Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Caspase inhibitor facilitates recovery of hearing by protecting the cochlear lateral wall from acute cochlear mitochondrial dysfunction

We recently showed that acute energy failure in the rat cochlea induced by local administration of the mitochondrial toxin 3‐nitropropionic acid (3‐NP) causes hearing loss mainly due to degeneration of cochlear lateral‐wall fibrocytes. In the present study, we analyzed the effect of the pan‐caspase inhibitor z‐Val‐Ala‐Asp(Ome)‐fluoromethylketone (Z‐VAD‐FMK) on 3‐NP‐induced hearing loss in a model showing temporary threshold shifts at low frequencies and permanent threshold shifts at high frequencies. The model rats received an intraperitoneal injection of either Z‐VAD‐FMK or vehicle for 3 days starting 1 day prior to 3‐NP treatment. One day after the administration of 3‐NP, the auditory brain‐stem response (ABR) threshold at 20 kHz was elevated to 70 dB in the Z‐VAD‐FMK group and to 85 dB in controls. The Z‐VAD‐FMK group completely recovered to the preoperative level within 14 days, whereas in the controls, the ABR threshold remained elevated at 50 dB even 28 days after the administration of 3‐NP. Treatment with Z‐VAD‐FMK also improved recovery of hearing at 8 kHz but did not change recovery at 40 kHz. Histological examination demonstrated that treatment with Z‐VAD‐FMK inhibited progressive degeneration of the lateral‐wall fibrocytes in the cochlear basal turn, as well as apoptosis of these fibrocytes. These results clearly indicate that caspase‐dependent apoptosis of fibrocytes in the cochlear lateral wall plays an important role in hearing loss in the present animal model. Moreover, the results of the present study suggest that systemic administration of a caspase inhibitor may be an effective therapy for sensorineural hearing loss caused by acute energy failure such as that observed in cochlear ischemia. © 2007 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
MyShield: Protecting Mobile Device Data via Security Circles ; CU-CS-1091-12

As smartphones and the third party applications they run become ever more popular, the amount of personal information at risk for users continues to increase. To protect the privacy of mobile user data such as a user’s location, contacts, phone number, etc., mobile applications on the Android and iOS platforms typically request the user who is installing their application to grant them permission to a variety of data on the phone that they want to run the application. The user either approves or rejects the request - there is no middle ground. Furthermore, there is no guarantee that the app will respect the privacy of the user by accessing a minimum amount of information or ensuring that data does not leave the device unnecessarily. To remedy this situation, we introduce MyShield, a system that protects user data from mobile applications by supplying anonymized data when desired by the user, and in a way that is transparent to applications. MyShield incorporates our concept of Security Circles - an intuitive way to allow users to control what applications get access to which data by grouping applications together with similar trust levels. The applications in a given Security Circle are then subject to the same anonymization policy. We present an implementation of MyShield and Security Circles in the Android operating system.
Physiological, morphological and kinetic aspects of lovastatin biosynthesis by Aspergillus terreus

This review focuses on selected aspects of lovastatin biosynthesis by Aspergillus terreus. Biochemical issues concerning this process are presented to introduce polyketide metabolites, in particular lovastatin. The formation of other than lovastatin polyketide metabolites by A. terreus is also shown, with special attention to (+)‐geodin and sulochrin. The core of this review discusses the physiology of A. terreus with regard to the influence of carbon and nitrogen sources, cultivation broth aeration and pH control strategies on fungal growth and product formation. Attention is paid to the supplementation of cultivation media with various compounds, namely vitamins, methionine, butyrolactone I. Next, the analysis of fungal morphology and differentiation of A. terreus mycelium in relation to both lovastatin and to (+)‐geodin formation is conferred. Finally, the kinetics of the process, in terms of associated metabolite formation with biomass growth is discussed in relation to published kinetic models. The review concludes with a list of the most important factors affecting lovastatin and (+)‐geodin biosynthesis.
Glomerular changes in microscopic haematuria, studied by quantitative immunoelectron microscopy and in situ zymography.

BACKGROUND Haematuria of glomerular origin, even if mild, implies the development of defects in the glomerular basement membrane (GBM). In diseases where there is no infiltration of leukocytes into the glomerulus-such as thin basement membrane disease (TBMD) and histologically mild cases of IgA nephropathy (IgAN)-the mechanism by which such defects form is unclear. METHODS Frozen renal tissue from 18 cases of TBMD, 18 of mild IgAN and 18 cases with no detectable abnormality were studied: (i) by quantitative in situ zymography, to estimate the activity of glomerular collagenases; and (ii) by quantitative immunoelectron microscopy to estimate the amount of major basement membrane proteins per unit length and per unit area of glomerular basement membrane. RESULTS Cases of IgAN showed considerably more glomerular collagenase activity than normal (P=0.001). Thin basement membrane disease showed no difference in collagenase activity. A count of LCA-positive cells in glomeruli confirmed that the IgAN cases did not show glomerular leukocyte infiltration. Conversely, cases of IgAN showed no difference in GBM composition from normal, nor was any difference in GBM thickness detected in this group. However, cases of TBMD showed considerably less laminin (P=0.0008), fibronectin (P=0.002) and type VI collagen (P=0.0005) per unit length of basement membrane. Collagen IV showed a smaller reduction per unit length (P=0.01), but unlike the other protein studies it appeared to be present in higher concentration per unit area (P=0.03), suggesting that it is more 'compact' in TBMD disease. CONCLUSIONS Two distinct mechanisms of haematuria seem to be involved in these two conditions. In IgAN there is increased activity of enzymes that can degrade GBM, probably reflecting mesangial cell activation. In TBMD an abnormal composition of the thinned GBM is confirmed. When considered with published reports of genetic abnormalities in TBMD, these results raise the possibility of an abnormal interaction between collagen IV and laminin.
Message from the Chair of Ieee Amd Technical Committee

Editorial For the first edition of the joint IEEE ICDL-EpiRob conference, we will have keynote presentations by four eminent scientists from the hard, the wet and the human sciences: Andrew Barto (reinforcement learning and cognitive robotics), Erin Schuman (neuroscience), Jean Mandler and Michael Tomasello (developmental psychology). This interdisciplinarity, focused around a shared set of core questions about development, is an important strength of our field: building bridges that allow for mixing various scientific cultures fosters creativity and insight. I encourage all of you to come and participate at ICDL-EpiRob which will happen in Frankfurt, 24 th-27 th August in Frankfurt, Germany. This interdisciplinarity is also strongly reflected in the dialog of this month, initiated by John Weng and continuing the dialog on symbol grounding held in this newsletter last year. John Weng asked ―Are natural languages symbolic in the brain? ‖. This question directly addresses a quite controversial but fundamental issue: is the symbol grounding problem a real prob-lem? Are symbols really fundamental for understanding human cognitive development, or are they just a modern conceptual invention of modern human culture? The answers, written interestingly mix philosophical and mathematical arguments, showing how recent technical advances can illuminate old questions and vice versa, how philosophical theories can either question or support the assumptions and concepts of modern technical approaches. Then, a new dialog is proposed by Yaochu Jin and Yan Meng about the interaction between phylogeny, ontogeny and epi-genesis, as well as about the interaction between morphological and mental development, urging us to explore new areas in developmental robotics: ―Evolutionary Developmental Robotics – The Next Step to Go? ‖. Those of you interested to react are welcome to submit a response (contact pierre-yves.oudeyer@inria.fr) by September 1 st , 2011. The length of each response must be between 300 and 500 words (including references). I would first like to thank all the enthusiastic and continuous contributors to the AMD TC so far. I was appointed as AMD TC chair for the year 2011 (the second year) by IEEE CIS president. The new vice-chairs of our TC are Matthew Schlesinger (US) and Jochen Triesch (Germany). Jochen is one of the general co-chairs of the first ICDL-EpiRob conference 2011 to be held during August 24-27 in Frankfurt, Germany (www.icdl-epirob.org), and Matt is expected to work for the same conference for the next year. A renewal of TC members has been achieved, and as a result we now …
CHoG: Compressed histogram of gradients A low bit-rate feature descriptor

Establishing visual correspondences is an essential component of many computer vision problems, and is often done with robust, local feature-descriptors. Transmission and storage of these descriptors are of critical importance in the context of mobile distributed camera networks and large indexing problems. We propose a framework for computing low bit-rate feature descriptors with a 20× reduction in bit rate. The framework is low complexity and has significant speed-up in the matching stage. We represent gradient histograms as tree structures which can be efficiently compressed. We show how to efficiently compute distances between descriptors in their compressed representation eliminating the need for decoding. We perform a comprehensive performance comparison with SIFT, SURF, and other low bit-rate descriptors and show that our proposed CHoG descriptor outperforms existing schemes.
Explaining the Gender Gap in Math Test Scores: The Role of Competition

The mean and standard deviation in performance on math test scores are only slightly larger for males than for females. Despite minor differences in mean performance, many more boys than girls perform at the right tail of the distribution. This gender gap has been documented for a series of math tests including the AP calculus test, the mathematics SAT, and the quantitative portion of the Graduate Record Exam (GRE). The objective of this paper is not to discuss whether the mathematical skills of males and females differ, be it a result of nurture or nature. Rather we argue that the reported test scores do not necessarily match the gender differences in math skills. We will present results that suggest that the evidence of a large gender gap in mathematics performance at high percentiles in part may be explained by the differential manner in which men and women respond to competitive test-taking environments. The effects in mixed-sex settings range from women failing to perform well in competitions, to women shying away from environments in which they have to compete. We find that the response to competition differs for men and women, and in the examined environment, gender difference in competitive performance does not reflect the difference in noncompetitive performance. We argue that the competitive pressures associated with test taking may result in performances that do not reflect those of less-competitive settings. Of particular concern is that the distortion is likely to vary by gender and that it may cause gender differences in performance to be particularly large in mathematics and for the right tail of the performance distribution. Thus the gender gap in math test scores may exaggerate the math advantage of males over females.
Fast cross-validatory choice of wavelet smoothness, primary resolution and threshold in wavelet shri

This article introduces a fast cross-validation algorithm that performs wavelet shrinkage on data sets of arbitrary size and design and also simultaneously selects good values of the primary resolution and number of vanishing moments. We demonstrate the utility of our method by suggesting alternative estimates of the conditional mean of the well-known Ethanol data set. Our alternative estimates outperform the Kovac-Silverman method with a global variance estimate by 25% because of the careful selection of number of vanishing moments and primary resolution. Our alternative estimates are simpler than, and competitive with, results based on the Kovac-Silverman algorithm equipped with a local variance estimate. We include a detailed simulation study that illustrates how our cross-validation method successfully picks good values of the primary resolution and number of vanishing moments for unknown functions based on Walsh functions (to test the response to changing primary resolution) and piecewise polynomials with zero or one derivative (to test the response to function smoothness).
How Does Label Propagation Algorithm Work in Bipartite Networks?

Community detection in networks receives much attention recently. In this paper, we investigate a recently proposed community detection algorithm—label propagation algorithm (LPA), and propose a new algorithm to make it more suitable for bipartite networks. We demonstrate through five real world data sets that the new algorithm, while maintaining the accuracy and the near linear time complexity of the standard LPA, is more stable than the latter. More importantly, the new algorithm is readily parallelized, which implies that it is potential for real time community analysis of large-scale bipartite networks.
Charge-exchange processes in titanium-doped sapphire crystals. II. Charge-transfer transition states, carrier trapping, and detrapping.

From the time-resolved emissions of the ${\mathrm{Ti}}^{4+}$:${\mathrm{Al}}_{2}$${\mathrm{O}}_{3}$ charge-transfer transition, two types of ${\mathrm{Ti}}^{4+}$ are found. The temperature-dependent lifetimes of the excited ${\mathrm{Ti}}^{4+}$ are well explained by a three-level system with a lower triplet excited state and a higher singlet excited state. The trapping of charge carriers following the charge exchange between Ti and the host is shown by the thermal release of trapped electrons and holes. These are revealed by thermally stimulated conductivity and thermoluminescence. The possible identities of these traps are discussed.
Upper Airway Obstruction and Craniofacial Morphology

Otolaryngologists are being asked with increasing frequency to assess adequacy of the upper airway and to treat upper airway obstructive problems in orthodontic patients. The incentive has been provided by recent studies that purport to relate upper airway obstruction to dental and craniomorphologic changes. It is hypothesized that prolonged oral respiration during critical growth periods in children initiates a sequence of events that commonly results in dental and skeletal changes. In the chronic mouth-breather excessive molar tooth eruption is almost a constant feature, causing a clockwise rotation of the growing mandible, with a disproportional increase in anterior lower vertical face height. Such increases in anterior lower vertical face height are often associated with retrognathia and open bites. Low tongue posture seen with oral respiration impedes the lateral expansion and anterior development of the maxilla. Otolaryngologists have the ability to objectively and accurately assess upper airway patency. Rhinometric assessment before and after application of topical nasal decongestant, in conjunction with clinical examination, provides valuable information regarding upper airway patency and the cause of any existing obstructive pathologic condition. Studies should be designed carefully to control the numerous variables that have an impact on the growing face of a young child so that meaningful data can be obtained in our own field regarding this challenging topic.
Wavelet-Based Feature Extraction Algorithm for Fatigue Strain Data Associated with the k-Means Clustering Technique

The study presents the development of a wavelet-based segmentation algorithm for fatigue life assessment. Strain data was extracted using the Morlet family. The extraction process identified damaging segments, and it was able to shorten the original signal by 74.3%, with less than 10% difference with statistical parameters. The extraction algorithm was able to retain at least 97.9% of fatigue damage. The damaging segments drawn were clustered using the k-means method to provide three groups of segments, i.e., lower, moderate, and higher groups representing statistical values. The approach was suggested as an alternative method for evaluating and clustering fatigue strain signals.
Effects of sound intensity on temporal properties of inhibition in the pallid bat auditory cortex

Auditory neurons in bats that use frequency modulated (FM) sweeps for echolocation are selective for the behaviorally-relevant rates and direction of frequency change. Such selectivity arises through spectrotemporal interactions between excitatory and inhibitory components of the receptive field. In the pallid bat auditory system, the relationship between FM sweep direction/rate selectivity and spectral and temporal properties of sideband inhibition have been characterized. Of note is the temporal asymmetry in sideband inhibition, with low-frequency inhibition (LFI) exhibiting faster arrival times compared to high-frequency inhibition (HFI). Using the two-tone inhibition over time (TTI) stimulus paradigm, this study investigated the interactions between two sound parameters in shaping sideband inhibition: intensity and time. Specifically, the impact of changing relative intensities of the excitatory and inhibitory tones on arrival time of inhibition was studied. Using this stimulation paradigm, single unit data from the auditory cortex of pentobarbital-anesthetized cortex show that the threshold for LFI is on average ~8 dB lower than HFI. For equal intensity tones near threshold, LFI is stronger than HFI. When the inhibitory tone intensity is increased further from threshold, the strength asymmetry decreased. The temporal asymmetry in LFI vs. HFI arrival time is strongest when the excitatory and inhibitory tones are of equal intensities or if excitatory tone is louder. As inhibitory tone intensity is increased, temporal asymmetry decreased suggesting that the relative magnitude of excitatory and inhibitory inputs shape arrival time of inhibition and FM sweep rate and direction selectivity. Given that most FM bats use downward sweeps as echolocation calls, a similar asymmetry in threshold and strength of LFI vs. HFI may be a general adaptation to enhance direction selectivity while maintaining sweep-rate selective responses to downward sweeps.
Adenovirus vector vaccination induces expansion of memory CD4 T cells with a mucosal homing phenotype that are readily susceptible to HIV-1

In the recently halted HIV type 1 (HIV-1) vaccine STEP trial, individuals that were seropositive for adenovirus serotype 5 (Ad5) showed increased rates of HIV-1 infection on vaccination with an Ad5 vaccine. We propose that this was due to activation and expansion of Ad5-specific mucosal-homing memory CD4 T cells. To test this hypothesis, Ad5 and Ad11 antibody titers were measured in 20 healthy volunteers. Dendritic cells (DCs) from these individuals were pulsed with replication defective Ad5 or Ad11 and co-cultured with autologous lymphocytes. Cytokine profiles, proliferative capacity, mucosal migration potential, and susceptibility to HIV infection of the adenovirus-stimulated memory CD4 T cells were measured. Stimulation of T cells from healthy Ad5-seropositive but Ad11-seronegative individuals with Ad5, or serologically distinct Ad11 vectors induced preferential expansion of adenovirus memory CD4 T cells expressing α4β7 integrins and CCR9, indicating a mucosal-homing phenotype. CD4 T-cell proliferation and IFN-γ production in response to Ad stimulation correlated with Ad5 antibody titers. However, Ad5 serostatus did not correlate with total cytokine production upon challenge with Ad5 or Ad11. Expanded Ad5 and Ad11 memory CD4 T cells showed an increase in CCR5 expression and higher susceptibility to infection by R5 tropic HIV-1. This suggests that adenoviral-based vaccination against HIV-1 in individuals with preexisting immunity against Ad5 results in preferential expansion of HIV-susceptible activated CD4 T cells that home to mucosal tissues, increases the number of virus targets, and leads to a higher susceptibility to HIV acquisition.
Treatment of bronchogenic carcinoma with simultaneous or sequential combination chemotherapy, including methotrexate, cyclophosphamide, procarbazine and vincristine

One hundred and eighteen patients with inoperable carcinoma of the lung were randomly selected for treatment with methotrexate, cyclophosphamide, procarbazine, and vincristine. These drugs were administered simultaneously to one group of patients and sequentially to the second group. As the statistically significant superior remission rates in the simultaneously treated patients became evident (51% vs. 21%), an additional 85 cases were treated in this manner without randomization. The objective clinical responses were associated with prolonged survival. A higher response rate with the simultaneous treatment was also evident in patients with anaplastic small cell carcinoma (65% vs. 36%) as well as those with epidermoid carcinoma (33% vs. 13%). These differences were not statistically significant. Toxicity remained within acceptable limits, with a 2% drug related mortality, and was similar in both treatment regimens. Initial performance status was definitely related to survival, but not to tumor response. Patients with epidermoid carcinomas showing stabilization of tumor growth under treatment had the longest survival. Maintenance therapy with continued four‐drug polychemotherapy was not superior to single agent maintenance with cyclophosphamide.
Study of environmental, social, and paternal factors in preterm delivery using sibs and half sibs. A population-based study in Denmark.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to evaluate the influence on preterm delivery of changes in putative genetic and environmental risk factors between two consecutive births. Low social status is a suspected risk indicator of preterm delivery, but the impact of social mobility has not been studied before. PARTICIPANTS: The study uses national cohorts in which women act as their own controls. Subjects were identified by means of registries: 10,455 women who gave birth to a preterm child and had a subsequent live birth between 1980 and 1992 and 9849 women who gave birth to a child after 37 completed weeks of gestation and had a subsequent live born child in the same time period formed the cohorts. METHODS: The risk of having a premature infant in the subsequent pregnancy was analysed in each cohort as a function of changes in male partner, residency, occupation, and social status between the two pregnancies. RESULTS: There was a strong tendency to repeat a preterm delivery (18% v 6% in the general population). Social decline was associated with a moderate increase in the recurrence risk (OR: 1.22; 95% CI: 1.02, 1.47). In the reference cohort the risk of preterm delivery associated with changing from a rural to an urban municipality was 2.03 (95% CI: 1.14, 3.64). CONCLUSIONS: Social decline and moving to an urban municipality may be associated with preterm delivery.