Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
E3 Ubiquitin Ligase NEDD4 Promotes Influenza Virus Infection by Decreasing Levels of the Antiviral Protein IFITM3

Interferon (IFN)-induced transmembrane protein 3 (IFITM3) is a cell-intrinsic factor that limits influenza virus infections. We previously showed that IFITM3 degradation is increased by its ubiquitination, though the ubiquitin ligase responsible for this modification remained elusive. Here, we demonstrate that the E3 ubiquitin ligase NEDD4 ubiquitinates IFITM3 in cells and in vitro. This IFITM3 ubiquitination is dependent upon the presence of a PPxY motif within IFITM3 and the WW domain-containing region of NEDD4. In NEDD4 knockout mouse embryonic fibroblasts, we observed defective IFITM3 ubiquitination and accumulation of high levels of basal IFITM3 as compared to wild type cells. Heightened IFITM3 levels significantly protected NEDD4 knockout cells from infection by influenza A and B viruses. Similarly, knockdown of NEDD4 in human lung cells resulted in an increase in steady state IFITM3 and a decrease in influenza virus infection, demonstrating a conservation of this NEDD4-dependent IFITM3 regulatory mechanism in mouse and human cells. Consistent with the known association of NEDD4 with lysosomes, we demonstrate for the first time that steady state turnover of IFITM3 occurs through the lysosomal degradation pathway. Overall, this work identifies the enzyme NEDD4 as a new therapeutic target for the prevention of influenza virus infections, and introduces a new paradigm for up-regulating cellular levels of IFITM3 independently of IFN or infection.
A multimodal networked kissing machine for mobile phones

Internet communication has revolutionised human communication, which is rapidly migrating from the physical world to the digital world. However, digital communication is often criticised for encouraging social isolation, and diminishing our abilities to empathise and form emotional bonds. Communication technologies still focus on transmitting visual and audio information, thus missing the emotional exchange during face-to-face interaction expressed through physical contact and non-verbal cues.
Kepler Rotation Effects on the Binary-Lens Microlensing Events

We investigate the effects of the Kepler rotation of lens binaries on the binary-microlensing events towards the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) and the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC). It is found that the rotation effects cannot always be neglected when the lens binaries are in the LMC disk or the SMC disk, i.e., when they are self-lensing. Therefore we suggest that it will be necessary to consider the rotation effects in the analyses of the coming binary events if the microlensing events towards the halo are self-lensing. As an example, we reexamine the MACHO LMC-9 event, in which the slow transverse velocity of the lens binary suggests a microlensing event in the LMC disk. From a simple analysis, it is shown that the lens binary with total mass $\sim 1M_{\odot}$ rotates by more than $\sim 60^{\circ}$ during the Einstein radius crossing time. However, the fitting of MACHO LMC-9 with an additional parameter, the rotation period, shows that the rotation effects are small, i.e., the projected rotation angle is only $\sim 5.9^{\circ} (M/M_{\odot})^{1/4}$ during the Einstein radius crossing time. This contradiction can be settled if the physical parameters, such as the mass and the velocity, are different in this event, the binary is nearly edge-on, or the binary is very eccentric, though definite conclusions cannot be drawn from this single event. If the microlensing events towards the halo are due to self-lensing, binary-events for which the rotation effects are important will increase and stronger constraints on the nature of the lenses will be obtained.
Policy and Politics on the Web: Virtual Policy Networks and Climate Change

This paper analyses policy information on the Web to understand how the hyperlinked organization of webpages, produced by real world, web-enabled policy communities, influences the structure and content of the Web’s information supply. These virtual networks of information will be referred to as virtual policy networks (VPN), which are defined as observable patterns of relations among web-enabled policy communities. The organization of virtual teams, social networks and online communities is well documented; however, similar considerations of real world policy communities that are fully established, and then become web-enabled are sparse. This project takes tentative steps towards addressing this dearth in the literature by examining the networked relations of the Canadian climate change VPN. The key research question addressed in this project is whether or not the Canadian climate change VPN is structurally and relationally analogous to the real world climate change policy community. As virtual policy works are produced by real world web-enabled policy communities it is hypothesized that the Canadian climate change VPN will mimic the real world policy community’s patterns of communication and organization.
Neuroanatomical Assessment of the Integrin β3 Mouse Model Related to Autism and the Serotonin System Using High Resolution MRI

The integrinβ3 (ITGβ3) gene has been associated with both autism and the serotonin system. The purpose of this study was to examine the volumetric differences in the brain of an ITGβ3 homozygous knockout mouse model compared with a corresponding wild-type mouse using high resolution magnetic resonance imaging and detailed statistical analyses. The most striking difference found was an 11% reduction in total brain volume. Moreover, 32 different regions were found to have significantly different relative volumes (percentage total brain volume) in the ITGβ3 mouse. A number of interesting differences relevant to autism were discovered including a smaller corpus callosum volume and bilateral decreases in the hippocampus, striatum, and cerebellum. Relative volume increases were also found in the frontal and parieto-temporal lobes as well as in the amygdala. Particularly intriguing were the changes in the lateral wings of the dorsal raphe nuclei since that nucleus is so integral to the development of many different brain regions and the serotonin system in general.
2 REQUIREMENTS ENGINEERING WITH VIEWPOINTS

The process of understanding the system under analysis, the services required of it, its environment and associated constraints involves the capture, analysis and resolution of many ideas, perspectives and relationships at varying levels of detail. We believe requirements methods based on global reasoning lack the expressive framework to adequately articulate this distributed requirements knowledge structure. This paper describes the problems faced in trying to establish an adequate and stable set of requirements and proposes a novel ViewpointOriented Requirements Definition method (VORD) as a means of tackling some of these problems. This method structures the requirements engineering process using viewpoints which are associated with sources of requirements. The paper describes VORD in the light of current viewpoint-oriented requirements approaches and shows how its improves on them. A simple example of a bank auto-teller system is used to demonstrate the method.
Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences the Role of Reactive Oxygen Species and Proinflammatory Cytokines in Type 1 Diabetes Pathogenesis

Type 1 diabetes (T1D) is a T cell–mediated autoimmune disease characterized by the destruction of insulin-secreting pancreatic ␤ cells. In humans with T1D and in nonobese diabetic (NOD) mice (a murine model for human T1D), autoreactive T cells cause ␤-cell destruction, as transfer or deletion of these cells induces or prevents disease, respectively. CD4 + and CD8 + T cells use distinct effector mechanisms and act at different stages throughout T1D to fuel pancreatic ␤-cell destruction and disease pathogenesis. While these adaptive immune cells employ distinct mechanisms for ␤-cell destruction, one central means for enhancing their autoreactivity is by the secretion of proinflammatory cytokines, such as IFN-␥, TNF-␣, and IL-1. In addition to their production by diabetogenic T cells, proinflammatory cytokines are induced by reactive oxygen species (ROS) via redox-dependent signaling pathways. Highly reactive molecules, proinflammatory cytokines are produced upon lymphocyte infiltration into pancreatic islets and induce disease pathogenicity by directly killing ␤ cells, which characteristically possess low levels of antioxidant defense enzymes. In addition to ␤-cell destruction, proinflammatory cytokines are necessary for efficient adaptive immune maturation, and in the context of T1D they exacerbate autoimmunity by intensifying adaptive immune responses. The first half of this review discusses the mechanisms by which autoreactive T cells induce T1D pathogenesis and the importance of ROS for efficient adaptive immune activation, which, in the context of T1D, exacerbates autoimmunity. The second half provides a comprehensive and detailed analysis of (1) the mechanisms by which cytokines such as IL-1 and IFN-␥ influence islet insulin secretion and apoptosis and (2) the key free radicals and transcription factors that control these processes. Type 1 diabetes: a T cell–mediated autoimmune disease Type 1 diabetes (T1D) is a polygenic autoimmune disease characterized by the destruction of insulin-secreting pancreatic ␤ cells. Precipitating from a loss of self-tolerance, adaptive immune lymphocytes, such as CD4 + and CD8 + T cells, in addition to B cells, play a prominent role in ␤-cell destruction. 1–5 With disease incidence climbing steadily at a rate of 3% per year and a concordance rate of 40–60% for monozygotic twins, genetics cannot be the only contributing factor to disease onset. 6–8 Until insulin was discovered as the hormone responsible for maintaining glucose homeostasis in the 1920s, T1D was a lethal disease; but despite the current widespread use of exogenous insulin to maintain normal blood glucose, insulin insufficiency in vital organs leads to numerous life-threatening complications, including …
Maxillary sinus manifestations of methamphetamine abuse

Methamphetamines are the second most commonly used illicit drug worldwide and cost the United States health-care system ~$23.4 billion annually. Use of this drug affects multiple organ systems and causes a variety of clinical manifestations. Although there are commonly known sequelae of methamphetamine abuse such as “meth mouth,” there is limited evidence regarding maxillary sinus manifestations. The following cases highlight the initial evaluation and management of two methamphetamine abusers with loculated purulent collections within the maxillary sinus as a result of methamphetamine abuse. Our aim was to delineate the otolaryngologic symptoms associated with the patients' methamphetamine abuse. Computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging studies revealed loculated purulent collections within the maxillary sinus of probable odontogenic origin in both patients. Methamphetamine abuse leading to rampant caries and poor oral hygiene may predispose individuals for craniofacial infections and fluid collections. These cases illustrate the development of maxillary sinusitis and maxilla mucoceles that have been associated with methamphetamine use.
Forecast Quality and Simple Instrument Rules: A Real-Time Data Approach

We start from the assertion that a useful monetary policy design should be founded on more realistic assumptions about what policymakers can know at the time when policy decisions have to be made. Since the Taylor rule – if used as an operational device - implies a forward looking behaviour, we analyze the reliability of the input information. We investigate the forecasting performance of OECD projections for GDP growth rates and inflation. We diagnose a much better forecasting record for inflation rates compared to GDP growth rates, which for most countries are almost uninformative at the time a Taylor rule should sensibly be applied. Using this data set, we find significant differences between Taylor rules estimated over revised data compared to real-time data. There is evidence that monetary policy seems to react more actively in real time than rules estimated over revised data suggest. Given the evidence of systematic errors in OECD forecasts, in a next step we attempt to correct for these forecast biases and check to which extent this can lower the errors in interest rate policy setting. An ex-ante simulation for the years 1991 to 2001 supports the proposal that correcting for forecast errors and biases based on an error model can lower the resulting policy error in interest rate setting for most countries under consideration. In addition we investigate to what extent structural changes in the policy reaction behaviour can be handled with moving instead of expanding samples. Our results point out that the information set available needs a careful examination when applied to instrument rules like those of the Taylor type. Limited forecast quality and significant data revisions recommend a more sophisticated handling of the dated information, for which we present an operational procedure that has the potential of reducing the risk of severe policy errors.
Seasonal unit root tests for the monthly container transshipment of the port of Hamburg

This paper investigates the seasonal behaviour of monthly container transshipment data of the port of Hamburg. The test procedures of Franses and Beaulieu-Miron are used to examine the presence of multiple unit roots in the monthly seasonal frequencies. This is followed by the Canova-Hansen procedure for testing the stability of the seasonal patterns. Evidence suggests that these monthly transshipment data are non-stationary at frequency zero and have no seasonal unit roots. The analysis shows that the process is in the long run integrated of order one and that the seasonal variations can be modelled by dummy variables. Using the deterministic seasonality found here, further analysis and forecasting of container throughput of the port of Hamburg can be improved for market participants like containership lines.
Combined use of ground learning model and active compliance to the motion control of walking robotic legs

The foot force/position adjustment method, the hybrid ground-learning model and active compliance force control method (or hybrid GLAC method), is introduced. The proposed method combines the active compliance force control with a ground-learning model for controlling the leg motion of the robot. The ground model reflects the relationship between the leg-end force and the sinkage. To verify the control quality of the proposed method together with the active compliance (AC) control and ground learning model control, experiments based on a robotic leg have been carried out on hard and soft terrain, respectively. The results show that the proposed method can ensure the actual leg-end force to follow closely the changing of reference forces both on hard and soft terrain. Therefore, by using the hybrid GLAC control, the error of the actual forces relative to the reference forces can be reduced more quickly than by using the AC method alone.
Golden Mandarin (I)-A real-time Mandarin speech dictation machine for Chinese language with very large vocabulary

The first successfully implemented real-time Mandarin dictation machine, which recognizes Mandarin speech with very large vocabulary and almost unlimited texts for the input of Chinese characters into computers, is described. The machine is speaker-dependent, and the input speech is in the form of sequences of isolated syllables. The machine can be decomposed into two subsystems. The first subsystem recognizes the syllables using hidden Markov models. Because every syllable can represent many different homonym characters and form different multisyllabic words with syllables on its right or left, the second subsystem is needed to identify the exact characters from the syllables and correct the errors in syllable recognition. The real-time implementation is on an IBM PC/AT, connected to three sets of specially designed hardware boards on which seven TMS 320C25 chips operate in parallel. The preliminary test results indicate that it takes only about 0.45 s to dictate a syllable (or character) with an accuracy on the order of 90%. >
Application of particle filter in high accuracy geometry measurement

In order to enhance the adaptability of visual inspection systems to different environmental illuminations and backgrounds in projects, to eliminate the interference owing to various disturbances, such as the noises of inside circuits, the ideal model and the actual situation with the disturbances of noise of a gray transition region of a target edge was investigated and a new self-adaptive method for noise elimination and image segmentation based on a particle filter was proposed. First, the noise particle set of the pixels in the gray transition region of the target edge at the initial time was established, posterior probability density of noise particle was acquired through the recursive Bayesian estimation method, and disturbances on pixels of the gray transition region of the target edge was eliminated. Then, the iterate result of the precise edge position was estimated for the instability of the grey value of pixels in the gray transition region of the target edge. Finally, the geometrical parameters of the target concerned were solved with the computation of the data of the complete contour extracted. Using the method, the angle measurement accuracy is less than 0.0068 degrees, and the standard deviation is 0.00123; the diameter ratio measurement accuracy is less than 0.00057 degrees, and the standard deviation is 8.67215E-5. In conclusion, the proposed algorithm can quickly and precisely achieve the noise elimination and image segmentation.
Hypoellipticity and loss of derivatives

Let {X1, . , Xp} be complex-valued vector fields in Rn and assume that they satisfy the bracket condition (i.e. that their Lie algebra spans all vector fields). Our object is to study the operator E = X.i Xi, where X.i is the L2 adjoint of Xi. A result of Hi§ormander is that when the Xi are real then E is hypoelliptic and furthemore it is subelliptic (the restriction of a destribution u to an open set U is i°smootheri± then the restriction of Eu to U). When the Xi are complex-valued if the bracket condition of order one is satisfied (i.e. if the {Xi, [Xi,Xj ]} span), then we prove that the operator E is still subelliptic. This is no longer true if brackets of higher order are needed to span. For each k iA 1 we give an example of two complex-valued vector fields, X1 and X2, such that the bracket condition of order k+1 is satisfied and we prove that the operator E = X.1X1 + X.2X2 is hypoelliptic but that it is not subelliptic. In fact it i°losesi± k derivatives in the sense that, for each m, there exists a distribution u whose restriction to an open set U has the property that the D¥aEu are bounded on U whenever |¥a| iÂ m and for some ¥â, with |¥â| = m . k + 1, the restriction of D¥âu to U is not locally bounded.
Color images face recognition based on multi-classification support vector machine

Skin color information plays an important role in face detection and recognition. By a large number of skin pixels statistics, the model of face skin color information is constructed in YUV and YCbCr color spaces. The Mahalanobis distance map of the image is obtained to extract features and establish Eigenfaces space. A novel Support Vector Machine method based on error-correcting codes matrix is proposed. The algorithm is loop-arranged and symmetrical divided classes of multi-classification problem, and the class of an unknown sample is obtained by the decode function based on error-correcting codes matrix. Experimental results demonstrate that using YCbCr color information and a new SVM in face recognition is effective.
The Path to Prosperity: Internationally Competitive Rates and a Level Playing Field

While Canadian federal and provincial governments have made progress in reducing the tax burden on business investment in recent years, the 2009 budget season also saw more counterproductive tax policies that favour certain industries and disadvantage others. In this Commentary, the authors assess the implications of these trends for Canada’s competitiveness as they update their annual survey of marginal effective tax rates in Canada and individual provinces.
Direction Finding of Maximum Likelihood Algorithm Using Artificial Bee Colony in the Impulsive Noise

A virtual multi-element uniform linear array is constructed through fractional lower order covariance matrix of the minimum redundant array in the presence of impulsive noise. Based on virtual multi-element uniform linear array and reconstructed fractional lower order covariance matrix, a novel maximum likelihood (ML) algorithm is proposed. The proposed algorithm utilized few virtual elements and expanded the number of effective aperture array, while significantly improving the performance of the original ML algorithms. In order to fit the proposed direction finding algorithm based on the minimum redundant array and fractional lower order covariance matrix, a bee colony algorithm is applied to objective function of direction finding. Monte-Carlo simulations have proved that the proposed method has some good performance such as high resolution in the presence of impulse noise and the capability of using a small number of elements to find more signal sources.
Calorie restriction in biosphere 2: alterations in physiologic, hematologic, hormonal, and biochemical parameters in humans restricted for a 2-year period.

Four female and four male crew members, including two of the present authors (R. Walford and T. MacCallum)--seven of the crew being ages 27 to 42 years, and one aged 67 years--were sealed inside Biosphere 2 for two years. During seven eighths of that period they consumed a low-calorie (1750-2100 kcal/d) nutrient-dense diet of vegetables, fruits, nuts, grains, and legumes, with small amounts of dairy, eggs, and meat (approximately 12% calories from protein, approximately 11% from fat, and approximately 77% from complex carbohydrates). They experienced a marked and sustained weight loss of 17 +/- 5%, mostly in the first 8 months. Blood was drawn before entry into Biosphere 2, at many time-points inside it, and four times during the 30 months following exit from it and return to an ad libitum diet. Longitudinal studies of 50 variables on each crew member compared outside and inside values by means of a Bayesian statistical analysis. The data show that physiologic (e.g., body mass index, with a decrease of 19% for men and 13% for women; blood pressure, with a systolic decrease of 25% and a diastolic decrease of 22%), hematologic (e.g., white blood cell count, decreased 31%), hormonal (e.g., insulin, decreased 42%; T3, decreased 19%), biochemical (e.g., blood sugar, decreased 21%; cholesterol, decreased 30%), and a number of additional changes, including values for rT3, cortisol, glycated hemoglobin, plus others, resembled those of rodents or monkeys maintained on a calorie-restricted regime. Significant variations in several substances not hitherto studied in calorie-restricted animals are also reported (e.g., androstenedione, thyroid binding globulin, renin, and transferrin). We conclude that healthy nonobese humans on a low-calorie, nutrient-dense diet show physiologic, hematologic, hormonal, and biochemical changes resembling those of rodents and monkeys on such diets. With regard to the health of humans on such a diet, we observed that despite the selective restriction in calories and marked weight loss, all crew members remained in excellent health and sustained a high level of physical and mental activity throughout the entire 2 years.