Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Nerve Growth Factor and Semaphorin 3A Signaling Pathways Interact in Regulating Sensory Neuronal Growth Cone Motility

Neurotrophins and semaphorin 3A are present along pathways and in targets of developing axons of dorsal root ganglion (DRG) sensory neurons. Growth cones of sensory axons are probably regulated by interaction of cytoplasmic signaling triggered coincidentally by both types of guidance molecules. We investigated the in vitro interactions of neurotrophins and semaphorin 3A (Sema3A) in modulating growth cone behaviors of axons extended from DRGs of embryonic day 7 chick embryos. Growth cones of DRGs raised in media containing 10−9m NGF or BDNF were more resistant to Sema3A-induced growth cone collapse than when DRGs were raised in 10−11m NGF. After overnight culture in 10−11m NGF, a 1 hr treatment with 10−9m NGF or BDNF was sufficient to increase growth cone resistance to Sema3A-induced collapse. This neurotrophin-mediated decrease in the collapse response of DRG growth cones was not associated with reduced expression on growth cones of the Sema3A-binding protein neuropilin-1. A series of pharmacological studies followed. Phosphatidylinositol 3 kinase activity is not required for these effects of NGF. The effects of inhibitors and activators of protein kinase A (PKA) indicate that PKA activity is involved in NGF modulation of Sema3A-induced growth cone collapse. The effects of inhibitors and activators of PKG indicate that PKG activity is involved in Sema3A-induced growth cone collapse. The effects of inhibitors also indicate that Rho-kinase activity is involved in Sema3A-induced growth cone collapse. These results are consistent with the idea that growth cone responses to an individual guidance cue depend on coincident signaling by other guidance cues and by other regulatory pathways.
Visual Tracking of Multiple Robotic Fish for Cooperative Control

In this paper, we investigate visual tracking of multiple biomimetic robotic fish which swim together to achieve some specific tasks in underwater cluttered environments. Taking account of surrounding background and kinematic characteristics of swimming fish, a novel color-index-based identification approach is presented, which is capable of identifying many fish rapidly in a processing cycle. Meanwhile, some anti-jamming measures including optical correction and foil superposition are made to ensure a robust tracking. Finally, all tracking operations are optimized in coding with the aid of parallelized SIMD technologies embedded in processors. Our proposed visual system can experimentally track as large as an amount of eight robotic fish and one obstacle within 24.143 milliseconds, which can fully satisfy the requirements of cooperative control.
Generic Data Fusion and Aggregation Framework for Wireless Sensor Networks

Due to the large number of sensor nodes deployed in wireless sensor networks , enormous data records are usually generated. Redundant transmissions and raw data storage exhaust the limited resources in Wireless Sensor Networks (WSN). Efficient data aggregation solutions are needed to prolong the lifespan of WSN. In this thesis, we propose a generic data aggregation and fusion framework for WSN. It allows end users to express subscriptions in a SQL-like manner and have them distributed and executed efficiently. Subscriptions can be easily created, updated and removed. The framework reduces redundancy to improve bandwidth utilization and energy efficiency of sensor nodes, so that network lifetime is prolonged. On top of a cluster topology, we apply a role-based modular design on both cluster head and cluster member. With our proposed framework, we are able to carry out flexible data aggregation and fusion rules at head nodes and adaptive data filtering and localized feature extraction at end nodes. An application based on our framework is also developed for feasibility demonstration and performance evaluation. Acknowledgements This thesis has benefited from the help of many people. First and foremost, I would like to acknowledge my supervisors, Prof. Antti Ylä-Jääski from Aalto University and Associate Prof. Karl-Johan Grinnemo from Royal Institute of Technology (KTH), for guiding me through my thesis project, especially Associate Prof. Karl-Johan Grinnemo, who gave me a lot of careful and valuable comments from another country. Also, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my instructor Pin Nie from Aalto University, he gave me the most help through all my thesis project, from design, implementation, evaluation to thesis writing, and also taught me the attitude of scientific research, to treat every small problem seriously and always pursue a better solution. Second, I would like to thank my girl friend Shiru Tao, who was always the first one to give me solid support whenever I met troubles, and helped me go through the thesis project. Also, I would like to acknowledge my colleague Yi Gong. We have cooperated in nearly every project during the two years master study, and also helped each other in our daily life, I am really indebted to him for being a good friend. Last but not least, this thesis would not have been possible without the support of my parents. Thanks to them for helping me start off with a good education, from which all else …
Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition

It is sometimes supposed that category learning involves competing explicit and procedural systems, with only the former reliant on working memory capacity (WMC). In two experiments participants were trained for three blocks on both filtering (often said to be learned explicitly) and condensation (often said to be learned procedurally) category structures. Both experiments (total N = 160) demonstrated that participants with higher WMC tended to be more accurate in condensation tasks, but not less accurate in filtering tasks. Further, state-trace analysis did not find a differential influence of WMC on performance in these tasks. Finally, inspection of the mixture of response strategies at play across the two conditions and three blocks showed only a minor influence of WMC, and then only on later training blocks. The results provide no support for the existence of a ‘system’ of category learning that is independent of working-memory and are instead consistent with most single-system interpretations of category learning.
Polymorphism Analysis Reveals Reduced Negative Selection and Elevated Rate of Insertions and Deletions in Intrinsically Disordered Protein Regions

Intrinsically disordered protein regions are abundant in eukaryotic proteins and lack stable tertiary structures and enzymatic functions. Previous studies of disordered region evolution based on interspecific alignments have revealed an increased propensity for indels and rapid rates of amino acid substitution. How disordered regions are maintained at high abundance in the proteome and across taxa, despite apparently weak evolutionary constraints, remains unclear. Here, we use single nucleotide and indel polymorphism data in yeast and human populations to survey the population variation within disordered regions. First, we show that single nucleotide polymorphisms in disordered regions are under weaker negative selection compared with more structured protein regions and have a higher proportion of neutral non-synonymous sites. We also confirm previous findings that nonframeshifting indels are much more abundant in disordered regions relative to structured regions. We find that the rate of nonframeshifting indel polymorphism in intrinsically disordered regions resembles that of noncoding DNA and pseudogenes, and that large indels segregate in disordered regions in the human population. Our survey of polymorphism confirms patterns of evolution in disordered regions inferred based on longer evolutionary comparisons.
Fair Synchronization in the Presence of Process Crashes and its Weakest Failure Detector

A non-blocking implementation of a concurrent object is an implementation that does not prevent concurrent accesses to the internal representation of the object, while guaranteeing the deadlock-freedom progress condition without using locks. Considering a failure free context, G. Taubenfeld has introduced (DISC 2013) a simple modular approach, captured under a new problem called the it fair synchronization problem, to transform a non-blocking implementation into a starvation-free implementation satisfying a strong fairness requirement. This paper extends this approach in several directions. It first generalizes the fair synchronization problem to read/write asynchronous systems where any number of processes may crash. Then, it introduces a new failure detector and uses it to solve the fair synchronization problem when processes may crash. This failure detector, denoted QP (Quasi Perfect), is very close to, but strictly weaker than, the perfect failure detector. Last but not least, the paper shows that the proposed failure detector QP is optimal in the sense that the information on failures it provides to the processes can be extracted from any algorithm solving the fair synchronization problem in the presence of any number of process crash failures.
Administration of Salvianolic Acid B Attenuates Learning and Memory Deficits in Diabetic Rats: Involvement of Oxidative Stress

Background and Objective: Based on the effect of chronic metabolic diseases including diabetes mellitus on the learning and memory, this study was designed to assess the usefulness of administration of salvialonic acid B on lessening of learning and memory deficits in streptozotocin (STZ)-diabetic rats. Materials and Methods: Male Wistar rats were allocated into control, salvialonic acid B-treated control, diabetic and salvialonic acid B-treated diabetic groups. Salvialonic acid B was administered at a dose of 10 mg/kg/day for 8 weeks. Assessment of learning and memory was performed by Y maze and passive avoidance tests. Moreover, oxidative stress marker malondialdehyde (MDA) was also measured. Results: The results showed that in diabetic rats, alternation score in Y maze and retention and recall in passive avoidance test decreased in comparison with control rats (p<0.0001-p<0.01). After treatment with salvialonic acid B (10 mg/kg), alternation score and retention and recall of diabetic rats significantly improved (p<0.05-p<0.001). On the other hand, the treatment of diabetic rats with salvialonic acid B significantly decreased level of MDA (p<0.01). Conclusion: Taken together, these results show that salvialonic acid B could improve learning and memory deficits in STZ-diabetic rats by reduction of lipid peroxidation.
Comparing the predictive values of diagnostic tests: sample size and analysis for paired study designs

Background Although statistical methodology is well developed for comparing diagnostic tests in terms of their sensitivities and specificities, comparative inference about predictive values is not. Purpose In this paper we consider the design and analysis of studies comparing the positive and negative predictive values of two diagnostic tests that are measured on all subjects. Methods We focus on comparing tests using the relative positive and negative predictive values. We discuss directly estimating these quantities from the data and derive analytic variance expressions. Sample size formulas for study design ensue. Results We analyze data on patients with cystic fibrosis to illustrate the methodology. This approach is compared and contrasted with an existing regression framework that can also be used for similar analysis purposes and yields similar results. Conclusions We have developed a new approach for comparing the predictive values of two tests that gives rise to sample size formulas for study design.
The engine of the reef: photobiology of the coral–algal symbiosis

Coral reef ecosystems thrive in tropical oligotrophic oceans because of the relationship between corals and endosymbiotic dinoflagellate algae called Symbiodinium. Symbiodinium convert sunlight and carbon dioxide into organic carbon and oxygen to fuel coral growth and calcification, creating habitat for these diverse and productive ecosystems. Light is thus a key regulating factor shaping the productivity, physiology, and ecology of the coral holobiont. Similar to all oxygenic photoautotrophs, Symbiodinium must safely harvest sunlight for photosynthesis and dissipate excess energy to prevent oxidative stress. Oxidative stress is caused by environmental stressors such as those associated with global climate change, and ultimately leads to breakdown of the coral–algal symbiosis known as coral bleaching. Recently, large-scale coral bleaching events have become pervasive and frequent threatening and endangering coral reefs. Because the coral–algal symbiosis is the biological engine producing the reef, the future of coral reef ecosystems depends on the ecophysiology of the symbiosis. This review examines the photobiology of the coral–algal symbiosis with particular focus on the photophysiological responses and timescales of corals and Symbiodinium. Additionally, this review summarizes the light environment and its dynamics, the vulnerability of the symbiosis to oxidative stress, the abiotic and biotic factors influencing photosynthesis, the diversity of the coral–algal symbiosis, and recent advances in the field. Studies integrating physiology with the developing “omics” fields will provide new insights into the coral–algal symbiosis. Greater physiological and ecological understanding of the coral–algal symbiosis is needed for protection and conservation of coral reefs.
Role of phagocytosis in the activation of macrophages

Macrophages were obtained by peritoneal lavage from untreated mice or from mice which had received either Brewer's thioglycollate broth or a suspension of streptococcus A cell walls intraperitoneally 4 days before. 3 h after harvesting, adherent cells from untreated mice were allowed to phagocytose zymosan, formaldehyde-treated sheep erythrocytes, or latex beads. Phagocytosis was stopped after 1 h and culture was continued for up to 10 days. Phagocytosis of zymosan or sheep erythrocytes triggered the immediate release of lysosomal glycosidases, stimulated the synthesis of cellular lactate dehydrogenase, and induced the delayed production and secretion of plasminogen activator . No such changes were observed upon phagocytosis of latex. Although all three particles used were phagocytosed, only zymosan and sheep erythrocytes stimulated glucose oxidation via the hexose monophosphate shunt. Similar findings were obtained in macrophages elicited with streptococcus A cell walls after zymosan phagocytosis. Thioglycollate-elicited macrophages, however, which were already secreting lysosomal hydrolases and plasminogen activator, could not be activated further by zymosan. The results of this study show that macrophages become activated after phagocytosis of particles that stimulate the activity of their hexose monophosphate shunt. The triggering event appears to be the burst of shunt activity itself or shunt-related biochemical reactions rather than phagocytic uptake per se or particle-dependent complement activation by the alternative pathway. Once initiated, macrophage activation proceeds independently of the intracellular fate of the ingested material .
Viewpoint: Replication in Economics

This examination of the role and potential for replication in economics points out the paucity of both pure replication - checking on others' published papers using their data - and scientific replication - using data representing different populations in one's own work or in a comment. Several controversies in empirical economics are used to illustrate how and how not to behave when replicating others' work. The incentives for replication are examined, and proposals aimed at journal editors and authors are advanced that might stimulate an activity that most economists applaud but few perform.
Building a Birds Eye View: Collaborative Work in Disaster Response

Command and control environments ranging from transport control rooms to disaster response have long been of interest to HCI and CSCW as rich sites of interactive technology use embedded in work practice. Drawing on our engagement with disaster response teams, including ethnography of their training work, we unpack the ways in which situational uncertainty is managed while a shared operational 'picture' is constituted through various practices around tabletop work. Our analysis reveals how this picture is collaboratively assembled as a socially shared object and displayed by drawing on digital and physical resources. Accordingly, we provide a range of principles implicated by our study that guide the design of systems augmenting and enriching disaster response work practices. In turn, we propose the Augmented Bird Table to illustrate how our principles can be implemented to support tabletop work.
Real time diagnosis with compiling Bayesian networks

This paper presents an approach to inference in Bayesian networks, which meets the uncertainty and real time challenges in diagnosis. The process can be described as compiling multi-linear function of a Bayesian network into Arithmetic Circuit for online inference. There are three advantages of this approach. First of all, offline compiling process decreases online inference time. Our method differs from the original approach of compiling Bayesian networks using variable elimination by omitting step of representing Bayesian network with Algebraic Decision Diagrams, which simplifies offline compiling process. Then, local structure reduces Arithmetic Circuits and results in less space consumption and online inference time. Finally, differential approach of inference has high efficiency as it calculates answers to multiple queries simultaneously without repeating compiling. Simplified differential approach of inference for particular situation, when evidences in fixed, decreases the searching time and improves efficiency of online inference.
Planar background elimination in range images: A practical approach

Separating data from objects of interest and background is a common procedure in range images applications. Most of the works presented in the literature use image segmentation, either automatic or supervised, to do that. We present a new method to automatically perform this separation without the need of using complex image segmentation techniques. In our approach, we consider that the object is always scanned over a supporting plane. Then, we assume that there is no information below the plane, and the object data is above it. By projecting all points into the supporting plane normal direction, the points on the plane would project at the same value, the points on the object would be spread with values larger than the plane, and there would be very few values below the plane value (due to noise). This allows us to quickly and reliably eliminate the background data from range images.
Estimation of general rigid body motion from a long sequence of images

The authors propose a new state formulation to analyze object motion with arbitrary orders of translation and rotation from a sequence of video images. An extended Kalman filter is used to find the estimates sequentially from noisy images. Simulations showed that the proposed formulation was quite effective for estimating nonconstant rigid body motion. <<ETX>>
Active Tactile Object Recognition by Monte Carlo Tree Search

This paper considers the problem of object recognition using only tactile information. The focus is on designing a sequence of robot hand grasps that achieves accurate recognition after few enclosure contacts. It seeks to maximize the recognition probability and minimize the number of touches required. The actions are formulated as hand poses relative to each other, making the algorithm independent of small object movements and absolute workspace coordinates. The optimal sequence of actions is approximated by Monte Carlo tree search. We demonstrate active tactile recognition results in physics simulation and on a real robot. In simulation, most object instances were recognized within 16 moves. On a real robot, our method correctly recognized objects in 2--9 grasps and outperformed a greedy baseline.
DAAV: Dynamic API Authority Vectors for Detecting Software Theft

This paper proposes a novel birthmark, a dynamic API authority vector (DAAV), for detecting software theft. DAAV satisfies four essential requirements for good birthmarks--credibility, resiliency, scalability, and packing-free--while existing birthmarks fail to satisfy all of them together. In particular, existing static birthmarks are unable to handle the packed programs and existing dynamic birthmarks do not satisfy credibility and resiliency. Our experimental results demonstrate that DAAV provides satisfying credibility and resiliency compared with existing dynamic birthmarks and also can cover packed programs.
The Dymanics of Market Entry: The Effects of Mergers and Acquisitions on De Novo Entry and Small Business Lending in the Banking Industry,

We study the dynamics of market entry following mergers and acquisitions (M&As), and the behavior of recent entrants in supplying output that might be withdrawn by the consolidating firms. The data, drawn from the banking industry, suggest that M&As are associated with subsequent increases in the probability of entry. The estimates suggest that M&As explain more than 20% of entry in metropolitan markets, and more than 10% of entry in rural markets. Additional results suggest that bank age has a strong negative effect on the small business lending of small banks, but that M&As have little influence on this lending.
A multimodal dialogue mashup for medical image semantics

This paper presents a multimodal dialogue mashup where different users are involved in the use of different user interfaces for the annotation and retrieval of medical images. Our solution is a mashup that integrates a multimodal interface for speech-based annotation of medical images and dialogue-based image retrieval with a semantic image annotation tool for manual annotations on a desktop computer. A remote RDF repository connects the annotation and querying task into a common framework and serves as the semantic backend system for the advanced multimodal dialogue a radiologist can use.
Perceived Support as a Mediator of the Relationship Between Justice and Trust

Using a sample of 212 employees, the authors examined the relationships between employees’ perceptions of procedural and interactional justice and their subsequent trust in their organization and supervisor. Specifically, the authors predicted that the link between procedural justice and trust in organization would be mediated by perceived organizational support (POS), whereas the relationship between interactional justice and trust in supervisor would be mediated by perceived supervisor support (PSS). In line with predictions, the authors found that POS partially mediated the effect of procedural justice on trust in organization and PSS partially mediated the impact of interactional justice on trust in supervisor. These findings suggest that employees develop relationships with their supervisors that are distinct from those relationships they experience with their organization.