Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Looking for nodes and edges

: We argue that a map is meaningless unless we have a process for using it. Thus, in this paper, we not only offer the world graph as a representation of relationships among situations the animal has encountered and may encounter again, but we also offer algorithms for how the information encoded in the world graph may be used by the animal in determining its behavior. Each node of the graph encodes a recognizable situation in the animal's world, but a given place may well be encoded in a number of different nodes. Nodes not only require algorithms for the recognition of the situation; they store information about drive reduction associated with the encoded situation. We note that the use of graphs as a basis for exploring some search space is well known in artificial intelligence (AI), but we stress the importance of the animal's exploration of its environment for growing the graph, as distinct from the mathematically described potential nodes frequent in AI search spaces. To explore a number of hypotheses about the way information in the world graph is used to guide the animal's movement, we recall a number of classical experiments on maze exploration by animals, and use them to argue for the nonlocal hypothesis (selection of a path does not depend only upon information about the immediate environment of the animal) and the competing nodes hypothesis (more than one drive may enter into the determination of the animal's behavior at any time). An important feature of the model is that it yields exploration and latent learning without the introduction of an exploratory drive. We also note that the performance exhibited by the model appears to be state-dependent when the animal operates under high drive levels. The drive-interaction matrix is offered as a subject for future research. We complement the presentation of the world graph model, its drive dynamics, and how these are constrained by experiments on maze behavior, with a brief analysis of maps in the brain. We distinguish egocentric maps - which we relate to the many visual systems - from allocentric maps. We offer a somewhat unconventional view of short-term and long-term memory. We examine cooperative computation in somatotopically organized networks, relating this to visually guided behavior in the frog, and to the interaction of colliculus and cortex in the control of eye movements. We examine, but do not advocate, the hypothesis that the hippocampus is a cognitive map. We do stress that if it is a cognitive map, it must be seen as a chart of the local neighborhood, rather than the whole atlas; and we note that the cognitive map hypothesis would lead one to expect the region to exhibit activation of place cells before the animal leaves the previous place.
Calcium and Superoxide-Mediated Pathways Converge to Induce Nitric Oxide-Dependent Apoptosis in Mycobacterium fortuitum-Infected Fish Macrophages

Mycobacterium fortuitum causes ‘mycobacteriosis’ in wide range of hosts although the mechanisms remain largely unknown. Here we demonstrate the role of calcium (Ca+2)-signalling cascade on M. fortuitum-induced apoptosis in headkidney macrophages (HKM) of Clarias sp. M. fortuitum could trigger intracellular-Ca+2 influx leading to the activation of calmodulin (CaM), protein kinase C alpha (PKCα) and Calmodulin kinase II gamma (CaMKIIg). Gene silencing and inhibitor studies established the role of CaM in M. fortuitum pathogenesis. We noted that CaMKIIg activation is regulated by CaM as well as PKCα-dependent superoxide anions. This is altogether first report of oxidised CaMKIIg in mycobacterial infections. Our studies with targeted-siRNA and pharmacological inhibitors implicate CaMKIIg to be pro-apoptotic and critical for the activation of extra-cellular signal regulated kinase 1/2 (ERK1/2). Inhibiting the ERK1/2 pathway attenuated nitric oxide synthase 2 (NOS2)-induced nitric oxide (NO) production. Conversely, inhibiting the NOS2-NO axis by specific-siRNA and inhibitors down-regulated ERK1/2 activation suggesting the crosstalk between ERK1/2 and NO is essential for pathogenesis induced by the bacterium. Silencing the NOS2-NO axis enhanced intracellular bacterial survival and attenuated caspase-8 mediated activation of caspase-3 in the infected HKM. Our findings unveil hitherto unknown mechanism of M. fortuitum pathogenesis. We propose that M. fortuitum triggers intracellular Ca+2 elevations resulting in CaM activation and PKCα-mediated superoxide generation. The cascade converges in common pathway mediated by CaMKIIg resulting in the activation of ERK1/2-NOS2 axis. The crosstalk between ERK1/2 and NO shifts the balance in favour of caspase dependent apoptosis of M. fortuitum-infected HKM.
Comparing of Three Metaheuristic Algorithm for Artificial Neural Network Training with Case Study of Stock Price Forecasting

Meta-heuristic algorithms, inspired by nature, are used in various scientific fields. One application for these algorithms is neural network training. Neural networks (NNs) are also important in a research such as forecasting. In financial markets, the first and most important factor the investors could confront is stock price; which in turn leads to the subject of evaluation and prediction of future prices. Ability of neural networks in the field of forecasting and the value of prediction in all areas has attracted the researchers towards the way of increasing the accuracy of predictions using neural networks. In this paper, considering the number of neurons in the hidden layer 6, 8, 11, and14, the network performance in predicting stock prices are compared according to these circumstances and in three trained situations with Genetic Algorithm (GA), Particle Swarm Optimizer (PSO) and Birds Mating Optimizer(BMO) algorithms. In all cases, performance is compared based on the Mean Square Error (MSE), and finally, a training algorithm is introduced for more accurate prediction of stock prices using neural networks. In this paper, the network training process is presented in a simpler explanation.
Variational Bayesian speaker diarization of meeting recordings

This paper investigates the use of the Variational Bayesian (VB) framework for speaker diarization of meetings data extending previous related works on Broadcast News audio. VB learning aims at maximizing a bound, known as Free Energy, on the model marginal likelihood and allows joint model learning and model selection according to the same objective function. While the BIC is valid only in the asymptotic limit, the Free Energy is always a valid bound. The paper proposes the use of Free Energy as objective function in speaker diarization. It can be used to select dynamically without any supervision or tuning, elements that typically affect the diarization performance i.e. the inferred number of speakers, the size of the GMM and the initialization. The proposed approach is compared with a conventional state-of-the-art system on the RT06 evaluation data for meeting recordings diarization and shows an improvement of 8.4% relative in terms of speaker error.
Rubus occidentalis: The black raspberry—its potential in the prevention of cancer

abstract Rubus occidentalis is a black-fruited raspberry originating from North America. Its popularity and demand has been growing over the years, as studies outline its high anthocyanin and ellagitannin content and significance for human health. Interaction between chemical composition and pharmacological activity, mechanisms of action at cellular and molecular levels are all active areas of study. The vast majority of research concerning black raspberries is focused on chemoprevention and anticancer effects. This review summarizes the data on chemical composition and anticancer activity of black raspberry fruits throughout the years.
Immigration and the social contract.

Immigration issues have risen once again to a prominent place on the public policy agenda of the United States.To understand why policy makers and the public have grown increasingly concerned about immigration it is helpful to examine recent trends in the magnitude of flows of persons coming into the country compared to those at earlier time periods.Thus the specific purposes of this paper are: (1) to develop a portrait of the recent major migration flows to the United States (2) to assess their implications for the racial/ethnic composition of the U.S. population and (3) to examine the economic context in which they have occurred. The general goal is to try to explain not only why recent migration flows have come to be negatively perceived but also why they appear increasingly to be seen as violating the prevailing sense of social contract in the United States. (EXCERPT)
Quick prototyping of flip chip assembly with MEMS

This paper describes a process to transfer microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) devices to a secondary substrate using flip-chip thermosonic bonding. A standard wire-bonding machine was used to place /spl sim/100-/spl mu/m bumps on unreleased MEMS chiplets. The bumped chiplet was then flip-chip bonded to a secondary substrate containing a microwave coplanar waveguide (CPW). After bonding, the entire assembly was run through the MEMS release process, after which the MEMS host substrate was removed. The thermosonic bonding was a very reliable prototyping tool with a 100% bonding yield. The transfer process can be used with any MEMS that can be wire bonded. The process can also be applied to a variety of applications.
Food stoichiometry affects the outcome of Daphnia–parasite interaction

Phosphorus (P) is an essential nutrient for growth in consumers. P-limitation and parasite infection comprise one of the most common stressor pairs consumers confront in nature. We conducted a life-table study using a Daphnia–microsporidian parasite model, feeding uninfected or infected Daphnia with either P-sufficient or P-limited algae, and assessed the impact of the two stressors on life-history traits of the host. Both infection and P-limitation negatively affected some life-history traits tested. However, under P-limitation, infected animals had higher juvenile growth rate as compared with uninfected animals. All P-limited individuals died before maturation, regardless of infection. The numbers of spore clusters of the microsporidian parasite did not differ in P-limited or P-sufficient hosts. P-limitation, but not infection, decreased body phosphorus content and ingestion rates of Daphnia tested in separate experiments. As parasite spore production did not suffer even under extreme P-limitation, our results suggest that parasite was less limited by P than the host. We discuss possible interpretations concerning the stoichiometrical demands of parasite and suggest that our results are explained by parasite-driven changes in carbon (C) allocation of the hosts. We conclude that the impact of nutrient starvation and parasite infection on consumers depends not only on the stoichiometric demands of host but also those of the parasite.
Applicability of urea in the thermodynamic analysis of secondary and tertiary RNA folding.

The equilibrium folding of a series of self-complementary RNA duplexes and the unmodified yeast tRNA(Phe) is studied as a function of urea and Mg(2+) concentration with optical spectroscopies and chemical modification under isothermal conditions. Via application of standard methodologies from protein folding, the folding free energy and its dependence on urea concentration, the m value, are determined. The free energies of the RNA duplexes obtained from the urea titrations are in good agreement with those calculated from thermal melting studies [Freier, S. I. , et al. (1986) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 83, 9373]. The m value correlates with the length of the RNA duplex and is not sensitive to ionic conditions and temperature. The folding of the unmodified yeast tRNA(Phe) can be described by two Mg(2+)-dependent transitions, the second of which corresponds to the formation of the native tertiary structure as confirmed by hydroxyl radical protection and partial nuclease digestion. Both transitions are sensitive to urea and have m values of 0.94 and 1.70 kcal mol(-)(1) M(-)(1), respectively. Although the precise chemical basis of urea denaturation of RNA is uncertain, the m values for the duplexes and tRNA(Phe) are proportional to the amount of the surface area buried in the folding transition. This proportionality, 0.099 cal mol(-)(1) M(-)(1) A(-)(2), is very similar to that observed for proteins, 0.11 cal mol(-)(1) M(-)(1) A(-)(2) [Myers, J., Pace, N. , and Scholtz, M. (1995) Protein Sci. 4, 2138]. These results indicate that urea titration can be used to measure both the free energy and the magnitude of an RNA folding transition.
Run-time Optimisation of Grid Workflow Applications

The execution of workflow applications on the grid is a complex issue because of its dynamic and heterogeneous nature. While the grid provides good potential for achieving high performance, it also introduces a broad set of unpredictable overheads and possible failures. In this paper we present new methods for scalable and fault tolerant coordination of workflows in dynamic grid environments, including partitioning, static and dynamic optimisation, as well as virtual single execution environment, incorporated into the ASKALON distributed workflow enactment engine. We demonstrate the effectiveness of our methods on a material science workflow application executed in a real-world grid environment
Energy-Based Spherical Sparse Coding

In this paper, we explore an efficient variant of convolutional sparse coding with unit norm code vectors and reconstructions are evaluated using an inner product (cosine distance). To use these codes for discriminative classification, we describe a model we term Energy-Based Spherical Sparse Coding (EB-SSC) in which the hypothesized class label introduces a learned linear bias into the coding step. We evaluate and visualize performance of stacking this encoder to make a deep layered model for image classification.
Toward Robotic Pseudodynamic Testing for Hybrid Simulations of Air-to-Air Refueling

Hybrid simulation couples experimental tests of novel components to validated numerical models of the remainder of a system and provides high-confidence predictions of their coupled dynamic behavior. Air-to-air refueling (AAR) is an example of the type of system that can benefit from this development approach. The work in this paper concerns the on-ground validation and preflight verification of probe–drogue contact–impact scenarios in AAR maneuvers using off-the-shelf multiaxis industrial robots as part of a hybrid test to interface the refueling hardware with numerical models of the flight environment. While industrial manipulators present a cost-effective solution, bandwidth and power limitations inevitably cause practical problems for real-time hybrid testing. These deficiencies typically manifest themselves as significant tracking inaccuracies or instabilities when sharp nonlinearities or discontinuities are encountered as part of a contact phase. Here, the novel robotic pseudodynamic testing (RPsDT) method is employed to circumvent the contact-response speed limitations of industrial robots. This paper presents and discusses the application of RPsDT to contact–impact problems, outlines the challenges and limitations of the technique in an easily reproducible validation experiment, and details the first RPsDT hybrid simulation of an AAR maneuver using scaled refueling hardware. It is concluded that RPsDT provides a useful tool for the investigation of a particular subclass of multibody contact–impact problems including AAR, where the response of the contacting structures does not possess significant rate-of-loading effects. Future work will comprise tests with full-scale AAR hardware.
Does Prenatal Valproate Interact with a Genetic Reduction in the Serotonin Transporter? A Rat Study on Anxiety and Cognition

There is ample evidence that prenatal exposure to valproate (or valproic acid, VPA) enhances the risk of developing Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD). In line with this, a single injection of VPA induces a multitude of ASD-like symptoms in animals, such as rats and mice. However, there is equally strong evidence that genetic factors contribute significantly to the risk of ASD and indeed, like most other psychiatric disorders, ASD is now generally thought to results from an interaction between genetic and environmental factors. Given that VPA significantly impacts on the serotonergic system, and serotonin has strong biochemical and genetic links to ASD, we aimed to investigate the interaction between genetic reduction in the serotonin transporter and prenatal valproate administration. More specifically, we exposed both wildtype (SERT+/+) rats and rats heterozygous for the serotonin transporter deletion (SERT+/−) to a single injection of 400 mg/kg VPA at gestational day (GD) 12. The offspring, in adulthood, was assessed in four different tests: Elevated Plus Maze and Novelty Suppressed Feeding as measures for anxiety and prepulse inhibition (PPI) and latent inhibition as measures for cognition and information processing. The results show that prenatal VPA significantly increased anxiety in both paradigm, reduced PPI and reduced conditioning in the latent inhibition paradigm. However, we failed to find a significant gene–environment interaction. We propose that this may be related to the timing of the VPA injection and suggest that whereas GD12 might be optimal for affecting normal rat, rats with a genetically compromised serotonergic system may be more sensitive to VPA at earlier time points during gestation. Overall our data are the first to investigate gene * environmental interactions in a genetic rat model for ASD and suggest that timing may be of crucial importance to the long-term outcome.
An 18-GHz 300-mW SiGe power HBT

An 18-GHz, 300-mW SiGe power heterojunction bipolar transistor (HBT) is demonstrated. The optimization of SiGe HBT vertical profile has enabled this type of devices to operate with high gain and high power at this high frequency. In the common-base configuration, a continuous wave output power of 24.73 dBm with a power gain of 4.5 dB was measured from a single 20-emitter stripe SiGe (2/spl times/30 /spl mu/m/sup 2/ of each emitter finger) double HBT. The overall performance characteristics represent the state-of-the-art SiGe power HBTs operating in the K-band frequency range.
Analysis of membrane protein interaction: ToxR can dimerize the amino terminus of phage lambda repressor

The ToxR protein of Vibrio cholerae is an integral membrane protein that co‐ordinately regulates virulence determinant expression. ToxR directiy activates the cholera toxin operon, but maximal activation is achieved in the presence of ToxS, an integral membrane protein thought to interact with ToxR periplasmic sequences. Studies that substitute alkaline phosphatase sequences for the periplasmic domain of ToxR have led to a model for ToxR activation based on dimerization and ToxS interaction. We constructed λ‐ToxR chimeric proteins using the DNA‐binding domain of the phage λ repressor, which cannot effectively dimerize by itself, to assess the ability of ToxR to form dimers in Escherichia coli The results suggest that ToxR sequences can propagate dimerization, and that ToxS can influence the ability to dimerize.
Update on the Use of Anti‐VEGF Intravitreal Therapies for Retinal Vein Occlusion

Abstract: The use of anti‐vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) therapy in ophthalmology has profoundly changed our management and treatment of conditions such as cystoid macular edema, diabetic macular edema, choroidal neovascularization, and other proliferative retinopathies. Although initially used for the treatment of choroidal neovascularization in neovascular age‐related macular degeneration, their application has spread rapidly for other indications as their outcomes have often outperformed previously existing treatments. Retinal vein occlusion (RVO) continues to be one of the leading causes of vision loss secondary to macular edema, in addition to macular ischemia and neovascularization in more severe cases. Before the availability of anti‐VEGF therapy, the use of macular grid laser and panretinal photocoagulation was the mainstay of treatment of macular edema and neovascularization, respectively, in patients with RVOs. Two landmarks studies established the guidelines of these treatments for nearly a quarter century. Since the availability of anti‐VEGF agents, there has been a paradigm shift in the treatment of RVO. Most importantly, there has also been a significant improvement in visual outcomes in these patients. The goal of this article is to provide a review of the pertinent clinical studies that have investigated the use of anti‐VEGF in patients with retinal vein occlusions.
Interkingdom Complementation Reveals Structural Conservation and Functional Divergence of 14-3-3 Proteins

The 14-3-3s are small acidic cytosolic proteins that interact with multiple clients and participate in essential cellular functions in all eukaryotes. Available structural and functional information about 14-3-3s is largely derived from higher eukaryotes, which contain multiple members of this protein family suggesting functional specialization. The exceptional sequence conservation among 14-3-3 family members from diverse species suggests a common ancestor for 14-3-3s, proposed to have been similar to modern 14-3-3ε isoforms. Structural features of the sole family member from the protozoan Giardia duodenalis (g14-3-3), are consistent with this hypothesis, but whether g14-3-3 is functionally homologous to the epsilon isoforms is unknown. We use inter-kingdom reciprocal functional complementation and biochemical methods to determine whether g14-3-3 is structurally and functionally homologous with members of the two 14-3-3 conservation groups of the metazoan Drosophila melanogaster. Our results indicate that although g14-3-3 is structurally homologous to D14-3-3ε, functionally it diverges presenting characteristics of other 14-3-3s. Given the basal position of Giardia in eukaryotic evolution, this finding is consistent with the hypothesis that 14-3-3ε isoforms are ancestral to other family members.
Shared Feature Extraction for Nearest Neighbor Face Recognition

In this paper, we propose a new supervised linear feature extraction technique for multiclass classification problems that is specially suited to the nearest neighbor classifier (NN). The problem of finding the optimal linear projection matrix is defined as a classification problem and the Adaboost algorithm is used to compute it in an iterative way. This strategy allows the introduction of a multitask learning (MTL) criterion in the method and results in a solution that makes no assumptions about the data distribution and that is specially appropriated to solve the small sample size problem. The performance of the method is illustrated by an application to the face recognition problem. The experiments show that the representation obtained following the multitask approach improves the classic feature extraction algorithms when using the NN classifier, especially when we have a few examples from each class.
Measuring the Efficacy of a Single Psychodrama Session

Single-case efficacy research is one approach that is both rigorous and flexible in its capacity to investigate the links between interventions and client change. This paper reports the findings of one case from a study that investigated the links between being a protagonist in a psychodrama session and post session improvements in general well-being and interpersonal relationships. It demonstrates that a single psychodrama session can have a significant measurable therapeutic impact with a client who has had no previous psychodrama experience, and identifies specific links between events within the session and post-session changes.