Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Acute Inhibition of Ca2+/Calmodulin-Dependent Protein Kinase II Reverses Experimental Neuropathic Pain in Mice

The limited data that currently exist for the role of Ca2+/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II (CaMKII) in neuropathic pain are conflicting. In the present study, we tested the hypothesis that CaMKII is required for the maintenance of neuropathic pain in a rodent model of experimental mononeuropathy. Spinal nerve L5/L6 ligation (SNL) was found to increase the spinal activity of CaMKII (pCaMKII) on the ipsilateral (but not contralateral) side. This effect was blocked by 2-[N-(2-hydroxyethyl)-N-(4-methoxybenzenesulfonyl)]amino-N-(4-chlorocinnamyl)-N-methylbenzylamine) (KN93) (intrathecal injection), a CaMKII inhibitor. Acute treatment with KN93 dose-dependently reversed SNL-induced thermal hyperalgesia and mechanical allodynia. The action of KN93 lasted for at least 2 to 4 h. 2-[N-(4-Methoxybenzenesulfonyl)]amino-N-(4-chlorocinnamyl)-N-methylbenzylamine (KN92) (45 nmol i.t.), an inactive analog of KN93, showed no effect on SNL-induced CaMKII activation, allodynia, or hyperalgesia. We further examined the pharmacologic action of trifluoperazine, a clinically used antipsychotic drug that we found to be a potent CaMKII inhibitor in these assays. Trifluoperazine (administered intraperitoneally or by mouth) dose-dependently reversed SNL-induced mechanical allodynia, thermal hyperalgesia, and CaMKII activation without causing locomotor impairment in mice at the highest doses used. In conclusion, our findings support a critical role of CaMKII in neuropathic pain. Blocking CaMKII or CaMKII-mediated signaling may offer a novel therapeutic target for the treatment of neuropathic pain.
Improving pitch estimation with short duration speech samples

Hermes’ Sub Harmonic Summation (SHS) pitch determination algorithm is an effective technique for extracting the percept of pitch from human speech [1]. Effective determination of the pitch in a passage of speech is believed to be fundamental for higher level speech processing appli-cations such as speech or speaker recognition. Of particular interest is the need to extract pitch from speech in less than ideal conditions eg. in the presence of noise or using very short analysis windows. In an attempt to deliver accurate pitch estimates from relatively short analysis windows this paper describes an evaluation of two forms of the SHS procedure: in one case, FFT-SHS, the procedure uses the conventional Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) in its spectral analysis step; in the sec-ond case, RAFT-SHS, the ReAssigned Fourier Transform (RAFT) technique [2] is used instead of the FFT.
Radiation-Induced Signals in Cables - II

We have previously described our approach to the calculation of radiation induced signals in cables.1 Our computational approach has been incorporated in the computer code CHIC. In this note, we apply CHIC to several problems of current interest - the scaling of charge injection signals at high fluence, and the signals due to charge trapped in the cable dielectric. A simple conceptual model is presented which clarifies the most important features of these processes.
Interspecies communication in oral biofilm

Oral biofilms are composed of >700 bacterial strains in a matrix of salivary glycoprotein and extracellular polysaccharides which display extensive interactions while forming organized structures in a biofilm to carry out physiological functions and induce pathogenesis in microbes� Interactions among oral bacteria in humans are essential to the development and maturation of the plaque� These interactions can occur at several levels which include physical contact, metabolic exchange, small-signal moleculemediated communication, and exchange of genetic material� These levels of interspecies interaction benefit the microorganism by providing a broader habitat range, effective metabolism, increasing the resistance to host defense, and enhancing their virulence� This generally has a deleterious effect on the host and is attributed to many chronic infections which possess a curative challenge� This review summarizes the interaction between different microbial species present within a biofilm and how they communicate with each other�
Image segmentation for tracking salt boundaries

SUMMARY Image segmentation can be used to track salt boundaries when the salt boundary amplitude is greater than any other local reections. We apply a modied version of the normalized cut image segmentation method to partition seismic images along salt boundaries. In principle our method should work even when the boundaries are not continuous, and conventional horizon tracking algorithms may fail. Our implementation of this method calculates a weight connecting each pixel in the image to each pixel in a local neighborhood. The weight is made weak where the negative amplitude of the complex trace along the shortest path between the two pixels has a minimum and is less than a threshold value. This method is demonstrated to be effective on synthetic 2D seismic sections and can easily be modied to be applied to 3D data. To overcome the formidable computational expense and storage requirements, three cost saving approaches are proposed. Firstly, pixels are sampled from windows centered at powers of 2, this greatly increases the sparseness of the weight matrix. Secondly, initial solutions are provided to subsequent segmentations for multiple segmentation passes in iterative velocity analysis. Thirdly, an iterative multiscale approach should allow the tracking of the bright salt events in large 3D cubes.
Approximating Optimal Policies for Partially Observable Stochastic Domains

The problem of making optimal decisions in uncertain conditions is central to Artificial Intelligence If the state of the world is known at all times, the world can be modeled as a Markov Decision Process (MDP) MDPs have been studied extensively and many methods are known for determining optimal courses of action or policies. The more realistic case where state information is only partially observable Partially Observable Markov Decision Processes (POMDPs) have received much less attention. The best exact algorithms for these problems can be very inefficient in both space and time. We introduce Smooth Partially Observable Value Approximation (SPOVA), a new approximation method that can quickly yield good approximations which can improve over time. This method can be combined with reinforcement learning meth ods a combination that was very effective in our test cases.
Small Array Reproduction Method for Ambisonic Encodings Using Headtracking

Compensated Amplitude Panning (CAP) is a spatial audio reproduction method for loudspeakers that takes the listener head orientation into account. It can produce stable images in any direction with as few as two loudspeakers. In its original form CAP is inherently an object-based method, where each image is produced separately. A direct method is presented here for dynamically decoding a first order Ambisonic encoding that is equivalent to using CAP to separately reproduce the constituents of the encoding. Both the stereo and multichannel cases are considered. Ambisonic decoding enables complex scenes to be reproduced with little cost. Ambisonic encodings are now used widely for 360° video, and other applications.
Integrating molecular QTL data into genome-wide genetic association analysis: Probabilistic assessment of enrichment and colocalization

We propose a novel statistical framework for integrating genetic data from molecular quantitative trait loci (QTL) mapping into genome-wide genetic association analysis of complex traits, with the primary objectives of quantitatively assessing the enrichment of the molecular QTLs in complex trait-associated genetic variants and the colocalizations of the two types of association signals. We introduce a natural Bayesian hierarchical model that treats the latent association status of molecular QTLs as SNP-level annotations for candidate SNPs for complex traits. We detail a computational procedure to seamlessly perform enrichment, fine-mapping and colocalization analyses, which is a distinct feature compared to the existing colocalization analysis procedures in the literature. The proposed approach is computationally efficient and requires only summary-level statistics. We evaluate and demonstrate the proposed computational approach through extensive simulation studies and the analysis of blood lipid data and the whole blood eQTL data from the GTEx project. In addition, a useful utility from our proposed method enables the computation of expected colocalization signals, which is analogous to the power calculation in genetic association studies. Using this utility, we further illustrate the importance of enrichment analysis on the ability of discovering colocalized signals and the potential limitations of currently available molecular QTL data.
Computational materials design and engineering

Abstract Computational materials design integrates targeted materials process–structure and structure–property models in systems frameworks to meet specific engineering needs. Design inherently consists of many competing requirements that require judicious decisions regarding key tradeoffs. The goal of computational materials design is to apply the best scientific understanding to facilitate decisions regarding the optimal tradeoffs that meet desired needs in the most time and resource efficient manner. Mechanistic materials design models require adequate fidelity to determine the favourability of one design solution over another but also the ability to be extrapolated over large parameter space to search for design optima in unexplored terrain. Design processes must not only efficiently find optimal solutions, but quickly identify failures. More broadly, materials design can only be as successful as the ability to identify the correct requirements for an application, and those requirements must address not only performance but also qualification hurdles including prediction of manufacturing variation.
Pacific Asia Conference on Information Systems ( PACIS ) 2007 IS Development and the Impact of Social Capital – A Case Study Experience

Social capital as a focus for organizational maintenance and development due to the mechanistic focus of organizational activity is emerging as an area of increasing interest. The research broadens this focus to the realm of system development. In this interpretation social capital is defined as the relationships that make the organization work effectively. It is the mechanisms of relationship networks, reciprocity, trust and social norms. We examine through the lens of a recent implementation of an innovative and current realworld UK Government project how social capital borne from the inherent culture influenced the behaviour of key players effecting project delays. We draw upon research experiences to provide evidential insights from the empirical setting. The aim is to increase understanding from which lessons can be drawn so that validated conclusions can inform the IS domain.
Data Rate for Distributed Consensus of Multiagent Systems With High-Order Oscillator Dynamics

Distributed consensus under data rate constraint is an important research topic of multiagent systems. Some results have been obtained for consensus of multiagent systems with integrator dynamics, but it remains challenging for general high-order systems, especially in the presence of unmeasurable states. In this paper, we study the quantized consensus problem for a special kind of high-order critical systems and investigate the corresponding data rate required for achieving consensus. The state matrix of each agent is a <inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX"> $2\,m$</tex-math></inline-formula>th order real Jordan block admitting <inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">$m$ </tex-math></inline-formula> identical pairs of conjugate poles on the unit circle; each agent has a single input, and only the first state variable can be measured. The case of harmonic oscillators (<inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$m=1$</tex-math></inline-formula>) is first investigated under a directed communication topology which contains a spanning tree, while the general case of <inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">$m\geq 2$</tex-math></inline-formula> is considered for a connected and undirected network. In both cases, the sufficient number of communication bits to guarantee the exponentially fast consensus is shown to be an integer between <inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">$m$</tex-math></inline-formula> and <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$2\,m$</tex-math></inline-formula>, depending on the location of the poles.
A Management System for Distributed Knowledge and Content Objects

We present the results of a European research project which developed specifications for so-called knowledge content objects (KCO) and for an attendant infrastructure, the knowledge content carrier architecture (KCCA). The work addresses the problem that while there are many standards for content and for metadata, there is at present, no suitable framework that enables organizations to manage knowledge alongside content, in a coherent manner. Our approach postulates the KCO as a common structural entity which can be recognized and manipulated by a KCCA enabled system
Monitoring active filters under automotive aging scenarios with embedded instrument

In automotive mixed-signal SoCs, the analogue/mixed-signal front-ends are of particular interest with regard to dependability. Because of the many electrical disturbances at the front-end, often (active) filters are being used. Due to the harsh environments, in some cases, degradation of these filters may be encountered during lifetime and hence false sensor information could be provided with potential fatal results. This paper investigates the influence of aging in three different types of active filters in an automotive environment, and presents an embedded instrument, which monitors this aging behaviour. The monitor can be used for flagging problems in the car console or initiate automatic correction.
Time evolution of correlation functions and thermalization

We investigate the time evolution of a classical ensemble of isolated periodic chains of O(N)-symmetric anharmonic oscillators. Our method is based on an exact evolution equation for the time dependence of correlation functions. We discuss its solutions in an approximation which retains all contributions in next-to-leading order in a 1/N expansion and preserves time reflection symmetry. We observe effective irreversibility and approximate thermalization. At large time the system approaches stationary solutions in the vicinity of, but not identical to, thermal equilibrium. The ensemble therefore retains some memory of the initial condition beyond the conserved total energy. Such a behavior with incomplete thermalization is referred to as "mesoscopic dynamics". It is expected for systems in a small volume. Surprisingly, we find that the nonthermal asymptotic stationary solutions do not change for large volume. This raises questions on Boltzmann's conjecture that macroscopic isolated systems thermalize.
English-to-Traditional Chinese Cross-lingual Link Discovery in Articles with Wikipedia Corpus

In this paper, we design a processing flow to produce linked data in articles, providing anchorbased term’s additional information and related terms in different languages (English to Chinese). Wikipedia has been a very important corpus and knowledge bank. Although Wikipedia describes itself not a dictionary or encyclopedia, it is if high potential values in applications and data mining researches. Link discovery is a useful IR application, based on Data Mining and NLP algorithms and has been used in several fields. According to the results of our experiment, this method does make the result has improved.
Clinical relevance of distortion product emissions by means of receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis

The clinical use of distortion product otoacoustic emissions (DPOAE) stems from the observation that the outer hair cells are the most vulnerable part of the cochlea, and damage to these cells is associated with hearing loss and loss of DPOAE. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the applicability of DPOAE in predicting hearing thresholds under clinical conditions. DPOAE measurements (L 1 = L 2 = 70 dB SPL, f 2 /f 1 = 1.20) of 219 hearing-impaired and normal hearing ears were analyzed. Recordings were acquired for DPOAE at 2 f 1 -f 2 varying from 635 to 4052 Hz. The detectability of DPOAE in hearing-impaired subjects exhibited a strong hearing threshold dependence. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis yielded the highest sensitivity and specificity for threshold levels of about 30 dB at low frequencies and for threshold levels of about 60 dB at high frequencies. In addition, the separability of groups with different hearing status was more reliable at high frequencies as compared to low frequencies. The DPOAE provide an objective assessment of cochlear function. However, prognosis of hearing thresholds on the basis of DPOAE measurements depends strongly on the test frequency and is associated with large errors. Hence, the clinical use of DPOAE in predicting hearing thresholds is limited.
Further Evidence of Mutational Heterogeneity of the XPC Gene in Tunisian Families: A Spectrum of Private and Ethnic Specific Mutations

Xeroderma Pigmentosum (XP) is a rare recessive autosomal cancer prone disease, characterized by UV hypersensitivity and early appearance of cutaneous and ocular malignancies. We investigated four unrelated patients suspected to be XP-C. To confirm linkage to XPC gene, genotyping and direct sequencing of XPC gene were performed. Pathogenic effect of novel mutations was confirmed by reverse Transciptase PCR. Mutation screening revealed the presence of two novel mutations g.18246G>A and g.18810G>T in the XPC gene (NG_011763.1). The first is present in one patient XP50NEF, but the second is present in three unrelated patients (XP16KEB, XP28SFA, and XP45GB). These 3 patients are from three different cities of Southern Tunisia and bear the same haplotype, suggesting a founder effect. Reverse Transciptase PCR revealed the absence of the XPC mRNA. In Tunisia, as observed in an other severe genodermatosis, the mutational spectrum of XP-C group seems to be homogeneous with some clusters of heterogeneity that should be taken into account to improve molecular diagnosis of this disease.
mDFA Detects Abnormality: From Heartbeat to Material Vibration

Modified detrended fluctuation analysis (mDFA) is a novel method to check abnormality of heartbeat which is developed recently by the author. mDFA can characterize any oscillation such as heartbeat by the scaling exponent (scaling index, SI). Healthy heartbeat shows SI = 1. Dying heart’s SI sifts toward 0.5. Ischemic sick heart experimentally showed an SI way over 1.0 approaching 1.5. Random vibration, such as FM-radio noise and idling car-engine, shows SI = 0.5. Quietly running motor generates an SI almost equal to zero. Using mDFA, it is possible to check potential risk based on SI values. This chapter shows empirical results quantifying various signals from heartbeat to material vibration.
Homodyne Laser Vibrometer With Detectability of Nanoscale Vibration and Adaptability to Reflectivity

Homodyne laser vibrometer plays an essential role in the precision vibration measurement, but its application is restricted when measuring subfringe vibration and targets with various reflectivities. In order to achieve the nanoscale vibration measurement and to adapt to various reflectivities, an enhanced homodyne laser vibrometer is presented in this paper. First, an active vibration mechanism (AVM) based on a flexure hinge stimulated by a piezoelectric transducer (PZT) is introduced into the reference arm, with which the parameters for nonlinear error correction can be predetermined, and thereby the measurement of vibration less than quarter wavelength is feasible. Second, an automatic gain module is employed to optimize the intensity of the interference signals, which significantly improves the adaptability to target reflectivity. The experimental results show that the laser vibrometer proposed is capable of measuring vibration with amplitude down to 2 nm and vibration with surface reflectivity down to 0.08%.
A conserved helical element is essential for internal initiation of translation of hepatitis C virus RNA

Translation of hepatitis C virus (HCV) RNA is initiated by cap-independent internal ribosome binding to the 5' noncoding region (NCR). To identify the sequences and structural elements within the 5' NCR of HCV RNA that contribute to the initiation of translation, a series of point mutations was introduced within this sequence. Since the pyrimidine-rich tract is considered a characteristic feature of picornavirus internal ribosome entry site (IRES) elements, our mutational analysis focused on two putative pyrimidine tracts (Py-I and Py-II) within the HCV 5' NCR. Translational efficiency of these mutant RNAs was examined by in vitro translation and after RNA transfection into liver-derived cells. Mutational analysis of Py-I (nucleotides 120 to 130), supported by compensatory mutants, demonstrates that the primary sequence of this motif is not important but that a helical structural element associated with this region is critical for HCV IRES function. Mutations in Py-II (nucleotides 191 to 199) show that this motif is dispensable for IRES function as well. Thus, the pyrimidine-rich tract motif, which is considered as an essential element of the picornavirus IRES elements, does not appear to be a functional component of the HCV IRES. Further, the insertional mutagenesis study suggests a requirement for proper spacing between the initiator AUG and the upstream structures of the HCV IRES element for internal initiation of translation.
Risk of pancreatitis after endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography and endoscopic biliary drainage.

BACKGROUND Pancreatitis is the most common and serious complication to occur after endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP). It is often associated with additional diagnostic modalities and/or treatment of obstructive jaundice. The aim of this study was to determine the risk of post-ERCP pancreatitis associated with pancreaticobiliary examination and endoscopic biliary drainage (EBD). METHODS A total of 740 consecutive ERCP procedures performed in 477 patients were analysed for the occurrence of pancreatitis. These included 470 EBD procedures and 167 procedures to further evaluate the pancreaticobiliary tract using brush cytology and/or biopsy, intraductal ultrasound and/or peroral cholangioscopy or peroral pancreatoscopy. The occurrence of post-ERCP pancreatitis was analysed retrospectively. RESULTS The overall incidence of post-ERCP pancreatitis was 3.9% (29 of 740 procedures). The risk factors for post-ERCP pancreatitis were: being female (6.5%; odds ratio [OR] 2.5, P= 0.02); first EBD procedure without endoscopic sphincterotomy (ES) (6.9%; OR 3.0, P= 0.003), and performing additional diagnostic procedures on the pancreatobiliary duct (9.6%; OR 4.6, P < 0.0001). Pancreatitis after subsequent draining procedures was rare (0.4%; OR for first-time drainage 16.6, P= 0.0003). Furthermore, pancreatitis was not recognized in 59 patients who underwent ES. Seven patients with post-EBD pancreatitis were treated with additional ES. CONCLUSIONS Invasive diagnostic examinations of the pancreaticobiliary duct and first-time perampullary biliary drainage without ES were high-risk factors for post-ERCP pancreatitis. Endoscopic sphincterotomy may be of use to prevent post-EBD pancreatitis.