Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Cold Resistance and Injury in Woody Plants

It is interesting that plants can eventually acclimate fully in response to low temperatures in the absence of inductive photoperiods (67). This suggests that there is more than one route to resistance or more than one ignition key to start the machinery. In either case, the ability of plants to acclimate in response to more than one environmental stimulus provides adaptive flexibility which enhances survival potential.
Lhx2 is a direct NF-κB target gene that promotes primary hair follicle placode down-growth

ABSTRACT In the epidermis of mice lacking transcription factor nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-κB) activity, primary hair follicle (HF) pre-placode formation is initiated without progression to proper placodes. NF-κB modulates WNT and SHH signaling at early stages of HF development, but this does not fully account for the phenotypes observed upon NF-κB inhibition. To identify additional NF-κB target genes, we developed a novel method to isolate and transcriptionally profile primary HF placodes with active NF-κB signaling. In parallel, we compared gene expression at the same developmental stage in NF-κB-deficient embryos and controls. This uncovered novel NF-κB target genes with potential roles in priming HF placodes for down-growth. Importantly, we identify Lhx2 (encoding a LIM/homeobox transcription factor) as a direct NF-κB target gene, loss of which replicates a subset of phenotypes seen in NF-κB-deficient embryos. Lhx2 and Tgfb2 knockout embryos exhibit very similar abnormalities in HF development, including failure of the E-cadherin suppression required for follicle down-growth. We show that TGFβ2 signaling is impaired in NF-κB-deficient and Lhx2 knockout embryos and that exogenous TGFβ2 rescues the HF phenotypes in Lhx2 knockout skin explants, indicating that it operates downstream of LHX2. These findings identify a novel NF-κB/LHX2/TGFβ2 signaling axis that is crucial for primary HF morphogenesis, which may also function more broadly in development and disease. Summary: Loss of LHX2 replicates a subset of the phenotypes seen in embryos with reduced NF-κB signaling, while exogenous TGFβ2 can rescue this effect in Lhx2 knockout skin explants.
Nasal septal deviation and craniofacial asymmetries

Introduction: Nasal septal deviation may contribute to facial asymmetry. The purpose of this study was to assess the relationship between nasal septal deviation and facial asymmetry using three-dimensional geometric morphometric methods. Methods: Computed tomographic scans were made of n=55 adult subjects, and septal deviation was calculated as a percentage of septal volume relative to the volume of a modeled non-deviated septum. Skeletal landmarks representing nasal, palatal, and lateral facial regions were recorded, and landmark data was superimposed using Procrustes analysis. ANOVA/MANOVA tests determined degree of overall fluctuating and directional asymmetry. Finally, correlation analysis and multivariate regression were used to examine relationship between septal deviation and asymmetry of the individual facial regions. Results: Septal deviation was significantly correlation with lateral deviation of the nasal floor, vertical and lateral asymmetry of the anterior palate and width asymmetry of the posterior posterior palate and posterior alveolar thickness, but was uncorrelated with the overall magnitude of asymmetry. There was no correlation between septal deviation and lateral facial asymmetry. Conclusion: Nasal septal morphology is linked to nasal and palatal asymmetry. Deviated growth of the septum may pre-dispose patients to dental and skeletal asymmetries that have important orthodontic considerations.
GraphSET, a tool for simultaneous graph drawing

Problems in simultaneous graph drawing involve the layout of several graphs on a shared vertex set. This paper describes a Graph Simultaneous Embedding Tool, GraphSET, designed to allow the investigation of a wide range of graph embedding problems. GraphSET can be used in the study of several variants of simultaneous embedding including simultaneous geometric embedding, simultaneous embedding with fixed edges, and colored simultaneous embedding with the vertex set partitioned into color classes. The tool has three primary uses: (i) studying theoretical problems in simultaneous graph drawing through the production of examples and counterexamples, (ii) producing layouts of given classes of graphs using built‐in implementations of known algorithms, and (iii) providing a platform for development and implementation of new algorithms and data structures for all variants of simultaneous graph embedding. We also describe the design decisions involved in the construction of GraphSET in terms of the requirements dictated by its applications. GraphSET along with movies illustrating its utility are available at http://graphset.cs. arizona.edu. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Investigating the effects of arousal state on cognitive performance in individuals with and without mild head injury

We examined the cognitive and emotional sequelae following mild head injury (MHI; e.g., concussion) in high-functioning individuals and whether persons with MHI pre~ent, both physiologically and via self-report, in a manner different from (i.e., underaroused) that of persons who have no history of head injury. We also investigated the effect arousal state ~as on the cognitive performance of this population. Using a quasiexperimental research design (N = 91), we examined changes in attention, working memory, and cognitive flexibility (subtests ofthe WAIS-III, 1997,WMS-III, 1997, & DKEFS, 2002) as a function of manipulated arousal (i.e., induced psychosocial stress/activation; reduced activation/relaxation). In addition to self-reported arousal and state anxiety (State-Trait Anxiety Inventory; Speilberger, 1983a) measures, physiological indices of arousal state (i.e., electrodermal responsivity, heart rate, and respiration activity) were recorded (via Polygraph Professional Suite, 2008) across a 2.5 hour interval while completing various cognitive tasks. Students also completed the Post-concussive Symptom Checklist (Gouvier et aI., 1992). The results demonstrate that university students who report a history ofMHI (i.e., "altered state of consciousness") experience significantly lower levels of anxiety, were physiologically underaroused, and were less responsive to stressors in their environment, compared to their non-~HI cohorts. As expected, cognitive flexibility (but not other neuropsychological measures of cognition) was advantaged with increased stress, and disadvantaged with reduced stress, in persons with reported MHI, but not for those without reported MHI which provided limited support for our hypothesis. Further, university students who had no complaints related to their previous MHI endorsed "
Kymogram detection and kymogram-correlated image reconstruction from subsecond spiral computed tomography scans of the heart.

Subsecond single-slice, multi-slice or cone-beam spiral computed tomography (SSCT, MSCT, CBCT) offer great potential for improving heart imaging. Together with the newly developed phase-correlated cardiac reconstruction algorithms 180 degrees MCD and 180 degrees MCI [Med. Phys. 27, 1881-1902 (2000)] or related algorithms provided by the CT manufacturers, high image quality can be achieved. These algorithms require information about the cardiac motion, i.e., typically the simultaneously recorded electrocardiogram (ECG), to synchronize the reconstruction with the cardiac motion. Neither data acquired without ECG information (standard patients) nor acquisitions with corrupted ECG information can be handled adequately. We developed a method to extract the appropriate information about cardiac motion directly from the measured raw data (projection data). The so-called kymogram function is a measure of the cardiac motion as a function of time t or as a function of the projection angle alpha. In contrast to the ECG which is a global measure of the heart's electric excitation, the kymogram is a local measure of the heart motion at the z-position z(a) at projection angle a. The patient's local heart rate as well as the necessary synchronization information to be used with phase-correlated algorithms can be extracted from the kymogram by using a series of signal processing steps. The kymogram information is shown to be adequate to substitute the ECG information. Computer simulations with simulated ECG and patient measurements with simultaneously acquired ECG were carried out for a multislice scanner providing M = 4 slices to evaluate these new approaches. Both the ECG function and the kymogram function were used for reconstruction. Both were highly correlated regarding the periodicity information used for reconstruction. In 21 out of 25 consecutive cases the kymogram approach was equivalent to the ECG-correlated reconstruction; only minor differences in image quality between both methods were observed. For one patient the synchronization information detected by the ECG monitor turned out to be wrong; here, the kymogram constituted the only approach that provided useful reconstructions. Patient studies with 12 and 16 slices indicate the usefulness of our approach for cone-beam CT scans. Kymogram-correlated reconstructions also appear to have the potential to improve imaging of pericardial lung areas in general.
Serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels and risk of multiple sclerosis.

CONTEXT Epidemiological and experimental evidence suggests that high levels of vitamin D, a potent immunomodulator, may decrease the risk of multiple sclerosis. There are no prospective studies addressing this hypothesis. OBJECTIVE To examine whether levels of 25-hydroxyvitamin D are associated with risk of multiple sclerosis. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS Prospective, nested case-control study among more than 7 million US military personnel who have serum samples stored in the Department of Defense Serum Repository. Multiple sclerosis cases were identified through Army and Navy physical disability databases for 1992 through 2004, and diagnoses were confirmed by medical record review. Each case (n = 257) was matched to 2 controls by age, sex, race/ethnicity, and dates of blood collection. Vitamin D status was estimated by averaging 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels of 2 or more serum samples collected before the date of initial multiple sclerosis symptoms. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Odds ratios of multiple sclerosis associated with continuous or categorical levels (quantiles or a priori-defined categories) of serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D within each racial/ethnic group. RESULTS Among whites (148 cases, 296 controls), the risk of multiple sclerosis significantly decreased with increasing levels of 25-hydroxyvitamin D (odds ratio [OR] for a 50-nmol/L increase in 25-hydroxyvitamin D, 0.59; 95% confidence interval, 0.36-0.97). In categorical analyses using the lowest quintile (<63.3 nmol/L) as the reference, the ORs for each subsequent quintile were 0.57, 0.57, 0.74, and 0.38 (P = .02 for trend across quintiles). Only the OR for the highest quintile, corresponding to 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels higher than 99.1 nmol/L, was significantly different from 1.00 (OR, 0.38; 95% confidence interval, 0.19-0.75; P = .006). The inverse relation with multiple sclerosis risk was particularly strong for 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels measured before age 20 years. Among blacks and Hispanics (109 cases, 218 controls), who had lower 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels than whites, no significant associations between vitamin D and multiple sclerosis risk were found. CONCLUSION The results of our study suggest that high circulating levels of vitamin D are associated with a lower risk of multiple sclerosis.
Relating shapes via geometric symmetries and regularities

In this paper we address the problem of finding correspondences between related shapes of widely varying geometry. We propose a new method based on the observation that symmetry and regularity in shapes is often associated with their function. Hence, they provide cues for matching related geometry even under strong shape variations. Correspondingly, we decomposes shapes into overlapping regions determined by their regularity properties. Afterwards, we form a graph that connects these pieces via pairwise relations that capture geometric relations between rotation axes and reflection planes as well as topological or proximity relations. Finally, we perform graph matching to establish correspondences. The method yields certain more abstract but semantically meaningful correspondences between man-made shapes that are too difficult to recognize by traditional geometric methods.
Just-in-time compilation for FPGA processor cores

Portability benefits have encouraged the trend of distributing applications using processor-independent instructions, a.k. a. bytecode, and executing that bytecode on an emulator running on a target processor. Transparent just-in-time (JIT) compilation of bytecode to native instructions is often used to increase application execution speed without sacrificing portability. Recent work has proposed distributing FPGA circuit applications in a SystemC bytecode to be emulated on a processor with portions possibly dynamically migrated to custom bytecode accelerator circuits or to native circuits on the FPGA. We introduce a novel JIT compiler for bytecode executing on a soft-core FPGA processor. During an iterative process of JIT compiler and emulator architecture codesign, we added JIT-aware resources on a soft-core processor's surrounding FPGA fabric, including a JIT memory, a signal queue, and an emulation memory controller — all unique to JIT compilation for FPGA processors versus traditional processors. Experiments show that regular JIT compilation achieved 3.0× average speedup over emulation, while our JIT-aware FPGA resources yielded an additional 5.2× average speedup, for a total of 15.7× average speedup, at a cost of 21% of a MicroBlaze processor core's slice usage.
The domain walls of gauged maximal supergravities and their M-theory origin

We consider gauged maximal supergravities with CSO(p,q,r) gauge groups and their relation to the branes of string and M-theory. The gauge groups are characterised by n mass parameters, where n is the transverse dimension of the brane. We give the scalar potentials and construct the corresponding domain wall solutions. In addition, we show the higher-dimensional origin of the domain walls in terms of (distributions of) branes. We put particular emphasis on the CSO(p,q,r) gauged supergravities in D = 9 and D = 8, which are related to the D7-brane and D6-brane, respectively. In these cases, twisted and group manifold reductions are shown to play a crucial role. We also discuss salient features of the corresponding brane distributions.
The Connectivity of Boolean Satisfiability: No-Constants and Quantified Variants

For Boolean satisfiability problems, the structure of the solution space is characterized by the solution graph, where the vertices are the solutions, and two solutions are connected iff they differ in exactly one variable. Motivated by research on heuristics and the satisfiability threshold, Gopalan et al. in 2006 studied connectivity properties of the solution graph and related complexity issues for constraint satisfaction problems in Schaefer's framework. They found dichotomies for the diameter of connected components and for the complexity of the st-connectivity question, and conjectured a trichotomy for the connectivity question that we recently were able to prove. While Gopalan et al. considered CNF(S)-formulas with constants, we here look at two important variants: CNF(S)-formulas without constants, and partially quantified formulas. For the diameter and the st-connectivity question, we prove dichotomies analogous to those of Gopalan et al. in these settings. While we cannot give a complete classification for the connectivity problem yet, we identify fragments where it is in P, where it is coNP-complete, and where it is PSPACE-complete, in analogy to Gopalan et al.'s trichotomy.
Low-Complexity, Nonintrusive Speech Quality Assessment

Monitoring of speech quality in emerging heterogeneous networks is of great interest to network operators. The most efficient way to satisfy such a need is through nonintrusive, objective speech quality assessment. In this paper, we describe a low-complexity algorithm for monitoring the speech quality over a network. The features used in the proposed algorithm can be computed from commonly used speech-coding parameters. Reconstruction and perceptual transformation of the signal is not performed. The critical advantage of the approach lies in generating quality assessment ratings without explicit distortion modeling. The results from the performed experiments indicate that the proposed nonintrusive objective quality measure performs better than the ITU-T P.563 standard
Challenges of Change: A Qualitative Study of Chronic Care Model Implementation

PURPOSE The Chronic Care Model (CCM) provides a conceptual framework for transforming health care for patients with chronic conditions; however, little is known about how to best design and implement its specifics. One large health care organization that tried to implement the CCM in primary care provided an opportunity to study these issues. METHODS We conducted a qualitative, comparative case study of 5 of 18 group clinics 18 to 23 months after the implementation began. Built on knowledge of the clinics from a previous study of advanced access implementation, data included in-depth interviews with organizational leaders and varied clinic personnel, observation of clinic care processes, and review of written materials. RESULTS Relatively small and highly variable care process changes were made during the study period. The change process underwent several marked shifts in strategy when initial efforts failed to achieve much and bore little resemblance to the change process used in the previously successful large-scale implementation of advanced access scheduling. Many barriers were identified, including too many competing priorities, a lack of specificity and agreement about the care process changes desired, and little engagement of physicians. CONCLUSION These findings highlight specific organizational challenges with health care transformation in the absence of a blueprint more specific than the CCM. Effective models of organizational change and detailed examples of proven, feasible care changes still need to be demonstrated if we are to transform care as called for by the Institute of Medicine.
The Piwi-piRNA Pathway Provides an Adaptive Defense in the Transposon Arms Race

Increasingly complex networks of small RNAs act through RNA-interference (RNAi) pathways to regulate gene expression, to mediate antiviral responses, to organize chromosomal domains, and to restrain the spread of selfish genetic elements. Historically, RNAi has been defined as a response to double-stranded RNA. However, some small RNA species may not arise from double-stranded RNA precursors. Yet, like microRNAs and small interfering RNAs, such species guide Argonaute proteins to silencing targets through complementary base-pairing. Silencing can be achieved by corecruitment of accessory factors or through the activity of Argonaute itself, which often has endonucleolytic activity. As a specific and adaptive regulatory system, RNAi is used throughout eukarya, which indicates a long evolutionary history. A likely function of RNAi throughout that history is to protect the genome from both pathogenic and parasitic invaders.
STIM and Orai1 Variants in Store-Operated Calcium Entry

Store-operated Ca2+ entry (SOCE) is an ubiquitous mechanism for Ca2+ entry in eukaryotic cells. This route for Ca2+ influx is regulated by the filling state of the intracellular Ca2+ stores communicated to the plasma membrane channels by the proteins of the Stromal Interaction Molecule (STIM) family, STIM1, and STIM2. Store-dependent, STIM1-modulated, channels include the Ca2+ release-activated Ca2+ channels, comprised of subunits of Orai proteins, as well as the store-operated Ca2+ (SOC) channels, involving Orai1, and members of the canonical transient receptor potential family of proteins. Recent studies have revealed the expression of splice variants of STIM1, STIM2, and Orai1 in different cell types. While certain variants are ubiquitously expressed, others, such as STIM1L, show a more restricted expression. The splice variants for STIM and Orai1 proteins exhibit significant functional differences and reveal that alternative splicing enhance the functional diversity of STIM1, STIM2, and Orai1 genes to modulate the dynamics of Ca2+ signals.
Paradigm debates and marketing theory, thought and practice: From the 1900s to the present day

Purpose – This paper aims to provide a history of a number of intellectual debates in marketing theory and consumer research. It outlines the key arguments involved, highlights the politics and acrimoniousness that often accompanied the competition for academic prestige or practitioner remuneration. It weaves the contents of the special issue into its narrative. Design/methodology/approach – This article engages in a broad historical survey of the history of marketing thought, as it pertains to intellectual debate and disputation. Findings – While scholars often articulate objectivity as an intellectual ideal, many of the debates that are explored reveal a degree of intellectual intolerance and this is refracted through the institutional system that structures marketing discourse. Originality/value – This account provides an introduction to the intellectual debates of the last century, highlighting the ebb and flow of marketing thought. It calls attention to debates that are largely under explored and hig.
Keyjacking: Risks of the Current Client-side Infrastructure

In theory, PKI can provide a flexible and strong way to authenticate users in distributed information systems. In practice, much is being invested in realizing this vision via client-side SSL and browser-based keystores. Exploring this vision, we demonstrate that browsers will use personal certificates to authenticate requests that the person neither knew of nor approved (and which password-based systems would have defeated), and we demonstrate the easy permeability of these keystores (including new attacks on medium and high-security IE/XP keys). We suggest some countermeasures, but also suggest that a fundamental rethinking of the trust, usage, and storage model might result in a more effective PKI.
Absence of Epstein‐Barr virus EBER‐1 transcripts in an epidemiologically diverse group of breast cancers

Epstein‐Barr virus (EBV), a ubiquitous herpesvirus associated with certain lymphomas and carcinomas, has been identified within the malignant cells of a small proportion of breast tumors. As breast cancer is a very common malignancy in women, a pathogenetic role of EBV for even a subgroup of patients could have important implications for etiology and prevention. Therefore, we attempted to confirm the EBV–breast cancer association by exploring it in a representative case series stratified by characteristics that modify breast cancer risk. We studied a sample of 97 female and 28 male patients identified from a US population‐based cancer registry. Patients were selected randomly within age, sex, ethnicity and tumor estrogen‐receptor status groups. With their archived tumor tissues, we examined EBV presence using in situ hybridization for the EBER‐1 transcript. In the 107 technically adequate specimens, we did not detect this viral transcript in any tumors, including one from a woman who also had an EBER‐positive nasopharyngeal carcinoma. Our uniformly negative findings are extremely unlikely to have occurred by chance and cannot be attributed to selective sampling, as our study group included persons at diverse risk for breast cancer. We conclude that the EBV EBER‐1 transcript is not commonly expressed in breast cancer, based on a broadly representative case series, though we cannot exclude an association of EBV within a particular population subgroup. Int. J. Cancer 75:555–558, 1998. © 1998 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.