Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Error-Based Analysis of Optimal Tuning Functions Explains Phenomena Observed in Sensory Neurons

Biological systems display impressive capabilities in effectively responding to environmental signals in real time. There is increasing evidence that organisms may indeed be employing near optimal Bayesian calculations in their decision-making. An intriguing question relates to the properties of optimal encoding methods, namely determining the properties of neural populations in sensory layers that optimize performance, subject to physiological constraints. Within an ecological theory of neural encoding/decoding, we show that optimal Bayesian performance requires neural adaptation which reflects environmental changes. Specifically, we predict that neuronal tuning functions possess an optimal width, which increases with prior uncertainty and environmental noise, and decreases with the decoding time window. Furthermore, even for static stimuli, we demonstrate that dynamic sensory tuning functions, acting at relatively short time scales, lead to improved performance. Interestingly, the narrowing of tuning functions as a function of time was recently observed in several biological systems. Such results set the stage for a functional theory which may explain the high reliability of sensory systems, and the utility of neuronal adaptation occurring at multiple time scales.
Defective Renal Angiotensin III and AT2 Receptor Signaling in Prehypertensive Spontaneously Hypertensive Rats

Background Previous studies demonstrated that angiotensin (Ang) III, not Ang II, is the predominant endogenous agonist for Ang type‐2 receptor (AT 2R)‐induced natriuresis in normal rats, and that hypertensive 12‐week‐old spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR) lack natriuretic responses to Ang III. This study tested whether prehypertensive SHR already have defective Ang III‐induced natriuresis and determined possible mechanisms. Methods and Results Female and male normotensive 4‐week‐old SHR and Wistar Kyoto rats were studied after 24‐hour systemic AT 1R blockade. Left kidneys received 30 minute renal interstitial infusions of vehicle followed by Ang III (3.5, 7.0, 14, and 28 nmol/kg per min; each dose for 30 minutes). Right kidneys received vehicle infusions. In 4‐week‐old Wistar Kyoto rats, renal interstitial Ang III increased urine sodium (Na+) excretion but failed to induce natriuresis in 4‐week‐old SHR. Renal Ang III levels were similar between Wistar Kyoto rats and SHR, making increased Ang III degradation as a possible cause for defective natriuresis in SHR unlikely. In Wistar Kyoto rats, renal interstitial Ang III induced translocation of AT 2Rs to apical plasma membranes of renal proximal tubule cells. Simultaneously, Ang III induced retraction of the major Na+ transporter Na+‐H+ exchanger‐3 (NHE‐3) from apical membranes and internalization of Na+/K+ ATPase (NKA) from basolateral membranes of renal proximal tubule cells. Consistent with NHE‐3 and NKA retraction, Ang III increased pSer552‐NHE‐3 and decreased pSer23‐NKA. In contrast, in SHR, intrarenal Ang III failed to induce AT 2R translocation, NHE‐3 or NKA retraction, pSer552‐NHE‐3 phosphorylation, or pSer23‐NKA dephosphorylation. Conclusions These results indicate impaired Ang III/AT 2R signaling as a possible primary defect in prehypertensive SHR.
A Comprehensive Survey of the Plasmodium Life Cycle by Genomic, Transcriptomic, and Proteomic Analyses

Plasmodium berghei and Plasmodium chabaudi are widely used model malaria species. Comparison of their genomes, integrated with proteomic and microarray data, with the genomes of Plasmodium falciparum and Plasmodium yoelii revealed a conserved core of 4500 Plasmodium genes in the central regions of the 14 chromosomes and highlighted genes evolving rapidly because of stage-specific selective pressures. Four strategies for gene expression are apparent during the parasites' life cycle: (i) housekeeping; (ii) host-related; (iii) strategy-specific related to invasion, asexual replication, and sexual development; and (iv) stage-specific. We observed posttranscriptional gene silencing through translational repression of messenger RNA during sexual development, and a 47-base 3′ untranslated region motif is implicated in this process.
Cost Sensitive Online Multiple Kernel Classification

Learning from data streams has been an important open research problem in the era of big data analytics. This paper investigates supervised machine learning techniques for mining data streams with application to online anomaly detection. Unlike conventional machine learning tasks, machine learning from data streams for online anomaly detection has several challenges: (i) data arriving sequentially and increasing rapidly, (ii) highly class-imbalanced distributions; and (iii) complex anomaly patterns that could evolve dynamically. To tackle these challenges, we propose a novel Cost-Sensitive Online Multiple Kernel Classi(cid:12)cation (CSOMKC) scheme for comprehensively mining data streams and demonstrate its application to online anomaly detection. Speci(cid:12)cally, CSOMKC learns a kernel-based cost-sensitive prediction model for imbalanced data streams in a sequential or online learning fashion, in which a pool of multiple diverse kernels is dynamically explored. The optimal kernel predictor and the multiple kernel combination are learnt together, and simultaneously class imbalance issues are addressed. We give both theoretical and extensive empirical analysis of the proposed algorithms.
Reducing Crime by Shaping the Built Environment with Zoning: An Empirical Study of Los Angeles

The idea of using law to change the built environment in ways that reduce opportunities to commit crimes has a long history. Unfortunately, this idea has received relatively little attention in the legal academy and only limited rigorous empirical scrutiny. In this Article, we review the considerable literature on the relationship between zoning, the built environment, and crime. We then report the results of two empirical studies on these relationships. First, we conducted a study of the effect of zoning on crime using 205 blocks selected in eight different relatively high crime neighborhoods in Los Angeles that have similar demographic character- istics but different forms of zoned land use. We find that mixed commercial- and residential-zoned areas are associated with lower crime than are commercial-only zoned areas. Second, we matched neighborhoods undergoing zoning changes between 2006 and 2010 with neighborhoods that underwent no zoning changes during this period but had similar preexisting crime trajectories between 1994 and 2005. The primary zoning change in these neighborhoods was to convert parcels to residential uses. We find that neighborhoods in which there was a zoning change experienced a significant decline in crime. Our results suggest that mixing residential-only zoning into commercial blocks may be a promising means of reducing crime.
Clinical experience with temsirolimus in the treatment of advanced renal cell carcinoma

Temsirolimus is an inhibitor of the mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) kinase, a protein that has been shown to be particularly active in metastatic renal cell carcinoma (mRCC) with poor prognosis. Therefore, temsirolimus should be considered as the first-line treatment indicated in mRCC patients classified as poor risk. The benefits of temsirolimus are not limited to an increased survival but are also related to a better quality of life, which is certainly one of the most important aspects in the clinical management of these frail patients. Temsirolimus is a well-tolerated treatment, and the most frequent adverse events are manageable with supportive care. To this end, the identification of predictive factors of response to temsirolimus could help us to better select patients and obtain a more tailored clinical management of mRCC.
Investigation of New Dominant-Negative Inhibitors of Anthrax Protective Antigen Mutants for Use in Therapy and Vaccination

ABSTRACT The lethal toxin (LeTx) of Bacillus anthracis plays a key role in the pathogenesis of anthrax. The protective antigen (PA) is a primary part of the anthrax toxin and forms LeTx by combination with lethal factor (LF). Phenylalanine-427 (F427) is crucial for PA function. This study was designed to discover potential novel therapeutic agents and vaccines for anthrax. This was done by screening PA mutants that were mutated at the F427 residue for a dominant-negative inhibitory (DNI) phenotype which was nontoxic but inhibited the toxicity of the wild-type LeTx. For this, PA residue F427 was first mutated to each of the other 19 naturally occurring amino acids. The cytotoxicity and DNI phenotypes of the mutated PA proteins were tested in the presence of 1 μg/ml LF in RAW264.7 cells and were shown to be dependent on the individual amino acid replacements. A total of 16 nontoxic mutants with various levels of DNI activity were identified in vitro. Among them, F427D and F427N mutants had the highest DNI activities in RAW264.7 cells. Both mutants inhibited LeTx intoxication in mice in a dose-dependent way. Furthermore, they induced a Th2-predominant immune response and protected mice against a challenge with five 50% lethal doses of LeTx. The protection was correlated mainly with a low level of interleukin-1β (IL-1β) and with high levels of PA-specific immunoglobulin G1, IL-6, and tumor necrosis factor alpha. Thus, PA DNI mutants, such as F427D and F427N mutants, may serve in the development of novel therapeutic agents and vaccines to fight B. anthracis infections.
ETIOLOGY OF IOP ELEVATION IN PRIMARY OPEN ANGLE GLAUCOMA.

Ask any clinician or basic scientist who has studied aqueous outflow for many years “What is the etiology of IOP elevation in POAG? ” Each will have their pet theory but each will also tell you that we do not know. This review is thus a summary of existing clues rather than a direct answer to the question, “Where does aqueous outflow resistance reside and how is it generated? ” We simply do not know. Equally important, we do not know whether the added resistance that elevates intraocular pressure (IOP) in primary open angle glaucoma (POAG) is due to more resistance in the same location as that in which the resistance of the normal eye is found, or an additional resistance that is added downstream in the glaucomatous eye. In this regard it is important to recall the corollary to Kirchhoff’s law that resistances placed in series are additive. Only recently has evidence arisen that the added resistance of the POAG eye might lie, at least in part, in a location other than that which appears to harbor most of the resistance in the normal eye. In this review, we will consider some of the principal theories of outflow resistance, concluding with recent data implicating an added resistance in a previously unappreciated location.
Optimal replication for min-cut partitioning

Heuristics for replicating logic have been shown to reduce pin count and wiring density in partitioned logic networks. An efficient algorithm for determining an optimal min-cut replication set for a k-partitioned graph in O(knm log (n/sup 2//m)) time is presented. For the NP-hard case with limited size partition components, a replication heuristic which reduces the worst-case running time by a factor of O(k/sup 2/) over previous methods is proposed. Experimental results are presented. <<ETX>>
Stellar populations in HII galaxies

We analyse the stellar content of a large number of HII galaxies based on the continuum and absorption features of their spectra using population synthesis methods, in order to gain information about the star formation histories of these objects. We find that all galaxies of our sample contain an old stellar population (≥1 Gyr) that dominates the stellar mass, and in a great majority of these, we also found evidence for an intermediate-age population ≥100 Myr apart from the presently bursting, ionizing young generation ≤107 yrs.To search for other articles by the author(s) go to: http://adsabs.harvard. edu/abstract_service. html
Data gathering in wireless sensor network using realistic power control

Wireless Sensors Network consists of irreplaceable nodes after being deployed with limited energy resources. The data gathering protocol needs more realistic power consumptions model to estimate the network performance for various pervasive and ubiquitous applications. In this paper we have implemented the chain based and shortest hop data gathering and routing protocols that demonstrate how realistic power model assumptions can affect the system performance in comparison with the results obtained by considering the first order radio model. We formulated a data sheet which gives details of the energy required to transmit data packets on distance basis incorporating Log Normal Shadowing Model for obtaining the received signal strength. We also justified the reason to eradicate the power levels which are unnecessary and gives rise to complications. Moreover we have observed a comparative study of the proposed method in TinyOS platform while running the simulation in TOSSIM for realistic comparison of our model.
To View or Not To View: The Influence of Social Networks and Subjective Norms on Online Pornography Consumption

This study investigates the influence of social networks and subjective norms on an individual’s online pornography consumption. The empirical survey results of 324 voluntary participants indicated that the individual’s positive outcome evaluation was associated with a higher level of online pornography exposure. Social pressure also plays a significant, but negative, role in one’s viewing decision.
Congestion driven placement for Mesh-based FPGA architecture with local interconnect

In this paper we present an adaptation of a congestion driven placement technique to a Mesh based FPGA architecture containing a local interconnect connections. This techniques aims at spreading out congestion by considering white spaces and avoiding signals bounding boxes overlap. As shown in the experimentation section this technique reduces required routing channel width efficiently and consequently the device total area by 10% in average. In terms of circuit performance, we notice that congestion alleviation allows timing-driven router to reduce critical path delays despite wirelength increasing. This is due essentially to timing closure improvement.
Tonal Similarity from Audio Using a Template Based Attractor Model

A model that calculates similarity of tonal evolution among pieces in an audio database is presented. The model employs a template based key finding algorithm. This algorithm is used in a sliding window fashion to obtain a sequence of tonal center estimates that delineate the trajectory of tonal evolution in tonal space. A chroma based representation is used to capture tonality information. Templates are formed from instrument sounds weighted according to pitch distribution profiles. For each window in the input audio, the chroma based representation is interpreted with respect to the precalculated templates that serve as attractor points in tonal space. This leads to a discretization in both time and tonal space making the output representation compact. Local and global variations in tempo are accounted for using dynamic time warping that employs a special type of music theoretical distance measure. Evaluation is given in two stages. The first is evaluation of the key finding model to assess its performance in key finding for raw audio input. The second is based on cross validation testing for pieces that have multiple performances in the database to determine the success of recall by distance.
Facial expression control of 3-dimensional face model using facial feature extraction

The animation industry has a challenge to get facial expressions animation that resembles the original facial expressions. One of the supports from the technology is the presence of facial motion capture technology. Unfortunately, this technology requires no small amount of funds and a long preparation time. The process that takes a lot of preparation time and money is the process of setting markers on the actor's face. In addition, the marker adds inconvenience factor on the actor's face. In this paper, the research and development of a software system to be used in the animation industry will be developed, in the form of a marker-free facial motion capture.
TerraSAR-X for oceanography mission overview

TerraSAR-X is a new generation, high resolution radar satellite, which is planned for launch in 2006. The mission is setup to produce operational remote sensing products for commercial and scientific use from a spaceborne X-Band synthetic aperture radar (SAR) system. After a 5 month in-orbit commissioning phase TerraSAR-X will be operational for an active lifetime of 5 years. TerraSAR-X is Germany's first Earth Observation space project based on public-private partnership of the German Aerospace Center and the ASTRJUM GmbH. The TerraSAR-X mission was designed to serve two main objectives: 1) provide the scientific community with high-quality, X-band SAR-data for research and application purposes; 2) support the establishment of an Earth Observation market; and 3) and develop a sustainable Earth Observation service in Europe, based on TerraSAR-X derived products. The broad spectrum of TerraSAR-X applications, include: Hydrology, Geology, Climatology, Oceanography, Environmental- and Disaster Monitoring as well as Cartography. The scientific potential of TerraSAR-X is based on a combination of unprecedented features of the SAR instrument, which will for the first time be operational in space. The features of TerraSAR-X offer new and promising applications for oceanography. In this work some promising applications concerning wind, wave and current measurements as well as monitoring of morphodynamic changes are introduced.
Allowable sampling period for high-order multi-agent systems

This paper studies data-sampled high-order multi-agent systems over random networks. Dynamic output feedback protocols are applied to solve the consensus problem. It is revealed that the solvability of the consensus depends on the sampling period of the network. If the sampling period is too large, the consensus problem may be unsolvable. When the sampling period is sufficient small, it is shown that the mean square consensus can be achieved if the mean topology has globally reachable nodes and the protocol parameters simultaneously stabilize n − 1 subsystems. By using the hybrid dynamical system theory, an allowable upper bound of sampling period is further provided.
How Does Parental Leave Affect Fertility and Return to Work? Evidence from Two Natural Experiments

This paper analyzes the effects of changes in the duration of paid, job-protected parental leave on mothers' higher-order fertility and postbirth labor market careers. Identification is based on a major Austrian reform increasing the duration of parental leave from one year to two years for any child born on or after July 1, 1990. We find that mothers who give birth to their first child immediately after the reform have more second children than prereform mothers, and that extended parental leave significantly reduces return to work. Employment and earnings also decrease in the short run, but not in the long run. Fertility and work responses vary across the population in ways suggesting that both cash transfers and job protection are relevant. Increasing parental leave for a future child increases fertility strongly but leaves short-run postbirth careers relatively unaffected. Partially reversing the 1990 extension, a second 1996 reform improves employment and earnings while compressing the time between births.
Thermal conductivity of single-walled carbon nanotubes

We study numerically the thermal conductivity of single-walled carbon nanotubes for the cases of an isolated nanotube and a nanotube interacting with a substrate. We employ two different numerical methods: (i) direct modeling of the heat transfer by molecular-dynamics simulations and (ii) analysis of the equilibrium dynamics by means of the Green-Kubo formalism. For the numerical modeling of the effective interatomic interactions, we employ both the Brenner potentials and the intermolecular potentials used in the study of the dynamics of large macromolecules. We demonstrate that, quite independently of the methods employed and the potentials used, the character of the thermal conductivity depends crucially on the interaction between a nanotube and a substrate. While an isolated nanotube demonstrates anomalous thermal conductivity due to ballistic transport of long-wave acoustic phonons, the nanotube interacting with a flat substrate displays normal thermal conductivity due to both the appearance of a gap in the frequency spectrum of acoustic phonons and the absorption of long-wave acoustic phonons by the substrate. We study the dependence of the thermal conductivity on chirality, radius, and temperature of the single-walled carbon nanotubes in both the regimes and compare our findings with experimental data and earlier theoretical results for the thermal conductivity.
Automatic semantics extraction in law documents

Normative texts can be viewed as composed by formal partitions (articles, paragraphs, etc.) or by semantic units containing fragments of a regulation (provisions). Provisions can be described according to a metadata scheme which consists of provision types and their arguments. This semantic annotation of a normative text can make the retrieval of norms easier. The detection and description of the provisions according to the established metadata scheme is an analytic intellectual activity aiming at classifying portions of a normative text into provision types and to extract their arguments. Automatic facilities supporting this intellectual activity are desirable. Particularly, in this paper, two modules able to qualify fragments of a normative text in terms of provision types and to extract their arguments are presented.
Atrial fibrillation detected by mobile cardiac outpatient telemetry in cryptogenic TIA or stroke

Objective: Atrial fibrillation (AF) may be present within a subset of patients with presumed cryptogenic TIA or stroke and remains undetected by standard diagnostic methods. We hypothesized that AF may be an under-recognized mechanism for cryptogenic TIA/stroke. Methods: A consecutive series of 56 patients with cryptogenic TIA/stroke was analyzed after diagnostic evaluation and Mobile Cardiac Outpatient Telemetry (MCOT) for up to 21 days. Demographic, radiographic, echocardiographic, and MCOT results were reviewed. Predictors of AF detection by MCOT were determined by univariate analysis including Student t test and Fisher exact tests and multivariate analysis. Results: The median MCOT monitoring duration was 21 (range 5–21) days resulting in an AF detection rate of 23% (13/56). AF was first detected after a median of 7 (range 2–19) days of monitoring. Twenty-seven asymptomatic AF episodes were detected in the 13 patients, of which 85% (23/27) were <30 seconds and the remaining 15% (4/27) were 4–24 hours in duration. Diabetes was predictive of AF detection by both univariate (p = 0.024) and multivariate analysis (OR 6.15; 95% CI 1.16 to 32.73; p = 0.033). Conclusions: There is a high rate of atrial fibrillation (AF) detection by Mobile Cardiac Outpatient Telemetry (21 days) in patients with cryptogenic TIA/stroke that may be related to extended monitoring duration, patient selection, and inclusion of all new onset AF episodes. Brief AF episodes (<30 seconds) may be biomarkers of more prolonged and clinically significant AF.