Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Organization of binaural excitatory and inhibitory inputs to the inferior colliculus from the superior olive

The major excitatory, binaural inputs to the central nucleus of the inferior colliculus (ICC) are from two groups of neurons with different functions—the ipsilateral medial superior olive (MSO) and the contralateral lateral superior olive (LSO). A major inhibitory, binaural input emerges from glycinergic neurons in the ipsilateral LSO. To determine whether these inputs converge on the same postsynaptic targets in the ICC, two different anterograde tracers were injected in tonotopically matched areas of the MSO and the LSO on the opposite side in the same animal. The main findings were that the boutons from MSO axons terminated primarily in the central and caudal parts of the ICC laminae but that contralateral LSO terminals were concentrated more rostrally and on the ventral margins of the MSO inputs. In contrast, the ipsilateral LSO projection converged with the MSO inputs and was denser than the contralateral LSO projection. Consistent with this finding, retrograde transport experiments showed that the very low‐frequency areas of the ICC with dense MSO inputs also received inputs from greater numbers of ipsilateral LSO neurons than from contralateral LSO neurons. The results suggest that different binaural pathways through the low‐frequency ICC may be formed by the segregation of excitatory inputs to ICC from the MSO and the contralateral LSO. At the same time, the ipsilateral LSO is a major inhibitory influence in the target region of the MSO. These data support the concept that each frequency‐band lamina in the ICC may comprise several functional modules with different combinations of inputs. J. Comp. Neurol. 472:330–344, 2004. © 2004 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Is Population Growth an Environmental Problem? Teachers’ Perceptions and Attitudes towards Including It in Their Teaching

Population growth (PG) is one of the drivers of the environmental crisis and underlies almost every environmental problem. Despite its causative role in environmental challenges, it has gained little attention from popular media, public and government agenda, or even from environmental organizations. There is a gap between the gravity of the problem and its relative absence from the public discourse that stems, inter alia, from the fact that the very discussion of the subject raises many sensitive, complex and ethical questions. The education system is a key player in filling this gap, and teachers have an opportunity to facilitate the discussion in this important issue. While educators mostly agree to include controversial environmental topics in school curricula, calls for addressing PG remain rare. This study explores teachers’ perspectives of PG as a problem and their attitudes towards including it in their teaching, focusing on environmental and non-environmental teachers. While perceiving PG as an environmental problem and supporting its inclusion in schools was significantly higher among the environmental-teachers, similar concerns were reported by all the teachers concerning engaging students in discourse around this controversial issue. This consensus indicates the limited impact of knowledgeability on teachers’ intentions to address PG in class. Teachers’ challenges reflect the dominant Israeli sociocultural norms, religious values and the national pronatalist ideologies. The findings demonstrate how the absence of PG from the public discourse and from school curricula influences teachers’ motivation to address it in class. This study highlights the necessity to encourage teachers to address PG in their teaching, even in this reality, by providing them with appropriate tools that will enable them to successfully engage students in this controversial issue.
Accurate fast-mapping Range-Only SLAM for UAS applications

This paper deals with 3D Range-Only (RO) Simultaneous Localization and Mapping (SLAM), where the UAS integrates range measurements to a number of beacons in the environment. In the recent years RO-SLAM has attracted significant interest, it is suitable for non line-of-sight conditions and/or bad lighting, being superior to visual SLAM in some problems. However, some issues constrain its applicability in practical cases, such as delays in map building and low map and UAS estimation accuracies. This paper proposes a 3D RO-SLAM scheme for UAS that specifically focuses on improving map building delays and accuracy levels without penalizing efficiency in the consumption of resources. The proposed scheme presents two main advantages: 1) it integrates inter-beacon measurements, which significantly reduces map building times and improves map and UAS localization accuracies; and 2) it is endowed with a supervisory module that self-adapts the measurements that are integrated in SLAM reducing resource consumption. Experimental validation in field experiments with an octorotor UAS showed that the proposed scheme improved map building times in 80%, map accuracy in 31% and UAS localization accuracy in 18%.
Intelligent facial expression recognition system R&C-FER

A facial classification scheme which combines blackboard system and agent structure together is proposed to make up for the existing facial expression recognition systemspsila (FER) shortcomings, by which the designed FER has intelligent ability such as self-learning and self-definition abilities. This intelligent system consists of rule knowledge database and case knowledge database to improve its reasoning ability by combining rule-based reasoning and case-based reasoning. The architecture, the flow path and the mainly modulespsila structure of the intelligent facial expression recognition system (IFER) were demonstrated and the experiment results were presented and analyzed in detail in this paper.
Multiple Contributions of Peroxisomal Metabolic Function to Fungal Pathogenicity in Colletotrichum lagenarium

ABSTRACT In Colletotrichum lagenarium, which is the causal agent of cucumber anthracnose, PEX6 is required for peroxisome biogenesis and appressorium-mediated infection. To verify the roles of peroxisome-associated metabolism in fungal pathogenicity, we isolated and functionally characterized ICL1 of C. lagenarium, which encodes isocitrate lyase involved in the glyoxylate cycle in peroxisomes. The icl1 mutants failed to utilize fatty acids and acetate for growth. Although Icl1 has no typical peroxisomal targeting signals, expression analysis of the GFP-Icl1 fusion protein indicated that Icl1 localizes in peroxisomes. These results indicate that the glyoxylate cycle that occurs inside the peroxisome is required for fatty acid and acetate metabolism for growth. Importantly, in contrast with the pex6 mutants that form nonmelanized appressoria, the icl1 mutants formed appressoria that were highly pigmented with melanin, suggesting that the glyoxylate cycle is not essential for melanin biosynthesis in appressoria. However, the icl1 mutants exhibited a severe reduction in virulence. Appressoria of the icl1 mutants failed to develop penetration hyphae in the host plant, suggesting that ICL1 is involved in host invasion. The addition of glucose partially restored virulence of the icl1 mutant. Heat shock treatment of the host plant also enabled the icl1 mutants to develop lesions, implying that the infection defect of the icl1 mutant is associated with plant defense. Together with the requirement of PEX6 for appressorial melanization, our findings suggest that peroxisomal metabolic pathways play functional roles in appressorial melanization and subsequent host invasion steps, and the latter step requires the glyoxylate cycle.
Omega-3 Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids Down-Modulate CXCR4 Expression and Function in MDA-MB-231 Breast Cancer Cells

Metastasis is the leading cause of death from breast cancer. A major factor of metastasis is the migration of cancerous cells to other tissues by way of up-regulated chemokine receptors, such as CXCR4, on the cell surface. Much is known of the beneficial effects of omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (n-3 PUFA) on cancer; however, the mechanisms behind these effects are unclear. For this study, we investigated the effects of two n-3 PUFAs, docosahexaenoic acid and eicosapentaenoic acid, on CXCR4 expression and activity in the MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cell line. We compared the n-3 PUFAs with the saturated fatty acid stearic acid as a control. Treatment of the cells with n-3 PUFAs resulted in reduced surface expression of CXCR4, but had no effect on overall CXCR4 expression. Consequently, we found that the fatty acid treatment significantly reduced CXCR4-mediated cell migration. Successful CXCR4-mediated signaling and migration requires the cholesterol-rich membrane microdomains known as lipid rafts. Treatment with n-3 PUFAs disrupted the lipid raft domains in a manner similar to methyl-β-cyclodextrin and resulted in a partial displacement of CXCR4, suggesting a possible mechanism behind the reduced CXCR4 activity. These results were not observed in cells treated with stearic acid. Together, our data suggest that n-3 PUFAs may have a preventative effect on breast cancer metastasis in vitro. This suggests a previously unreported potential benefit of n-3 PUFAs to patients with metastatic breast cancer. The data presented in this study may also translate to other disorders that involve up-regulated chemokine receptors. (Mol Cancer Res 2009;7(7):1013–20)
Distinct functions for thyroid hormone receptors alpha and beta in brain development indicated by differential expression of receptor genes.

Thyroid hormones are essential for correct brain development, and since vertebrates express two thyroid hormone receptor genes (TR alpha and beta), we investigated TR gene expression during chick brain ontogenesis. In situ hybridization analyses showed that TR alpha mRNA was widely expressed from early embryonic stages, whereas TR beta was sharply induced after embryonic day 19 (E19), coinciding with the known hormone‐sensitive period. Differential expression of TR mRNAs was striking in the cerebellum: TR beta mRNA was induced in white matter and granule cells after the migratory phase, suggesting a main TR beta function in late, hormone‐dependent glial and neuronal maturation. In contrast, TR alpha mRNA was expressed in the earlier proliferating and migrating granule cells, and in the more mature granular and Purkinje cell layers after hatching, indicating a role for TR alpha in both immature and mature neural cells. Surprisingly, both TR genes were expressed in early cerebellar outgrowth at E9, before known hormone requirements, with TR beta mRNA restricted to the ventricular epithelium of the metencephalon and TR alpha expressed in migrating cells and the early granular layer. The results implicate TRs with distinct functions in the early embryonic brain as well as in the late phase of hormone requirement.
Normalisation des messages issus de la communication électronique médiée

Le travail dont ce memoire rend compte consistait a elaborer un outil de normalisation automatique des textes non standard en francais, en particulier les tweets et les SMS. Pour cela, nous avons d’abord annote un corpus de 1000 tweets et 1000 SMS, en fonction de phenomenes morpho-lexicaux et morpho-syntaxiques, que nous avions au prealable identifies lors de l’elaboration d’une typologie pour l’annotation de textes non standard. A partir de l’observation de ce corpus, nous avons developpe un outil de normalisation automatique qui genere pour chaque token non standard un ensemble de candidats en fonction des phenomenes observes le plus frequemment dans notre corpus de tweets et de SMS. Ensuite, la normalisation du token non standard est selectionnee parmi l’ensemble de ces candidats, a l’aide d’un systeme d’attribution de scores prenant egalement en compte le contexte immediat du token traite.
TAXON SAMPLING, CORRELATED EVOLUTION, AND INDEPENDENT CONTRASTS

Abstract Independent contrasts are widely used to incorporate phylogenetic information into studies of continuous traits, particularly analyses of evolutionary trait correlations, but the effects of taxon sampling on these analyses have received little attention. In this paper, simulations were used to investigate the effects of taxon sampling patterns and alternative branch length assignments on the statistical performance of correlation coefficients and sign tests; “full-tree” analyses based on contrasts at all nodes and “paired-comparisons” based only on contrasts of terminal taxon pairs were also compared. The simulations showed that random samples, with respect to the traits under consideration, provide statistically robust estimates of trait correlations. However, exact significance tests are highly dependent on appropriate branch length information; equal branch lengths maintain lower Type I error than alternative topological approaches, and adjusted critical values of the independent contrast correlation coefficient are provided for use with equal branch lengths. Nonrandom samples, with respect to univariate or bivariate trait distributions, introduce discrepancies between interspecific and phylogenetically structured analyses and bias estimates of underlying evolutionary correlations. Examples of nonrandom sampling processes may include community assembly processes, convergent evolution under local adaptive pressures, selection of a nonrandom sample of species from a habitat or life-history group, or investigator bias. Correlation analyses based on species pairs comparisons, while ignoring deeper relationships, entail significant loss of statistical power and as a result provide a conservative test of trait associations. Paired comparisons in which species differ by a large amount in one trait, a method introduced in comparative plant ecology, have appropriate Type I error rates and high statistical power, but do not correctly estimate the magnitude of trait correlations. Sign tests, based on full-tree or paired-comparison approaches, are highly reliable across a wide range of sampling scenarios, in terms of Type I error rates, but have very low power. These results provide guidance for selecting species and applying comparative methods to optimize the performance of statistical tests of trait associations. Corresponding Editor: J. Losos
Liver Transplantation and Incidentally Found Hepatocellular Carcinoma in Liver Explants: Need for a New Definition?

Background. “Incidentally” identified hepatocellular carcinoma (iHCC) in liver explants after liver transplantation (LTx) is a frequently reported finding, which is characterized with a good prognosis. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the outcome of patients with these tumors in our series and in literature reports, and to compare their prognosis to that of HCC diagnosed preoperatively. Methods. From April 1998 to December 2003, 432 patients underwent deceased-donor LTx at our center for nonmalignant indications. An additional 31 patients with a preoperative known HCC (pkHCC) received deceased-donor grafts. A literature search was performed intending to estimate the incidence of iHCC in liver explants and the outcome after LTx. Results. iHCC was found in 5 of the 432 patients. All five patients are currently alive without evidence of tumor recurrence after a median follow-up of 43 months. On the other hand, in the group of the 31 patients with pkHCC, 22 of them are at the moment alive in a median follow-up of 28 months. When comparing the two groups, no difference in survival could be found (P=0.1419 in log-rank test). Literature reports of 705 instances with iHCC over the past 20 years showed a statistical “better survival” in only 24 cases. Conclusion. Literature reports showed a remarkable “deviation” of the expected tumor characteristics for the iHCC. Obviously, this is because of a widely characterization of iHCC, including also tumors which are rather undetected HCC during the waiting time to LTx. A more precise definition for the iHCC is needed.
Movement activity estimation for opportunistic networking based on urban mobility traces

Opportunistic, mobility-assisted, or encounter networking is a technique to disseminate data in a store-and-forward manner by means of spontaneously connecting mobile devices. New networking opportunities of moving devices can be exploited in addition to traditional wireless infrastructure networks or in absence of these networks. Algorithms for opportunistic data dissemination often make use of information about the future path of mobile entities. The availability of this information is reasonable for traveling by, e.g., public transport lines or vehicles following a navigation system, while other, more unstructured movement activities often lack this information and new techniques are required to derive similar useful movement information. By observing movement characteristics like average velocities or revisiting patterns, estimates about the likelihood of getting in contact with other devices can be derived and forwarding capabilities can be estimated. Our approach goes one step further by modeling the users' movement activities derived from movement patterns. Activity descriptions are useful for aggregating movement patterns into a notion meaningful to users. Additionally, movement activities can be used to estimate user caused network traffic and, in case movement patterns are uncertain or fragmentary, knowledge about activities may help to faster estimate average movement characteristics. The main objective of this paper is to introduce an approach to relate activities to an observed multi-variate mobility characteristic based on the Na¨ıve Bayes classifier. Therefore, we introduce and use the commonly considered mobility characteristics velocity, direction change, pause time, flight length, number of revisited positions, time between revisits, and mobility range. The approach is applied to four typical urban movement use case activities and classification results are presented based on experimental GPS traces.
Amine Metabolism Is Influenced by Dietary Protein Source

Growth in world population will inevitably leads to increased demand for protein for humans and animals. Protein from insects and blood plasma are being considered as possible alternatives, but more research on their nutritional quality and health effects is needed. Here, we studied the effect of dietary protein source on metabolism and metabolic amine profiles in serum and urine of mice. Groups of mice were fed semi-purified diets containing 300 g/kg of soybean meal, casein, partially delactosed whey powder, spray-dried plasma protein, wheat gluten meal, and yellow mealworm. Feed and water intake as well as body weight gain were measured for 28 days. After 14 and 28 days, serum and urine samples were collected for measurement of a large panel of amine metabolites. MetaboAnalyst 3.0 was used for analysis of the raw metabolic data. Out of 68 targeted amine metabolites, we could detect 54 in urine and 41 in blood serum. Dietary protein sources were found to have profound effects on host metabolism, particularly in systemic amine profiles, considered here as an endophenotype. We recommend serum over urine to screen for the amine metabolic endophenotype based on partial least squares discriminant analysis. We concluded that metabolites like alpha-aminobutyric acid and 1-methylhistidine are sensitive indicators of too much or too little availability of specific amino acids in the different protein diets. Furthermore, we concluded that amine metabolic profiles can be useful for assessing the nutritional quality of different protein sources.
Stock market prediction using time series analysis

Stock market, a very unpredictable sector of finance, involves a large number of investors, buyers and sellers. Stock prediction has been a phenomenon since machine learning was introduced. But very few techniques became useful for forecasting the stock market as it changes with the passage of time. As time is playing a crucial rule here, Time Series (TS) analysis is used in this paper to predict short-term stock market. The first step for analyzing TS is to check whether historical stock market data is stationary using Plotting Rolling Statistics and Dickey-Fuller Test. Secondly, Trend and Seasonality is eliminated from the series to make the data a stationary series. Then, TS stochastic model known as Autoregressive Integrated Moving Average (ARIMA) is used as it has been broadly applied in financial and economic sectors for its efficiency and great potentiality for short-term stock market prediction. For comparing the performance, the three subclasses of ARIMA such as: Autoregressive (AR), Moving Average (MA), and Autoregressive Moving Average (ARMA) are also applied. Finally, the forecasted values are converted to the original scale by applying Trend and Seasonality constraints back.
Ablation of cholesterol biosynthesis in neural stem cells increases their VEGF expression and angiogenesis but causes neuron apoptosis

Although sufficient cholesterol supply is known to be crucial for neurons in the developing mammalian brain, the cholesterol requirement of neural stem and progenitor cells in the embryonic central nervous system has not been addressed. Here we have conditionally ablated the activity of squalene synthase (SQS), a key enzyme for endogenous cholesterol production, in the neural stem and progenitor cells of the ventricular zone (VZ) of the embryonic mouse brain. Mutant embryos exhibited a reduced brain size due to the atrophy of the neuronal layers, and died at birth. Analyses of the E11.5–E15.5 dorsal telencephalon and diencephalon revealed that this atrophy was due to massive apoptosis of newborn neurons, implying that this progeny of the SQS-ablated neural stem and progenitor cells was dependent on endogenous cholesterol biosynthesis for survival. Interestingly, the neural stem and progenitor cells of the VZ, the primary target of SQS inactivation, did not undergo significant apoptosis. Instead, vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) expression in these cells was strongly upregulated via a hypoxia-inducible factor-1–independent pathway, and angiogenesis in the VZ was increased. Consistent with an increased supply of lipoproteins to these cells, the level of lipid droplets containing triacylglycerides with unsaturated fatty acyl chains was found to be elevated. Our study establishes a direct link between intracellular cholesterol levels, VEGF expression, and angiogenesis. Moreover, our data reveal a hitherto unknown compensatory process by which the neural stem and progenitor cells of the developing mammalian brain evade the detrimental consequences of impaired endogenous cholesterol biosynthesis.