Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Dual Regulatory Roles of Phosphatidylinositol 3-Kinase in IFN Signaling1

PI3K is activated by the type I and II IFN receptors, but its precise role in the generation of IFN responses is not well understood. In the present study we used embryonic fibroblasts from mice with targeted disruption of the genes encoding for both the p85α and p85β regulatory subunits of PI3′-kinase (p85α−/−β−/−) to precisely define the role of PI3K in the control of IFN-induced biological responses. Our data demonstrate that PI3K plays dual regulatory roles in the induction of IFN responses by controlling both IFN-α- and IFN-γ-dependent transcriptional regulation of IFN-sensitive genes and simultaneously regulating the subsequent initiation of mRNA translation for such genes. These processes include the Isg15, Cxcl10, and/or Irf7 genes, whose functions are important in the generation of the biological effects of IFNs. Consistent with this, the induction of IFN antiviral responses is defective in double p85α/p85β knockout cells. Thus, integration of signals via PI3K is a critical event during engagement of the IFN receptors that complements both the transcriptional activity of Jak-STAT pathways and controls initiation of mRNA translation.
Second harmonic imaging using synthetic aperture sequential beamforming

The paper investigates Second Harmonic Imaging (SHI) using Synthetic Aperture Sequential Beamforming (SASB). The investigation is made by an experimental Synthetic Aperture Real-time Ultrasound System (SARUS). A linear array transducer is used to scan 4 wires at the image depths of {22.5, 47.5, 72.5, 97.5} mm, respectively. Three different experiments are made using three different transmit foci at 10 mm, 25 mm and 50 mm. A 2-cycle sine wave with a center frequency of 5 MHz is used as the excitation. The SHI is achieved by using Pulse Inversion (PI) technique. The data received with and without PI from SARUS are beamformed using Dynamic Receive Focusing (DRF) and SASB by a Beamformation Toolbox. The Full Widths at Half Maximum (FWHM) in both the lateral and axial directions for these four wire targets using different imaging algorithms (DRF, DRF+SHI, SASB and SASB+SHI) are calculated and shown in the paper. The Full Width at One Tenth Maximum (FWOTM) is also investigated. By combining SASB and SHI, the lateral resolution is improved by 66%, 35% and 46% for FWHM, and 52%, 20% and 29% for FWOTM, compared to DRF, DRF+SHI and SASB, respectively. The axial resolution is improved 24% on average by SHI.
Parallel k-Core Decomposition on Multicore Platforms

k-core decomposition is a social network analytic that can be applied to centrality analysis, visualization, and community detection. There is a simple and well-known linear time sequential algorithm to perform k-core decomposition, and for this reason, k-core decomposition is widely used as a network analytic. In this work, we present a new shared-memory parallel algorithm called PKC for k-core decomposition on multicore platforms. This approach improves on the state-of-the-art implementations for k-core decomposition algorithms by reducing synchronization overhead and creating a smaller graph to process high-degree vertices. We show that PKC consistently outperforms implementations of other methods on a 32-core multicore server and on a collection of large sparse graphs. We achieve a 2.81× speedup (geometric mean of speedups for 17 large graphs) over our implementation of the ParK k-core decomposition algorithm.
Special Issue on Machine Learning in Design

The linking of research in machine learning with research in knowledge-based design is such that each of the two areas benefit from the consideration of the other. The use of machine learning in design addresses the perceived need to support the capture and representation of design knowledge, because handcrafting a representation is a difficult and time-consuming task. In addition, design provides a task with which to investigate the usefulness of existing machine learning techniques, and, perhaps, to discover new ones. Knowledge-based design systems are typically encoded as compiled experience, in the form of generalized rules and/or objects. Machine learning research provides a set of theories and methods for learning from a variety of sources, such as from uncompiled experience in the form of examples of previous problems. Thus, the design knowledge need not be completely handcrafted. The knowledge learned can be used to solve problems faster, or better, or to solve problems that could not be solved before. From the perspective of design, knowledge-based design systems provide support for a wide range of activities broadly decomposed into two tasks, synthesis and evaluation/criticism. Synthesis systems are concerned with producing a design solution or solutions from a set of specifications. Evaluation systems are concerned with determining performance or critiquing a given design. The form of knowledge needed for a synthesis system differs from that needed for an evaluation system, although both types of knowledge can be induced from design experience. The role of machine learning, and the methods which are appropriate, varies according to the type of knowledge being learned.
Coupling shRNA screens with single-cell RNA-seq identifies a dual role for mTOR in reprogramming-induced senescence

Aarts et al. developed an innovative approach that integrates single-cell RNA sequencing with a shRNA screen in primary human fibroblasts expressing OCT4, SOX2, KLF4, and cMYC to investigate the mechanism of action of the identified candidates. This approach unveiled regulation of senescence as a novel way by which mechanistic target of rapamycin (mTOR) influences reprogramming.
Dynamic Copulas and Long Range Dependence

This paper extends the evolution equation of Patton (2006) for the time variation of the copula parameters by specifying an autoregressive fractionally integrated term. For any copula parameter there is a suitable one-to-one transformation so that the maximum likelihood estimation method may be employed. It is suggested an exploratory tool based on the copula data crossproducts for detecting the presence of long range dependence on the copula level of real data. We simulate from copula models possessing long range dependence and work out two examples using real data. Modeling long range dependence on the level of dynamic copulas has the potential for providing improved forecasts and are useful for financial and economic applications.
Strategic Macro-Environmental Factor Analysis for Entry into the Fish Vaccines Market in India

Globally, the aquaculture segment continues to be the fastest growing food-fish producing segment and for India,the second largest food-fish producing country, it was forecasted that the segment would grow at an averageannual growth rate of approximately 7.0% to reach a total production target of 8-10 million tons by 2020.Currently no commercial fish vaccines are available in India; therefore, the macro-environmental factors withrespect to the competitive, political, economic, socio-cultural, technological, and legal landscapes, whichinfluence a potential entrant’s strategic business decisions to set up a fish vaccines company, are evaluated. Theresults indicate that although the macro-environmental factors in India are improving there are still somebureaucratic hurdles to be overcome by an entrant to assure success.
Temperature jump induced force generation in rabbit muscle fibres gets faster with shortening and shows a biphasic dependence on velocity

We examined the tension responses to ramp shortening and rapid temperature jump (<0.2 ms, 3–4°C T‐jump) in maximally Ca2+‐activated rabbit psoas muscle fibres at 8–9°C (the fibre length (L0) was ∼1.5 mm and sarcomere length 2.5 μm). The aim was to investigate the strain sensitivity of crossbridge force generation in muscle. The T‐jump induced tension rise was examined during steady shortening over a wide range of velocities (V) approaching the Vmax (V range ∼0.01 to ∼1.5 L0 s−1). In the isometric state, a T‐jump induced a biphasic tension rise consisting of a fast (∼50 s−1, phase 2b) and a slow (∼10 s−1, phase 3) component, but if treated as monophasic the rate was ∼20 s−1. During steady shortening the T‐jump tension rise was monophasic; the rate of tension rise increased linearly with shortening velocity, and near Vmax it was ∼200 s−1, ∼10× faster than in the isometric state. Relative to the tension reached after the T‐jump, the amplitude increased with shortening velocity, and near Vmax it was ∼4× larger than in the isometric state. Thus, the temperature sensitivity of muscle force is markedly increased with velocity during steady shortening, as found in steady state experiments. The rate of tension decline during ramp shortening also increased markedly with increase of velocity. The absolute amplitude of T‐jump tension rise was larger than that in the isometric state at the low velocities (<0.5 L0 s−1) but decreased to below that of the isometric state at the higher velocities. Such a biphasic velocity dependence of the absolute amplitude of T‐jump tension rise implies interplay between, at least, two processes that have opposing effects on the tension output as the shortening velocity is increased, probably enhancement of crossbridge force generation and faster (post‐stroke) crossbridge detachment by negative strain. Overall, our results show that T‐jump force generation is strain sensitive and becomes considerably faster when exposed to negative strain. Thus the crossbridge force generation step in muscle is both temperature sensitive (endothermic) and strain sensitive.
The Estimation Of Poverty Dynamics Using Different Measurements Of Household Income

If surveys offer two different measurements of household income, one can use them simultaneously to identify the potential effects of measurement error on the observed-income mobility of the poor. In this paper we investigate transition tables between subsequent income states. Latent Markov models are used to model incorrect classifications of income states. Misclassifications are interpreted as measurement error or spurious changes that are not consistent with a simple transition table model. The empirical results for the German Socio-Economic Panel (GSOEP) show that the observed transition tables overestimate the mobility between poverty states.
Crystal Structure of a Type III Pantothenate Kinase: Insight into the Mechanism of an Essential Coenzyme A Biosynthetic Enzyme Universally Distributed in Bacteria

ABSTRACT Pantothenate kinase (PanK) catalyzes the first step in the five-step universal pathway of coenzyme A (CoA) biosynthesis, a key transformation that generally also regulates the intracellular concentration of CoA through feedback inhibition. A novel PanK protein encoded by the gene coaX was recently identified that is distinct from the previously characterized type I PanK (exemplified by the Escherichia coli coaA-encoded PanK protein) and type II eukaryotic PanKs and is not inhibited by CoA or its thioesters. This type III PanK, or PanK-III, is widely distributed in the bacterial kingdom and accounts for the only known PanK in many pathogenic species, such as Helicobacter pylori, Bordetella pertussis, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Here we report the first crystal structure of a type III PanK, the enzyme from Thermotoga maritima (PanKTm), solved at 2.0-Å resolution. The structure of PanKTm reveals that type III PanKs belong to the acetate and sugar kinase/heat shock protein 70/actin (ASKHA) protein superfamily and that they retain the highly conserved active site motifs common to all members of this superfamily. Comparative structural analysis of the PanKTm active site configuration and mutagenesis of three highly conserved active site aspartates identify these residues as critical for PanK-III catalysis. Furthermore, the analysis also provides an explanation for the lack of CoA feedback inhibition by the enzyme. Since PanK-III adopts a different structural fold from that of the E. coli PanK—which is a member of the “P-loop kinase”superfamily—this finding represents yet another example of convergent evolution of the same biological function from a different protein ancestor.
Residential Energy Demand: A Case Study of Pakistan

A model for household demand for energy in Pakistan is developed on the basis of stock of fuel‐consuming appliances and their rate of utilisation. Income and price elasticities of fuels are estimated by the OLS and GLS methods. These elasticities are found statistically significant and consistent with a priori knowledge of economic theory. Several policy implications are pointed out and suggestions are made for improvement in future estimation.
Asset Pricing and Cost of Equity in the Tunisian Banking Sector: Panel Data Evidence

In spite of popularity and theoretical simplicity of the one-factor Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM) used in the valuation of financial assets, researchers are more concerned with the important extension proposed by Fama and French (1993), that is, the Three-Factor Pricing Model (TFPM). Alongside beta, average stock returns could be explained by some size and book-to-market supplementary effects. With these two complementary models, estimation of the cost of equity is carried out for the Tunisian banking sector. In order to account for inter-individual heterogeneity, estimation of parameters is conducted according to random coefficient specifications within the context of panel data analysis.
Models of Stock Returns—A Comparison

In this paper a discrete mixture of normal distributions is proposed to explain the observed significant kurtosis (fat tails) and significant positive skewness in the distribution of daily rates of returns for a sample of common stocks and indexes. Stationarity tests on the parameter estimates of this discrete mixture of normal distributions model revealed significant differences in the mean estimates that can explain the observed skewness and significant differences in the variance estimates that can explain the observed kurtosis. An alternative explanation for the observed fat tails is the symmetric student model. The result of a comparison between the models is that the discrete mixture of normal distributions model has substantially more descriptive validity than the student model. FOR MANY YEARS both financial economists and statisticians have been concerned with the description of stock market returns. The form of the distribution of stock returns is a crucial assumption for mean-variance portfolio theory, theoretical models of capital asset prices, and the prices of contingent claims. For example, understanding the behavior of the variance is essential to option pricing models. Empirical tests of asset pricing models and the efficient markets hypothesis draw statistical inferences that are also conditional on distributional assumptions. The most convenient assumption for financial theory and empirical methods is that the distribution of security rates of return be multivariate normal with parameters that are stationary over time. Since the normal distribution is stable under addition, any arbitrary portfolio of stocks will also be normally distributed. With the additional assumption of risk aversion, mean-variance theory follows. Furthermore, the assumptions of normality and parameter stationarity are required for most of the econometric techniques typically used in empirical research. Tests of the normality hypothesis on the daily returns of the Dow Jones Industrial stocks by Fama [121 revealed more kurtosis (fatter tails) than that predicted from a sample of independent and identically distributed normal variates. Fama concluded from this evidence that the distribution of price changes conforms better to the stable Paretian distribution with characteristic exponent
A Global Geometric Framework for Nonlinear Dimensionality Reduction

29, 31, and 45; right 17, 35, and 37). 17. Although the improvement in WM performance with cholinergic enhancement was a nonsignificant trend in the current study (P 5 0.07), in a previous study (9) with a larger sample (n 5 13) the effect was highly significant (P , 0.001). In the current study, we analyzed RT data for six of our seven subjects because the behavioral data for one subject were unavailable due to a computer failure. The difference in the significance of the two findings is simply a result of the difference in sample sizes. A power analysis shows that the size of the RT difference and variability in the current sample would yield a significant result (P 5 0.01) with a sample size of 13. During the memory trials, mean RT was 1180 ms during placebo and 1119 ms during physostigmine. During the control trials, mean RT was 735 ms during placebo and 709 ms during physostigmine, a difference that did not approach significance (P 5 0.24), suggesting that the effect of cholinergic enhancement on WM performance is not due to a nonspecific increase in arousal. 18. Matched-pair t tests (two-tailed) were used to test the significance of drug-related changes in the volume of regions of interest that showed significant response contrasts. 19. H. Sato, Y. Hata, H. Masui, T. Tsumoto, J. Neurophysiol. 55, 765 (1987). 20. M. E. Hasselmo, Behav. Brain Res. 67, 1 (1995). 21. M. G. Baxter, A. A. Chiba, Curr. Opin. Neurobiol. 9, 178 (1999). 22. B. J. Everitt, T. W. Robbins, Annu. Rev. Psychol. 48, 649 (1997). 23. R. Desimone, J. Duncan, Annu. Rev. Neurosci. 18, 193 (1995). 24. P. C. Murphy, A. M. Sillito, Neuroscience 40, 13 (1991). 25. M. Corbetta, F. M. Miezin, S. Dobmeyer, G. L. Shulman, S. E. Peterson, J. Neurosci. 11, 2383 (1991). 26. J. V. Haxby et al., J. Neurosci. 14, 6336 (1994). 27. A. Rosier, L. Cornette, G. A. Orban, Neuropsychobiology 37, 98 (1998). 28. M. E. Hasselmo, B. P. Wyble, G. V. Wallenstein, Hippocampus 6, 693 (1996). 29. S. P. Mewaldt, M. M. Ghoneim, Pharmacol. Biochem. Behav. 10, 1205 (1979). 30. M. Petrides, Philos. Trans. R. Soc. London Ser. B 351, 1455 (1996). 31. M. E. Hasselmo, E. Fransen, C. Dickson, A. A. Alonso, Ann. N.Y. Acad. Sci. 911, 418 (2000). 32. M. M. Mesulam, Prog. Brain Res. 109, 285 (1996). 33. R. T. Bartus, R. L. Dean III, B. Beer, A. S. Lippa, Science 217, 408 (1985). 34. N. Qizilbash et al., JAMA 280, 1777 (1998). 35. J. V. Haxby, J. Ma. Maisog, S. M. Courtney, in Mapping and Modeling the Human Brain, P. Fox, J. Lancaster, K. Friston, Eds. ( Wiley, New York, in press). 36. We express our appreciation to S. Courtney, R. Desimone, Y. Jiang, S. Kastner, L. Latour, A. Martin, L. Pessoa, and L. Ungerleider for careful and critical review of the manuscript. We also thank M. B. Schapiro and S. I. Rapoport for input during early stages of this project. This research was supported by the National Institute on Mental Health and National Institute on Aging Intramural Research Programs.
Institutional Dynamism in EU Policy‐Making: The Evolution of the EU Maritime Safety Policy

Abstract This article analyses the emergence of the EU maritime safety policy in the context of neoinstitutional perspectives. The focus is on the interactions between private interests, national governments and supranational institutions through the transformation of this issue–area from a least promising candidate for policy Europeanisation to one of the four pillars of the collective European maritime strategy. The study concludes that, within a context of unprecedented economic internationalisation, the dynamisms of the norms, rules and political institutions of the EU have a critical role to play in persuading key political actors to endorse the expansion of the European policy dimension. Taking advantage of the inefficiencies of pre–existing policies, the EU political institutions, principally the Commission, and their ideas have advanced policy initiatives and shaped policy details. The content, timing, and momentum of these institutions’ actions, the path opened by distinctive EU developments and the norms of the decision–making process have contributed in taking on board national governments and locked–in private actors of different economic importance that had longed argued against regional solutions of maritime safety problems.
Medical Research Council's Treatment Trial for mild hypertension: an interim report.

The pilot phase of the British multicentre randomized controlled trial of treatment for mild hypertension has shown: (1) that unselected subjects, aged 35-64 years, with mild hypertension are willing to enter and remain in a long-term trial even though asymptomatic; (2) that the differences of mean systolic and mean diastolic pressure achieved between treated and control subjects is sufficient to produce the expected difference in terminating events with the 18000 patients calculated as needed for the full-scale trial; (3) that side effects with the two selected active primary regimens (bendrofluazide and propranolol) are common but mild (no serious side effects or toxic reactions have been reported); (4) that the work load imposed by the trial, though considerable during screening and the initiation of patients into the trial, can largely be taken by specially trained nursing staff, and when screening is completed the trial does not impose a heavy burden of follow-up examinations; (5) that there are no adverse psychological effects caused by alerting asymptomatic people to their raised pressure and enrolling them into a prolonged programme of clinical attendance; (6) that the total costs of carrying out a full-scale trial--estimated at about lb.2m ($U.S. 4m)--are commensurate with the potential annual savings in health service expenditure whether the trial shows treatment to be effective or unwarranted.
Policy networks, networks and European Union policy making: A sceptical view

The policy network approach and the networks model are the most recent conceptual frameworks to be applied to the policy‐making processes of the European Union and are regarded by many as the most appropriate. This article, while acknowledging their appeal, puts forward a sceptical view about the usefulness of their application to the EU. Three contentions are advanced about these approaches: first, that the fluidity of EU processes eludes their capture; second, that they are insufficiently sensitive to the EU's institutional complexity and fail to recognise the importance of EU institutions; and third, that they underestimate the difficulty of delineating networks involving the EU.1
Study on the board-level drop test of WLCSP with RDL by finite element analysis

The dropping test of WLCSP with RDL on board-level was investigated by numerical method in this study. The asymmetric pattern of WLCSP devices mounted on the PCB board was considered. Using the finite element analysis, the stress and energy in the WLCSP with RDL was predicted under the dropping test conditions. The critical locations of WLCSP device on the PCB in the dropping test were identified by effective models, which simplified the detail structures, e.g. thin layers. Thereby, the fine models with RDL etc. in the critical locations were built in ANSYS and analyzed under mechanical shock loading of 2000G in 0.5ms. The stress in the RDL under the critical solder joints were compared when the device was in different locations and the effect of RDL was illustrated. On the basis of the above analysis, the suggestions for improving the reliability of WLCSP with RDL were proposed.
On the k-Lucas Numbers

From a special sequence of squares of k-Fibonacci numbers, the kLucas sequences are obtained in a natural form. Then, we will study the properties of the k-Lucas numbers and will prove these properties will be related with the k-Fibonaci numbers. In this paper we examine some of the interesting properties of the k-Lucas numbers themselves as well as looking at its close relationship with the k-Fibonacci numbers. The k-Lucas numbers have lots of properties, similar to those of k-Fibonacci numbers and often occur in various formulae simultaneously with latter. Mathematics Subject Classification: 11B39, 11B83