Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Attenuation of Corpus Callosum Axon Myelination and Remyelination in the Absence of Circulating Sex Hormones

Sex differences in the structure and organization of the corpus callosum (CC) can be attributed to genetic, hormonal or environmental effects, or a combination of these factors. To address the role of gonadal hormones on axon myelination, functional axon conduction and immunohistochemistry analysis of the CC in intact, gonadectomized and hormone‐replaced gonadectomized animals were used. These groups were subjected to cuprizone diet‐induced demyelination followed by remyelination. The myelinated component of callosal compound action potential was significantly decreased in ovariectomized and castrated animals under normal myelinating condition. Compared to gonadally intact cohorts, both gonadectomized groups displayed more severe demyelination and inhibited remyelination. Castration in males was more deleterious than ovariectomy in females. Callosal conduction in estradiol‐supplemented ovariectomized females was significantly increased during normal myelination, less attenuated during demyelination, and increased beyond placebo‐treated ovariectomized or intact female levels during remyelination. In castrated males, the non‐aromatizing steroid dihydrotestosterone was less efficient than testosterone and estradiol in restoring normal myelination/axon conduction and remyelination to levels of intact males. Furthermore, in both sexes, estradiol supplementation in gonadectomized groups increased the number of oligodendrocytes. These studies suggest an essential role of estradiol to promote efficient CC myelination and axon conduction in both sexes.
Construction d'arbres de décision par optimisation

L'apprentissage par arbres se prete mal au traitement des tres grandes bases de donnees dans la mesure ou il necessite a chaque noeud de scanner a nouveau l'ensemble de la base. Dans cet article, nous proposons de limiter l'espace de recherche des arbres a celui des arbres par niveau ou les difflerents noeuds de chaque niveau sont segmentes par la meme variable. Une telle simplification permet de transformer le probleme d'apprentissage en un probleme d'optimisation qui autorise une strategie gloutonne ne necessitant qu'une seule passe sur les donnees. Dans le cas de donnees booleennes, le critere d'optimisation retenu est celui de la maximisation du coefficient de determination R 2 , alors que dans le cas de donnees categorielles multivaluees, on se ramene au cas booleen sans alterer la complexite de l'algorithme en raisonnant dans l'espace des paires d'individus decrites par les indicatrices de co-etiquetage. Notre strategie d'optimisation penalise la profondeur de l'arbre par le recours a la correction du R 2 . Les experimentations ont montre que la precision en generalisation des arbres par niveau n'est pas deterioree par rapport aux arbres usuels.
Medial Knee Injury: Part 1, Static Function of the Individual Components of the Main Medial Knee Structures

Background There is a lack of knowledge on the primary and secondary static stabilizing functions of the posterior oblique ligament (POL), the proximal and distal divisions of the superficial medial collateral ligament (sMCL), and the meniscofemoral and meniscotibial portions of the deep medial collateral ligament (MCL). Hypothesis Identification of the primary and secondary stabilizing functions of the individual components of the main medial knee structures will provide increased knowledge of the medial knee ligamentous stability. Study Design Descriptive laboratory study. Methods Twenty-four cadaveric knees were equally divided into 3 groups with unique sequential sectioning sequences of the POL, sMCL (proximal and distal divisions), and deep MCL (meniscofemoral and meniscotibial portions). A 6 degree of freedom electromagnetic tracking system monitored motion after application of valgus loads (10 N·m) and internal and external rotation torques (5 N·m) at 0°, 20°, 30°, 60°, and 90° of knee flexion. Results The primary valgus stabilizer was the proximal division of the sMCL. The primary external rotation stabilizer was the distal division of the sMCL at 30° of knee flexion. The primary internal rotation stabilizers were the POL and the distal division of the sMCL at all tested knee flexion angles, the meniscofemoral portion of the deep MCL at 20°, 60°, and 90° of knee flexion, and the meniscotibial portion of the deep MCL at 0° and 30° of knee flexion. Conclusion An intricate relationship exists among the main medial knee structures and their individual components for static function to applied loads. Clinical Significance: Interpretation of clinical knee motion testing following medial knee injuries will improve with the information in this study. Significant increases in external rotation at 30° of knee flexion were found with all medial knee structures sectioned, which indicates that a positive dial test may be found not only for posterolateral knee injuries but also for medial knee injuries.
Client Deadline Concentration in Audit Offices and Audit Quality

This research investigates the effect on audit quality of concentrated public company financial statement filing deadlines in audit offices. Audit offices must effectively manage their resources to meet clients' audit service requirements. When an audit office has deadlines that are more concentrated in time, effective resource management is of greater importance to reduce the likelihood of audit failure. Drawing on relevant research from the auditing and management literatures, we hypothesize and find that audit quality is lower when an audit office's clients' financial statement deadlines concentrate in time, which we term client deadline concentration. The significant, negative effect of client deadline concentration on audit quality is incremental to the effects of other resource-based constraints from the prior literature and to controls for unobservable differences in audit offices that explain a significant amount of the variation in audit quality outcomes. JEL Classifications: M40; M41; M42; M48. Data Availability: Data are available from public sources identified in the text.
Computer vision in the space of light rays: plenoptic videogeometry and polydioptric camera design

Most of the cameras used in computer vision, computer graphics, and image processing applications are designed to capture images that are similar to the images we see with our eyes. This enables an easy interpretation of the visual information by a human observer. Nowadays though, more and more processing of visual information is done by computers. Thus, it is worth questioning if these human inspired “eyes” are the optimal choice for processing visual information using a machine. In this thesis I will describe how one can study problems in computer vision without reference to a specific camera model by studying the geometry and statistics of the space of light rays that surrounds us. The study of the geometry will allow us to deter mine all the possible constraints that exist in the visual input and could be utilized if we had a perfect sensor. Since no perfect sensor exists we use signal processing techniques to examine how well the constraints between different sets of light rays can be exploited given a specific camera model. A camera is modeled as a spatio-temporal filter in the space of light rays which lets us express the image formation process in a function approximation framework. This framework then allows us to relate the geometry of the imaging camera to the performance of the vision system with regard to the given task. In this thesis I apply this framework to problem of camera motion estimation. I show how by choosing the right camera design we can solve for the camera motion using linear, scene-independent constraints that allow for robust solutions. This is compared to motion estimation using conventional cameras. In addition we show how we can extract spatio-temporal models from multiple video sequences using multi-resolution subdivision surfaces.
Differential privacy‐guaranteed trajectory community identification over vehicle ad‐hoc networks

In vehicle ad‐hoc networks (VANETs), a large number of location‐based services can be provided for users according to their movement features. Meanwhile, privacy may be leaked when users publish true trajectory data to VANETs servers. Traditional privacy‐preserving methods have some limitations, for example, k‐anonymous have to predefine the adversaries' background knowledge. Therefore, this paper proposes a new algorithm to partition and cluster trajectories into a proper community with respect to the particularity of VANETs based on differential privacy. The experimental results show that our method outperforms the suppression algorithm and partition algorithm in perspective from information loss and operation efficiency.
Differential investment and costs during avian incubation determined by individual quality: an experimental study of the common eider (Somateria mollissima)

Individuals of different quality may have different investment strategies, shaping responses to experimental manipulations, thereby rendering the detection of such patterns difficult. However, previous clutch–size manipulation studies have infrequently incorporated individual differences in quality. To examine costs of incubation and reproductive investment in relation to changes in clutch size, we enlarged and reduced natural clutch sizes of four and five eggs by one egg early in the incubation period in female common eiders (Somateria mollissima), a sea duck with an anorectic incubation period. Females that had produced four eggs (lower quality) responded to clutch reductions by deserting the nest more frequently but did not increase incubation effort in response to clutch enlargement, at the cost of reduced hatch success of eggs. Among birds with an original clutch size of five (higher quality), reducing and enlarging clutch size reduced and increased relative body mass loss respectively without affecting hatch success. In common eiders many females abandon their own ducklings to the care of other females. Enlarging five–egg clutches led to increased brood care rate despite the higher effort spent incubating these clutches, indicating that the higher fitness value of a large brood is increasing adult brood investment. This study shows that the ability to respond to clutch–size manipulations depends on original clutch size, reflecting differences in female quality. Females of low quality were reluctant to increase investment at the cost of lower hatch success, whereas females of higher quality apparently have a larger capacity both to increase incubation effort and brood care investment.
Statistical analysis and characterization of low voltage power line noise for telecommunication applications

The power line network presents a readily available medium that can be utilized for the delivery of both low and high data rate communication services. This ready available infrastructure implies that the cost of network set up is very low compared to other technologies, like fiber optics. However, the power line channel is very noisy and presents a hostile environment for communication purposes. But, given the expansive and extensive coverage of the power line network; it presents the most ubiquitous medium, and therefore there is need for a thorough understanding of the channel characteristics, one of the most important being noise. In this paper, we present both parametric and nonparametric models of the noise encountered in an indoor power line network. The models are derived both parametrically and non-parametrically from noise measurements carried out in both frequency and time domains.
INFRASTRUCTURE UPGRADING AND BUDGETING SPILLOVERS: MEXICO’S HÁBITAT EXPERIMENT

Author(s): McIntosh, Craig; Alegria, Tito; Ordonez, Gerardo; Zenteno, Rene | Abstract: This paper reports on the results of a large infrastructure investment experiment in which $68 million in spending was randomly allocated across a set of low-income urban neighborhoods in Mexico. We show that the program resulted in meaningful improvements in the access of the average household to numerous forms of infrastructure, such as electric lighting, street lights, sidewalks, medians, and road paving. We exploit the study’s randomized saturation design to understand how spillovers at the municipal level might work to undermine causal inference when multiple levels of government provide forms of investments that are close substitutes. Our results suggest that the strategic response of municipal governments to federal spending is muted. The program increased the aggregate real estate value in program neighborhoods by two dollars for every dollar invested.
Fluorescent Recovery after Photobleaching (FRAP) Analysis of Nuclear Export Rates Identifies Intrinsic Features of Nucleocytoplasmic Transport*

Background: A dedicated cell machinery oversees energy-dependent nucleocytoplasmic translocation of most proteins. Results: The Fluorescent Recovery after Photobleaching technique reveals high similarity between export and import fluxes, which are nonetheless uncoupled. Conclusion: Our results suggest differential gating properties at individual nuclear pore level. Significance: Our findings can help clarify the mechanism governing energy-dependent translocation through nuclear pores. A quantitative description of carrier-mediated nuclear export in live cells is presented. To this end, we fused a prototypical leucine-rich nuclear export signal (NES) to GFP as a cargo model and expressed the fluorescent chimera in live CHO-K1 cells. By modeling FRAP data, we calculate the NES affinity for the export machinery and the maximum rate of nuclear export achievable at saturation of endogenous carriers. The measured active-export time through the Nuclear Pore Complex (NPC) is 18 ms, remarkably similar to the previously determined active-import rate. Also, our results reveal that active export/import and active export/passive diffusion fluxes are uncoupled, thus complementing previous reports on active import/passive diffusion uncoupling. These findings suggest differential gating at the NPC level.
Macro-scale water scarcity requires micro-scale approaches. Aspects of vulnerability in semi-arid development.

4 types of water scarcity exist. Aridity and intermittent droughts consist of the natural types while land desiccation and water stress are man-made types. Climatic aridity, intermittent droughts, land degradation, and population growth link to create growing critical water scarcity conditions. Specifically, in arid lands where only a limited growing season exists anyhow, increased and nonsustaining activities spurred on by population growth degrade soils resulting in interference with water recharge of the root zone. This combination precipitates intermittent droughts upsetting the water supply for plants and people. This occurs now in Africa to the degree that by 2025, 66% of people will experience severe water shortages. Policymakers in developing countries and bilateral and multilateral development agencies providing technical assistance need to understand these relationships. They must develop a new strategy which includes water resource assessments followed by upgraded water plans for optimal use of available water resources and by the creation of best land use criteria. Their challenge is to balance the acute needs of people with conserving the productivity of the resource base. Experience shows that maximizing agricultural production per unit of water instead of per unit of land can increase income and employment. For example, in India, a semiarid area produced, with a given amount of water, as much as 30 times the amount of crops if the crops had a low water demand (e.g., grapes and potatoes) rather than those with a high water demand (e.g., sugarcane). This microscale approach and other such approaches could help semiarid Africa. Yet decision makers must seriously consider the transferability of these approaches to the African cultural and geographical environment. More essential than that, however, is the very high levels of water stress caused by the rapid population growth in famine-prone African countries.
Institutional Architecture for Financing Pan-Asian Infrastructure Connectivity

Asia, particularly its major economies has witnessed slower growth in recent years. To make Asia more economically sustainable and resilient against external shocks to recover from the falling growth, most regional economies need to rebalance their export-oriented (mostly to advanced economies) production and growth towards Asian markets and regional demand, and trade-driven growth through increased intraregional infrastructure connectivity and regional economic integration. In 1992, a pan-Asian transport connectivity was initiated through, Asian Highway Network and Trans-Asian Railways Network. In 2015, an ambitious pan-Asian connectivity initiative, namely “One Belt, One Road” (ancient silk road) initiative has been proposed. This initiative plans to create an economic zone covering Asia, Europe and Africa. To successfully promote and finance greater physical connectivity, at the pan-Asian, sub-regional and national levels, Asia will require a strong and appropriate institutional framework for effective coordination, cooperation and collaboration among national, subregional, and region-wide institutions as well as other stakeholders. This paper discusses the prospects and challenges facing Asian connectivity as well as infrastructure financing needs in Asia. It also examines the nature and characteristics of existing and new institutions and the emerging role of regional and international institutions for enhancing Asian connectivity. Lastly, it proposes an institutional architecture consisting of new “Asian Infrastructure Coordination Facility (AICF)” involving major stakeholders for building a seamless pan-Asian connectivity through bilateral, regional and international cooperation, partnership and collaboration in infrastructure development.
Akt-dependent phosphorylation of endothelial nitric-oxide synthase mediates penile erection

In the penis, nitric oxide (NO) can be formed by both neuronal NO synthase and endothelial NOS (eNOS). eNOS is activated by viscous drag/shear stress in blood vessels to produce NO continuously, a process mediated by the phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3kinase)/Akt pathway. Here we show that PI3-kinase/Akt physiologically mediates erection. Both electrical stimulation of the cavernous nerve and direct intracavernosal injection of the vasorelaxant drug papaverine cause rapid increases in phosphorylated (activated) Akt and eNOS. Phosphorylation is diminished by wortmannin and LY294002, inhibitors of PI3-kinase, the upstream activator of Akt. The two drugs also reduce erection. Penile erection elicited by papaverine is reduced profoundly in mice with targeted deletion of eNOS. Our findings support a model in which rapid, brief activation of neuronal NOS initiates the erectile process, whereas PI3-kinase/Akt-dependent phosphorylation and activation of eNOS leads to sustained NO production and maximal erection.
What effect does breastfeeding have on coeliac disease? A systematic review update

Objective To update the evidence published in a previous systematic review and meta-analysis that compared the effect of breastfeeding on risk of coeliac disease (CD). Material and methods A systematic review of observational studies published between 1966 and May 2004 on the subject was conducted in 2005. This update is a systematic review of observational studies published between June 2004 and April 2011. Pubmed, EMBASE and Cinahl were searched for published studies that examined the association between breastfeeding and CD. Results After duplicates were removed 90 citations were screened. Four observational studies were included in the review. Two of three studies which had examined the duration of breastfeeding and CD reported significant associations between longer duration of breastfeeding and later onset of CD (OR ranged from 0.18 to 0.665). Breastfeeding during the introduction of gluten to the infant was reported to have a protective effect in two studies. Conclusions Our findings support previous published findings that breastfeeding seems to offer a protection against the development of CD in predisposed infants. Breastfeeding at time of gluten introduction is the most significant variable in reducing the risk. Timing of gluten introduction may also be a factor in the development of CD.
Registration of facial images with out of plane rotation for surveillance application

Within last 10 years, much amount of research is dedicated to the field of neural sciences, image processing and computer vision regarding the significant issues related to face recognition techniques in machine learning algorithms. From many different theories and explanations for face recognition, which predominantly show that the survey and standardizing of these algorithms is itself a difficult task. The aim of this research is to recognize the out of plane non-frontal faces. In this paper, we used the PCA Eigen-face method for the face recognition with the help of Scale Invariant Features Transform procedure over the corner points to transform pose variant faces into virtual frontal faces.
Identification of the amino acid region involved in the intercellular interaction between the β1 subunits of Na+/K+-ATPase

Epithelial junctions depend on intercellular interactions between β1 subunits of the Na+/K+-ATPase molecules of neighboring cells. The interaction between dog and rat subunits is less effective than the interaction between two dog β1 subunits, indicating the importance of species-specific regions for β1–β1 binding. To identify these regions, the species-specific amino acid residues were mapped on a high-resolution structure of the Na+/K+-ATPase β1 subunit to select those exposed towards the β1 subunit of the neighboring cell. These exposed residues were mutated in both dog and rat YFP-linked β1 subunits (YFP–β1) and also in the secreted extracellular domain of the dog β1 subunit. Five rat-like mutations in the amino acid region spanning residues 198–207 of the dog YFP–β1 expressed in Madin–Darby canine kidney (MDCK) cells decreased co-precipitation of the endogenous dog β1 subunit with YFP–β1 to the level observed between dog β1 and rat YFP–β1. In parallel, these mutations impaired the recognition of YFP–β1 by the dog-specific antibody that inhibits cell adhesion between MDCK cells. Accordingly, dog-like mutations in rat YFP–β1 increased both the (YFP–β1)–β1 interaction in MDCK cells and recognition by the antibody. Conversely, rat-like mutations in the secreted extracellular domain of the dog β1 subunit increased its interaction with rat YFP–β1 in vitro. In addition, these mutations resulted in a reduction of intercellular adhesion between rat lung epithelial cells following addition of the secreted extracellular domain of the dog β1 subunit to a cell suspension. Therefore, the amino acid region 198–207 is crucial for both trans-dimerization of the Na+/K+-ATPase β1 subunits and cell–cell adhesion.