podocytes undergo dedifferentiation that leads to effacement of foot processes, morphologic flattening, and increased formation of intercellular tight junctions. This simplification of their phenotype to a more embryonic form is also associated with reentry of mature podocytes into the cell cycle, which results in enhanced proliferation and apoptosis. These “pathoadaptive” changes are seen early in the diabetic glomerulus and ultimately contribute to albuminuria, glomerulosclerosis, and podocytopenia.
Problem-aware scheduling of in-network computation over multi-hop wireless networks

We consider in-network distributed implementations of some stochastic approximation type estimation algorithms, subject to transmission constraints in wireless networks. Based on the analysis of asynchronous stochastic approximation schemes, we formulate the problem of optimizing the transmission schedule subject to constraints imposed by wireless transmission, so as to maximize the speed of convergence. We propose one centralized and one distributed scheme for this problem and provide computational support for these.
The Prosody of Contrastive Topic and Focus in Spoken Englishi

On the one hand, these different researchers differ from each other in identifying exactly what the prosodic correlate of topic/theme is. Büring (2002: 27) and Kadmon (2001: 380), following Pierrehumbert (1980), suggest that ‘contrastive topics’ are realized by an entire tune, either H* LH% or L+H*LH%. Steedman (2000) associates his ‘theme’ with the pitch accent L+H*. Gundel & Fretheim (in press) also associate L+H* with their notion of ‘topic’. There is thus some controversy concerning the prosodic realization of the topic/theme accent: is it simply a complex pitch accent, L+H*, or is it an entire fall-rise tune, (L+)H*LH%? I won’t attempt to resolve this phonological issue here. Rather I’ll just cite attested examples from natural discourse containing various combinations of pitch accent and boundary tone.
Delaware's Intermediate Standard for Defensive Tactics: Is There Substance to Proportionality Review?

corporate law, the business judgment rule and the intrinsic fairness test, do not seem adequate when courts must evaluate defensive measures that implicate both management's business acumen and its loyalty to shareholder interests. Because evaluating a sale of the company is a complex business decision, management's response to a takeover bid resembles the normal business decisions that the business judgment rule largely insulates from judicial review.1 At the same time, however, a hostile takeover creates a potential conflict of interest, no matter what response it evokes from management. Target managers who approve an offer may be improperly influenced by post-transaction benefits;2 target managers who reject an offer may act largely to secure their own
State-based Gaussian selection in large vocabulary continuous speech recognition using HMMs

This paper investigates the use of Gaussian selection (GS) to increase the speed of a large vocabulary speech recognition system. Typically, 30-70% of the computational time of a continuous density hidden Markov model-based (HMM-based) speech recognizer is spent calculating probabilities. The aim of CS is to reduce this load by selecting the subset of Gaussian component likelihoods that should be computed given a particular input vector. This paper examines new techniques for obtaining "good" Gaussian subsets or "shortlists. " All the new schemes make use of state information, specifically, to which state each of the Gaussian components belongs. In this way, a maximum number of Gaussian components per state may be specified, hence reducing the size of the shortlist. The first technique introduced is a simple extension of the standard GS method, which uses this state information. Then, more complex schemes based on maximizing the likelihood of the training data are proposed. These new approaches are compared with the standard GS scheme on a large vocabulary speech recognition task. On this task, the use of state information reduced the percentage of Gaussians computed to 10-15%, compared with 20-30% for the standard GS scheme, with little degradation in performance.
Application-oriented validation of phonetic transcriptions: preliminary results

There is an increasing need for automatic procedures to generate and validate phonetic transcriptions. As the production of manual phonetic transcriptions tends to be time-consuming, error-prone and costly, procedures have been developed to derive phonetic transcriptions automatically by means of automatic speech recognition technology. Such automatic phonetic transcriptions are usually validated by comparing them with manual phonetic transcriptions. Even though this appears to be a plausible procedure at first sight, it might be troublesome. We believe that phonetic transcriptions should ideally be validated with potential applications in mind. The application focused on in this paper is the reduction of word error rates in automatic speech recognition.
Rate and extent of adaptive cardiovascular changes in rats during experimental renal hypertension.

To study the extent and exact time course of cardiovascular structural adaptation to increases in pressure load, renal hypertension was induced in normotensive male Wistar rats by renal artery constriction. At different intervals after operation the hemodynamic characteristics of the hypertensive rats and normotensive control rats were explored in paired hindquarter perfusions, from maximal dilatation up to maximal constriction (cf, Folkow et al, 1970 b). At the same time intervals the extent of left ventricular hypertrophy and of water content of the aortic wall were examined. The results reveal the presence of left ventricular hypertrophy in the hypertensive rats already after one week, soon followed by adaptive structural changes of the resistance vessels, in the form mainly of media hypertrophy, these processes being largely completed 2–3 weeks after operation. In these animals, lacking genetic predisposition for hypertension, the extent of the structural vascular changes seems large enough to explain a considerable part, but not all, of the pressure rise. An increased water content of the hypertensive aortic wall is found first 4.5 months after operation, indicating that some water logging of arterial and maybe also arteriolar walls might occur in late phases of chronic renal hypertension.
Extracting regions of interest applying a local watershed transformation

We present a new technique for extracting regions of interest (ROI) applying a local watershed transformation. The proposed strategy for computing catchment basins in a given region of interest is based on a rain-falling simulation. Unlike the standard watershed algorithms, which flood the complete (gradient magnitude of an) image, the proposed approach allows us to perform this task locally. Thus, a controlled region growth is performed, saving time and reducing the memory requirement especially when applied on volume data. A second problem arising from the standard watershed transformation is the over-segmented result and the lack of sound criteria for merging the computed basins. For overcoming this drawback, we present a basin-merging strategy introducing four criteria for merging adjacent basins. The threshold values applied in this strategy are derived from the user input and match rather the attributes of the selected object than of all objects in the image. In doing so, the user is not required to adjust abstract numbers, but to simply select a coarse region of interest. Moreover, the proposed algorithm is not limited to the 2D case. As we show in this work, it is suitable for volume data processing as well. Finally, we present the results of applying the proposed approach on several example images and volume data sets.
Large-scale Global IT Transformation: An Insider's Account

3 Acknowledgements 4 Abbreviations 9 1. Introduction to the research topic 10 1.1 Related research 10 1.2 Research contributions to IS and to practice 13 2. Globalization in the context of the IT function 15 2.1 The connection between the globalization process and information technology advances 15 2.2 Criticism on the globalization process 16 2.3 Commoditization of IT 18 3. The case description 21 3.1 The old IT organization structure 21 3.2 Business unit IT 22 3.3 The new IT organization structure 23 3.3.1 Strategic IT management 25 3.3.2 IT controlling 25 3.3.3 Infrastructure management 25 3.3.4 Application management 25 3.3. 5 Business process partner organization 26 3.3. 6 Global IT projects management 26 3.3. 7 Global support services 26 3.4 The IT transformation timeline overview 26 4. The case study research method 28 4.1 Research problem 28 4.2 Research method 29 4.3 Data gathering 31 5. MultiMills’ IT transformation 32 5.1 Resource allocation to the new IT organization 32 5.2 Resource pre-allocation to the new IT organization 32 5.3 Resource allocation workshop 33 5.4 Restructuring methods 34
Implementing Multiplication with Split Read-Only Memory

In look-up table-based multiplication schemes, techniques based on tables of squares require less memory than techniques based on direct implementations. In this paper, we present a method to realize an n-bit multiplier using a table of squares for n-bit integers. A new technique to store tables of squares is also presented. The new scheme is shown to compare favorably, in terms of storage requirements, with a scheme wherein the entire table of squares is stored directly. The addressing requirements of the new storage technique are also discussed. >
A High-Speed Robust NVM-TCAM Design Using Body Bias Feedback

As manufacture process scales down rapidly, the design of ternary content-addressable memory (TCAM) requiring high storage density, fast access speed and low power consumption becomes very challenging. In recent years, many novel TCAM designs have been inspired by the research on emerging nonvolatile memory technologies, such as magnetic tunneling junction (MTJ), phase change memory (PCM), and memristor. These designs store a data as the resistive variable of a nonvolatile device, which usually results in limited sensing margin and therefore constrains the searching speed of TCAM architecture severely. To further enhance the performance and robustness of TCAMs, we proposed two novel cell designs that utilize MTJs as data storage units - the symmetrical dual-N structure and the asymmetrical P-N scheme. In both designs, a body bias feedback circuit is integrated to enlarge the sensing margins. Compared with an existing MTJ-based TCAM structure, the tolerance in gate voltage variation of the symmetrical dua-N (asymmetrical P-N) scheme can significantly improve 59.5% (21.2%). The latency and the dynamic energy consumption in one searching operation at the word length of 256 bits are merely 590.35ps (97.89ps) and 65.05fJ/bit (36.85fJ/bit), not even mentioning that the use of nonvolatile MTJ devices avoids unnecessary leakage power consumption.
SEC Rule 105 and Price Discovery in the Secondary Market

Using a bootstrap technique, we compare the speed of the price discovery of SEOs issued during the SEC Rule 10b-21 period and those issued during the Rule 105 period on the offer day. We make several observations upon the adoption of Rule 105. After the adoption of Rule 105, the speed of price discovery slows and becomes less efficient on the offer day. We also observe a higher fraction of price discovery attributable to private information under Rule 105 that is consistent with the hypothesis that a shortened restricted period would lead to difficulty of exploring the information contained in the offer price discounts and result in high information asymmetry on the offer day.
Tagging romanian texts: a case study for QTAG, a language independent probabilistic tagger

This paper describes an experiment on tagging Romanian using QTAG, a parts-of-speech tagger that has been developed originally for English, but with a clear separation between the (probabilistic) processing engine and the (language specific)resource data. This way, the tagger is usable across various languages as shown by successful experiments on three quite different languages: English, Swedish and Romanian. After a brief presentation of the QTAG tagger, the paper dwells on language resources for Romanian and the evaluation of the results. A complexity metrics for tagging experiments is proposed which considers the performance of a tagger with respect to the “difficulty” of a text.
A controlled trial of sildenafil in advanced idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis.

BACKGROUND Sildenafil, a phosphodiesterase-5 inhibitor, may preferentially improve blood flow to well-ventilated regions of the lung in patients with advanced idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, which could result in improvements in gas exchange. We tested the hypothesis that treatment with sildenafil would improve walk distance, dyspnea, and quality of life in patients with advanced idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, defined as a carbon monoxide diffusion capacity of less than 35% of the predicted value. METHODS We conducted a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trial of sildenafil in two periods. The first period consisted of 12 weeks of a double-blind comparison between sildenafil and a placebo control. The primary outcome was the proportion of patients with an increase in the 6-minute walk distance of 20% or more. Key secondary outcomes included changes in oxygenation, degree of dyspnea, and quality of life. The second period was a 12-week open-label evaluation involving all patients receiving sildenafil. RESULTS A total of 180 patients were enrolled in the study. The difference in the primary outcome was not significant, with 9 of 89 patients (10%) in the sildenafil group and 6 of 91 (7%) in the placebo group having an improvement of 20% or more in the 6-minute walk distance (P=0.39). There were small but significant differences in arterial oxygenation, carbon monoxide diffusion capacity, degree of dyspnea, and quality of life favoring the sildenafil group. Serious adverse events were similar in the two study groups. CONCLUSIONS This study did not show a benefit for sildenafil for the primary outcome. The presence of some positive secondary outcomes creates clinical equipoise for further research. (Funded by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute and others; ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT00517933.)
Application stream ordering for mapping real-time applications to a heterogeneous, distributed target platform

Mapping, i.e., allocating resources to applications and finding I/O routes between resources, is a crucial step in meeting real-time/multi-media applications' end-to-end timing requirements. Given a set of real-time applications, the order in which they are mapped can also greatly impact whether these timing requirements are met. Because the optimal ordering solution is intractable, this paper introduces a logical application stream laxity metric that can be used to order the application streams in linear time that produces excellent results. We apply this metric to an example audio/video application set to illustrate our approach and to compare our solution to the optimal one. <<ETX>>
On the Complexity of a Practical Interior-Point Method

The theory of self-concordance in convex optimization has been used to analyze the complexity of interior-point methods based on Newton's method. For large problems, it may be impractical to use Newton's method; here we analyze a truncated-Newton method, in which an approximation to the Newton search direction is used. In addition, practical interior-point methods often include enhancements such as extrapolation that are absent from the theoretical algorithms analyzed previously. We derive theoretical results that apply to such an algorithm, one similar to a sophisticated computer implementation of a barrier method. The results for a single barrier subproblem are a satisfying extension of the results for Newton's method. When extrapolation is used in the overall barrier method, however, our results are more limited. We indicate (by both theoretical arguments and examples) why more elaborate results may be difficult to obtain.
QUANTUM PRINCIPAL BUNDLES & HOPF-GALOIS EXTENSIONS

A proof that every quantum principal bundle with a compact structure group is a Hopf-Galois extension is presented. The proof is based on the representation theory of compact quantum groups. The Hopf-Galois property naturally extends to the level of general differential structures, so that every differential calculus over a quantum principal bundle with a compact structure group is a graded-differential version of the Hopf-Galois extension.
Efficient Intrusion Detection System Using Stream Data Mining Classification Technique

Recent emerging growth of data created so many challenges in data mining. Data mining is the process of extracting valid, previously known & comprehensive datasets for the future decision making. As the improved technology by World Wide Web the streaming data come into picture with its challenges. The data which change with time & update its value is known as streaming data. As the most of the data is streaming in nature, there are so many challenges need to face in the sense of security perspective. Intrusion Detection System (IDS) works in the supposition of detecting the intruders to protect the respective system. The research in data stream mining & Intrusion detection system gained high attraction due to the importance of system's safety measure. Algorithms, systems & frameworks that address security challenges have been developed over the past years. In this paper, we present the mechanism to improve the efficiency of the IDS using streaming data mining technique. We apply four selected stream data classification algorithms on NSL-KDD datasets and compare their results. Based on the comparative analysis of their results best method is found out for efficiency improvement of IDS.
Analyzing Brain Functions by Subject Classification of Functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy Data Using Convolutional Neural Networks Analysis

Functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) is suitable for noninvasive mapping of relative changes in regional cortical activity but is limited for quantitative comparisons among cortical sites, subjects, and populations. We have developed a convolutional neural network (CNN) analysis method that learns feature vectors for accurate identification of group differences in fNIRS responses. In this study, subject gender was classified using CNN analysis of fNIRS data. fNIRS data were acquired from male and female subjects during a visual number memory task performed in a white noise environment because previous studies had revealed that the pattern of cortical blood flow during the task differed between males and females. A learned classifier accurately distinguished males from females based on distinct fNIRS signals from regions of interest (ROI) including the inferior frontal gyrus and premotor areas that were identified by the learning algorithm. These cortical regions are associated with memory storage, attention, and task motor response. The accuracy of the classifier suggests stable gender-based differences in cerebral blood flow during this task. The proposed CNN analysis method can objectively identify ROIs using fNIRS time series data for machine learning to distinguish features between groups.