Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
In press , Cognitive Psychology The Spatial Resolution of Visual Attention

Two tasks were used to evaluate the grain of visual attention, the minimum spacing at which attention can select individual items. First, observers performed a tracking task at many viewing distances. When the display subtended less than 1 degree in size, tracking was no longer possible even though observers could resolve the items and their motions: the items were visible but could not be individuated one from the other. The limiting size for selection was roughly the same whether tracking one or three targets, suggesting that the resolution limit acts independently of the capacity limit of attention. Second, the closest spacing that still allowed individuation of single items in dense, static displays was examined. This critical spacing was about 50% coarser in the radial direction compared to the tangential direction, and was coarser in the upper as opposed to the lower visual field. The results suggest that no more than about 60 items can be arrayed in the central 30 degrees of the visual field while still allowing attentional access to each individually. Our data show that selection has a coarse grain, much coarser than visual resolution. These measures of the resolution of attention are based solely on the selection of location and are not confounded with preattentive feature interactions that may contribute to measures from flanker and crowding tasks. The results suggest that the parietal area is the most likely locus of this selection mechanism and that it acts by pointing to the spatial coordinates (or cortical coordinates) of items of interest rather than by holding a representation of the items themselves. Spatial resolution of attention
Extracting the Core Structure of Social Networks Using (α, β)-Communities

An (α, β)-community is a connected subgraph C with each vertex in C connected to at least β vertices of C (self-loops counted) and each vertex outside of C connected to at most α vertices of C (α<β). In this paper, we present a heuristic algorithm that in practice successfully finds a fundamental community structure. We also explore the structure of (α, β)-communities in various social networks. (α, β)-communities are well clustered into a small number of disjoint groups, and there are no isolated (α, β)-communities scattered between these groups. Two (α, β)-communities in the same group have significant overlap, while those in different groups have extremely small resemblance. A surprising core structure is discovered by taking the intersection of each group of massively overlapping (α, β)-communities. Further, similar experiments on random graphs demonstrate that the core structure found in many social networks is due to their underlying social structure, rather than to high-degree vertices or a particular degree distribution.
Safety and Immunogenicity of an HIV Adenoviral Vector Boost after DNA Plasmid Vaccine Prime by Route of Administration: A Randomized Clinical Trial

Background In the development of HIV vaccines, improving immunogenicity while maintaining safety is critical. Route of administration can be an important factor. Methodology/Principal Findings This multicenter, open-label, randomized trial, HVTN 069, compared routes of administration on safety and immunogenicity of a DNA vaccine prime given intramuscularly at 0, 1 and 2 months and a recombinant replication-defective adenovirus type 5 (rAd5) vaccine boost given at 6 months by intramuscular (IM), intradermal (ID), or subcutaneous (SC) route. Randomization was computer-generated by a central data management center; participants and staff were not blinded to group assignment. The outcomes were vaccine reactogenicity and humoral and cellular immunogenicity. Ninety healthy, HIV-1 uninfected adults in the US and Peru, aged 18–50 were enrolled and randomized. Due to the results of the Step Study, injections with rAd5 vaccine were halted; thus 61 received the booster dose of rAd5 vaccine (IM: 20; ID:21; SC:20). After the rAd5 boost, significant differences by study arm were found in severity of headache, pain and erythema/induration. Immune responses (binding and neutralizing antibodies, IFN-γ ELISpot HIV-specific responses and CD4+ and CD8+ T-cell responses by ICS) at four weeks after the rAd5 booster were not significantly different by administration route of the rAd5 vaccine boost (Binding antibody responses: IM: 66.7%; ID: 70.0%; SC: 77.8%; neutralizing antibody responses: IM: 11.1%; ID: 0.0%; SC 16.7%; ELISpot responses: IM: 46.7%; ID: 35.3%; SC: 44.4%; CD4+ T-cell responses: IM: 29.4%; ID: 20.0%; SC: 35.3%; CD8+ T-cell responses: IM: 29.4%; ID: 16.7%; SC: 50.0%.) Conclusions/Significance This study was limited by the reduced sample size. The higher frequency of local reactions after ID and SC administration and the lack of sufficient evidence to show that there were any differences in immunogenicity by route of administration do not support changing route of administration for the rAd5 boost. Trial Registration ClinicalTrials.gov NCT00384787
Data Selection Techniques for Large-Scale Rank SVM

Learning to rank has become a popular research topic in several areas such as information retrieval and machine learning. Pair-wise ranking, which learns all the order preferences between pairs of examples, is a typical method for solving the ranking problem. In pair-wise ranking, Rank SVM is a widely-used algorithm and has been successfully applied to the ranking problem in the previous work. However, Rank SVM suffers from the critical problem of long training time needed to deal with a huge number of pairs. In this paper, we propose a data selection technique, Pruned Rank SVM, that selects the most informative pairs before training. Experimental results show that the performance of Pruned Rank SVM is on par with Rank SVM while using significantly fewer pairs.
Transport current loss and I/sub c/ degradation of HTS tapes under mechanical load

Performance of an HTS (high temperature superconductor) tape is evaluated by measuring the critical current I/sub c/, AC loss and mechanical properties of the short samples. However, in coils or magnets for applications, the HTS tapes are under mechanical load caused by winding tension, bending and sometimes twisting. Also thermal contraction by the cooling changes the tension. The mechanical load reduces the critical current of the superconducting wire, and the I/sub c/ degradation affects the AC loss of the wire. We measured the I/sub c/ degradations and AC losses (transport current loss) of commercial Bi-2223 tapes processed by a PIT (powder in tube) method under tension. The I/sub c/ and AC loss measurements are done in the same time with the same voltage taps on the tape conductors. The measurement results and discussions on the relationship between I/sub c/ degradation and AC loss are presented.
How the Brain Thinks in Autism: Implications for Language Intervention

Autism or autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is usually thought of as a behavioral and social communication impairment. However, it is a broad-based neurodevelopmental or brain-based disorder that is the result of genetic events that occur prior to birth with widespread effects on cognitive and socio-emotional development (Geschwind, 2009). Autism clearly affects social functioning, but it has an impact on the development and use of language that extends beyond pragmatics.
Human Cathelicidin Compensates for the Role of Apolipoproteins in Hepatitis C Virus Infectious Particle Formation

ABSTRACT Exchangeable apolipoproteins (ApoA, -C, and -E) have been shown to redundantly participate in the formation of infectious hepatitis C virus (HCV) particles during the assembly process, although their precise role in the viral life cycle is not well understood. Recently, it was shown that the exogenous expression of only short sequences containing amphipathic α-helices from various apolipoproteins is sufficient to restore the formation of infectious HCV particles in ApoB and ApoE double-gene-knockout Huh7 (BE-KO) cells. In this study, through the expression of a small library of human secretory proteins containing amphipathic α-helix structures, we identified the human cathelicidin antimicrobial peptide (CAMP), the only known member of the cathelicidin family of antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) in humans and expressed mainly in bone marrow and leukocytes. We showed that CAMP is able to rescue HCV infectious particle formation in BE-KO cells. In addition, we revealed that the LL-37 domain in CAMP containing amphipathic α-helices is crucial for the compensation of infectivity in BE-KO cells, and the expression of CAMP in nonhepatic 293T cells expressing claudin 1 and microRNA miR-122 confers complete propagation of HCV. These results suggest the possibility of extrahepatic propagation of HCV in cells with low-level or no expression of apolipoproteins but expressing secretory proteins containing amphipathic α-helices such as CAMP. IMPORTANCE Various exchangeable apolipoproteins play a pivotal role in the formation of infectious HCV during the assembly of viral particles, and amphipathic α-helix motifs in the apolipoproteins have been shown to be a key factor. To the best of our knowledge, we have identified for the first time the human cathelicidin CAMP as a cellular protein that can compensate for the role of apolipoproteins in the life cycle of HCV. We have also identified the domain in CAMP that contains amphipathic α-helices crucial for compensation and show that the expression of CAMP in nonhepatic cells expressing claudin 1 and miR-122 confers complete propagation of HCV. We speculate that low levels of HCV propagation might be possible in extrahepatic tissues expressing secretory proteins containing amphipathic α-helices without the expression of apolipoproteins.
Gibberellin Induces Diploid Pollen Formation by Interfering with Meiotic Cytokinesis1[OPEN]

Gibberellin induces non-reductional cell division and diploid pollen formation in Arabidopsis by interfering with DELLA-mediated male meiotic cytokinesis The plant hormone gibberellic acid (GA) controls many physiological processes, including cell differentiation, cell elongation, seed germination, and response to abiotic stress. In this study, we report that exogenous treatment of flowering Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) plants with GA specifically affects the process of male meiotic cytokinesis leading to meiotic restitution and the production of diploid (2n) pollen grains. Similar defects in meiotic cell division and reproductive ploidy stability occur in Arabidopsis plants depleted of RGA and GAI, two members of the DELLA family that function as suppressor of GA signaling. Cytological analysis of the double rga-24 gai-t6 mutant revealed that defects in male meiotic cytokinesis are not caused by alterations in meiosis I (MI or meiosis II (MII) chromosome dynamics, but instead result from aberrations in the spatial organization of the phragmoplast-like radial microtubule arrays (RMAs) at the end of meiosis II. In line with a role for GA in the genetic regulation of the male reproductive system, we additionally show that DELLA downstream targets MYB33 and MYB65 are redundantly required for functional RMA biosynthesis and male meiotic cytokinesis. By analyzing the expression of pRGA::GFP-RGA in the wild-type Landsberg erecta background, we demonstrate that the GFP-RGA protein is specifically expressed in the anther cell layers surrounding the meiocytes and microspores, suggesting that appropriate GA signaling in the somatic anther tissue is critical for male meiotic cell wall formation and thus plays an important role in consolidating the male gametophytic ploidy consistency.
Simulation-based Inference in a Zero-inflated Bernoulli Regression Model

The logistic regression model has become a standard tool to investigate the relationship between a binary outcome and a set of potential predictors. When analyzing binary data, it often arises that the observed proportion of zeros is greater than expected under the postulated logistic model. Zero-inflated binomial (ZIB) models have been developed to fit binary data that contain too many zeros. Maximum likelihood estimators in these models have been proposed and their asymptotic properties established. Several aspects of ZIB models still deserve attention however, such as the estimation of odds-ratios and event probabilities. In this article, we propose estimators of these quantities and we investigate their properties both theoretically and via simulations. Based on these results, we provide recommendations about the range of conditions (minimum sample size, maximum proportion of zeros in excess) under which a reliable statistical inference on the odds-ratios and event probabilities can be obtained in a ZIB regression model. A real-data example illustrates the proposed estimators.
ANDOVER IN DOWNLINK LTE S ELF-ORGANIZING NETWORKS

This article investigates mobility load balancing (MLB) algorithm implementation through network simulator (ns-3) in long term evolution (LTE) systems employing orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) for downlink (DL) data transmission. MLB is introduced by the third generation partnership project (3GPP) as a key target of LTE self-organizing networks (SONs) [1]. Our contribution is twofold. First, we implemented elementary procedures (EPs) related to load management (LM) function of the X2-application protocol (X2AP) as specified in TS 136.423 [2]. We particularly focused on EPs ’Resource Status Reporting Initiation Procedure’ and 'Resource Status Reporting Procedure’. Second, we implemented a MLB based adaptive handover (HO) algorithm enabling to configure adaptively HO hysteresis threshold for each neighbouring cell, of an overloaded cell, according to its current load information. Numerical results show how, through suitable simulation scenarios, MLB enables enhancing network performance in terms of overall throughput, packet loss ratio (PLR) and fairness without incurring HO overhead.
A Novel Type I IFN-Producing Cell Subset in Murine Lupus1

Excess type I IFNs (IFN-I) have been linked to the pathogenesis of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). Therapeutic use of IFN-I can trigger the onset of SLE and most lupus patients display up-regulation of a group of IFN-stimulated genes (ISGs). Although this “IFN signature” has been linked with disease activity, kidney involvement, and autoantibody production, the source of IFN-I production in SLE remains unclear. 2,6,10,14-Tetramethylpentadecane-induced lupus is at present the only model of SLE associated with excess IFN-I production and ISG expression. In this study, we demonstrate that tetramethylpentadecane treatment induces an accumulation of immature Ly6Chigh monocytes, which are a major source of IFN-I in this lupus model. Importantly, they were distinct from IFN-producing dendritic cells (DCs). The expression of IFN-I and ISGs was rapidly abolished by monocyte depletion whereas systemic ablation of DCs had little effect. In addition, there was a striking correlation between the numbers of Ly6Chigh monocytes and the production of lupus autoantibodies. Therefore, immature monocytes rather than DCs appear to be the primary source of IFN-I in this model of IFN-I-dependent lupus.
21st century political science : a reference handbook

Via 100 entries or 'mini-chapters', the SAGE "21st Century Reference Series" volumes on political science highlight the most important topics, issues, questions and debates any student obtaining a degree in this field need to master for effectiveness in the 21st century. The set provides undergraduate students with an authoritative reference source that will serve their research needs with more detailed information than encyclopedia entries but not so much jargon, detail or density as a journal article or a research handbook chapter. Topics covered include: theory and methdology; basic institutions of government; political ideologies and cultures; public opinion; political parties and elections; political communication; political economy; and, international relations and institutions.
A Novel Bandelet-Based Image Inpainting

This paper proposes a novel image inpainting method based on bandelet transform. This technique is based on a multi-resolution layer to perform image restoration, and mainly utilizes the geometrical flow of the neighboring texture of the damaged regions as the basis of restoration. By performing the warp transform with geometrical flows, it transforms the textural variation into the nearing domain axis utilizing the bandelet decomposition method to decompose the non-relative textures into different bands, and then combines them with the affine search method to perform image restoration. The experimental results show that the proposed method can simplify the complexity of the repair decision method and improve the quality of HVS, and thus, repaired results to contain the image of contour of high change, and in addition, offer a texture image of high-frequency variation. These repair results can lead to state-of-the-art results.
Haplosporidium costale (Sporozoa) Associated with a Disease of Virginia Oysters

A new species of Haplosporidium is reported as the cause of a previously unrecognized disease of Crassostrea virginica (Gmelin) on the Eastern Shore of Virginia. The species is characterized by small (3.1 by 2.6 �) operculate spores without projections. Infections are first seen in late winter, and mortality reaches its peak in early June.
Variation in the X:Autosome Distribution of Male-Biased Genes among Drosophila melanogaster Tissues and Its Relationship with Dosage Compensation

Genes that are expressed differently between males and females (sex-biased genes) often show a nonrandom distribution in their genomic location, particularly with respect to the autosomes and the X chromosome. Previous studies of Drosophila melanogaster found a general paucity of male-biased genes on the X chromosome, although this is mainly limited to comparisons of whole flies or body segments containing the reproductive organs. To better understand the chromosomal distribution of sex-biased genes in various tissues, we used a common analysis framework to analyze microarray and RNA sequence data comparing male and female gene expression in individual tissues (brain, Malpighian tubule, and gonads), composite structures (head and gonadectomized carcass), and whole flies. Although there are relatively few sex-biased genes in the brain, there is a strong and highly significant enrichment of male-biased genes on the X chromosome. A weaker enrichment of X-linked male-biased genes is seen in the head, suggesting that most of this signal comes from the brain. In all other tissues, there is either no departure from the random expectation or a significant paucity of male-biased genes on the X chromosome. The brain and head also differ from other tissues in that their male-biased genes are significantly closer to binding sites of the dosage compensation complex. We propose that the interplay of dosage compensation and sex-specific regulation can explain the observed differences between tissues and reconcile disparate results reported in previous studies.
Does compulsory or supervised community treatment reduce ‘revolving door’ care?

Summary Supervised community treatment to address ‘revolving door’ care is part of the new Mental Health Act in England and Wales. Two recent epidemiological studies in Australia (n > 118 000), as well as a systematic review of all previous literature using appropriately matched or randomised controls (n = 1108), suggest that it is unlikely to help.
Digital SPAD scintillation detector simulation flow to evaluate and minimize real-time requirements

Radiation detection used in positron emission tomography (PET) exploit the timing information to remove background noise and refine the position measurement through time-of-flight (TOF) information. In PET, very fine time resolution (in the order of 10 ps FWHM) would not only improve contrast in the image, but would also enable real-time image reconstruction without iterative or back-projected algorithms. The current performance limitations will be pushed off through the optimization of faster light emission mechanisms (prompts photons), after which the burden of timing resolution will fall to the readout optoelectronics. Digital SPAD arrays offer compelling possibilities to minimize timing jitter in these future detector systems such per-cell timestamps granularity and per-cell configuration parameters, providing a highly flexible signal processing environment. However, processing hundreds of timestamps per detection event places a toll on the real-time processing, which increases rapidly with embedded channel count. Furthermore, if the processing is sent to an external device such as an FPGA, the bandwidth and related power requirements also increase. The simulation flow presented here offers perspectives on how many time to digital converters (TDC) would be required to reach the 10 ps FWHM CTR range for PET. Using this information, designers can estimate the compromises between timing performance, bandwidth requirements, data transmission, power consumption and real-time dataflow processing in the DAQ at the chip and system level. With a standard 1.1 × 1.1 × 3.0 mm3 LYSO scintillator, the coincidence timing resolution (CTR) changed by less than 3% within the range of 4 to 484 implemented TDCs for evaluated system conditions. On the other hand, an LYSO-based photonic crystal with 2.5% prompt emission rate needs a detector with at least 36 TDCs to reach within 3% CTR of an equivalent array with one TDC per SPAD. This gives significant insights on how this change of crystal material will affect system real time requirements for future detector design.
Measurement of microwave behavior in optical links

The aim of this article is to give an overview of how S-parameter techniques can be used and misused to measure the "microwave behavior" of microwave photonic components and links-a field known as lightwave component analysis. Along the way, we clarify what is meant by the term "microwave behavior" when it is applied to what in effect are nonmicrowave components. We find that while it is desirable to extend the S-parameter approach to the lightwave domain, it is not as easy as we would hope.
Framing in Mass Communication Research – An Overview and Assessment

This article provides an overview of the use of the framing concept in mass communication research. It focuses on the questions what a frame is and how it is measured, how variation in framing can be explained and what the effects of media framing are. Specific attention will be paid to the sociological origins of framing. The article concludes with recommendations for future research. It argues that a more systematic and conceptually precise measurement of framing is warranted and suggests how the scope of frame-building and framing-effects studies can be extended.
Testbed for non-coherent zero-feedback distributed beamforming

We present the setup of a complete software-defined radio (SDR) testbed for non-coherent zero-feedback distributed beamforming. Three custom-built, embedded RF transceivers along with a commodity, low-cost SDR commercial receiver are deployed in an indoors lab environment. In sharp contrast with prior art on collaborative beamforming, the proposed scheme assumes no feedback between receiver and transmitters and no access to the transmitters' local oscillators for carrier phase adjustments. Quite interestingly, frequency offsets are exploited in this work. Zero-feedback beamforming with unsynchronized carriers is experimentally validated in terms of bit-error-rate (BER) and compared with simulation results. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first testbed for demonstrating and evaluating zero-feedback, channel state information (CSI)-free, distributed beamforming.