Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Oxygen-Soluble Gate Electrodes for Prolonged High-$ \kappa$ Gate-Stack Reliability

We propose the use of high-oxygen-solubility metalgate electrodes as a material of choice for high- gate stacks in order to prolong the time-dependent-dielectric-breakdown (BD) reliability. Our findings on n-channel metal-oxide-semiconductor devices with these gate electrodes reveal that the application of low negative bias stress after a soft-BD (SBD) event helps to restore the oxygen ions and passivate the oxygen vacancy traps that comprise the percolation path. This can be a simple yet effective designfor-reliability tool to initiate the self-repair of the percolation path and operate the circuit for a prolonged period after repair. The only requirement for achieving this SBD reversibility is to choose gate electrodes that can serve as good oxygen reservoirs.
Antagonism of baclofen-induced antinociception by intrathecal administration of phaclofen or 2-hydroxy-saclofen, but not delta-aminovaleric acid in the rat.

This study evaluated the ability of two new, selective antagonists of the gamma-aminobutyric acidB (GABAB) receptor, phaclofen (PHAC) and 2-hydroxy-saclofen (2-OH-S), to antagonize the increase in tail-flick latency (TFL) and hot-plate latency (HPL) produced by i.t. administered baclofen (BAC) in the rat. The putative GABAB receptor antagonist delta-aminovaleric acid (DAVA) was also examined for comparative purposes. Intrathecal (i.t.) pretreatment with increasing doses of PHAC (10-100 micrograms) shifted the dose-effect relationship of i.t. administered BAC progressively to the right in a parallel manner in both the tail-flick (TF) and hot-plate (HP) test. Schild analysis of the data yielded an apparent pA2 value of 7.3 +/- 0.1 and a slope of -0.98 +/- 0.14. By comparison, PHAC did not antagonize the increase in HPL produced by i.t. injection of the serotonin1A agonist, 8-hydroxy-N,N-dipropyl-2-aminotetralin. These observations indicate that PHAC competitively and selectively antagonizes BAC and further suggest that the antinociceptive effects of i.t. administered BAC are mediated by the PHAC-sensitive subtype of the GABAB receptor. Intrathecal injection of PHAC alone did not decrease TFL or HPL, suggesting that spinal GABAB receptors involved in nociception are not tonically activated. Although i.t. pretreatment with 2-OH-S (10-30 micrograms) also antagonized the antinociceptive effects of i.t. administered BAC, increasing doses of 2-OH-S did not produce progressive, rightward shifts in the dose-effect relationship of BAC. Indeed, i.t. administration of 2-OH-S alone modestly increased TFL, but not HPL in the rat. These observations suggest that 2-OH-S may be a partial agonist at spinal GABAB receptors. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Increasing expression of H- or L-ferritin protects cortical astrocytes from hemin toxicity

Iron toxicity may contribute to oxidative injury in cells surrounding an intracerebral haematoma. Cells detoxify iron by sequestering it in ferritin, a 24-mer heteropolymer constructed of H and L subunits. The relative antioxidant efficacy of H- and L-ferritin has not been defined and was tested in this study using an established model of hemin toxicity. Consistent with prior observations, cultures treated with 30 µM hemin sustained loss of approximately half of the cells by 6 h, as measured by LDH and MTT assays, and a 14-fold increase in protein carbonyls. Increasing expression of either ferritin by adenoviral gene transfer prior to hemin treatment had a similar protective effect. Quenching of calcein fluorescence, a marker of the labile iron pool, in hemin-treated cultures was also equally reduced by either subunit. These results suggest that over-expression of either H- or L-ferritin protects astrocytes from hemin and may be beneficial after CNS haemorrhage.
Multi-step evolution of lung cancer.

In an attempt to improve the poor survival rates for lung cancer, therapeutic strategies require a deeper understanding of the biological events contributing to the formation and progression of the disease. In particular, the importance of studying the different stages of lung cancer including early pre-neoplasia is being recognised and studies examining genetic changes in pre-invasive and invasive lesions are being used to identify key events in tumorigenesis.
Global Analysis of the Relationship between JIL-1 Kinase and Transcription

The ubiquitous tandem kinase JIL-1 is essential for Drosophila development. Its role in defining decondensed domains of larval polytene chromosomes is well established, but its involvement in transcription regulation has remained controversial. For a first comprehensive molecular characterisation of JIL-1, we generated a high-resolution, chromosome-wide interaction profile of the kinase in Drosophila cells and determined its role in transcription. JIL-1 binds active genes along their entire length. The presence of the kinase is not proportional to average transcription levels or polymerase density. Comparison of JIL-1 association with elongating RNA polymerase and a variety of histone modifications suggests two distinct targeting principles. A basal level of JIL-1 binding can be defined that correlates best with the methylation of histone H3 at lysine 36, a mark that is placed co-transcriptionally. The additional acetylation of H4K16 defines a second state characterised by approximately twofold elevated JIL-1 levels, which is particularly prominent on the dosage-compensated male X chromosome. Phosphorylation of the histone H3 N-terminus by JIL-1 in vitro is compatible with other tail modifications. In vivo, phosphorylation of H3 at serine 10, together with acetylation at lysine 14, creates a composite histone mark that is enriched at JIL-1 binding regions. Its depletion by RNA interference leads to a modest, but significant, decrease of transcription from the male X chromosome. Collectively, the results suggest that JIL-1 participates in a complex histone modification network that characterises active, decondensed chromatin. We hypothesise that one specific role of JIL-1 may be to reinforce, rather than to establish, the status of active chromatin through the phosphorylation of histone H3 at serine 10.
Validation of Unobtrusive Pressure Sensor Array for Central Sleep Apnea Screening

A new understanding about the role and importance of sleep in health combined with rapidly aging demographics presents opportunities for research and development of new approaches in sleep monitoring. As well, challenges with the current sleep-monitoring solution can be addressed by studying the suitability of new monitoring technologies. This paper presents a small-scale validation of the unobtrusive pressure sensor array compared with traditional polysomnography (PSG), for use as a central apnea (CA) screening tool. Algorithms developed for the pressure sensor array provided a very good detection of the CAs as compared to the gold-standard data for the six patients studied whose body-mass index was appropriate for the sensor. For the retained patients, the algorithm classified CA events with an average sensitivity of 87.6%, specificity of 99.9%, and Cohen's kappa value of 0.875. This work evaluates the ability of an algorithm applied to the unobtrusive pressure sensor array to detect CAs. The sensor array was compared to three other signals: 1) expert PSG interpreters; 2) inductance plethysmography (IP) bands alone; and 3) IP bands combined with an airflow or oxygen-saturation sensor. The impact of unobtrusive CA detection on an older adult's health could be in the areas of broadening of the access to sleep monitoring, longitudinal monitoring of the disease progression, and possibly providing information on the interaction between CA and other disease processes.
Identification of Amino Acid Residues Contributing to Desensitization of the P2X2 Receptor Channel*

The P2X2 receptor (P2X2R) is a member of the ATP-gated ion channels that mediate Ca2+ entry in several tissues, including the brain, adrenal medulla, and pituitary. Alternative usage of cryptic splice sites in the primary P2X2R transcript accounts for the existence of several transcript types, one of which (P2X2–2R) encodes a functional channel. P2X2–2R lacks a stretch of cytoplasmic C-terminal amino acids (Val370-Gln438) and exhibits rapid and complete desensitization, whereas P2X2R desensitizes slowly and incompletely. The role of the C terminus in P2X2R desensitization was studied by generating several channel mutants and monitoring intracellular free Ca2+ changes in transfected single GT1–7 neurons. Deletion studies indicated that the Arg371-Ile391 segment of the P2X2R is required for sustained Ca2+ influx. To identify the important residues within this segment, three contiguous amino acids were sequentially changed to alanine. Only two of these replacement mutants, at Arg371-Thr372-Pro373and Lys374-His375-Pro376, had an enhanced rate of desensitization. Single amino acid deletions in the P2X2R C terminus and a series of insertions of wild-type sequences into the corresponding spliced site identified four residues, Pro373-Lys374-His375-Pro376, required for sustained Ca2+ influx through agonist-occupied wild-type channels. Thus, it is likely that the Pro373-Pro376 sequence of P2X2R represents a functional motif that is critical for the development of the slow desensitization profile observed in these channels. Consequently, deletion of this motif by alternative splicing provides an effective mechanism for generating a channel with controlled Ca2+ influx.
The role of mood and message ambiguity in the interplay of heuristic and systematic processing

The mechanisms by which mood states influence attitude judgments in persuasion settings are delineated in terms of current dual-process theorizing. With an emphasis on mechanisms that may operate when the evaluative implications of message content are ambiguous. In a preliminary test of hypotheses concerning such circumstances, college-aged subjects were put into a happy or sad mood and then read a message containing unambiguous strong, unambiguous weak, or ambiguous arguments, which was attributed to a highly credible source (heuristic cue) When message content was ambiguous, sad (as compared to happy) subjects' attitudes were more influenced by heuristic processing, and their message-related thoughts were biased by the heuristic cue. These and other results are discussed within a dual-processing framework, and compared to other social cognition theorizing on the impact of affect on social judgment.
O impacto do financiamento do PRONAF sobre indicadores agrícolas nas lavouras do Estado do Paraná: uma análise de dados em painel

O objetivo deste estudo foi analisar a influência do PRONAF - Programa Nacional de Fortalecimento da Agricultura Familiar sobre os indicadores agrícolas: produção, área plantada e produtividade das lavouras de subsistências beneficiadas pelo Programa no Estado do Paraná, no período de 2007 a 2012. A pesquisa utilizou um modelo de regressão de dados em painel. As lavouras de subsistência selecionadas que receberam benefícios do Programa no Estado foram: batata, arroz, cana-de-açúcar, feijão, mandioca, soja, café, trigo e milho. As análises da relação entre o montante de financiamento do PRONAF e os indicadores agrícolas apontaram que para a maioria das lavouras o PRONAF teve um efeito negativo, embora muito pequeno, sobre a produção, área plantada e produtividade. Contudo a influência do PRONAF no desempenho da produção e da produtividade do milho e da mandioca foi positivamente significativa.
Rat N-ERC/Mesothelin as a Marker for In Vivo Screening of Drugs against Pancreas Cancer

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDA) is a highly lethal disease, which is usually diagnosed in an advanced stage. We have established transgenic rats carrying a mutated K-ras gene controlled by Cre/loxP activation. The animals develop PDA which is histopathologically similar to that in humans. Previously, we reported that serum levels of N-ERC/mesothelin were significantly higher in rats bearing PDA than in controls. In the present study, to determine whether serum levels of N-ERC/mesothelin correlated with tumor size, we measured N-ERC/mesothelin levels in rats bearing PDA. Increased serum levels of N-ERC/mesothelin correlated with increased tumor size. This result indicates an interrelationship between the serum level of N-ERC/mesothelin and tumor size. We next investigated the effect of chemotherapy on serum N-ERC/mesothelin levels. Rat pancreatic cancer cells were implanted subcutaneously into the flank of NOD-SCID mice. In the mice treated with 200 mg/kg gemcitabine, tumor weight and the serum level of N-ERC/mesothelin were significantly decreased compared to controls. These results suggest that serum N-ERC/mesothelin measurements might be useful for monitoring response to therapy.
Auditory steady-state response stimuli based BCI application - the optimization of the stimuli types and lengths

We propose a method for an improvement of auditory BCI (aBCI) paradigm based on a combination of ASSR stimuli optimization by choosing the subjects' best responses to AM-, flutter-, AM/FM and click-envelope modulated sounds. As the ASSR response features we propose pairwise phase-locking-values calculated from the EEG and next classified using binary classifier to detect attended and ignored stimuli. We also report on a possibility to use the stimuli as short as half a second, which is a step forward in ASSR based aBCI. The presented results are helpful for optimization of the aBCI stimuli for each subject.
Setting planned lead-times in a stochastic production environment

In this paper, a serial production system operating on a make-to-order basis is considered, where the actual procurement and processing times are stochastic. The problem is to find the optimal lead-time planning for such a system. We formulate the problem model by trading off expected holding cost at all stages and expected penalty cost for exceeding the total planned lead-time. A stochastic optimization algorithm for a two-stage stochastic production system is proposed to optimize stage lead-times. In the optimization algorithm, perturbation analysis is used to derive the gradient estimate of the cost function with respect to stage lead-times. It is shown that the gradient estimate is unbiased, which ensures that the estimate is accurate when it is used to solve the problem. Finally, a numerical example is given to investigate the performance of the proposed algorithm.
Context dependant phone mapping for cross-lingual acoustic modeling

This paper presents a novel method for acoustic modeling with limited training data. The idea is to leverage on a well-trained acoustic model of a source language. In this paper, a conventional HMM/GMM triphone acoustic model of the source language is used to derive likelihood scores for each feature vector of the target language. These scores are then mapped to triphones of the target language using neural networks. We conduct a case study where Malay is the source language while English (Aurora-4 task) is the target language. Experimental results on the Aurora-4 (clean test set) show that by using only 7, 16, and 55 minutes of English training data, we achieve 21.58%, 17.97%, and 12.93% word error rate, respectively. These results outperform the conventional HMM/GMM and hybrid systems significantly.
Interaction of polypyrimidine tract-binding protein with the 5' noncoding region of the hepatitis C virus RNA genome and its functional requirement in internal initiation of translation

Initiation of translation of the human hepatitis C virus (HCV) RNA genome occurs by internal ribosome entry into the 5' noncoding region (5'NCR) in a cap-independent manner. The internal ribosome entry site of the HCV 5'NCR has been previously defined to encompass almost the entire 5'NCR. Here we report the interaction of polypyrimidine tract-binding protein (PTB) at three distinct regions within the 5'NCR by UV cross-linking assays. All three regions contain a consensus polypyrimidine tract motif. The evidence for the interaction of recombinant PTB at multiple sites within the 5'NCR is based on the use of 5'NCR mutants as competitors and by direct UV cross-linking of the mutant RNAs. Furthermore, the PTB isomers from HeLa nuclear extracts interact with the HCV 5'NCR, as shown by immunoprecipitation of a UV cross-linked complex with anti-PTB serum. Immunodepletion of PTB from translation lysates suggested the functional requirement for PTB during translation initiation of the HCV RNA. Addition of purified PTB to immunodepleted lysates did not restore translation mediated by the HCV 5'NCR, indicating the requirement of PTB-associated factors that were removed during immunodepletion.
Effective compression of range data streams for remote robot operations using H.264

Most robots need the ability to communicate with a base station or with an operator during their mission. Teleoperated and semi-autonomous robots typically communicate continuously through a network connection with an operator. Transmitting raw sensor data over a low bandwidth network such as wireless or HSDPA, however, is problematic as the stream of sensor data is often large. In this paper, we present a method that exploits H.264 compression to reduce the size of range data streams from sensors such as the Kinect camera or the Velodyne 3D laser scanner. We developed a practical and effective solution that exploits the state of the art in video compression to produce high-quality results. Our method is easy to implement and can have practical impact for researchers building robots for the real world. We implemented and thoroughly tested our approach using a large number of range data streams. Furthermore, we analyzed the impact of data compression on the accuracy and size of the transmitted data. We show that even a highly compressed stream of depth images can be used with dense mapping techniques such as KinFu for building environment models.
Wireless ATM

Wireless and ATM ( Asynchronous Transfer Mode) are in it's infancy. No standards have been defined by either the ATM Forum or ITU-T, yet. Research have been going on to develop a protocol that will run on wireless medium without much delay and errors. ATM-type wireless networks will play an important role in the broadband communications network of the future. Table of
Comparative Analysis of Ontology Ranking Algorithms

Ontologies are the backbone of knowledge representation on Semantic web. Challenges involved in building ontologies are in terms of time, efforts, skill, and domain specific knowledge. In order to minimize these challenges, one of the major advantages of ontologies is its potential of â€œreuse,â€ currently supported by various search engines like Swoogle, Ontokhoj. As the number of ontologies that such search engines like Swoogle, OntoKhoj Falcon can find increases, so will the need increase for a proper ranking method to order the returned lists of ontologies in terms of their relevancy to the query which can save a lot of time and effort. This paper deals with analysis of various ontology ranking algorithms. Based on the analysis of different ontology ranking algorithms, a comparative study is done to find out their relative strengths and limitations based on various parameters which provide a significant research direction in ranking of ontologies in semantic web.
Patient–doctor continuity and diagnosis of cancer: electronic medical records study in general practice

Background Continuity of care may affect the diagnostic process in cancer but there is little research. Aim To estimate associations between patient–doctor continuity and time to diagnosis and referral of three common cancers. Design and setting Retrospective cohort study in general practices in England. Method This study used data from the General Practice Research Database for patients aged ≥40 years with a diagnosis of breast, colorectal, or lung cancer. Relevant cancer symptoms or signs were identified up to 12 months before diagnosis. Patient–doctor continuity (fraction-of-care index adjusted for number of consultations) was calculated up to 24 months before diagnosis. Time ratios (TRs) were estimated using accelerated failure time regression models. Results Patient–doctor continuity in the 24 months before diagnosis was associated with a slightly later diagnosis of colorectal (time ratio [TR] 1.01, 95% confidence interval [CI] =1.01 to 1.02) but not breast (TR = 1.00, 0.99 to 1.01) or lung cancer (TR = 1.00, 0.99 to 1.00). Secondary analyses suggested that for colorectal and lung cancer, continuity of doctor before the index consultation was associated with a later diagnosis but continuity after the index consultation was associated with an earlier diagnosis, with no such effects for breast cancer. For all three cancers, most of the delay to diagnosis occurred after referral. Conclusion Any effect for patient–doctor continuity appears to be small. Future studies should compare investigations, referrals, and diagnoses in patients with and without cancer who present with possible cancer symptoms or signs; and focus on ‘difficult to diagnose’ types of cancer.
Effects of neonatal repeated MK-801 treatment on delayed nonmatching-to-position responses in rats

This study was carried out to investigate the long-term effects of chronic neonatal antagonism of N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptors, a subtype of glutamate receptors, on working memory. Rats were tested on the delayed nonmatching-to-position task in adulthood after repeated treatment of a noncompetitive NMDA antagonist MK-801 in postnatal days 7–20. As a result, this treatment led to deficits in learning and/or performance of delayed nonmatching-to-position responses, suggesting that chronic neonatal NMDA antagonism persistently impairs working memory. Furthermore, it decreased body and brain weight, and induced stereotyped head-rotation behavior. As working memory deficits are shown in several mental disorders such as schizophrenia and developmental disorders, rats with chronic neonatal NMDA antagonism might be useful for a better understanding of these disorders.
Glial fibrillary acidic protein gene promoter is differently modulated by transforming growth factor‐beta 1 in astrocytes from distinct brain regions

The expression of glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP), the major intermediate filament protein of mature astrocytes, is regulated under developmental and pathological conditions. Recently, we have investigated GFAP gene modulation by using a transgenic mouse bearing part of the GFAP gene promoter linked to the β‐galactosidase reporter gene. We demonstrated that cerebral cortex neurons activate the GFAP gene promoter, inducing transforming growth factor‐beta 1 (TGF‐β1) secretion by astrocytes. Here, we report that cortical neurons or conditioned medium derived from them do not activate the GFAP gene promoter of transgenic astrocytes derived from midbrain and cerebellum suggesting a neuroanatomical regional specificity of this phenomenon. Surprisingly, they do induce synthesis of TGF‐β1 by these cells. Western blot and immunocytochemistry assays revealed wild distribution of TGF receptor in all subpopulations of astrocytes and expression of TGF‐β1 in neurons derived from all regions, thus indicating that the unresponsiveness of the cerebellar and midbrain GFAP gene to TGF‐β1 is not due to a defect in TGF‐β1 signalling. Together, our data highlight the great complexity of neuron–glia interactions and might suggest a distinct mechanism underlying modulation of the GFAP gene in the heterogeneous population of astrocytes throughout the central nervous system.