Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A Novel Hierarchical Method of Ship Detection from Spaceborne Optical Image Based on Shape and Texture Features

Ship detection from remote sensing imagery is very important, with a wide array of applications in areas such as fishery management, vessel traffic services, and naval warfare. This paper focuses on the issue of ship detection from spaceborne optical images (SDSOI). Although advantages of synthetic-aperture radar (SAR) result in that most of current ship detection approaches are based on SAR images, disadvantages of SAR still exist, such as the limited number of SAR sensors, the relatively long revisit cycle, and the relatively lower resolution. With the increasing number of and the resulting improvement in continuous coverage of the optical sensors, SDSOI can partly overcome the shortcomings of SAR-based approaches and should be investigated to help satisfy the requirements of real-time ship monitoring. In SDSOI, several factors such as clouds, ocean waves, and small islands affect the performance of ship detection. This paper proposes a novel hierarchical complete and operational SDSOI approach based on shape and texture features, which is considered a sequential coarse-to-fine elimination process of false alarms. First, simple shape analysis is adopted to eliminate evident false candidates generated by image segmentation with global and local information and to extract ship candidates with missing alarms as low as possible. Second, a novel semisupervised hierarchical classification approach based on various features is presented to distinguish between ships and nonships to remove most false alarms. Besides a complete and operational SDSOI approach, the other contributions of our approach include the following three aspects: 1) it classifies ship candidates by using their class probability distributions rather than the direct extracted features; 2) the relevant classes are automatically built by the samples' appearances and their feature attribute in a semisupervised mode; and 3) besides commonly used shape and texture features, a new texture operator, i.e., local multiple patterns, is introduced to enhance the representation ability of the feature set in feature extraction. Experimental results of SDSOI on a large image set captured by optical sensors from multiple satellites show that our approach is effective in distinguishing between ships and nonships, and obtains a satisfactory ship detection performance.
TCM Analysis of Defected Ground Structures for MIMO Antenna Designs in Mobile Terminals

In this paper, the theory of characteristic modes (TCMs) is used for the first time to analyze the behavior of defected ground structures (DGS), when added to antenna designs. A properly designed DGS introduces currents opposite in direction to the original characteristic modes (CM) currents thus reducing mutual coupling. TCM is also applied to multiple-input-multiple-output (MIMO) antenna systems to develop a systematic approach that can predict whether the isolation can be enhanced further or not. For this purpose two 4-element and one 2-element MIMO designs, i.e. monopole and planar inverted-F antennas are studied. The addition of different antenna elements affects the CM significantly as well as differently. Some of the CM excited on the antenna surface contributes to the coupling between the antenna ports that is why they can be classified as coupling modes. To improve the isolation, the DGS should be introduced at certain locations that blocks the coupling modes but at the same time does not affect the non-coupling modes. If there is no such location or the current on the surface of the chassis for coupling and non-coupling modes is approximately same, the isolation cannot be enhanced further. Using this approach, isolation was improved on an average by 11 dB in all the designs considered, giving the most isolation enhancement following a systematic way compared to other works.
Creation of a histone deacetylase 6 inhibitor and its biological effects

Significance We discovered an improved hydroxamic acid-based small-molecule N-hydroxy-4-[(N(2-hydroxyethyl)-2-phenylacetamido)methyl)benzamide)] that selectively inhibits histone deacetylase 6 catalytic activity in vivo and in vitro. This can have important anticancer activity. We report the development of a potent, selective histone deacetylase 6 (HDAC6) inhibitor. This HDAC6 inhibitor blocks growth of normal and transformed cells but does not induce death of normal cells. The HDAC6 inhibitor alone is as effective as paclitaxel in anticancer activity in tumor-bearing mice.
Polypeptide-Based Gold Nanoshells for Photothermal Therapy

Targeted killing of cancer cells by engineered nanoparticles holds great promise for noninvasive photothermal therapy applications. We present the design and generation of a novel class of gold nanoshells with cores composed of self-assembled block copolypeptide vesicles with photothermal properties. Specifically, poly(L-lysine)60-block-poly(L-leucine)20 (K60L20) block copolypeptide vesicles coated with a thin layer of gold demonstrate enhanced absorption of light due to surface plasmon resonance (SPR) in the near-infrared range. We show that the polypeptide-based K60L20 gold nanoshells have low toxicity in the absence of laser exposure, significant heat generation upon exposure to near-infrared light, and, as a result, localized cytotoxicity within the region of laser irradiation in vitro. To gain a better understanding of our gold nanoshells in the context of photothermal therapy, we developed a comprehensive mathematical model for heat transfer and experimentally validated this model by predicting the temperature as a function of time and position in our experimental setup. This model can be used to predict which parameters of our gold nanoshells can be manipulated to improve heat generation for tumor destruction. To our knowledge, our results represent the first ever use of block copolypeptide vesicles as the core material of gold nanoshells.
On constructing and analysing an interpretable brain model for the DNN based on hidden activity patterns

Deep Neural Network (DNN) has been well received as a powerful machine learning model in a wide range of pattern classification tasks. Despite its superior performance in handling complex real-world problems, DNNs have been used pretty much as a black box, without offering much insights in terms of how and why high quality classification performance has been achieved. To address this problem, this paper studies the DNN hidden unit activities and presents a novel interpretable DNN visualisation technique that projects the hidden units of the DNN onto a meaningful 2-dimensional subspace. The projected points are displayed with colours to reflect the activation values for the purpose of visualisation. In this paper, the proposed technique is used to visualise two DNN acoustic models trained on the multi-condition data from the Aurora 4 corpus. The technique is able to produce a two dimensional representation of the DNN "brain" with interpretable regions. It also accentuates the effect of how the behaviour of the hidden units changes across different layers.
Transient expression of human telomerase extends the life span of normal human fibroblasts.

We utilized the Cre/lox recombination system to transiently express the catalytic subunit of telomerase (hTERT) in normal diploid foreskin fibroblasts (BJ cells). A retroviral construct containing an hTERT cDNA, flanked by loxP-sites was introduced into near senescent BJ cells (population doubling 85). At population doubling (PD) 92, which exceeds the typical life span of these cells, we excised the gene via Cre-mediated recombination. All clones lost telomerase activity and showed telomere shortening over an additional 50 PDs. Interestingly, the average telomere length in these cells became shorter than in untreated BJ cells at senescence. This may be due to hTERT preferentially elongating the shortest telomeres, leading to greater length uniformity. In summary, transient telomerase expression and only a very small average telomere elongation by hTERT resulted in a 50% increase in life span of human fibroblasts. This suggests a potentially safe use of hTERT in tissue engineering.
A PER3 polymorphism is associated with better overall survival in diffuse large B-cell lymphoma in Mexican population.

BACKGROUND Diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) is the most common subtype of malignant lymphoma. Presently, one of the most important clinical predictors of survival in DLBCL patients is the International Prognostic Index (IPI). Circadian rhythms are the approximate 24 hour biological rhythms with more than 10 genes making up the molecular clock. OBJECTIVE Determine if functional single nucleotide polymorphism in circadian genes may contribute to survival status in patients diagnosed with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma. METHODS Sixteen high-risk non-synonymous polymorphisms in circadian genes (CLOCK, CRY2, CSNK1E, CSNK2A1, NPAS2, PER1, PER2, PER3, PPP2CA, and TIM) were genotyped by screening PCR. Results were visualized by agarose gel electrophoresis and confirmed by two-direction sequencing. Clinical variables were compared between mutated and non-mutated groups. LogRank survival analysis and Kaplan-Meier method were used to calculate the overall survival. RESULTS PER3 rs10462020 variant showed significant difference in overall survival between patients containing mutated genotypes and those with non-mutated genotypes (p = 0.047). LDH levels (p = 0.021) and IPI score (p < 0.001) also showed differences in overall survival. No clinical differences were observed in mutated vs. non-mutated patients. CONCLUSIONS This work suggests a role of PER3 rs10462020 in predicting a prognosis in DLBCL overall survival of patients.
Trauma, anxiety and reported health among HIV-positive persons in Tanzania and the US Deep South

Abstract Little research has been conducted in less wealthy nations to evaluate the prevalence of severe life traumas in general population groups and the impact of such traumas. Previous studies in wealthy nations have found that experiencing severe traumas can cause elevated levels of anxiety, but few studies have examined this association in non-disaster situations in less wealthy nations. Trauma and trauma-related anxiety are associated with greater sexual risk taking behaviours, lower HIV medication adherence levels and poorer health outcomes in wealthy nations. The objectives of this manuscript are: (1) to compare rates of trauma in two HIV-positive samples from areas that have not experienced disaster situations that are recognized by the international community as traumatic events; and (2) to examine whether the reported traumatic experiences are similarly associated with self-reported mental and physical health. The samples come from a region of a wealthy nation that consistently experiences large increases in incident AIDS cases and where the epidemic is largely transmitted heterosexually (Deep South, United States; n =611) and a region in a less wealthy nation with relatively high HIV prevalence and incidence rates and where transmission is also primarily heterosexual (Moshi, Tanzania; n =72). Compared to the US sample, the Tanzanian sample reported significantly higher rates of trauma in the areas of illness, injury, accidents and “other” significant traumas, a higher prevalence of anxiety and poorer physical health. The experience of trauma was similarly associated with greater mental health symptomatology and poorer physical health in both samples. Further investigation into the area of trauma and its sequelae is warranted, particularly in relation to risk behaviours and HIV medication adherence. At a time of increasing anti-retroviral therapy (ART) availability in less wealthy nations, additional focus on trauma care could improve ART adherence rates and reduce risk behaviors, thereby assisting in stemming the further spread of the epidemic.
How organizational structure and strategic alignment influence new product success

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to review and re-examine the role of the organization-level determinants from the perspectives of competence-based views. Design/methodology/approach Regression analysis was used to test the hypotheses in a sample of 80 cases drawn from a population of the top 5,000 Taiwanese firms listed in the yearbook published by the China Credit Information Service Incorporation. Findings The empirical results indicate that formalization is positively related to new product performance while decentralization has an inverse U-shaped curvilinear effect on new product performance. Furthermore, the regression findings also indicate that market-oriented strategy negatively moderates the relationship between formalization and new product performance, while technology-oriented strategy positively moderates the curvilinear relationship between decentralization and new product performance. Originality/value Extant literatures have paid attention to investigating the determinants to the performance of the new product development, but some of the results, such as in the organizational levels, are confusing and mixed. Contrary to previous works, the purpose of this paper is to review and re-examine the role of the organization levels determinants from the perspectives of competence-based view.
The Absence of ABCA1 Decreases Soluble ApoE Levels but Does Not Diminish Amyloid Deposition in Two Murine Models of Alzheimer Disease*

ABCA1, a cholesterol transporter expressed in the brain, has been shown recently to be required to maintain normal apoE levels and lipidation in the central nervous system. In addition, ABCA1 has been reported to modulate β-amyloid (Aβ) production in vitro. These observations raise the possibility that ABCA1 may play a role in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer disease. Here we report that the deficiency of ABCA1 does not affect soluble or guanidine-extractable Aβ levels in Tg-SwDI/B or amyloid precursor protein/presenilin 1 (APP/PS1) mice, but rather is associated with a dramatic reduction in soluble apoE levels in brain. Although this reduction in apoE was expected to reduce the amyloid burden in vivo, we observed that the parenchymal and vascular amyloid load was increased in Tg-SwDI/B animals and was not diminished in APP/PS1 mice. Furthermore, we observed an increase in the proportion of apoE retained in the insoluble fraction, particularly in the APP/PS1 model. These data suggested that ABCA1-mediated effects on apoE levels and lipidation influenced amyloidogenesis in vivo.
Tumor-derived TGF-β Mediates Conversion of CD4+Foxp3+ Regulatory T Cells in a Murine Model of Pancreas Cancer

CD4+25+Foxp3+ regulatory T cells (Treg) play a critical role in the induction of tolerance to tumor-associated antigens and suppression of antitumor immunity. How Treg are induced in cancer is poorly understood. We reported previously that Treg are significantly elevated in the peripheral blood of patients with pancreas cancer and that in a murine pancreas cancer model induction of Treg seems to be transforming growth factor (TGF)-β dependent. Here we provide additional evidence that Treg are increased locally within the tumor microenvironment by a mechanism that seems dependent on TGF-β receptor expression and the presence of tumor derived TGF-β. The murine pancreas cancer cell line Pan02 produces high levels of TGF-β both in vitro and in vivo. In contrast, the esophageal murine cancer cell line, Eso2, does not. Immunohistochemical staining of Foxp3 in explanted tumors shows an identifiable population of Treg in the Pan02 (TGF-β positive) tumors but not Eso2 (TGF-β negative). Naive CD4+25−Foxp3− T cells, when adoptively transferred into Rag−/− mice, are converted into Foxp3+ Treg in the presence of Pan02 but not Eso2 tumors. Induction of Treg in Pan02 mice is blocked by systemic injection of an anti–TGF-β antibody. If Rag−/− mice are instead reconstituted with naive CD4+25− T cells expressing a mutated TGF-β receptor, induction of Foxp3+ Treg in Pan02 bearing mice is blocked. Collectively, these observations further support the role of TGF-β in the induction of Treg in pancreas adenocarcinoma.
MicroPET imaging in an animal model of anorexia nervosa

Anorexia nervosa is a life‐threatening psychiatric disorder characterized by severe weight loss and high rates of comorbidity and mortality. The current study assessed the feasibility of using microPET imaging to study the effects of chronic food restriction in an animal model of anorexia nervosa. To establish preliminary support for this model, we hypothesized that chronic food restriction would decrease relative 2‐deoxy‐2‐[18F]fluoro‐D‐glucose (18FDG) uptake in the rat, in effect modeling cerebral glucose hypometabolism reported in the clinical population of anorexia nervosa. Nine adolescent Wistar female rats received a baseline 18FDG scan. The control group received free access to food for a period of 25 days. The food restricted (FR) group received 40% of their baseline daily food intake until a 30% weight loss occurred; body weight was then maintained at 70% of baseline by adjusting daily food intake. The FR group also had free access to a running wheel for a mean period of 10.8 ± 6.1 days. Both groups received a follow‐up 18FDG scan. Relative 18FDG uptake was significantly increased in the cerebellum and significantly decreased in the hippocampus and striatum in the FR group compared to controls. Moreover, there was a trend towards a decrease in relative 18FDG uptake in the thalamus in the FR compared to control group. This is the first study to establish support for the use of microPET imaging in an animal model of anorexia nervosa as a means for studying the neurobiological changes that occur due to chronic food restriction. Synapse 57:85–90, 2005. © 2005 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Exploring necessary conditions in HRM research: Fundamental issues and methodological implications

Although the notion that HRM activities are necessary conditions for achieving certain outcomes is widespread in HRM research, most empirical studies follow an additive sufficiency logic. That is, they analyse whether HRM activities increase an outcome, assuming that they can compensate for one another. However, this does not correspond to the idea of necessity where single HRM activities are required for an outcome to occur and cannot be compensated when absent. We discuss the differences between sufficiency and necessity logics in terms of theory, methodology, and practical relevance. Also, we suggest using a new approach and analysis technique in HRM research: necessary condition analysis. We illustrate the application of the method by analysing data on the relationship between ability‐, motivation‐, and opportunity‐enhancing HRM practices (i.e., high‐performance work practices) and employee performance. This illustrative example highlights that necessary conditions require particular theoretical attention and suitable empirical methods. The paper concludes by showing the value of studying necessary conditions, because such analyses allow straightforward recommendations to be given of high relevance for HRM practice, which differ from and add to recommendations based on additive sufficiency logic and analyses.
The Light-induced Reactions of Tryptophan with Halocompounds¶

Abstract The light-dependent reaction between N-acetyl-l-tryptophanamide (NATA) and chloroform has been examined using fluorescence, NMR and reverse phase chromatography. The emission of NATA in the presence of CHCl3 decreases at 360 nm and increases at longer wavelengths (∼480 nm) upon illumination with 280 nm light. The action spectrum for the formation of the 480 nm emitting product(s) has the same shape as the excitation spectra of the indole fluorophore in NATA. The pH of the solution decreases as the reaction proceeds. The reaction rate depends on the intensity of the illumination and is of the first order with respect to both [NATA] and [CHCl3]. NMR and reverse phase chromatography results demonstrate that multiple products are formed. The reaction products give new peaks between 8.9 and 10.5 ppm in the 1H-NMR that are assigned to –CHO groups, which are added to the indole ring. Some of the products react with 2,4-dinitrophenylhydrazine and thus confirm this assignment. A scheme is proposed in which the excited indole gives off a solvated electron to initiate a series of steps that yield indole derivatives in which a –CHO group has replaced a –H in the indole ring. Similar reactions are observed when 5-hydroxytryptophan, 5-fluorotryptophan or N-methylindolacetate is used instead of tryptophan or when the chloroform is replaced with other trichlorinated compounds, such as trichloroacetic acid, trichloroethanol and trichloroethane, as well as the tribrominated compound, bromoform, and the monoiodinated compound, iodoactetate.
Kette regulates actin dynamics and genetically interacts with Wave and Wasp

During development of the Drosophila nervous system, kette is required for axonal growth and pathfinding. It encodes a highly conserved homolog of the Nck-associated protein 1 (NAP1) that genetically interacts with the Drosophila homolog of Nck, dock. We show that in vivo as well as in tissue culture models most of the Kette protein is found in the cytoplasm where it colocalizes with F-actin to which it can bind via its N-terminal domain. Some Kette protein is localized at the membrane and accumulates at focal contact sites. Loss of Kette protein results in the accumulation of cytosolic F-actin. The kette mutant phenotype can be suppressed by reducing the wave gene dose, demonstrating that kette antagonizes wave function. Overexpression of the wild-type Kette protein does not interfere with normal development, whereas expression of an activated, membrane-tethered Kette protein induces the formation of large F-actin bundles in both, tissue culture cells and in vivo. This gain-of-function phenotype is independent of wave but can be suppressed by reducing the wasp gene dose, indicating that Kette is able to regulate Wasp, to which it is linked via the Abelson interactor (Abi). Our data suggest a model where Kette fulfils a novel role in regulating F-actin organization by antagonizing Wave and activating Wasp-dependent actin polymerization.
The zinc cluster transcription factor Tac1p regulates PDR16 expression in Candida albicans

The Candida albicans PDR16 gene, encoding a putative phosphatidylinositol transfer protein, is co‐induced with the multidrug transporter genes CDR1 and CDR2 in azole‐resistant (AR) clinical isolates and upon fluphenazine exposure of azole‐susceptible (AS) cells, suggesting that it is regulated by Tac1p, the transcriptional activator of CDR genes. Deleting TAC1 in an AR isolate (5674) overexpressing PDR16, CDR1 and CDR2 decreased the expression of the three genes and fluconazole resistance to levels similar to those detected in the matched AS isolate (5457), demonstrating that Tac1p is responsible for PDR16 upregulation in that strain. Deleting TAC1 in the AS strain SC5314 abolished CDR2 induction by fluphenazine and decreased that of PDR16 and CDR1, uncovering the participation of an additional factor in the regulation of PDR16 and CDR1 expression. Sequencing of the TAC1 alleles identified one homozygous mutation in strain 5674, an Asn to Asp substitution at position 972 in the C‐terminus of Tac1p. Introduction of the Asp972 allele in a tac1Δ/Δ mutant caused high levels of fluconazole resistance and TAC1, PDR16, CDR1 and CDR2 constitutive induction. These results demonstrate that: (i) Tac1p controls PDR16 expression; (ii) Asn972 to Asp972 is a gain‐of‐function mutation; and (iii) Tac1p is positively autoregulated, directly or indirectly.