Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The PD1:PD-L1/2 Pathway from Discovery to Clinical Implementation

The immune system maintains a critically organized network to defend against foreign particles, while evading self-reactivity simultaneously. T lymphocytes function as effectors and play an important regulatory role to orchestrate the immune signals. Although central tolerance mechanism results in the removal of the most of the autoreactive T cells during thymic selection, a fraction of self-reactive lymphocytes escapes to the periphery and pose a threat to cause autoimmunity. The immune system evolved various mechanisms to constrain such autoreactive T cells and maintain peripheral tolerance, including T cell anergy, deletion, and suppression by regulatory T cells (TRegs). These effects are regulated by a complex network of stimulatory and inhibitory receptors expressed on T cells and their ligands, which deliver cell-to-cell signals that dictate the outcome of T cell encountering with cognate antigens. Among the inhibitory immune mediators, the pathway consisting of the programed cell death 1 (PD-1) receptor (CD279) and its ligands PD-L1 (B7-H1, CD274) and PD-L2 (B7-DC, CD273) plays an important role in the induction and maintenance of peripheral tolerance and for the maintenance of the stability and the integrity of T cells. However, the PD-1:PD-L1/L2 pathway also mediates potent inhibitory signals to hinder the proliferation and function of T effector cells and have inimical effects on antiviral and antitumor immunity. Therapeutic targeting of this pathway has resulted in successful enhancement of T cell immunity against viral pathogens and tumors. Here, we will provide a brief overview on the properties of the components of the PD-1 pathway, the signaling events regulated by PD-1 engagement, and their consequences on the function of T effector cells.
Filter-Invariant Image Classification on Social Media Photos

With the popularity of social media nowadays, tons of photos are uploaded everyday. To understand the image content, image classification becomes a very essential technique for plenty of applications (e.g., object detection, image caption generation). Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) has been shown as the state-of-the-art approach for image classification. However, one of the characteristics in social media photos is that they are often applied with photo filters, especially on Instagram. We find that prior works do not aware of this trend in social media photos and fail on filtered images. Thus, we propose a novel CNN architecture that utilizes the power of pairwise constraint by combining Siamese network and the proposed adaptive margin contrastive loss with our discriminative pair sampling method to solve the problem of filter bias. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first work to tackle filter bias on CNN and achieve state-of-the-art performance on a filtered subset of ILSVRC2012.
Association between social network communities and health behavior: an observational sociocentric network study of latrine ownership in rural India.

OBJECTIVES We identified communities of interconnected people that might serve as normative reference groups for individual-level behavior related to latrine adoption. METHODS We applied an algorithmic social network method to determine the network community from respondent-reported social ties of 16 403 individuals in 75 villages in rural Karnataka, India; data were collected from 2006 to 2008. We used multilevel modeling to test the association between latrine ownership and community-level and village-level latrine ownership. We also investigated the degree to which network cohesion affected individual latrine ownership. RESULTS Three levels of social contacts (direct friends, social network community, and village) significantly predicted individual latrine ownership, but the strongest effect was found at the level of social network communities. In communities with high levels of network cohesion, the likelihood was decreased that any individual would own a latrine; this effect was significant only at lower levels of latrine ownership, suggesting a role for network cohesion in facilitating the nonownership norm. CONCLUSIONS Although many international health and development interventions target village units, these results raise the possibility that the optimal target for public health interventions may not be determined through geography but through social network interactions.
Knowledge dynamics , coherence and communities within networks : the “ Telecom Valley

Knowledge creation is nowadays a major issue for firms that want to be competitive. We are in a new era, where knowledge plays a dynamic role in innovation processes and corporate performance. The nature of the firm is changing: Kogut & Zander (1996) define firms as social communities specialized in knowledge transfer and creation. What makes firms superior to markets is not their capacity for reducing costs, but their capacity for creating and transferring knowledge. Organizations are not only considered as knowledgeprocessing systems but above all as knowledge-creating systems (Nonaka & Takeuchi, 1995).
Performance of MEMS motion sensors in mobile devices for beam tracking techniques

A beam alignment problem is considered in this paper for the mm-Wave communication system with transmit-receive (Tx-Rx) beam-forming antennas. To avoid the power loss in the received signal due to behavioral change (rotation, displacement) an efficient beam tracking technique is preferred to identify the cause of beam error using micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS) motion sensors. The motion sensors are composed of an attitude heading reference system (AHRS), which estimates rotation angle, and Zero Velocity Detector method, which detects whether the device moves or not. The performance of MEMS motion sensors is evaluated by simulation in typical scenarios for beam tracking.
On the Theoretical Analysis of Optimal Cellular Systems design with Multi-user Detection in slow flat fading channel - Uplink Analysis

In this paper, we investigate the optimal multi-cell systems design involving multi-user detection. Specifically, we analyze the optimal intra-cell and inter-cell multi-access strategies in slow fading channels and the role of multi-user detection (MUD) in the multi-cell system design based on an information theoretical framework. We adapt Wyner's model and consider a multi-cell system of M cells with K single antenna homogeneous users. At each of the base stations, both zero forcing and the optimal MUD are considered as the base station receiver. We consider slow fading channels where the instantaneous channel capacity is unknown to the transmitters. Hence, packet outage will occur whenever the data rate of packet transmissions is less than the instantaneous channel capacity. Conventional performance measure by ergodic capacity may not be useful in this situation and we consider the overall network goodput, which measures the average number of bits/sec/Hz successfully delivered to the base station by the K users, as the capacity measure. Based on the theoretical framework, we derive closed-form expressions on the total network goodput with respect to different multi-cell system design schemes. The optimal intra-cell and inter-cell channel partitioning schemes with respect to the network goodput in various scenarios is found. We conclude that the multi-user detection plays a important role in multi-cell systems by improving the efficiency resource reuse within a cell
ADouble-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Withdrawal Trial of Dexmethylphenidate Hydrochloride in Children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder

Objectives: d,l-threo-methylphenidate HCl (d,l-MPH) is the most common treatment of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). A previous report showed placebo-controlled efficacy for the purified d-isomer (dexmethylphenidate hydrochloride, d-MPH, Focalin™) with a 2:1 potency compared to dl, and suggested a 6-hour duration of action. This study complements that report by studying the effect of placebo-controlled discontinuation and retesting the duration of action. Methods: A 6-week, open-label titration of d-MPH (2.5–10 mg twice-a-day) was followed by a double-blind, placebo-controlled, 2-week withdrawal study of responders. Results: In the open titration, 82% of the 89 enrolled patients achieved a Clinical Global Impression—Improvement (CGI-I) rating of much or very much improved. Only 5 patients discontinued for adverse events. Seventy-five patients continued into the placebo-controlled discontinuation. For the randomly assigned d-MPH (n = 35) and placebo (n = 40) groups, mean ages, respectively,.
How Post-secondary Journalism Educators Teach Advanced CAR Data Analysis Skills in the Digital Age

Survey responses from 232 journalism educators in 33 nations were analyzed for descriptions of how they have taught a subset of the most pedagogically challenging computer-assisted reporting (CAR) skills-advanced data analysis. Respondents' programs were sorted into three instructional groupings: (1) Comprehensive programs offering coherent curricula for learning three basic and six advanced analytic reporting competencies, (2) mixed adoption programs that make data analytic learning optional and student directed, and (3) lagging programs that provide weak learning opportunities. We also statistically address U.S. versus non-U.S. contrasts, and features of U.S. programs offering analytic training also are statistically addressed. Barriers to expanding such training are discussed.
Live data center migration across WANs: a robust cooperative context aware approach

A significant concern for Internet-based service providers is the continued operation and availability of services in the face of outages, whether planned or unplanned. In this paper we advocate a cooperative, context-aware approach to data center migration across WANs to deal with outages in a non-disruptive manner. We specifically seek to achieve high availability of data center services in the face of both planned and unanticipated outages of data center facilities. We make use of server virtualization technologies to enable the replication and migration of server functions. We propose new network functions to enable server migration and replication across wide area networks (e.g., the Internet), and finally show the utility of intelligent and dynamic storage replication technology to ensure applications have access to data in the face of outages with very tight recovery point objectives.
Anthony Giddens and public relations: A third way perspective

In the article, the main theories of Anthony Giddens (structuration and late modernity theory) are presented and applied upon public relations. A review shows that there have been few attempts to use these theories in public relations. The analysis states that using Giddens leads to a questioning of the dichotomy between instrumental agency-oriented theories that neglects power structures as well as critical theories that only views public relations as hidden strategic action used by elites to dominate the public sphere. The conclusion is that there are two major arguments for applying Giddens to public relations: (1) the theory of late modernity may enhance our understanding of public relations as an evolving practice in socio-historical and spatial terms; (2) the structuration theory enhances the holistic understanding of how public relations communication, interpreted as a process, may be used both as a reproductive and a transforming social instrument. Giddens theory may in other words be used as a "third way public relations theory". (C) 2007 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Effects of Religious Orientation and Gender on Cardiovascular Reactivity Among Older Adults

Recent attention has focused on the relationship between religiosity and health. Although many pathways have been proposed to account for this relationship, little empirical research has investigated specific pathways in relation to specific physiological functions. This study assessed the roles that religious orientation and gender play in moderating psychophysiological reactivity to laboratory stressors among older adults. Those participants characterized by an intrinsic religious orientation (IO) demonstrated less reactivity than did those characterized by an extrinsic religious orientation. Gender did not influence reactivity. There was some evidence that the effect of religious orientation is more pronounced for interpersonal than cognitive-type stressors, although the strongest findings were evident when stressors were aggregated. The magnitude of these effects suggests that they are of practical significance. Given these results and the known relationship between reactivity and hypertension, it is proposed that IO may result in decreased risk of developing hypertension in older adults.
On Music, Wine and the Criteria of Understanding

Abstract According to an influential account of music, the listener's recognition of music's emotive character is a central criterion of her musical understanding. As the structural similarities between music and human emotive behavior do not unambiguously determine music's emotive character, the only available method of determining this character is to simply perceive it in the music. Appropriately backgrounded listeners should thus be not just well-versed in the specifically musical features of our musical system but also psychologically disposed to respond to music in an emotive way. In this paper, I argue that this view of musical understanding fails to account for the normative aspect of our notion of understanding. Given that there are no publicly shareable reasons to which one could appeal in order to justify or reject a given emotive attribution, we should read such attributions as nothing more than more or less illuminating comparisons between music and something else. Most importantly, emotive attributions should not be treated as criteria of musical understanding.
Stabilization of Recurrent Fuzzy Systems Via Sum of Squares-Based Hybrid Control

Abstract This paper presents an approach for stabilization of equilibria in recurrent fuzzy systems. This type of dynamic fuzzy systems being defined via linguistic rules can be interpreted as interpolation between constant gradients, and therefore as hybrid dynamical system. It is shown that the latter viewpoint allows for a precise description of the system dynamics, but on the other hand lacks transparency. In order to render a given equilibrium of the recurrent fuzzy system globally asymptotically stable, local polynomial controllers are computed via sum of squares optimization to allow only for deterministic mode transitions on a micro level. In addition, the controlled recurrent fuzzy system can then be interpreted as finite deterministic automaton, thus allowing for analysis of system properties on a more abstract macro level. Relaxations are proposed in cases where recurrent fuzzy systems may not be rendered deterministic and the method is applied to two examples.
Is Storage Hierarchy Dead? Co-located Compute-Storage NVRAM-based Architectures for Data-Centric Workloads

 Is Storage Hierarchy Dead? Co-located Compute-Storage NVRAM-based Architectures for Data-Centric Workloads David Roberts, Jichuan Chang, Parthasarathy Ranganathan, Trevor N. Mudge HP Laboratories HPL-2010-119 The increasing gap between the speed of the processor and the time to access the data in the disk has historically been offset with deeper and larger memory hierarchies with multiple levels of SRAM, DRAM, and more recently, Flash layers for caching. However, recent trends that point to a potential slowdown of DRAM growth and the emergence of alternate resistive non-volatile memory technologies and properties of emerging data-centric workloads offer the opportunity to rethink future solutions. Specifically, in this paper, we examine an approach that leverages both the memory-like and disk-like attributes of emerging non-volatile memory technologies. We propose a new architectural building block called nanostores that co-locates computation with a single-level data store in a flat hierarchy, and enables large-scale distributed systems for future data-centric workloads. We present a new evaluation methodology to reason about these new architectures, including benchmarks designed to systematically study emerging data-centric workloads. Our evaluation results demonstrate significant potential for performance benefits from our approach (often orders of magnitude) with better energy efficiency. External Posting Date: November 8, 2010 [Fulltext] Approved for External Publication Internal Posting Date: November 8, 2010 [Fulltext] Copyright 2010 Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. 1 Is Storage Hierarchy Dead? Co-located Compute-Storage NVRAM-based Architectures for Data-Centric Workloads The increasing gap between the speed of the processor and the time to access the data in the disk has historically been offset with deeper and larger memory hierarchies with multiple levels of SRAM, DRAM, and more recently, Flash layers for caching. However, recent trends that point to a potential slowdown of DRAM growth and the emergence of alternate resistive non-volatile memory technologies and properties of emerging data-centric workloads offer the opportunity to rethink future solutions. Specifically, in this paper, we examine an approach that leverages both the memory-like and disk-like attributes of emerging non-volatile memory technologies. We propose a new architectural building block – called nanostores – that co-locates computation with a single-level data store in a flat hierarchy, and enables large-scale distributed systems for future data-centric workloads. We present a new evaluation methodology to reason about these new architectures, including benchmarks designed to systematically study emerging data-centric workloads. Our evaluation results demonstrate significant potential for performance benefits from our approach (often orders of magnitude) with better energy efficiency.
Percept formation from neural populations in sensory decision-making tasks

We study a standard linear readout model of perceptual integration from a population of sensory neurons. We show that the readout can be associated to a set of characteristic equations which summarize the joint trial-to-trial covariance structure of neural activities and animal percept. These characteristic equations implicitly determine the readout parameters that were used by the animal to create its percept. In particular, they implicitly constrain the temporal integration window w and the typical number of neurons K which give rise to the percept. Comparing neural and behavioral sensitivity alone cannot disentangle these two sources of perceptual integration, so the characteristic equations also involve a measure of choice signals, like those assessed by the classic experimental measure of choice probabilities. We then propose a statistical method of analysis which allows to recover the typical scales of integration w and K from finite numbers of recorded neurons and recording trials, and show the efficiency of this method on an artificial encoding network. We also study the statistical method theoretically, and relate its laws of convergence to the underlying structure of neural activity in the population, as described through its singular value decomposition. Altogether, our method provides the first thorough interpretation of feedforward percept formation from a population of sensory neurons. It can readily be applied to experimental recordings in classic sensory decision-making tasks, and hopefully provide new insights into the nature of perceptual integration.
Aggressive communication in the coach‐athlete relationship

This study concerned how coaches’ efforts to solicit better performance from athletes related to male athletes’ perceptions of their coaches’ communication and to athletes’ self‐reports of satisfaction and performance. Data were collected from 192 former male high‐school athletes. Results indicated that when male athletes perceived that their coaches used more aggressive tactics athletes evaluated their coaches communication unfavorably and that when male athletes evaluated their coaches’ communication unfavorably they reported less satisfaction with their coaches, less team success in terms of win‐loss percentage, and less sportsmanship.
New kinetic models for the hepatitis C virus

Viral kinetic modeling has played an important role in the analysis of HCV RNA decay after the initiation of antiviral therapy. Models have provided a means of evaluating the antiviral effectiveness of therapy, of estimating parameters such as the rate of virion clearance and the rate of clearance of hepatitis C virus (HCV)–infected cells, and they have suggested mechanisms of action for both interferon and ribavirin. Nevertheless, the models that were originally formulated were unable to explain all of the observed HCV RNA profiles. We provide an update on the state of HCV kinetic modeling and discuss new models that have taken into consideration the different pharmacokinetics of standard and pegylated forms of interferon, allow for changes in drug effectiveness as drug concentrations fall between dosing intervals, and that have incorporated alanine aminotransferase kinetics and aspects of immune responses to provide a more comprehensive picture of the biology underlying changes in HCV RNA during therapy. (HEPATOLOGY 2005;42:749–754.)
Can object detectors aid internet video event retrieval?

The problem of event representation for automatic event detection in Internet videos is acquiring an increasing importance, due to their applicability to a large number of applications. Existing methods focus on representing events in terms of either low-level descriptors or domain-specific models suited for a limited class of video only, ignoring the high-level meaning of the events. Ultimately aiming for a more robust and meaningful representation, in this paper we question whether object detectors can aid video event retrieval. We propose an experimental study that investigates the utility of present-day local and global object detectors for video event search. By evaluating object detectors optimized for high-quality photographs on low-quality Internet video, we establish that present-day detectors can successfully be used for recognizing objects in web videos. We use an object-based representation to re-rank the results of an appearance-based event detector. Results on the challenging TRECVID multimedia event detection corpus demonstrate that objects can indeed aid event retrieval. While much remains to be studied, we believe that our experimental study is a first step towards revealing the potential of object-based event representations.
Sound on Sound

Sociologists have yet to theorize interactions with sonic materiality. In this article I introduce an analytical concept for the observation of interactions with sound. Sound has material effects in all situations. But the audibility of sonic objects is a relation of situated actors to material arrangements. Sonic object settings are dynamic material arrangements in which sonic qualities emerge for interpretation. The concept synthesizes research on sonic materiality, audibility, and interaction. After outlining the concept, I present an empirical illustration from an audio firm’s R&D laboratory arranged to support a new technology called object-based audio. I observed engineers conducting two concurrent but contrasting experiments; results indicate how settings both enable and constrain the interpretation of sound.