Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Gastrin-Releasing Peptide Phase-Shifts Suprachiasmatic Nuclei Neuronal Rhythms In Vitro

The main mammalian circadian pacemaker is located in the suprachiasmatic nuclei (SCN) of the hypothalamus. Gastrin-releasing peptide (GRP) and its receptor (BB2) are synthesized by rodent SCN neurons, but the role of GRP in circadian rhythm processes is unknown. In this study, we examined the phase-resetting actions of GRP on the electrical activity rhythms of hamster and rat SCN neurons in vitro. In both rat and hamster SCN slices, GRP treatment during the day did not alter the time of peak SCN firing. In contrast, GRP application early in the subjective night phase-delayed, whereas similar treatment later in the subjective night phase-advanced the firing rate rhythm in rat and hamster SCN slices. These phase shifts were completely blocked by the selective BB2 receptor antagonist, [d-Phe6, Des-Met14]-bombesin 6–14 ethylamide. We also investigated the temporal changes in the expression of genes for the BB1 and BB2 receptors in the rat SCN using a quantitative competitive RT-PCR protocol. The expression of the genes for both receptors was easily detected, but their expression did not vary over the diurnal cycle. These data show that GRP phase-dependently phase resets the rodent SCN circadian pacemaker in vitroapparently via the BB2 receptor. Because this pattern of phase shifting resembles that of light on rodent behavioral rhythms, these results support the contention that GRP participates in the photic entrainment of the rodent SCN circadian pacemaker.
Verification-Based Test Case Generation for Full Feasible Branch Coverage

The goal of this work is to improve the testing of programs that contain loops and complex methods. We achieve this goal with verification-based testing, which is a technique that can generate test cases not only from source code but also from loop invariants and method specifications provided by the user. These test cases ensure the execution of interesting program paths that are likely to be missed by existing testing techniques that are based on symbolic program execution. These techniques would require an exhaustive inspection of all execution paths, which is hard to achieve in presence of complex methods and impossible if loops are involved. Verification-based testing takes a different approach.
A METHOD FOR DETECTING ECHO PATH VARIATION

A low cost method for detecting echo path variation is proposed. A detection parameter is constructed by averaging the coherence function between the synthetic echo and the error signal over time and frequency. The detection delay caused by the time averaging is accounted for by setting different detection thresholds for the rising and dropping edges of the detection parameter. Numerical examples show that the proposed method can reliably differentiate between echo path variation and double talk.
Specification-based Intrusion Detection System for Carrier Ethernet

Layered network architectures (OSI, TCP/IP) separate functionality in layers, allowing them to be designed and implemented independently. However, from the security point of view, once a lower layer is compromised, the reliability of the higher layers can be impaired. This paper is about the security of the Data Link Layer, which can affect the reliability of higher layers, like TCP, HTTP and other World-Wide Web protocols. The paper analyzes security-wise a layer 2 protocol – the Spanning Tree Protocol (STP), part of the Ethernet suite – and presents a solution to detect attacks against this protocol using Specification-based Intrusion Detection.
Teaching empathic concern and altruism in the smartphone age

Abstract Numerous studies show empathic concern promotes altruistic motivation and prosocial behavior. Here, we discuss empathic concern, its relation to altruistic motivation, and how empathic concern is invoked in experimental studies. We do this with an eye toward applying laboratory techniques in the classroom, and everyday life, to foster empathic concern and altruistic responding. This goes beyond teaching about empathic concern to setting up conditions that help people experience this psychological state, and its benefits, firsthand. Smartphone-based ecological momentary interventions (EMIs) can help us do this by raising self- and other-awareness, and by promoting empathic states and practices in daily life. While smartphones often pull us away from direct personal interaction, we explore ways of using these devices to redirect our attention to those around us. We end by suggesting that these ways of helping people regularly experience and act upon empathic concern in daily life might help nurture a compassionate disposition.
Regional cost information for private timberland conversion and management.

Cost of private timber management practices in the United States are identified, and their relationship to timber production in general is highlighted. Costs across timber-producing regions and forest types are identified by forest type and timber management practices historically applied in each region. This includes cost estimates for activities such as forest establishment practices such as reforestation and afforestation on crop and pastureland. Establishment costs for reforestation in the Southern United States are less than in other regions, although regional differences in establishment costs are less evident in hardwood than in softwood stands. Also, included in the list of timber management costs ate the intermediate management treatments of precommercial thinning, herbicide, and fertilizer application. Intermediate management treatments are less costly in the southern United States than in other regions. Trends in timber management costs reported as part of the management costs reporting.
Modeling and twin nonlinear controller design for ac/dc voltage source converters driven dc series motors

Modeling, control design and stability of series-connected dc motors fed by three-phase ac/dc voltage source converters are investigated. The design developed in this paper results in a twin nonlinear controller structure each acting as an oscillator with damped frequency and complementary tasks, i.e. to achieve precise motor speed regulation and operation with unity power factor. An extended passivity-based analysis shows that the proposed approach guarantees the system damping which is essential for stability analysis. To this end, by using the sequence of linear time-varying approximations method, it is proven that the system with the external unknown input is attracted to the desired equilibrium. Furthermore, it becomes clear that the proposed controller does not need any measurement or knowledge of the system conditions and parameters. Stability analysis and these properties constitute the main advantages of this control design approach with respect to other existing schemes. Simulation results verify the controller performance under speed reference and load torque changes.
Markerless reconstruction of dynamic facial expressions

In this paper we combine methods from the field of computer vision with surface editing techniques to generate animated faces, which are all in full correspondence to each other. The input for our system are synchronized video streams from multiple cameras. The system produces a sequence of triangle meshes with fixed connectivity, representing the dynamics of the captured face. By carfully taking all requirements and characteristics into account we decided for the proposed system design: We deform an initial face template using movements estimated from the video streams. To increase the robustness of the initial reconstruction, we use a morphable model as a shape prior. However using an efficient Surfel Fitting technique, we are still able to precisely capture face shapes not part of the PCA Model. In the deformation stage, we use a 2D mesh-based tracking approach to establish correspondences in time. We then reconstruct image-samples in 3D using the same Surfel Fitting technique, and finally use the reconstructed points to robustly deform the initially reconstructed face.
Paradoxical proepileptic response to NMDA receptor blockade linked to cortical interneuron defect in stargazer mice

Paradoxical seizure exacerbation by anti-epileptic medication is a well-known clinical phenomenon in epilepsy, but the cellular mechanisms remain unclear. One possibility is enhanced network disinhibition by unintended suppression of inhibitory interneurons. We investigated this hypothesis in the stargazer mouse model of absence epilepsy, which bears a mutation in stargazin, an AMPA receptor trafficking protein. If AMPA signaling onto inhibitory GABAergic neurons is impaired, their activation by glutamate depends critically upon NMDA receptors. Indeed, we find that stargazer seizures are exacerbated by NMDA receptor blockade with CPP (3-[(R)-2-carboxypiperazin-4-yl]-prop-2-enyl-1-phosphonic acid) and MK-801, whereas other genetic absence epilepsy models are sensitive to these antagonists. To determine how an AMPA receptor trafficking defect could lead to paradoxical network activation, we analyzed stargazin and AMPA receptor localization and found that stargazin is detected exclusively in parvalbumin-positive (PV +) fast-spiking interneurons in somatosensory cortex, where it is co-expressed with the AMPA receptor subunit GluA4. PV + cortical interneurons in stargazer show a near twofold decrease in the dendrite:soma GluA4 expression ratio compared to wild-type (WT) littermates. We explored the functional consequence of this trafficking defect on network excitability in neocortical slices. Both NMDA receptor antagonists suppressed 0 Mg 2 +-induced network discharges in WT but augmented bursting in stargazer cortex. Interneurons mediate this paradoxical response, since the difference between genotypes was masked by GABA receptor blockade. Our findings provide a cellular locus for AMPA receptor-dependent signaling defects in stargazer cortex and define an interneuron-dependent mechanism for paradoxical seizure exacerbation in absence epilepsy.
Is the Relationship Between Binge Eating Episodes and Personality Attributable to Genetic Factors?

Aspects of disordered eating and personality traits, such as neuroticism, are correlated and individually heritable. We examined the phenotypic correlation between binge eating episodes and indices of personality (neuroticism, extraversion, openness to experience, agreeableness, conscientiousness, and control/impulsivity). For correlations ≥|0.20|, we estimated the extent to which genetic and environmental factors contributed to this correlation. Participants included 3,446 European American same-sex female twins from the Missouri Adolescent Female Twin Study (median age = 22 years). Binge eating episode was assessed via interview questions. Personality traits were assessed by self-report questionnaires. There was a significant moderate phenotypic correlation between binge eating episode and neuroticism (r = 0.33) as well as conscientiousness (r = -0.21), while other correlations were significant but smaller (r ranging from -0.14 to 0.14). Individual differences in binge eating episodes, neuroticism, and conscientiousness were attributed to additive genetic influences (38% [95% CI: 21–53%], 45% [95% CI: 38–52%], and 44% [95% CI: 0.33–0.55%] respectively), with the remaining variance attributed to individual-specific environmental influences. Covariance was attributable to genetic (neuroticism r g = 0.37; conscientiousness r g = -0.22) and individual-specific environmental (neuroticism r e = 0.28; conscientiousness r e = -0.19) influences. Personality traits may be an early indicator of genetic vulnerability to a variety of pathological behaviors, including binge eating episode. Furthermore, prior research documenting phenotypic correlations between eating disorder diagnoses and personality may have stemmed from etiological overlap between these personality traits and aspects of disordered eating, such as binge eating episode.
Efficient near duplicate document detection for specialized corpora

Knowledge of near duplicate documents can be adventagous to search engines, even those that only cover a small enterprise or specialized corpus. In this thesis, we investigate improvements to simhash, a signature-based method which can be used to efficiently detect near duplicate documents. We implement simhash in its original form, and demonstrate its effectiveness on a small corpus of newspaper articles, and improve its accuracy through utilizing external metadata and altering its feature selection approach. We also demonstrate the fragility of simhash towards changes in the weighting of features by applying novel changes to the weights. As motivation for performing this near duplicate detection, we discuss the impact it can have on search engines. VI-A Company Thesis Supervisor: David Spencer Title: Senior Software Engineer MIT Thesis Supervisor: Regina Barzilay Title: Associate Professor
The Rate of the Reaction between C2H and C2H2 at Interstellar Temperatures

The reaction between the radical C2H and the stable hydrocarbon C2H2 is one of the simplest neutral-neutral hydrocarbon reactions in chemical models of dense interstellar clouds and carbon-rich circumstellar shells. Although known to be rapid at temperatures ≥300 K, the reaction has yet to be studied at lower temperatures. We present here ab initio calculations of the potential surface for this reaction and dynamical calculations to determine its rate at low temperature. Despite a small potential barrier in the exit channel, the calculated rate is large, showing that this reaction and, most probably, more complex analogs contribute to the formation of complex organic molecules in low-temperature sources.
HERMES: revisions in the design for a high-resolution multi-element spectrograph for the AAT

The AAO is building an optical high resolution multi-object spectrograph for the AAT for Galactic Archaeology. The instrument has undergone significant design revision over that presented at the 2008 Marseilles SPIE meeting. The current design is a 4-channel VPH-grating based spectrograph providing a nominal spectral resolving power of 28,000 and a high-resolution mode of 45,000 with the use of a slit mask. The total spectral coverage is about 1000 Angstroms for up to 392 simultaneous targets within the 2 degree field of view. Major challenges in the design include the mechanical stability, grating and dichroic efficiencies, and fibre slit relay implementation. An overview of the current design and discussion of these challenges is presented.
Translucent material transfer based on single images

Extraction and re-rendering of real materials give large contributions to various image-based applications. As one of the key properties of modeling the appearance of an object, materials mainly focus on the effects caused by light transportation. Therefore, understanding the characteristics of a complex material from a single photograph and transferring it to an object in another image becomes a very challenging problem.
Board Empowerment: What Motivates Board Members of Founder-Owned Companies?

This article investigates the role of boards in founder-managed firms with concentrated ownership in emerging markets. The literature frequently suggests that in this type of companies, boards have little influence on the corporate decision making. The article conducts a case study of AFK Sistema—a large Russian founder-managed firm with concentrated ownership. We observe that, contrary to the expectations, in this company, the founder provided real authority to the board, at the same time focusing on recruiting independent (mainly foreign) members. Based on this case, we argue that selectively empowering boards in this type of ownership setting could be beneficial for the firm: Selective empowerment is a source of intrinsic motivation for the independent board members, making them proactively search for new projects and assist in their implementation on behalf of the firm. As a result, the company can overcome a number of important barriers in its development.
Repeatability of innervation zone identification in the external anal sphincter muscle

Knowledge of the distribution of the innervation zones (IZs) of the external anal sphincter (EAS) may be useful for preventing anal sphincter incompetence during vaginal delivery. A method proposed for the automatic estimation of the distribution of IZs of EAS from high‐density surface electromyography (EMG) was evaluated for repeatability in continent volunteers.
BetrFS

The Bε-tree File System, or BetrFS (pronounced “better eff ess”), is the first in-kernel file system to use a write-optimized data structure (WODS). WODS are promising building blocks for storage systems because they support both microwrites and large scans efficiently. Previous WODS-based file systems have shown promise but have been hampered in several ways, which BetrFS mitigates or eliminates altogether. For example, previous WODS-based file systems were implemented in user space using FUSE, which superimposes many reads on a write-intensive workload, reducing the effectiveness of the WODS. This article also contributes several techniques for exploiting write-optimization within existing kernel infrastructure. BetrFS dramatically improves performance of certain types of large scans, such as recursive directory traversals, as well as performance of arbitrary microdata operations, such as file creates, metadata updates, and small writes to files. BetrFS can make small, random updates within a large file 2 orders of magnitude faster than other local file systems. BetrFS is an ongoing prototype effort and requires additional data-structure tuning to match current general-purpose file systems on some operations, including deletes, directory renames, and large sequential writes. Nonetheless, many applications realize significant performance improvements on BetrFS. For instance, an in-place rsync of the Linux kernel source sees roughly 1.6--22 × speedup over commodity file systems.
Lift: Using projected coded light for finger tracking and device augmentation

We present Lift, a visible light-enabled finger tracking and object localization technique that allows users to perform freestyle multi-touch gestures on any object's surface in an everyday environment. By projecting encoded visible patterns onto an object's surface (e.g. paper, display, or table), and localizing the user's fingers with light sensors, Lift offers users a richer interactive space than the device's existing interfaces. Additionally, everyday objects can be augmented by attaching sensor units onto their surface to accept multi-touch gesture input. We also present two applications as proof of concept. Finally, results from our experiments indicate that Lift can localize ten fingers simultaneously with an average accuracy of 1.7 millimeter and an average refresh rate of 84 Hz with 31 milliseconds delay on WiFi and 23 milliseconds delay on serial communication, making gesture recognition on non-instrumented objects possible.
CATTLE (CAncer treatment treasury with linked evidence): An integrated knowledge base for personalized oncology research and practice

Despite the existence of various databases cataloging cancer drugs, there is an emerging need to support the development and application of personalized therapies, where an integrated understanding of the clinical factors and drug mechanism of action and its gene targets is necessary. We have developed CATTLE (CAncer Treatment Treasury with Linked Evidence), a comprehensive cancer drug knowledge base providing information across the complete spectrum of the drug life cycle. The CATTLE system collects relevant data from 22 heterogeneous databases, integrates them into a unified model centralized on drugs, and presents comprehensive drug information via an interactive web portal with a download function. A total of 2,323 unique cancer drugs are currently linked to rich information from these databases in CATTLE. Through two use cases, we demonstrate that CATTLE can be used in supporting both research and practice in personalized oncology.
Design and Organization of Autonomous Systems Person Identification SYStem

Ambient intelligence applications heavily rely on successfully identifying people in their home environment. Current applications use complex, expensive or intrusive sensors and methods like RFID tags, retina scans or human face identification. In this paper we present the Person Identification SYStem (PISYS). In contrast with previous work, PISYS uses simple, non-intrusive sensors to reason about the presence of persons in particular rooms and calculate probability values with respect to their identities. As part of the project, a home environment simulator was implemented and used to generate train and test scripts. Using this data, we present how the PISYS system can successfully identify people in a range of situations, including multiple people in the same room.
Role Centralized Modeling for Expert Search in Enterprise Corporation

Automatic expert finding systems aiming at identifying experts from a large set of document repository have attracted considerable interest in recent years. To better describe the relationship on expert-document and document-topic, we introduce the conception “Role” in our model and expand its use in expert search. We illustrate how the conception “Role” in our model helps to present an effective approach to model the probability of the candidate being an expert on the given topic with documents relevant to it. Consequently, we evaluate the effectiveness of our model by a series of experiments on TREC 2006 Enterprise Track expert search task. The results show that our role centralized model performs much better than general approaches overall. It is a big potential to dig in more deeply in the future.
To Cross or Not To Cross: Ethical Boundaries in Psychological Practice

This article examines multiple relationships and discusses ethical boundaries in psychology practice. Correct handling of potential multiple relationships is important for staff at educational facilities, where students may simultaneously act as counselling clients, teaching assistants, peer supervisors, supervisees, mentors, mentees, research partners, etc. The basis for the discussion includes the role of the client-therapist power differential, fiduciary duty and the code of ethics. An overview is given regarding types of multiple relationships, differentiation between potentially beneficial boundary crossings and potentially detrimental boundary violations and the ‘slippery slope’ concept. Taxonomy of boundary violators considers individual differences, incompetence and situational circumstances. Recommendations for risk management include training in ethical standards and decision making techniques, self-awareness, supervision and adherence to good professional standards in general. Opportunities for further research include the correction of methodological errors in older surveys, more research regarding the efficacy of training and interventions for boundary violations and efforts to provide more tools for risk assessment. It is important to acknowledge that differentiation between boundary crossings and boundary violations can be challenging: whilst practitioners always need to guard against boundary violations, the literature offers examples where boundary crossings may be therapeutic. Ultimately, the therapist makes a choice about how to deal with any given boundary; and the therapist needs to make this choice from the viewpoint of fiduciary duty with the client’s best interest in mind.