Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Intracellular Ca2+ and the phospholipid PIP2 regulate the taste transduction ion channel TRPM5

The transduction of taste is a fundamental process that allows animals to discriminate nutritious from noxious substances. Three taste modalities, bitter, sweet, and amino acid, are mediated by G protein-coupled receptors that signal through a common transduction cascade: activation of phospholipase C β2, leading to a breakdown of phosphatidylinositol-4,5-bisphosphate (PIP2) into diacylglycerol and inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate, which causes release of Ca2+ from intracellular stores. The ion channel, TRPM5, is an essential component of this cascade; however, the mechanism by which it is activated is not known. Here we show that heterologously expressed TRPM5 forms a cation channel that is directly activated by micromolar concentrations of intracellular Ca2+ (K1/2 = 21 μM). Sustained exposure to Ca2+ desensitizes TRPM5 channels, but PIP2 reverses desensitization, partially restoring channel activity. Whole-cell TRPM5 currents can be activated by intracellular Ca2+ and show strong outward rectification because of voltage-sensitive gating of the channels. TRPM5 channels are nonselective among monovalent cations and not detectably permeable to divalent cations. We propose that the regulation of TRPM5 by Ca2+ mediates sensory activation in the taste system.
Home Market E ¤ ect and its Extensive and Intensive Margins : The Role of Factor Endowments

This paper develops a factor proportions driven monopolistic competition model of trade to examine how home-market e¤ects (HME) vary across countries and industries. I extend the multi-sector framework of Hanson and Xiang (AER 2004) to a two factor case where xed cost of starting a business is more capital intensive than the marginal cost. Countries with di¤erent factor endowments have di¤erent extensive and intensive margins of output growth in every sector due to factor price di¤erences. Most importantly, rich and poor countries experience HME in di¤erent sectors. For large capital abundant countries, the HME increase in industries exhibiting high trade cost and more di¤erentiated products. This is driven by increasing proportions of extensive margins (new varieties) in these sectors. For large labor abundant countries, the HME rise in sectors with high trade costs and less di¤erentiated products. This is driven by increasing proportions of intensive margins (quantity per variety) in these sectors. I con rm the predictions of the model from bilateral exports data using Hanson and Xiangs di¤erence-in-di¤erence gravity speci cation. I nd strong evidence that rich and poor countries exhibit HME in mutually exclusive sectors and that these e¤ects are driven by di¤erent degrees of extensive and intensive margins. (JEL F1, R1)
In situ tumor vaccination with adenovirus vectors encoding measles virus fusogenic membrane proteins and cytokines.

AIM To evaluate whether intratumoral expression of measles virus fusogenic membrane glycoproteins H and F (MV-FMG), encoded by an adenovirus vector Ad.MV-H/F, alone or in combination with local coexpression of cytokines (IL-2, IL-12, IL-18, IL-21 or GM-CSF), can serve as a platform for inducing tumor-specific immune responses in colon cancer. METHODS We used confocal laser scanning microscopy and flow cytometry to analyze cell-cell fusion after expression of MV-FMG by dye colocalization. In a syngeneic bilateral subcutaneous MC38 and Colon26 colon cancer model in C57BL/6 and BALB/c mice, we assessed the effect on both the directly vector-treated tumor as well as the contralateral, not directly vector-treated tumor. We assessed the induction of a tumor-specific cytotoxic T lymphocyte (CTL) response with a lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) release assay. RESULTS We demonstrated in vitro that transduction of MC38 and Colon26 cells with Ad.MV-H/F resulted in dye colocalization, indicative of cell-cell fusion. In addition, in the syngeneic bilateral tumor model we demonstrated a significant regression of the directly vector-inoculated tumor upon intratumoral expression of MV-FMG alone or in combination with the tested cytokines. We observed the highest anti-neoplastic efficacy with MV-FMG and IL-21 coexpression. The degree of tumor regression of the not directly vector-treated tumor correlated with the anti-neoplastic response of the directly vector-treated tumor. This regression was mediated by a tumor-specific CTL response. CONCLUSION Our data indicate that intratumoral expression of measles virus fusogenic membrane glycoproteins is a promising tool both for direct tumor treatment as well as for tumor vaccination approaches that can be further enhanced by cytokine coexpression.
Scheme to measure One-Way Delay Variation with detection and removal of clock skew

One-Way Delay Variation (OWDV ) has become increasingly of interest to evaluate network state and service quality, especially for real-time and streaming services such as VoIP and video. Measurement of these parameters needs to be performed with the layout infrastructure. Many schemes for OWD measurements require clock synchronization at the source and destination through Global-Positioning System (GPS) or the Network Time Protocol (NTP). In clock-synchronized approaches, the accuracy of the measurement of OWDV depends on the achieved accuracy of clock synchronization. GPS provides high-accuracy clock synchronization. However, the deployment of GPS on legacy network equipment might be slow and costly. This paper proposes a method for measuring OWDV without recurring to clock synchronization. However, clock skew may affect the measurement of OWDV. The proposed approach is based on the measurement of Inter-Packet Delay (IPD) and Accumulated OWDV (AOWDV). This paper shows the performance of the proposed scheme via simulation and through experimentation in a VoIP network. The presented simulation and experimental results indicate that clock skew can be efficiently measured and removed and that OWDV can be measured without requiring clock synchronization.
SDN traceroute: tracing SDN forwarding without changing network behavior

Software-defined networking provides flexibility in designing networks by allowing distributed network state to be managed by logically centralized control programs. However, this flexibility brings added complexity, which requires new debugging tools that can provide insights into network behavior. We propose a tool, SDN traceroute, that can query the current path taken by any packet through an SDN-enabled network. The path is traced by using the actual forwarding mechanisms at each SDN-enabled device without changing the forwarding rules being measured. This enables administrators to discover the forwarding behavior for arbitrary Ethernet packets, as well as debug problems in both switch and controller logic. Our prototype implementation requires only a few high-priority rules per device, runs on commodity hardware using only the required features of the OpenFlow 1.0 specification, and can generate traces in about one millisecond per hop.
Head pose estimation for a domestic robot

Gaze direction is an important communicative cue. In order to use this cue for human-robot interaction, software needs to be developed that enables the estimation of head pose. We began by designing an application that is able to make a good estimate of the head pose, and, contrary to earlier head pose estimation approaches, that works for non-optimal lighting conditions. Initial results show that our approach using multiple networks trained with differing datasets, gives a good estimate of head pose, and it works well in poor lighting conditions and with low-resolution images. We validated our head pose estimation method using a custom built database of images of human heads. The actual head poses were measured using a trakStar (Ascension Technologies) six-degrees-of-freedom sensor. The head pose estimation algorithm allows us to assess a person's focus of attention, which allows robots to react in a timely fashion to dynamic human communicative cues.
Mechanism of Transcription Activation at the comG Promoter by the Competence Transcription Factor ComK of Bacillus subtilis

ABSTRACT The development of genetic competence in Bacillus subtilis is regulated by a complex signal transduction cascade, which results in the synthesis of the competence transcription factor, encoded by comK. ComK is required for the transcription of the late competence genes that encode the DNA binding and uptake machinery and of genes required for homologous recombination. In vivo and in vitro experiments have shown that ComK is responsible for transcription activation at the comG promoter. In this study, we investigated the mechanism of this transcription activation. The intrinsic binding characteristics of RNA polymerase with and without ComK at the comG promoter were determined, demonstrating that ComK stabilizes the binding of RNA polymerase to the comG promoter. This stabilization probably occurs through interactions with the upstream DNA, since a deletion of the upstream DNA resulted in an almost complete abolishment of stabilization of RNA polymerase binding. Furthermore, a strong requirement for the presence of an extra AT box in addition to the common ComK-binding site was shown. In vitro transcription with B. subtilis RNA polymerase reconstituted with wild-type α-subunits and with C-terminal deletion mutants of the α-subunits was performed, demonstrating that these deletions do not abolish transcription activation by ComK. This indicates that ComK is not a type I activator. We also show that ComK is not required for open complex formation. A possible mechanism for transcription activation is proposed, implying that the major stimulatory effect of ComK is on binding of RNA polymerase.
Vision-Based Hand Detection for Registration of Virtual Objects in Augmented Reality

This paper presents a markerless Augmented Reality (AR) framework which utilizes outstretched hand for registration of virtual objects in the real environment. Hand detection methods used in this work are purely based on computer vision algorithms to detect bare hand without assistance from markers or any other devices such as mechanical devices and magnetic devices. We use a stereo camera to capture video images, so that the depth information of the hand can be constructed. Skin color segmentation is employed to segment the hand region from the images. Instead of fiducial markers, the center of the palm and fingertips are tracked in real time. Incorporating the depth information computed, the 3D positions of these hand features are then used to estimate the 6DOF camera pose with respect to the hand, which in turn allows the virtual objects to be augmented onto the palm accurately. This method increases the ease of manipulation of AR objects. Users can inspect and manipulate the AR objects in an intuitive way by using their bare hands.
Tracking humans interacting with the environment using efficient hierarchical sampling and layered observation models

We present a markerless tracking system for unconstrained human motions which are typical for everyday manipulation tasks. Our system is capable of tracking a high-dimensional human model (51 DOF) without constricting the type of motion and the need for training sequences. The system reliably tracks humans that frequently interact with the environment, that manipulate objects, and that can be partially occluded by the environment.
A Multidimensional Time-Series Similarity Measure With Applications to Eldercare Monitoring

In the last decade, data mining techniques have been applied to sensor data in a wide range of application domains, such as healthcare monitoring systems, manufacturing processes, intrusion detection, database management, and others. Many data mining techniques are based on computing the similarity between two sensor data patterns. A variety of representations and similarity measures for multiattribute time series have been proposed in the literature. In this paper, we describe a novel method for computing the similarity of two multiattribute time series based on a temporal version of Smith-Waterman (SW), a well-known bioinformatics algorithm. We then apply our method to sensor data from an eldercare application for early illness detection. Our method mitigates difficulties related to data uncertainty and aggregation that often arise when processing sensor data. The experiments take place at an aging-in-place facility, TigerPlace, located in Columbia, MO, USA. To validate our method, we used data from nonwearable sensor networks placed in TigerPlace apartments, combined with information from an electronic health record. We provide a set of experiments that investigate temporal version of SW properties, together with experiments on TigerPlace datasets. On a pilot sensor dataset from nine residents, with a total of 1902 days and around 2.1 million sensor hits of collected data, we obtained an average abnormal events prediction F-measure of 0.75.
An MMG-based human-assisting manipulator using acceleration sensors

This paper proposes a control method for a human-assisting manipulator using acceleration sensors. The technique involves an arm control part (ACP) and a hand-and-wrist control part (HWCP); the ACP controls the manipulator's shoulder and elbow joints using acceleration signals, while the HWCP controls the corresponding joints using mechanomyogram (MMG) signals measured from the human operator. A distinctive feature of the proposed method is its estimation of information on force and motion from measured acceleration signals using MMG processing and a probabilistic neural network. Experiments demonstrated that the MMG patterns seen during hand and wrist motion can be classified sufficiently (average rate: 94.3 %), and that a prosthetic manipulator can be controlled using the acceleration signals measured. Such manipulators are expected to prove useful as assistive devices for people with physical disabilities.
Surface contamination with antineoplastic agents in six cancer treatment centers in Canada and the United States.

The level of contamination by antineoplastic agents in drug preparation and administration areas in cancer treatment centers in Canada and the United States was determined. Sampling locations at three cancer treatment centers in Canada and three centers in the United States were selected (biological safety cabinets, countertops, and floors in and adjacent to preparation areas; tabletops, chairs, and floors in administration areas). A solution of sodium hydroxide (0.03 M) was spread over the surface of each area. The surface was wiped with one or two absorbent tissues, which were then stored in plastic screw-top containers. Samples were stored at -40 degrees C before analysis of ifosfamide content (U.S. centers only) and cyclophosphamide content by gas chromatography in tandem with mass spectroscopy-mass spectroscopy and fluorouracil content by reverse-phase high-performance liquid chromatography with ultraviolet-light detection. Measurable amounts of the antineoplastic agents were detected in 75% of the pharmacy samples and 65% of the administration samples. In general, the levels of contamination were higher in the pharmacy areas than in the drug administration areas. The pharmacy area at the site with the highest number of drug preparations had considerably more drug contamination than the other sites. The results were similar for Canadian and U.S. centers. Substantial levels of contamination from three antineoplastic agents were detected on a variety of surfaces in pharmacy drug preparation areas and drug administration areas in six cancer treatment centers in Canada and the United States.
Measurement Of Multiview Point Similarity Considering Concepts Of Data Clustering

For all clustering methods which are bounded by Data objects we need to consider some cluster relationships. Similarity between a pair of objects can be defined either explicitly or implicitly. In this paper we are going to present two Clustering methods and a multiview point based similarity measure. In Multipoint Based Similarity Measure we use many different viewpoints that are objects and are assumed to not be in same cluster with two objects being measured, this is the main distinctness of our concept with a traditional dissimilarity/similarity measure is that the aforementioned dissimilarity/similarity exercises only a single view point for which it is the base.We can implement countless descriptive evaluation by utilizing multiple viewpoints and to support this we proposed two functions to document clustering. We compare them with several wellknown clustering algorithms that use other popular similarity measures on various document collections to verify the advantages of
Object detection using edge histogram of oriented gradient

In this paper, we address the object detection problem by a proposed gradient feature, the Edge Histogram of Oriented Gradient (Edge-HOG). Edge-HOG consists of several blocks arranged along a line or an arc, which is designed to describe the edge pattern. In addition, we propose a new feature extraction method, which extracts the structural information based on the gravity centers as complementary to traditional gradient histograms. As a result, the proposed Edge-HOG not only reflects the local shape information of objects, but also captures more significant appearance information. Experimental results show that the proposed approach significantly improves both the detection accuracy and the convergence speed compared to the traditional HOG feature. It also achieves performance competitive with some commonly-used methods on pedestrian detection and car detection tasks.
Non-Extensive Entropy for CAD Systems of Breast Cancer Images

Recent statistics show that breast cancer is a major cause of death among women in all of the world. Hence, early diagnostic with computer aided diagnosis (CAD) systems is a very important tool. This task is not easy due to poor ultrasound resolution and large amount of patient data size. Then, initial image segmentation is one of the most important and challenging task. Among several methods for medical image segmentation, the use of entropy for maximization the information between the foreground and background is a well known and applied technique. But, the traditional Shannon entropy fails to describe some physical systems with characteristics such as long-range and longtime interactions. Then, a new kind of entropy, called non-extensive entropy, has been proposed in the literature for generalizing the Shannon entropy. In this paper, we propose the use of non-extensive entropy, also called q-entropy, applied in a CAD system for breast cancer classification in ultrasound of mammographic exams. Our proposal combines the non-extensive entropy, a level set formulation and a support vector machine framework to achieve better performance than the current literature offers. In order to validate our proposal, we have tested our automatic protocol in a data base of 250 breast ultrasound images (100 benign and 150 malignant). With a cross-validation protocol, we demonstrate system's accuracy, sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value and negative predictive value as: 95%, 97%, 94%, 92% and 98%, respectively, in terms of ROC (receiver operating characteristic) curves and Az areas
The water absorption of Crimean limestone treated with silicic acid based material

The paper describes strengthening historical buildings made of limestones rocks located in the Republic of Crimea. The stones were treated with the chemical compound Oxal NK100 for filling a porous material reducing water absorption and strengthening the treated stones. The stones with additives was tested and the results were compared to natural limestones (reference samples) which not treated with any chemicals compounds. All samples are extracted in-site from an actual historical construction located in the mentioned Republic. The effect of the chemical composition Oxal NK100 on the water absorption of the investigated stones is illustrated and incorporated. The comparison data of the index graphs before and after the addition of the chemical composition are given and described.
Speciation, Ecological Opportunity, and Latitude

Evolutionary hypotheses to explain the greater numbers of species in the tropics than the temperate zone include greater age and area, higher temperature and metabolic rates, and greater ecological opportunity. These ideas make contrasting predictions about the relationship between speciation processes and latitude, which I elaborate and evaluate. Available data suggest that per capita speciation rates are currently highest in the temperate zone and that diversification rates (speciation minus extinction) are similar between latitudes. In contrast, clades whose oldest analyzed dates precede the Eocene thermal maximum, when the extent of the tropics was much greater than today, tend to show highest speciation and diversification rates in the tropics. These findings are consistent with age and area, which is alone among hypotheses in predicting a time trend. Higher recent speciation rates in the temperate zone than the tropics suggest an additional response to high ecological opportunity associated with low species diversity. These broad patterns are compelling but provide limited insights into underlying mechanisms, arguing that studies of speciation processes along the latitudinal gradient will be vital. Using threespine stickleback in depauperate northern lakes as an example, I show how high ecological opportunity can lead to rapid speciation. The results support a role for ecological opportunity in speciation, but its importance in the evolution of the latitudinal gradient remains uncertain. I conclude that per capita evolutionary rates are no longer higher in the tropics than the temperate zone. Nevertheless, the vast numbers of species that have already accumulated in the tropics ensure that total rate of species production remains highest there. Thus, tropical evolutionary momentum helps to perpetuate the steep latitudinal biodiversity gradient.
Friendships among Competitors in the Sydney Hotel Industry1

Friendships with competitors can improve the performance of organizations through the mechanisms of enhanced collaboration, mitigated competition, and better information exchange. Moreover, these benefits are best achieved when competing managers are embedded in a cohesive network of friendships (i.e., one with many friendships among competitors), since cohesion facilitates the verification of information culled from the network, eliminates the structural holes faced by customers, and facilitates the normative control of competitors. The first part of this analysis examines the performance implications of the friendship‐network structure within the Sydney hotel industry, with performance being the yield (i.e., revenue per available room) of a given hotel. This shows that friendships with competitors lead to dramatic improvements in hotel yields. Performance is further improved if a manager’s competitors are themselves friends, evidencing the benefit of cohesive friendship networks. The second part of the analysis examines the structure of friendship ties among hotel managers and shows that friendships are more likely between managers who are competitors.