Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The conditional inactivation of the β-catenin gene in endothelial cells causes a defective vascular pattern and increased vascular fragility

Using the Cre/loxP system we conditionally inactivated β-catenin in endothelial cells. We found that early phases of vasculogenesis and angiogenesis were not affected in mutant embryos; however, vascular patterning in the head, vitelline, umbilical vessels, and the placenta was altered. In addition, in many regions, the vascular lumen was irregular with the formation of lacunae at bifurcations, vessels were frequently hemorrhagic, and fluid extravasation in the pericardial cavity was observed. Cultured β-catenin −/− endothelial cells showed a different organization of intercellular junctions with a decrease in α-catenin in favor of desmoplakin and marked changes in actin cytoskeleton. These changes paralleled a decrease in cell–cell adhesion strength and an increase in paracellular permeability. We conclude that in vivo, the absence of β-catenin significantly reduces the capacity of endothelial cells to maintain intercellular contacts. This may become more marked when the vessels are exposed to high or turbulent flow, such as at bifurcations or in the beating heart, leading to fluid leakage or hemorrhages.
Exploiting real-time information retrieval in the microblogosphere

Information seeking behavior in microblogging environments such as Twitter differs from traditional web search. The best performing microblog retrieval techniques attempt to utilize both semantic and temporal aspects of documents. In this paper, we present an effective approach, including the query modeling, the document modeling and the temporal re-ranking, to discover the most recent but relevant information to the query. For the query modeling, we introduce a two-stage pseudo-relevance feedback query expansion to overcome the severe vocabulary-mismatch problem of short message retrieval in microblog. For the document modeling, we propose two ways to expand document with the help of the shortened URL. For the temporal re-ranking, we suggest several methods to evaluate the temporal aspects of documents. Experimental results demonstrate that our approach obtains significant improvements compared with baseline systems. Specifically, the proposed system gives 26.37% and 9.94% further increases in P@30 and MAP over the best performing result on highrel in the TREC'11 Real-Time Search Task.
How to track efficiently piecewise curved contours with a view to reconstructing 3D objects

This paper addresses the problem of rigid and nonpolyhedral object tracking in complex environments without a priori knowledge neither on objects nor on the camera motion. The key of our approach is to propose a robust curve based tracking algorithm founded on an iterative registration method and exploiting our rigid snake model. In order to ensure the convergence of the tracking process, we then present supervision strategies we have developed to control both the prediction step and the snake convergence. Finally, since recovering accurate contour localization is important for reconstruction task, we propose a cooperative use of the snake model and of a corner detector to finely detect piecewise curved contours.
Viewing Classifier Systems as Model Free Learning in POMDPs

Classifier systems are now viewed disappointing because of their problems such as the rule strength vs rule set performance problem and the credit assignment problem. In order to solve the problems, we have developed a hybrid classifier system: GLS (Generalization Learning System). In designing GLS, we view CSs as model free learning in POMDPs and take a hybrid approach to finding the best generalization, given the total number of rules. GLS uses the policy improvement procedure by Jaakkola et al. for an locally optimal stochastic policy when a set of rule conditions is given. GLS uses GA to search for the best set of rule conditions.
High prevalence of multidrug-resistant MRSA in a tertiary care hospital of northern India

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is an important nosocomial and community pathogen. The objectives of this study were to estimate the prevalence of multidrug-resistant MRSA strains in clinical specimens and to investigate the sensitivity pattern of these strains against various antibiotics used for treating hospitalized and out patients. Strains were identified using standard procedures, and their sensitivity pattern was investigated using such techniques as disc diffusion, minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC), and the mecA gene PCR. Among 783 isolates of S. aureus, 301 (38.44%) were methicillin-resistant, of which 217 (72.1%) were found to be multidrug-resistant. Almost all MRSA strains were resistant to penicillin, 95.68% were resistant to cotrimoxazole, 92.36% were resistant to chloramphenicol, 90.7% were resistant to norfloxacin, 76.1% were resistant to tetracycline, and 75.75% were resistant to ciprofloxacin. Vancomycin was the most effective drug, with only 0.33% of MRSA strains being resistant to it. It is concluded that antibiotics other than vancomycin can be used as anti-MRSA agents after a sensitivity test so as to preclude the emergence of resistance to it and that prevailing problems in chemotherapy will escalate unless indiscriminate and irrational usage of antibiotics is checked.
Old Lamps for New

The mnemonic techniques of the past, like mind maps, metaphors, and narrative theory, offer research students, especially doctoral candidates, another cognitive support. These techniques pre-date computers (and possibly literacy), so shift cognitive organization from the page or the computer screen to the mind. This article compares early memory theory and the process of research thinking. Three useful pointers to the thesis writer emerge from mnemonics: the use of concrete images to conceptualize the abstract; the use of mental architecture to conceive of structure; and recognition that the cognitive structuring process is ontologically significant. It is hoped that in an age of electronics a reminder of the capacity of the human mind to establish an architectural filing system may be encouraging to doctoral students engaged with structuring their theses.
The Interpretation And Resolution Of Resource Allocation Issues In Professional Organizations: A Critical Examination Of The Professional‐Manager Dichotomy*

Professional organizations have long been depicted as rife with conflict between professionals, who are assumed to represent the interests of their profession, and managers, who are assumed to represent the potentially competing interests of the organization. This study examines the validity of this assumption. Based on past research on both professional organizations and knowledge structure development, we predict that to the extent that professionals and managers conflict, they may do so because they interpret ‘identical’ issues differently. The results of a study of resource allocation decision preferences with 350 chief financial officers, chief medical officers, and physicians revealed strong support for our issue interpretation predictions, and virtually no support for the simple professional–manager dichotomy. Specifically, using structural equation modeling, we found that: (1) single resource allocation issues could be interpreted in multiple ways; (2) issue interpretations were strong predictors of decision preferences; (3) professionals and managers tended to interpret issues differently, although many of the differences were not consistent with past theorizing about professionals; (4) the interpretations and decision preferences of professionals who occupied management positions were like those of other professionals but different from those of managers; and (5) decision maker status (i.e., professional and/or manager) was only modestly related to decision preference. Our findings suggest that the sources and manifestations of a professional–manager dichotomy are more complex than previously reported.
California Polytechnic State University , San Luis Obispo From the SelectedWorks of Robert A . McDonald September 21 , 2009 Cost-Benefit Analysis of Error Reduction for Complex Systems

a. Ability to reduce a general problem to specific points of analysis. b. Ability to organize points of analysis into a logical sequence. c. Ability to apply competence acquired in other courses to the successful completion of a specific project. d. Ability to obtain information necessary to the solution of a problem by library study, experimentation, and/or correspondence and personal contact with men or women who have had experience in the field. e. Ability to follow a work outline without overlooking any major points or significant details. f. Recognition of the fact that completion of a project on schedule is an essential element of successful work. g. Ability to organize, illustrate, and write a clear, concise, and correct report of the investigation. h. Ability to work for a supervisor who desires quality performance with a minimum of supervision.
Understanding Social Media Adoption: The Role Of Perceived Media Needs And Technology Characteristics

Evidence suggests that consumer’s needs for traditional media constitutes an essential determinant in consumer media adoption. However, studies on the need for non-traditional media still remain scarce. It continues to be questionable whether consumer media needs would have the same significant impact on social media, since its nature is highly interactive and user controlled. Drawing upon the Uses and Gratification Theory and Diffusion of Innovation Theory, this paper aims to understand the adoption of social media among Internet users. A proposed model is developed by integrating the dimensions of consumer perceived media needs and perceived characteristics of social media technology as the drivers for adoption behaviour. The model will be able to better enhance the understanding of researchers and practitioners of consumer predictive needs and their relationship to the speed of consumer adoption behaviour in social media.
Making connections: the relevance of the social model of disability for people with learning difficulties

Summary The present paper explores the social model of disability and its significance for people with learning difficulties. The authors argue that, while the social model has been adopted as an explicit framework for analysis by many people with physical and sensory impairments, its impact on people with learning difficulties, and the non-disabled people who write about them or research with them has been much less marked. In the first part of the present paper, the authors examine why the social model appears to have neglected learning difficulty and why learning difficulty researchers have not utilized the social model as a means for understanding the experiences of people with learning difficulties. Drawing on research with self-advocates, the second part of this paper discusses the way that many people with learning difficulties can be seen to engage with ideas inherent to the social model. However, the political nature of many of the everyday actions of people with learning difficulties, which impinges on the social model, is not recognized. Consequently, it has not been theorized.
Multivariate Autoregressive Model with Instantaneous Effects to Improve Brain Connectivity Estimation

Evaluation of brain connectivity in the frequency domain is based on prior multivariate autoregressive (MVAR) model identification from multichannel neurological time series. The MVAR model commonly used in neuroscience applications accounts only for lagged effects among the time series and forsakes instantaneous effects. However, zero-lag interactions are likely to occur among simultaneously recorded neural signals, and the impact of their exclusion on connectivity measures has not been investigated yet. In this study we propose the use of an extended MVAR model including instantaneous effects, and compare its performance to that of the traditional MVAR approach using the Partial Directed Coherence (PDC). We show by simulations that, in presence of zero-lag correlations, the PDC derived from traditional MVAR modeling may produce misleading frequency domain connectivity evaluation, and that in such situations the correct connectivity pattern is recovered using the extended MVAR model. Then we provide examples of multichannel EEG recordings in which instantaneous effects are found to be far from negligible, and thus extended MVAR modeling seems more suitable to elucidate direction and strength of the interactions among EEG rhythms.
Tips and Techniques for MOOC Production

MOOCs represent a new medium for education. In this paper, we describe some of the best practices identified after having produc- ed and run a MOOC in 2013 for the first run of MiríadaX, having set up a service unit at Univ. Carlos III de Madrid (UC3M) for the production of MOOCs (mainly for edX) and SPOCs for internal use, and continuing to be active in MOOCs and MOOC-related production at both sides of the Atlantic (in Spain and Chile).
Arabidopsis intron mutations and pre-mRNA splicing.

Arabidopsis intron mutants provide and will continue to provide a valuable source of information on in vivo plant intron splicing. All of the characterized mutants discussed here contain base substitutions in either the 5' splice site :GU or 3' splice site AG: dinucleotides or broader splice site consensus sequences. Many of these mutations lead to the activation of cryptic splice sites, usually upstream or downstream of the authentic 5' and 3' splice sites respectively, often with reduced efficiency. This splicing behaviour is in agreement with detailed splicing analyses of test plant introns. However, some of the Arabidopsis mutations lead to more complex splicing patterns often involving exon skipping. These mutations illustrate the complexity of the splicing reaction (where the final splicing event reflects the characteristics such as splice site sequence, intron size and composition, and their interactions with spliceosomal components) and how single nucleotide mutations can affect the strength and balance of interactions to alter splicing patterns. The splicing patterns observed in the Arabidopsis mutants parallel those seen in mutations causing some human genetic disorders underlining the emerging similarities in mechanisms of splice site selection and intron/exon definition between plant and vertebrate systems. Analysis of the Arabidopsis intron mutations exhibiting complex splicing patterns will help to address fundamental questions in plant splicing, such as splice site selection and exon scanning. This information will be important in understanding the mechanisms by which gene expression is regulated post-transcriptionally in the ever-increasing number of alternatively spliced plant gene systems.
Genome sequences of Phytophthora enable translational plant disease management and accelerate research

Abstract Whole and partial genome sequences are becoming available at an ever-increasing pace. For many plant pathogen systems, we are moving into the era of genome resequencing. The first Phytophthora genomes, P. ramorum and P. sojae, became available in 2004, followed shortly by P. infestans in 2006. Availability of whole genome sequences has provided rapid and immediate advances in several areas also resulting in many practical applications and critical new insights. Availability of comparative genome data facilitated discovery of new classes of effectors, such as the RxLR-dEER and crinkler effector families. Genome data also enabled development of molecular markers for population genomic approaches that provided critical new insights into the evolutionary history of species and clades of Phytophthora. Several select examples of advances resulting from comparative genomic approaches in a concerted effort of the Oomycete research community are reviewed.
Context in Dynamic Modelling

This paper explores the nature of dynamic context, particularly in regards to how it is used in dynamic modelling of interaction. The role of context is considered in two parts: how context constrains behaviour potential at each point of a social process; and how the context is changed as the result of behaviour. Various Systemic approaches to each of these questions are compared. The paper then turns towards the major problem of all of these approaches, that of prescriptivism, and points towards some solutions.
Poster Abstract : DHB-KEYA Diffie-Hellman Key Distribution Protocol for Wireless Sensor Networks

Many sensor network applications require secure communication between sensor nodes and the sink. This paper presents a key distribution scheme based on the well known Elliptic Curve Diffie-Hellman key exchange mechanism. The DHB-KEY scheme is performed in two stages. The first stage is carried out in a secure environment before network deployment. The second stage is carried out periodically using a single broadcast message. Each node arrives at a unique key it shares with the sink. This paper presents a first evaluation and a prototype implementation of the protocol. We have found that the presented key distribution approach uses energy and communication resources efficiently and has a low deployment complexity.
Circular Spatial improved watermark embedding using a new Global SIFT synchronization scheme

In image watermarking, many attacks will result in a synchronization problem between embedder and detector. A novel way to, partly, overcome this problem is embedding with feature points. In this paper we describe a synchronization system based on SIFT feature points. These points are characterized as being a localized feature containing semantic information of the image and can usually be retrieved after the image is attacked. We present an improvement on the work of Lee et al.[1], by using a more robust SIFT algorithm for feature point detection which we called Global SIFT (GLOS) and an adaptation of the Circular Spatial watermarking algorithm using so called mean QIM (CSI). We experimentally show an increase in detection rate and robustness of the watermarks after geometric attacks.
Examining the Effect of Self-Image Congruence, Relative to Education and Networking, on Conference Evaluation Through Its Competing Models and Moderating Effect

This study sought to elaborate on the effect of self-image congruence on conference evaluation by analyzing two competing nested models and the moderating effect of self-image congruence on the relationship between networking and attendee satisfaction. This study sampled members of a U.S. academic association who had previously attended its annual conference. Self-image congruence was found to significantly improve Model 2 (the proposed model) in evaluating a conference. Self-image congruence also moderated the networking-satisfaction path. In addition to networking and education, self-image congruence was found to affect conference evaluation by attendees. Findings of the study provided theoretical and practical implications for meeting organizers/planners to better design meetings.
Distributed Exploitation of Spectrum and Channel State Information for Channel Reservation and Selection in Interweave Cognitive Radio Networks

A channel-and-sensing-aware channel access (CSCA) policy is proposed for multi-channel interweave cognitive radio systems, where multiple secondary users (SUs) are competing for transmission to a common access point. The proposed CSCA policy consists of two key elements: (i) a decentralized channel selection policy that allows each SU to utilize knowledge of both the spectrum occupancy information and its local channel state information to make local channel access decisions and (ii) a channel reservation policy that allows each SU to compete for use of its selected channel by emitting short reservation packets at the beginning of each frame. In the reservation period, a channel-aware splitting algorithm is utilized to resolve collision among SUs that are competing for the same channel. The splitting procedure is optimized with respect to SUs' channel selection policy and ensures that the SU with the best channel quality prevails when collision is resolved. The CSCA policy is derived with the goal of maximizing the SU's throughput subject to a constraint on the probability of collision with primary users (PUs). To satisfy the collision probability constraint, a minimum channel gain threshold is set on each channel to limit the probability that the channel is accessed by SUs. An iterative algorithm is proposed to optimize the parameters in the channel selection and reservation policies, and a low-complexity policy is devised for use in systems with large numbers of channels. The proposed CSCA policies allow SUs to exploit optimally the tradeoff between spectrum availability and channel quality.
Impact evaluation of educational development programmes

Although most educational development professionals value the importance of monitoring their programme's impact, systematic evaluation is not common, and often relies on inference measures such as extent of participation and satisfaction. This paper discusses approaches to programme impact evaluation in terms of six possible points of focus: (1) participants' perceptions/satisfaction; (2) participants' beliefs about teaching and learning; (3) participants' teaching performance; (4) students' perceptions of staff's teaching performance; (5) students' learning; and (6) effects on the culture of the institution. Whatever focus is selected it is important to address the following questions: (1) What is the intended impact? (2) Why evaluate? (3) When to evaluate? (4) Who evaluates? (5) How to evaluate? (6) Is the actual impact the same as the intended impact and is the actual impact desirable? (7) Who should receive the results of the evaluation? (8) What will happen as a consequence? Based on these two sets of questions, a 6 x 8 matrix is proposed to guide the evaluation of educational development initiatives. It is argued that the approach to impact evaluation needs to be aligned with the focus of the desired change as well as the intervention strategies used to bring about such change.
Systèmes d'innovation et communautés de connaissances dans le secteur agricole et agroalimentaire

This article examines how research on agriculture and agribusiness mobilizes the concept of Innovation System (IS). The literature review on IS provides an analytical framework that distinguishes the theoretical background, the scope and the social uses of this concept. Based on this framework, a bibliometric analysis on international scientific journals in innovation and agriculture reveals the existence of four knowledge communities that question differently the specific character of innovation and IS in this sector. The current challenge is to promote exchanges between these communities, particularly between the community which applies the evolutionary approach to the agri-food sector, and the epistemic community which seeks to build its own concepts emanating from rural sociology, economics of development and the farming system approach.
The Distribution of Burst Energy and Shock Parameters for Gamma-Ray Bursts

We calculate the luminosity function for gamma-ray burst afterglows in some fixed observed frequency band and at some fixed elapsed time in observer frame (tobs) in two models—one in which the explosion takes place in a uniform density medium and another in which the density falls off as inverse square (expected for stellar winds). For photon energies greater than about 500 eV and tobs ≳ 103 s, the afterglow flux is independent of interstellar medium (ISM) density and luminosity functions for wind and uniform ISM are identical. We deduce from the width of the observed X-ray afterglow distribution, 5 hr after the burst, that the FWHM of the distribution for isotropic energy in explosion and the fractional energy in electrons (ϵe) are each less than about 1 order of magnitude and the FWHM for the electron energy index is 0.6 or less.