Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Antigen Specificity of Type I NKT Cells Is Governed by TCR β-Chain Diversity

NKT cells recognize lipid-based Ags presented by CD1d. Type I NKT cells are often referred to as invariant owing to their mostly invariant TCR α-chain usage (Vα14-Jα18 in mice, Vα24-Jα18 in humans). However, these cells have diverse TCR β-chains, including Vβ8, Vβ7, and Vβ2 in mice and Vβ11 in humans, joined to a range of TCR Dβ and Jβ genes. In this study, we demonstrate that TCR β-chain composition can dramatically influence lipid Ag recognition in an Ag-dependent manner. Namely, the glycolipids α-glucosylceramide and isoglobotrihexosylceramide were preferentially recognized by Vβ7+ NKT cells from mice, whereas the α-galactosylceramide analog OCH, with a truncated sphingosine chain, was preferentially recognized by Vβ8+ NKT cells from mice. We show that the influence of the TCR β-chain is due to a combination of Vβ-, Jβ-, and CDR3β-encoded residues and that these TCRs can recapitulate the selective Ag reactivity in TCR-transduced cell lines. Similar observations were made with human NKT cells where different CDR3β-encoded residues determined Ag preference. These findings indicate that NKT TCR β-chain diversity results in differential and nonhierarchical Ag recognition by these cells, which implies that some Ags can preferentially activate type I NKT cell subsets.
Towards Transparent Parallelization of Connectionist

This paper deals with the transparent paralleliza-tion of neural networks. The goal is to automatically derive parallel code for MIMD and SPMD architec-tures from abstract descriptions of networks. In this, unit parallelism and training set parallelism are discussed. First, an outline of the abstract neural network description language CONNECT is given. The language combines procedural, functional, and object{ oriented paradigms and allows for readable and complete deenitions of connectionist systems. Currently, C++ code can be generated from CONNECT specii-cations. The code generation process is explained, and it is shown how unit parallelism can be realized just by modifying this process. At the end, an extension of the CONNECT language is proposed which allows for transparent training set parallelization.
Missing data techniques for robust speech recognition

In noisy listening conditions, the information available on which to base speech recognition decisions is necessarily incomplete: some spectro-temporal regions are dominated by other sources. We report on the application of a variety of techniques for missing data in speech recognition. These techniques may be based on marginal distributions or on reconstruction of missing parts of the spectrum. Application of these ideas in the resource management task shows a performance which is robust to random removal of up to 80% of the frequency channels, but falls off rapidly with deletions which more realistically simulate masked speech. We report on a vowel classification experiment designed to isolate some of the RM problems for more detailed exploration. The results of this experiment confirm the general superiority of marginals-based schemes, demonstrate the viability of shared covariance statistics, and suggest several ways in which performance improvements on the larger task may be obtained.
A Parallel Architecture for Data Mining and Knowledge Discovery

In this paper, we introduce a new machine learning theory based on multi-channel parallel adaptation for rule discovery. This theory is distinguished from the familiar parallel-distributed adaptation theory of neural networks in terms of channel-based convergence to the target rules. We show how to realize this theory in a learning system named CFRule. CFRule is a parallel weight-based model, but it departs from traditional neural computing in that its internal knowledge is comprehensible. Furthermore, when the model converges upon training, each channel converges to a target rule. The model adaptation rule is derived by multi-level parallel weight optimization based on gradient descent. Since, however, gradient descent only guarantees local optimization, a multi-channel regression-based optimization strategy is developed to effectively deal with this problem. Formally, we prove that the CFRule model can explicitly and precisely encode any given rule set. Also, we prove a property related to asynchronous parallel convergence, which is a critical element of the multi-channel parallel adaptation theory for rule learning. Thanks to the quantizability nature of the CFRule model, rules can be extracted completely and soundly via a threshold-based mechanism. Finally, the practical application of the theory is demonstrated in DNA promoter recognition and hepatitis prognosis prediction.
Self-Tuning, GPU-Accelerated Kernel Density Models for Multidimensional Selectivity Estimation

Quickly and accurately estimating the selectivity of multidimensional predicates is a vital part of a modern relational query optimizer. The state-of-the art in this field are multidimensional histograms, which offer good estimation quality but are complex to construct and hard to maintain. Kernel Density Estimation (KDE) is an interesting alternative that does not suffer from these problems. However, existing KDE-based selectivity estimators can hardly compete with the estimation quality of state-of-the art methods. In this paper, we substantially expand the state-of-the-art in KDE-based selectivity estimation by improving along three dimensions: First, we demonstrate how to numerically optimize a KDE model, leading to substantially improved estimates. Second, we develop methods to continuously adapt the estimator to changes in both the database and the query workload. Finally, we show how to drastically improve the performance by pushing computations onto a GPU. We provide an implementation of our estimator and experimentally evaluate it on a variety of datasets and workloads, demonstrating that it efficiently scales up to very large model sizes, adapts itself to database changes, and typically outperforms the estimation quality of both existing Kernel Density Estimators as well as state-of-the-art multidimensional histograms.
A Simple Analysis for Randomized Online Weighted Paging

We describe a new potential function based proof for an O(log k)-competitive algorithm for weighted paging, and more generally an O(log k/(k−h+1))-competitive algorithm for the weighted (h, k)-paging problem. In contrast to previous results that are based on the online primal-dual framework, our analysis is extremely simple, and we believe that the technique might be useful in the analysis of other related problems.
Boys' Reading Habits as Children and Their College Grades

Dr. Tim Murnen, Advisor The purpose of this study was to determine whether a correlation existed between boys’ reading for enjoyment in their youth and their academic performance in college. This study examined the number of days boys read as children, the genres of books they read most often, the method of reading (independent, with someone else, or a combination of the two) they used most often while reading, if they thought reading had helped them throughout their schooling and why, and their college GPA. An eight question survey was designed and given to sophomore, junior, and senior male members of an introduction to communication studies course at a public university in Northern Ohio. A mixed-methods research design was used to analyze the data. The major results were that no correlation exists between the two variables, but that a majority of the participants believed that reading for enjoyment in their youth had helped them throughout their schooling with comprehension, acquisition of vocabulary, speaking, writing, and other items. It was concluded that even though no correlation was found, the variables were skewed (GPA negatively and days read per week positively) which would impact the finding of a relationship between the two variables. A relationship could exist, but more research would need to be conducted and more diverse data would need to be attained to determine if a correlation does exist. It was also concluded that the participants believed that reading had helped them, which has great implications for the early childhood reading classroom since it appears important to success in life.
Inhaled Carbon Monoxide Provides Cerebral Cytoprotection in Pigs

Carbon monoxide (CO) at low concentrations imparts protective effects in numerous preclinical small animal models of brain injury. Evidence of protection in large animal models of cerebral injury, however, has not been tested. Neurologic deficits following open heart surgery are likely related in part to ischemia reperfusion injury that occurs during cardiopulmonary bypass surgery. Using a model of deep hypothermic circulatory arrest (DHCA) in piglets, we evaluated the effects of CO to reduce cerebral injury. DHCA and cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) induced significant alterations in metabolic demands, including a decrease in the oxygen/glucose index (OGI), an increase in lactate/glucose index (LGI) and a rise in cerebral blood pressure that ultimately resulted in increased cell death in the neocortex and hippocampus that was completely abrogated in piglets preconditioned with a low, safe dose of CO. Moreover CO-treated animals maintained normal, pre-CPB OGI and LGI and corresponding cerebral sinus pressures with no change in systemic hemodynamics or metabolic intermediates. Collectively, our data demonstrate that inhaled CO may be beneficial in preventing cerebral injury resulting from DHCA and offer important therapeutic options in newborns undergoing DHCA for open heart surgery.
Aboutness Topics in Old and Middle French: A corpus-based study on the fate of V2

This article investigates the loss of aboutness topics in preverbal position in the history of French, using a corpus-based research on preverbal accusative objects. A comparison of Old and Middle French with Modern French reveals that new-information focalization had disappeared by the 14th century, whereas aboutness topicalization had in turn vanished by the end of the 16th century, along with other marked constructions. Combined with the generative premise that independent pragmatic factors should not trigger syntactic change, the results of this study suggest the reanalysis of the grammar as V-to-I in Renaissance French is responsible for blocking the derivation of aboutness topicalization. An alternative proposal based on phase extension and on Relativized Minimality, in a version affecting some types of A′-movement, relates those two diachronic shifts. The article concludes with the idea that the study of marked constructions may be recast as offering diagnostics on broader syntactic changes. Resume: Cet article examine la perte des topiques d'a-propos (aboutness topics) en position preverbale dans l'histoire du francais, a partir d'un corpus de complements accusatifs preverbaux. Une comparaison des donnees de l'ancien et du moyen francais avec ceux du francais moderne revele que la focalisation informative avait disparu au 14e siecle, alors que la topicalisation d'a-propos ne disparait qu'a la fin du 16e siecle, en meme temps que d'autres constructions marquees. Combines a la premisse generative selon laquelle des facteurs pragmatiques independants ne devraient pas declencher de changement syntaxique, les resultats de cette etude suggerent que la reanalyse du mouvement V-a-I, dans la grammaire du francais de la Renaissance, est responsable de la perte de la topicalisation d'a-propos. Une proposition alternative basee sur l'extension de phase et une version de la contrainte de minimalite relativisee visant certains types de mouvement A′ relie ces deux changements diachroniques. Ceci permet de supposer que l'etude des constructions marquees peut acquerir un nouveau role, et offrir ainsi des diagnostics sur des changements syntaxiques plus larges.
Escape analysis for object-oriented languages: application to Java

Escape analysis [27, 14, 5] is a static analysis that determines whether the lifetime of data exceeds its static scope. The main originality of our escape analysis is that it determines precisely the effect of assignments, which is necessary to apply it to object oriented languages with promising results, whereas previous work [27, 14, 5] applied it to functional languages and were very imprecise on assignments. Our implementation analyses the full Java#8482; Language. We have applied our analysis to stack allocation and synchronization elimination. We manage to stack allocate 13% to 95% of data, eliminate more than 20% of synchronizations on most programs (94% and 99% on two examples) and get up to 44% speedup (21% on average). Our detailed experimental study on large programs shows that the improvement comes from the decrease of the garbage collection and allocation times than from improvements on data locality [7], contrary to what happened for ML [5].
A Generic Approach for Social Event Detection in Large Photo Collections

In this paper we explore the performance of a generic methodology for the detection of social events in large photo collections. The proposed approach represents a generic event retrieval system applicable to arbitrary queries and event types. It exploits available textual and visual information for the iterative clustering of relevant spatio-temporal clusters corresponding to event type, location, and time.
Longitudinal comparison of quality of life in patients undergoing laparoscopic Toupet fundoplication versus magnetic sphincter augmentation

AbstractOnly a minority of patients with gastro-esophageal reflux disease (GERD) are offered a surgical option. This is mostly due to the fear of potential side effects, the variable success rate, and the extreme alteration of gastric anatomy with the current gold standard, the laparoscopic Nissen fundoplication. It has been reported that laparoscopic Toupet fundoplication (LTF) and laparoscopic sphincter augmentation using a magnetic device (LINX) can treat reflux more physiologically and with a lower incidence of side-effects and reoperation rate. We present the first comparing quality of life in patients undergoing LTF versus LINX.Observational cohort study. Consecutive patients undergoing LTF or LINX over the same time period were compared by using the propensity score full matching method and generalized estimating equation. Criteria of exclusion were >3 cm hiatal hernia, grade C–D esophagitis, ineffective esophageal motility, body mass index >35, and previous upper abdominal surgery. The primary study outcome was quality of life measured with the Gastro-Esophageal Reflux Disease-Health Related Quality of Life (GERD-HRQL) questionnaire. Secondary outcomes were proton pump inhibitors (PPI) use, presence of gas-related symptoms or dysphagia, and reoperation-free probability.Between March 2007 and July 2014, 238 patients with GERD met the criteria of inclusion in the study. Of these, 103 underwent an LTF and 135 a LINX procedure. All patients had a minimum 1-year follow-up. Over time, patients in both groups had similar GERD-HRQL scores (odds ratio [OR] 1.04, confidence interval [CI] 0.89–1.27; P = 0.578), PPI use (OR 1.18, CI 0.81–1.70; P = 0.388), gas-related symptoms (OR 0.69, CI 0.21–2.28; P = 0.542), dysphagia (OR 0.62, CI 0.26–1.30; P = 0.241), and reoperation-free probability (stratified log-rank test = 0.556). In 2 concurrent cohorts of patients with early stage GERD undergoing LTF or LINX and matched by propensity score analysis, health-related quality of life significantly improved and GERD-HRQL scores had a similar decreasing trend over time up to 7 years of follow-up. We conclude that LTF and LINX provide similar disease-specific quality of life over time in patients with early stage GERD.
Asellus aquaticus as a Potential Carrier of Escherichia coli and Other Coliform Bacteria into Drinking Water Distribution Systems

Individuals of the water louse, Asellus aquaticus, enter drinking water distribution systems in temperate parts of the world, where they establish breeding populations. We analysed populations of surface water A. aquaticus from two ponds for associated faecal indicator bacteria and assessed the risk of A. aquaticus transporting bacteria into distribution systems. Concentrations of up to two E. coli and five total coliforms·mL−1 were measured in the water and 200 E. coli and >240 total coliforms·mL−1 in the sediments of the investigated ponds. Concentrations of A. aquaticus associated bacteria never exceeded three E. coli and six total coliforms·A. aquaticus−1. During exposure to high concentrations of coliforms, concentrations reached 350 coliforms·A. aquaticus−1. A. aquaticus associated E. coli were only detected as long as E. coli were present in the water and sediment. The calculated probability of exceeding drinking water guideline values in non-disinfected systems by intrusion of A. aquaticus was low. Only in scenarios with narrow pipes and low flows, did total coliforms exceed guideline values, implying that the probability of detection by routine monitoring is also low. The study expands the knowledge base for evaluating incidents with presence of coliform indicators in drinking water by showing that intruding A. aquaticus were not important carriers of E. coli or other coliform bacteria even when emerging from faecally contaminated waters.
A new heuristic algorithm for reversible logic synthesis

Reversible logic has applications in many fields, including quantum computing. Synthesis techniques for reversible circuits are not well developed, even for functions with a small number of inputs and outputs. This paper proposes an approach to reversible logic synthesis using a new complexity measure based on shared binary decision diagrams with complemented edges (instead of truth tables or PPRM forms, as in the previous algorithms). The approach can be used with arbitrary libraries of reversible logic gates and arbitrary cost functions. Experiments show promising results in comparison with the known approaches.
2015 Ieee International Conference on Big Data (big Data) Labbook: Metadata-driven Social Collaborative Data Analysis

— Open data analysis platforms are being adopted to support collaboration in science and business. Studies suggest that analytic work in an enterprise occurs in a complex ecosystem of people, data, and software working in a coordinated manner. These studies also point to friction between the elements of this ecosystem that reduces user productivity and quality of work. LabBook is an open, social, and collaborative data analysis platform designed explicitly to reduce this friction and accelerate discovery. Its goal is to help users leverage each other's knowledge and experience to find the data, tools and collaborators they need to integrate, visualize, and analyze data. The key insight is to collect and use more metadata about all elements of the analytic ecosystem by means of an architecture and user experience that reduce the cost of contributing such metadata. We demonstrate how metadata can be exploited to improve the collaborative user experience and facilitate collaborative data integration and recommendations. We describe a specific use case and discuss several design issues concerning the capture, representation, querying and use of metadata.
An Ontology for Biological Reaction Events

Yuka Tateisi 1 Tomoko Ohta 1 Takako Takai 2 yucca@is.s. u-tokyo.ac. jp okap@is.s. u-tokyo.ac. jp taka@nihs.go. jp Jun’ichi Tsujii 1 tsujii@is.s. u-tokyo.ac. jp 1 Department of Information Science, Graduate School of Science, University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-0033, Japan 2 Division of Chemi-Bio Informatics, National Institute of Health Science, Kamiyoga 1-18-1, Setagaya-ku, Tokyo 158, Japan
Parental cognitions about infant sleep: parental differences, trajectories across the first year, and coparenting quality

This study examined differences between mothers’ and fathers’ distress about infant night wakings across the first year of life, within-person changes in mothers’ and fathers’ distress about infant night wakings, and how this distress, and the magnitude of discrepancy between parents’ distress about infant night wakings related to mothers’ and fathers’ perceptions of coparenting quality. Participants were 167 mothers and 155 fathers who reported on their distress about infant night wakings and perceptions of coparenting quality when infants were 1, 3, 6, 9, and 12 months old. As predicted, mothers experienced greater distress surrounding infant night wakings than fathers, but for both parents these concerns declined over the first year. While distress about infant night wakings was not predictive of coparenting quality, discrepancies between mothers’ and fathers’ distress were. Greater differences in mothers’ and fathers’ distress about infant night wakings significantly predicted worse coparenting quality when mothers experienced greater concerns than fathers. Results emphasize the importance of communication and agreement in nighttime parenting practices for parents’ overall coparenting relationship. Future research should consider the importance of examining domain-specific parenting practices and cognitions as well as inter-parental discrepancies when assessing executive subsystem functioning.
An Improved PTA Method to Estimate the Residual Carrier Frequency Offset in Wireless OFDM Systems

An improved pilot tone aided (PTA) method to estimate the residual frequency offset (RCFO) is proposed for wireless orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) systems. Based on the estimated SNRs of the subchannels, the cross-correlation data between adjacent OFDM symbols on the sub-channels with high quality transmissions are selected, and hard decided. The hard decisions and data on the pilot tones are used to estimate the residual frequency offset on the corresponding sub-channels respectively. Each of the estimated RCFOs is weighted by the SNR on the corresponding subchannel and combined to improve the RCFO estimation performance. The simulation results indicate that the proposed scheme achieves much better performance than the available PTA schemes.
An Outline of the ICL 2900 Series System Architecture

The system architecture of the ICL 2900 Series is outlined informally. Its central feature, the virtual machine concept, is described and related to virtual storage, segmentation and paging. The procedural approach is then discussed and its implementation by a stack mechanism is described. Further sections outline the protection mechanisms, and the instruction set and related features. Finally the virtual machine approach is related to global system activities.
The CHR site: definition and genome-wide identification of a cell cycle transcriptional element

The cell cycle genes homology region (CHR) has been identified as a DNA element with an important role in transcriptional regulation of late cell cycle genes. It has been shown that such genes are controlled by DREAM, MMB and FOXM1-MuvB and that these protein complexes can contact DNA via CHR sites. However, it has not been elucidated which sequence variations of the canonical CHR are functional and how frequent CHR-based regulation is utilized in mammalian genomes. Here, we define the spectrum of functional CHR elements. As the basis for a computational meta-analysis, we identify new CHR sequences and compile phylogenetic motif conservation as well as genome-wide protein-DNA binding and gene expression data. We identify CHR elements in most late cell cycle genes binding DREAM, MMB, or FOXM1-MuvB. In contrast, Myb- and forkhead-binding sites are underrepresented in both early and late cell cycle genes. Our findings support a general mechanism: sequential binding of DREAM, MMB and FOXM1-MuvB complexes to late cell cycle genes requires CHR elements. Taken together, we define the group of CHR-regulated genes in mammalian genomes and provide evidence that the CHR is the central promoter element in transcriptional regulation of late cell cycle genes by DREAM, MMB and FOXM1-MuvB.