Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Deletion of CD14 Attenuates Alzheimer's Disease Pathology by Influencing the Brain's Inflammatory Milieu

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is characterized by the deposition of β-amyloid (Aβ)-containing plaques within the brain that is accompanied by a robust microglial-mediated inflammatory response. This inflammatory response is reliant upon engagement of innate immune signaling pathways involving the toll-like receptors (TLRs). Studies assessing the roles of TLRs in AD pathogenesis have yielded conflicting results. We have assessed the roles of the TLRs through genetic inactivation of the TLR2/4 coreceptor, CD14, in a transgenic murine model of AD. Transgenic mice lacking CD14 exhibited reduced insoluble, but not soluble, levels of Aβ at 7 months of age. This corresponded with decreased plaque burden resulting from a reduction in number and size of both diffuse and thioflavin S-positive plaques and an overall reduction in the number of microglia. These findings are inconsistent with the established actions of these receptors. Moreover, loss of CD14 expression was associated with increased expression of genes encoding the proinflammatory cytokines Tnfα and Ifnγ, decreased levels of the microglial/macrophage alternative activation markers Fizz1 and Ym1, and increased expression of the anti-inflammatory gene Il-10. Thus, the loss of CD14 resulted in a significant change in the inflammatory environment of the brain, likely reflecting a more heterogeneous population of microglia within the brains of the animals. The reduction in plaque burden was not a result of changes in the expression of various Aβ degrading enzymes or proteins associated with Aβ clearance. These data suggest that CD14 is a critical regulator of the microglial inflammatory response that acts to modulate Aβ deposition.
All-digital phase-locked loop with an adaptive bandwidth design procedure

A design method of a second-order adaptive-bandwidth all-digital phase-locked loop (ADB-ADPLL) is developed. Based on a discrete-time analogy of a continuous-time PLL (CTPLL) with the z-transform, the design criterion of the ADB-ADPLL is derived. With an ADB-ADPLL, the loop bandwidth and lock-in time are balanced. According to the design criterion, the ratio of the loop noise bandwidth to the reference input frequency will be a constant if the sampling frequency is maintained as a fixed multiplier of the input reference frequency. A design example of the ADB-ADPLL is illustrated, where simulation results are presented for a performance demonstration.
TREC 2004 Robust Track Experiments Using PIRCS

There were two sub-tasks in the TREC2004 Robust track: given a set of topics, a) improve the effectiveness of the lowest performing 25%, and b) predict their ranking according to their average precision. For task a), we followed the strategy introduced by us last year to improve ad-hoc retrieval by employing the web as an external thesaurus to supplement a given topic description. A new method of probing the web based on a given topic statement called ‘window rotation’ was tested. For task b) we employed ε-SVR (epsilon support vector regression) to predict performance of test topics based on training with some simple features such as document frequencies, query term frequencies. This allows performance prediction without retrieval. Features were also added from a retrieval list with the hope that they may predict later stage or web-assisted retrieval better. 200 old topics were used for training to predict the ranking of 49 new topics, as well as the whole set of 249. Runs were done that made use of title only, description only section of a topic, and titledescription-combination retrieval lists. Ten submissions including runs that were based on initial retrieval only, retrievals with pseudo-relevance feedback, and with web-assistance. Evaluation shows that we have achieved very good performance for most of our runs.
Controlling Adaptation for Multimedia Applications

Real-time multimedia applications are becoming a critical workload for general-purpose processors despite common perception as having several properties that make them less than ideal for the task. Two of these properties are cited most often: lack of execution time predictability and high energy consumption. The predictability property is needed for application designers to guarantee frame rates. We first test whether this property exists and find that superscalar general-purpose processors do not contribute significantly to execution time unpredictability. Further, we develop a technique to dynamically predict the execution time (and energy consumption) at the frame level. To attack the second property, high energy consumption, we turn to hardware adaptation. A number of researchers have recently proposed using adaptation to reduce the energy consumption of general-purpose processors. Most of that work is in the context of general applications, for which a large performance degradation is unacceptable. The proposed adaptation control algorithms take advantage of variable resource utility throughput program execution. They try to deactivate underutilized resources to save energy without significantly impacting performance. However, for real-time multimedia applications, the processor frequently finishes processing frames early. The leftover processing time, or slack, provides more opportunity for adaptation. We therefore define a design space for adaptation control algorithms specifically for real-time multimedia applications with two axes: how often an algorithm adapts, and what resources the algorithm controls. Our design space has four classifications, and we develop algorithms for three of them, each with different advantages and disadvantages. Algorithms with the fourth classification would have little basis for adaptation, so we do not develop one. Most of the work described in this proposal has been published [18, 20, 32]. We choose to focus mainly on the ongoing work to increase the impact of feedback from the committee.
Buckling of Shells-Pitfall for Designers

Purpose I order to produce efficient, reliable designs and to avoid unexpected catastrophic failure of structures of which thin shells are important components, the engineer must understand the physics of shell buckling. The objective of this survey is to convey to the reader a "feel" for shell buckling, whether it be due to nonlinear collapse, bifurcation buckling, or a combination of these modes. This intuitive understanding of instability is communicated by a large number of examples involving practical shell structures which may be stiffened, segmented, or branched and which have complex wall constructions. With such intuitive knowledge the engineer will have an improved ability to foresee situations in which buckling might occur and to modify a design to avoid it. He will be able to set up more appropriate models for tests and analytical predictions. The emphasis here is not on the development of equations for the prediction of instability. For such material the reader is referred to the book by Brush and Almroth. n Emphasis is given here to nonlinear behavior caused by a combination of large deflections and plasticity. Also illustrated are stress redistribution effects, stiffener and loadpath eccentricity effects, local vs general instability, imperfection sensitivity, and modal interaction in optimized structures. Scattered throughout the text are tips on modeling for computerized analysis. The survey is divided into nine major sections describing: 1) several examples of catastrophic failure of expensive shell structures; 2) the basics of buckling behavior; 3) "classical" buckling and imperfection sensitivity; 4) nonlinear collapse and the appropriateness of linear bifurcation buckling analyses for general shells; 5) bifurcation buckling with significant nonlinear prebuckling behavior; 6) effects of boundary conditions, load eccentricity, transverse shear deformation, and stable postbuckling behavior; 7) optimization of buckling-critical structures with consequent modal interaction; 8) a suggested design method for axially compressed cylinders with stiffeners, internal pressure, or other special characteristics; and 9) two examples in which sophisticated buckling analyses are required in order to derive improved designs. The paper focuses on static buckling problems.
Modelling of Guardband Reduction on Design Area

Considering fabrication variations, timing guardband is introduced to ensure design reliability. However, trade-off exists between guardband and design performance, especially the chip area discussed in this paper. To predict the variation of total chip area with guardband reduction, we construct the model from the basic Elmore delay theory and optimize the gate sizing and buffering to meet the setup timing constrains. To determine the coefficients in the model, we utilize the empirical results from the Synthesis, Placement and Routing implementation flow and employ nonlinear fitting method. Furthermore, the testing on our model exhibits high accuracy and capability of predicting.
On a Relation Between the Integral Image Algorithm and Calculus

The Integral Image algorithm is often applied in tasks that require efficient integration over images, such as object detection. In this paper we discuss theoretical aspects of the algorithm's continuous version. We suggest to define the coefficients at the formulation of the algorithm by applying a novel kind of discrete derivative. Based on that operator we build a novel integration method over curves in the plane, and apply it in a theorem that extends the algorithm to general continuous domains.
Online Coordinated Voltage Control in Distribution Systems Subjected to Structural Changes and DG Availability

The responses of multiple distributed generation (DG) units and voltage regulating devices, such as tap changers and capacitor banks, for correcting the voltage may lead to operational conflicts and oscillatory transients, where distribution systems are subjected to network reconfiguration and availability of the DG units. Therefore, coordinated voltage control is required to minimize control interactions, while accounting for the impact of structural changes associated with the network. This paper proposes a strategy for coordinating the operation of multiple voltage regulating devices and DG units in medium voltage (MV) distribution systems, under structural changes and DG availability, for effective voltage control. The proposed strategy aids to minimize the operational conflicts by allowing voltage regulating devices to operate in accordance with the priority scheme designed based on the electrical-distance between voltage regulating devices and DG units, while maximizing the voltage support by the DG units. The proposed coordination scheme is designed to enact with an aid of a substation centered distribution management system for online voltage control. The control actions of proposed coordination strategy are tested on a MV distribution system, derived from the state of New South Wales, Australia, through simulations, and results are reported.
Wood Image Retrieval Using SIFT Descriptor

In this paper, we propose a new representation and matching scheme for wood image retrieval using Scale Invariant Feature Transformation (SIFT). We extract SIFT feature points in scale space and perform matching based on the texture information around the feature points using SIFT feature operator. This scheme can be appended to most existing wood image retrieval systems and improve their retrieval accuracy and efficiency. Experimental results demonstrate that the performance of this scheme is efficient and stable enough for wood image retrieval technique.
Moving Object Detection for Real-Time Applications

Detection of moving objects in video streams is the first relevant step of information extraction in many computer vision applications. Aside from the intrinsic usefulness of being able to segment video streams into moving and background components, detecting moving objects provides a focus of attention for recognition, classification, and activity analysis, making these later steps more efficient. We present some extensions to the method for moving object detection presented in H. Fujiyoshi and T. Kanade, (2004). Our main contributions are related to the pre-processing of intermediate results (transience maps), aimed at enhancing the accuracy of detection results, and to the parallelization of some of the most computationally intensive steps using SSE2 instructions, in order to enhance efficiency and allow for real-time applications.
Sex‐biased dispersal, kin selection and the evolution of sexual conflict

There is growing interest in resolving the curious disconnect between the fields of kin selection and sexual selection. Rankin's (2011, J. Evol. Biol. 24, 71–81) theoretical study of the impact of kin selection on the evolution of sexual conflict in viscous populations has been particularly valuable in stimulating empirical research in this area. An important goal of that study was to understand the impact of sex‐specific rates of dispersal upon the coevolution of male‐harm and female‐resistance behaviours. But the fitness functions derived in Rankin's study do not flow from his model's assumptions and, in particular, are not consistent with sex‐biased dispersal. Here, we develop new fitness functions that do logically flow from the model's assumptions, to determine the impact of sex‐specific patterns of dispersal on the evolution of sexual conflict. Although Rankin's study suggested that increasing male dispersal always promotes the evolution of male harm and that increasing female dispersal always inhibits the evolution of male harm, we find that the opposite can also be true, depending upon parameter values.
Music Lessons Improve Auditory Perceptual and Cognitive Performance in Deaf Children

Despite advanced technologies in auditory rehabilitation of profound deafness, deaf children often exhibit delayed cognitive and linguistic development and auditory training remains a crucial element of their education. In the present cross-sectional study, we assess whether music would be a relevant tool for deaf children rehabilitation. In normal-hearing children, music lessons have been shown to improve cognitive and linguistic-related abilities, such as phonetic discrimination and reading. We compared auditory perception, auditory cognition, and phonetic discrimination between 14 profoundly deaf children who completed weekly music lessons for a period of 1.5–4 years and 14 deaf children who did not receive musical instruction. Children were assessed on perceptual and cognitive auditory tasks using environmental sounds: discrimination, identification, auditory scene analysis, auditory working memory. Transfer to the linguistic domain was tested with a phonetic discrimination task. Musically trained children showed better performance in auditory scene analysis, auditory working memory and phonetic discrimination tasks, and multiple regressions showed that success on these tasks was at least partly driven by music lessons. We propose that musical education contributes to development of general processes such as auditory attention and perception, which, in turn, facilitate auditory-related cognitive and linguistic processes.
An Efficient Method for Euler’s Elastica Based Image Deconvolution

Variational models involving Euler’s elastica energy have a wide range of applications in digital image processing. Recently, fast methods, such as the proximal-augmented Lagrangian method (PALM), have been successfully used to solve nonlinear higher order models for image restoration. In this paper, we extend fast method PALM to Euler’s elastica deconvolution models with quadratic and nonquadratic fidelity terms. The proposed variational model can eliminate blur and noise and preserve edges while reducing the blocky and staircase artifacts during image restoration. We present an efficient and effective solution to the proposed minimization problems by a proximal-based numerical scheme. Our numerical experiments demonstrate several results on image deblurring and denoising, which shows a clear improvement of the proposed model over standard variational models such as total variation and Hessian-based model.
Homogenization of a diffusion process in a rarefied binary structure

We study the homogenization of a diffusion process which takes place in a binary structure formed by an ambiental connected phase surrounding a suspension of very small spheres distributed in an $\veps$-periodic network. The asymptotic distribution of the concentration is determined for both phases, as $\veps\to 0$, assuming that the suspension has mass of unity order and vanishing volume. Three cases are distinguished according to the values of a certain limit capacity. When it is positive and finite, the macroscopic system involves a two-concentration system, coupled through a term accounting for the non local effects. In the other two cases, where the capacity is either infinite or going to zero, although the form of the system is much simpler, some peculiar effects still account for the presence of the suspension.
On the modularity assessment of aspect-oriented multiagent architectures: a quantitative study

A number of concerns in Multiagent Systems (MAS) have a broadly-scoped impact on the system architectural decomposition, which in turn hinder the design of modular MAS architectures. Typical examples of crosscutting concerns in MAS architectures include learning, mobility, coordination, and autonomy. Nowadays there are some architectural proposals that envisage an emerging aspect-oriented architectural pattern as a potential solution to address modularity shortcomings of conventional architectural patterns for MAS designs. However, little effort has been dedicated to effectively assess when and which of these emerging and traditional architectural solutions promote in fact superior modularity in the presence of crosscutting MAS concerns. This paper presents a quantitative comparison between aspect-oriented and conventional MAS architectures. Our analysis evaluates how the architectures under comparison support the promotion of enhanced modularity in the presence of architectural crosscutting concerns in MAS design. Our evaluation used two medium-sized MAS applications and was centred on fundamental modularity attributes.
Sampling Precision to Depth 10000: Evaluation Experiments at CLEF 2007

We describe evaluation experiments conducted by submitting retrieval runs for the monolingual Bulgarian, Czech and Hungarian information retrieval tasks of the AdHoc Track of the Cross-Language Evaluation Forum (CLEF) 2007. In the ad hoc retrieval tasks, the system was given 50 natural language queries, and the goal was to find all of the relevant documents (with high precision) in a particular document set. We conducted diagnostic experiments with dierent techniques for matching word variations and handling stopwords, comparing the performance on the robust Generalized Success@10 measure and the non-robust mean average precision measure. The measures generally agreed on the mean benefits of morphological techniques such as stemming, but generally disagreed on the blind feedback technique, though not all of the mean dierences were statistically significant. Also, for each language, we submitted a sample of the first 10000 retrieved items to investigate the frequency of relevant items at deeper ranks than the ocial judging depth (of 60 for Czech and 80 for Bulgarian and Hungarian). The results suggest that, on average, the percentage of relevant items assessed was less than 60% for Czech, 70% for Bulgarian and 85% for Hungarian.
Sensitive registers: a technique for reducing the fetch bandwidth in low-power microprocessors

Reducing power consumption is an increasingly important consideration in a wide variety of systems. One source of inefficiency in a 'general purpose' computing system is the (often repeated) overhead of fetching instructions which are used to direct the algorithm rather than process the data directly. This paper proposes a mechanism for the association of frequently used control information with the processor's registers, removing the need to fetch it repeatedly from the instruction stream. Some results are presented to demonstrate both power savings and speed gains over an existing low-power system and the potential for further savings in other programming models is explored.
A CMOS/SOI Single-input PWM Discriminator for Low-voltage Body-implanted Applications

A CMOS/SOI circuit to decode Pulse-Width Modulation (PWM) signals is presented as part of a body-implanted neurostimulator for visual prosthesis. Since encoded data is the sole input to the circuit, the decoding technique is based on a novel double-integration concept and does not require low-pass filtering. Non-overlapping control phases are internally derived from the incoming pulses and a fast-settling comparator ensures good discrimination accuracy in the megahertz range. The circuit was integrated on a 2 mum single-metal thin-film CMOS/SOI fabrication process and has an effective area of 2 mm(2). Measured resolution of encoding parameter a is better than 10% at 6 MHz and V-DD = 3.3 V. Idle-mode consumption is 340 LW. Pulses of frequencies up to 15 MHz and alpha = 10% can be discriminated for 2.3 V less than or equal to V-DD less than or equal to 3.3 V. Such an excellent immunity to V-DD deviations meets a design specification with respect to inherent coupling losses on transmitting data and power by means of a transcutaneous link.
Inner activation gate in S6 contributes to the state-dependent binding of cAMP in full-length HCN2 channel

Recently, applications of the patch-clamp fluorometry (PCF) technique in studies of cyclic nucleotide–gated (CNG) and hyperpolarization-activated, cyclic nucleotide–regulated (HCN) channels have provided direct evidence for the long-held notion that ligands preferably bind to and stabilize these channels in an open state. This state-dependent ligand–channel interaction involves contributions from not only the ligand-binding domain but also other discrete structural elements within the channel protein. This insight led us to investigate whether the pore of the HCN channel plays a role in the ligand–whole channel interaction. We used three well-characterized HCN channel blockers to probe the ion-conducting passage. The PCF technique was used to simultaneously monitor channel activity and cAMP binding. Two ionic blockers, Cs+ and Mg2+, effectively block channel conductance but have no obvious effect on cAMP binding. Surprisingly, ZD7288, an open channel blocker specific for HCN channels, significantly reduces the activity-dependent increase in cAMP binding. Independent biochemical assays exclude any nonspecific interaction between ZD7288 and isolated cAMP-binding domain. Because ZD7228 interacts with the inner pore region, where the activation gate is presumably located, we did an alanine scanning of the intracellular end of S6, from T426 to A435. Mutations of three residues, T426, M430, and H434, which are located at regular intervals on the S6 α-helix, enhance cAMP binding. In contrast, mutations of two residues in close proximity, F431A and I432A, dampen the response. Our results demonstrate that movements of the structural elements near the activation gate directly affect ligand binding affinity, which is a simple mechanistic explanation that could be applied to the interpretation of ligand gating in general.