Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Hormone-dependent milk protein gene expression in bovine mammary explants from biopsies at different stages of pregnancy

A method for the collection of mammary biopsies developed previously was refined and used to study the endocrine regulation of bovine milk protein gene expression. Our surgical biopsy method used real-time ultrasound imaging and epidural analgesia to enable recovery of a sufficient quantity of mammary tissue from late-pregnant dairy cows for explant culture in vitro. The time of biopsy was critical for prolactin-dependent induction of milk protein gene expression in mammary explants, as only mammary tissue from cows nearing 30 d prepartum was hormone-responsive. This suggests that during the later stages of pregnancy a change in the responsiveness of milk protein gene expression to endocrine stimuli occurred in preparation for lactation. This may relate to the diminution of a putative population of undifferentiated cells that were still responsive to prolactin. Alternatively, the metabolic activity of the tissue had increased to the level whereby the response of the tissue was no longer assessable using this model in vitro.
A BCJR-DFE Based Receiver for Achieving Near Capacity Performance on Inter Symbol Interference Channels

A non-iterative receiver is proposed to achieve near capacity performance on inter-symbol interference channels. There are two main ingredients in the proposed design i) the use of a BCJR-DFE equalizer which produces optimal soft estimates of the inputs to the ISI channel given all the observations from the channel and L past symbols exactly, where L is the memory in the ISI channel. ii) The use of an encoder structure that ensures that L past symbols can be used in the DFE in an error free manner through the use of a capacity achieving code for a memoryless channel. This DFE based receiver has several advantages over an iterative (turbo) receiver such as low complexity, codes that are optimized for memoryless channels can be used with channels with memory and finally the channel does not need to be known at the transmitter, making this a better choice than turbo equalizers when long latencies can be tolerated. This general principle also applies to other signal processing functions such as non-coherent detection, synchronization, timing recovery etc making the proposed encoder and receiver structure a viable alternative to iterative signal processing.
Social Capital in a Community Context: A Multilevel Analysis of Individual- and Community-Level Predictors of Social Trust

The community structural pluralism model represents the earliest and most enduring research program to conceptualize media effects within a community context. The model, which has intellectual roots in social theory concerned with the impact of population size and density on human interaction, is relevant to the resurgence of interest in multilevel analysis in media research, particularly research regarding the media effects on indicators of social capital such as social trust. The present study uses multilevel modeling to test the linear development model (Berry & Kasarda, 1977) which predicts that community structural pluralism would be negatively associated with individual-level social trust, even while controlling for individual-level predictors including media use and length of residence. Using survey data from 21 communities included in the 2001 Social Capital Community Benchmark Study, the analysis includes a rigorous test of the community structural pluralism model by determining whether the relationship between media use and social trust varies across communities. In support of the linear development model, community structural pluralism was negatively associated with social trust even while controlling for individual-level predictors. Additional findings that challenge traditional assumptions about the role of social trust in political participation are discussed.
Automated 4 D analysis of dendritic spine morphology : applications to stimulus-induced spine remodeling and pharmacological rescue in a disease model

Uncovering the mechanisms that regulate dendritic spine morphology has been limited, in part, by the lack of efficient and unbiased methods for analyzing spines. Here, we describe an automated 3D spine morphometry method and its application to spine remodeling in live neurons and spine abnormalities in a disease model. We anticipate that this approach will advance studies of synapse structure and function in brain development, plasticity, and disease.
Is There a Correlation Between Anti-Pig Antibody Levels in Humans and Geographic Location During Childhood?

Background An initial observation suggested high levels of anti-pig antibodies in healthy humans who had spent their childhood in the Middle East. We tested larger cohorts to determine whether anti-pig antibody levels correlated with the geographic location in which the subject spent his/her childhood, because this might have implications for clinical trials of xenotransplantation. Methods Anti-pig IgM and IgG levels (by flow cytometry using peripheral blood mononuclear cells from wild-type and &agr;1,3-galactosyltransferase gene-knockout pigs) and anti-Gal IgM and IgG levels (by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay) were measured in 75 volunteers. Comparisons of antibody levels were also made based on subject age, gender, ABO blood group, diet, and history of vaccination. Results Antibody binding to &agr;1,3-galactosyltransferase gene-knockout pig cells was less than to wild-type cells. There was a reduction in anti-pig IgM and anti-Gal IgM, but a slight increase in anti-nonGal IgG, with age. Women had higher levels of anti-Gal IgM than men. Blood group A subjects had higher levels of anti-pig IgM and IgG than those of group AB. Diet had no influence on antibody levels. Typhoid or measles-mumps-rubella vaccination was associated with lower anti-nonGal IgG or anti-Gal IgG, respectively, whereas influenza vaccination was associated with higher anti-nonGal IgG. There were some significant variations in antibody levels associated with location during childhood, with subjects from the Middle East demonstrating higher anti-nonGal IgG and anti-Gal IgG. Conclusion Clinical trials of xenotransplantation may be influenced by various factors, including the geographic location of the recipient during childhood, possibly associated with exposure to different microorganisms.
CSI-Secured Orthogonal Jamming Method for Wireless Physical Layer Security

In this paper, we propose a new cooperative jamming (CJ) method to prevent eavesdroppers from using beam-formers to suppress the jamming signals. In this method, the broadcasting of system-node channel state information (CSI) is first averted. The transmitting and jamming signals are then aligned in two separate single dimensions in complex space. The decode-and-forward relaying protocol is employed.The proposed method is more effective than current CJ techniques.
A study of query reformulation for patent prior art search with partial patent applications

Patents are used by legal entities to legally protect their inventions and represent a multi-billion dollar industry of licensing and litigation. In 2014, 326,033 patent applications were approved in the US alone -- a number that has doubled in the past 15 years and which makes prior art search a daunting, but necessary task in the patent application process. In this work, we seek to investigate the efficacy of prior art search strategies from the perspective of the inventor who wishes to assess the patentability of their ideas prior to writing a full application. While much of the literature inspired by the evaluation framework of the CLEF-IP competition has aimed to assist patent examiners in assessing prior art for complete patent applications, less of this work has focused on patent search with queries representing partial applications. In the (partial) patent search setting, a query is often much longer than in other standard IR tasks, e.g., the description section may contain hundreds or even thousands of words. While the length of such queries may suggest query reduction strategies to remove irrelevant terms, intentional obfuscation and general language used in patents suggests that it may help to expand queries with additionally relevant terms. To assess the trade-offs among all of these pre-application prior art search strategies, we comparatively evaluate a variety of partial application search and query reformulation methods. Among numerous findings, querying with a full description, perhaps in conjunction with generic (non-patent specific) query reduction methods, is recommended for best performance. However, we also find that querying with an abstract represents the best trade-off in terms of writing effort vs. retrieval efficacy (i.e., querying with the description sections only lead to marginal improvements) and that for such relatively short queries, generic query expansion methods help.
Tales from the Future: A Narrative Investigation of the Imagined Career Paths of Young Athletes

Abstract Athletes’ paths to international sporting success are unique but always include a number of transitions within sport, as well as outside of it, which hold the potential for crisis or growth. Particularly the transition from talented junior to elite senior athlete plays a critical role in the overall athletic career. The present study is a qualitative inquiry using semistructured interviews as data. We asked eight young and very talented athletes to imagine they were at the end of a successful career in their chosen sport and invited them to describe how they got there. The qualitative interview strategy was narrative in its attempt to elicit how the young athletes made meaning of their endeavours through narratives, and biographical in its attempt to ask the athletes to describe their future career paths. We analysed the interviews as single case studies, subjected them to meaning condensation and then constructed the final narratives. Common features of the tales pertain to the fact that these athletes are still young and have yet to grasp the reality of what they are embarking on, which is clear from the simplicity and lightness that is portrayed in their perspectives. The athletes give little emphasis to the challenges and need of social support inherent in an athletic career. On the one hand, the poor preparation of the athletes for the time to come is worrying; on the other hand, the unworried lightness and optimism of the athletes’ stories could also be seen as a strength.
The effect of finite-difference time-domain resolution and power-loss computation method on SAR values in plane-wave exposure of Zubal phantom

In this paper, the anatomically realistic body model Zubal is exposed to a plane wave. A finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) method is used to obtain field data for specific-absorption-rate (SAR) computation. It is investigated how the FDTD resolution, power-loss computation method and positioning of the material voxels in the FDTD grid affect the SAR results. The results enable one to estimate the effects due to certain fundamental choices made in the SAR simulation.
Relative Radiometric Normalization and Atmospheric Correction of a SPOT 5 Time Series

Multi-temporal images acquired at high spatial and temporal resolution are an important tool for detecting change and analyzing trends, especially in agricultural applications. However, to insure a reliable use of this kind of data, a rigorous radiometric normalization step is required. Normalization can be addressed by performing an atmospheric correction of each image in the time series. The main problem is the difficulty of obtaining an atmospheric characterization at a given acquisition date. In this paper, we investigate whether relative radiometric normalization can substitute for atmospheric correction. We develop an automatic method for relative radiometric normalization based on calculating linear regressions between unnormalized and reference images. Regressions are obtained using the reflectances of automatically selected invariant targets. We compare this method with an atmospheric correction method that uses the 6S model. The performances of both methods are compared using 18 images from of a SPOT 5 time series acquired over Reunion Island. Results obtained for a set of manually selected invariant targets show excellent agreement between the two methods in all spectral bands: values of the coefficient of determination (r2 exceed 0.960, and bias magnitude values are less than 2.65. There is also a strong correlation between normalized NDVI values of sugarcane fields (r2 = 0.959). Despite a relative error of 12.66% between values, very comparable NDVI patterns are observed.
A feminização persistente na qualificação profissional da enfermagem brasileira

Este artigo tece reflexoes sobre o universo sociohistorico do cuidado de saude na perspectiva da divisao sexual do trabalho. A enfermagem e o campo profissional analisado e espelha a feminizacao no setor. Nesse sentido, pode-se afirmar que persiste a feminizacao na enfermagem brasileira, o que pode ser observada tanto na qualificacao universitaria como nos niveis medio e tecnico. A enfermagem no setor da saude representa o maior contingente de trabalhadoras e trabalhadores, sendo marcada pela seletividade com base em "qualidades" de sexo.
How and why should we implement genomics into conservation?

Conservation genetics has provided important information into the dynamics of endangered populations. The rapid development of genomic methods has posed an important question, namely where do genetics and genomics sit in relation to their application in the conservation of species? Although genetics can answer a number of relevant questions related to conservation, the argument for the application of genomics is not yet fully exploited. Here, we explore the transition and rationale for the move from genetic to genomic research in conservation biology and the utility of such research. We explore the idea of a ‘conservation prior’ and how this can be determined by genomic data and used in the management of populations. We depict three different conservation scenarios and describe how genomic data can drive management action in each situation. We conclude that the most effective applications of genomics will be to inform stakeholders with the aim of avoiding ‘emergency room conservation’.
Monoclonal antibodies that recognize transcription unit proteins on newt lampbrush chromosomes

We prepared hybridoma cell lines from mice injected with newt germinal vesicle proteins. We tested culture supernates from these cell lines for antibodies that bound to specific morphological structures in lampbrush chromosome preparations (nucleoli, loops, chromomeres, etc.). Four mAbs that recognize antigens on the lateral transcription loops are described here. We suggest that these antigens are proteins associated with nascent RNA transcripts, although they are not among the 30-40-kD "core" heterogeneous nuclear ribonucleoproteins.
Intergenerational Consequences of Family Disruption

This paper examines the effects of childhood family disruption on adult family experience by applying proportional hazard models to data from the National Survey of Family Growth (NSFG). The results provide strong evidence that women who spend part of their childhoods in one-parent families are more likely to marry and bear children early, give birth before marriage, and have their own marriages break up. The major exception is that, among blacks, early marriage is unrelated to family background. Several explanations for intergenerational consequences are tested, including the economic-deprivation hypothesis, the socialization hypothesis, and the stress hypothesis. The results are most consistent with the socialization explanation, which argues that parental role models and parental supervision are the major factors in determining offspring's future family-formation behavior.
Relation Between Cardiac Sympathetic Activity and Hypertensive Left Ventricular Hypertrophy

Background—Left ventricular (LV) hypertrophy is an independent risk factor for cardiovascular morbidity and mortality in hypertensive subjects. Sympathetic activation has been suggested to contribute to LV hypertrophy, but this has not yet been conclusively validated in humans. Methods and Results—We comprehensively assessed total systemic and regional sympathetic activity by radiotracer dilution methods and microneurography in 15 untreated hypertensive subjects with echocardiographic evidence of LV hypertrophy (EH+), 11 hypertensive subjects with similar blood pressure but without LV hypertrophy (EH−), and 10 age-matched normotensive control subjects (NT). LV mass index was 87±15 g/m2 in NT, 106±11g/m2 in EH−, and 138±17g/m2 in EH+ (P <0.001). Total body and renal norepinephrine spillover were higher in both hypertensive groups compared with NT (total norepinephrine spillover, NT 223±145 versus EH− 418±135 versus EH+ 497±303 ng/min; renal norepinephrine spillover, NT 38.8±25.3 versus EH− 88.6±58.0 versus EH+ 103.4±56.2 ng/min; both P <0.05). However, muscle sympathetic nerve activity (NT 25±6 versus EH− 38±20 versus EH+ 57±19 bursts per 100 heartbeats; P <0.01) and cardiac norepinephrine spillover (NT 11.7±6.2 versus EH− 13.1±7.2 versus EH+ 28.6±17.4 ng/min; P <0.01) were only increased in EH+. Cardiac norepinephrine spillover correlated positively with LV mass index in all subjects (r =0.52; P <0.001). Conclusions—Our findings demonstrate that hypertensive LV hypertrophy is associated with increased sympathetic activity largely confined to the heart, suggesting that increased cardiac norepinephrine release is related to the development of LV hypertrophy.
Squibs: On Paraphrase and Coreference

By providing a better understanding of paraphrase and coreference in terms of similarities and differences in their linguistic nature, this article delimits what the focus of paraphrase extraction and coreference resolution tasks should be, and to what extent they can help each other. We argue for the relevance of this discussion to Natural Language Processing.
Back-Propagation Operation for Analog Neural Network Hardware with Synapse Components Having Hysteresis Characteristics

To realize an analog artificial neural network hardware, the circuit element for synapse function is important because the number of synapse elements is much larger than that of neuron elements. One of the candidates for this synapse element is a ferroelectric memristor. This device functions as a voltage controllable variable resistor, which can be applied to a synapse weight. However, its conductance shows hysteresis characteristics and dispersion to the input voltage. Therefore, the conductance values vary according to the history of the height and the width of the applied pulse voltage. Due to the difficulty of controlling the accurate conductance, it is not easy to apply the back-propagation learning algorithm to the neural network hardware having memristor synapses. To solve this problem, we proposed and simulated a learning operation procedure as follows. Employing a weight perturbation technique, we derived the error change. When the error reduced, the next pulse voltage was updated according to the back-propagation learning algorithm. If the error increased the amplitude of the next voltage pulse was set in such way as to cause similar memristor conductance but in the opposite voltage scanning direction. By this operation, we could eliminate the hysteresis and confirmed that the simulation of the learning operation converged. We also adopted conductance dispersion numerically in the simulation. We examined the probability that the error decreased to a designated value within a predetermined loop number. The ferroelectric has the characteristics that the magnitude of polarization does not become smaller when voltages having the same polarity are applied. These characteristics greatly improved the probability even if the learning rate was small, if the magnitude of the dispersion is adequate. Because the dispersion of analog circuit elements is inevitable, this learning operation procedure is useful for analog neural network hardware.
Gender and HIV/AIDS: What Do Men have to Do with it?

The world is facing an unprecedented crisis as a result of HIV/AIDS. The global epidemic is the most devastating in human history - shortening many lives and affecting the economic and social structure of many countries. Central among the factors influencing vulnerability to infection and its consequences are systems and structures of gender. Dominant ideologies of gender influence how women and men see themselves and the social relations into which they enter. While growing attention is being given to the position of women in the epidemic, less attention has been focused on men. This article explores the usefulness of concepts of masculinity for our understanding of HIV/AIDS-related risk and vulnerability. It examines the variable nature of masculinity, as well as its dominant, subordinate, alternative and oppositional forms, and how these impact on the vulnerabilities of men in this epidemic. It highlights the necessity for a more balanced understanding of gender as a set of structures created by, and affecting, both women and men. Some strategies and options for change are also discussed.
Logistic Online Learning Methods and Their Application to Incremental Dependency Parsing

We investigate a family of update methods for online machine learning algorithms for cost-sensitive multiclass and structured classification problems. The update rules are based on multinomial logistic models. The most interesting question for such an approach is how to integrate the cost function into the learning paradigm. We propose a number of solutions to this problem. To demonstrate the applicability of the algorithms, we evaluated them on a number of classification tasks related to incremental dependency parsing. These tasks were conventional multiclass classification, hiearchical classification, and a structured classification task: complete labeled dependency tree prediction. The performance figures of the logistic algorithms range from slightly lower to slightly higher than margin-based online algorithms.
US national prevalence and correlates of low back and neck pain among adults.

OBJECTIVE To estimate the US prevalence and psychological and health behavior correlates of low back pain and/or neck pain. No current US national prevalence estimates of low back and neck pain exist and few studies have investigated the associations between low back and neck pain, psychological factors, and health behaviors in a representative sample of US community dwellers. METHODS We analyzed data obtained from adults ages 18 years or older (n = 29,828) who participated in the 2002 National Health Interview Survey, a cross-sectional, population-based survey of US adults. RESULTS The 3-month US prevalence of back and/or neck pain was 31% (low back pain: 34 million, neck pain: 9 million, both back and neck pain: 19 million). Generally, adults with low back and/or neck pain reported more comorbid conditions, exhibited more psychological distress (including serious mental illness), and engaged in more risky health behaviors than adults without either condition. CONCLUSION Low back and neck pain are critical public health problems. Our study supports the idea of a multidimensional approach to examining low back and neck problems and suggests the need for further research to address potentially modifiable psychological factors and health behaviors in these populations.