Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Induction of NOS in rat blood PMN in vivo and in vitro: modulation by tyrosine kinase and involvement in bactericidal activity

Intravenous administration of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) to rats increased the production of nitric oxide (NO) metabolites (NOx) by blood polymorphonuclear neutrophils (PMN) in vitro. Both dexamethasone and L‐NMMA, added in vitro to neutrophil cultures, inhibited the production of NO. On the other hand, the production of NO was not affected by the treatment, in vivo or in vitro, with different inhibitors of cyclooxygenase or 5‐lipoxygenase or with a platelet‐activating factor (PAF) antagonist. The incubation of blood PMN from normal rats in vitro with neutrophil activators (PAF, leukotriene B4, and interleukin‐8) and different cytokines [interleukin‐1, tumor necrosis factor α, and interferon‐γ (IFN‐γ)] showed that only IFN‐γ was able to induce the production of high amounts of NO. This induction was directly correlated with the expression of iNOS and an increase in in the enzyme activity in blood PMN. The tyrosine kinase inhibitor genistein inhibited NO production induced by IFN‐γ, suggesting that the signal transduction pathway leading to NOS induction in rat PMN involves phosphorylation by tyrosine kinase. We also showed that NO produced by IFN‐γ activated rat blood PMN involved in the killing of Pseudomonas aeruginosa. J. Leukoc. Biol. 65: 508–514; 1999.
Nonlinear Interaction between Shunting and Adaptation Controls a Switch between Integration and Coincidence Detection in Pyramidal Neurons

The membrane conductance of a pyramidal neuron in vivo is substantially increased by background synaptic input. Increased membrane conductance, or shunting, does not simply reduce neuronal excitability. Recordings from hippocampal pyramidal neurons using dynamic clamp revealed that adaptation caused complete cessation of spiking in the high conductance state, whereas repetitive spiking could persist despite adaptation in the low conductance state. This behavior was reproduced in a phase plane model and was explained by a shunting-induced increase in voltage threshold. The increase in threshold allows greater activation of the M current (I M) at subthreshold potentials and reduces the minimum adaptation required to stabilize the system; in contrast, activation of the afterhyperpolarization current is unaffected by the increase in threshold and therefore remains unable to stop repetitive spiking. The nonlinear interaction between shunting and I M has other important consequences. First, timing of spikes elicited by brief stimuli is more precise when background spikes elicited by sustained input are prohibited, as occurs exclusively with I M-mediated adaptation in the high conductance state. Second, activation of I M at subthreshold potentials, which is increased in the high conductance state, hyperpolarizes average membrane potential away from voltage threshold, allowing only large, rapid fluctuations to reach threshold and elicit spikes. These results suggest that the shift from a low to high conductance state in a pyramidal neuron is accompanied by a switch from encoding time-averaged input with firing rate to encoding transient inputs with precisely timed spikes, in effect, switching the operational mode from integration to coincidence detection.
New Method of Testability Calculation to Guide RT-Level Test Generation

There have been a number of approaches to high-level testability proposed over the recent years. The known methods have been implemented in test synthesis and in guiding gate-level test generation. However, works on application of testability measures to guide high-level test generation are missing. The main aim of this paper is to fill this gap. We propose a new method for calculating testability measures at the register-transfer level based on decision diagram models. The method is compared to a recent approach known from the test synthesis area. The experiments show that testability measures greatly influence the fault coverage in RT-level test generation with the proposed approach achieving the best results. Similar to earlier works, our research confirms that RTlevel fault coverage is in correlation with logic level one.
A tutorial survey on vehicular ad hoc networks

There has been significant interest and progress in the field of vehicular ad hoc networks over the last several years. VANETs comprise vehicle-to-vehicle and vehicle-to-infrastructure communications based on wireless local area network technologies. The distinctive set of candidate applications (e.g., collision warning and local traffic information for drivers), resources (licensed spectrum, rechargeable power source), and the environment (e.g., vehicular traffic flow patterns, privacy concerns) make the VANET a unique area of wireless communication. This article gives an overview of the field, providing motivations, challenges, and a snapshot of proposed solutions.
CandidaDB: a multi-genome database for Candida species and related Saccharomycotina

CandidaDB (http://genodb.pasteur.fr/CandidaDB) was established in 2002 to provide the first genomic database for the human fungal pathogen Candida albicans. The availability of an increasing number of fully or partially completed genome sequences of related fungal species has opened the path for comparative genomics and prompted us to migrate CandidaDB into a multi-genome database. The new version of CandidaDB houses the latest versions of the genomes of C. albicans strains SC5314 and WO-1 along with six genome sequences from species closely related to C. albicans that all belong to the CTG clade of Saccharomycotina—Candida tropicalis, Candida (Clavispora) lusitaniae, Candida (Pichia) guillermondii, Lodderomyces elongisporus, Debaryomyces hansenii, Pichia stipitis—and the reference Saccharomyces cerevisiae genome. CandidaDB includes sequences coding for 54 170 proteins with annotations collected from other databases, enriched with illustrations of structural features and functional domains and data of comparative analyses. In order to take advantage of the integration of multiple genomes in a unique database, new tools using pre-calculated or user-defined comparisons have been implemented that allow rapid access to comparative analysis at the genomic scale.
Design of Trapezoidal Patch Antenna with Inverted and Non- Inverted V-Shape Slot

This paper covers two aspects of microstrip antenna design. The first is the analysis of trapezoidal patch microstrip antenna with V-shaped slot which operate at the centre frequency of 5.5 GHz. The second aspects are the analysis and design of inverted V-shaped slot cut trapezoidal microstrip antenna operates at centre frequency of 4.1 GHz. The simulation has been done through IE3D simulator. The properties of antenna such as Bandwidth, S-parameter, and VSWR has been investigated and compared between a trapezoidal microstrip antenna with or without inverted V-shape slot.
Gadolinium--a specific trigger for the development of nephrogenic fibrosing dermopathy and nephrogenic systemic fibrosis?

Nephrogenic fibrosing dermopathy (NFD) is an acquired, idiopathic disorder that is observed in patients with renal disease. Most patients with NFD have undergone dialysis for renal failure [1,2]. It tends to affect mostly the middle-aged. An association of NFD with coagulation abnormalities, recent vascular surgery or intervention (e.g. shunt/fistula and angioplasty), and presence of antiphospholipid antibodies has been discussed by several authors thus far [1,3], but the origin of the disease is still unknown. A more widespread variant of this fibrosing skin disease with involvement of other organs (e.g. lungs, liver, muscles and the heart) is described as nephrogenic systemic fibrosis (NSF) by Leboit [4], Ting et al. [5] and Daram et al. [6]. NFD is characterized clinically by thickening, induration and hardening of the skin. Distinct nodules also can be seen. The (distal) extremities are the most common area of involvement, followed by the trunk, and the face is almost never involved [1]. The diagnosis of NFD is confirmed in a skin biopsy by specific histopathologic features, namely thickened collagen bundles with surrounding clefts, mucin deposition and a proliferation of fibroblasts and elastic fibers. Signs of inflammation are absent, which makes this disorder a distinct entity [1,7]. In this report, nine end stage renal disease patients undergoing magnetic resonance (MR) angiography are presented, in five of whom skin changes of nephrogenic fibrosing dermatopathy became apparent about 2–4 weeks after the administration of gadolinium (Gd)-containing contrast agent for MR. Patients with and without NFD were compared for possible risk factors to develop this skin disease. Gd is thought to be safe as a contrast agent in renal failure. This case series however, demonstrates that Gd–DTPA possibly plays a triggering role in the development of NFD under certain circumstances.
An Efficient Delta Synchronization Algorithm for Mobile Cloud Storage Applications

In cloud storage applications where the data is shared by multiple mobile users, it is essential to provide the consistency among mobile users by means of appropriate synchronization algorithms. In particular, if the data is frequently updated and the number of mobile users sharing the data is large, the synchronization traffic can be significant. Moreover, the excessive synchronization traffic in mobile networks is more important in terms of radio resource utilization and energy consumption. In this paper, we propose an efficient delta synchronization (EDS) algorithm that aggregates the updated data to reduce the synchronization traffic and synchronizes the aggregated one periodically to satisfy the consistency. To find out the optimal policy for the aggregation and the periodical synchronization, an optimization problem is formulated as a Markov decision process (MDP) and a value iteration algorithm is presented for computing the stationary deterministic policy. Numerical results demonstrate that EDS can choose the optimal action that strikes a balance between the reduction of the synchronization traffic and the satisfaction of the consistency.
On the Origin of Environments by Means of Natural Selection

The field of adaptive robotics involves simulations and real-world implementations of robots that adapt to their environments. In this article, I introduce adaptive environmentics -- the flip side of adaptive robotics -- in which the environment adapts to the robot. To illustrate the approach, I offer three simple experiments in which a genetic algorithm is used to shape an environment for a simulated khepera robot. I then discuss at length the potential of adaptive environmentics, also delineating several possible avenues of future research.
Comparative GC/MS analysis of essential oils extracted by 3 methods from the bud of Citrus aurantium L. var. amara Engl.

UNLABELLED A comparative study of steam distillation extraction (SDE), reflux extraction (RE), and ultrasound-assisted extraction (USE) was conducted for the extraction of essential oils from the bud of Citrus aurantium L. var. amara Engl. Each method was evaluated in terms of qualitative and quantitative composition of the isolated essential oil by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS). The extract yields of essential oil were 0.16%, 2.18%, and 2.34%, respectively. A total of 82 compounds were identified by GC/MS. The main components obtained by SDE were terpinen-4-ol (20.98%), dipentene (11.67%), terpinene (9.24%), those by RE were palmitic acid (20.61%), 2-chloroethyl linoleate (14.54%), tetracosane (12.26%), and α-linolenic acid (11.24%), and those by USE were tetracosane (11.32%), heneicosane (11.06%), and palmitic acid (8.76%). Comparative analysis indicated that SDE was favorable for the extraction of monoterpene hydrocarbons, sesquiterpene hydrocarbons, alcohols, and carbonyl compounds, RE and USE had certain advantages in the extraction of aliphatic saturated hydrocarbons, organic acids, and esters. It is concluded that different extraction methods may lead to different yields of essential oils; the choice of appropriate method is very important to obtain more desired components with higher physiological activities. PRACTICAL APPLICATION C. aurantium oils from different plant parts have great economic, medicinal, and nutritional values because of their wide-spectrum biological activities. The essential oil from C. aurantium L. var amara is one of the best C. aurantium oils. The data presented in this article will help us understand the relationship between essential oils and its extraction methods and know more about the aromatic components of Citrus aurantium bud. The methods established in this study will provide useful reference information for further studies, and offer essential oil industries with helpful guidance in practice.
Automated cell nucleus detection for large-volume electron microscopy of neural tissue

Volumetric electron microscopy techniques, such as serial block-face electron microscopy (SBEM), generate massive amounts of image data that are used for reconstructing neural circuits. Typically, this requires time-intensive manual annotation of cells and their connections. To facilitate this analysis, we study the problem of automated detection of cell nuclei in a new SBEM dataset that contains cerebral cortex, white matter, and striatum from an adult mouse brain. The dataset was manually annotated to identify the locations of all 3309 cell nuclei in the volume. We make both dataset and annotations available here. Using a hybrid approach that combines interactive learning, morphological processing, and object level feature classification, we demonstrate automated detection of cell nuclei at 92.4% recall and 95.1% precision. These algorithms are not RAM-limited and can scale to arbitrarily large datasets.
Robust, low-cost, auditable random number generation for embedded system security

This paper presents an architecture for a discrete, high-entropy hardware random number generator. Because it is constructed out of simple hardware components, its operation is transparent and auditable. Using avalanche noise, a non-deterministic physical phenomenon, the circuit is inherently probabilistic and resists adversarial control. Furthermore, because it compares the outputs from two matched noise sources, it rejects environmental disturbances like RF energy and power supply ripple. The resulting hardware produces more than 0.98 bits of entropy per sample, is inexpensive, has a small footprint, and can be disabled to conserve power when not in use.
Chapter 7 Body Composition in Paraplegia

Paraplegia leads to immobilisation associated with profound changes in body composition. The potential risks involved with these changes i.e. loss of lean tissue mass (LM) and bone mineral density (BMD) vs. gain in fat mass (FM) in body composition have implications for the health of the disabled individuals [1]. Body fat has been identified as a significant predictor of mortality in humans making body composition measurement to quantify nutritional and health status an important issue for human health [2-4]. Moreover, some disorders such as carbohydrate intolerance, insulin resistance, lipid abnormalities, and heart disease occur prematurely and at a higher prevalence in disabled populations may be related to adverse changes in body composition that result from immobilization and skeletal muscle denervation [5]. To standardize or index physiological variables, such as resting metabolic rate and power fat free mass (FFM) is usually used [4]. Skeletal muscle represents 50% of the non fat component in the total body [6, 7] and exact quantification of the amount of skeletal muscle is important to assess nutritional status, disease risk, danger of illnesses, physical function, atrophic effects of aging, and muscle-wasting diseases [8, 9].
Virtual reality in the assessment, understanding, and treatment of mental health disorders

Mental health problems are inseparable from the environment. With virtual reality (VR), computer-generated interactive environments, individuals can repeatedly experience their problematic situations and be taught, via evidence-based psychological treatments, how to overcome difficulties. VR is moving out of specialist laboratories. Our central aim was to describe the potential of VR in mental health, including a consideration of the first 20 years of applications. A systematic review of empirical studies was conducted. In all, 285 studies were identified, with 86 concerning assessment, 45 theory development, and 154 treatment. The main disorders researched were anxiety (n = 192), schizophrenia (n = 44), substance-related disorders (n = 22) and eating disorders (n = 18). There are pioneering early studies, but the methodological quality of studies was generally low. The gaps in meaningful applications to mental health are extensive. The most established finding is that VR exposure-based treatments can reduce anxiety disorders, but there are numerous research and treatment avenues of promise. VR was found to be a much-misused term, often applied to non-interactive and non-immersive technologies. We conclude that VR has the potential to transform the assessment, understanding and treatment of mental health problems. The treatment possibilities will only be realized if – with the user experience at the heart of design – the best immersive VR technology is combined with targeted translational interventions. The capability of VR to simulate reality could greatly increase access to psychological therapies, while treatment outcomes could be enhanced by the technology's ability to create new realities. VR may merit the level of attention given to neuroimaging.
Using memory errors to attack a virtual machine

We present an experimental study showing that soft memory errors can lead to serious security vulnerabilities in Java and . NET virtual machines, or in any system that relies on type-checking of untrusted programs as a protection mechanism. Our attack works by sending to the JVM a Java program that is designed so that almost any memory error in its address space will allow it to take control of the JVM. All conventional Java and . NET virtual machines are vulnerable to this attack. The technique of the attack is broadly applicable against other language-based security schemes such as proof-carrying code. We measured the attack on two commercial Java virtual machines: Sun's and IBM's. We show that a single-bit error in the Java program's data space can be exploited to execute arbitrary code with a probability of about 70%, and multiple-bit errors with a lower probability. Our attack is particularly relevant against smart cards or tamper-resistant computers, where the user has physical access (to the outside of the computer) and can use various means to induce faults; we have successfully used heat. Fortunately, there are some straightforward defenses against this attack.
JAIST: Clustering and Classification Based Approaches for Japanese WSD

This paper reports about our three participating systems in SemEval-2 Japanese WSD task. The first one is a clustering based method, which chooses a sense for, not individual instances, but automatically constructed clusters of instances. The second one is a classification method, which is an ordinary SVM classifier with simple domain adaptation techniques. The last is an ensemble of these two systems. Results of the formal run shows the second system is the best. Its precision is 0.7476.
Note on redshift distortion in Fourier space

We explore features of redshift distortion in Fourier analysis of N-body simulations. The phases of the Fourier modes of dark matter density fluctuation are generally shifted by the peculiar motion along the line of sight, the induced phase shift is stochastic and has a probability distribution function (PDF) that is symmetric about the peak at zero shift and whose exact shape depends on the wave vector, except on very large scales where phases are invariant by linear perturbation theory. Analysis of the phase shifts motivates our phenomenological models for the bispectrum in redshift space. Comparison with simulations shows that our toy models are very successful in modeling bispectrum of equilateral and isosceles triangles at large scales. In the second part we compare the monopole of the power spectrum and bispectrum in the radial and plane-parallel distortion to test the plane-parallel approximation. We confirm the results of Scoccimarro that difference of power spectrum is at the level of 10% , and, in the reduced bispectrum, the difference is as small as a few percent. However, on the plane perpendicular to the line of sight of k z = 0 , the difference in power spectrum between the radial and plane-parallel approximation can be more than ~10% , and even worse on very small scales. Such difference is prominent for bispectrum, especially for configurations of tilted triangles. Non-Gaussian signals under the radial distortion on small scales are systematically biased downside than are in the plane-parallel approximation, with amplitudes depending on the opening angle of the sample point to the observer. This observation gives warning to the practice of using the power spectrum and bispectrum measured on the k z = 0 plane as estimates of the real space statistics.
Impact of Electronic Word of Mouth Evaluation on Purchase Intention: The Mediating Role of Attitude toward the Product

This paper examines the impact of exposure to Electronic Word of Mouth EWOM on consumer purchase intention. More specifically, the study focuses on the mediating role of attitude towards the product in the relationship between purchase intention and EWOM exposure. To this effect, the study was conducted over a number of 204 internet users who were exposed to online hotel comments. Three distinct linear correlations were used. First, the correlation between the intention to visit the hotel and EWOM evaluation, then a second correlation between attitude towards the hotel and EWOM evaluation and finally, a third multiple regression of purchase intention on both attitude towards the hotel and EWOM evaluation. The obtained results indicated that attitude towards the product is a full mediating variable between purchase intention and EWOM evaluation. The study concludes with managerial implications recommending the use of EWOM as an efficient communication tool.
A Framework for Stream Programming on DSP

There has recently been much interest in stream processing, both in industry (Cell, Storm series, NVIDIA G80, AMD FIRESTREAM) and academia (IMAGINE). Some researchers have accelerated a lot of applications in media processing, scientific computing and signal processing with a special programming style called stream programming. This paper presents a framework to program DSP with this special programming style. Stream program can run on DSP without any architectural support. H264 encoding is selected to evaluate our technique. The result shows that significant speedup is achieved, ranging from 3.2x for cavlc up to 7.1x for analysis.