Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Integration of Nodal and BMP Signals in the Heart Requires FoxH1 to Create Left–Right Differences in Cell Migration Rates That Direct Cardiac Asymmetry

Failure to properly establish the left–right (L/R) axis is a major cause of congenital heart defects in humans, but how L/R patterning of the embryo leads to asymmetric cardiac morphogenesis is still unclear. We find that asymmetric Nodal signaling on the left and Bmp signaling act in parallel to establish zebrafish cardiac laterality by modulating cell migration velocities across the L/R axis. Moreover, we demonstrate that Nodal plays the crucial role in generating asymmetry in the heart and that Bmp signaling via Bmp4 is dispensable in the presence of asymmetric Nodal signaling. In addition, we identify a previously unappreciated role for the Nodal-transcription factor FoxH1 in mediating cell responsiveness to Bmp, further linking the control of these two pathways in the heart. The interplay between these TGFβ pathways is complex, with Nodal signaling potentially acting to limit the response to Bmp pathway activation and the dosage of Bmp signals being critical to limit migration rates. These findings have implications for understanding the complex genetic interactions that lead to congenital heart disease in humans.
A semi-supervised support vector machine for texture segmentation

A novel semi-supervised support vector machine (S/sup 3/VM) algorithm is developed for segmentation of texture images. The method classifies the uniform-texture regions from the regions of boundaries. The various-order statistics of the textures within a two-dimensional sliding window are measured. A K-means algorithm is used to label the two clusters approximately in the overall image. However, only those clusters which are very close to the class centres are labelled. Therefore, at this stage we have both the training and the working sets. A non-linear S/sup 3/VM is then developed to exploit both sets to classify the regions. It is demonstrated that the algorithm is robust and the misclassification error is negligible. However, there may be a minor misplacement of the edges.
PET/CT in oncology: for which tumours is it the reference standard?

Abstract Positron emission tomography (PET)/computed tomography (CT) has a growing role in the imaging of many cancers. As our experience has grown over the past number of years so has our understanding for which cancers it is particularly useful. The value of PET/CT at each stage of the cancer journey is different for each cancer. This review attempts to tease out the role of PET/CT in the common cancers with particular emphasis on where it is the imaging investigation of choice.
Nest Composition and Yolk Hormones: Do Female European Starlings Adjust Yolk Androgens to Nest Quality?

The nest is a key element of avian reproductive fitness. It provides the developmental environment for the embryo and nestling thereby affecting their quality and survival. Nests are often constructed by the male and nest quality, elaboration, and ornamentation vary among males in a species. Therefore, male nest-building behaviour is likely under sexual selection and females may use male nest-building behaviour and nest features as cues in mate choice and their own reproductive investment. We tested this hypothesis in European starlings (Sturnus vulgaris). Male starlings present green plants to females during their courtship display and furbish their nests with variable quantities of fresh green plants. The highest frequency of plant incorporation into the nest occurs during pair formation and oogenesis. We determined nest composition and measured yolk testosterone concentrations in eggs. Yolk testosterone concentrations were positively correlated with the amount of green plant material in nests. Because males use green nest material in courtship and green nest material positively affects nestlings’ development, we suggest that female European starlings use male nest-building effort, ritualised courtship display of green plants, and nest characteristics in mate choice, and adjust yolk testosterone levels in the eggs to the quality of the nest to optimise offspring growth.
Abstract: A Gesture based Camera Controlling Method in the 3D Virtual Space

In this paper, we propose a gesture user interface for controlling a virtual camera in the 3D virtual space, which can be used to navigate the 3D virtual space by users. In the proposed mechanism, Kinect[1] is used as an input device for detecting positions of user gestures. After obtaining the positions information from Kinect, the sequences of positions are filtered to be recognized as any kind of gestures for controlling the virtual camera. The recognized gestures will push the corresponding operation into the camera in the 3D virtual space so that the 3D space can be navigated according to the user-steered control. Experimental results show that the proposed method achieved the gesture recognition ratio of more than 75%.
THE (FORGOTTEN?) LINK BETWEEN THE ENTREPRE NEUR, INCREASING RETURNS AND ECONOMIC GROWTH

There is an historical link between the concept of increasing returns, economic growth, and the role of entrepreneurship, which seems to be nowhere in evidence in contemporary theory. Classical writers from the Physiocrats forward have concerned themselves primarily with the phenomenon of economic growth via additions to the social sur plus coupled with accumulation and productive use. The view that economic progress is an endogenous response to the requirements of a multi-sectoral economy that has become vertically interdependent in consequence of division of labor is clear in Adam Smith's Wealth of Nations and Charles Babbage's book On the Economy of Machinery and Manufacturing (1835), which provided pioneering insights to both John Stuart Mill and Karl Marx, and anticipated the idea of creative destruc tion.
Macrophage Migration Inhibitory Factor Is Enhanced in Acute Coronary Syndromes and Is Associated with the Inflammatory Response

Background Chronic inflammation promotes atherosclerosis in cardiovascular disease and is a major prognostic factor for patients undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). Macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF) is involved in the progress of atherosclerosis and plaque destabilization and plays a pivotal role in the development of acute coronary syndromes (ACS). Little is known to date about the clinical impact of MIF in patients with symptomatic coronary artery disease (CAD). Methods and Results In a pilot study, 286 patients with symptomatic CAD (n = 119 ACS, n = 167 stable CAD) undergoing PCI were consecutively evaluated. 25 healthy volunteers served as control. Expression of MIF was consecutively measured in patients at the time of PCI. Baseline levels of interleukin 6 (IL-6), “regulated upon activation, normal T-cell expressed, and secreted” (RANTES) and monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1) were measured by Bio-Plex Cytokine assay. C-reactive protein (CRP) was determined by Immunoassay. Patients with ACS showed higher plasma levels of MIF compared to patients with stable CAD and control subjects (median 2.85 ng/mL, interquartile range (IQR) 3.52 versus median 1.22 ng/mL, IQR 2.99, versus median 0.1, IQR 0.09, p<0.001). Increased MIF levels were associated with CRP and IL-6 levels and correlated with troponin I (TnI) release (spearman rank coefficient: 0.31, p<0.001). Patients with ACS due to plaque rupture showed significantly higher plasma levels of MIF than patients with flow limiting stenotic lesions (p = 0.002). Conclusion To our knowledge this is the first study, demonstrating enhanced expression of MIF in ACS. It is associated with established inflammatory markers, correlates with the extent of cardiac necrosis marker release after PCI and is significantly increased in ACS patients with “culprit” lesions. Further attempts should be undertaken to characterize the role of MIF for risk assessment in the setting of ACS.
RF technology optimization by a fast method for linearity determination

This paper introduces a new methodology to determine the small signal linearity of a device directly from 2-port Y-parameters. With that approach, a 10-fold reduction of the simulation time in a comparison with traditional transient or harmonic balance simulations can be achieved, which enables a fast route for RF device and process technology optimization in an industrial environment. It is also shown that the linearity performance should be taken into account for the device optimization.
2 A Generic Architecture for Advisor Systems 2 . 1 EAIS for Individualized and Collaborative Learning

In distance learning environments, advisors can start off again a stalled learning process. EpiTalk is a platform enabling to develop advisors for individual and collaborative learning. EpiTalk advisors rely on agents, organizations and hierarchical graphs. Hierarchical graphs describe advisors. At run-time, agents provide autonomy to each advisor’s components, while organizations link and co-ordinate agents. Since advisors are grafted onto existing arbitrary information systems, we say that they are epiphyte.
Transceiver design using linear precoding in a multiuser multiple-input multiple-output system with limited feedback

The authors investigate quantisation and feedback of channel state information in a multiuser (MU) multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) system. Each user may receive multiple data streams. The authors design minimises the sum mean squared error (SMSE) while accounting for the imperfections in channel state information (CSI) at the transmitter. This study makes three contributions: first, the authors provide an end-to-end SMSE transceiver design that incorporates receiver combining, feedback policy and transmit precoder design with channel uncertainty. This enables the proposed transceiver to outperform the previously derived limited feedback MU linear transceivers. Second, the authors remove dimensionality constraints on the MIMO system, for the scenario with multiple data streams per user, using a combination of maximum expected signal combining and minimum MSE receiver. This makes each user's feedback independent of the others and the resulting feedback overhead scales linearly with the number of data streams instead of the number of receiving antennas. Finally, the authors analyse the SMSE of the proposed algorithm at high signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and large number of transmit antennas. As an aside, the authors show analytically why the bit error rate, in the high SNR regime, increases if quantisation error is ignored.
Contact-free Measurement of Heart Rate Variability via a Microwave Sensor

Measures of heart rate variability (HRV) are widely used to assess autonomic nervous system (ANS) function. HRV can be recorded via electrocardiography (ECG), which is both non-invasive and widely available. However, ECG needs three electrodes touching the body of the subjects, which makes them feel nervous and uncomfortable, thus potentially affecting the recording. Contact-free detection of the heartbeat via a microwave sensor constitutes another means of determining the timing of cardiac cycles by continuous monitoring of mechanical contraction of the heart. This technique can measure the heartbeat without any electrodes touching human body and penetrate the clothes at some distances, which in some instances may prove a practical basis for HRV analysis. Comparison of 5-minute recordings demonstrated that there were no significant differences in the temporal, frequency domains and in non-linear dynamic analysis of HRV measures derived from heartbeat and ECG, which suggested this technique may prove a practical alternative to ECG for HRV analysis.
A biological View on Information Ecosystems

When comparing information ecosystems to biological ecosystems, it becomes clear that both types of systems seem to support robust solutions that are hard to violate for a single agent. In the analysis of information ecosystems, it is important to take into consideration that agents may have a Machiavellian intelligence, i.e., that they take the self-interest of other agents into consideration. We conclude that in the interaction between antagonistic agents within information systems, arms race is a major force. A positive result of this is a better readiness for innocent agents against the vigilant agents. Some examples are given to show how the modelling of information ecosystems in this way can explain the origin of more robust systems when antagonistic agents are around.
A Model for Reuse and Optimization of Embedded Software Components

In software engineering for embedded systems generic reusable software components must often be discarded in favor of using resource optimized solutions. In this paper we outline a model that enables the utilization of component-based principles even for embedded systems with high optimization demands. The model supports the creation of component variants optimized for different scenarios, through the introduction of an entrance preparation step and an ending verification step into the component design process. These activities are proposed to be supported by tools working on metadata associated with components, where the metadata is possible to automatically retrieve from many development tools. This paper outlines the theoretical model that is the basis for our current realization work.
Naturalizing Self-Consciousness

The crucial problem of self-consciousness is how to account for knowing self-reference without launching into a regress or without presupposing self-consciousness rather than accounting for it (circle). In the literature we find two bottom-up proposals for solving the traditional problem: the postulation of nonconceptual forms of self-consciousness and the postulation of a pre-reflexive form of self-consciousness. However, none of them seems satisfactory for several reasons. In contrast, I believe that the only way of solving this traditional puzzle is to assume another bottom-up approach, namely the one that accepts Baker’s challenge to naturalism and provides a naturalist framework for self-consciousness; in Baker’s terms, to account for self-consciousness in non-intentional, non-semantic, and nonmental terms. That is the aim of this paper. My thesis rests on two claims. The first is the metaphysical claim that every creature enjoys a fundamental relation to itself, namely identity. The second is Dretske’s epistemological claim that representations do not require a Self, traditionally understood as the principle that spontaneously organizes mental activity and lies behind all intentional acts. Briefly, I argue for a naturalization of self-consciousness that postulates nonlinguistic, naturalized, and selfless form of representation of the cognitive system based on the metaphysical, fundamental relation everyone has to himself, namely identity. Selfconsciousness emerges when brain states are selflessly recruited through learning to represent the cognitive system itself as a
Cognitive Development Among Young Children in Ecuador: The Roles of Wealth, Health, and Parenting

We examine the relationship between early cognitive development, socioeconomic status (SES), child health, and parenting quality in a developing country. We use a sample of more than 3,000 predominantly poor preschool-aged children from Ecuador, and analyze determinants of their scores on a widely used test of language ability. We find that household wealth and parental education are associated with higher scores, and that these associations are larger among older children. Child health and measures of parenting quality are associated with test performance, and account for a fraction, although not the majority, of the association between SES and cognitive development.
Expression Control in Singing Voice Synthesis: Features, approaches, evaluation, and challenges

In the context of singing voice synthesis, expression control manipulates a set of voice features related to a particular emotion, style, or singer. Also known as performance modeling, it has been approached from different perspectives and for different purposes, and different projects have shown a wide extent of applicability. The aim of this article is to provide an overview of approaches to expression control in singing voice synthesis. We introduce some musical applications that use singing voice synthesis techniques to justify the need for an accurate control of expression. Then, expression is defined and related to speech and instrument performance modeling. Next, we present the commonly studied set of voice parameters that can change perceptual aspects of synthesized voices. After that, we provide an up-to-date classification, comparison, and description of a selection of approaches to expression control. Then, we describe how these approaches are currently evaluated and discuss the benefits of building a common evaluation framework and adopting perceptually-motivated objective measures. Finally, we discuss the challenges that we currently foresee.
Negative externalities of food production: discourses on the contested Norwegian aquaculture industry

The concern of this article is the language and ontology of negative externalities. Four discourses on the financially successful industry of salmon farming in Norway are critically analyzed and deconstructed. The discourses are: "high turnover discourse", "technology optimism discourse", "first nature discourse" and "traditionalist discourse". Groups defending various discourses differ in their interpretations of a) human/nature relations i.e. either ecocentric, anthropocentric or biocentric, and b) in their respective approach to either a transformative, adaptive or reactive logic. By linking interpretations, concepts and logic inherent to these discourses, it is possible to make conclusions on their degree of coherency. The leading discourses are maintained in language through strategic framing and overdetermination. These linguistic mechanisms are revealed in the discursive application of the concepts of sustainability and wild fish. Rather than to surrender to relativism, the article recommends integration of realism and deconstruction. Key words: Atlantic salmon farming, food production, critical discourse analysis, negative externalities, soft constructionism, parsimony, political ecology, sustainability.
Investigating time-sensitive topic model approaches for action recognition

AbstractIn this paper, we present several attempts of using topic models for ac-tion recognition in videos. We show that time-sensitive topic models helprecognizing actions when little training data is available. We also exhibitsome limitations of these models when dealing with complex videos. Newapplications of these models in semi-supervised settings and the use of in-herently discrimant models such as the MedLDA one are also considered. 1 Introduction Action recognition is an important eld of video processing. Its applications cov-ers, among others, automatic annotation of videos, improved human-computerinteraction and guidance in monitoring public spaces. Most state-of-the-arttechniques for action recognition video documents rely on Bag-of-Word (BoW)representations. The latter are built from quantized spatio-temporal descriptorscollected over long video segments [10, 14, 12, 13]. Such methods, however, donot encode the time information, although actions are characterized by strongtemporal components. To address this issue and enhance action recognition per-formance, we investigate the use novel principled probabilistic methods (calledtopic models) for capturing the temporal relationships between characteristicsub-units of a given action. In a previous paper [17], we showed these modelscould help action recognition when little training information is available. Inthe following, we expose more experiments to better spot strong points andweaknesses of these models when used for action recognition.
In Vivo Antioxidant and Anti-Skin-Aging Activities of Ethyl Acetate Extraction from Idesia polycarpa Defatted Fruit Residue in Aging Mice Induced by D-Galactose

Two different concentrations of D-galactose (D-gal) induced organism and skin aging in Kunming mice were used to examine comprehensively the antioxidant and antiaging activities of ethyl acetate extraction (EAE) from Idesia polycarpa defatted fruit residue for the first time. The oxygen radical absorbance capacity (ORAC) of EAE was 13.09 ± 0.11 μmol Trolox equivalents (TE)/mg, which showed EAE had great in vitro free radical scavenging and antioxidant activity. Biochemical indexes and morphological analysis of all tested tissues showed that EAE could effectively improve the total antioxidant capacity (T-AOC) of the antioxidant defense system of the aging mice, enhance the activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), and glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) of tissues and serum, increase glutathione (GSH) content and decrease the malondialdehyde (MDA) content, and maintain the skin collagen, elastin, and moisture content. Meanwhile, EAE could effectively attenuate the morphological damage in brain, liver, kidney, and skin induced by D-gal and its effect was not less than that of the well-known L-ascorbic acid (VC) and α-tocopherol (VE). Overall, EAE is a potent natural antiaging agent with great antioxidant activity, which can be developed as a new medicine and cosmetic for the treatment of age-related conditions.
Media Ownership Working Group Radio Market Structure and Music Diversity

Executive Summary: We develop a unique measure of product diversity, and apply it to R&R playlists to examine changes in diversity following the 1996 Telecommunications Act. This represents the first attempt to measure diversity in radio markets using actual songs. We find modest changes in diversity, with a slight decrease in the diversity of songs within the same R&R format across local markets, and a slight increase in the diversity of songs within the same R&R format within each local market. The views expressed in this paper are those of the authors alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Federal Communications Commission, any Commissioners, or other staff. 1 We list names in reverse alphabetical order of surname.
CCHEF: Covert Channels Evaluation Framework design and implementation

Communication is not necessarily made se- cure by the use of encryption alone. The mere existence of communication is often enough to raise suspicion and trigger investigative actions. Covert channels aim to hide the very existence of the communication. The huge amount of data and vast number of different protocols in the Internet makes it ideal as a high-bandwidth vehicle for covert communications. Covert channels are hidden inside pre-existing overt communication by encoding additional semantics onto 'normal' behaviours of the overt channels. We have developed CCHEF - a flexible and extensible software framework for evaluating covert channels in network protocols. The framework is able to establish covert channels across real networks using real overt traffic, but can also emulate covert channels based on overt traffic previously collected in trace files. In this paper we present the design and implementation of CCHEF. Index Terms—Covert Channels, Network Protocols