Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Psychoacoustic and Phoneme Identification Measures in Cochlear-Implant and Normal-Hearing Listeners

The purpose of this study is to identify precise and repeatable measures for assessing cochlear-implant (CI) hearing. The study presents psychoacoustic and phoneme identification measures in CI and normal-hearing (NH) listeners, with correlations between measures examined. Psychoacoustic measures included pitch discrimination tasks using pure tones, harmonic complexes, and tone pips; intensity perception tasks included intensity discrimination for tones and modulation detection; spectral-temporal masking tasks included gap detection, forward and backward masking, tone-on-tone masking, synthetic formant-on-formant masking, and tone in noise detection. Phoneme perception measures included vowel and consonant identification in quiet and stationary and temporally gated speech-shaped noise. Results on psychoacoustic measures illustrate the effects of broader filtering in CI hearing contributing to reduced pitch perception and increased spectral masking. Results on consonant and vowel identification measures illustrate a wide range in performance across CI listeners. They also provide further evidence that CI listeners obtain little to no release of masking in temporally gated noise compared to stationary noise. The forward and backward-masking measures had the highest correlation with the phoneme identification measures for CI listeners. No significant correlations between speech reception and psychoacoustic measures were observed for NH listeners. The superior NH performance on measures of phoneme identification, especially in the presence of background noise, is a key difference between groups.
Genetic and Molecular Ecotoxicology: A Research Framework

Participants at the Napa Conference on Genetic and Molecular Ecotoxicology assessed the status of this field in light of heightened concerns about the genetic effects of exposure to hazardous substances and recent advancements in our capabilities to measure those effects. We present here a synthesis of the ideas discussed throughout the conference, including definitions of important concepts in the field and critical research needs and opportunities. While there were many opinions expressed on these topics, there was general agreement that there are substantive new opportunities to improve the impact of genetic and molecular ecotoxicology on prediction of sublethal effects of exposure to hazardous substances. Future studies should emphasize integration of genetic ecotoxicology, ecological genetics, and molecular biology and should be directed toward improving our understanding of the ecological implications of genotoxic responses. Ecological implications may be assessed at either the population or ecosystem level; however, a population-level focus may be most pragmatic. Recent technical advancements in measuring genetic and molecular responses to toxicant exposure will spur rapid progress. These new techniques have considerable promise for increasing our understanding of both mechanisms of toxicity on genes or gene products and the relevance of detrimental effects to individual fitness. — Environ Health Perspect 102(Suppl 12):3–8 (1994)
GDP state of tubulin: stabilization of double rings.

Purified tubulin, with GDP occupying the exchangeable nucleotide binding site, has been examined conformationally and for its ability to self-associate into double rings. The circular dichroism spectrum increased by ca. 10% in negative amplitude between 205 and 225 nm over the spectrum of tubulin in the GTP state, but there were no significant shape changes. This indicates that replacement of GTP by GDP induces tubulin to adopt a more ordered conformation. The sedimentation coefficients of tubulin alpha-beta dimers in the GDP and GTP states were identical, with s20,w = 5.8 S. A sedimentation velocity study of tubulin in the GDP state showed that, in the presence of magnesium ions, this protein undergoes a reversible Gilbert-type self-association. The end product of this reaction was found to be 26 subunit double rings identical with those described by Frigon and Timasheff [(1975) Biochemistry 14, 4567-4599] for a similar polymerization of tubulin in the GTP state. Analysis of the data showed that Tu-GDP has a much stronger propensity for the formation of double rings than Tu-GTP, the corresponding equilibrium with constants for the 26Tu in equilibrium Tu26 being 4.2 X 10(119) M-25 and 2.27 X 10(109) M-25 for Tu-GDP and Tu-GTP, respectively. This leads to Tu-GTP being predominantly in the form of alpha-beta dimers and Tu-GDP in the form of double rings under normal experimental conditions used in the study of microtubule assembly. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Job turnover rates and residual wage dispersion

An optical head cleaning cartridge is adapted for use in an optical disk unit which includes an optical head located at a predetermined position in a specific operation mode of the optical disk unit and which uses the optical head to record information signals on and/or reproduce information signals from an optical disk which is accommodated within a standard type optical disk cartridge which is in conformance with a predetermined standard when loaded with the standard type optical disk cartridge. The optical head cleaning cartridge includes a case having a size and a shape which are approximately the same as those of the standard type optical disk cartridge, a cleaning element provided at a position of the case to confront the optical head when the optical head cleaning cartridge is loaded into the optical disk unit in the specific operation mode, and a manipulation part coupled to the cleaning element and located at a position of the case to allow manipulation. The cleaning element cleans the optical head by moving in response to a manipulation of the manipulation part.
Research on the Application of Regression Analysis Method in Data Classification

By the analysis on traditional methods for rules of flash metal consume design, the idea of regression mining for flash metal consume design is proposed. Then according to related definitions, we construct a linear regression model. Its parameter estimation method and significant test methods of linear correlation are discussed in detail. We also analyze the method of applying mathematical statistics to formulation process algorithm. The flash calculation and mathematical description are studied. Through the research on regression analysis software design, the formulation of the forging flash size design guidelines and forging flash metal consuming design criteria. The progressive regression analysis software is used to construct above criteria and the results are analyzed. The algorithm is improved to be effective during our experiments and shows better self assemble ability and self adaptive ability
Coverage Performance Analysis of Multiuser MIMO Broadcast Systems

We consider the downlink of a multiuser multi-input multi-output (MIMO) broadcast channel under a single cell structure. To study the achievable link coverage performance of zero-forcing beamforming (ZFB) and zero-forcing dirty-paper coding (ZF-DPC) when the channel state information (CSI) is available to the transmitter. First we develop analytical closed-form expressions for the link outage probability and coverage reliability of baseline ZFB and ZF-DPC when no multiuser scheduling involved. We find that the coverage performance of ZFB can only approach to that of the weakest link of ZF-DPC under predetermined required SNR and outage probability. Secondly, for exploring the achievable cell coverage, we discuss the strongest link performance of both broadcast beam- forming schemes under multiuser scheduling. Under a framework of analysis for ZF-DPC and simulation for ZFB, we show that a soft coverage enhancement can be easily done by using scheduling techniques without extra hardware power consumption.
An open letter on microarray data from the MGED Society.

A fundamental principle guiding the publication of scientific results is that the data supporting any scholarly work must be made fully available to the research community, in a form that allows the basic conclusions to be evaluated independently. In the context of molecular biology, this has typically meant that authors of a paper describing a newly sequenced genome, gene or protein must deposit the primary data in a permanent, public data repository, such as the sequence databases maintained by the DNA Database of Japan (DDBJ), European Bioinformatics Institute (EBI) and National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI). Similarly, we, members of the Microarray Gene Expression Data (MGED) Society (http://www.mged.org), believe that all scholarly scientific journals should now require the submission of microarray data to public repositories as part of the process of publication. While some journals have already made this a condition of acceptance, we feel that submission requirements should be applied consistently and that journals recognize ArrayExpress (Brazma et al., 2003), Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) (Edgar et al., 2002) or CIBEX (Ikeo et al., 2003) as acceptable public repositories. To this end, the members of the MGED Society propose the following as a new paradigm for the publication of microarray-based studies.
Virtualizing high performance computing

While virtualization is widely used in commercial enterprise environments, it has not to date played any significant role in High Performance Computing (HPC). However, with the rise of cloud computing and its promise of computing on demand, the HPC community's interest in virtualization (a key cloud enabler) is increasing. Beyond cloud computing, virtualization offers additional potential benefits for HPC, among them reactive and proactive application fault tolerance, secure and fault-isolated use of shared-resource clusters, dynamic provisioning, job migration, and support for heterogeneous HPC facilities. This paper describes both the promises and challenges in this new, emerging area, including a discussion of performance-related issues
Laser-ablated poly(methyl methacrylate) microdevices for sub-microliter DNA amplification suitable for micro-total analysis systems

Biochemical techniques, such as the polymerase chain reaction (PCR), can take up to 3.5 h for completion using a commercial bench-top instrument, creating a bottleneck in sample preparation processes. PCR has been successfully adapted to microfluidic devices, reducing the time needed to as little as 7–10 min. Recently, a trend in the field is to use alternative substrates, such as poly(methyl methacyrlate) (PMMA), for the fabrication of microfluidic devices. PMMA has several advantages over more expensive substrates including rigidity without fragility, disposability, and it is easy to fabricate, using techniques such as hot embossing or CO2 laser ablation. Here, we report the fabrication of PMMA microdevices to explore their effectiveness for PCR amplification. Several types of PMMA microdevices were fabricated using a CO2 laser ablation system, with two or three PMMA layers of different thicknesses. Bonding of the microdevices was significantly improved through the use of a grid system etched into the device, allowing for trapped air to escape, eliminating leakage. Using infrared thermal cycling, the ramping rates were determined to be dependent on the thickness of the PMMA used in fabrication, allowing for customization of cycling conditions. Further reduction of the thermal mass by isolation of the chambers provided a significant increase in the heating and cooling rates (up to 6.19 (±0.32 °C s−1) and −7.99 (±0.06 °C s−1), respectively). Bubble formation, a chronic problem in microfluidic systems in general and problematic during the heating phase of PCR, was minimized through the use of a biocompatible adhesive/manifold combination to seal the reservoirs. Finally, successful PCR amplification was demonstrated with both a fragment from the β-globin gene and 15 tetra-nucleotide repeat regions with a sex-typing marker in a conventional STR kit with the latter facilitated by the dynamic coating of the fluidic architecture with poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG).
Trabecular Bone Microarchitecture, Bone Mineral Density, and Vertebral Fractures in Male Osteoporosis

Some studies have indicated that the risk of fragility fractures in men increases as bone mineral levels decrease, but there is an overlap in the bone mineral density (BMD) measurements between patients with or without fractures. Furthermore, it has been suggested that the biomechanical competence of trabecular bone is dependent not only on the absolute amount of bone present but also on the trabecular microarchitecture. In the present study, 108 men (mean age 52.1 years) with lumbar osteopenia (T score <−2.5) were recruited to examine the relationships between BMD, architectural changes in trabecular bone, and the presence of vertebral fractures. Lumbar BMD was assessed from L2 to L4 in the anteroposterior view with dual‐energy X‐ray absorptiometry. At the upper left femur, hip BMD was measured at the transcervical site. Spinal X‐ray films were analyzed independently by two trained investigators, and vertebral fracture was defined as a reduction of at least 20% in the anterior, middle, or posterior vertebral height. Transiliac bone biopsy specimens were obtained for all patients. Histomorphometric studies were performed on an image analyzer, and the following parameters were determined: trabecular bone volume (BV/TV), trabecular thickness (Tb.Th), number (Tb.N), and separation (Tb.Sp), interconnectivity index (ICI), characterization of the trabecular network (node count and strut analysis), and star volume of the marrow spaces. Spinal radiographs evidenced at least one vertebral crush fracture in 62 patients (group II) and none in 46 patients (group I). After adjusting for age, body mass index, and BMD, there were no significant differences between the two groups in BV/TV, Tb.Th, or star volume. In contrast, the mean values of ICI, free end–to–free end struts (FF/TSL), and Tb.Sp were significantly higher, whereas Tb.N and node‐to‐node struts (NN/TSL) were lower in patients with at least one vertebral fracture. Logistic regression analysis showed that only ICI, FF/TSL, NN/TSL, and Tb.N were significant predictors of the presence of vertebral fracture: odds ratios for an alteration of 1 SD ranged from 1.7 (1.0–3.2) for NN/TSL to 3.2 (1.1–10.1) for ICI. Patients with at least three vertebral fractures (n = 23) were categorized as “multiple fractures. ” The results of logistic regression showed that spine BMD, BV/TV, and all architectural parameters were significant predictors of multiple vertebral fractures: odds ratios for an alteration of 1 SD ranged from 2.2 (1.1–4.6) for star volume to 3.7 (1.4–9.7) for ICI. These results strongly suggest that bone trabecular microarchitecture is a major and independent determinant of vertebral fractures in middle‐aged men with osteopenia.
Disulfide Connectivity Prediction by Expanding Template Proteins and Encoding Global Protein Secondary Structure

Disulfide connectivity prediction from protein sequence helps determine protein three dimensional structure. The methods for predicting disulfide connectivity generally fall into two categories: pair-wise and pattern-wise methods. Previously, the accuracy rates of the predictions were up to 52%, because (1) pair-wise methods feature mainly on each individual bond but neglect the global influence among disulfide bonds in each protein; (2) pattern-wise methods, only comparing proteins with the same number of bonds, aggravate the insufficiency of template proteins. Recently, the accuracy rate has been improved to 70% using the state-art technique of SVM in a pair-wise method. We generalize pattern-wise methods by developing a method which allows to compare test proteins with template proteins having different numbers of disulfide bonds under certain conditions. In addition, we propose a global descriptor to encode secondary structure. Embedding this descriptor into our method in 4-fold of SP39, we obtain a prediction accuracy of 70%, which ties the best result among all methods and, in return, indicates that a disulfide bond pattern is highly related to protein secondary structure.
4 Reliable Aggregation Routing for Wireless Sensor Networks based on Game Theory

Wireless integrated sensor networks, which include collecting, managing data and communication, are used more and more widely for their low cost and convenient deployment. Nowadays the research concerning each aspect of sensor networks is fairly active. Data Aggregation mechanism is one of the key problems in sensor networks. By considering the data transmission delay and overall network energy efficiency, this chapter develops a game-theoretic model of real-time reliable aggregation (RA-G) mechanism for wireless sensor networks. Based on the study of related literatures, first of all in this chapter, the research status of WSN, the system architecture, the characteristics, and the critical technologies are summarized, current typical routing algorithms of WSN are classified and introduced one by one. Taking the implicit collaborative imperative for sensors to achieve overall network objectives (accomplish real-time collection tasks effectively) subject to individual resource consumption into account, this paper proposes a game-theoretic model of reliable data aggregation architecture in wireless sensor networks, defines a multi-tier data aggregation architecture in which semantic based aggregation and average computation aggregation is performed in sensor-level and node-level aggregation respectively. All nodes that detect the same target join the same logic group. Each selected group leader uses game-theoretic model which tradeoffs between energy dissipation and data transmission delay to determine the degree of aggregation. To meet the real-time constraints and balance the energy consumption between nodes, a decision-making model based on game theory which takes delay compensation into account is proposed in the data-relaying stage. The simulation results show that the use of reliable data aggregation architecture can reduce the total transmission overhead of WSN, make the network more energy-efficient and prolong the lifetime of sensor network. On the other hand, the game-theoretic model used in group-level aggregation and data-relaying stage balance the tradeoffs between the energy dissipation and the timeliness of data transmission; therefore, also RA-G data aggregation mechanism is reliable.
Transfusive image manipulation

We present a method for consistent automatic transfer of edits applied to one image to many other images of the same object or scene. By introducing novel, content-adaptive weight functions we enhance the non-rigid alignment framework of Lucas-Kanade to robustly handle changes of view point, illumination and non-rigid deformations of the subjects. Our weight functions are content-aware and possess high-order smoothness, enabling to define high-quality image warping with a low number of parameters using spatially-varying weighted combinations of affine deformations. Optimizing the warp parameters leads to subpixel-accurate alignment while maintaining computation efficiency. Our method allows users to perform precise, localized edits such as simultaneous painting on multiple images in real-time, relieving them from tedious and repetitive manual reapplication to each individual image.
Observational Tests of Modified Gravity

Modifications of general relativity provide an alternative explanation to dark energy for the observed acceleration of the Universe. Modified gravity theories have richer observational consequences for large-scale structures than conventional dark energy models, in that different observables are not described by a single growth factor even in the linear regime. We examine the relationships between perturbations in the metric potentials, density and velocity fields, and discuss strategies for measuring them using gravitational lensing, galaxy cluster abundances, galaxy clustering/dynamics, and the integrated Sachs-Wolfe effect. We show how a broad class of gravity theories can be tested by combining these probes. A robust way to interpret observations is by constraining two key functions: the ratio of the two metric potentials, and the ratio of the gravitational "constant" in the Poisson equation to Newton's constant. We also discuss quasilinear effects that carry signatures of gravity, such as through induced three-point correlations. Clustering of dark energy can mimic features of modified gravity theories and thus confuse the search for distinct signatures of such theories. It can produce pressure perturbations and anisotropic stresses, which break the equality between the two metric potentials even in general relativity. With these two extra degrees of freedom, can a clustered dark energy model mimic modified gravity models in all observational tests? We show with specific examples that observational constraints on both the metric potentials and density perturbations can in principle distinguish modifications of gravity from dark energy models. We compare our result with other recent studies that have slightly different assumptions (and apparently contradictory conclusions).
GITR Intrinsically Sustains Early Type 1 and Late Follicular Helper CD4 T Cell Accumulation to Control a Chronic Viral Infection

CD4 T cells are critical for control of persistent infections; however, the key signals that regulate CD4 T help during chronic infection remain incompletely defined. While several studies have addressed the role of inhibitory receptors and soluble factors such as PD-1 and IL-10, significantly less work has addressed the role of T cell co-stimulatory molecules during chronic viral infection. Here we show that during a persistent infection with lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus (LCMV) clone 13, mice lacking the glucocorticoid-induced tumor necrosis factor receptor related protein (GITR) exhibit defective CD8 T cell accumulation, increased T cell exhaustion and impaired viral control. Differences in CD8 T cells and viral control between GITR+/+ and GITR-/- mice were lost when CD4 T cells were depleted. Moreover, mixed bone marrow chimeric mice, as well as transfer of LCMV epitope-specific CD4 or CD8 T cells, demonstrated that these effects of GITR are largely CD4 T cell-intrinsic. GITR is dispensable for initial CD4 T cell proliferation and differentiation, but supports the post-priming accumulation of IFNγ+IL-2+ Th1 cells, facilitating CD8 T cell expansion and early viral control. GITR-dependent phosphorylation of the p65 subunit of NF-κB as well as phosphorylation of the downstream mTORC1 target, S6 ribosomal protein, were detected at day three post-infection (p.i.), and defects in CD4 T cell accumulation in GITR-deficient T cells were apparent starting at day five p.i. Consistently, we pinpoint IL-2-dependent CD4 T cell help for CD8 T cells to between days four and eight p.i. GITR also increases the ratio of T follicular helper to T follicular regulatory cells and thereby enhances LCMV-specific IgG production. Together, these findings identify a CD4 T cell-intrinsic role for GITR in sustaining early CD8 and late humoral responses to collectively promote control of chronic LCMV clone 13 infection.