Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
ERK2-Mediated Phosphorylation of Transcriptional Coactivator Binding Protein PIMT/NCoA6IP at Ser298 Augments Hepatic Gluconeogenesis

PRIP-Interacting protein with methyl transferase domain (PIMT) serves as a molecular bridge between CREB-binding protein (CBP)/ E1A binding protein p300 (Ep300) -anchored histone acetyl transferase and the Mediator complex sub-unit1 (Med1) and modulates nuclear receptor transcription. Here, we report that ERK2 phosphorylates PIMT at Ser298 and enhances its ability to activate PEPCK promoter. We observed that PIMT is recruited to PEPCK promoter and adenoviral-mediated over-expression of PIMT in rat primary hepatocytes up-regulated expression of gluconeogenic genes including PEPCK. Reporter experiments with phosphomimetic PIMT mutant (PIMTS298D) suggested that conformational change may play an important role in PIMT-dependent PEPCK promoter activity. Overexpression of PIMT and Med1 together augmented hepatic glucose output in an additive manner. Importantly, expression of gluconeogenic genes and hepatic glucose output were suppressed in isolated liver specific PIMT knockout mouse hepatocytes. Furthermore, consistent with reporter experiments, PIMTS298D but not PIMTS298A augmented hepatic glucose output via up-regulating the expression of gluconeogenic genes. Pharmacological blockade of MAPK/ERK pathway using U0126, abolished PIMT/Med1-dependent gluconeogenic program leading to reduced hepatic glucose output. Further, systemic administration of T4 hormone to rats activated ERK1/2 resulting in enhanced PIMT ser298 phosphorylation. Phosphorylation of PIMT led to its increased binding to the PEPCK promoter, increased PEPCK expression and induction of gluconeogenesis in liver. Thus, ERK2-mediated phosphorylation of PIMT at Ser298 is essential in hepatic gluconeogenesis, demonstrating an important role of PIMT in the pathogenesis of hyperglycemia.
Spatial Orientation Using Map Displays : A Model of the Influence of Target Location

This paper presents a model of human spatial orientation, using a task that involves locating targets on a map of the space. The model uses a hierarchical solution process that was reported by many of the participants in an empirical study. It encodes the location of the target in the visual scene by identifying a cluster of objects that contains the target and then encoding the position of the target within that cluster. By applying this description of the target’s location to the representation on the map of the space, the model is able to correctly identify the target. Using this general strategy, it reproduces all of the major trends in the empirical data.
EVALUATION OF SPEAKER’S DEGREE OF NATIVENESS USING TEXT-INDEPENDENT PROSODIC FEATURES

Giving feedbackon the degree of nativenessof a student’ s speechisanimportantaspectof computer -aidedlanguagelearning. This task hasbeenaddressedby many studiesfocusing on the segmentalassessment of the speechsignal. To better modelhumannativenessscores,otheraspectsof speechshould alsobe considered,suchasprosody. This studyexaminesthe useof prosodicinformationto evaluatethedegreeof nativeness of studentpronunciation,independent of the text. Supervised strategiesbasedon humangradesareusedin anattemptto select promisingfeaturesfor this task. Previous resultsobtained with non-nati ve speakersshowed improvementsin thecorrelation betweenhumanandautomaticscores.New strategieswere evaluatedwith testsincluding native andnon-nati ve speakers. Specificfeaturesbasedon durations,namelyfor intra-sentence pauses, revealedpotentialusefor furtherimprovements.
The development of Swiss wheelchair athletics. The key role of the Swiss Association of Paraplegics (1982-2015)

Abstract The international achievements and regular participation of Swiss ‘wheelchair racers’ are noteworthy. With 144 medals since 1976 in both individual and relay races, a group of 19 athletes has won 45% of the medals taken by Switzerland in all categories of the summer Paralympic Games. In this paper, we will answer the question: how has this paralympic elite been constructed institutionally since the 1980s, when Swiss wheelchair athletes intensified their participation in the Paralympic Games? By studying the manufacture of this exemplar of sporting excellence through written sources and some 15 interviews, we underline the central role played by the Swiss Group for Paraplegics in the development of Swiss wheelchair athletics. Its novel sports policies were based on considerable human and financial means, an advanced medical environment, good sports infrastructure and the constant recruitment of former champions.
Can Identical Twins be Discriminated Based on Fingerprints

Reliable and accurate identification of people is extremely i mportant in a number of business transactions as well as access to privileged information. Automatic iden tification methods based on physical biometric characteristics such as fingerprint or iris can provide posi tive identification with a very high accuracy. However, the biometrics-based methods assume that the physica l char cteristics of an individual (as captured by a sensor) used for identification are distinctive. Identical twins have the closest genetics-based relationship and, therefore, the maximum similarity between fingerprints is e xpected to be found among identical twins. We show that a state-of-the-art automatic fingerprint identificati on system can successfully distinguish identical twins though with a slightly lower accuracy than nontwins.
Recommending music for places of interest in a mobile travel guide

Context-aware music recommender systems suggest music items taking into consideration contextual conditions, such as the user mood or location, that may influence the user preferences at a particular moment. In this paper we consider a particular kind of context-aware recommendation task: selecting music suited for a place of interest (POI), which the user is visiting, and that is illustrated in a mobile travel guide. We have designed an approach for this novel recommendation task by matching music to POIs using emotional tags. In order to test our approach, we have developed a mobile application that suggests an itinerary and plays recommended music for each visited POI. The results of the study show that users judge the recommended music suited for the POIs, and the music is rated higher when it is played in this usage scenario.
IBDL: A Language for Interface Behavior Specification and Testing

A methodology and language for specifying behaviors of interfaces (a la OMG's IDL, JavaTM, C++, etc.) for object-oriented systems is proposed based on the message-passing paradigm. Signatures of messages are enhanced to include semantic information, expressing behavior clients can expect from a server. Formulas are given to disambiguate normal termination from abnormal termination of a message using the return values and exceptions to reflect whether the pre-condition associated with the message is satisfied or not. State changes caused by a message invocation are specified by explicitly enumerating subsequent messages that a message invocation enables (and/or) disables, by establishing (or violating, respectively) their pre-conditions. Special operators on sequences of messages are defined to specify such semantic information. A specification language IBDL, Interface Behavior Description Language, based on this methodology is developed. As IBDL specifications explicitly capture the interactions between messages, they are ideal for validating implementation behaviors with sequences of messages. We present a scheme for sequence testing by translating IBDL specifications into code.
Sensorless torque control of PMSMs for railway traction applications

This work presents a sensorless torque control of permanent magnet synchronous machines (PMSM) in railway traction applications based on the flux estimation. In order to improve the algorithm performance in a wide speed range, some compensation loops are included. Special techniques for standstill and flying start are also proposed. The sensorless control strategy is validated in a railway simulation platform for a 120kW surface mounted PMSM tramway motor prototype.
Spacecraft Swarm Navigation and Control Using Artificial Potential Field and Sliding Mode Control

The artificial potential field (APF) method provides simple and effective path planners for practical terrestrial robotics control. Sliding mode control (SMC) strategy together with artificial potential field has been used for control of multi-agent systems or swarms. The aim of this work is to examine for the first time the applicability of APF and SMC for spacecraft swarm navigation and control. This paper demonstrates that spacecraft formation flying can be successfully achieved using SMC for closed loop feedback and APF method for path planning.
Adverb Classification *

The syntactic category of adverbs is generally associated with the copresence of two properties. First, adverbs, which are typically used with the function of an adjunct, have a remarkable distributional freedom. Second, at least some adverbs are scopal elements, whose scope properties may have consequences on their position. Accordingly, adverbs pose a number of acute questions for the syntax-semantics interface. Moreover, since different (syntactic and/or semantic) classes of adverbs are associated with different behaviors at the syntax-semantics interface,
Exponential Stabilization of Memristive Neural Networks With Time Delays

In this paper, a general class of memristive neural networks with time delays is formulated and studied. Some sufficient conditions in terms of linear matrix inequalities are obtained, in order to achieve exponential stabilization. The result can be applied to the closed-loop control of memristive systems. In particular, several succinct criteria are given to ascertain the exponential stabilization of memristive cellular neural networks. In addition, a simplified and effective algorithm is considered for design of the optimal controller. These conditions are the improvement and extension of the existing results in the literature. Two numerical examples are given to illustrate the theoretical results via computer simulations.
MicroRNA-21 in Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma Tumor-Associated Fibroblasts Promotes Metastasis

Introduction Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is projected to rise to the second leading cause of U.S. cancer-related deaths by 2020. Novel therapeutic targets are desperately needed. MicroRNAs (miRs) are small noncoding RNAs that function by suppressing gene expression and are dysregulated in cancer. miR-21 is overexpressed in PDAC tumor cells (TC) and is associated with decreased survival, chemoresistance and invasion. Dysregulation of miR regulatory networks in PDAC tumor-associated fibroblasts (TAFs) have not been previously described. In this study, we show that miR-21 expression in TAFs promotes TC invasion. Methods In-situ hybridization for miR-21 was performed on the 153 PDAC patient UCLA tissue microarray and 23 patient-matched lymph node metastases. Stromal and TC histoscores were correlated with clinicopathologic parameters by univariate and multivariate Cox regression. miR-21 positive cells were further characterized by immunofluorescence for mesenchymal/epithelial markers. For in vitro studies, TAFs were isolated from freshly resected human PDAC tumors by the outgrowth method. miR-21 was overexpressed/inhibited in fibroblasts and then co-cultured with GFP-MiaPaCa TCs to assess TC invasion in modified Boyden chambers. Results miR-21 was upregulated in TAFs of 78% of tumors, and high miR-21 significantly correlated with decreased overall survival (P = 0.04). Stromal miR-21 expression was also significantly associated with lymph node invasion (P = 0.004), suggesting that it is driving TC spread. Co-immunofluorescence revealed that miR-21 colocalized with peritumoral fibroblasts expressing α-smooth muscle actin. Moreover, expression of miR-21 in primary TAFs correlated with miR-21 in TAFs from patient-matched LN metastases; evidence that PDAC tumor cells induce TAFs to express miR-21. miR-21 expression in TAFs and TCs promotes invasion of TCs and is inhibited with anti-miR-21. Conclusions miR-21 expression in PDAC TAFs is associated with decreased overall survival and promotes TC invasion. Anti-miR-21 may represent a novel therapeutic strategy for dual targeting of both tumor and stroma in PDAC.
Turbo coded HSDPA systems with transmit diversity over frequency selective fading channels

Transmit diversity is one of the key contributions to the 3G (third generation) WCDMA (wide-band code division multiple access) systems to accommodate high data-rate applications, where spatial diversity is introduced into the signal by transmitting through multiple antennas. While turbo codes are well understood to be able to provide powerful error correction ability in a SISO (single input single output) system, therefore achieve improved system performance, space-time block coded (STBC) MIMO (multiple input multiple output) transmission is receiving more and more interests as an effective method to combat adverse effects of fading, improve the performance and increase the capacity. This paper addresses the issue of introducing space-time coding to turbo coded HSDPA (high-speed downlink packet access) systems in order to obtain both diversity gain and coding gain. This novel scheme extends STBC, originally proposed for perfectly known frequency nonselective fading channels to frequency selective fading channels. Channel equalization is utilized to mitigate the intersymbol interference (ISI) caused by multipath propagation. Numerical results are presented to reveal the performance merits of the proposed system gained by using turbo space-time coding.
Breaking the degeneracy between anisotropy and mass: the dark halo of the E0 galaxy NGC 6703

We have measured line-of-sight velocity profiles (VPs) in the E0 galaxy NGC 6703 out to 2.6Re. Comparing these with the VPs predicted from spherical distribution functions (DFs), we constrain the mass distribution and the anisotropy of the stellar orbits in this galaxy. We have developed a non-parametric technique to determine the DF f(E, L2) directly from the kinematic data. We test this technique on Monte Carlo simulated data with the spatial extent, sampling, and error bars of the NGC 6703 data. We find that smooth underlying DFs can be recovered to an rms accuracy of 12 per cent inside three times the radius of the last kinematic data point, and the anisotropy parameter β(r) can be recovered to an accuracy of 0.1, in a known potential. These uncertainties can be reduced with improved data. By comparing such best-estimate, regularized models in different potentials, we can derive constraints on the mass distribution and anisotropy. Tests show that, with presently available data, an asymptotically constant halo circular velocity v0 can be determined with an accuracy of A±≲50 km s−1. This formal range often includes high-v0 models with implausibly large gradients across the data boundary. However, even with extremely high quality data some uncertainty on the detailed shape of the underlying circular velocity curve remains. In the case of NGC 6703, we thus determine the true circular velocity at 2.6Re to be 250±40 km s−1 at 95 per cent confidence, corresponding to a total mass in NGC 6703 inside 78 arcsec (13.5 h−150 kpc, where h50≡H0/50 km s−1 Mpc−1) of 1.6–2.6A–1011h−150 M⊙. No model without dark matter will fit the data; however, a maximum stellar mass model in which the luminous component provides nearly all the mass in the centre will. In such a model, the total luminous mass inside 78 arcsec is 9A–1010 M⊙ and the integrated B-band mass-to-light ratio out to this radius is ΥB=5.3–10, corresponding to a rise from the centre by at least a factor of 1.6. The anisotropy of the stellar distribution function in NGC 6703 changes from near-isotropic at the centre to slightly radially anisotropic (β=0.3–0.4 at 30 arcsec, β=0.2–0.4 at 60 arcsec) and is not well-constrained at the outer edge of the data, where β=−0.5 to +0.4, depending on variations of the potential in the allowed range. Our results suggest that also elliptical galaxies begin to be dominated by dark matter at radii of ∼10 kpc.
Biologically Inspired Controller for the Autonomous Navigation of a Mobile Robot in an Evasion Task

A novel biologically inspired controller for the au- tonomous navigation of a mobile robot in an evasion task is proposed. The controller takes advantage of the environment by calculating a measure of danger and subsequently choosing the parameters of a reinforcement learning based decision process. Two different reinforcement learning algorithms were used: Q- learning and Sarsa (λ). Simulations show that selecting dynamic parameters reduce the time while executing the decision making process, so the robot can obtain a policy to succeed in an escaping task in a realistic time. Index Terms—Autonomous navigation, mobile robots, rein- forcement learning.
Organizational metaphors as lenses for analyzing workflow technology

We analyze possible organizational use of workflow technology based on contemporary organizational theory for the purpose of understanding flexible workflow. Organization theory is entered through Gareth Morgan’s “Images of Organization”, which describes eight metaphors that can be consciously applied for the study of organizations. All metaphors contribute to this study, but some give more important contributions. Based on the brains-metaphor, we show how workflow is linked to organizational learning and how it can be extended to actually support aspects of it. Inspired by the culture-metaphor we focus on social reality construction and how user oriented process models may contribute to support the construction of shared realities and shared meaning. Utilizing the flux and transformationmetaphor, we argue against “generic” business processes except as templates for adaptation.
Specific interaction between Sam68 and neuronal mRNAs: Implication for the activity‐dependent biosynthesis of elongation factor eEF1A

In cultured hippocampal neurons and in adult brain, the splicing regulatory protein Sam68 is partially relocated to the somatodendritic domain and associates with dendritic polysomes. Transfer to the dendrites is activity‐dependent. We have investigated the repertoire of neuronal mRNAs to which Sam68 binds in vivo. By using coimmunoprecipitation and microarray screening techniques, Sam68 was found to associate with a number of plasticity‐related mRNA species, including Eef1a1, an activity‐responsive mRNA coding for translation elongation factor eEF1A. In cortical neuronal cultures, translation of the Eef1a1 mRNA was strongly induced by neuronal depolarisation and correlated with enhanced association of Sam68 with polysomal mRNAs. The possible function of Sam68 in Eef1a1 mRNA utilization was studied by expressing a dominant‐negative, cytoplasmic Sam68 mutant (GFP‐Sam68ΔC) in cultured hippocampal neurons. The level of eEF1A was lower in neurons expressing GFP‐Sam68ΔC than in control neurons, supporting the proposal that endogenous Sam68 may contribute to the translational efficiency of the Eef1a1 mRNA. These findings are discussed in the light of the complex, potentially crucial regulation of eEF1A biosynthesis during long‐term synaptic change. © 2008 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
An improved word segmentation algorithm for lip-reading

An improved word segmentation algorithm is proposed, which is used to find out the section that represents the pronunciation part from the video frame sequence in the computer lip-reading system. In the computer lip-reading system, after extracting the lip features, the standard deviation of the lip features is calculated. Then the paper proposes the word segmentation method based on the standard deviation and the results show that this method can only be used to determine the approximate pronunciation section and that cannot accurately determine the location of the beginning and the ending of the pronunciation position. So an improved method is presented that the location of the beginning and the ending of the pronunciation section is determined according to the distribution of the gradient of the standard deviation. The results show that the improved method can greatly improves the accuracy of locating of the beginning and the ending of the pronunciation section.
Entropy in the Present and Early Universe

This is a short analysis of the changes in the concept of entropy as applied to physics of the present-day and Early Universe. Of special interest is a leading role of such a notion as deformation of a physical theory. The relation to a symmetry of the corresponding theory is noted. As this work is not a survey, the relevant author's works are mainly considered. This paper is to be published in special issue "Symmetry and Entropy" of journal SYMMETRY: Culture and Science
Restraint Strategy for Chaos in Auto Gauge Control System

In this paper, conditions of the chaos in auto gauge control system are suggested and proved on the basis of the roll eccentricity model. It is proposed that the eccentricity disturbance of roll may cause chaotic phenomena in the rolling process. By analyzing four kinds of expandable and shrinkable factors of variable universe fuzzy controller, it is suggested that the contradiction between fuzzy control rules and control accuracy can be solved effectively by HACO-VUFC meth- od. Simulation shows that the product quality can be improved by chaos inhibition.
Once again on methodology and argumentation in linguistics: Problems with the arguments for recasting Sino-Tibetan as “Trans-Himalayan”

There have been challenges to the received view of the structure of the Sino-Tibetan language family. This is all well and good, as we should constantly challenge our most basic assumptions. In this paper I look at the arguments presented with a view to convincing us to change our conception of Sino-Tibetan and to change the name of the family to “Trans-Himalayan”, and find them less than convincing, due to problems of fact and argumentation.
Qualitative-Modeling-Based Silicon Neurons and Their Networks

The ionic conductance models of neuronal cells can finely reproduce a wide variety of complex neuronal activities. However, the complexity of these models has prompted the development of qualitative neuron models. They are described by differential equations with a reduced number of variables and their low-dimensional polynomials, which retain the core mathematical structures. Such simple models form the foundation of a bottom-up approach in computational and theoretical neuroscience. We proposed a qualitative-modeling-based approach for designing silicon neuron circuits, in which the mathematical structures in the polynomial-based qualitative models are reproduced by differential equations with silicon-native expressions. This approach can realize low-power-consuming circuits that can be configured to realize various classes of neuronal cells. In this article, our qualitative-modeling-based silicon neuron circuits for analog and digital implementations are quickly reviewed. One of our CMOS analog silicon neuron circuits can realize a variety of neuronal activities with a power consumption less than 72 nW. The square-wave bursting mode of this circuit is explained. Another circuit can realize Class I and II neuronal activities with about 3 nW. Our digital silicon neuron circuit can also realize these classes. An auto-associative memory realized on an all-to-all connected network of these silicon neurons is also reviewed, in which the neuron class plays important roles in its performance.