Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Conserved ADAMTS-like Protein Lonely heart Mediates Matrix Formation and Cardiac Tissue Integrity

Here we report on the identification and functional characterization of the ADAMTS-like homolog lonely heart (loh) in Drosophila melanogaster. Loh displays all hallmarks of ADAMTSL proteins including several thrombospondin type 1 repeats (TSR1), and acts in concert with the collagen Pericardin (Prc). Loss of either loh or prc causes progressive cardiac damage peaking in the abolishment of heart function. We show that both proteins are integral components of the cardiac ECM mediating cellular adhesion between the cardiac tube and the pericardial cells. Loss of ECM integrity leads to an altered myo-fibrillar organization in cardiac cells massively influencing heart beat pattern. We show evidence that Loh acts as a secreted receptor for Prc and works as a crucial determinant to allow the formation of a cell and tissue specific ECM, while it does not influence the accumulation of other matrix proteins like Nidogen or Perlecan. Our findings demonstrate that the function of ADAMTS-like proteins is conserved throughout evolution and reveal a previously unknown interaction of these proteins with collagens.
Optical flow estimation in omnidirectional images using wavelet approach

The motion estimation computation in the image sequences is a significant problem in image processing. Many researches were carried out on this subject in the image sequences with a traditional camera. These techniques were applied in omnidirectional image sequences. But the majority of these methods are not adapted to this kind of sequences. Indeed they suppose the flow is locally constant but the omnidirectional sensor generates distortions which contradict this assumption. In this paper, we propose a fast method to compute the optical flow in omnidirectional image sequences. This method is based on a Brightness Change Constraint Equation decomposition on a wavelet basis. To take account of the distortions created by the sensor, we replace the assumption of flow locally constant used in traditional images by a hypothesis more appropriate.
Morningness–eveningness as a dimension of personality: Trait, state, and psychophysiological correlates

Personality, mood, and psychophysiological correlates of Home and östberg's (1976) Morningness‐Eveningness Questionnaire (MEQ) are reported. State data were collected at both morning and evening times of day. MEQ score was related to personality traits associated with psychopathology—trait anxiety in males and psychoticism in females. The best explanation of these correlations is that personality and subject sex affect attention to zeitgebers or time of day cues. MEQ score was related to extroversion only in female subjects. A between‐subjects study showed that morningness was positively associated with high energetic arousal in the morning, as predicted, but the MEQ did not predict physiological arousal measures reliably. A subsequent within‐subjects study demonstrated sex differences in interactive effects of time of day and morningness‐eveningness in mood states related to psychological disorder. The MEQ predicted two somewhat independent circadian rhythms—one related to arousal, and one to depression. It is concluded that personality may be linked to morningness‐eveningness through associations between personality traits and cognitive and social factors affecting the entrainment of circadian rhythms to the sleep‐wake cycle.
Comparison of CMOS rectifiers for micropower energy harvesters

This paper presents a comparison of standard topologies for AC-DC converters within micropower energy harvesting systems. The focus is on low input voltage (<; 1 V), low input frequency (<; a few kilohertz), ultra-low power consumption (nanowatts to microwatts), and fully integrated inductor-less cold start topologies. These standard topologies are compared in terms of PCE (power conversion efficiency), VCR (voltage conversion ratio), average output voltage, size and minimum input voltage based on simulation of the topologies using TSMC 0.18 μm MOSFETs. Reconstructed standard full-wave rectifiers were compared with input voltage of 1 V amplitude at 1 kHz and 100 kO load resistor. The bootstrapped and fully cross-coupled topologies provided PCE values exceeding 80% with minimum input voltage of 300 mV and ~20mV respectively. The fully cross-coupled topology provided maximum VCR of ~40% at 1 V input that reduces to ~15% at 0.5 V input. This paper concludes with an overview of the design factors and tradeoffs involved in the selection of such AC-DC converters.
Modulation of a Feeding Neural Circuit by Microinjection of K+ Channel Expression Genes into a Single Identified Neuron in Aplysia kurodai

In Aplysia buccal ganglion expression genes for voltage-dependent K+ channels (AKv1.1a) were injected into one of four electrically coupled multi-action (MA) neurons that directly inhibit jaw-closing (JC) motor neurons and may cooperatively generate their firing pattern during the feeding response. Following the DNA injection, the firing threshold increased and the spike frequency at the same current decreased in the current-induced excitation of the MA neuron; indicating a decrease in excitability of the MA neuron. This procedure also reduced the firing activity of MA neurons during the feeding-like rhythmic responses induced by the electrical nerve stimulation. Moreover, the firing pattern in JC motor neurons was remarkably changed, suggesting the effective contribution of a single MA neuron or electrically coupled MA neurons to the generation of the firing pattern in the JC motor neurons. This method appears useful for exploring the functional roles of specific neurons in complex neural circuits.
The degrees of lifts of curves and exponential sums over Galois rings

In this paper, we are interested in giving bounds for exponential sums over certain curves defined over Galois rings. We first define summation subsets as the images of lifts of affine pieces of the reduced curve, and most of the work is devoted to giving bounds for the degrees of their defining functions. Then we get bounds for exponential sums, generalizing results of Kumar et al., Winnie Li over the projective line, and Voloch-Walker over elliptic curves and Cab curves.
In Search of the Most Relevant Parameter for Quantifying Lung Inflammatory Response to Nanoparticle Exposure: Particle Number, Surface Area, or What?

Background Little is known about the mechanisms involved in lung inflammation caused by the inhalation or instillation of nanoparticles. Current research focuses on identifying the particle parameter that can serve as a proper dose metric. Objectives The purpose of this study was to review published dose–response data on acute lung inflammation in rats and mice after instillation of titanium dioxide particles or six types of carbon nanoparticles. I explored four types of dose metrics: the number of particles, the joint length—that is, the product of particle number and mean size—and the surface area defined in two different ways. Findings With the exception of the particle size–based surface area, all other parameters worked quite well as dose metrics, with the particle number tending to work best. The apparent mystery of three equally useful dose metrics could be explained. Linear dose–response relationships were identified at sufficiently low doses, with no evidence of a dose threshold below which nanoparticle instillation ceased to cause inflammation. In appropriately reduced form, the results for three different sets of response parameters agreed quite well, indicating internal consistency of the data. The reduced data revealed particle-specific differences in surface toxicity of the carbon nanoparticles, by up to a factor of four, with diesel soot being at the low end. Conclusions The analysis suggests that the physical characterization of nanoparticles and the methods to determine surface toxicity have to be improved significantly before the appropriate dose metric for lung inflammation can be identified safely. There is also a need for refinements in quantifying response to exposure.
Complex-Valued Neural Network in Signal Processing: A Study on the Effectiveness of Complex Valued Generalized Mean Neuron Model

A complex valued neural network is a neural network which consists of complex valued input and/or weights and/or thresh- olds and/or activation functions. Complex-valued neural networks have been widening the scope of applications not only in electronics and informatics, but also in social systems. One of the most important applications of the complex valued neural network is in signal processing. In Neural networks, generalized mean neuron model (GMN) is often discussed and studied. The GMN includes a new aggregation function based on the concept of generalized mean of all the inputs to the neuron. This paper aims to present exhaustive results of using Generalized Mean Neuron model in a complex-valued neural network model that uses the back-propagation algorithm (called 'Complex-BP') for learning. Our experiments results demonstrate the effectiveness of a Generalized Mean Neuron Model in a complex plane for signal processing over a real valued neural network. We have studied and stated various observations like effect of learning rates, ranges of the initial weights randomly selected, error functions used and number of iterations for the convergence of error required on a Generalized Mean neural network model. Some inherent properties of this complex back propagation algorithm are also studied and discussed.
Free entropy dimension in amalgamated free products

We calculate the microstates free entropy dimension of natural generators in an amalgamated free product of certain von Neumann algebras, with amalgamation over a hyperfinite subalgebra. In particular, some ‘exotic’ Popa algebra generators of free group factors are shown to have the expected free entropy dimension. We also show that microstates and non‐microstates free entropy dimension agree for generating sets of many groups. In the appendix, the first L2‐Betti number for certain amalgamated free products of groups is calculated.
Nitrite reductase activity of myoglobin regulates respiration and cellular viability in myocardial ischemia-reperfusion injury

The nitrite anion is reduced to nitric oxide (NO•) as oxygen tension decreases. Whereas this pathway modulates hypoxic NO• signaling and mitochondrial respiration and limits myocardial infarction in mammalian species, the pathways to nitrite bioactivation remain uncertain. Studies suggest that hemoglobin and myoglobin may subserve a fundamental physiological function as hypoxia dependent nitrite reductases. Using myoglobin wild-type (+/+) and knockout (−/−) mice, we here test the central role of myoglobin as a functional nitrite reductase that regulates hypoxic NO• generation, controls cellular respiration, and therefore confirms a cytoprotective response to cardiac ischemia-reperfusion (I/R) injury. We find that myoglobin is responsible for nitrite-dependent NO• generation and cardiomyocyte protein iron-nitrosylation. Nitrite reduction to NO• by myoglobin dynamically inhibits cellular respiration and limits reactive oxygen species generation and mitochondrial enzyme oxidative inactivation after I/R injury. In isolated myoglobin+/+ but not in myoglobin−/− hearts, nitrite treatment resulted in an improved recovery of postischemic left ventricular developed pressure of 29%. In vivo administration of nitrite reduced myocardial infarction by 61% in myoglobin+/+ mice, whereas in myoglobin−/− mice nitrite had no protective effects. These data support an emerging paradigm that myoglobin and the heme globin family subserve a critical function as an intrinsic nitrite reductase that regulates responses to cellular hypoxia and reoxygenation. myoglobin knockout mice
Transnational Embeddedness: Transnational Activities and Networks among First- and Second-Generation Immigrant Entrepreneurs in the Netherlands

During the past decade or more, transnationalism has become a central concept in migration literature. However, research on the question of whether the second generation is transnationally involved remains limited, and is mainly focused on the cultural and not on the economic domain of transnationalism. In this article I explore the transnational activities of first- and second-generation immigrant entrepreneurs in the Netherlands. Analysis shows that embeddedness in transnational networks remains important for the second generation, yet the extent of it is less compared to the first generation. This study points to the fact that not every entrepreneur is or can be transnationally active; ‘transnational capital’, which not everyone automatically possesses, is needed to be able to do business with the country of origin.
Modified Rice distribution for signals with limited available power

Signals consisting of a constant signal together with a number of superimposed randomly scattered complex signals have amplitudes that conform to the well-known Rice probability distribution. A property of the Rice distribution is that it is infinite, i.e., it knows no bounds in amplitude but has a tail that stretches to infinity. Infinite amplitudes, of course, defy reality because there is always a maximum available power, which translates to a maximum amplitude. In many cases the infinite tail of the Rice distribution causes no significant problems because the cumulated probability beyond the maximum amplitude is very small. However, there are situations where the maximum amplitude is not much higher than the average amplitude of the signal. In such cases, the amplitude distribution significantly differs from the Rice distribution. A finite probability distribution, derived from the Rice distribution and based on the linearity characteristics of the system, is presented. A measurement example with a linear system demonstrates good agreement to measured data. It is also demonstrates how to generate random variables that conform to the presented distribution.
Phytochemical Screening and Evaluation of Analgesic Activity of Oroxylum indicum

We aimed to study phytochemical screening and analgesic activity of ethanol extract of Oroxylum indicum. The dried powder of the barks of the plant was extracted with 95% ethanol and was subjected to various phytochemical tests to ascertain the principle constituents contained in the extract. The result revealed the presence of alkaloids, flavonoids, tannins, glycosides in the ethanol extract of Oroxylum indicum. The extract was screened for analgesic activity by using hot plate, acetic acid-induced writhing and formalin test. The ethanol extract of the plant at two different doses (250 and 500 mg/kg) showed significant (P<0.05) analgesic effect in all test methods (hot plate, acetic acid-induced writhing and formalin). The analgesic activity was compared with a standard drug (ketorolac at 10 mg/kg). Based on the present findings and previous literature review it can be concluded that flavonoids and tannins might be responsible for the analgesic activity. We suggest that ethanol extract of Oroxylum indicum might have potential chemical constituents that could be used in the future for the development of novel analgesic agent.
Children of Single Parent Families: How They Fare as Young Adults.

Using data from a survey of 19 to 34 year olds in a Midwestern metropolitan county, this paper investigates differences in how persons raised in single parent families and traditional two parent families are faring in early adulthood. Results indicate that compared to their counterparts from traditional two parent families, young adults raised by single parents (primarily single mothers) tend to have lower educational, occupational and economic attainment. Differences between the two groups are also observed in family formation and marital stability. The economic disadvantage of the single parent background is clearly responsible for some of these differences, but significant differences in economic attainment, marital stability, and the timing of parenthood still remain after controlling for this factor. Possible implications of these findings for improving the life chances of children from single parent families are discussed.
Feature creation as a byproduct of attentional processing

Attributing the creation of new features to categorization requirements implies that the exemplars displayed are correctly assigned to their category. This constraint limits the scope of Schyns et al.'s proposal to supervised learning. We present data suggesting that this constraint is unwarranted and we argue that feature creation is better thought of as a byproduct of the attentional, on-line processing of incoming information.
Effectuation and Over–Trust: Debating Goel and Karri

In their article on entrepreneurship, effectuation, and over–trust, Goel and Karri suggest relationships between effectuation, over–trust, and certain psychological characteristics of entrepreneurs. In this response we debate their article. Goel and Karri are correct in claiming that effectuation supposes over–trust. However, we argue that effectual logic works in a different way than they presented because it neither predicts nor assumes trust. Goel and Karri's article also draws attention to the behavioral assumptions underlying constructs such as over–(under) trust. Our suggestion is that effectuation is based on alternative behavioral assumptions that open up interesting avenues for future research in entrepreneurship.
Capacity bound for full-duplex multiple-hop MIMO relays system in rayleigh fading

In multiple-hop relay systems, the system channel capacity is restricted by the bottleneck relay. In order to prevent some relays from being the bottleneck and guarantee the system channel capacity, the method for optimizing distance between each relays and transmit power of each relay is proposed in this paper. The optimizing both the distance and the transmit power is effective and can achieves high channel capacity. The bound of the downlink, the uplink channel capacity for each number of relays and the limitation of channel capacity when the number of relays tends to infinity, are found. The channel model is indicated the flat Rayleigh fading.
Performance modeling methodology of emergency dissemination algorithms for vehicular ad-hoc networks

In this paper dissemination algorithms to transfer warning messages from the originator node to the remaining recipient nodes within a specified geographic area are considered. Analytical methods are developed to obtain time-probabilistic characteristics of these algorithms for linear network topology and fixed success probability of one-hop transmission. The applicability of the obtained results to the vehicular ad-hoc networks is discussed.
J2ME and smart phones as platform for a Bluetooth Body Area Network for Patient-telemonitoring

A prototype of a system based on a Bluetooth body area network (BAN) for continuous and wireless telemonitoring of patients' biosignals is presented. Smart phones and Java (J2ME) have been selected as platform to build a central node in patients' BAN. A midlet running in the smart phone compiles information about patient's location and health status. The midlet encrypts and retransmits it to the server through 802.11 or GPRS/UMTS. Besides when an alerting condition is detected, the midlet generates a MMS and a SMS to be sent to patients' relatives and to physician, respectively. Additionally, the system provides to physicians the possibility of configuring BAN's parameters remotely, from a PC or even a smart phone.
Les stratégies de coping des adolescents confrontés à la critique de leurs pairs sur un choix de marque

Résumé Rares sont les travaux académiques qui portent sur la manière dont les adolescents réagissent aux critiques des pairs sur un choix de marque dans le contexte scolaire. Afin de mieux répondre aux enjeux de cette problématique sociétale et du marketing éducatif qui s’y rattache, ces réactions sont étudiées par le concept de coping mobilisé ici dans le cadre d’une approche mixte processus-style. Trois études quantitatives successives (n1 = 208 ; n2 = 200 ; n3 = 446) ont permis de mettre en évidence cinq stratégies de coping spécifiques : la justification des circonstances de l’achat, la vengeance, le déni du problème, la culpabilisation des critiqueurs et l’auto-attribution du problème. Parmi les déterminants potentiels, trois variables individuelles affectent particulièrement le déploiement de ces stratégies : le genre, la contrôlabilité perçue de la situation et la sensibilité aux marques.
Early Saramaccan Syllable Structure: An Analysis of Complex Onsets from Schumann's 1778 Manuscript

This paper presents a diachronic analysis of Saramaccan syllable structure. It examines data from Schumann's 1778 manuscript, and demonstrates that early Saramaccan syllable structure included complex onsets. A case is also made that in the last two centuries, these complex onsets in Saramaccan have been simplified from CCV to CVCV. This example of language change has important implications for creole studies because most views of change (for two exceptions, see Muhlhausler, 1986; Mufwene, 1993), especially those that rely on models of decreolization, often suggest that CV templates precede a change to complex onsets. A change from CCV to CVCV, though representing a common and less marked shift in terms of general syllable typology, appears to be considerably less documented among the Atlantic creole languages.
Stay Tuned: What Is Special About Not Shifting Attention?

Background When studying attentional orienting processes, brain activity elicited by symbolic cue is usually compared to a neutral condition in which no information is provided about the upcoming target location. It is generally assumed that when a neutral cue is provided, participants do not shift their attention. The present study sought to validate this assumption. We further investigated whether anticipated task demands had an impact on brain activity related to processing symbolic cues. Methodology/Principal Findings Two experiments were conducted, during which event-related potentials were elicited by symbolic cues that instructed participants to shift their attention to a particular location on a computer screen. In Experiment 1, attention shift-inducing cues were compared to non-informative cues, while in both conditions participants were required to detect target stimuli that were subsequently presented at peripheral locations. In Experiment 2, a non-ambiguous “stay-central” cue that explicitly required participants not to shift their attention was used instead. In the latter case, target stimuli that followed a stay-central cue were also presented at a central location. Both experiments revealed enlarged early latency contralateral ERP components to shift-inducing cues compared to those elicited by either non-informative (exp. 1) or stay-central cues (exp. 2). In addition, cueing effects were modulated by the anticipated difficulty of the upcoming target, particularly so in Experiment 2. A positive difference, predominantly over the posterior contralateral scalp areas, could be observed for stay-central cues, especially for those predicting that the upcoming target would be easy. This effect was not present for non-informative cues. Conclusions/Significance We interpret our result in terms of a more rapid engagement of attention occurring in the presence of a more predictive instruction (i.e. stay-central easy target). Our results indicate that the human brain is capable of very rapidly identifying the difference between different types of instructions.