Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Mitochondrial Depolarization Is Not Required for Neuronal Apoptosis

Mitochondria are sites of cellular energy production but may also influence life and death decisions by initiating or inhibiting cell death. Mitochondrial depolarization and the subsequent release of pro-apoptotic factors have been suggested to be required for the activation of a cell death program in some forms of neuronal apoptosis. We induced apoptosis in cultured rat hippocampal neurons by exposure to the protein kinase inhibitor staurosporine (STS) (300 nm). The time course of mitochondrial membrane potential (ΔΨm) during apoptosis was examined using the probe tetramethylrhodamine ethyl ester (TMRE). Cells exhibited no decrease in TMRE fluorescence, indicative of mitochondrial depolarization, up to 8 hr after STS exposure. Rather, baseline TMRE fluorescence remained unchanged up to 2 hr and thereafter actually increased significantly. Throughout this time period, the mitochondria could also be depolarized with the protonophore carbonyl cyanidep-trifluoromethoxy-phenylhydrazone (FCCP, 0.1 μm), exhibiting the same relative magnitude of fluorescence release (unquenching) as controls. Even after 16 hr of staurosporine treatment, neurons that showed signs of nuclear apoptosis maintained ΔΨm and could be depolarized with FCCP. In contrast, caspase-3-like activity had increased roughly sevenfold by 2 hr and >20-fold by 8 hr. Double-labeling of hippocampal neurons with the potential-sensitive probe Mitotracker Red Chloromethyl X-Rosamine and an antibody to cytochrome c demonstrated at the subcellular level that mitochondrial cytochrome c release also occurred in the absence of mitochondrial depolarization. These data suggest that mitochondrial depolarization is not a decisive event in neuronal apoptosis.
Computing the Dependency Basis for Nested List Attributes

Multi-valued dependencies (MVDs) are an important class of constraints that is fundamental for relational database design. Although modern applications increasingly require the support of complex data types such as lists, sets, multisets, unions and references, the challenge of providing well-founded data models that can handle such objects has not been met yet. Those data models will greatly benefit from automated database design techniques that generalise methods from relational databases. Lists represent an inevitable data structure whenever order matters and data is allowed to occur repeatedly. Lists are therefore supported by many advanced data models such as genomic sequence, deductive and object-oriented data models including XML. In this paper, we continue to study the impact of lists on MVDs. The definition of MVDs is based on a Brouwerian algebra of nested attributes which allows to specify actual constraints among complex objects, and to reason independently from any specific data model. Based on a sound and complete set of inference rules for the implication of MVDs in the presence of lists, we develop a provably-correct algorithm for computing the dependency basis of a nested attribute with respect to a given set of MVDs. The algorithm naturally generalises Beeri’s well-known algorithm for relational databases, works in polynomial time in the size of the input, and is the main part for deciding the implication of MVDs in databases that support lists. Given a set of such MVDs the algorithm can be used to efficiently eliminate redundant MVDs.
Microstrip UWB Antenna With WiMax Notched Band Characteristics

In this paper a compact ultra-wideband printed microstrip patch antenna with single band-notched characteristics is presented. The antenna is constructed on an FR-4 epoxy substrate with thickness of 1.6 mm and εr =4.4. The antenna uses a circular split ring slot on a circular patch to create single band-notched characteristics in 3.3–3.6 GHz for WiMAX. Surface current distributions are used to show the effect of these slots. The proposed antenna shows broad bandwidth and good omnidirectional radiation patterns in the passband, with a compact size of 30x30 mm. The proposed antenna operates over 3.0 to 13.5 GHz for VSWR < 2. All simulations in this work were carried out by using Ansoft HFSS 13. Proposed antenna has advantages in simple design, wide bandwidth, and good band-notch characteristic, compact in size and easy in fabrication KeywordsUWB Antenna; Notch Band Antenna; Microstrip Antenna; Planar Antenna
Optical properties and optimization of electromagnetically induced transparency in strained InAs/GaAs quantum dot structures

Using multiband k ·p theory we study the size and geometry dependence on the slow light properties of conical semiconductor quantum dots. We find the V-type scheme for electromagnetically induced transparency EIT to be most favorable and identify an optimal height and size for efficient EIT operation. In case of the ladder scheme, the existence of additional dipole allowed intraband transitions along with an almost equidistant energy-level spacing adds additional decay pathways, which significantly impairs the EIT effect. We further study the influence of strain and band mixing comparing four different k ·p band-structure models. In addition to the separation of the heavy and light holes due to the biaxial-strain component, we observe a general reduction in the transition strengths due to energy crossings in the valence bands caused by strain and bandmixing effects. We furthermore find a nontrivial quantum dot size dependence of the dipole moments directly related to the biaxial-strain component. Due to the separation of the heavy and light holes the optical transition strengths between the lower conduction and upper most valence-band states computed using one-band model and eight-band model show general qualitative agreement, with exceptions relevant for EIT operation.
CMIT — A novel cluster-based topology for 3D stacked architectures

Combining the benefits of 3D IC and Network-on-Chip (NoC) schemes, provides a significant performance gain for 3D stacked architectures. In recent years, Through-Silicon-Via (TSV), employed for inter-layer connectivity (vertical channel), has attracted a lot of interest since it enables faster and more power efficient inter-layer communication across multiple stacked layers. However, the area overhead of TSVs reduces wafer utilization and yield which impact design of 3D architectures using a large number of TSVs. In this paper, we propose a novel stacked topology, named CMIT (Cluster Mesh Inter-layer Topology) for 3D architectures to reduce the area overhead of TSVs and power dissipation on each layer with minimal performance penalty. Experimental results with synthetic test cases demonstrate that the presented topology can save more than 75% of TSV area footprint and reduces more than 10% of power consumption with a negligible performance overhead.
Glucose Indices, Health Behaviors, and Incidence of Diabetes in Australia

OBJECTIVE—This national, population-based study reports diabetes incidence based on oral glucose tolerance tests (OGTTs) and identifies risk factors for diabetes in Australians. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS—The Australian Diabetes, Obesity and Lifestyle Study followed-up 5,842 participants over 5 years. Normal glycemia, impaired fasting glucose (IFG), impaired glucose tolerance (IGT), and diabetes were defined using World Health Organization criteria. RESULTS—Age-standardized annual incidence of diabetes for men and women was 0.8% (95% CI 0.6–0.9) and 0.7% (0.5–0.8), respectively. The annual incidence was 0.2% (0.2–0.3), 2.6% (1.8–3.4), and 3.5% (2.9–4.2) among those with normal glycemia, IFG, and IGT, respectively, at baseline. Among those with IFG, the incidence was significantly higher in women (4.0 vs. 2.0%), while among those with IGT, it was significantly higher in men (4.4 vs. 2.9%). Using multivariate logistic regression, hypertension (odds ratio 1.64 [95% CI 1.17–2.28]), hypertriglyceridemia (1.46 [1.05–2.02]), log fasting plasma glucose (odds ratio per 1 SD 5.25 [95% CI 3.98–6.92]), waist circumference (1.26 [1.08–1.48]), smoking (1.70 [96% CI 1.11–2.63]), physical inactivity (1.56 [1.12–2.16]), family history of diabetes (1.82 [1.30–2.52]), and low education level (1.85 [1.04–3.31]) were associated with incident diabetes. In age- and sex-adjusted models, A1C was a predictor of diabetes in the whole population, in those with normal glycemia, and in those with IGT or IFG. CONCLUSIONS—Diabetes incidence is 10–20 times greater in those with IGT or IFG than those with normal glycemia. Measures of glycemia, A1C, metabolic syndrome components, education level, smoking, and physical inactivity are risk factors for diabetes.
Structure of a Microbial Community in Soil after Prolonged Addition of Low Levels of Simulated Acid Rain

ABSTRACT Humus samples were collected 12 growing seasons after the start of a simulated acid rain experiment situated in the subarctic environment. The acid rain was simulated with H2SO4, a combination of H2SO4 and HNO3, and HNO3 at two levels of moderate acidic loads close to the natural anthropogenic pollution levels of southern Scandinavia. The higher levels of acid applications resulted in acidification, as defined by humus chemistry. The concentrations of base cations decreased, while the concentrations of exchangeable H+, Al, and Fe increased. Humus pH decreased from 3.83 to 3.65. Basal respiration decreased with decreasing humus pH, and total microbial biomass, measured by substrate-induced respiration and total amount of phospholipid fatty acids (PLFA), decreased slightly. An altered PLFA pattern indicated a change in the microbial community structure at the higher levels of acid applications. In general, branched fatty acids, typical of gram-positive bacteria, increased in the acid plots. PLFA analysis performed on the bacterial community growing on agar plates also showed that the relative amount of PLFA specific for gram-positive bacteria increased due to the acidification. The changed bacterial community was adapted to the more acidic environment in the acid-treated plots, even though bacterial growth rates, estimated by thymidine and leucine incorporation, decreased with pH. Fungal activity (measured as acetate incorporation into ergosterol) was not affected. This result indicates that bacteria were more affected than fungi by the acidification. The capacity of the bacterial community to utilize 95 different carbon sources was variable and only showed weak correlations to pH. Differences in the toxicities of H2SO4 and HNO3 for the microbial community were not found.
Atlantic sturgeon Acipenser oxyrinchus and alien sturgeon species in Polish waters: can biometric analysis assist species discrimination and restoration?

Biometric character analyses were conducted on Atlantic sturgeon Acipenser oxyrinchus, a species included in a re-establishment programme in the Baltic Sea basin. The study sought to identify measurable and countable characters most useful for distinguishing A. oxyrinchus from three alien species found in open waters of Poland: Acipenser baerii, Acipenser gueldenstaedtii, and Acipenser stellatus. Measurable characters that contributed most to discrimination included preorbital distance, eye diameter, ventral fin base to anal fin base, and postorbital distance. Among countable characters, the number of lateral scutes made the greatest contribution. The data from the present study may be used to supplement existing systematic keys and lay the foundations for creating a catalogue or atlas of popular species and interspecific hybrids of sturgeon, including their complete systematic determination. Jesiotr ostronosy Acipenser oxyrinchus oraz obce gatunki jesiotrów w wodach Polski: czy analiza biometryczna uzupełni identyfikację i restytucję gatunków? Słowa kluczowe analiza dyskryminacyjna, cechy biometryczne, identyfikacja gatunków, przyłów, restytucja gatunku Streszczenie W niniejszej pracy przedstawiono wyniki analizy cech biometrycznych osobników jesiotra ostronosego Acipenser oxyrhinchus oxyrhinchus, gatunku objętego restytucją w basenie Morza Bałtyckiego. Przy wykorzystaniu technik aglomeracyjnych podjęto próbę wyjaśnienia, które z cech mierzalnych i policzalnych mają największą przydatność przy odróżnianiu Acipenser oxyrinchus oxyrinchus od trzech gatunków obcych, łowionych w wodach otwartych Polski, tj. jesiotra syberyjskiego (Acipenser baerii), rosyjskiego (Acipenser gueldenstaedtii) oraz siewrugi (Acipenser stellatus). Wyniki analiz wykazały, że największy udział w dyskryminacji na podstawie cech mierzalnych miały: długość rostrum (R), odległość między płetwami V i A (VA) oraz przestrzeń zaoczna (OP), natomiast wśród cech policzalnych była to liczba tarczek bocznych (SL). Wyniki uzyskane w niniejszej pracy wzbogacają aktualnie #0#
Safe driving support system

A system to appropriately prevent deterioration of attention due to drowsiness of a driver of the moving body. A spraying apparatus includes a solution container portion containing the caffeine-containing aqueous solution, and the spray operation unit for spraying the caffeine-containing aqueous solution, the information providing server includes a map information storage unit that stores map information If has a caution area storage unit for storing a caution area information indicating a caution area careful operation is required, the information processing apparatus, by making a request to the information providing server, the information get the said caution area information and the map information from the providing server, the information and the map information and the caution area information acquired from the providing server, based on the current position information, the time required to caution area calculates, when it is determined that the required time is less than the reference time, the carried spray command to the spraying device, the spraying device, based on the spray command, caffeine-containing water Spraying liquid, safe driving support system is provided. FIELD 1
Evaluating named entity recognition tools for extracting social networks from novels

The analysis of literary works has experienced a surge in computer-assisted processing. To obtain insights into the community structures and social interactions portrayed in novels, the creation of social networks from novels has gained popularity. Many methods rely on identifying named entities and relations for the construction of these networks, but many of these tools are not specifically created for the literary domain. Furthermore, many of the studies on information extraction from literature typically focus on 19th and early 20th century source material. Because of this, it is unclear if these techniques are as suitable to modern-day literature as they are to those older novels. We present a study in which we evaluate natural language processing tools for the automatic extraction of social networks from novels as well as their network structure. We find that there are no significant differences between old and modern novels but that both are subject to a large amount of variance. Furthermore, we identify several issues that complicate named entity recognition in our set of novels and we present methods to remedy these. We see this work as a step in creating more culturally-aware AI systems.
Identification of Ser-386 of Interferon Regulatory Factor 3 as Critical Target for Inducible Phosphorylation That Determines Activation*

Interferon regulatory factor (IRF)-3 is a critical transcription factor regulating innate immune responses against viral and bacterial infections. Signals activated by various pathogens are integrated by IRF-3 kinase, resulting in the specific phosphorylation of IRF-3 in the cytoplasm. This phosphorylation induces dimerization and association with the coactivators CREB-binding protein/p300, and the resultant complex activates the target genes in the nucleus. However, the phosphorylation sites that determine the active/inactive status of IRF-3 have been a source of controversy. In this study, we generated an antibody that specifically detects the phosphorylation of Ser-386 and used it as a probe. We found: 1) viral infection specifically induces phosphorylation of the Ser-386; 2) recently identified IRF-3 kinases (IKK-i/ϵ and TBK-1) phosphorylate Ser-386 and induce its dimerization; 3) phosphorylation of Ser-386 is exclusively observed with the dimer; 4) mutation at Ser-386 abolishes the dimerization potential; 5) a constitutively active 5D mutant designed to mimic phosphorylation of Ser/Thr residues other than Ser-385 and -386 is secondarily phosphorylated at Ser-386, presumably by an irrelevant kinase. These results strongly suggest that Ser-386 is the target of the IRF-3 kinase and critical determinant for the activation of IRF-3.
Observed idiosyncracies of relational database designs

Several processes have been advanced in the literature for reverse engineering of relational databases. The inputs to these processes are relational tables and available contextual information. The output is a model of the underlying logical intent, apart from the implementation artifacts. Most of the existing processes for database reverse engineering are inadequate; they assume too high a quality of input information. The authors of these processes are skilled database designers and they are overly optimistic about the state-of-the-art, as practiced. This paper catalogs odd aspects of relational database designs that we have encountered over the past several years. Many of these database designs are from commercial software products.
Multi-View Learning in the Presence of View Disagreement

Traditional multi-view learning approaches suffer in the presence of view disagreement, i.e., when samples in each view do not belong to the same class due to view corruption, occlusion or other noise processes. In this paper we present a multi-view learning approach that uses a conditional entropy criterion to detect view disagreement. Once detected, samples with view disagreement are filtered and standard multi-view learning methods can be successfully applied to the remaining samples. Experimental evaluation on synthetic and audio-visual databases demonstrates that the detection and filtering of view disagreement considerably increases the performance of traditional multi-view learning approaches.
EFFECT OF METABOLIC CAGE HOUSING ON METABOLIC CHANGES IN THE LIVER OF YOUNG MALE LABORATORY RATS

The aim of this study is to investigate if a metabolic cage housing is appropriate for studies of metabolic changes in rat liver. Metabolic cages are intended for separately collecting animal urine and feces and for measuring of feed and water consumption. They are often used in biomedical research, especially in studies involving metabolism and nutrition, where it is necessary to control the total intake of feed and water. In numerous studies, researchers have found that housing in a condition similar to housing in metabolic cages i.e. grid floor, lack of bedding, lack of movement, and single housing, could cause stress and thus alter the results and influence the research. Two months old male Wistar rats were randomly assigned to two different housing systems for a three week period. One group of rats was housed individually in metabolic cages and rats in the other group were paired and housed in polycarbonate type IV cages with wood shavings bedding material. The body mass and feed consumption were monitored daily. At the end of the study, four rats from each group were anesthetized and the liver and blood samples were taken. The rest of the rats were used for primary hepatocytes cell culture to determinate glucose production. Metabolic cage housing conditions in our study did not cause stress of sufficient impact to alter the test parameters. Key words: metabolic cage; hepatocytes; insulin resistance; plasma lipids VPLIV BIVANJA V PRESNOVNI KLETKI NA SPREMEMBE V PRESNOVI JETER PRI MLADIH PODGANJIH SAMCIH Povzetek: Cilj studije je bil raziskati ali je bivanje v presnovnih kletkah primerno za proucevanje presnovnih sprememb v podganjih jetrih. Presnovne kletke so namenjene locenemu zbiranju živalskega urina in blata ter merjenju porabe krme in vode. Pogosto se uporabljajo v biomedicinskih raziskavah, zlasti v studijah presnove in prehrane, kjer je potrebno nadzorovati skupni vnos krme in vode. V stevilnih studijah so raziskovalci ugotovili, da lahko bivanje v pogojih, ki so podobni metabolnim kletkam tj. na tleh, ki so sestavljena iz mrež, pomanjkanju nastilja, pomanjkanju gibanja in posamicnem bivanju živali povzroca stres in lahko vpliva na rezultate raziskav. Dva meseca stare samce podgan Wistar smo nakljucno razporedili v dva razlicna sistema za nastanitev za obdobje treh tednov. Ena skupina podgan je bila namescena posamicno v presnovnih kletkah, podgane druge skupine pa so bile nastanjene v parih v klasicnih polikarbonatnih kletkah tipa IV s steljo iz lesnih ostružkov. Dnevno smo spremljali njihovo telesno maso in porabo krme. Na koncu studije smo stiri podgane iz vsake skupine anestezirali in odvzeli vzorce jeter in krvi. Preostale podgane smo uporabili za pridobivanje primarnih jetrnih celic z namenom dolocanja proizvodnje glukoze. Pogoji bivanja v presnovnih kletkah v studiji niso povzrocili stresa, ki bi imel znacilen vpliv na proucevane spremenljivke. Kljucne besede: presnovna kletka; jetrne celice; odpornost na inzulin; plazemske mascobe
Impact of major video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery on care quality.

Background The objective of this study was to investigate the impact of a program of major video-assisted surgery on care quality in a Unit of Thoracic Surgery. Methods A descriptive comparative study was conducted of 793 major thoracic procedures performed between 2009 and 2012. Quality indicators and hospital performance before [2009-2010] and after (2011 and 2012) the implementation of the program. Results The incidence of surgical complications decreased significantly from 6.32%/7.88% (2009/2010, respectively) to 1.87%/1.67% (2011/2012, respectively) [95% CI for 7.08% (4.20-9.96%); 95% CI for 1.76% (0.44-3.08%) P<0.001, respectively]. The mean hospital stay was reduced from 8.5/7.8 days in 2009/2010, respectively, to 6.3/5.8 days in 2011/2012, respectively. Mortality rates were 0.57%, 0.60%, 0.93% and 0.43% in 2009, 2010, 2011, and 2012, respectively (P=0.624, 95% CI: -0.6, 0.7). The percentages of emergency readmissions in 2009/2010 were 1.16%/1.23%, respectively vs. 2.80%/0.84% in 2011/2012. Conclusions The implementation of the video-assisted thoracic surgery (VATS) program in the unit of Thoracic Surgery Care resulted in a significant improvement in care quality, with a reduction of length of hospital stay, but without any changes in mortality or the percentage of readmissions at 30 post-operative days.
Delay-throughput tradeoff with correlated mobility of ad-hoc networks

We analyze the scaling law in wireless ad hoc networks with the correlated mobility model. The former work about correlated mobility has shown the maximum throughput and the corresponding delay of several sub-cases, but the optimal throughput performances under various delay tolerant condition (the optimal delay-throughput tradeoff) remains open. We study the properties of correlated mobility model and establish the upper bound of delay-throughput tradeoff for several sub-cases. Then we find out an achievable lower bound by studying the optimal scheduling parameters and their constrains. We exploit the node correlation to achieve the delay-throughput tradeoff and give a picture that how node correlation impacts the packet delay, asymptotic throughput, and their tradeoff.