Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Presence of estrogen-binding sites on macrophage-like synoviocytes and CD8+, CD29+, CD45RO+ T lymphocytes in normal and rheumatoid synovium.

OBJECTIVE To study the presence of estrogen-binding sites (EBS) in the synovial tissues of male and female patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and in age- and sex-matched healthy controls. METHODS Both type 1 (high affinity, low binding capacity) and type 2 (reduced affinity, higher binding capacity) EBS were investigated in both soluble and nuclear fractions of homogenized synovial tissue samples by a dextran-coated charcoal method. To determine what type of synovial cell was positive for EBS, cryosections of synovial tissues were immunostained with a specific monoclonal anti-estrogen receptor antibody (anti-ER MAb) using both immunofluorescence and immunoperoxidase techniques. Double immunostaining with the anti-ER MAb and with specific MAb to detect different macrophage antigens (Ber-MAC3, MAC387, CD68) and CD8+ T cell subsets (CD29+, CD45RO+ and CD29-, CD45RO-) was performed. RESULTS Higher affinity EBS were found mostly in nuclear cell fractions of either RA or control synovial tissues (28 of the 33). These EBS were present to a lesser extent in soluble cell fractions (11 of the 33). Immunostaining showed the estrogen receptor-positive cells to be the macrophage-like synoviocytes and the CD8+, CD29+ T cells both in RA and in control synovial tissues. Higher nuclear content of EBS was consistent with more intense nuclear staining of synoviocytes and T cells. CONCLUSION It is conceivable that the immunomodulatory activity exerted by estrogens is at least partly mediated through their interaction with EBS that are present on macrophage-like synoviocytes, functioning as antigen-processing and antigen-presenting cells, and on antigen-experienced (memory) CD8+ T lymphocytes (CD29+, CD45RO+).
TRPV1 Potentiates TGFβ-Induction of Corneal Myofibroblast Development through an Oxidative Stress-Mediated p38-SMAD2 Signaling Loop

Injuring mouse corneas with alkali causes myofibroblast expression leading to tissue opacification. However, in transient receptor potential vanilloid 1 channel (TRPV1-/-) knockout mice healing results in transparency restoration. Since TGFβ is the primary inducer of the myofibroblast phenotype, we examined the mechanism by which TRPV1 affects TGFβ-induced myofibroblast development. Experiments were performed in pig corneas and human corneal fibroblasts (HCFs). Immunohistochemical staining of α-smooth muscle actin (α-SMA) stress fibers was used to visualize myofibroblasts. Protein and phosphoprotein were determined by Western blotting. siRNA transfection silenced TRPV1 gene expression. Flow cytometry with a reactive oxygen species (ROS) reporting dye analyzed intracellular ROS. [Ca2+]I was measured by loading HCF with fura2. In organ cultured corneas, the TRPV1 antagonist capsazepine drastically reduced by 75% wound-induced myofibroblast development. In HCF cell culture, TGF-β1 elicited rapid increases in Ca2+ influx, phosphorylation of SMAD2 and MAPKs (ERK1/2, JNK1/2 and p38), ROS generation and, after 72 hrs myofibroblast development. SMAD2 and p38 activation continued for more than 16 h, whereas p-ERK1/2 and p-JNK1/2 waned within 90 min. The long-lived SMAD2 activation was dependent on activated p38 and vice versa, and it was essential to generate a > 13-fold increase in α-SMA protein and a fully developed myofibroblast phenotype. These later changes were markedly reduced by inhibition of TRPV1 or reduction of the ROS generation rate. Taken together our results indicate that in corneal derived fibroblasts, TGFβ- induced myofibroblast development is highly dependent on a positive feedback loop where p-SMAD2-induced ROS activates TRPV1, TRPV1 causes activation of p38, the latter in turn further enhances the activation of SMAD2 to establish a recurrent loop that greatly extends the residency of the activated state of SMAD2 that drives myofibroblast development.
A sound and complete abstraction for reasoning about parallel prefix sums

Prefix sums are key building blocks in the implementation of many concurrent software applications, and recently much work has gone into efficiently implementing prefix sums to run on massively parallel graphics processing units (GPUs). Because they lie at the heart of many GPU-accelerated applications, the correctness of prefix sum implementations is of prime importance. We introduce a novel abstraction, the interval of summations, that allows scalable reasoning about implementations of prefix sums. We present this abstraction as a monoid, and prove a soundness and completeness result showing that a generic sequential prefix sum implementation is correct for an array of length $n$ if and only if it computes the correct result for a specific test case when instantiated with the interval of summations monoid. This allows correctness to be established by running a single test where the input and result require O(n lg(n)) space. This improves upon an existing result by Sheeran where the input requires O(n lg(n)) space and the result O(n2 \lg(n)) space, and is more feasible for large n than a method by Voigtlaender that uses O(n) space for the input and result but requires running O(n2) tests. We then extend our abstraction and results to the context of data-parallel programs, developing an automated verification method for GPU implementations of prefix sums. Our method uses static verification to prove that a generic prefix sum implementation is data race-free, after which functional correctness of the implementation can be determined by running a single test case under the interval of summations abstraction. We present an experimental evaluation using four different prefix sum algorithms, showing that our method is highly automatic, scales to large thread counts, and significantly outperforms Voigtlaender's method when applied to large arrays.
Multiscale autoregressive models and the stochastic realization problem

We provide a linear-time algorithm for the solution of the multiscale autoregressive (MAR) stochastic realization problem. The MAR framework is a powerful generalization of the classical state-space one. As in the state-space case, to apply the framework, one must first build an appropriate model (i.e., find model parameters). Our focus is on a computationally efficient model realization and, after introducing our approach, we compare it to that of Frakt and Willsky (see International Conference on Acoustics, Speech, and Signal Processing, Seattle, WA, 1998) which is quadratic in problem size.
ROBUST EARLY ECHO CANCELLATION AND LATE ECHO SUPPRESSION IN THE STFT DOMAIN

Acoustic echo arises due to acoustic coupling between the loudspeaker and the microphone of a communication device. Acoustic echo cancellation and suppression techniques are used to reduce the acoustic echo. In this work we propose to first cancel the early echo, which is related to the early part of the echo path, and subsequently suppress the late echo, which is related to the later part of the echo path. The identification of the echo path is carried out in the Short-Time Fourier Transform (STFT) domain, where a trade-off is facilitated between distortion of the near-end speech, residual echo, convergence rate, and robustness to echo path changes. Experimental results demonstrate that the system achieves high echo and noise reduction while maintaining low distortion of the near-end speech. In addition, it is shown that the proposed system is more robust to echo path changes compared to an acoustic canceller alone.
Model reference control of a steer – by – wire steering system

The present work presents a model following control method for steer-by-wire steering system. It contains the representation of the components and explains the characteristic features and control loops generated by the steering mechanisms of the system. It describes the interactions produced by the physical contact of the mechanical parts with linear mathematical methods. Based upon considerations it follows the process with linear models, and approaches their parameters with ARMAX identification methods. The last chapters examine the identified system and handle with the planning of a model reference control mechanism. We made the controller copy the transfer functions of the linear model which has to be followed. First we reproduced the conventional steering system based on general considerations. Thereafter, we created a system following two–degree–of–freedom controller, and introduced a model reference adaptive control on its basis.
Reinforcement Learning using Optimistic Process Filtered Models

An important problem in reinforcement learning is determining how to act while learning sometimes referred to as the exploration-exploitation dilemma or the problem of optimal learning. The problem is intractable, usually solved through approximation such as by being optimistic in the face of uncertainty. In environments with inherent determinism, arising for example from known process templates, acting conforms to certain acceptable conventions that limit exploration. We present an algorithm for the learning problem in which action selection is through optimistic models filtered to conform to conventions specified by a process language. We show results to illustrate the approach and its benefits for task transfers.
Drowsy Driving Detection Based on the Driver's Head Movement using Infrared Sensors

In the driving circumstance, the driver¿s condition is directly connected with the car accident. Therefore, there are many researches to decrease the car accidents by keeping the driver¿s state in a good condition. While many of these researches are focused on the driver¿s face, our approach is focused on the driver¿s head movement. By collecting the driver¿s head position and extracting the feature points, the proposed system calculates the driver¿s physical state: Normal driving or Drowsy driving. The experimental results showed 78% of success rate to find the drowsy driving in the real driving situations.
Genetic identification of the DNA binding domain of Escherichia coli LexA protein.

Two genetic approaches were taken to define the DNA binding domain of LexA protein, the repressor of the Escherichia coli SOS regulon. First, several dominant negative lexA mutants defective in DNA binding were isolated. The mutations altered amino acids in a region similar to the helix-turn-helix, a DNA binding domain of other repressors and DNA binding proteins. Second, the region encoding the predicted DNA recognition helix was subjected to oligonucleotide-directed mutagenesis and mutant LexA proteins with altered or relaxed specificity for several recA operator positions were isolated. By examining the effects of a series of amino acid substitutions on repressor specificity, it was shown that a glutamic acid residue at position 45 in LexA protein is important for recognition of the first base pair (G.C) in the recA operator.
Morphology, language and the brain: the decompositional substrate for language comprehension

This paper outlines a neurocognitive approach to human language, focusing on inflectional morphology and grammatical function in English. Taking as a starting point the selective deficits for regular inflectional morphology of a group of non-fluent patients with left hemisphere damage, we argue for a core decompositional network linking left inferior frontal cortex with superior and middle temporal cortex, connected via the arcuate fasciculus. This network handles the processing of regularly inflected words (such as joined or treats), which are argued not to be stored as whole forms and which require morpho-phonological parsing in order to segment complex forms into stems and inflectional affixes. This parsing process operates early and automatically upon all potential inflected forms and is triggered by their surface phonological properties. The predictions of this model were confirmed in a further neuroimaging study, using event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), on unimpaired young adults. The salience of grammatical morphemes for the language system is highlighted by new research showing that similarly early and blind segmentation also operates for derivationally complex forms (such as darkness or rider). These findings are interpreted as evidence for a hidden decompositional substrate to human language processing and related to a functional architecture derived from non-human primate models.
Analyzing the Impact of Dropbox Content Sharing on an Academic Network

Cloud storage services (e.g., Dropbox) are a popular means for sharing content and performing collaborative work. Yet, content sharing via cloud might result in bandwidth wastage when repetitive data is downloaded by different users in the same network domain. This paper first characterizes sharing patterns in Dropbox by analyzing data collected from a campus network for 4 months. We identify that the volume of data sharing in such homogeneous environment is reasonably high. Next, we use the characterization results to implement a synthetic workload generator that allows us to test alternatives for the Dropbox synchronization protocol. We then propose a synchronization architecture that includes network caches to temporarily hold user updates. Our evaluation of the proposed solution indicates that, even with a small cache, it is possible to achieve almost the maximum possible reduction of downloads from remote servers, thus benefiting storage providers, end users and the Internet.
A comparison of predictors of the adolescent intention to smoke with adolescent current smoking using discriminant function analysis.

OBJECTIVES This paper explores one possible operationalization of smoking intention to assist development of adolescent smoking intervention programmes. Such programmes usually focus on predictors of current smoking, ignoring predictors of intentions to smoke, or how intentions relate to actual future smoking. DESIGN AND METHODS Respondents took part in two stages of a repeated measures national survey on Australian adolescent smoking behaviour (12-month interval between administrations). A total of N=1419 adolescents provided matched data, measuring personal smoking habits, intentions of smoking behaviour, stress (seven subscales), self-esteem and response to the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12). RESULTS A comparison of discriminant function predictors showed similarity between the current smoking and intention to smoke, with only one predictor differing between the functions. Non-smokers were more behaviourally consistent with their stated non-smoking intention over 12 months (i.e. remain non-smokers) than smokers (i.e. intention seemed unrelated to actual behaviour). CONCLUSIONS While the predictors give no general indication of whether the processes behind the intention to smoke differ from current smoking, the intention to smoke may be a better focus for intervention with smokers given the apparent inconsistency with stated intention. Intervention for non-smokers may be usefully focused on maintaining non-smoking rather than preventing smoking.
BOOLE: A Boundary Evaluation System for Boolean Combinations of Sculptured Solids

In this paper we describe a system, BOOLE, that generates the boundary representations (B-reps) of solids given as a CSG expression in the form of trimmed Bezier patches. The system makes use of techniques from computational geometry, numerical linear algebra and symbolic computation to generate the B-reps. Given two solids, the system first computes the intersection curve between the two solids using our surface intersection algorithm. Using the topological information of each solid, it computes various components within each solid generated by the intersection curve and their connectivity. The component classification step is performed by ray-shooting. Depending on the Boolean operation performed, appropriate components are put together to obtain the final solid. We also present techniques to parallelize this system on shared memory multiprocessor machines. The system has been successfully used to generate B-reps for a number of large industrial models including parts of a notional submarine storage and handling room (courtesy - Electric Boat Inc.) and Bradley fighting vehicle (courtesy - Army Research Labs). Each of these models is composed of over 8000 Boolean operations and is represented using over 50,000 trimmed Bezier patches. Our exact representation of the intersection curve and use of stable numerical algorithms facilitate an accurate boundary evaluation at every Boolean set operation and generation of topologically consistent solids.
Corpus callosum axonal injury in multiple sclerosis measured by proton magnetic resonance spectroscopic imaging.

BACKGROUND Axonal damage has been observed in normal-appearing white matter (NAWM) for patients with multiple sclerosis (MS). OBJECTIVES To investigate changes in brain metabolite ratios in a region of normal-appearing corpus callosum (CC) for patients with MS and to test its relationship to changes in other regions of NAWM. DESIGN AND METHODS Data were collected from 24 patients with MS and 15 control subjects. Two-dimensional proton magnetic resonance spectroscopic imaging was performed centered at the CC. Regions of interest from normal-appearing CC were manually segmented using anatomical images. The NAWM outside the CC region was segmented based on the signal intensity in T1- and T2-weighted images. RESULTS The N-acetylaspartate-creatine-phosphocreatine ratio was lower in both regions for patients with secondary progressive MS compared with the controls; the N-acetylaspartate-creatine-phosphocreatine was lower only in the normal-appearing CC region for patients with relapsing-remitting MS (P<.001) compared with the controls. The ratio of choline-containing compound compared with the creatine-phosphocreatine ratio was also lower in the region of normal-appearing CC for patients with relapsing-remitting MS (P =.003) compared with the controls. There was a correlation between the N-acetylaspartate-creatine-phosphocreatine ratio in the normal-appearing CC and T1 lesions (r = -0.53, P =.01) for all patients. CONCLUSIONS The CC was a more sensitive location for depicting axonal injury than other regions of NAWM. A correlation between the reduction of the N-acetylaspartate-creatine-phosphocreatine ratio in the normal-appearing CC and the T1 lesions may suggest that transection of axons in lesions may cause distant axonal damage and/or dysfunction that are expressed and more sensitively detectable in the CC.
Visualization of Crowd-Powered Impression Evaluation Results

There have been many collective knowledge on the Web, such as evaluation of restaurants, hotels, and manufactured products. Even though each of the participants on such Web sites usually just evaluate the small number of contents, these kinds of crowd-powered contents evaluation services bring us fruitful information. Visualization is a useful tool to carefully observe the evaluation results and discover complex trends of the evaluation. This paper presents our study on visualization of the crowd-powered contents evaluation. Firstly we developed a contents evaluation technique applying an interactive genetic algorithm, which presents contents estimated to be highly or poorly evaluated. Then we had a case study with various appearances of female face images to collect the evaluations. Finally, we visualized the result by applying an image browser CAT. This paper discusses how the visualization result depicts the trends of the evaluation on appearance of women.
Tetracycline-Related Transcriptional Regulation of the CTnDOT Mobilization Region

ABSTRACT CTnDOT is a 65-kb conjugative transposon (CTn) in Bacteroides spp. that confers resistance to the antibiotics erythromycin and tetracycline (Tc). Conjugative transfer of CTnDOT is regulated upon exposure of cells to Tc. In the absence of Tc, no transfer is detectable; however, a cascade of regulatory events results in the conjugative transfer of CTnDOT upon Tc induction. Previous studies addressing regulation of CTnDOT conjugative transfer focused primarily on the 13-kb transfer (tra) operon, which encodes the proteins required for assembly of the mating apparatus. We report here that the mob operon that encodes the relaxase and coupling proteins required for mobilization of CTnDOT are regulated at the transcriptional level upon Tc induction. The Xis2d and Exc excision proteins are required for the upregulation of mob transcription upon Tc induction, and yet a deletion of xis2c has no effect. We also show preliminary evidence suggesting that the integrase, IntDOT, may play a regulatory role, as pLYL72 transfer is not detectable when intDOT is provided in trans.
Symmetry-restricted phase transitions in two-dimensional solids

Group-theoretical criteria which determine the possibility of group-subgroup phase transitions have been implemented on a computer. Lower-symmetry groups are determined by the subduction and chain criteria. We list all possible such symmetry-restricted transitions in two dimensions corresponding to k points of symmetry. We indicate relative origins and orientations of the prototype group and subgroup sufficient to obtain a wide class of useful experimental information.
Study of CO2 laser smoothing of surface roughness in fused silica

Small micrometer-sized roughness on optical surfaces, caused by laser damage and/or redeposition of laser ablated material, can cause local electric field intensification which may lead to damage initiation both on the optics and/or downstream. We examined the smoothing of etched periodic surface structures on SiO2 substrate with 10. 6μm CO2 laser using atomic force microscopy. The characteristic surface tension driven mass flow of the glass under different laser parameters were simulated using computational fluid dynamics and correlated with experimental results. We found that during CO2 laser polishing the estimate viscosity of the silica glass appears to be higher than typical literature values measured at a temperature similar to the laser heating conditions. This discrepancy can be explained by the observation that at high temperature, a significant portion of the hydroxyl content in the layer of heated silica glass can diffuse out resulting in a much stiffer glass.
Discovering Rules with Genetic Algorithms to Classify Urban Remotely Sensed Data

The classification methods applied in the object- oriented image analysis approach are often based on the use of domain knowledge. A key issue in this approach is the acquisition of this knowledge which is generally implicit and not formalized. In this paper, we examine the possibilities of using genetic programming for the automatic extraction of classification rules from urban remotely sensed data. The method proposed is composed of several steps: segmentation, feature extraction, selection of training sets, acquisition of rules, classification. Features related to the spectral, spatial and contextual properties of the objects are used in the classification procedure. Experiments are made on a Quickbird MS image. The quality of the results shows the effectiveness of the proposed genetic classifier in the object-oriented, knowledge-based approach.
Towards Learning a Knowledge Base of Actions from Experiential Microblogs

While today’s structured knowledge bases (e.g., Freebase) contain a sizable collection of information about entities, from celebrities and locations to concepts and common objects, there is a class of knowledge that has minimal coverage: actions. A large-scale knowledge base of actions would provide an opportunity for computing devices to aid and support people’s reasoning about their own actions and outcomes, leading to improved decision-making and goal achievement. In this short paper, we describe our first efforts towards building a distributional representation of actions and their outcomes, as learned from the timelines of individuals posting experiential microblogs.