Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Endogenous bioelectric currents promote differentiation of the mammalian lens

The functional roles of bioelectrical signals (ES) created by the flow of specific ions at the mammalian lens equator are poorly understood. We detected that mature, denucleated lens fibers expressed high levels of the α1 and β1 subunits of Na+/K+‐ATPase (ATP1A1 and ATP1B1 of the sodium pump) and had a hyperpolarized membrane potential difference (Vmem). In contrast, differentiating, nucleated lens fiber cells had little ATP1A1 and ATP1B1 and a depolarized Vmem. Mimicking the natural equatorial ES with an applied electrical field (EF) induced a striking reorientation of lens epithelial cells to lie perpendicular to the direction of the EF. An EF also promoted the expression of β‐crystallin, aquaporin‐0 (AQP0) and the Beaded Filament Structural Protein 2 (BFSP2) in lens epithelial cells (LECs), all of which are hallmarks of differentiation. In addition, applied EF activated the AKT and CDC2 and inhibition of AKT reduced the activation of CDC2. Our results indicate that the endogenous bioelectrical signal at the lens equator promotes differentiation of LECs into denucleated lens fiber cells via depolarization of Vmem. Development of methods and devices of EF application or amplification in vivo may supply a novel treatment for lens diseases and even promote regeneration of a complete new lens following cataract surgery.
Concurrency control in groupware systems

Groupware systems are computer-based systems that support two or more users engaged in a common task, and that provide an interface to a shared environment. These systems frequently require fine-granularity sharing of data and fast response times. This paper distinguishes real-time groupware systems from other multi-user systems and discusses their concurrency control requirements. An algorithm for concurrency control in real-time groupware systems is then presented. The advantages of this algorithm are its simplicity of use and its responsiveness: users can operate directly on the data without obtaining locks. The algorithm must know some semantics of the operations. However the algorithm's overall structure is independent of the semantic information, allowing the algorithm to be adapted to many situations. An example application of the algorithm to group text editing is given, along with a sketch of its proof of correctness in this particular case. We note that the behavior desired in many of these systems is non-serializable.
Pairwise stochastic bounded confidence opinion dynamics: Heavy tails and stability

Traditional models in opinion dynamics involve agents updating their opinions based on the opinions of their neighbors in a static social-graph, regardless of their differences in opinions. In contrast, the bounded confidence opinion dynamics does not presume a static interaction graph, and instead models interactions between those agents that share similar opinions (i.e., are close to one another, capturing online discussion groups and conventional meetings). We generalize the bounded confidence opinion dynamics model by incorporating pairwise stochastic interactions based on opinion differences as well as the self or endogenous evolution of the agent opinions, which is represented by a random process. We analytically characterize the conditions under which this stochastic dynamics is stable in an appropriate sense. This characterization relates well to what is observed in social systems. Moreover, this generalization sheds light on dynamics that combine aspects of graph-based updates and bounded confidence models.
A STUDY IN INDUCED POLARIZATION

Induced polarization in pyritic sandstone arises in part from overvoltage effects and in part from electrolytic polarization. Because induced‐polarization measurements are commonly used to search for sulfides, the electrolytic polarization is an undesirable background effect. Pyrite in sandstone can be located only when overvoltage polarization substantially exceeds electrolytic polarization. Laboratory measurements indicate this is true only if there is ten percent or more pyrite in a rock. However, overvoltage polarization is much larger when low current densities are used, particularly if the matrix resistivity is high. Field measurements indicate that at low current densities as little as one or two percent pyrite may provide sufficient overvoltage polarization to be recognizable in the presence of electrolytic polarization.
Alternative reality:: Qualitative physics for digital arts

Virtual Reality Art often involves the design of artificial worlds to provide new experiences to the spectators. A recent trend in digital art has been to address physical behaviour explicitly. However, the prospect of modifying and authoring alternative physical laws demands appropriate software tools. In this paper, we introduce the use of qualitative physics in Virtual Reality Art. We discuss how qualitative process theory can be used to specify alternative physical behaviour in virtual environments. After introducing the hardware and software architecture for our project, we discuss an example which is part of early experiments with the baseline “alternative reality” software
CloudNet: Dynamic Pooling of Cloud Resources by Live WAN Migration of Virtual Machines

Virtualization technology and the ease with which virtual machines (VMs) can be migrated within the LAN have changed the scope of resource management from allocating resources on a single server to manipulating pools of resources within a data center. We expect WAN migration of virtual machines to likewise transform the scope of provisioning resources from a single data center to multiple data centers spread across the country or around the world. In this paper, we present the CloudNet architecture consisting of cloud computing platforms linked with a virtual private network (VPN)-based network infrastructure to provide seamless and secure connectivity between enterprise and cloud data center sites. To realize our vision of efficiently pooling geographically distributed data center resources, CloudNet provides optimized support for live WAN migration of virtual machines. Specifically, we present a set of optimizations that minimize the cost of transferring storage and virtual machine memory during migrations over low bandwidth and high-latency Internet links. We evaluate our system on an operational cloud platform distributed across the continental US. During simultaneous migrations of four VMs between data centers in Texas and Illinois, CloudNet's optimizations reduce memory migration time by 65% and lower bandwidth consumption for the storage and memory transfer by 19 GB, a 50% reduction.
Reward-Balancing for Statistical Spoken Dialogue Systems using Multi-objective Reinforcement Learning

Reinforcement learning is widely used for dialogue policy optimization where the reward function often consists of more than one component, e.g., the dialogue success and the dialogue length. In this work, we propose a structured method for finding a good balance between these components by searching for the optimal reward component weighting. To render this search feasible, we use multi-objective reinforcement learning to significantly reduce the number of training dialogues required. We apply our proposed method to find optimized component weights for six domains and compare them to a default baseline.
Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics Sulphuric Acid Closure and Contribution to Nucleation Mode Particle Growth

Sulphuric acid concentrations were measured and calculated based on pseudo steady state model with corresponding measurements of CO, NO x , O 3 , SO 2 , methane and non-methane hydrocarbon (NMHC) concentrations as well as solar spectral irradiance and particle number concentrations with size distributions. The measurements were performed as a part of the EU project QUEST (Quantifica-tion of Aerosol Nucleation in the European Boundary layer) during an intensive field campaign, which was conducted in Hyytiälä, Finland in March–April 2003. In this paper, the closure between measured and calculated H 2 SO 4 concentrations is investigated. Besides that, also the contribution of sulphuric acid to nucleation mode particle growth rates is studied. Hydroxyl and hydroperoxy radical concentrations were determined using a pseudo steady state box model including photo stationary states. The maximum midday OH concentrations ranged between 4.1×10 5 to 1.8×10 6 molecules cm −3 and the corresponding values for HO 2 were 1.0×10 7 to 1.5×10 8 molecules cm −3. The dominant source term for hydroxyl radicals is the reaction of NO with HO 2 (56%) and the reaction of CO with OH covers around 41% of the sinks. The sulphuric acid source term is the reaction SO 2 with OH and the sink term is condensation of sulphuric acid. The closure between measured and calculated sulphuric acid concentrations is achieved with a high agreement to the measured values. In sensitivity studies , we used different values for the non-methane hydrocarbons , the peroxy radicals and nitrogen dioxide. The best fits between calculated and measured values were found by decreasing the NO 2 concentration when it exceeded values of 1.5 ppb and doubling the non-methane hydrocarbon concentrations. The ratio, standard deviation and correlation coefficient between measured and calculated sulphuric acid concentrations are 0.99, 0.412 and 0.645, respectively. The maximum midday sulphuric acid concentrations varied between 3×10 5 to 1.9×10 7 molecules cm −3 for the measurements and 3×10 5 to 1.4×10 7 molecules cm −3 for the calculations, respectively. An average participation of sulphuric acid to the nucleation mode particle growth rates is 8.8%. Classifying the days into two groups – " polluted " days with air masses originated over Central Europe or UK, and " cleaner " days with air masses originated over the Northern Atlantic or the Polar regions – reflects an equal sulphuric acid contribution to the aerosol growth in both air mass classes.
RF performance and modeling of Si/SiGe resonant interband tunneling diodes

The RF performance of two different Si-based resonant interband tunneling diodes (RITD) grown by low-temperature molecular beam epitaxy (LT-MBE) were studied. An RITD with an active region of B /spl delta/-doping plane/2 nm i-Si/sub 0.5/Ge/sub 0.5//1 nm i-Si/P /spl delta/-doping plane yielded a peak-to-valley current ratio (PVCR) of 1.14, resistive cutoff frequency (f/sub r0/) of 5.6 GHz, and a speed index of 23.3 mV/ps after rapid thermal annealing at 650/spl deg/C for 1 min. To the authors' knowledge, these are the highest reported values for any epitaxially grown Si-based tunnel diode. Another RITD design with an active region of 1 nm p+ Si/sub 0.6/Ge/sub 0.4//B /spl delta/-doping plane/4-nm iSi/sub 0.6/Ge/sub 0.4//2 nm i-Si/P /spl delta/-doping plane and annealed at 825/spl deg/C for 1 min had a PVCR of 2.9, an f/sub r0/ of 0.4 GHz, and a speed index of 0.2 mV/ps. A small signal model was established to fit the measured S/sub 11/ data for both device designs. Approaches to increase f/sub r0/ are suggested based on the comparison between these two diodes. The two devices exhibit substantially different junction capacitance/bias relationships, which may suggest the confined states in the /spl delta/-doped quantum well are preserved after annealing at lower temperatures but are reduced at higher temperature annealing. A comprehensive dc/RF semi-physical model was developed and implemented in Agilent advanced design system (ADS) software. Instabilities in the negative differential resistance (NDR) region during dc measurements were then simulated.
Fast mounting method for NAND flash memory file system using offset information

Replacing hard disks as a storage device, NAND flash memories are now widely used on embedded systems due to a variety of advantages such as fast accessibility, low power consumption, solid durability and small form factor. However, the NAND flash memory cannot use existing file system for hard disks because of the physical difference between the NAND flash memory and hard disk drive. Consequently, the research of YAFFS(Yet Another Flash File System), a special file system for NAND flash memory, is actively going on. YAFFS file system reads a spare area of the entire block in order to find the header information on mounting and uses the header found to create the file system structure in random access memory(RAM). The mounting method like this has a drawback of increasing the mounting time in proportion to a size of flash memories, because it reads the spare area of the entire block. In this paper, to overcome this problem and thus reduce the mounting time, scanning only the spare area of header file that exists one in every files of each blocks is proposed instead of scanning entire page of NAND flash memories. Test result shows that the proposed approach reduces the mounting time by maximum of 34.78% than existing method of YAFFS file system.
State Profiling of Internal Variables

Execution profiles form the basis of many dynamic program analysis techniques developed to solve problems in fields such as software testing, fault localization, and program comprehension. A typical profile comprises information that approximates the execution path of a program, specifically, the frequency of occurrence of program elements that are structural in nature, such as statements, branches, and def-use pairs. It is plausible that some defects might not be characterized by a failing path or a set of structural program elements. In such cases, execution profiles that are based on structural elements would not be of much benefit. We argue for the need to leverage the state of the subject program, i.e., to analyze the values of representative internal variables that approximate the program state. For that purpose we: 1) built a profiling tool that captures the values taken by select variables, 2) devised three metrics to quantify the dissimilarities between our state-based execution profiles, and 3) conducted ten case studies to demonstrate the effectiveness of our tool and metrics. The majority of our case studies (8 out of 10), using all metrics, showed that failing profiles are most dissimilar from passing profiles.
Mineral discrimination and removal of inductive coupling with multifrequency IP

In‐situ complex resistivity measurements over the frequency range 10-2 to 10+5Hz have been made on 26 North American massive sulfide, graphite, magnetite, pyrrhotite, and porphyry copper deposits. The results reveal significant differences between the spectral responses of massive sulfides and graphite and present encouragement for their differentiation in the field. There are also differences between the spectra of magnetite and nickeliferrous pyrrhotite mineralization, which may prove useful in attempting to distinguish between these two common IP sources in nickel sulfide exploration. Lastly, there are differences in the spectra typically arising from the economic mineralization and the barren pyrite halo in porphyry copper systems. It appears that all these differences arise mainly from mineral texture, since laboratory studies of different specific mineral‐electrolyte interfaces show relatively small variations. All of the in‐situ spectra may be described by one or two simple Cole‐Cole relaxation mod.
Algorithms for distributed solution of the Optimal Power Flow problem

Modern power networks often have partitioned structures, with disjoint parts of the network being operated by competing agents. It is therefore of significant interest to be able to solve the Optimal Power Flow (OPF) problem for the entire network in a distributed manner without requiring significant exchange of sensitive operational information between rival operators. For networks whose regions are interconnected over a tree structure, we consider a comparison of two potential distributed schemes for solving the OPF problem. For the augmented algorithm, with incorporated higher-order dynamics, we prove a result of guaranteed convergence to the set of solutions of the global problem. By contrast, for classical unregularized dual decompositions, we demonstrate that there exist network scenarios in which convergence breaks down and the algorithm fails to give a solution of the OPF problem.
Mutations in the Gene Encoding the Ancillary Pilin Subunit of the Streptococcus suis srtF Cluster Result in Pili Formed by the Major Subunit Only

Pili have been shown to contribute to the virulence of different Gram-positive pathogenic species. Among other critical steps of bacterial pathogenesis, these structures participate in adherence to host cells, colonization and systemic virulence. Recently, the presence of at least four discrete gene clusters encoding putative pili has been revealed in the major swine pathogen and emerging zoonotic agent Streptococcus suis. However, pili production by this species has not yet been demonstrated. In this study, we investigated the functionality of one of these pili clusters, known as the srtF pilus cluster, by the construction of mutant strains for each of the four genes of the cluster as well as by the generation of antibodies against the putative pilin subunits. Results revealed that the S. suis serotype 2 strain P1/7, as well as several other highly virulent invasive S. suis serotype 2 isolates express pili from this cluster. However, in most cases tested, and as a result of nonsense mutations at the 5′ end of the gene encoding the minor pilin subunit (a putative adhesin), pili were formed by the major pilin subunit only. We then evaluated the role these pili play in S. suis virulence. Abolishment of the expression of srtF cluster-encoded pili did not result in impaired interactions of S. suis with porcine brain microvascular endothelial cells. Furthermore, non-piliated mutants were as virulent as the wild type strain when evaluated in a murine model of S. suis sepsis. Our results show that srtF cluster-encoded, S. suis pili are atypical compared to other Gram-positive pili. In addition, since the highly virulent strains under investigation are unlikely to produce other pili, our results suggest that pili might be dispensable for critical steps of the S. suis pathogenesis of infection.
Deep-water renewal in a Scottish fjord: temperature, salinity and oxygen isotopes

The sea lochs (fjords) of north-west Scotland are located in a region of Europe particularly well situated to monitor changes in westerly air streams. The moisture transported in these air streams has a profound effect on regional precipitation, freshwater run-off and, in turn, sea loch circulation. The gentle slope of the regional salinity:δ18O mixing-line, defined as 0.18 ‰ per salinity unit, suggests that the temperature: δ18O relationship may be readily resolved in these coastal waters. Deep-water renewal events, both observed and predicted from empirical models, in the bottom-waters of Loch Etive provide an opportunity to assess the temperature, salinity and δ18O relationship. Predicted changes in δ18Ocalcite as a function of changing salinity (ΔS) and changing temperature (ΔT) during deep-water renewal events suggest that >80% fall above analytical detection limits. The theoretical likelihood of recording such renewal events in the “palaeoclimate” record appears to be promising, but temperature and salinity change during renewal events may have either sign. Scottish fjords, because of the relatively small impact which salinity has on δ18Owater, may provide useful study sites in palaeoclimate research, particularly where palaeotemperature is the primary record of interest.
Axitinib modulates hypoxia-induced blood–retina barrier permeability and expression of growth factors

This study investigates the effects of the multikinase inhibitor axitinib on the expression of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) receptors 1/2 (VEGFR-1/2) and platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF) receptor beta (PDGFR-β), hypoxia-induced increased tissue permeability, occludin, zonula occludens protein 1 (ZO-1), VEGF-A, and PDGF expression of human retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) cells and human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs). Primary human RPE cells and HUVECs were exposed to hypoxia and axitinib. Viability of cells, tissue permeability, and expression of occludin, ZO-1, VEGF, PDGF, VEGFR-1/2 and PDGFR-β, and their mRNAs, were investigated by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, western blotting, and immunohistochemistry. Treatment with axitinib reduced expression of VEGFR-1/2 and PDGFR-β. Hypoxia decreased cell viability, occludin, and ZO-1 expression and increased tissue permeability, expression, and secretion of VEGF and PDGF. Axitinib significantly reduced hypoxia-induced effects on HUVEC and RPE cells. Our in vitro results suggest that axitinib may have promising properties as a potential treatment for diabetic macular edema.
A Bio-Inspired Approach to Alarm Malware Attacks in Mobile Handsets

With proliferation of smart handsets capable of mobile Internet, the severity of malware attacks targeting such handsets is rapidly increasing, thereby requiring effective countermeasure for them. However, existing signature-based solutions are not suitable for resource-poor handsets due to the excessive run-time overhead of matching against ever-increasing malware pattern database as well as the limitation of detecting well-known malware only. To overcome these drawbacks, we present a bio-inspired approach to discriminate malware (non-self) from normal programs (self) by replicating the processes of biological immune system. Our proposed approach achieves superior performance in terms of detecting 83.7% of new malware or their variants and scalable storage requirement that grows very slowly with inclusion of new malware, making it attractive for use with mobile handsets.
The Ebola Virus VP35 Protein Inhibits Activation of Interferon Regulatory Factor 3

ABSTRACT The Ebola virus VP35 protein was previously found to act as an interferon (IFN) antagonist which could complement growth of influenza delNS1 virus, a mutant influenza virus lacking the influenza virus IFN antagonist protein, NS1. The Ebola virus VP35 could also prevent the virus- or double-stranded RNA-mediated transcriptional activation of both the beta IFN (IFN-β) promoter and the IFN-stimulated ISG54 promoter (C. Basler et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 97:12289-12294, 2000). We now show that VP35 inhibits virus infection-induced transcriptional activation of IFN regulatory factor 3 (IRF-3)-responsive mammalian promoters and that VP35 does not block signaling from the IFN-α/β receptor. The ability of VP35 to inhibit this virus-induced transcription correlates with its ability to block activation of IRF-3, a cellular transcription factor of central importance in initiating the host cell IFN response. We demonstrate that VP35 blocks the Sendai virus-induced activation of two promoters which can be directly activated by IRF-3, namely, the ISG54 promoter and the ISG56 promoter. Further, expression of VP35 prevents the IRF-3-dependent activation of the IFN-α4 promoter in response to viral infection. The inhibition of IRF-3 appears to occur through an inhibition of IRF-3 phosphorylation. VP35 blocks virus-induced IRF-3 phosphorylation and subsequent IRF-3 dimerization and nuclear translocation. Consistent with these observations, Ebola virus infection of Vero cells activated neither transcription from the ISG54 promoter nor nuclear accumulation of IRF-3. These data suggest that in Ebola virus-infected cells, VP35 inhibits the induction of antiviral genes, including the IFN-β gene, by blocking IRF-3 activation.