Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Sevoflurane impairs acquisition learning and memory function in transgenic mice model of Alzheimer's disease by induction of hippocampal neuron apoptosis.

OBJECTIVES To investigate the mechanism and effect of sevoflurane on learning and memory function in transgenic mice model of Alzheimer's disease (AD). METHODS A total of 45 Tg2576 mice were used and randomly assigned to control, sham, and sevoflurane group. Spatial learning and memory ability were measured before and after sevoflurane exposure using morris water maze (MWM) and Y-maze behavioral tests. Moreover, TUNEL assay was carried out to determine the cell death in hippocampal cornuammonis (CA) 1, CA3, and dentate gyrus (DG) region. Apoptosis-related protein (caspase-3 and Bcl-xL) expression in the hippocampus was analyzed by Western blotting. RESULTS The MWM results showed that there were no significant differences in the swimming speed after sevoflurane exposure among the three groups. However, the escape latency, time spent in original quadrant, and the number of correct trials (Y-maze) were significantly lower after sevoflurane anesthesia exposure in the sevoflurane group than the sham group and control group (P < 0.05). Besides, the apoptotic cell numbers of the CA1 and CA3 region in the sevoflurane group were significantly higher than those in the sham group and control group (P < 0.05). Western blotting results showed that the protein expression levels of Bcl-xL were significantly higher, but the caspase-3 levels were significantly lower in the sevoflurane group than those in the control group and sham group (both P < 0.05). CONCLUSION Our results indicate that sevoflurane might impair acquisition learning and memory function in AD by induction of hippocampal neuron apoptosis.
Complex Network Metrology

In order to study some complex networks like the Internet, the Web, social networks or biological networks, one first has to explore them. This gives a partial and biased view of the real object, which is generally assumed to be representative of the whole. However, up to now nobody knows how and how much the measure influences the results. Using the example of the Internet and a rough model of its exploration process, we show that the way a given complex network is explored may strongly influence the observed properties. This leads us to argue for the necessity of developing a science of metrology of complex networks. Its aim would be to study how the partial and biased view of a network relates to the properties of the whole network. Introduction. Some complex networks of high interest can only be known after an exploration process. This is in particular true for the Internet (interconnection of computers), the Web (links between pages), social networks (acquaintance relations for example), and biological networks (brain topology or protein interactions for example). There have been many studies published on these objects, see for instance [3, 6, 8, 10, 16, 17, 19, 21, 22, 23, 26]. Most of them rely on from partial views obtained using various, and often intricate, exploration methods. Until now, the approach generally used is to obtain views as large as possible and then assume that they are (representative of) the whole, see for instance [12, 15, 20, 28]. However, except in a few limited cases [12, 18, 27], nobody has any idea on the bias introduced by the partial exploration methods and the influence it may have on the results. We show here that this bias may be very important, even under some very optimistic assumptions. Using the representative example of the Internet topology, we show how some natural models of the exploration process give very different views of a given network, which proves that the way one explores a complex network has a strong influence of the properties of the obtained view. We therefore insist on the necessity of developing a theory of complex network metrology Its aim would be to study how the partial and biased view of a network relates to the properties of the whole network. Our global approach is the following: we consider a (known) network G, we simulate an exploration of this network to obtain a view G of it, and then we compare the two objects.
The Design and Implementation of an Operating System to Support Distributed Multimedia Applications

Support for multimedia applications by general purpose computing platforms has been the subject of considerable research. Much of this work is based on an evolutionary strategy in which small changes to existing systems are made. The approach adopted is to start ab initio with no backward compatibility constraints. This leads to a novel structure for an operating system. The structure aims to decouple applications from one another and to provide multiplexing of all resources, not just the CPU, at a low level. The motivation for this structure, a design based on the structure, and its implementation on a number of hardware platforms is described.
A Rank-One Tensor Updating Algorithm for Tensor Completion

In this letter, we propose a rank-one tensor updating algorithm for solving tensor completion problems. Unlike the existing methods which penalize the tensor by using the sum of nuclear norms of unfolding matrices, our optimization model directly employs the tensor nuclear norm which is studied recently. Under the framework of the conditional gradient method, we show that at each iteration, solving the proposed model amounts to computing the tensor spectral norm and the related rank-one tensor. Because the problem of finding the related rank-one tensor is NP-hard, we propose a subroutine to solve it approximately, which is of low computational complexity. Experimental results on real datasets show that our algorithm is efficient and effective.
The Good Cause: Theoretical Perspectives on Corruption

From conceptualization to ideas on practical policy recommendations, The Good Cause presents a state-of-the-art study on the causes of corruption. A cohort of internationally-recognized researchers from the various academic fields that study corruption come together to explain their different theoretical perspectives and offer an introduction to corruption theory. The Good Cause integrates research to date, delves into the dilemmas within theoretically framing and empirically studying corruption, and gives direction to future research. Understanding different theoretical perspectives illuminates new viewpoints on an important social phenomenon and the spectrum of possibilities available to us in treating it analytically and practically. 'Those of us concerned with problems of public integrity are better off now that we have a clear, thorough analysis of the principles guiding discourse and action on corruption. So many have either ignored the challenge of understanding corruption or have failed trying to grasp its complexity that it is startling to read a book that takes the challenge head on and succeeds chapter by chapter. Each analytic approach, represented by a first rate scholar, is connected to the overall mission of presenting an accessible, sophisticated review of corruption and the ideal of honesty in governance. This book is an invaluable asset to scholars and practitioners alike. ' Prof. Frank Anechiarico, Maynard-Knox Professor of Government and Law, Hamilton College, New York ‘After a generation of renewed effort against corruption it is time to step back and reconsider the big picture. This book gives us a challenging view of the emergence of key concepts of corruption and reform, of new perspectives on the origins of corruption problems and the nature of change, and of ways in which we need to adapt familiar ideas to new knowledge and circumstances. It will stimulate important conversations among refomers and scholars alike. ’ Prof. Michael Johnston, Charles A. Dana Professor of Political Science, Colgate University; author of ‘Syndroms of Corruption’ and co-editor of ‘Political Corruption: Concepts and Contexts’ ’This book brings together world experts to discuss the complex nature of corruption that undermines the legitimacy, performance, and credibility of all institutions. The emphasis is on the impact of corruption on public policy, law, and administration. The contributors investigate why corruption has persisted throughout history and why it is so difficult to combat. ’ Prof. Gerald E. Caiden, University of Southern California, School of Policy, Planning, and Debelopment; author of ‘Where Corruption Lives’
Measuring Neuromuscular Control Dynamics During Car Following With Continuous Haptic Feedback

In previous research, a driver support system that uses continuous haptic feedback on the gas pedal to inform drivers of the separation to the lead vehicle was developed. Although haptic feedback has been previously shown to be beneficial, the influence of the underlying biomechanical properties of the driver on the effectiveness of haptic feedback is largely unknown. The goal of this paper is to experimentally determine the biomechanical properties of the ankle-foot complex (i.e., the admittance) while performing a car-following task, thereby separating driver responses to visual feedback from those to designed haptic feedback. An experiment was conducted in a simplified fixed-base driving simulator, where ten participants were instructed to follow a lead vehicle, with and without the support of haptic feedback. During the experiment, the lead vehicle velocity was perturbed, and small stochastic torque perturbations were applied to the pedal. Both perturbations were separated in the frequency domain to allow the simultaneous estimation of frequency response functions of both the car-following control behavior and the biomechanical admittance. For comparison to previous experiments, the admittance was also estimated during three classical motion control tasks (resist forces, relax, and give way to forces). The main experimental hypotheses were that, first, the haptic feedback would encourage drivers to adopt a “give way to force task,” resulting in larger admittance compared with other tasks and, second, drivers needed less control effort to realize the same car-following performance. Time- and frequency-domain analyses provided evidence for both hypotheses. The developed methodology allows quantification of the range of admittances that a limb can adopt during vehicle control or while performing a variety of motion control tasks. It thereby allows detailed computational driver modeling and provides valuable information on how to design and evaluate continuous haptic feedback systems.
Restricted Expression of G86R Cu/Zn Superoxide Dismutase in Astrocytes Results in Astrocytosis But Does Not Cause Motoneuron Degeneration

Evidence garnered from both human autopsy studies and genetic animal models has suggested a potential role for astrocytes in the pathogenesis of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Currently, mutations in the gene encoding Cu/Zn superoxide dismutase (SOD1) represent the only known cause of motoneuron loss in the disease, producing 21q linked familial ALS (FALS). To determine whether astrocytic dysfunction has a primary role in familial ALS, we have generated multiple lines of transgenic mice expressing G86R mutant SOD1 restricted to astrocytes. In GFAP-m SOD1 mice, astrocytes exhibit significant hypertrophy and increased GFAP reactivity as the animals mature. However, GFAP-mutant SOD1 transgenic mice develop normally and do not experience spontaneous motor deficits with increasing age. Histological examination of spinal cord in aged GFAP-mSOD1 mice reveals normal motoneuron and microglial morphology. These results indicate that 21q linked FALS is not a primary disorder of astrocytes, and that expression of mutant SOD1 restricted to astrocytes is not sufficient to cause motoneuron degeneration in vivo. Expression of mutant SOD1 in other cell types, most likely neurons, is critical for the initiation of disease.
Cross-language Information Retrieval,Document Alignment and Visualization : A Study with Japanese and Chinese

With the advent of the Internet and digital libraries, as well as the proliferation of multilingual information, sophisticated methods of representation and indexing, and the retrieval of such information is essential. In recent years, the amount of electronically available information has escalated. The non-English information (information in Asian and European languages) is growing rapidly. Although several reports are available on cross-language information retrieval (CLIR) with European languages, no research on Japanese-Chinese CLIR has so far been reported. In this thesis, I concentrate on these two languages, which are quite different from European languages in the sense that semantically rich ideographic Han-characters (hereafter, Kanji) are used in the writing systems of both languages. I explore several strategies using the Kanji and Kanji-derived-semantics for indexing and retrieval of Japanese and Chinese information. The Kanji-based Interlingual framework proposed in this thesis for Japanese-Chinese information retrieval is a flexible vector-space framework. Therefore, projection and dimensionality reduction techniques, such as the singular value decomposition (SVD), are easy to incorporate with this framework. SVD, the underlying technique of the latent semantic indexing (LSI) is capable of a term-to-concept mapping. This thesis includes experimental results based on such conceptual enhancements. The goal of this research is to investigate the unique characteristics of Japanese and Chinese and to propose a suitable framework for Japanese-Chinese IR and CLIR, which takes advantage of existing developments in Natural Language Processing (NLP) and Information Retrieval (IR) techniques. The proposed vector-space framework based on Kanji-semantics ∗ Doctor’s Thesis, Department of Information Science, Graduate School of Information Science, Nara Institute of Science and Technology, NAIST-IS-DT-9861207, August, 30, 2001.
Automatic design of discreet discrete filters

We address the problem of deciding what information a robot should transmit to the outside world, by exploring a setting where some information (e.g., current status of the task) must be shared in order for the robot to be useful, but where, simultaneously, we wish to impose limits which ensure certain information is never divulged. These sorts of conditions arise in several circumstances of increasing relevance: robots that can provide some guarantee of privacy to their users, controllers which safely use untrusted “cloud” services or smart-space infrastructure, or robots that act as inspection devices in information-sensitive contexts (e.g., factories, nuclear plants, etc.) We introduce an algorithm which takes as input an arbitrary combinatorial filter, expressed as a transition graph, and a set of constraints, constituting both upper and lower bounds, that specify the desired informational properties. The algorithm produces a coarser version of the input filter which possesses the desired informational properties, if and only if such a filter exists. We show that determining whether it is possible to satisfy both the distinguishablity and indistinguishablity constraints is NP-hard. The hardness result helps justify the worst-case running time of the algorithm. We describe an implementation of the algorithm along with empirical results showing that, beyond some minimum problem complexity, the algorithm is faster than naïve filter enumeration, albeit with greater memory requirements.
Lymphotoxin, but Not TNF, Is Required for Prion Invasion of Lymph Nodes

Neuroinvasion and subsequent destruction of the central nervous system by prions are typically preceded by a colonization phase in lymphoid organs. An important compartment harboring prions in lymphoid tissue is the follicular dendritic cell (FDC), which requires both tumor necrosis factor receptor 1 (TNFR1) and lymphotoxin β receptor (LTβR) signaling for maintenance. However, prions are still detected in TNFR1−/− lymph nodes despite the absence of mature FDCs. Here we show that TNFR1-independent prion accumulation in lymph nodes depends on LTβR signaling. Loss of LTβR signaling, but not of TNFR1, was concurrent with the dedifferentiation of high endothelial venules (HEVs) required for lymphocyte entry into lymph nodes. Using luminescent conjugated polymers for histochemical PrPSc detection, we identified PrPSc deposits associated with HEVs in TNFR1−/− lymph nodes. Hence, prions may enter lymph nodes by HEVs and accumulate or replicate in the absence of mature FDCs.
Perfectionism in Intimate Relationships:

Abstract The authors describe 2 studies on the development of the Dyadic Almost Perfect Scale (A. J. Shea & R.B. Slaney, 1999). In Study 1 (N = 389), confirmatory analyses validated the factor structure of the measure, and additional results supported the reliability and construct validity of the subscale scores. In Study 2 (N = 280). data again supported the reliability and construct validity of the subscale scores.
Measuring cell adhesion forces during the cell cycle by force spectroscopy

Force spectroscopy has been used to measure the adhesion of Saos-2 cells to a glass surface at different phases of the cell cycle. The cells were synchronized in three phases of the cell cycle: G1, S, and G2M. Cells in these phases were compared with unsynchronized and native mitotic cells. Individual cells were attached to an atomic force microscope cantilever, brought into brief contact with the glass surface, and then pulled off again. The force-distance curves obtained allowed the work and maximum force of detachment as well as the number, amplitude, and position of discrete unbinding steps to be determined. A statistical analysis of the data showed that the number of binding proteins or protein complexes present at the cell surface and their binding properties remain similar throughout the cell cycle. This, despite the huge changes in cell morphology and adhesion that occur as the cells enter mitosis. These changes are rather associated with the changes in cytoskeletal organization, which can be quantified by force spectroscopy as changes in cell stiffness.
How Well Can WordNet Measure Privacy: A Comparative Study?

Privacy is a fundamental issue in big data. Meanwhile, determining semantic relationships between words and phrases in privacy is required for effective privacy protection to the data that originates from a variety of sources, a main characteristic of big data. WordNet has been used as one of the most popular ways of measuring semantic similarity between words. In this paper, through comparison analysis, we show that WordNet is not very adequate for measuring semantic similarity or relatedness between words when concerning privacy. The analysis consists of an experiment to get human rating scores as the benchmark dataset and the comparison between results from WordNet based measures and the benchmark dataset to reach the conclusion.
Simultaneous $H_\infty$  Vibration Control of Fluid/Plate System via Reduced-Order Controller

We consider the problem of the active reduction of structural vibrations of a plane wing induced by the sloshing of large masses of fuel inside partly full tank. This study focuses on an experimental device composed of an aluminum rectangular plate equipped with piezoelectric patches at the clamped end and with a cylindrical tip-tank, more or less filled with liquid at the opposite free end. The control is performed through piezoelectric actuators and the main difficulty comes from the complex coupling between the flexible modes of the wing and the sloshing modes of the fuel. First, a partial derivative equation model and then a finite-dimensional approximation, calculated using the first five structural modes of the plate and the first two liquid sloshing modes, is established. Second, after a model matching procedure, a simultaneous control problem associated to the vibration attenuation problem for two different fillings of the tank is stated. Due to the large scale of the synthesis model and to the simultaneous performance requirements, a reduced-order controller is computed with HIFOO 2.0 package and is compared with individual designs for different filling levels. Experimental results are finally provided illustrating the relevance of the chosen strategy.
A Software Defined Radio Test-Bed for WLAN Front Ends

Abstract? In our Software Defined Radio (SDR) project we aim at combining two different types of standards, Bluetooth and HiperLAN/2 on one common flexible hardware platform. The HiperLAN/2 hardware is that complex compared to the Bluetooth hardware, that Bluetooth capability may be added to the HiperLAN/2 platform at limited cost. The question is how to do this. In this paper we first describe the radio front-end functions and their implementation. Subsequently the test-bed that will assist us in building the hardware platform is described. We present the method by which we use the Hiper-LAN/2 front-end for Bluetooth reception purposes. Our system consists of three parts: analog signal processing, digital channel selection and digital demodulation. The analog processing function is capable of reception of both standards. The demodulation function and channel selection function are implemented in two separate software programs (one for each standard) that allow the exploration of different design alternatives and the assessment of computational cost of the receiver.
Bringing the Cloud to Rural and Remote Areas via Cloudlets

Instead of relying on huge and expensive data centers for rolling out cloud-based services to rural and remote areas, we propose a hardware platform based on small single-board computers. The role of these micro-data centers is twofold. On the one hand, they act as intermediaries between cloud services and clients, improving availability in the case of network or power outages. On the other hand, they run community-based services on local infrastructure. We illustrate how to build such a system without incurring high costs, high power consumption, or single points of failure. Additionally, we opt for a system that is extendable and scalable as well as easy to deploy, relying on an open design.
How big is BCI fragment of BCK logic

We investigate quantitative properties of BCI and BCK logics. The first part of the article compares the number of formulas provable in BCI versus BCK logics. We consider formulas built on implication and a fixed set of k variables. We investigate the proportion between the number of such formulas of a given length n provable in BCI logic against the number of formulas of length n provable in richer BCK logic. We examine an asymptotic behaviour of this fraction when length n of formulas tends to infinity. This limit gives a probability measure that randomly chosen BCK formula is also provable in BCI. We prove that this probability tends to zero as the number of variables tends to infinity. The second part of the article is devoted to the number of lambda terms representing proofs of BCI and BCK logics. We build a proportion between number of such proofs of the same length n and we investigate asymptotic behaviour of this proportion when length of proofs tends to infinity. We demonstrate that with probability 0 a randomly chosen BCK proof is also a proof of a BCI formula.