Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The AGC kinase, PINOID, blocks interactive ABCB/PIN auxin transport

Plant growth and development is determined by intracellular and intercellular auxin gradients that are controlled at first hand by auxin efflux catalysts of the ABCB/PGP and PIN families. ABCB transport activity was shown to be counter-actively regulated by protein phosphorylation by the AGC protein kinase, PINOID (PID), that is coordinated by interaction with the immunophilin-like FKBP42, TWISTED DWARF1 (TWD1). In contrast, PID was shown to determine PIN polarity, however, the direct impact of PID on PIN activity has yet not been tested. Co-expression in yeast indicates that PID had no effect on PIN1,2 alone but specifically inhibits interactive ABCB1-PIN1/PIN2 auxin efflux in an action that is dependent on its kinase activity. PIN1-PID co-transfection in N. benthamiana revealed that PID blocks PIN1-mediated auxin efflux without changing PIN1 location. In summary, these data provide evidence that PID phosphorylation does not only determine PIN polarity but also has a direct impact on transport activity of the activity of the binary PIN-ABCB1 complex.
A novel five-level single phase grid connected converter for renewable distributed systems

In low-power grid connected systems (renewable or traditional energy sources) a single phase converter is usually adopted. In order to reduce losses, costs and size the keyword is removing any kind of transformer. This paper deals with a novel five level converter topology that follows this trend. The proposed converter architecture is based on a full bridge topology with two more power switches and two diodes connected to the midpoint of the DC link. Since the two added levels are obtained by the discharge of two capacitors, the balancing of the midpoint voltage is taken into account. Simulation and experimental results show the effectiveness of the proposed solution.
Effects of synchronous music in sport and exercise:a meta-analytic review and field studies of ultra-distance athletes

Effects of music in sport and exercise have been investigated in many forms since the first published study by Ayers (1911). Music has been shown to provide significant benefits to physical and psychological responses but whether such benefits apply to ultra-distance athletes is unknown. The present research quantified effects of music in sport and exercise, specifically in terms of performance, psychological responses, physiological functioning and ratings of perceived exertion (RPE); and also investigated such effects among ultra-distance athletes in training and race environments. Study 1 was a meta-analysis of published research evidence, which quantified effects of music on performance, feelings (Feeling Scale - FS), heart rate (HR), oxygen utilisation (VO2), and RPE. A total of 86 studies producing 162 effects showed weighted mean effects of d = . 35 (performance), d = . 47 (FS), d = . 14 (HR), d = . 25 (VO2), and d = . 29 (RPE) confirming small to moderate benefits of music. In Study 2, two elite ultra-distance athletes completed a 20 km training session on four occasions listening to synchronous motivational music, synchronous neutral music, an audio book, or no music. Motivational music provided athletes with significant benefits compared to no music and audio book conditions. Neutral music was associated with the slowest completion times for Athlete 1 but the second fastest for Athlete 2, behind motivational music. Using the same interventions in Study 3, nine elite athletes evaluated effects of music during ultra-distance races of 6, 24, or 48 hours duration. Findings showed the superiority of motivational music over other interventions during the 18-24 hour period. Psychological and perceived exertion benefits of music were reported by some athletes but individual differences were clearly apparent. Overall, lap times were faster during the no-intervention periods and anecdotal reports confirmed that interventions had negative effects for some ultra-athletes. Consistent with previous research included in the meta-analysis, the present findings supported the judicious use of music interventions in sport and exercise.
Illumination Normalization Based on Different Smoothing Filters Quotient Image

The illumination variation problem is still an open question in face recognition in uncontrolled environment. To cope with this problem, many methods are proposed to strengthen illumination compensation and feature enhancement, among which quotient image based methods are reported to be a simple yet practical technique. Recently the SQI, MQI and DMQI are reported to obtain good results in illumination invariant features extracting. However, these techniques can be improved in other ways. In this paper, an effective illumination method is proposed. This method is based on the different smoothing filters and quotient image techniques in analyzing the face illumination. Compared with the traditional approaches: SQI, MQI and DMQI, the experimental results show that our algorithms can significantly improve the performance of face recognition under varying illumination conditions on Yale Face database B.
A simple, polynomial-time algorithm for the matrix torsion problem

The Matrix Torsion Problem (MTP) is: given a square matrix M with rational entries, decide whether two distinct powers of M are equal. It has been shown by Cassaigne and the author that the MTP reduces to the Matrix Power Problem (MPP) in polynomial time: given two square matrices A and B with rational entries, the MTP is to decide whether B is a power of A. Since the MPP is decidable in polynomial time, it is also the case of the MTP. However, the algorithm for MPP is highly non-trivial. The aim of this note is to present a simple, direct, polynomial-time algorithm for the MTP.
Bright flash response recovery of mammalian rods in vivo is rate limited by RGS9

The temporal resolution of scotopic vision is thought to be constrained by the signaling kinetics of retinal rods, which use a highly amplified G-protein cascade to transduce absorbed photons into changes in membrane potential. Much is known about the biochemical mechanisms that determine the kinetics of rod responses ex vivo, but the rate-limiting mechanisms in vivo are unknown. Using paired flash electroretinograms with improved signal-to-noise, we have recorded the amplitude and kinetics of rod responses to a wide range of flash strengths from living mice. Bright rod responses in vivo recovered nearly twice as fast as all previous recordings, although the kinetic consequences of genetic perturbations previously studied ex vivo were qualitatively similar. In vivo, the dominant time constant of recovery from bright flashes was dramatically reduced by overexpression of the RGS9 complex, revealing G-protein deactivation to be rate limiting for recovery. However, unlike previous ex vivo recordings, dim flash responses in vivo were relatively unaffected by RGS9 overexpression, suggesting that other mechanisms, such as calcium feedback dynamics that are strongly regulated by the restricted subretinal microenvironment, act to determine rod dim flash kinetics. To assess the consequences for scotopic vision, we used a nocturnal wheel-running assay to measure the ability of wild-type and RGS9-overexpressing mice to detect dim flickering stimuli and found no improvement when rod recovery was speeded by RGS9 overexpression. These results are important for understanding retinal circuitry, in particular as modeled in the large literature that addresses the relationship between the kinetics and sensitivity of retinal responses and visual perception.
Fatty Acids of Phospholipids in Human Neonatal Lung Surfactant

Summary: The fatty acid chains of lecithin, phosphatidyl ethanolamine (PE), and phosphatidyl dimethylethanolamine (PDME) in human neonatal alveolar washes were analyzed. Both α- and β-palmitic acid increased with gestational age on all phospholipids analyzed. No evidence for high concentrations of myristic acid was found on any phospholipid.Babies who were stillborn or who had died of hyaline membrane disease (HMD) had lower proportions of β-lecithin palmitic acid when compared with babies who breathed normally before death. In the HMD group these levels were significantly lower.Speculation: The fatty acid chains of the phospholipids in lung surfactant probably influence the degree of surface activity of the phospho-
Variability in fMRI: A re‐examination of inter‐session differences

We revisit a previous study on inter‐session variability (McGonigle et al. [ 2000 ]: Neuroimage 11:708–734), showing that contrary to one popular interpretation of the original article, inter‐session variability is not necessarily high. We also highlight how evaluating variability based on thresholded single‐session images alone can be misleading. Finally, we show that the use of different first‐level preprocessing, time‐series statistics, and registration analysis methodologies can give significantly different inter‐session analysis results. Hum. Brain Mapping 24:248–257, 2005. © 2005 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
3D Face Recognition Using Simulated Annealing and the Surface Interpenetration Measure

This paper presents a novel automatic framework to perform 3D face recognition. The proposed method uses a simulated annealing-based approach (SA) for range image registration with the surface interpenetration measure (SIM), as similarity measure, in order to match two face images. The authentication score is obtained by combining the SIM values corresponding to the matching of four different face regions: circular and elliptical areas around the nose, forehead, and the entire face region. Then, a modified SA approach is proposed taking advantage of invariant face regions to better handle facial expressions. Comprehensive experiments were performed on the FRGC v2 database, the largest available database of 3D face images composed of 4,007 images with different facial expressions. The experiments simulated both verification and identification systems and the results compared to those reported by state-of-the-art works. By using all of the images in the database, a verification rate of 96.5 percent was achieved at a false acceptance rate (FAR) of 0.1 percent. In the identification scenario, a rank-one accuracy of 98.4 percent was achieved. To the best of our knowledge, this is the highest rank-one score ever achieved for the FRGC v2 database when compared to results published in the literature.
Reconfigurable molecular dynamics simulator

Current high-performance applications are typically implemented on large-scale general-purpose distributed or multiprocessing systems often based on commodity microprocessors. Field-Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs) have now reached a level of sophistication that they too could be used for such applications. In this paper we explore the feasibility of using FPGAs to implement large-scale application-specific computations by way of a case study that implements a novel molecular dynamics system. The system has been designed such that it is scalable and parallelizable. On the Transmogrifier 3 (TM3), the system performs calculations on an 8,192 particle system in 37 seconds at 26 MHz. This implementation shows that by scaling to more modern parts running at 100 MHz, a speedup of over 20 x can be achieved compared to a state-of-the-art microprocessor. This can also be achieved at less cost, using less power and taking less space than a standard microprocessor-based system, while maintaining the computational precision required.
A Morphosyntactic Analysis of Mood in Dholuo;the Minimalist Program

This study is a morphosyntactic analysis of mood in Dholuo. It examines the content of the Verb phrase (VP) and role of tone in Dholuo mood constructions. The study sets out to find out how Dholuo mood is expressed, the modal structure and how it is affected by feature checking under Chomsky’s minimalist program (1995). The operations in the computational system are driven by morphological and lexical necessity. The study concludes that this theory accounts for the features present in the Dholuo mood system with modifications to cater for the feature checking of Dholuo mood in the creation of a head for mood and aspectual tone for the auxiliary that derives from a noun, or tonal distinction where an auxiliary is used together with the verb from which it derives. This is in line with the idea that the minimalist program is based on feature checking and structure building; both processes are morphologically or lexically driven. The features build the structure. Morphemes are moved out of the lexicon to build the structure. The work is useful to professionals in linguistics, students or anyone interested in the study of the Dholuo language and in the advancement of Minimalist theory.
Contribution of Sodium Channel Mutations to Bradycardia and Sinus Node Dysfunction in LQT3 Families

Abstract— One variant of the long-QT syndrome (LQT3) is caused by mutations in the human cardiac sodium channel gene. In addition to the characteristic QT prolongation, LQT3 carriers regularly present with bradycardia and sinus pauses. Therefore, we studied the effect of the 1795insD Na+ channel mutation on sinoatrial (SA) pacemaking. The 1795insD channel was previously characterized by the presence of a persistent inward current (Ipst) at −20 mV and a negative shift in voltage dependence of inactivation. In the present study, we first additionally characterized Ipst over the complete voltage range of the SA node action potential (AP) by measuring whole-cell Na+ currents (INa) in HEK-293 cells expressing either wild-type or 1795insD channels. Ipst for 1795insD channels varied between 0.8±0.2% and 1.9±0.8% of peak INa. Activity of 1795insD channels during SA node pacemaking was confirmed by AP clamp experiments. Next, Ipst and the negative shift were implemented into SA node AP models. The −10-mV shift decreased sinus rate by decreasing diastolic depolarization rate, whereas Ipst decreased sinus rate by AP prolongation, despite a concomitant increase in diastolic depolarization rate. In combination, moderate Ipst (1% to 2%) and the shift reduced sinus rate by ≈10%. An additional increase in Ipst could result in plateau oscillations and failure to repolarize completely. Thus, Na+ channel mutations displaying an Ipst or a negative shift in inactivation may account for the bradycardia seen in LQT3 patients, whereas SA node pauses or arrest may result from failure of SA node cells to repolarize under conditions of extra net inward current.
What perceptions do scientists have about their potential role in connecting science with policy?

The demand for geoscience to inform policy decisions continues to rise. For science to effectively inform policy, scientists must have training that enhances their understanding of the movement of knowledge across boundaries, e.g., between science and policy. This training should be based on existing perceptions scientists at all career stages have about potential roles they might play. In this study, geoscientists’ drawings of their perceptions of the diffusion of science into policy were collected and salient features were coded. For comparison, four expert models were also collected from individuals with extensive experience working at the interface between science and policy. A principal component analysis identified common patterns in the relationships depicted in the geoscientists’ drawings, resulting in five distinctive models describing different perceived roles scientists might play in the diffusion of science into policy: a beacon informing decisions, a collaborator working alongside policymakers to co-produce knowledge, an educator enhancing the capacity of society in the classroom and media, an outcast whose efforts to inform are rejected, and an investigator whose research may or may not be used depending on how others interpret it. Increasing the effectiveness of scientists’ engagements requires enhancing their ability to understand potential roles that they might play; understanding what roles are most appropriate for them; and discerning how they can best fulfill these roles in their work. Suggestions for cultivating this capacity are offered based on the expert models and a discussion of guided reflection within experiential learning in the classroom and beyond.
A Comparison of Single-Core and Dual-Core Opteron Processor Performance for HPC

Dual-core AMD OpteronTM processors represent the latest significant development in microprocessor technology. In this paper, using the IBM® eServerTM 326, we examine the performance of dual-core Opteron processors. We measure the core performance under ideal work loads using the Linpack HPL benchmark, and show it to be 60% faster than the fastest single-core Opteron. We measure unloaded memory latency and show that the dual-core processor’s slower clock frequency makes the latency longer. However, we also show that its memory throughput is 10% greater than single-core processors. Finally, we show that dual-core Opteron processors offer a significant performance advantage even on realistic applications, such as those represented by the SPEC® CPU2000 benchmark suite.
Security properties and CSP

Security properties such as confidentiality and authenticity may be considered in terms of the flow of messages within a network. To the extent that this characterisation is justified, the use of a process algebra such as Communicating Sequential Processes (CSP) seems appropriate to describe and analyse them. This paper explores ways in which security properties may be described as CSP specifications, how security mechanisms may be captured, and how particular protocols designed to provide these properties may be analysed within the CSP framework. The paper is concerned with the theoretical basis for such analysis. A sketch verification of a simple example is carried out as an illustration.
International Journal for Numerical Methods in Fluids a Volume-tracking Method for Incompressible Multifluid Flows with Large Density Variations

SUMMARY A numerical technique (FGVT) for solving the time-dependent incompressible Navier – Stokes equations in fluid flows with large density variations is presented for staggered grids. Mass conservation is based on a volume tracking method and incorporates a piecewise-linear interface reconstruction on a grid twice as fine as the velocity–pressure grid. It also uses a special flux-corrected transport algorithm for momentum advection, a multigrid algorithm for solving a pressure-correction equation and a surface tension algorithm that is robust and stable. In principle, the method conserves both mass and momentum exactly, and maintains extremely sharp fluid interfaces. Applications of the numerical method to prediction of two-dimensional bubble rise in an inclined channel and a bubble bursting through an interface are presented.
Adaptive Formative Paths in a Web-based Learning Environment

During the last decade, the interest for e-learning systems has grown thanks to availability of bandwidth and powerful computers. Thus the e-learning has moved from specific environments to larger communities. The main challenge of the last generation e-learning systems is to provide courses tailored to different students backgrounds; this pushes the research to create an adaptive environment able to just-in-time craft the best path for each student. This paper deals with this problem, introducing a proposal of a system for e-learning which provides students with all formative paths moving from an initial to a desired knowledge, and where paths are adapted according to student needs and capabilities, and dynamically modified when such needs change. We also present a prototype of a web-based e-learning environment, through which students can follow dynamically adapted formative paths, also exploiting collaborative learning tools.
Hypoxia-preconditioned mesenchymal stromal cells improve cardiac function in a swine model of chronic myocardial ischaemia.

OBJECTIVES Cell loss during cardiac injection and hostility of the host-tissue microenvironment have the potential to diminish the overall effect of stem cell therapy. The purposes of this study were to evaluate the effect of a hypoxic preconditioning of mesenchymal stromal cells (MSC), to determine its safety and effectiveness, and to improve the efficacy of cell therapy using MSC in the setting of chronic myocardial ischaemia in swine. METHODS Myocardial ischaemia was induced by an ameroid constrictor. Human MSC were cultured under normoxic (20% O2) or hypoxic conditions (1.5% O2) before transplantation. One month after ischaemia, pigs were randomly assigned to saline injection (sham), and 1 × 10(6)/kg normoxic or hypoxic MSC transplantation into the ischaemic inferior-lateral zone. RESULTS Twenty-seven pigs were operated on and the mortality rate was 33.3%. The remaining 18 animals were randomly assigned to sham (n = 4), normoxic (n = 8) or hypoxic MSC (n = 6) treatment. Global systolic (left ventricle ejection fraction, P = 0.04) and diastolic (E/Ea, P = 0.008) functions were increased in the hypoxic group compared with other groups. The peak of 2-dimensional longitudinal strain was less altered in the hypoxic group compared with other groups (P < 0.001). Haemodynamic data showed that dP/dT max was improved in the hypoxic group compared with the other group (P < 0.01). Capillary density was increased in the hypoxic group (P = 0.001). MSC density was significantly higher in the ischaemic zone in the hypoxic group (P < 0.01). CONCLUSION MSC engraftment with hypoxic preconditioning significantly improves capillary density and cell survival, resulting in improvement in global, regional and diastolic left ventricular functions. This highlights the therapeutic potential of transplanting hypoxic-preconditioned MSC in the setting of chronic ischaemic heart failure.
Expression and Tissue Concentration of Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor, Its Receptors, and Localization in the Bovine Corpus Luteum During Estrous Cycle and Pregnancy1

Abstract The presence of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) in the ovary has been reported in a number of species. The objective of the present study was to demonstrate the expression of VEGF, VEGF receptor (R)-1, and VEGFR-2 in detail by different methodological approaches in bovine corpora lutea (CL) obtained from different stages of the estrous cycle and during pregnancy. VEGF and VEGF receptor transcripts were analyzed by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and ribonuclease protection assay. All components of the VEGF system were found in the bovine CL during the estrous cycle and pregnancy. Analysis of VEGF transcript by RT-PCR shows that CL tissues expressed predominantly the smallest isoforms (VEGF121 and VEGF165). The highest mRNA expression for VEGF and VEGFR-2 mRNA was detected during the early luteal phase, followed by a significant decrease of expression during the mid and late luteal phase and a further decrease of VEGF mRNA after regression. During pregnancy, high levels of expression were always present. In contrast, no significant change in VEGFR-1 mRNA expression during the estrous cycle and pregnancy was found. The VEGF protein concentration in CL tissue was significantly higher (20.9–23.4 ng/g wet weight) during the early luteal phase (Days 1–7), followed by a decrease at the late luteal phase (14.3–18.7 ng/g wet weight) and, especially, after CL regression (2.8 ng/g wet weight). However, relatively high levels were found during pregnancy (10.1 ng/g wet weight). As achieved by immunohistochemistry, VEGF protein was localized predominantly in luteal cells. High VEGF protein and transcript concentrations and increased VEGFR-2 expression during the early luteal phase coincided with luteal vascularization. These results suggest an important role of VEGF in angiogenesis of the newly formed CL. The high VEGF mRNA expression and protein levels during matured vasculature in the mid-stage CL and pregnancy also suggest also a survival function for endothelial cells.