Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Developmental Deltamethrin Exposure Causes Persistent Changes in Dopaminergic Gene Expression, Neurochemistry, and Locomotor Activity in Zebrafish.

Pyrethroids are commonly used insecticides that are considered to pose little risk to human health. However, there is an increasing concern that children are more susceptible to the adverse effects of pesticides. We used the zebrafish model to test the hypothesis that developmental exposure to low doses of the pyrethroid deltamethrin results in persistent alterations in dopaminergic gene expression, neurochemistry, and locomotor activity. Zebrafish embryos were treated with deltamethrin (0.25-0.50 μg/l), at concentrations below the LOAEL, during the embryonic period [3-72 h postfertilization (hpf)], after which transferred to fresh water until the larval stage (2-weeks postfertilization). Deltamethrin exposure resulted in decreased transcript levels of the D1 dopamine (DA) receptor (drd1) and increased levels of tyrosine hydroxylase at 72 hpf. The reduction in drd1 transcripts persisted to the larval stage and was associated with decreased D2 dopamine receptor transcripts. Larval fish, exposed developmentally to deltamethrin, had increased levels of homovanillic acid, a DA metabolite. Since the DA system is involved in locomotor activity, we measured the swim activity of larval fish following a transition to darkness. Developmental exposure to deltamethrin significantly increased larval swim activity which was attenuated by concomitant knockdown of the DA transporter. Acute exposure to methylphenidate, a DA transporter inhibitor, increased swim activity in control larva, while reducing swim activity in larva developmentally exposed to deltamethrin. Developmental exposure to deltamethrin causes locomotor deficits in larval zebrafish, which is likely mediated by dopaminergic dysfunction. This highlights the need to understand the persistent effects of low-dose neurotoxicant exposure during development.
A Special Topology for Files Pre-Fetch in Large Scale Video on Demand

Current video on demand system requires a large number of users and a huge number of video files, then mounts of concurrent address on media server will burst the bandwidth requirements and content provider will pay more and more cost on it. Accordingly, new schemes to offload burden from media server becomes a crucial item. In this paper, we introduce a new topology based on two hierarchical DHT in P2P VoD system for video files pre-fetch, which are consisted three pre-fetching models. Through simulations, we demonstrate that the P2P VoD system with files pre-fetching in the topology can obtain a much high performance on media sever burden compared to that of without pre-fetching.
Sustainable investment in Korea does not catch a cold when the United States sneezes

We analyse the socially responsible investment (SRI) performance in Korea over the period January 2006 to April 2014. Our analysis shows that sustainable investment portfolio, represented by Dow Jones Sustainability Index Korea, is ranked higher than most of the conventional portfolios in Korea. We also find that there is no significant effect of the 2008 global financial crisis on the sustainable investment return and volatility and US policy uncertainty does not affect the return as well. Generally, we find relative stability during crisis and non-crisis periods. We may also conclude that by decoupling sustainable investment in Korea from US market system, “Korea does not catch a cold when the United States sneezes”. In other words, SRI in Korea can be an alternative investment opportunity for investors to consider for international diversification purpose.
Online time-dependent clustering using probabilistic topic models

We introduce an online, time-dependent clustering algorithm that employs a dynamic probabilistic topic model. The proposed algorithm can handle data that evolves over time and strives to capture the evolution of clusters in the dataset. It addresses the case where the entire dataset is not available at once (e.g., the case of data streams) but an up-to-date clustering of the data at any given time is required. One of the main challenges of the data stream setting is that the computational cost and memory overhead must stay bounded as the number of data points increases. Our proposed algorithm has a Dirichlet process-based generative component combined with a sequential Monte Carlo sampler for posterior inference. We also introduce a novel modification to the sampling process, called targeted sampling, which enhances the performance of the SMC sampler. We test the performance of our algorithm with both synthetic and real datasets.
Increment/decrement/2's complement/priority encoder circuit for varying operand lengths

Algorithms based Media applications operate on operands of varying data lengths. Although much work has been done in designing adder and multiplier architectures which operate on varying data lengths, there has been little work on implementing other operations like increment/decrement, 2's complement etc. This paper presents an architecture which can perform increment/decrement/2's complement/priority-encode operations on varying data lengths. A 32-bit implementation of the proposed multifunctional architecture is presented, which can operate on four 8-bit operands, two 16-bit operands or one 32-bit operand.
Changes in the Recession Behavior of Wholesale Prices: The 1920s and Post World War Ii

The present study examines the recession behavior of wholesale prices since World War II and compares it with the 1920s as the most recent period of earlier recessions with comparable severity. The focus is on changes in recession behavior, possible bias in the data, and differences in behavior between various groups of wholesale prices. (Differences between wholesale and consumer prices, though of importance, are not examined here.) The purpose is to extend the evidence on the degree and uniformity of the change in price behavior and to test various interpretations of those changes.
Interhemispheric Functional Connectivity and Its Relationships with Clinical Characteristics in Major Depressive Disorder: A Resting State fMRI Study

Background Abnormalities in large-scale, structural and functional brain connectivity have been increasingly reported in patients with major depressive disorder (MDD). However, MDD-related alterations in functional interaction between the cerebral hemispheres are still not well understood. Resting state fMRI, which reveals spontaneous neural fluctuations in blood oxygen level dependent signals, provides a means to detect interhemispheric functional coherence. We examined the resting state functional connectivity (RSFC) between the two hemispheres and its relationships with clinical characteristics in MDD patients using a recently proposed measurement named “voxel-mirrored homotopic connectivity (VMHC)”. Methodology/Principal Findings We compared the interhemispheric RSFC, computed using the VMHC approach, of seventeen first-episode drug-naive patients with MDD and seventeen healthy controls. Compared to the controls, MDD patients showed significant VMHC decreases in the medial orbitofrontal gyrus, parahippocampal gyrus, fusiform gyrus, and occipital regions including the middle occipital gyrus and cuneus. In MDD patients, a negative correlation was found between VMHC of the fusiform gyrus and illness duration. Moreover, there were several regions whose VMHC showed significant negative correlations with the severity of cognitive disturbance, including the prefrontal regions, such as middle and inferior frontal gyri, and two regions in the cereballar crus. Conclusions/Significance These findings suggest that the functional coordination between homotopic brain regions is impaired in MDD patients, thereby providing new evidence supporting the interhemispheric connectivity deficits of MDD. The significant correlations between the VMHC and clinical characteristics in MDD patients suggest potential clinical implication of VMHC measures for MDD. Interhemispheric RSFC may serve as a useful screening method for evaluating MDD where neural connectivity is implicated in the pathophysiology.
Perceiving simulated ego-motions in virtual reality: comparing large screen displays with HMDs

In Virtual Reality, considerable systematic spatial orientation problems frequently occur that do not happen in comparable real-world situations. This study investigated possible origins of these problems by examining the influence of visual field of view (FOV) and type of display device (head-mounted display (HMD) vs. projection screens) on basic human spatial orientation behavior. In Experiment 1, participants had to reproduce traveled distances and to turn specified target angles in a simple virtual environment without any landmarks that was projected onto a 180° half-cylindrical projection screen. As expected, distance reproduction performance showed only small systematic errors. Turning performance, however, was unexpectedly almost perfect (gain=0.97), with negligible systematic errors and minimal variability, which is unprecedented in the literature. In Experiment 2, turning performance was compared between a projection screen (FOV 84°×63°), an HMD (40°×30°), and blinders (40°×30°) that restricted the FOV on the screen. Performance was best with the screen (gain 0.77) and worst with the HMD (gain 0.57). We found a significant difference between blinders (gain 0.73) and HMD, which indicates that different display devices can influence ego-motion perception differentially, even if the physical FOVs are equal. We conclude that the type of display device (HMD vs. curved projection screen) seems to be more critical than the FOV for the perception of ego-rotations. Furthermore, large, curved projection screens yielded better performance than HMDs.
The Impact of Study Abroad on Multicultural Competency Among Student Affairs Graduate Students

4 Chapter 1: Introduction 8 Problem Statement 8 Importance of the Problem and Rationale for the Study 9 Background of Problem 11 Statement of Purpose 15 Research Question 15 Design, Data Collection, and Analysis 15 Definition of Terms 16 Delimitations of the Study 16 Limitations of the Study 17 Organization of Thesis 17 Chapter 2: Literature Review 18 Introduction 18 Theoretical Framework 18 Synthesis of Research Literature 20 Graduate Preparation in Student Affairs 20 Multiculturalism and its Impact on Student Affairs Practitioners 22 Study Abroad as a High Impact Practice 26 Chapter 3: Research Design 30
Towards the optimal Bayes classifier using an extended self-organising map

In this paper, we propose an extended self-organising learning scheme, in which both distance measure and neighbourhood function have been replaced by the neuron's posterior probabilities. Updating of weights is within a limited but fixed sized neighbourhood of the winner. Each unit will converge to one component of a mixture distribution of input samples, so that an optimal pattern classifier can be formed. The proposed learning scheme can be used to train other forms of unsupervised networks, such as radial-basis-function networks. An application example on textured image segmentation is presented.
An Empirical Study of Precise Interprocedural Array Analysis

In this article we examine the role played by the interprocedural analysis of array accesses in the automatic parallelization of Fortran programs. We use the PTRAN system to provide measurements of several benchmarks to compare different methods of representing interprocedurally accessed arrays. We examine issues concerning the effectiveness of automatic parallelization using these methods and the efficiency of a precise summarization method.
Using HTTP link: header for gateway cache invalidation

Gateway caches are intermediary components for reducing demands on destination servers, and therefore operational costs of a system. At scale, particularly with the advent of on-demand infrastructures such as EC2, etc., maximising cache efficiency translates into cost efficiency, resulting in a competitive advantage. In this position paper, we initially discuss advantages and limitations of HTTP caching mechanisms. We then propose to use HTTP Link: headers to maximise the efficiency of gateway (or reverse proxy) caching mechanisms and discuss early findings.
A Feasibility Study using Intelligent Software Agent Technology for Weapon-Target Pairing , utilizing Unmanned Aerial Vehicles

This report explores the feasibility of applying artificial intelligence (AI) technology and in particular intelligent software agent methodologies to facilitate the remote guidance and improve the autonomous control capabilities of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV). In their primary military applications of surveillance, target identification and designation, counter mine warfare, and reconnaissance, the effective deployment of UAVs is currently limited by inadequate software support. The two most critical software needs are cited in the literature and government reports as a reliable autonomous capability to detect, assess and respond to near-field objects in the UAV's path of travel and the ability to process large volumes of data collected by multiple UAVs in near real-time. The findings of this study indicate that both of these needs can be better addressed by AI-based information-centric software than legacy data-processing software systems. While AI-based software is not a magic wand that can today fulfill all of the control and data processing needs of unmanned aircraft systems (UAS), it has reached a sufficient level of maturity to warrant immediate exploratory implementation. It is important that the developers of AI-based software become aware of the needs and capabilities of UAS users and manufacturers, and that vice versa, the UAS community become familiar with AI concepts and implementation principles. Since both UAS and AI are relatively young technologies there is a need for the early teaming of members of these communities to guide the research and development efforts and thereby accelerate the effective integration of AI capabilities in UAS software systems. The report is divided into eight main sections. Section 1 introduces intelligent software as a paradigm shift that is manifesting itself in the transition of data-processing to knowledge management and then states the purpose of this feasibility study. Section 2 briefly summarizes the primary military applications of UAS capabilities and lists the principal technical challenges identified in the literature. In particular, this Section provides an analysis of the Unmanned Systems Roadmap 2007-2032 published in December 2007 by the Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD 2007). While this publication mentions the need for and promise of AI technology, it generally underestimates in the opinion of the authors current capabilities and the current level of maturity of AI-based software methodologies. Specifically, it overlooks the need for UAS and AI subject matter experts to team together so that the needs of the UAS community can provide appropriate guidance to potentially useful …
In situ retroviral-mediated gene transfer for the treatment of brain tumors in rats.

Gene transfer with vectors derived from murine retroviruses is restricted to cells which are proliferating and synthesizing DNA at the time of infection. This suggests that retroviral-mediated gene transfer might permit targeting of gene integration into malignant cells in organs composed mainly of quiescent nonproliferating cells, such as in the brain. Accordingly, selective introduction of genes encoding for susceptibility to otherwise nontoxic drugs ("suicide" genes) into proliferating brain tumors may be used to treat this cancer. We investigated the efficacy and dynamics of in vivo transduction of growing brain tumors with the herpes simplex-thymidine kinase gene followed by administration of the antiviral drug ganciclovir. Ganciclovir is phosphorylated by thymidine kinase to toxic triphosphates that interfere with DNA synthesis, resulting in the preferential death of the transduced tumor cells. Rats inoculated with 4 x 10(4) 9L gliosarcoma cells into the frontal lobe were treated 7 days later with an intratumoral stereotaxic injection of murine fibroblasts (NIH 3T3 cells) that were producing a retroviral vector containing the herpes simplex-thymidine kinase gene. Controls received vector producer and nonproducer NIH 3T3 cell lines containing the Escherichia coli lacZ (beta-galactosidase) gene as well as nonproducer NIH 3T3 cells containing the thymidine kinase gene. The animals were rested for 7 days to allow time for in situ transduction of the proliferating tumor cells with the herpes-thymidine kinase retroviral vector. The animals were then treated with ganciclovir, 15 mg/kg i.p. twice a day for 14 days. Gliomas receiving an injection of 3-5 x 10(6) thymidine kinase producer cells regressed completely in 23 of 30 rats given ganciclovir therapy, while 25 of 26 control rats developed large tumors. Intratumoral injection of a lower concentration of thymidine kinase vector producer cells (1.8 x 10(6)) resulted in a lower frequency of tumor regression (5 of 13 rats). To estimate the efficiency of in vivo gene transfer, 9L brain tumors were given injections of 5 x 10(6) beta-galactosidase vector producer cells. 5-Bromo-4-chloro-3-indolyl-beta-D-galactopyranaside staining revealed maximal staining of beta-galactosidase within the tumor 7-14 days after injection of the vector producer cells. In vivo transduction rates in harvested tumors ranged from 10 to 70%. There was no evidence of transduction of the surrounding normal neural tissue. Occasional blood vessel endothelial cells within or adjacent to the tumor were observed to be 5-bromo-4- chloro-3-indolyl-beta-D-galactopyranaside positive. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)
Response of Core Microbial Consortia to Chronic Hydrocarbon Contaminations in Coastal Sediment Habitats

Traditionally, microbial surveys investigating the effect of chronic anthropogenic pressure such as polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) contaminations consider just the alpha and beta diversity and ignore the interactions among the different taxa forming the microbial community. Here, we investigated the ecological relationships between the three domains of life (i.e., Bacteria, Archaea, and Eukarya) using 454 pyrosequencing on the 16S rRNA and 18S rRNA genes from chronically impacted and pristine sediments, along the coasts of the Mediterranean Sea (Gulf of Lion, Vermillion coast, Corsica, Bizerte lagoon and Lebanon) and the French Atlantic Ocean (Bay of Biscay and English Channel). Our approach provided a robust ecological framework for the partition of the taxa abundance distribution into 859 core Operational taxonomic units (OTUs) and 6629 satellite OTUs. OTUs forming the core microbial community showed the highest sensitivity to changes in environmental and contaminant variations, with salinity, latitude, temperature, particle size distribution, total organic carbon (TOC) and PAH concentrations as main drivers of community assembly. The core communities were dominated by Gammaproteobacteria and Deltaproteobacteria for Bacteria, by Thaumarchaeota, Bathyarchaeota and Thermoplasmata for Archaea and Metazoa and Dinoflagellata for Eukarya. In order to find associations among microorganisms, we generated a co-occurrence network in which PAHs were found to impact significantly the potential predator – prey relationship in one microbial consortium composed of ciliates and Actinobacteria. Comparison of network topological properties between contaminated and non-contaminated samples showed substantial differences in the network structure and indicated a higher vulnerability to environmental perturbations in the contaminated sediments.
BADGER : A New Machine Translation Metric

With the introduction of new and more sophisticated MT systems, increased interest has been focused on their potential applications and relative performance. The number of viable commercial and academic systems to choose from has created a dilemma for commercial and government decision makers. Objective automated measurement of MT system performance is becoming increasingly desirable. In response, NIST has sponsored the first MT metric challenge in 2008 to help focus development in this area. Here we present new research in response to this challenge. This paper introduces BADGER, a new language independent translation metric based on compression and information theory. While the test data provided is too small for a definitive performance analysis, we show this metric’s correlation with human judgment at the segment level. We show this approach is significantly different from one n-gram approach as well as showing its similarity with word error rate measures. We also present a number of input normalization techniques centered on an efficient language independent Holographic Reduced Representation and report on the relative performance of several word normalization methods within this data set.
Assessing Citizen Service Platform system success in Government 2.0

Citizen Service Platform (CSP) system is an e-Government 2.0 system and capable of helping citizens interact with governments in a new and democratic way, and can improve traditional e-government system's efficiency greatly. It is therefore important to measure the success of CSP systems from the different perspectives. This study provides the first empirical test of an adaptation of DeLone and McLean's IS success model in the context of CSP. Our findings provide several important implications for CSP and Government 2.0 research and practice.
The Mouse Cytomegalovirus Immediate-Early 1 Gene Is Not Required for Establishment of Latency or for Reactivation in the Lungs

ABSTRACT The immediate-early protein IE1 of human and mouse cytomegalovirus (MCMV) is one of the first proteins expressed during the productive infection cycle and upon reactivation from latency. The CMV IE1 proteins have been found to inhibit histone deacetylases, suggesting a role in the epigenetic regulation of viral gene expression. Consequently, the IE1 protein is considered to have a profound effect on reactivation, because small amounts of IE1 may be decisive for the switch to lytic replication. Here we asked if an MCMV Δie1 mutant is able both to establish latency and to reactivate from the lungs of latently infected mice. Since the Δie1 mutant was known to be attenuated during acute infection, we first defined conditions that led to comparable levels of viral genomes during latent infection with mutant and wild-type (wt) MCMV. Viral genome copy numbers dropped considerably at the onset of the latent infection but then remained steady for both viruses even after several months. Reactivation of the Δie1 mutant and of wt MCMV from latency occurred with similar incidences in lung explant cultures at 4, 7, and 12 months postinfection. The increase in the frequency of a subset of MCMV-specific memory T cells, a possible indicator of frequent transcriptional reactivation events during latency, was in a comparable range for both viruses. Recurrence of the Δie1 virus infection in vivo could also be induced by hematoablative treatment of latently infected mice. We conclude that the ie1 gene is not essential for the establishment of latency or for the reactivation of MCMV.