Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Multimodality Evaluation of the Viability of Stem Cells Delivered Into Different Zones of Myocardial Infarction

Background—We tested the hypothesis that multimodality imaging of mouse embryonic stem cells (mESCs) provides accurate assessment of cellular location, viability, and restorative potential after transplantation into different zones of myocardial infarction. Methods and Results—Mice underwent left anterior descending artery ligation followed by transplantation of dual-labeled mESCs with superparamagnetic iron oxide and luciferase via direct injection into 3 different zones of myocardial infarction: intra-infarction, peri-infarction, and normal (remote). One day after transplantation, magnetic resonance imaging enabled assessment of the precise anatomic locations of mESCs. Bioluminescence imaging allowed longitudinal analysis of cell viability through detection of luciferase activity. Subsequent evaluation of myocardial regeneration and functional restoration was performed by echocardiography and pressure–volume loop analysis. Using 16-segment analysis, we demonstrated precise localization of dual-labeled mESCs. A strong correlation between histology and magnetic resonance imaging was established (r=0.962, P=0.002). Bioluminescent imaging data demonstrated that cell viability in the remote group was significantly higher than in other groups. Echocardiography and pressure–volume loop analysis revealed improved functional restoration in animals treated with mESCs, although myocardial regeneration was not observed. Conclusions—Multimodality evaluation of mESC engraftment in the heterogeneous tissue of myocardial infarction is possible. Magnetic resonance imaging demonstrated accurate anatomic localization of dual-labeled mESCs. Bioluminescent imaging enabled assessment of variable viability of mESCs transplanted into the infarcted myocardium. Echocardiography and pressure–volume loop analysis validated the restorative potential of mESCs. Although mESCs transplanted into the remote zone demonstrated the highest viability, precise delivery of mESCs into the peri-infarction region might be equally critical in restoring the injured myocardium.
Pressure Pain Thresholds Increase after Preconditioning 1 Hz Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation with Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation

Background The primary motor cortex (M1) is an effective target of non-invasive cortical stimulation (NICS) for pain threshold modulation. It has been suggested that the initial level of cortical excitability of M1 plays a key role in the plastic effects of NICS. Objective Here we investigate whether transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) primed 1 Hz repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) modulates experimental pressure pain thresholds and if this is related to observed alterations in cortical excitability. Method 15 healthy, male participants received 10 min 1 mA anodal, cathodal and sham tDCS to the left M1 before 15 min 1 Hz rTMS in separate sessions over a period of 3 weeks. Motor cortical excitability was recorded at baseline, post-tDCS priming and post-rTMS through recording motor evoked potentials (MEPs) from right FDI muscle. Pressure pain thresholds were determined by quantitative sensory testing (QST) through a computerized algometer, on the palmar thenar of the right hand pre- and post-stimulation. Results Cathodal tDCS-primed 1 Hz-rTMS was found to reverse the expected suppressive effect of 1 Hz rTMS on cortical excitability; leading to an overall increase in activity (p<0.001) with a parallel increase in pressure pain thresholds (p<0.01). In contrast, anodal tDCS-primed 1 Hz-rTMS resulted in a corresponding decrease in cortical excitability (p<0.05), with no significant effect on pressure pain. Conclusion This study demonstrates that priming the M1 before stimulation of 1 Hz-rTMS modulates experimental pressure pain thresholds in a safe and controlled manner, producing a form of analgesia.
Flexible redundancy insertion in a polyphase down sampling multiple description image coding

In this paper we address the problem of image transmission over unreliable networks. The system is based on multiple description coding, that introducing redundancy in the produced stream is able to guarantee a useful quality reconstruction also in presence of high percentage of packet losses. The target of this work is providing a flexible redundancy insertion in order to make the system robust for any packet loss situation over different networks (the Internet or mobile). The simulation results show the capability of the system to achieve the optimal image quality reconstruction according to network behavior.
Network Attacks and Their Detection Mechanisms: A Review

With the development of large open networks, security threats for the network have increased significantly in the past few years. Different types of attacks possess different types of threats to network and network resources. Many different detection mechanisms have been proposed by various researchers. This paper reviews different type of possible network attacks and detection mechanisms proposed by various researchers that are capable of detecting such attacks. General Terms Network resources, open network, security threats for network
On the Observable Properties of Higher Order Functions that Dynamically Create Local Names (Preliminary Report)

The research reported in this paper is concerned with the problem of reasoning about properties of higher order functions involving state. It is motivated by the desire to identify what, if any, are the difficulties created purely by locality of state, independent of other properties such as side-effects, exceptional termination and nontermination due to recursion. We consider a simple language (equivalent to a fragment of Standard ML) of typed, higher order functions that can dynamically create fresh names. Names are created with local scope, can be tested for equality and can be passed around via function application, but that is all. We demonstrate that despite the simplicity of the language and its operational semantics, the observable properties of such functions can be very subtle. Two methods are introduced for analyzing Morris-style observational equivalence between expressions in the language. The first method introduces a notion of ‘applicative’ equivalence incorporating a syntactic version of O’Hearn and Tennent’s relationally parametric functors and a version of representation independence for local names. This applicative equivalence is properly contained in the relation of observational equivalence, but coincides with it for first order expressions (and is decidable there). The second method develops a general, categorical framework for computationally adequate models of the language, based on Moggi’s monadic approach to denotational semantics. We give examples of models, one of which is fully abstract for first order expressions. No fully abstract (concrete) model of the whole language is known. Supported by UK SERC grant GR/G53279 and CEC ESPRIT project CLICS-II Supported by UK SERC studentship 91307943 and CEC SCIENCE project PL910296
Draft Genome Sequence of Bradyrhizobium elkanii TnphoA 33, a Producer of Polyhydroxyalkanoates

ABSTRACT The genus Bradyrhizobium comprises bacteria with the ability to form nitrogen-fixing symbioses with legumes. They are of great interest in agriculture, as well as for the production of biopolymers such as polyhydroxyalkanoates. Here, we report the draft genome assembly of Bradyrhizobium elkanii TnphoA 33 comprising 9 Mb, 1,124 contigs, and 9,418 open reading frames.
Optimizing the Implementation of Communication in Synchronous Reactive Models

A fundamental asset of a model-based development process is the capability of providing an automatic implementation of the model that preserves its semantics and, at the same time, makes an efficient use of the resources of the execution platform. The implementation of communication between functional blocks in a synchronous reactive model requires buffering schemes and access procedures at the kernel level. Previous research has provided two competing proposals for the sizing of the communication buffer. We demonstrate how it is possible to leverage task timing information to obtain tighter bounds for the case of sporadic tasks or periodic tasks with unknown activation phase, and we propose an approach that applies to a more general model. Furthermore, we provide the description of the data structures and constant-time access procedures for writer and reader tasks, and an implementation compliant with the OSEK OS standard.
MiniSec: A Secure Sensor Network Communication Architecture

Secure sensor network communication protocols need to provide three basic properties: data secrecy, authentication, and replay protection. Secure sensor network link layer protocols such as Tiny- Sec (C. Karlof et al., 2004) and ZigBee (2005) enjoy significant attention in the community. However, TinySec achieves low energy consumption by reducing the level of security provided. In contrast, ZigBee enjoys high security, but suffers from high energy consumption. MiniSec is a secure network layer that obtains the best of both worlds: low energy consumption and high security. MiniSec has two operating modes, one tailored for single-source communication, and another tailored for multi-source broadcast communication. The latter does not require per-sender state for replay protection and thus scales to large networks. We present a publicly available implementation of MiniSec for the Telos platform, and experimental results demonstrate our low energy utilization.
Concurrent atomic protocols for making and changing decisions in social networks

We study a novel data management scenario, in which social networks participants use protocols in order to manage their activities and the ever-growing data available to them in the network. In particular, we study protocols which operate on a consistent network (that we define), and transform it into another consistent state by atomically performing a set of changes. Multiple protocol instances, which work on intersecting parts of the network graphs are able to operate concurrently.
C. elegans GLP-1/Notch activates transcription in a probability gradient across the germline stem cell pool

C. elegans Notch signaling maintains a pool of germline stem cells within their single-celled mesenchymal niche. Here we investigate the Notch transcriptional response in germline stem cells using single-molecule fluorescence in situ hybridization coupled with automated, high-throughput quantitation. This approach allows us to distinguish Notch-dependent nascent transcripts in the nucleus from mature mRNAs in the cytoplasm. We find that Notch-dependent active transcription sites occur in a probabilistic fashion and, unexpectedly, do so in a steep gradient across the stem cell pool. Yet these graded nuclear sites create a nearly uniform field of mRNAs that extends beyond the region of transcriptional activation. Therefore, active transcription sites provide a precise view of where the Notch-dependent transcriptional complex is productively engaged. Our findings offer a new window into the Notch transcriptional response and demonstrate the importance of assaying nascent transcripts at active transcription sites as a readout for canonical signaling. DOI: http://dx.doi. org/10.7554/eLife.18370. 001
MAP kinases p38 and JNK are activated by the steroid hormone 1α,25(OH)2‐vitamin D3 in the C2C12 muscle cell line

In chick skeletal muscle cell primary cultures, we previously demonstrated that 1α,25(OH)2‐vitamin D3 [1α,25(OH)2D3], the hormonally active form of vitamin D, increases the phosphorylation and activity of the extracellular signal‐regulated mitogen‐activated protein (MAP) kinase isoforms ERK1 and ERK2, their subsequent translocation to the nucleus and involvement in DNA synthesis stimulation. In this study, we show that other members of the MAP kinase superfamily are also activated by the hormone. Using the muscle cell line C2C12 we found that 1α,25(OH)2D3 within 1 min phosphorylates and increases the activity of p38 MAPK. The immediately upstream mitogen‐activated protein kinase kinases 3/6 (MKK3/MKK6) were also phosphorylated by the hormone suggesting their participation in p38 activation. 1α,25(OH)2D3 was able to dephosphorylate/activate the ubiquitous cytosolic tyrosine kinase c‐Src in C2C12 cells and studies with specific inhibitors imply that Src participates in hormone induced‐p38 activation. Of relevance, 1α,25(OH)2D3 induced in the C2C12 line the stimulation of mitogen‐activated protein kinase activating protein kinase 2 (MAPKAP‐kinase 2) and subsequent phosphorylation of heat shock protein 27 (HSP27) in a p38 kinase activation‐dependent manner. Treatment with the p38 inhibitor, SB203580, blocked p38 phosphorylation caused by the hormone and inhibited the phosphorylation of its downstrean substrates. 1α,25(OH)2D3 also promotes the phosphorylation of c‐jun N‐terminal protein kinases (JNK 1/2), the response is fast (0.5–1 min) and maximal phosphorylation of the enzyme is observed at physiological doses of 1α,25(OH)2D3 (1 nM). The relative contribution of ERK‐1/2, p38, and JNK‐1/2 and their interrelationships in hormonal regulation of muscle cell proliferation and differentiation remain to be established. J. Cell. Biochem. 97: 698–708, 2006. © 2005 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
The Relevant Research of Mobile Learning Mode and Information Ability Indicator in Countrified Area

This study examines the utility of mobile learning mode and information ability indicator for bridging the digital divide in countrified area based on technology acceptance model (TAM). Using the TAM as a research fram work, 247 learners from urban or countrified area responsed to an 4-item questionnaires containing six constructs. Canonical correlation, One-way ANOVA was employed as the main method of analysis in this study. This study aims to investigate the effects of information ability indicator and mobile learning mode on the TAM of learners within the context of digital divede area. the experimental results show that those learners who own better information ability indicator presented a significant effect in their technology acceptance level. Also, matching the learning style of learners with the appropriate mobile learning mode shows significant effects on learning in a countrified area.
Multihop wireless networks with infrastructure support (MWNIs): extending the coverage of WLANs with multihop networks

We consider a multihop wireless network with infrastructure support (MWNI) that can be constructed from an existing IEEE 802.11 based WLANs with multihop extension. Assuming that only a singe network interface card operating on a single channel MAC is equipped in each mobile host, we identify the characteristics of such a network and the challenges in designing a routing algorithm to maximally utilize all the available channels. A new load metric is first proposed that considers possible spatial reuse, and a QoS-aware routing protocol is then proposed to enhance the QoS for the admitted traffic. Through simulation evaluation, a routing algorithm with such considerations is shown to be able to achieve more stable performance comparing with existing routing algorithms in MWNIs, while fully utilizing available resources.
Sector cache design and performance

The first commercially available CPU cache memory used a sector design, by which the cache consisted of sectors (address tags) and subsectors (or blocks, with valid bits). It rapidly became clear that superior performance could be obtained with the now familiar set-associative cache design. Because of changes in technology, the time has come to revisit the design of sector caches. Sector caches have the feature that large numbers of bytes can be controlled using relatively small numbers of tag bits, while not having to transfer very large blocks. This suggests the use of sector caches for multi-level cache designs. In such a design, the cache tags can be placed at a high level (e.g., on the processor chip) and the cache data array can be placed at a lower level (e.g., off-chip). We present a thorough analysis of the design and use of uniprocessor sector caches. We start by creating a standard workload and then through simulation derive miss ratios for a wide range of sector cache designs. Those miss ratios are transformed into design target miss ratios, which are intended to be representative of a wide range of workloads. The miss ratios are then used to estimate performance, using typical timings, for a variety of one-level and true-level cache designs.
ASPERGER SYNDROME: A QUALITATIVE STUDY OF SUCCESSFUL EDUCATIONAL INTERVENTIONS

This paper reports the outcomes of a study that utilized descriptive, qualitative methods and a series of case studies to investigate how students are diagnosed with pervasive developmental disorders, specifically Asperger syndrome under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. The study focuses on students attending elementary schools in the counties of southern New Jersey. A sample of 12 students ranging in age from 8-13, was drawn from 9 public schools and 3 private elementary schools in the South Jersey area. A neurologist diagnosed all the students as having Asperger syndrome. Data collection relied upon semi-structured field interviews with special education teachers, regular education teachers, and other school personnel directly involved with educating the children with Asperger syndrome. Data was collected from researcher observations in the academic and unstructured classroom setting. Findings of the study indicate that a small teacher to student ratio was the most successful form of academic intervention, while the behavior modification system in conjunction with positive teacher attitudes was the most successful form of behavioral intervention. Successful forms of social skills intervention were sparse, which indicates a need for further exploration in that area. The report closes with teaching recommendations. An appendix includes the diagnostic criteria for Asperger syndrome. (Contains 36 references.) (CR) Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document.
Are Deluded People Unusually Prone to Illusory Correlation?

This study reexamines the possibility that paranoid individuals are unusually prone to perceive illusory correlations. The authors use emotionally neutralword pairs to examine the illusory correlation phenomenon in three diagnostic groups: nonparanoid schizophrenia (n = 10), paranoid schizophrenia or delusional disorder (n = 9), and depression (n = 10). Aone-way analysis of variance shows that the three groups do not differ in their tendency to make illusory correlations. Three separate t tests that compare the data from each of the clinical groups in this study with normative data again reveal no significant difference. The clinical implications of these findings are discussed.
Lockr: social access control for web 2.0

Sharing personal content online is surprisingly hard despite the recent emergence of a huge number of content sharing systems and sites. These systems suffer from several drawbacks: they each have a different way of providing access control which cannot be used with other systems; moving to a new system is a lengthy process and requires registration and invitation of all one's friends to the new system; and the rules for access control are complicated and become more so as our networks of online friends grow. In this paper, we present Lockr - an access control scheme based on social relationships that makes sharing personal content easy. Lockr separates social networking information from the content sharing mechanisms, thereby eliminating the need for users to maintain many site-specific copies of their social networks. We describe Lockr's design, security properties, and limitations. We also present how we integrated Lockr with two popular systems for sharing content online - BitTorrent and Flickr.
BOAT: Building Auto-Tuners with Structured Bayesian Optimization

Due to their complexity, modern systems expose many configuration parameters which users must tune to maximize performance. Auto-tuning has emerged as an alternative in which a black-box optimizer iteratively evaluates configurations to find efficient ones. Unfortunately, for many systems, such as distributed systems, evaluating performance takes too long and the space of configurations is too large for the optimizer to converge within a reasonable time. We present BOAT, a framework which allows developers to build efficient bespoke auto-tuners for their system, in situations where generic auto-tuners fail. At BOAT's core is structured Bayesian optimization (SBO), a novel extension of the Bayesian optimization algorithm. SBO leverages contextual information provided by system developers, in the form of a probabilistic model of the system's behavior, to make informed decisions about which configurations to evaluate. In a case study, we tune the scheduling of a neural network computation on a heterogeneous cluster. Our auto-tuner converges within ten iterations. The optimized configurations outperform those found by generic auto-tuners in thirty iterations by up to 2X.
Star formation in bar environments ⋆ II . Physical properties , age and abundances of H ii regions

The nebular properties (electronic density, extinction , age, O/H abundances) of H ii regions found along the bars of the sample of barred spiral galaxies studied by Martin & Friedli (1997) are examined. From line ratio diagnostic diagrams, it is showed that regions located along the major axis of the bars have a normal photoionization spectrum, that is, line ratios reproductible from nebular conditions and ionizing star radiation field normally encountered in extragalactic H ii regions. There is an indication , however, that their degree of ionization might be somewhat different. Another ionization mechanism (high-velocity shocks or hard UV radiation) is clearly present for regions found nearby the centers of the galaxies. The electronic density of the regions along the bars is very close to that of disc regions (N e ∼ 80 cm −3). On average , bar and disc regions have a similar visual extinction (A V ∼ 1 mag) with exceptions for some regions located near the bar dust lanes of the earlier types of galaxies in our sample. Although the average Hα equivalent width of bar H ii regions (∼250Å) is half that of disc regions, this disparity could be due to uncertainties in the galactic continuum and does not translate into a significant age difference. The oxygen abundance distribution was also investigated in the bar of these galaxies. The O/H scatter was found to be very small (<0.1 dex) indicating that mixing of the chemical composition by gas flows is very efficient in a barred structure. Send offprint requests to: P. Martin ⋆ Observations reported in this paper were obtained at the Multiple Mirror Telescope Observatory, a facility operated jointly by the University of Arizona and the Smithsonian Institution