Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Ontogeny of growth hormone receptor gene expression in tissue of growth-selected strains of broiler chickens.

The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between genetic selection for growth traits and tissue expression of the chicken growth hormone receptor (cGHR) gene. Two different populations of broiler chickens were studied. One population consisted of strain (S) 80, selected for 14 generations for high 9-week body weight (BW), and its progenitor, S90 (a 1950's strain). The second population consisted of S21, selected for 10 generations for high 4-week BW and low abdominal fat, and its progenitor S20 (a 1970's strain). Tissue (liver, fat, breast and leg muscle) and blood samples were collected from six birds/strain at 2-week intervals between 1 and 11 weeks of age. An RNase protection assay was developed to measure mRNA levels of full-length cGHR (3.2 and 4.3 kb) transcripts and chicken glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate dehydrogenase (for normalization) in total RNA prepared from tissue. Analysis of the area-under-curve (AUC) was used for strain comparisons of certain developmental profiles (BW, plasma hormones and tissue cGHR mRNA). The BW AUC showed that the growth rates are different (P < 0.05) among the four strains (S21 > S20 > S80 > S90). Both slow-growing strains (S90 and S80) had a higher (P < 0.05) plasma GH AUC than the two fast-growing strains (S20 and S21). The plasma T3 AUC was highest (P < 0.05) in S90 due to maintenance of higher T3 levels after 3 weeks of age. At 11 weeks of age, hepatic and plasma GH-binding activities were positively related to growth rate (S21 > S20 > S80 > S90). However, the developmental increase in cGHR mRNA in liver and fat was similar among these different populations of growth-selected broiler chickens. Steady-state levels of cGHR mRNA increased in a developmental manner in the liver (5-fold at 9 weeks of age) and abdominal fat (4.5-fold at 11 weeks of age) of all strains. In contrast, there was no developmental increase or strain difference in cGHR mRNA levels in breast and leg muscle. There is a discrepancy between GH-binding activity in liver and plasma, which is different among strains, and steady-state levels of tissue cGHR mRNA which are similar among strains. These observations suggest that the cGHR is under translational or post-translational regulation which would determine the amount of cGHR protein available for GH binding.
Look-ahead window contention resolution in optical burst switched networks

We introduce a new contention resolution algorithm called look-ahead window contention resolution (LCR). This unique contention resolution approach can be used in conjunction with a scheduling technique to reduce the packet loss in an optical burst switched network. We analyze the performance of LCR by means of simulations and compare it with other major existing contention resolution policies.
Memory management for billions of small objects in a distributed in-memory storage

Large-scale interactive applications and online analytic processing on graphs require fast data access to huge sets of small data objects. DXRAM addresses these challenges by keeping all data always in memory of potentially many nodes aggregated in a data center. In this paper we focus on the efficient memory management and mapping of global IDs to local memory addresses, which is not trivial as each node may store up to one billion of small data objects (16-64 byte) in its local memory. We present an efficient paging-like translation scheme for global IDs and a memory management optimized for many small data objects. The latter includes an efficient incremental defragmentation supporting changing allocation granularities for dynamic data. Our evaluations show that the proposed memory management approach has only a 4-5% overhead compared to state of the art memory allocators with around 20% and the paging-like mapping of globals IDs is faster and more efficient than hash-table based approaches. Furthermore, we compare memory overhead and read performance of DXRAM with RAMCloud.
Applications of monoclonal antibodies to neuroscience research.

The preceding discussion documents the diverse ways in which monoclonal antibodies have contributed to neuroscience research. They provide highly specific reagents to membrane-associated proteins, such as pumps, channels, receptors, and cell-adhesion molecules, that are useful for purifying these proteins, studying their structures at high resolution, and mapping their distributions. In many cases, the specific reagents were obtained using only partially purified antigens. Monoclonal antibodies to cytoskeletal proteins, organelles, and protein kinases have revealed that specific molecules are concentrated in anatomically distinct regions of the cell. A protein kinase has been shown to be a major postsynaptic constituent in many synapses. Individual proteins, such as actin, tubulin, and calmodulin appear to have different antigenic epitopes shielded in different parts of the cell. Monoclonal antibodies have provided a diversity of cell-type-specific reagents in both vertebrate and invertebrate nervous systems. They seem likely to be useful in identifying functionally related subpopulations of neurons and describing neural cell lineages. They will also serve to identify molecules that are important in regulating cell migration in the cerebellum, in marking cell position in the retina, and directing axon growth. This review also documents many purposes for which monoclonal antibodies are poorly suited or must be used with caution: A monoclonal antibody to a protein does not always reveal every place where that molecule is located. Pre- or post-translational microheterogeneity can expose different epitopes on the protein, such as may occur on the Na+-channel. Other proteins within the cell may shield antigenic sites on proteins such as calmodulin. Monoclonal antibodies can bind to epitopes on unrelated molecules (Nigg et al 1982, Lane & Koprowski 1982). This is revealed in some cases as multiple bands on immunoblots. Some cross-reactivity, however, may have a functional basis. For example, structural homology is clearly the basis for the antigenic epitopes that are shared among the five classes of intermediate filaments (Pruss et al 1981). The epitope that appears to be shared between the muscarinic and alpha 1-adrenergic receptors may be conserved because the two receptors modulate common effectors. The cross-reactivity between these receptors was only recognized because very specific and sensitive assays exist for each. It is quite possible that these same antibodies also bind sites on many other types of receptors. Mapping the distribution of this epitope may therefore have little relationship to the actual distribution of the muscarinic receptor. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)
Radar, Passive Microwave, and Lightning Characteristics of Precipitating Systems in the Tropics

Abstract The bulk radar reflectivity structures, 85- and 37-GHz brightness temperatures, and lightning characteristics of precipitating systems in tropical Africa, South America, the east Pacific, and west Pacific are documented using data from the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) satellite during August, September, and October of 1998. The particular focus is on precipitation features [defined as a contiguous area ≥75 km2 with either a near-surface reflectivity ≥20 dBZ or an 85-GHz polarization-corrected temperature (PCT) ≤ 250 K] with appreciable rainfall, which account for the bulk of the total rainfall and lightning flash density in their respective regions. Systems over the tropical continents typically have greater magnitudes of reflectivity extending to higher altitudes than tropical oceanic systems. This is consistent with the observation of stronger ice scattering signatures (lower 85- and 37-GHz PCT) in the systems over land. However, when normalized by reflectivity heights, tropical c.
A Scalable RFID-Based System for Location-Aware Services

Location-awareness is a crucial trait of the mobile computing applications. The RFID is not only a feasible, novel, and cost-effective candidate for the indoor location sensing but also considered as the bridge which can merge physical world with hyperspace. Our study focuses on a location-aware computing architecture which provides the scalable location-based services for tracking nearly all daily objects by utilizing the RFID tags. The paper presents a hierarchical structure to organize the position areas based on tracking zone of interest (TZOI). Because the context is vital for mobile computing and can enable the revolution in computing model, a method of managing the location-centric context record is brought forward. We further propose an approach to aware the object's intentions and requirements which are varying over location by tracing and matching these records. An original application experimenting on the baggage handling in the airport also demonstrates the location awareness, e.g., when the baggage has been automatically sorted and arrives the correct place, one SMS is delivered to the owner's mobile phone to remind him.
Game Theory Lecture Notes by Chapter 4: Dominant Strategy Equilibria

Note: This is a only a draft version, so there could be flaws. If you find any errors, please do send email to hari@csa.iisc. ernet.in. A more thorough version would be available soon in this space. In this chapter, we start analyzing strategic form games by defining the notion of dominant strategies and dominant strategy equilibria. There are three notions of dominance that are aptly called strong dominance, weak dominance, and very weak dominance. First we introduce strong dominance and weak dominance and provide several examples. We introduce very weak dominance towards the end of the chapter.
Design of 40-W AlGaN/GaN MMIC High Power Amplifiers for $C$-Band SAR Applications

Two C-band monolithic high power amplifiers (HPAs) have been designed and implemented exploiting a 0.25-μm AlGaN/GaN HEMT process on an SiC substrate. The circuits have been designed for use in transmit/recevie modules of satellite synthetic aperture radar antennas for Earth observation. The design was accurately focused on the HEMTs' electrical and thermal working conditions in order to guarantee the reliable operation required by space applications. The HPAs operate in pulsed conditions with typical pulsewidth of 50 μs and 10% duty cycle: in that regime, the circuits deliver about 40 W with more than 21-dB associated gain and 40% to 45% power-added efficiency in the 5-5.8-GHz band. The achieved performance clearly demonstrates the very high potentiality of this technology for the replacement of GaAs-based HPAs in new generations of this type of systems.
Incorporating Language Level Information into Acoustic Models

This paper proposed a class of novel Deep Recurrent Neural Networks which can incorporate language-level information into acoustic models. For simplicity, we named these networks Recurrent Deep Language Networks (RDLNs). Multiple variants of RDLNs were considered, including two kinds of context information, two methods to process the context, and two methods to incorporate the language-level information. RDLNs provided possible methods to fine-tune the whole Automatic Speech Recognition (ASR) system in the acoustic modeling process.
Altered Innate Immune Responses in Neutrophils from Patients with Well- and Suboptimally Controlled Asthma

Background. Respiratory infections are a major cause of asthma exacerbations where neutrophilic inflammation dominates and is associated with steroid refractory asthma. Structural airway cells in asthma differ from nonasthmatics; however it is unknown if neutrophils differ. We investigated neutrophil immune responses in patients who have good (AGood) and suboptimal (ASubopt) asthma symptom control. Methods. Peripheral blood neutrophils from AGood (ACQ < 0.75, n = 11), ASubopt (ACQ > 0.75, n = 7), and healthy controls (HC) (n = 9) were stimulated with bacterial (LPS (1 μg/mL), fMLF (100 nM)), and viral (imiquimod (3 μg/mL), R848 (1.5 μg/mL), and poly I:C (10 μg/mL)) surrogates or live rhinovirus (RV) 16 (MOI1). Cell-free supernatant was collected after 1 h for neutrophil elastase (NE) and matrix metalloproteinase- (MMP-) 9 measurements or after 24 h for CXCL8 release. Results. Constitutive NE was enhanced in AGood neutrophils compared to HC. fMLF stimulated neutrophils from ASubopt but not AGood produced 50% of HC levels. fMLF induced MMP-9 was impaired in ASubopt and AGood compared to HC. fMLF stimulated CXCL8 but not MMP-9 was positively correlated with FEV1 and FEV1/FVC. ASubopt and AGood responded similarly to other stimuli. Conclusions. Circulating neutrophils are different in asthma; however, this is likely to be related to airflow limitation rather than asthma control.
Explorations of sequential ATPG using Boolean satisfiability

Presents a sequential test generation method based on Boolean satisfiability. The method produces near-minimal test sizes. The authors discuss the flexibility provided by Boolean satisfiability to extend the fault model to realistic faults. Experimental results using ISCAS-89 benchmark circuits and comparisons with previously published results are presented. <<ETX>>
Beauty Contests and Iterated Expectations in Asset Markets *

In a financial market where traders are risk averse and short lived, and prices are noisy, asset prices today depend on the average expectation today of tomorrow's price. Thus (iterating this relationship) the date 1 price equals the date 1 average expectation of the date 2 average expectation of the date 3 price. This will not in general equal the date 1 average expectation of the date 3 price. We show how this failure of the law of iterated expectations for average belief can help understand the role of higher order beliefs in a fully rational asset pricing model and explain over-reaction to (noisy) public information. * We thank the editor, Maureen O'Hara and a referee for comments on an earlier draft. We also thank seminar participants at the LSE, the Bank of England, the IMF, Stan-ford, the accounting theory mini-conference at Chicago GSB, and the Gerzensee finance meetings for their comments. We thank Mehul Kamdar for capable research assistance. 1 " . professional investment may be likened to those newspaper competitions in which the competitors have to pick out the six prettiest faces from a hundred photographs, the prize being awarded to the competitor whose choice most nearly corresponds to the average preferences of the competitors as a whole; so that each competitor has to pick, not those faces which he himself finds prettiest, but those which he thinks likeliest to catch the fancy of the other competitors, all of whom are looking at the problem from the same point of view. It is not a case of choosing those which, to the best of one's judgement, are really the prettiest, nor even those which average opinion genuinely thinks the prettiest. We have reached the third degree where we devote our intelli-gences to anticipating what average opinion expects the average opinion to be. And there are some, I believe, who practise the fourth, fifth and higher degrees. " Keynes (1936), page 156.
Redshifted and Blueshifted Broad Lines in Luminous Quasars

We have observed a sample of 22 luminous quasars, in the range 2.0≲z≲2.5, at 1.6 μm with the near-infrared (NIR) spectrograph FSPEC on the Multiple Mirror Telescope. Our sample contains 13 radio-loud and nine radio-quiet objects. We have measured the systemic redshifts zsys directly from the strong [O III] λ5007 line emitted from the narrow-line region. From the same spectra, we have found that the nonresonance broad Hβ lines have a systematic mean redward shift of 520±80 km s-1 with respect to systemic. Such a shift was not found in our identical analysis of the low-redshift sample of Boroson & Green. The amplitude of this redshift is comparable to half the expected gravitational redshift and transverse Doppler effects and is consistent with a correlation between redshift differences and quasar luminosity. From data in the literature, we confirm that the high-ionization rest-frame ultraviolet broad lines are blueshifted ~550-1050 km s-1 from systemic and that these velocity shifts systematically increase with ionization potential. Our results allow us to quantify the known bias in estimating the ionizing flux from the intergalactic medium J via the proximity effect. Using redshift measurements commonly determined from strong broad-line species, like Lyα or C IV λ1549, results in an overestimation of J by factors of ~1.9-2.3. Similarly, corresponding lower limits on the density of baryons Ωb will be overestimated by factors of ~1.4-1.5. However, the low-ionization Mg II λ2798 broad line is within ~50 km s-1 of systemic and thus would be the line of choice for determining the true redshift of 1.03. 1 objects using NIR spectroscopy.
Finite element error analysis for state-constrained optimal control of the Stokes equations

An optimal control problem for 2d and 3d Stokes equations is investigated with pointwise inequality constraints on the state and the control. The paper is concerned with the full discretization of the control problem allowing for different types of discretization of both the control and the state. For instance, piecewise linear and continuous approximations of the control are included in the present theory. Under certain assumptions on the L-error of the finite element discretization of the state, error estimates for the control are derived which can be seen to be optimal since their order of convergence coincides with the one of the interpolation error. The assumptions of the L-finite-element-error can be verified for different numerical settings. Finally the results of two numerical experiments are presented.
Adaptive Epigenetic Differentiation between Upland and Lowland Rice Ecotypes Revealed by Methylation-Sensitive Amplified Polymorphism

The stress-induced epimutations could be inherited over generations and play important roles in plant adaption to stressful environments. Upland rice has been domesticated in water-limited environments for thousands of years and accumulated drought-induced epimutations of DNA methylation, making it epigenetically differentiated from lowland rice. To study the epigenetic differentiation between upland and lowland rice ecotypes on their drought-resistances, the epigenetic variation was investigated in 180 rice landraces under both normal and osmotic conditions via methylation-sensitive amplified polymorphism (MSAP) technique. Great alterations (52.9~54.3% of total individual-locus combinations) of DNA methylation are recorded when rice encountering the osmotic stress. Although the general level of epigenetic differentiation was very low, considerable level of ΦST (0.134~0.187) was detected on the highly divergent epiloci (HDE). The HDE detected in normal condition tended to stay at low levels in upland rice, particularly the ones de-methylated in responses to osmotic stress. Three out of four selected HDE genes differentially expressed between upland and lowland rice under normal or stressed conditions. Moreover, once a gene at HDE was up-/down-regulated in responses to the osmotic stress, its expression under the normal condition was higher/lower in upland rice. This result suggested expressions of genes at the HDE in upland rice might be more adaptive to the osmotic stress. The epigenetic divergence and its influence on the gene expression should contribute to the higher drought-resistance in upland rice as it is domesticated in the water-limited environment.
Thesis Proposal

Software engineering methods and tools are available and well understood for developing single systems. Most companies however stay within the same domain from project to project or sell products in the same market segment for years. For these companies to be competitive it is essential to reuse artefacts from one product in another in order to improve time to market, achieve systematic reuse goals and improve their product quality. In order to benefit from mass customization it is essential to get control over diverse product configurations.
Detecting the Evolution of Semantics and Individual Beliefs through Statistical Analysis of Language Use

Individual differences in semantics and beliefs have up to now been identified primarily by questioning people. However, semantics and beliefs can also be observed in concrete, quantifiable contexts such as reaction-time experiments. Here we demonstrate an automatic mechanism which can replicate such semantics by observing regularities in language use through statistical text analysis. We postulate that human children, who are fantastic pattern recognizers, may also exploit this same information, thus our mechanism may be an essential module in a human-like cognitive system. In this article we first review the underlying theories and existing results, then present the tool itself. We validate the tool against existing semantic priming reaction-time results. Finally we use the tool to explore the evolution of beliefs extracted from three sources: the Bible, the works of Shakespeare and the contemporary British National Corpus.
Ant Colony Optimization: Introduction and Hybridizations

This paper contains complimentary material to the tutorial "ant colony optimization: introduction and hybridizations" given by the author at HIS 2007, Kaiserslautern, Germany. First, ant colony optimization is shortly introduced. Then, successful recent hybridizations of ant colony optimization algorithms with other techniques for optimization are reviewed.
How does the Brain Represent Cooperative Actions? Investigating the Embodiment of a Two-Person Grasping Task

Humans are capable of coordinating their actions with one another to achieve joint outcomes. In such joint actions, we must plan and execute our actions relative to those of our partners. Using a joint grasping task, this research examined the extent to which co-actors represent their partner’s actions during interpersonal coordination to facilitate cooperative actions. Two participants at a time worked together to grasp an object, such that each person used their index and middle fingers of one hand to push from opposite directions against the sides of the object to lift it. Results suggested that co-actors represented each other’s actions during the joint (cooperative) performance of the task, and that their kinematics were entrained into spatial and temporal synchrony. This supports the idea that during joint actions humans form task representations that specify not only their own part, but also the part to be performed by their partners.
'Ere be dragons: heart and health.

The paper describes an innovative pervasive game which uses both GPS and heart-rate monitoring in a mobile device. The objectives of the game’s development include a health science agenda concerned with the player’s wellbeing and physical activity, prompted by increasing concern over the health consequences of modern ways of living. Game design issues concerned with the use of heart-rate data are discussed, focusing on the meanings which can be extracted from the data and how these may be represented for effective gameplay.
From SATE to PATT : Combining Experimental with Observational Studies to Estimate Population Treatment Effects ∗

Randomised controlled trials (RCTs) can provide unbiased estimates of sample average treatment effects. However, a common concern is that RCTs often fail to provide unbiased estimates of population average treatment effects. We derive the assumptions for identifying population average treatment effects from RCTs. We provide a set of placebo tests, which formally follow from the identifying assumptions, that can assess whether the assumptions hold. We offer new research designs for estimating population effects that use non-random studies (NRSs) to adjust the RCT data. One design does not require a selection on observables assumption. We apply our approach to a cost-effectiveness analysis of a controversial clinical intervention, Pulmonary Artery Catheterization (PAC).