Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Developmental decisions in Dictyostelium discoideum

A few hours after the onset of starvation, amoebae of Dictyostelium discoideum start to form multicellular aggregates by chemotaxis to centers that emit periodic cyclic AMP signals. There are two major developmental decisions: first, the aggregates either construct fruiting bodies directly, in a process known as culmination, or they migrate for a period as "slugs. " Second, the amoebae differentiate into either prestalk or prespore cells. These are at first randomly distributed within aggregates and then sort out from each other to form polarized structures with the prestalk cells at the apex, before eventually maturing into the stalk cells and spores of fruiting bodies. Developmental gene expression seems to be driven primarily by cyclic AMP signaling between cells, and this review summarizes what is known of the cyclic AMP-based signaling mechanism and of the signal transduction pathways leading from cell surface cyclic AMP receptors to gene expression. Current understanding of the factors controlling the two major developmental choices is emphasized. The weak base ammonia appears to play a key role in preventing culmination by inhibiting activation of cyclic AMP-dependent protein kinase, whereas the prestalk cell-inducing factor DIF-1 is central to the choice of cell differentiation pathway. The mode of action of DIF-1 and of ammonia in the developmental choices is discussed.
An intelligent multicast protocol for satellite-terrestrial broadband network

Multimedia applications have been desirable and attract a rapidly increasing number of network subscribers. However, their generated enormous amount of Internet traffic usually congests the network to cause the degradation of network utilization. Although multicast provides an efficient way for distributing multimedia information to a set of destinations simultaneously, the congestion still degrades the desired QoS (quality of service) of the on-going multicast connections especially if the group of multicast destinations is large and scattered. Hence, this paper proposes a novel adaptive multicast routing (AMRST) approach for satellite-terrestrial network (ST network) to provide reliable and adaptive multicast services to global subscribers. This approach decomposes the multicast delivery problem into two parts, (1) the construction of the multicast tree and (2) the maintenance of dynamic membership. The virtual hierarchical routing tree (VHRT) is proposed for constructing an efficient multicast tree and the re-routing scheme is for maintaining the multicast tree in an optimal routing cost once the membership, such as member joining or leaving, changes dynamically. The AMRST not only keeps the benefits of the traditional terrestrial multicast but also further promotes the multicasting performance by employing the satellite broadcasting capability. The simulation results demonstrate that the AMRST has excellent performance for the satellite-terrestrial network.
Online nod detection in human-robot interaction

Nodding is an important factor in human communication, providing a physical cue for socially communicative acts such as turn taking, backchanneling, and confirmation. In this article, we describe a vision-based online head nodding detector that works with monocular camera images. Using SVM regression, our system estimates the head pose based on facial landmarks. Subsequence dynamic time-warping is then used to compare head pose features against nod templates. In contrast to many other previous implementations, our system was evaluated with study participants who were not instructed to reply by nodding, and shows good results while maintaining a low false positive rate.
Survey of Spectrum Sharing for Inter-Technology Coexistence

Increasing capacity demands in emerging wireless technologies are expected to be met by network densification and spectrum bands open to multiple technologies. These will, in turn, increase the level of interference and also result in more complex inter-technology interactions, which will need to be managed through spectrum sharing mechanisms. Consequently, novel spectrum sharing mechanisms should be designed to allow spectrum access for multiple technologies, while efficiently utilizing the spectrum resources overall. Importantly, it is not trivial to design such efficient mechanisms, not only due to technical aspects, but also due to regulatory and business model constraints. In this survey we address spectrum sharing mechanisms for wireless inter-technology coexistence by means of a technology circle that incorporates in a unified, system-level view the technical and non-technical aspects. We thus systematically explore the spectrum sharing design space consisting of parameters at different layers. Using this framework, we present a literature review on inter-technology coexistence with a focus on wireless technologies with equal spectrum access rights, i.e., (i) primary/primary, (ii) secondary/secondary, and (iii) technologies operating in a spectrum commons. Moreover, we reflect on our literature review to identify possible spectrum sharing design solutions and performance evaluation approaches useful for future coexistence cases. Finally, we discuss spectrum sharing design challenges and suggest future research directions.
Global Distribution Adjustment and Nonlinear Feature Transformation for Automatic Colorization

Automatic colorization is generally classified into two groups: propagation-based methods and reference-based methods. In reference-based automatic colorization methods, color image(s) are used as reference(s) to reconstruct original color of a gray target image. The most important task here is to find the best matching pairs for all pixels between reference and target images in order to transfer color information from reference to target pixels. A lot of attractive local feature-based image matching methods have already been developed for the last two decades. Unfortunately, as far as we know, there are no optimal matching methods for automatic colorization because the requirements for pixel matching in automatic colorization are wholly different from those for traditional image matching. To design an efficient matching algorithm for automatic colorization, clustering pixel with low computational cost and generating descriptive feature vector are the most important challenges to be solved. In this paper, we present a novel method to address these two problems. In particular, our work concentrates on solving the second problem (designing a descriptive feature vector); namely, we will discuss how to learn a descriptive texture feature using scaled sparse texture feature combining with a nonlinear transformation to construct an optimal feature descriptor. Our experimental results show our proposed method outperforms the state-of-the-art methods in terms of robustness for color reconstruction for automatic colorization applications.
Neural-Dynamics-Driven Complete Area Coverage Navigation Through Cooperation of Multiple Mobile Robots

Multiple robots collaboratively achieve a common coverage goal efficiently, which can improve work capacity, share coverage tasks, and reduce completion time. In this paper, a neural dynamics (ND) approach is proposed for complete area coverage navigation by multiple robots. A bioinspired neural network (NN) is designed to model the workspace and guide a swarm of robots for the coverage mission. The dynamics of each neuron in the topologically organized NN is characterized by an ND equation. Each mobile robot regards other robots as moving obstacles. Each robot path is autonomously generated from the neural activity landscape of the NN and the previous robot position. The proposed model algorithm is computationally efficient. The feasibility is validated by simulation, comparison studies, and experiments.
Idiom-Modifikationen aus kognitiver Perspektive

Idiom-Modifikationen aus kognitiver Perspektive zu beschreiben heist in erster Linie, die allgemeinen Mechanismen, die die betreffenden Variationsmoglichkeiten bzw. -restriktionen steuern, aufzudecken. Ich gehe von der Hypothese aus, dass die Durchfuhrung jeder konkreten Modifikation der Idiomstruktur nur dann zu standardmasig akzeptablen Ergebnissen fuhrt, wenn bestimmte Bedingungen eingehalten werden. Bei der Verletzung dieser Bedingungen entstehen entweder fehlerhafte Ausdrucke oder innovative, oft wortspielerische Abwandlungen des betreffenden Idioms. Das Modifikationsverhalten der Idiome richtet sich also nicht ausschlieslich nach dem Usus, sondern stellt ein in hohem Grade regelgeleitetes semantisch basiertes Phanomen dar. Die entsprechenden Restriktionen sind folglich nicht vollig arbitrar, sondern in bestimmtem Mase prognostizierbar. Dies schliest jedoch nicht aus, dass in manchen Fallen nur der Usus uber die Akzeptabilitat der jeweiligen Modifikation entscheidet. Diese vor allem in der Tradition der kognitiven Phraseologieforschung postulierten Prinzipien wurden hier am Beispiel des Adjektiv-Einschubs uberpruft und fanden ihre Bestatigung.
Multiple sclerosis and MaxEPA

Summary -Twelve patients with clinically definite multiple sclerosis (MS) were given 20-30 ml of w-3 and w-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids (MaxEPA) daily over the period of one to four months. In five patients with acute remitting MS, there was slight, although significant, reduction of total neurologic score from EOSS 16.5 to 13.5, mean EOSS degree from 3.3 to 2.7, and of progression index from 0.59 to 0.44. In seven patients with slowly progressive MS, clinical parameters continued to deteriorate. With longer study, it may be possible to demonstrate clearly that the differences observed in clinical parameters in acute remitting MS have not arisen by chance. This study provides evidence which warrants further clinical research on MaxEPA in acute remitting, mild disability MS.
Cell Surface Peptidase CD26/Dipeptidylpeptidase IV Regulates CXCL12/Stromal Cell-Derived Factor-1α-Mediated Chemotaxis of Human Cord Blood CD34+ Progenitor Cells1

CD26/dipeptidylpeptidase IV (DPPIV) is a membrane-bound extracellular peptidase that cleaves dipeptides from the N terminus of polypeptide chains. The N terminus of chemokines is known to interact with the extracellular portion of chemokine receptors, and removal of these amino acids in many instances results in significant changes in functional activity. CD26/DPPIV has the ability to cleave the chemokine CXCL12/stromal cell-derived factor 1α (SDF-1α) at its position two proline. CXCL12/SDF-1α induces migration of hemopoietic stem and progenitor cells, and it is thought that CXCL12 plays a crucial role in homing/mobilization of these cells to/from the bone marrow. We found that CD26/DPPIV is expressed by a subpopulation of CD34+ hemopoietic cells isolated from cord blood and that these cells have DPPIV activity. The involvement of CD26/DPPIV in CD34+ hemopoietic stem and progenitor cell migration has not been previously examined. Functional studies show that the N-terminal-truncated CXCL12/SDF-1α lacks the ability to induce the migration of CD34+ cord blood cells and acts to inhibit normal CXCL12/SDF-1α-induced migration. Finally, inhibiting the endogenous CD26/DPPIV activity on CD34+ cells enhances the migratory response of these cells to CXCL12/SDF-1α. This process of CXCL12/SDF-1α cleavage by CD26/DPPIV on a subpopulation of CD34+ cells may represent a novel regulatory mechanism in hemopoietic stem and progenitor cells for the migration, homing, and mobilization of these cells. Inhibition of the CD26/DPPIV peptidase activity may therefore represent an innovative approach to increasing homing and engraftment during cord blood transplantation.
Frequency-Domain Decoupling-Correction Method for Wind Tunnel Strain-Gauge Balance

A frequency-domain decoupling-correction (FDC) method based on frequency-domain parameter matrix inversion is proposed to solve the problems of cross-axis dynamic coupling interference and dynamic error existing in the main channel output for multiaxis force sensors, for example, wind tunnel strain-gauge balance. The frequency-domain decoupling-correction function is calculated by means of power spectrum estimation according to the sensor step response experimental data, and the windowing approach is adopted to overcome the calculation error caused by the cycle extension of the intercepting data when FFT or IFFT is conducted. The method of FDC based on high/low-frequency signal decomposition is put forward in the process of the dynamic decoupling correction for the sensor output. The low-frequency components are decoupled and corrected by the method of static linear decoupling and static linear correction, and the high-frequency components are decoupled and corrected by the method of frequency-domain parameter matrix inversion in order to overcome the boundary aliasing error and the Gibbs phenomenon caused by the cycle extension of the intercepting data when FFT or IFFT is conducted. According to the static relationship between the sensor input and output, the static characteristic between the sensor input and the sensor dynamic decoupling-correction result is reconstructed so as to ensure that the sensor static characteristic remains unchanged. The dynamic decoupling-correction method is applied to the bar-shaped strain-gauge balance to validate its effectiveness. The result shows that the cross-axis dynamic coupling error ratios are reduced from 98.09% to less than 2%, and the adjust time of the balance main channel step response is shortened from nearly 4 s to less than 6 ms with the overshoot being reduced from 111.24% to less than 5% at the same time. The proposed method can substantially reduce the cross-axis dynamic coupling interference and further improve the response speed of the balance.
Using Embedded Mixed Methods in Studying IS Phenomena: Risks and Practical Remedies with an Illustration

Drawing on lessons learned from a mixed-methods research project, we illustrate how mixed research approaches are fruitful in studying the complexities and interactions inherent in IS phenomena, which is particularly relevant when one investigates relatively new and “messy” phenomena in that many opportunities for errors and omissions can arise. Mixed-methods research designs can also prove to be valuable in exploratory or new areas of research and provide empirical evidence from multiple sources and types of data that one can truly triangulate. In this paper, we discuss the risks associated with using a specific mixed-methods research strategy (i.e., embedded mixed-methods design) and the practical remedies we used to address them. This discussion provides operational guidance to researchers interested in adopting mixed research designs to study emergent IS phenomena.
Improved Immunogenicity of an Immunodominant Epitope of the Her-2/neu Protooncogene by Alterations of MHC Contact Residues1

The HER-2/neu (HER-2) oncogene is expressed in normal epithelial surfaces at low levels and overexpressed in several types of tumors. The low immunogenicity against this self tumor Ag can be improved by developing epitopes with amino acid replacements in their sequences. In this study, three HER-2/neu.369 (HER-2.369) analogue peptides, produced by modifying both anchor positions by introducing L, V, or T at position 2 and V at the C terminus, were analyzed for their capacity to induce CTLs in vitro from human PBMC and in vivo in HLA-A2.1/Kb transgenic mice. One of the analogues (HER-2.369 V2V9) sensitized target cells for HER-2-specific recognition by human CTLs and induced specific CTLs in vitro at 100-fold lower concentrations than the HER-2.369 wild-type epitope. These CTLs were also able to recognize the wild-type epitope and HER-2-expressing tumors in an MHC-restricted manner. Furthermore, a 100-fold lower amount of the HER-2.369 V2V9 analogue compared with the wild-type epitope was required to induce CTLs in HLA-A2.1/Kb transgenic mice. However, the V2V9 analogue demonstrated only marginally better binding to the MHC class I A2 allele compared with wild type. To establish thermodynamic parameters, we developed radiolabeled F3*Y analogues from both the HER-2.369 epitope and the V2V9 analogue. Our results indicate that the high biological activity of the HER-2.369 V2V9 epitope is associated with a slower dissociation kinetic profile, resulting in an epitope with greater HLA-A2 stability.
Alzheimer's β-Amyloid Peptides Compete for Insulin Binding to the Insulin Receptor

The amyloid-beta (Abeta) peptide is neurotoxic and associated with the pathology of Alzheimer's disease (AD). We investigated the effect of Abeta peptides on insulin binding to the insulin receptor because it is known that (1) Abeta and insulin are both amyloidogenic peptides sharing a common sequence recognition motif, (2) Abeta and insulin are substrates for the same insulin degrading enzyme, and (3) impaired glucose metabolism is a characteristic event in the pathology of AD. We discovered that Abeta(1-40) and Abeta(1-42,) the main physiological forms, reduced insulin binding and receptor autophosphorylation. The reduction in binding was caused by a decrease in the affinity of insulin binding to the insulin receptor. This reduction was independent of the receptor concentration. The reverse, control peptide Abeta(40-1) did not reduce insulin binding or insulin receptor autophosphorylation. These results demonstrate that Abeta is a direct competitive inhibitor of insulin binding and action. We speculate that the increased levels of Abeta in Alzheimer's disease may be linked to the associated insulin resistance that has been observed previously in this disease.
A Novel Fractional Frequency Reuse Architecture and Interference Coordination Scheme for Multi-Cell OFDMA Networks

This paper considers the problem of subcarrier allocation in the downlink of multi-cell OFDMA networks. Firstly, a novel fractional frequency reuse architecture is proposed, where all available subcarriers are partitioned into two groups to which subcarriers are dynamically allocated. The first group is used in the center of each cell whereas the other which is partitioned into three sectors orthogonally is used for the edge of the cell. All subcarriers are owned by both of the groups but in every scheduling slot each subcarrier is allocated to only one of them. For each subcarrier is used in both of the groups, this architecture improves the spectrum utilization efficiency dramatically. Next, to mitigate the inter-cell interference in our proposed architecture, a new inter-cell interference coordination (ICIC) scheme based on adaptive sub-band avoidance on the inter-cell level is proposed, where for each cell a certain ratio of the subcarriers are avoided in the subcarriers group used for the center region. The avoiding ratio is dynamically generated on the basic of the reports of interference levels from the neighboring cells. Simulation results illustrate the effectiveness of our proposed architecture and scheme.
Activation of microglia: A neuroinflammatory role for CAP37

Recent evidence suggests that inflammation and immune function in the central nervous system (CNS) may play a considerable role in the progression of many neurodegenerative diseases. It is known that microglia, the CNS equivalent of peripheral blood monocytes, may be instrumental in causing neurotoxicity. However, the mediator(s) that activates microglia to produce toxic substances that orchestrate cell death has yet to be elucidated. We have identified a novel inflammatory molecule, cationic antimicrobial protein of molecular weight 37 kDa (CAP37), to the brains of patients dying from Alzheimer's disease. CAP37 is known to be a potent activator and regulator of monocyte function in the systemic circulation. We hypothesize that CAP37, a mediator previously shown to recruit and activate monocytes in the systemic circulation, may also play a role in CNS inflammation by modulating microglial function. Here we demonstrate that CAP37 is a chemoattractant for microglia and that CAP37‐treated microglia express class II major histocompatibility antigens and produce proinflammatory cytokines and chemokines. We conclude that CAP37 has the ability to activate microglial cells and suggest that it has the potential to serve as a neuroinflammatory molecule. GLIA 41:64–72, 2003. © 2003 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Domain Adaptation of Virtual and Real Worlds for Pedestrian Detection

La deteccion de peatones es clave para muchas aplicaciones como asistencia al conductor, video vigilancia o multimedia. Los mejores detectores se basan en clasificadores basados en modelos de apariencia entrenados con ejemplos anotados. Sin embargo, el proceso de anotacion es una tarea intensiva y subjetiva cuando es llevada a cabo por personas. Por ello, vale la pena minimizar la intervencion humana en dicha tarea mediante el uso de herramientas computacionales como los mundos virtuales porque con ellos podemos obtener anotaciones variadas y precisas de forma rapida. Sin embargo, el uso de este tipo de datos genera la siguiente pregunta: ? Es posible que un modelo de apariencia entrenado en un mundo virtual pueda funcionar de manera satisfactoria en el mundo real? Para responder esta pregunta, hemos realizado diferentes experimentos que sugieren que los clasificadores entrenados en el mundo virtual pueden ofrecer buenos resultados al aplicarse en ambientes del mundo real. Sin embargo, tambien se encontro que en algunos casos estos clasificadores se pueden ver afectados por el problema conocido como el cambio en la naturaleza de los datos, igual que ocurre con los clasificadores entrenados en el mundo real. En consecuencia, hemos disenado un sistema de adaptacion de dominio, V-AYLA, en el que hemos probado diferentes tecnicas para recoger unos pocos ejemplos del mundo real y combinarlos con una gran cantidad de ejemplos del mundo virtual para entrenar un detector de peatones adaptado. V-AYLA ofrece la misma precision de deteccion que un detector entrenado con anotaciones manuales y probado con imagenes reales del mismo dominio. Idealmente, nos gustaria que nuestro sistema se adaptase automaticamente sin necesidad de intervenci on humana. Por ello, a modo de demostracion, proponemos utilizar tecnicas de adaptacion no supervisadas que permitan eliminar completamente la intervencion humana del proceso de adaptacion. Hasta donde sabemos, este es el primer trabajo que muestra que es posible desarrollar un detector de objetos en el mundo virtual y adaptarlo al mundo real. Finalmente, proponemos una estrategia diferente para evitar el problema del cambio en la naturaleza de los datos que consiste en recoger ejemplos en el mundo real y reentrenar solamente con ellos pero haciendolo de tal modo que no se tengan que anotar peatones en el mundo real. El resultado de este clasificador es equivalente a otro entrenado con anotaciones obtenidas de forma manual. Los resultados presentados en esta tesis no se limitan a adaptar un detector de peatones virtuales al mundo real, sino que va mas alla, mostrando una nueva metodologia que permitiria a un sistema adaptarse a cualquier nueva situacion y que sienta las bases para la investigacion futura en este campo todavia sin explorar.