Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Surfactant Protein-A Modulates LPS-Induced TLR4 Localization and Signaling via β-Arrestin 2

The soluble C-type lectin surfactant protein (SP)-A mediates lung immune responses partially via its direct effects on alveolar macrophages (AM), the main resident leukocytes exposed to antigens. SP-A modulates the AM threshold of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) activity towards an anti-inflammatory phenotype both in vitro and in vivo through various mechanisms. LPS responses are tightly regulated via distinct pathways including subcellular TLR4 localization and thus ligand sensing. The cytosolic scaffold and signaling protein β-arrestin 2 acts as negative regulator of LPS-induced TLR4 activation. Here we show that SP-A neither increases TLR4 abundancy nor co-localizes with TLR4 in primary AM. SP-A significantly reduces the LPS-induced co-localization of TLR4 with the early endosome antigen (EEA) 1 by promoting the co-localization of TLR4 with the post-Golgi compartment marker Vti1b in freshly isolated AM from rats and wild-type (WT) mice, but not in β-arrestin 2−/− AM. Compared to WT mice pulmonary LPS-induced TNF-α release in β-arrestin 2−/− mice is accelerated and enhanced and exogenous SP-A fails to inhibit both lung LPS-induced TNF-α release and TLR4/EEA1 positioning. SP-A, but not LPS, enhances β-arrestin 2 protein expression in a time-dependent manner in primary rat AM. The constitutive expression of β-arrestin 2 in AM from SP-A−/− mice is significantly reduced compared to SP-A+/+ mice and is rescued by SP-A. Prolonged endosome retention of LPS-induced TLR4 in AM from SP-A−/− mice is restored by exogenous SP-A, and is antagonized by β-arrestin 2 blocking peptides. LPS induces β-arrestin 2/TLR4 association in primary AM which is further enhanced by SP-A. The data demonstrate that SP-A modulates LPS-induced TLR4 trafficking and signaling in vitro and in vivo engaging β-arrestin 2.
A ROI Image Watermarking Algorithm Based on Lifting Wavelet Transform

In this paper, we propose a ROI image watermarking algorithm for hiding secrete information in important image. The ROI information is segmented and extracted in original image, and then gray value supplement is made in that region to generate the disguised cover image, in which the ROI image encrypted by chaos is embedded based on lifting wavelet transform. Experiments show that the proposed watermarking scheme is of huge hiding information capacity as well as high imperceptibility and robustness against various signals processing such as cropping, JPEG compression and noise attack. This algorithm has important practical value of information security to the transmission of important image such as remote sensing, SAR images
Designing an Emissions Trading Scheme for China – An Up-to-Date Climate Policy Assessment

We assess recent Chinese climate policy proposals in a multi-region, multi-sector computable general equilibrium model with a Chinese carbon emissions trading scheme (ETS). When the emissions intensity per GDP in 2020 is required to be 45% lower than in 2005, the model simulations indicate that the climate policy induced welfare loss in 2020, measured as the level of GDP and welfare in 2020 under climate policy relative to their level under business-as-usual (BAU) in the same year, is about 1%. The Chinese welfare loss in 2020 slightly increases in the Chinese rate of economic growth in 2020. When keeping the emissions target fixed at the 2020 level after 2020 in absolute terms, the welfare loss will reach about 2% in 2030. If China׳s annual economic growth rate is 0.5 percentage points higher (lower), the climate policy-induced welfare loss in 2030 will rise (decline) by about 0.5 percentage points. Full auctioning of carbon allowances results in very similar macroeconomic effects as free allocation, but full auctioning leads to higher reductions in output than free allocation for ETS sectors. Linking the Chinese to the European ETS and restricting the transfer volume to one third of the EU׳s reduction effort creates at best a small benefit for China, yet with smaller sectoral output reductions than auctioning. These results highlight the importance of designing the Chinese ETS wisely.
ECONOMIC REMOTENESS AND WAGE DISPARITIES IN ROMANIA

This paper looks at the link between wage disparities and market access for the Romanian regions. First, we derive an econometric specification which relates the income levels of a particular location with a weighted sum of the volume of economic activities of the surrounding locations (market access). Then, empirically, we estimate this econometric specification for a sample of 42 Romanian regions in the year 2006. The results show that market access is statistically significant and quantitatively important in explaining cross-county variation in Romanian wages. Moreover, our results are robust to the inclusion of control variables thought to be important in explaining Romanian wages as it is the case with human capital and innovation levels. After controlling for these variables, market access remains still positive and statistically significant although its influence on wages decreases around 25 per cent. Finally some policy conclusions are also drawn.
Human Cd25+Cd4+ T Regulatory Cells Suppress Naive and Memory T Cell Proliferation and Can Be Expanded in Vitro without Loss of Function

Active suppression by T regulatory (Tr) cells plays an important role in the downregulation of T cell responses to foreign and self-antigens. Mouse CD4+ Tr cells that express CD25 possess remarkable suppressive activity in vitro and in autoimmune disease models in vivo. Thus far, the existence of a similar subset of CD25+CD4+ Tr cells in humans has not been reported. Here we show that human CD25+CD4+ Tr cells isolated from peripheral blood failed to proliferate and displayed reduced expression of CD40 ligand (CD40L), in response to T cell receptor–mediated polyclonal activation, but strongly upregulated cytotoxic T lymphocyte–associated antigen (CTLA)-4. Human CD25+CD4+ Tr cells also did not proliferate in response to allogeneic antigen-presenting cells, but they produced interleukin (IL)-10, transforming growth factor (TGF)-β, low levels of interferon (IFN)-γ, and no IL-4 or IL-2. Importantly, CD25+CD4+ Tr cells strongly inhibited the proliferative responses of both naive and memory CD4+ T cells to alloantigens, but neither IL-10, TGF-β, nor CTLA-4 seemed to be directly required for their suppressive effects. CD25+CD4+ Tr cells could be expanded in vitro in the presence of IL-2 and allogeneic feeder cells and maintained their suppressive capacities. These findings that CD25+CD4+ Tr cells with immunosuppressive effects can be isolated from peripheral blood and expanded in vitro without loss of function represent a major advance towards the therapeutic use of these cells in T cell–mediated diseases.
Random Regular Graph : Generation and Cover Time

A graph is r-regular if all its vertices have the same degree r. A random r-regular graph with n vertices is a graph sampled uniformly at random from the set of all r-regular graphs on n vertices. There are various sampling methods for this. In this report we survey one of them: The Configuration Model. We then survey the cover time of a random walk on such a graph, which roughly speaking, is the time taken (in expectation) by the walk to visit all the vertices. This cover time calculation, due to Colin Cooper and Alan Frieze, uses generating function technique and results from complex analysis, which we illustrate in this report.
The Role of Emotion in Musical Improvisation: An Analysis of Structural Features

One of the primary functions of music is to convey emotion, yet how music accomplishes this task remains unclear. For example, simple correlations between mode (major vs. minor) and emotion (happy vs. sad) do not adequately explain the enormous range, subtlety or complexity of musically induced emotions. In this study, we examined the structural features of unconstrained musical improvisations generated by jazz pianists in response to emotional cues. We hypothesized that musicians would not utilize any universal rules to convey emotions, but would instead combine heterogeneous musical elements together in order to depict positive and negative emotions. Our findings demonstrate a lack of simple correspondence between emotions and musical features of spontaneous musical improvisation. While improvisations in response to positive emotional cues were more likely to be in major keys, have faster tempos, faster key press velocities and more staccato notes when compared to negative improvisations, there was a wide distribution for each emotion with components that directly violated these primary associations. The finding that musicians often combine disparate features together in order to convey emotion during improvisation suggests that structural diversity may be an essential feature of the ability of music to express a wide range of emotion.
Long-Term Gender-Based Outcomes for Atazanavir/Ritonavir (ATV/r)-Containing Regimens in Treatment-Experienced Patients with HIV

Clinical data on antiretroviral effectiveness in women are limited, especially long-term data, because women are usually underrepresented in clinical trials. This sub-analysis of a large European non-comparative, retrospective, observational cohort study evaluated gender differences in long-term outcomes in antiretroviral-experienced adult patients with HIV-1 infection switched to an ATV/r-based regimen between October 2004 and March 2007. Data were extracted from 3 European HIV databases every 6 months (maximum follow-up 5 years). Time to virological failure (VF), defined as two consecutive HIV-1 RNA ≥50 c/mL or one HIV-1 RNA ≥50 c/mL followed by treatment discontinuation (TD), and time to TD were analyzed using the Kaplan-Meier method. Associations of gender with VF and TD were analyzed using multivariate Cox proportional models. Safety and tolerability were evaluated. In total, 1294 patients (336 women, 958 men) were analyzed. No gender differences in time to VF were observed; at 3 years, the probability of not having VF was 0.59 (95%CI: 0.52, 0.65) and 0.63 (95%CI: 0.59, 0.67) for women and men, respectively. In multivariate analyses, women had a higher risk of TD than men (hazard ratio [HR], 1.54; 95%CI: 1.28, 1.85) but no increased risk of VF (HR, 1.06; 95%CI: 0.85, 1.33). Safety and tolerability were comparable between genders. In a clinical setting, long-term efficacy and safety outcomes of ATV/r-based regimens were similar by gender. Women had a higher risk of TD but no increased risk of VF. ATV/r is an effective and well-tolerated therapeutic option for treatment-experienced men and women with HIV-1 infection.
More evidence for very short-lived substance contribution to stratospheric chlorine inferred from HCl balloon-borne in situ measurements in the tropics

Abstract. Volume mixing ratio (vmr) vertical profiles of hydrogen chloride (HCl) are retrieved from in situ measurements performed by a balloon-borne infrared tunable diode laser absorption spectrometer (SPIRALE) during two balloon flights in the tropics (Teresina, Brazil, 5.1° S–42.9° W) in June 2005 and June 2008. HCl vertical profiles obtained from 15 to 31 km are presented and analysed to estimate the contribution of very short-lived substances (VSLS) to total stratospheric chlorine. Both retrieved vertical profiles of HCl from these flights agree very well with each other, with estimated overall uncertainties of 6% on vmr between 23 and 31 km. Upper limits of HCl vmr as low as 20 pptv in June 2008 and 30 pptv in June 2005 are inferred in the upper part of the tropical tropopause layer (TTL). Backward trajectory calculations and such low amounts suggest that the air masses sampled correspond to typical background conditions, i.e. neither influenced by recent tropospheric nor stratospheric air. Taking into account the recently reported VSL source gas measurements obtained in similar conditions (Laube et al., 2008) and the main intermediate degradation product gas COCl2 (Fu et al., 2007), a total VSLS contribution of 85±40 pptv to stratospheric chlorine is inferred. This refines the WMO (2007) estimation of 50 to 100 pptv, which was not taking into account any HCl contribution. In addition, comparisons of HCl measurements between SPIRALE and the Aura MLS satellite instrument in the tropical lower and middle stratosphere lead to a very good agreement. The previous agreement between MLS-deduced upper stratospheric total chlorine content and modelled values including 100 pptv of VSLS (Froidevaux et al., 2006) is thus supported by our present result about the VSLS contribution.
Peer Caching Algorithm Based on Global Segment Popularity for P2P VoD System

This paper proposed a new algorithm named GSPK, which is a peer caching algorithm based on global segment popularity for P2P VoD system. This algorithm evaluates the cache utility of media segment via gathering the statistics of media segment popularity globally, and makes the numbers of a media segment copies in the whole system vary directly with it’s cache utility. The simulation experiments indicated that GSP-K algorithm has better performance in increasing statistics precision of segment popularity, cache space utilization rate and segment hit radio than others algorithms such as LRU, LFU and LRU-K.
A 25 Gb/s 5.8 mW CMOS Equalizer

Low-power equalization remains in high demand for wireline receivers operating at tens of gigabits per second in copper media. This paper presents a design incorporating a continuous-time linear equalizer and a two-tap half-rate/quarter-rate decision-feedback equalizer that exploits charge steering techniques to reduce the power consumption. Realized in 45 nm technology, the prototype draws 5.8 mW from a 1 V supply and compensates for 24 dB of loss with BER <;10-12.
Reliable Transmission of Information By Madhu Sudan 1

The notion of “digital information” emerged in the middle of the twentieth century, in response to the advent of the telegraph and to the beginnings of computer science, which at the time was principally a theoretical discipline. Of course, the use of electricity to communicate signals goes back further, but the earlier uses involved signals of a “continuous” nature: music, voice, etc. The new era was characterized by the transmission of (or the need to transmit) more “discrete” messages, i.e., messages such as English sentences, which can be described as finite sequences of letters taken from some finite alphabet. The phrase “digital information” came to be applied to such families of messages. Digital information posed some novel challenges to the engineers and mathematicians charged with the task of communicating such messages. The root cause of these challenges is “noise. ” Every communication medium is noisy, and never transmits any signal completely accurately. In the case of continuous signals, somehow the receivers (typically, our ears and eyes) can adjust to such errors and learn to discount them. For example, if you play a very old recording of a musical performance, then there will typically be a crackling noise, but it is possible to ignore this, unless the quality is very bad indeed, and concentrate on the music. However, in the case of digital information errors can have a more catastrophic effect. To see this, suppose that we are communicating in English sentences and that the communication medium makes occasional mistakes by altering one of the transmitted letters. In such a scenario the message
Temperature Manipulation in Songbird Brain Implicates the Premotor Nucleus HVC in Birdsong Syntax

Variable motor sequences of animals are often structured and can be described by probabilistic transition rules between action elements. Examples include the songs of many songbird species such as the Bengalese finch, which consist of stereotypical syllables sequenced according to probabilistic rules (song syntax). The neural mechanisms behind such rules are poorly understood. Here, we investigate where the song syntax is encoded in the brain of the Bengalese finch by rapidly and reversibly manipulating the temperature in the song production pathway. Cooling the premotor nucleus HVC (proper name) slows down the song tempo, consistent with the idea that HVC controls moment-to-moment timings of acoustic features in the syllables. More importantly, cooling HVC alters the transition probabilities between syllables. Cooling HVC reduces the number of repetitions of long-repeated syllables and increases the randomness of syllable sequences. In contrast, cooling the downstream motor area RA (robust nucleus of the acropallium), which is critical for singing, does not affect the song syntax. Unilateral cooling of HVC shows that control of syllables is mostly lateralized to the left HVC, whereas transition probabilities between the syllables can be affected by cooling HVC in either hemisphere to varying degrees. These results show that HVC is a key site for encoding song syntax in the Bengalese finch. HVC is thus involved both in encoding timings within syllables and in sequencing probabilistic transitions between syllables. Our finding suggests that probabilistic selections and fine-grained timings of action elements can be integrated within the same neural circuits. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Many animal behaviors such as birdsong consist of variable sequences of discrete actions. Where and how the probabilistic rules of such sequences are encoded in the brain is poorly understood. We locally and reversibly cooled brain areas in songbirds during singing. Mild cooling of area HVC in the Bengalese finch brain—a premotor area homologous to the mammalian premotor cortex—alters the statistics of the syllable sequences, suggesting that HVC is critical for birdsong sequences. HVC is also known for controlling moment-to-moment timings within syllables. Our results show that timing and probabilistic sequencing of actions can share the same neural circuits in local brain areas.
Structural Diversity for Privacy in Publishing Social Networks

How to protect individual privacy in public data is always a concern. For social networks, the challenge is that, the structure of the social network graph can be utilized to infer the private and sensitive information of users. The existing anonymity schemes mostly focus on the anonymity of vertex identities, such that a malicious attacker cannot associate an user with a specific vertex. In real social networks, however, each vertex is usually associated with not only a vertex identity but also a community identity, which could represent the private information for the corresponding user, such as the political party affiliation or disease information sensitive to the public. In this paper, we first show that the attacker can still infer the community identity of an user even though the graph is protected by previous anonymity schemes. Afterward, we propose the structural diversity, which ensures the existences of at least k communities containing vertices with the same degree for every vertex in the graph, to provide the anonymity of the community identities. Specifically, we formulate a new problem, k-Structural Diversity Anonymization (k-SDA), which protects the community identity of each individual in publishing social networks. We propose an Integer Programming formulation to find the optimal solutions to k-SDA. Moreover, we devise three scalable heuristics to solve the large instances of k-SDA with different perspectives. The experiments on real data sets demonstrate the practical utility of our privacy model and our approaches.
Validating and Calibrating the Nintendo Wii Balance Board to Derive Reliable Center of Pressure Measures

The Nintendo Wii balance board (WBB) has generated significant interest in its application as a postural control measurement device in both the clinical and (basic, clinical, and rehabilitation) research domains. Although the WBB has been proposed as an alternative to the “gold standard” laboratory-grade force plate, additional research is necessary before the WBB can be considered a valid and reliable center of pressure (CoP) measurement device. In this study, we used the WBB and a laboratory-grade AMTI force plate (AFP) to simultaneously measure the CoP displacement of a controlled dynamic load, which has not been done before. A one-dimensional inverted pendulum was displaced at several different displacement angles and load heights to simulate a variety of postural sway amplitudes and frequencies (<1 Hz). Twelve WBBs were tested to address the issue of inter-device variability. There was a significant effect of sway amplitude, frequency, and direction on the WBB's CoP measurement error, with an increase in error as both sway amplitude and frequency increased and a significantly greater error in the mediolateral (ML) (compared to the anteroposterior (AP)) sway direction. There was no difference in error across the 12 WBB's, supporting low inter-device variability. A linear calibration procedure was then implemented to correct the WBB's CoP signals and reduce measurement error. There was a significant effect of calibration on the WBB's CoP signal accuracy, with a significant reduction in CoP measurement error (quantified by root-mean-squared error) from 2–6 mm (before calibration) to 0.5–2 mm (after calibration). WBB-based CoP signal calibration also significantly reduced the percent error in derived (time-domain) CoP sway measures, from −10.5% (before calibration) to −0.05% (after calibration) (percent errors averaged across all sway measures and in both sway directions). In this study, we characterized the WBB's CoP measurement error under controlled, dynamic conditions and implemented a linear calibration procedure for WBB CoP signals that is recommended to reduce CoP measurement error and provide more reliable estimates of time-domain CoP measures. Despite our promising results, additional work is necessary to understand how our findings translate to the clinical and rehabilitation research domains. Once the WBB's CoP measurement error is fully characterized in human postural sway (which differs from our simulated postural sway in both amplitude and frequency content), it may be used to measure CoP displacement in situations where lower accuracy and precision is acceptable.
A Crack Detection Method in Road Surface Images Using Morphology

In this p;y)cr , ;I new crack detection rnethod in ro;ul surface inlagc based on morphological t,ech-niqrlr is proposed. Cracks arc difficult, t,o dct.ect directly at t.hc pixel level because of t , l ~ noise and the vagueness. Some kind of st,r~lct.ural information is needed. A crack is t,hought, tlo be ;I siiccession of dark saddle points with t,he linear feature. In the proposed met.hod , t,he det,wt,ion of cracks is realized t,hro~lgh black pixel ext,r,wtion , saddle point det.ect. ion , linear feature extraction ;uld conile~t~ing processing . Although t.he rnct,hod requires the set,- ting of sorne pdarametcrs , i t is robust for detecting vag11c cracks in t,he noisy road surface image.