Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Synchronization and Transient Stability in Power Grids Based on Łojasiewicz Inequalities

In this paper we are concerned with a second-order Kuramoto-type model and its synchronization problem. This study was motivated by its significant relation to the power grid systems. The power grids in industry have become increasingly complex and, more and more, power disturbances could be drawn into the system due to the highly stochastic renewable power sources. This poses an increasing challenge for us to investigate its transient stability. In the very recent literature Dorfler, Chertkov, and Bullo [Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 110 (2013), pp. 2005--2010] found a condition for the synchronization in smart grids. They pointed out that another important problem is the region of attraction of a synchronized solution. The main purpose of this work is to address the transient stability problem and find a region of attraction for a class of stable synchronous states. This trapping region is explicitly expressed in the parameters of the system. Our key insight is to exploit the gradient inequality and the Ł.
Children exposed to marital violence: Theory, research, and applied issues.

The Impact of Woman Abuse on Children's Social Development - Research and Theoretical Perspectives Children Exposed to Marital Conflict and Violence - Conceptual and Theoretical Directions Children as Invisible Victims of Domestic and Community Violence Using Multiple Informants to Understand Domestic Violence and its Effects Correlates of Adjustment in Children at Risk Heterogeneity in Adjustment Among Children of Battered Women Descartes' Error and PTSD - Cognition and Emotion for Children Who Are Exposed to Parental Violence - the Emotional, Cognitive and Coping Responses of Preadolescent Children to Different Dimensions of Mental Conflict The Parenting Behaviours and Beliefs of Battered Women Breaking the Cycle of Violence - Helping Families Departing From Battered Women's Shelters Child Custody Disputes and Domestic Violence - Critical Issues for Mental Health Social Service and Legal Professionals Appraisal and Outlook.
Calcium‐Independent Release of Endothelial Nitric Oxide in the Arteriolar Network: Onset During Rapid Juvenile Growth

Objective: In young rats, skeletal muscle arterioles respond to acetylcholine, which elicits Ca2+‐dependent endothelial nitric oxide (NO) release, but not to shear stress, which does not require increased intracellular Ca2+ for endothelial NO release. The aim of this study was to determine if, in general, signaling pathways for endothelial NO release that differ in their reliance on Ca2+ may be developing at different times during normal arteriolar network growth in skeletal muscle.
Shattered Voices: Language, Violence, and the Work of Truth Commissions

Shattered Voices: Language, Violence, and the Work of Truth Commissions. By Teresa Godwin Phelps. Pennsylvania Series in Human Rights, edited by Bert B. Lockwood. Philadelphia, Pa. : University of Pennsylvania Press, 2004. 192 pp. $45.00 (cloth), $21.95 (paper). Dead? He's dead? The newspaper shimmered in my hands. How dare he? Now I'll near get to murder him. Rage from twenty years earlier engulfed me like a silent explosion of lava, molten and ashy, from deep in my core. That bastard has died on me. Damn him! I had never felt such anger before, not even when it happened. Especially not then: there was too much at stake. I was cool and restrained when he first propositioned me. I was cooler yet the next day, and the day after that, when he repeated his demands and threatened my career. I did not complain to the authorities. There could he no such complaint, because there had been no witnesses. My voice would never have been heard, my word never taken against his. Not in those days. I lost my job and moved on. But unbeknownst to me. rage had smoldered beneath my silence for decades. My anger that day came to mind again as I read Teresa Godwin Phelps s Shattered Voice*: Language, Violence, and the Work of Truth Commnissions. For centuries, she explains, vengeance was a moral obligation: it reestablishes the honor of the victim and it reasserts communal moral norms. If we fail or refuse to avenge the victim, we allow perpetrators to get away with their malfeasance. Those who refuse vengeance thus become accomplices to evil. Over the years, my prudent silence had indeed come to feel like cowardice-a progression that explained much of my overwhelming rage. In our day, at least in the West, the moral obligation of vengeance has been surrendered to the state, which kills people dispassionately, according to the logic of the law, not with the rage of victims or victims' families. This surrender to the state serves social stability, theorists contend, because it stops the endless cycle of reciprocal violence. But what happens when the state itself is guilty of torture and murder? We must remember, Phelps insists, that fragile new governments seldom have the political power and other resources required for legal prosecution. But unless they restore the moral order, they risk an outbreak of the murderous rage of people victimized by the previous regime. How is it possible in such circumstances to restore both moral order and social trust? Phelps contends that the "sacramental storytelling" of truth commissions can meet these important needs by drawing together again all that has been shattered, dismembered, and silenced by torture and other systematic state violence. Shattered Voices analyses the rhetoric of truth commission reports in Argentina, Chile, El Salvador, and South Africa to explore what storytelling can achieve and how it does so. …
Publikationserwartungen in Wissenschaftskarrieren: Publizieren in der außeruniversitären Forschung am Beispiel der Max-Planck-Gesellschaft

This paper examines the relationship between publication practices and career paths in non-university research contexts. Successful scientific careers are closely linked to publi-cation activities. In the following we highlight the practices which lead up to the publication of scientific material. Our findings are derived from interviews with members of two Max Planck Institutes, as well as additional interview partners gained through those initial contacts, who allowed us to collect the necessary data for this project. In our analysis we draw from Bourdieu’s theoretical concepts of habitus and field to de-scribe and understand actors’ movements, while referencing various forms of capital to explain their actions. We also pose the question of how mutual expectations as well as social rules governing competition in the scientific field are generated. Bourdieu’s concept of illusio provides us with an analytical instrument to capture scientists’ increasing identi-fication with the “game” being played out in their field together with its associated rules. Moreover, concepts garnered from Anthony Giddens’ structuration theory allow us to ob-serve publication rules as at once enabling and constraining, a condition which we characterize as regulation. Drawing from these theoretical concepts and the results of our analysis, we demonstrate that scientists are subject to varying influences and expecta-tions depending on their respective positions in the field. In this context we focus on a specific subset of actors, namely doctoral candidates and their advisors. We will identify and discuss the expectations involved in this relationship in order to observe their trans-mission and reproduction, as well as the publication practices implemented in response to these pressures. We conclude with a discussion of the relationship between publishing and career paths in the scientific field.
Sarcopenia, Dynapenia, and the Impact of Advancing Age on Human Skeletal Muscle Size and Strength; a Quantitative Review

Changing demographics make it ever more important to understand the modifiable risk factors for disability and loss of independence with advancing age. For more than two decades there has been increasing interest in the role of sarcopenia, the age-related loss of muscle or lean mass, in curtailing active and healthy aging. There is now evidence to suggest that lack of strength, or dynapenia, is a more constant factor in compromised wellbeing in old age and it is apparent that the decline in muscle mass and the decline in strength can take quite different trajectories. This demands recognition of the concept of muscle quality; that is the force generating per capacity per unit cross-sectional area (CSA). An understanding of the impact of aging on skeletal muscle will require attention to both the changes in muscle size and the changes in muscle quality. The aim of this review is to present current knowledge of the decline in human muscle mass and strength with advancing age and the associated risk to health and survival and to review the underlying changes in muscle characteristics and the etiology of sarcopenia. Cross-sectional studies comparing young (18–45 years) and old (>65 years) samples show dramatic variation based on the technique used and population studied. The median of values of rate of loss reported across studies is 0.47% per year in men and 0.37% per year in women. Longitudinal studies show that in people aged 75 years, muscle mass is lost at a rate of 0.64–0.70% per year in women and 0.80–00.98% per year in men. Strength is lost more rapidly. Longitudinal studies show that at age 75 years, strength is lost at a rate of 3–4% per year in men and 2.5–3% per year in women. Studies that assessed changes in mass and strength in the same sample report a loss of strength 2–5 times faster than loss of mass. Loss of strength is a more consistent risk for disability and death than is loss of muscle mass.
IR-UWB transceiver for communications and ranging beyond 60 GHz

While cellular and WLAN (Wireless Local Area Networks) at low frequencies (1–5 GHz) constantly struggle with the quasi-saturation of spectrum, the EHF band (30–300 GHz) has huge swathes of band available at no cost. The recently allocated 71–76 GHz and 81–86 GHz bands could represent an opportunity to realise Line Of Sight (LOS) links for directional point-to-point ”last mile” ones. This work focuses on the design and BER (Bit Error Rate) performance evaluation of an IR-UWB architecture based on an 85 GHz up-conversion stage of train of ns Gaussian pulses in terms of phase noise, due to oscillators and mixers, Low Noise Amplifier (LNA), High Power Amplifier (HPA) and Antenna distortions. Simulation results show that BER performance, in presence of these RF non-linearities, for an IR-UWB transceiver architecture operating at 85 GHz (with same data rate and bandwidth) are better than a 2-FSK scheme working in a similar scenario.
The Role of Foxo3 in Leydig Cells

Purpose Foxo3 in female reproduction has been reported to regulate proliferation of granulose cells that form follicles. There are no reports so far that discuss on the role of Foxo3 in males. This study was designed to outline the role of Foxo3 in the testes. Materials and Methods Testes from mice at birth to postpartum week (PPW) 5 were isolated and examined for the expression of Foxo3 using immunostaining. To elucidate role of Foxo3 in Leydig cells, R2C cells were treated with luteinizing hormone (LH) and the phosphorylation of Foxo3. Testosterone and steroidogenic acute regulatory (StAR) protein levels were measured after constitutive active [triple mutant (TM)] human FOXO3 adenovirus was transduced and StAR promoter assay was performed. Results Foxo3 expression in the testicles started from birth and lasted until PPW 3. After PPW 3, most Foxo3 expression occurred in the nuclei of Leydig cells; however, at PPW 5, Foxo3 was expressed in both the nucleus and cytoplasm. When R2C cells were treated with luteinizing hormone, Foxo3 phosphorylation levels by AKT increased. After blocking the PI3K pathway, LH-induced phosphorylated Foxo3 levels decreased, indicating that LH signaling regulates Foxo3 localization. When active FOXO3-TM adenovirus was introduced into a Leydig tumor cell line, the concentrations of testosterone and StAR protein decreased. When FOXO3 and a StAR promoter vector were co-transfected into HEK293 cells for a reporter assay, FOXO3 inhibited the StAR promoter. Conclusion FOXO3 affects testosterone synthesis by inhibiting the formation of StAR protein. LH hormone, meanwhile, influences Foxo3 localization, mediating its function.
New time-dependent approach to analyse the prognostic significance of immunohistochemical biomarkers in colon cancer and diffuse large B-cell lymphoma

Aims: Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis is a well-established method to study the accuracies of biological markers. It may, however, be suboptimal for analysing outcomes over time, such as prognosis. Here, the clinical value of time-dependent ROC curve analysis for improving the identification of high-risk patients with colon cancers and diffuse large B-cell lymphomas (DLBCL) is explored. Methods: Using tissue microarrays, immunohistochemistry was performed on two matched sets (N = 469, each) of colon cancers (p53, CD8+ tumour infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs), mammalian sterile-like 20 kinase 1 (MST1), mucin 2 (MUC2) and urokinase plasminogen activator receptor (uPAR)) and on 208 DLBCL (Bcl2, Bcl6, CD10, FOXP1 and Ki67). The area-under-the-curve (AUC)-over-time plots, cut-off scores for tumour marker positivity and Kaplan–Meier survival curves were analysed. Results: With the exception of uPAR, all markers were most accurate within the first 18 months following diagnosis. Expression of p53 (AUC = 0.75), uPAR (AUC = 0.64), Bcl2 (AUC = 0.58) and FOXp1 (AUC = 0.68) was linked to more aggressive tumours, while TILs (AUC = 0.38), MST1 (AUC = 0.39), MUC2 (AUC = 0.38), Bcl6 (AUC = 0.4), CD10 (AUC = 0.49) and Ki67 (AUC = 0.41) were predictive of improved survival. Cut-off scores for markers at their peak accuracies as well as survival time differences were reproducible between colon cancer groups. Only FOXp1 at its optimal cut-off of 60% had significant effects on survival in DLBCL (p = 0.019). Conclusions: Time-dependent ROC curve analysis is a novel tool for identifying potential immunohistochemical prognostic markers across varying follow-up times. Use of this tool could facilitate the identification of high-risk patients not only with colon cancer and DLBCL but with a range of other tumour types.
A nonsense mutation in S-antigen (p.Glu306*) causes Oguchi disease

Purpose Genetic studies were performed to identify the causative mutation in a 15-year-old girl diagnosed with congenital stationary night blindness (CSNB) presenting Mizuo-Nakamura phenomenon, a typical Oguchi disease symptom. The patient also had dural sinus thrombosis (DST), thrombocytopenia, and systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). Methods Mutation analysis was done by sequencing two candidate genes, S-antigen (SAG; arrestin 1), associated with Oguchi type 1, and rhodopsin kinase (GRK1), associated with Oguchi type 2. In addition, the C677T variation in the methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) gene was also screened in the family, to determine its probable association with hyperhomocysteinemia in the patient. Results Sequencing of the SAG and GRK1 resulted in identifying a novel homozygous nonsense mutation (c.916G>T; p.Glu306*) in SAG, which in unaffected siblings either was present in a heterozygous state or absent. The C677T heterozygous allele in the MTHFR gene was found to be associated with hyperhomocysteinemia in the patient and other family members. Conclusions This is the first report of Oguchi type 1 in a Pakistani patient due to a nonsense mutation (c.916G>T; p.Glu306*) in SAG. The neurologic and hematological abnormalities likely are not associated with the SAG variant.
Synchronizing with Music: Intercultural Differences

Abstract: The way in which listeners perceive music changes throughout childhood, but little is known about the factors responsible for these changes. One factor, explicit music training, has received considerable attention, with studies indicating that musicians demonstrate a more complex hierarchical mental representation for music and superior temporal organizational skills. But does acculturation—the passive exposure to a particular type of music since birth—also influence the acquisition of these skills? We compared the music synchronization performance of Tunisian and French subjects with music from these two contrasting musical cultures. Twelve musical excerpts were selected from the two popular music cultures, matched for perceived tempo, complexity, and familiarity, and subjects were asked to tap in time with the music. Tapping mode (rate and hierarchical level) varied with subjects' familiarity with the musical idiom, as evidenced by an interaction between musical culture and type of music: participants synchronized at higher hierarchical levels (and over a wider range) with music from their own culture than with an unfamiliar type of music. Thus, passive acculturation as well as explicit music tuition influence our perception and cognition of music.
Oxidative Impairment of Mitochondrial Electron Transport Chain Complexes in Rostral Ventrolateral Medulla Contributes to Neurogenic Hypertension

The role for mitochondrial electron transport chain (ETC) in neurogenic hypertension is unidentified. We evaluated the hypothesis that feedforward depression of mitochondrial ETC functions by superoxide anion (O2·−) and hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) in rostral ventrolateral medulla (RVLM), a brain stem site that maintains sympathetic vasomotor tone and contributes to oxidative stress and neural mechanism of hypertension. Compared with normotensive Wistar-Kyoto rats, spontaneously hypertensive rats exhibited mitochondrial ETC dysfunctions in RVLM in the forms of depressed complex I or III activity and reduced electron coupling capacity between complexes I and III or II and III. Microinjection of coenzyme Q10 into RVLM of spontaneously hypertensive rats reversed the depressed ETC activity and augmented O2·− production and hypertensive phenotypes. This mobile electron carrier also antagonized the elevated H2O2 in RVLM and vasopressor responses to complex I (rotenone) or III (antimycin A) inhibitor in Wistar-Kyoto or prehypertensive rats. Intracerebroventricular infusion of angiotensin II promoted mitochondrial ETC dysfunctions in Wistar-Kyoto rats, and coenzyme Q10 or gene knockdown of the p22phox subunit of NADPH oxidase antagonized the resultant elevation of H2O2 in RVLM. Overexpression of superoxide dismutase or catalase in RVLM of spontaneously hypertensive rats by gene transfer reversed mitochondrial dysfunctions and blunted the augmented O2·− and H2O2 in RVLM. We conclude that O2·−- and H2O2-dependent feedforward impairment of mitochondrial ETC complexes because of predisposed downregulation of superoxide dismutase or catalase and a cross-talk between NADPH oxidase-derived O2·− and ETC enzymes contribute to chronic oxidative stress in the RVLM of spontaneously hypertensive rats, leading to augmented sympathetic vasomotor tone and hypertension.
Reversible Image Hiding for High Image Quality Based on Histogram Shifting and Local Complexity

Reversible data hiding is a technique that can restore the original cover image without any distortion after the embedded secret message is extracted. In this paper, a novel reversible data hiding method is proposed in the spatial domain. The proposed scheme is based on a local complexity function to classify a cover image block into the smooth blocks or complex blocks to increase embedding capacity and enhance image quality. Then, the complex blocks are preserved during the embedding process so that a high visual quality is obtained. The average PSNR of the stego-image was 49.83 dB for singlelevel embedding. For pixels in the smooth block, a new scan path was designed to compute the difference values for data embedding while using histogram shifting. The experimental results demonstrated that our scheme provided larger embedding capacity and better image quality than some existing schemes. In addition, the proposed scheme also obtained excellent performance in terms of embedding capacity and image quality for the Kodak test images.
Oral Administration of Tetrahydrobiopterin Slows the Progression of Atherosclerosis in Apolipoprotein E-Knockout Mice

Objective—Although it has been reported that oral administration of tetrahydrobiopterin (BH4) prevents endothelial dysfunction and vascular oxidative stress in various rat models, the effect of treatment with BH4 on atherogenesis remains unclear. Methods and Results—In this study, we investigated whether oral BH4 treatment might slow the progression of atherosclerosis using hypercholesterolemic apolipoprotein E-knockout mice. We report that ingesting BH4 in drinking water is sufficient to inhibit atherogenesis in mice. Furthermore, we report that BH4 treatment improves endothelial dysfunction and attenuates increased mRNA expression of NADPH oxidase components, as well as a number of inflammatory factors, such as LOX-1 and MCP-1, in the aortas of apolipoprotein E- knockout mice. Conclusion—Strategies such as oral administration of BH4 to ensure continuous BH4 availability may be effective in restoring nitric oxide-mediated endothelial function and limiting vascular disease and the progression of atherosclerosis.
Polymorphisms in Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbon Metabolism and Conjugation Genes, Interactions with Smoking and Prostate Cancer Risk

The relationship between cigarette smoking and prostate cancer remains unclear. Any potential association may depend on the individuals' ability to metabolize and detoxify cigarette carcinogens—such as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. To investigate this, we studied the association between prostate cancer and smoking, as well as the main and modifying effects of functional polymorphisms in genes that metabolize polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (CYP1A1 Ile462Val, microsomal epoxide hydrolase His139Arg) and detoxify reactive derivatives (GSTM1 null deletion, GSTT1 null deletion, GSTP1 Ile105Val and Ala114Val) using a family-based case-control design (439 prostate cancer cases and 479 brother controls). Within the entire study population, there were no main effects for smoking or any of the polymorphisms. However, the nondeleted GSTM1 allele was inversely associated with prostate cancer [odds ratio (OR), 0.50; 95% confidence interval (95% CI), 0.26-0.94] among men with less aggressive disease (Gleason score < 7 and clinical tumor stage < T2c) and positively associated (OR, 1.68; 95% CI, 1.01-2.79) with prostate cancer in men with more aggressive disease (Gleason score ≥ 7 or clinical tumor stage ≥ T2c). We also found a statistically significant negative multiplicative interaction between the GSTM1 nondeleted allele and heavy smoking (> 20 pack-years) in the total study population (P = 0.01) and in Caucasians (P = 0.01). Among Caucasians, heavy smoking increased prostate cancer risk nearly 2-fold in those with the GSTM1 null genotype (OR, 1.73; 95% CI, 0.99-3.05) but this increased risk was not observed in heavy smokers who carried the GSTM1 nondeleted allele (OR, 0.95; 95% CI, 0.53-1.71). Our results highlight the importance of considering genetic modifiers of carcinogens when evaluating smoking in prostate cancer. (Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2006;15(4):765–61)