Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Morphologically Distinct Classes of Relay Cells Exhibit Regional Preferences in the Dorsal Lateral Geniculate Nucleus of the Mouse

A fundamental feature of the mammalian visual system is the presence of separate channels that work in parallel to efficiently extract and analyze specific elements of a visual scene. Despite the extensive use of the mouse as a model system, it is not clear whether such parallel organization extends beyond the retina to subcortical structures, such as the dorsal lateral geniculate (dLGN) of thalamus. To begin to address this, we examined the morphology of biocytin-filled relay cells recorded in dLGN of mice. Based on a quantitative assessment of their dendritic architecture, we found that even at early postnatal ages relay cells could be readily classified as X-like (biconical), Y-like (symmetrical), or W-like (hemispheric) and that each cell type was regionally specified in dLGN. X-like cells were confined primarily to the monocular ventral region of dLGN. Y-like cells occupied a central core that also contained ipsilateral eye projections, whereas W-like cells were found along the perimeter of dLGN. Similar to cat, Y-like cells were more prevalent than X- and W-like cells, and X-like cells tended to be smaller than other cell types. However, the dendritic fields of X- and W-like cells did not exhibit an orientation bias with respect to optic tract or boundaries of dLGN. Although we found clear morphological differences among relay cells, an analysis of their electrophysiological properties did not reveal any additional distinguishing characteristics. Overall, these data coupled with recent observations in the retina suggest that the mouse has many of the hallmark features of a system-wide parallel organization.
Analysis of Word Equivalences in RIT

Two words which share a sense are commonly called synonyms. They are equivalent in the context of that sense, and can be used interchangeably in a sentence which utilizes that sense. Two words are rarely synonyms for each other for all of their senses. With the advent of on-line-accessible lexicons it is possible to identify those words which are, in all contexts, interchangeable orèquivalent'. This paper describes an analysis of synonym sets (`semi-colon groups') in Roget's International Thesaurus (RIT3) in regard to such equivalence.
Pathway in Vascular Smooth Muscle Cells Mediated Mitogenic Signaling − Reactive Oxygen Species Are Critical in the Oleic Acid

Obese hypertensive patients with cardiovascular risk factor clustering have increased plasma nonesterified fatty acid levels and are at high risk for atherosclerotic events. Our previous studies demonstrated that oleic acid induces a mitogenic response in rat aortic smooth muscle cells (RASMCs) through protein kinase C (PKC)– and extracellular signal–regulated kinase (ERK)–dependent pathways. In the present study we investigated the possibility that the generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) constitutes a critical component of the oleic acid–induced mitogenic signaling pathway in RASMCs. We studied the effect(s) of oleic acid on the generation of ROS using the oxidant-sensitive fluoroprobe 2 9,79-dichlorofluorescin diacetate. Relative fluorescence intensity and fluorescent images were obtained with laser confocal scanning microscopy from 1 to 5 minutes, since preliminary studies demonstrated that the peak fluorescence intensity occurred within 5 minutes. Oleic acid (100 mmol/L) induced a time-dependent increase of cell fluorescence that was . 8-fold of that seen in control cells at 5 minutes. This was blocked by catalase, which suggests that H 2O2 was the principal ROS. The oleic acid–induced increases in H 2O2 were blocked when PKC was inhibited with the use of bisindolylmaleimide and when PKC activity was downregulated by exposing RASMCs to phorbol 12–myristate 13–acetate for 24 hours. Stearic and elaidic acids, which are weak PKC activators, did not significantly increase H2O2 production. The increase of H 2O2 in response to oleic acid was inhibited by the antioxidant N-acetylcysteine. N-Acetylcysteine also completely blocked ERK activation and the increase of thymidine incorporation in response to oleic acid. The data suggest that generation of H 2O2 in RASMCs exposed to oleic acid is PKC dependent. Moreover, H2O2 production emerges as a critical intermediary event in the oleic acid–mediated mitogenic signaling pathway between the activation of PKC and ERK. These observations raise the possibility that the elevated plasma nonesterified fatty acids, including oleic acid, in obese hypertensive patients contribute to vascular growth and remodeling by a PKC-dependent mechanism to generate ROS that subsequently activate ERK. (Hypertension. 1998;32:1003-1010.)
Development of a low backlash Crown Reducer

In this paper, we describe a novel low backlash reducer using precessing crown gears. we call this mechanism Crown Reducer. The features of this reducer are low backlash, high reduction ratio, advantage in miniaturizing. These features greatly contribute to design various small mechanisms such as a finger joint of a robot hand. The crown gear pair is meshing in face to face, one acts as a rotor and the other as a stator. The rotor gear has N teeth and the hub is connected to the output shaft. The spokes of rotor gear are elastically deformed according to gears rolling. The stator gear fixed on a housing has N − 1 teeth (or N + 1). The meshing of crown gear pair with several shapes of rack tooth are simulated, and proper parameters of rack to improve high rigidity of teeth are calculated. Finally, backlash and minimum input torque to rotate are evaluated using a prototype reducer.
Motion Salient Detection Based on Region-of-Non-interest Spatial-Temporal Analysis

Visual attention is usually attracted by the videos which have motion salient regions, so motion is very important to human’s visual attention analysis. In this paper we propose a novel method for motion salient region detection by analyzing region-of-non-interest (RONI) spatial-temporal information. RONI is exploited for the first time in this paper. Different from former methods, our approach starts from the RONI, and looks for motion salient regions as their complements. Position as a prior knowledge is used to determine the initial region-of-non-interest (IRONI). Together with bottom-up feature, more exact RONI can be obtained to detect motion salient regions. Experimental results indicate that our scheme can detect motion salient region effectively especially to the videos with complicated camera motion.
Design, analysis, and testing of a microdot apodizer for the Apodized Pupil Lyot Coronagraph

Context. Coronagraphic techniques are required for detecting exoplanets with future Extremely Large Telescopes. One concept, the Apodized Pupil Lyot Coronagraph (APLC), combines an apodizer in the entrance aperture with a Lyot opaque mask in the focal plane. This paper presents the manufacturing and testing of a microdots apodizer optimized for the near IR. Aims. We attempt to demonstrate the feasibility and performance of binary apodizers for the APLC. This study is also relevant to coronagraph using amplitude pupil apodization. Methods. A binary apodizer was designed using a halftone-dot process, where the binary array of pixels with either 0% or 100% transmission was calculated to fit the required continuous transmission, i.e. local transmission control was obtained by varying the relative density of the opaque and transparent pixels. An error-di! usion algorithm was used to optimize the distribution of pixels that approximated the required field transmission. The prototype was tested with a coronagraphic setup in the near IR. Results. The transmission profile of the prototype agrees with the theoretical shape to within 3% and is achromatic. The observed apodized and coronagraphic images are consistent with theory. However, binary apodizers introduce high frequency noise that is a function of the pixel size. Numerical simulations were used to specify pixel size and minimize this e! ect, and validated by experiment. Conclusions. Thispaper demonstrates that binary apodizers are wellsuited for use in high-contrast imaging coronagraphs. The correct choice of pixel size is important and must be addressed by considering the scientific field of view.
A Novel Bayesian Network Approach for Engineering Reliability Assessment

Bayesian network (BN) learning is difficult task due to the limitation of available data in most engineering fields. On the other hand, BN which constructed bases on experts’ judgments is hard to evaluate and often inaccurate. In this work we introduce a novel method called expert-based structural EM (Ex-SEM) for Bayesian network construction which combines limited objective data and experts’ knowledge into the BN learning process. Our experimental results show that incorporating prior knowledge from experts into Bayesian learning process could help effectively discover causal relationships in the network as well as improve accuracy of learned model. Finally, Ex-SEM was adopted to assess the reliability of a Hydraulic power plant (HPP) in Taiwan. The maintenance data were collected for more than one year; nevertheless, some data were missing. To incorporate the experts’ knowledge from the HPP maintenance sections, four experts were interviewed. The performance of Ex-SEM was compared with original SEM and K2, one popular BN learning algorithm. It is found that Ex-SEM outperformed SEM and K2 in terms of accuracy and efficiency.
k-anonymous reputation

While performing pure e-business transactions such as purchasing software or music, customers can act anonymously supported by, e.g., anonymous communication protocols and anonymous payment protocols. However, it is hard to establish trust relations among anonymously acting business partners. Anonymous reputation systems have been proposed to mitigate this problem. Schiffner et al. recently proved that there is a conflict between anonymity and reputation and they established the non-existence of certain privacy-preserving reputation functions. In this paper we argue that this relationship is even more intricate. First, we present a reputation function that deanonymizes the user, yet provides strong anonymity (SA) according to their definitions. However, this reputation function has no utility, i.e., the submitted ratings have no influence on the resulting reputation values. Second, we show that a reputation function having utility requires the system to choose new independently at random selected pseudonyms (for all users it has utility for) on every new rating as a necessary condition to provide strong anonymity according to the aforementioned definition. Since some persistence of pseudonyms is favorable, we present a more secure, but also more usable definition for anonymous reputation systems that allows persistency yet guaranties k-anonymity. We further present a definition for rating secrecy based on a threshold. Finally, we propose a practical reputation function, for which we prove that it satisfies these definitions.
Framework for exploration of performance space

This paper presents a framework for the analysis and exploration of performance space. It enables the user to visualize performances in relation to other performances of the same piece based on a set of features extracted from audio. A performance space is formed from a set of performances through spectral analysis, alignment, dimensionality reduction and visualization. Operation of the system is demonstrated initially with synthetic MIDI performances and then with a case study of recorded piano performances.
Repetition of deliberate self-harm and subsequent suicide risk: Long-term follow-up study of 11 583 patients

Background Repetition of deliberate self-harm (DSH) is a risk factor for suicide. Little information is available on the risk for specific groups of people who deliberately harm themselves repeatedly. Aims To investigate the long-term risk of suicide associated with repetition of DSH by gender, age and frequency of repetition. Method A mortality follow-up study to the year 2000 was conducted on 11583 people who presented to the general hospital in Oxford between 1978 and 1997. Repetition of DSH was determined from reported episodes prior to the index episode and episodes presenting to the same hospital during the follow-up period. Deaths were identified through national registers. Results Thirty-nine percent of patients repeated the DSH. They were at greater relative risk of suicide than the single-episode DSH group (2.24; 95% CI 1.77–2.84). The relative risk of suicide in the repeated DSH group compared with the single-episode DSH group was greater in females (3.5; 95% C11.3–2.4) than males (1.8; 95% C1 2.3–5.3) and was inversely related to age (up to 54 years). Suicide risk increased further with multiple repeat episodes of DSH in females. Conclusions Repetition of DSH is associated with an increased risk of suicide in males and females. Repetition may be a better indicator of risk in females, especially young females.
Identification of spam comments using natural language processing techniques

The high popularity of modern web is partly due to the increase in the number of content sharing applications. The social tools provided by the content sharing applications allow online users to interact, to express their opinions and to read opinions from other users. However, spammers provide comments which are written intentionally to mislead users by redirecting them to web sites to increase their rating and to promote products less known on the market. Reading spam comments is a bad experience and a waste of time for most of the online users but can also be harming and cause damage to the reader. Research has been performed in this domain in order to identify and eliminate spam comments. Our goal is to detect comments which are likely to represent spam considering some indicators: a discontinuous text flow, inadequate and vulgar language or not related to a specific context. Our approach relies on machine learning algorithms and topic detection.
Joint design of RFID reader and tag anti-collision algorithms: a cross-layer approach

This paper investigates the potential interactions between reader and tag anti-collision algorithms of passive RFID (radio frequency identification) systems. Conventionally, reader and tag anti-collision algorithms are designed by assuming that they are independent from each other. In practice, however, readers and tags usually operate in the same frequency band. Therefore, contention between their transmissions can also potentially arise. Furthermore, reader anti-collision policies directly influence the way in which tags are activated, and thus also the way in which they collide when responding to reader’s requests. In view of this and considering the growing numbers of readers and tags, independence of both schemes can not longer be considered as a realistic assumption. This paper partially fills this gap by proposing a new cross-layer framework for the joint evaluation and optimization of reader and tag anticollision algorithms. Furthermore, the paper proposes a new approach, based on a Markov model, which allows capacity and stability analysis of asymmetrical RFID systems (i.e., when readers and tags experience different channel and queuing states). The model captures the dynamics of tag activation and tag detection processes of RFID. It also represents a first step towards a joint design of physical (PHY) and medium access control layers (MAC) of RFID. The results indicate that the proposed approach provides benefits in terms of stability and capacity over conventional solutions even when readers and tags operate in different channels. The results also provide useful guidelines towards the cross-layer design of future RFID platforms.
Power of crowdsourcing in Twitter to find similar/related users

Identifying similar users in social media, e.g., Twitter, is very useful for a variety of applications, such as promoting social connections by user recommendation and defining the type of user accounts for target advertisement. Although many existing methods are available, especially that of Similar-To Framework of Twitter, they require a massive amount of data to process. This has become a major obstacle for non-commercial organizations and in particular academic researchers to study and analyze the similarity, due to the resource requirement to handle large datasets and the limitations of Twitter API to access Tweets per day. Accordingly, this paper proposes a new method that uses only a small amount of data and can be applied by not exceeding Twitter API limitations. Our method, called List Voting, uses only Lists feature that is provided by Twitter to determine accounts of similar users who are likely to produce similar contents. All the Lists are created by Twitter users. Thus, the List can be considered as a crowdsourcing. We also study the characteristics of the definition of crowdsourcing to confirm the consideration. Our experimental result shows that our method gets the benefit of the power of this crowdsourcing and can provide a list of users that are similar or related to a specified user.
Ontogenetic changes in the structural stiffness of the tailstock of bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus)

SUMMARY Late-term fetal bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) are bent ventrolaterally en utero, requiring extreme flexibility of the axial skeleton and associated soft tissues. At birth, neonatal dolphins must immediately swim to the surface to breath, yet the dorsoventral oscillations used during locomotion may be compromised by the lateral flexibility evident in the fetus. The unique fetal position of dolphins, coupled with their need to swim at birth, places conflicting mechanical demands on the tailstock. Our previous research demonstrated that neonatal dolphins possess laterally placed, axial muscles that are functionally specialized to actively maintain the straightened posture of the tailstock. Here, we investigated the development of passive lateral stability in the tailstock of bottlenose dolphins by performing whole-body bending tests on an ontogenetic series of stranded dolphin specimens (N=15), including fetuses, neonates and juveniles (total length 58–171 cm). Structural stiffness increased, while overall body curvature decreased, with increasing body length. Scaling analyses suggest that increased structural stiffness is due to increases in size and probably changes in the passive material properties of the tailstock through ontogeny. The neutral zone was approximately constant with increasing size, while the relative neutral zone (neutral zone/total length) decreased. The lateral stability of the tailstock appears to be controlled by a combination of active and passive systems and the role of these systems varies through ontogeny. While neonates use active, muscular mechanisms to limit lateral deformations of the tailstock, the stability of the maturing tailstock is due primarily to its passive tissue properties.
What is to become of programming?

CS1 and CS2 have been revised and currently ACM is exploring the revision of the CS core. General dissatisfaction has been broadly voiced with Curriculum '78 as not being sufficiently mathematical and theoretical. In the same vein the accreditation criteria have been attacked as being too technical and vocational. A strong voice has been raised for a liberal arts view of computer science. Recent texts are incorporating a higher level of abstraction into the freshman year as well as trying to cater to a demand for a survey of the discipline. Does this portend a decline in programming skill? Who will write code in the future? What will be their knowledge and aesthetics? This paper cannot answer all these questions, but it does develop a near-term approach to presenting programming more efficiently in the undergraduate CS curriculum and it suggests that the discipline needs to give some thought to its technology.
A theory of persistent income inequality

This paper explores the dynamics of income inequality by studying the evolution of human capital investment and neighborhood choice for a population of families. Parents affect the conditional probability distribution of their children's income through the choice of a neighborhood in which to live. Neighborhood location affects children both through local public finance of education as well as through sociological effects. These forces combine to create incentives for wealthier families to segregate themselves into economically homogeneous neighborhoods. Economic stratification combines with strong neighborhoodwide feedback effects to transmit economic status across generations, leading to persistent income inequality.
Responses of root architecture development to low phosphorus availability: a review

Background Phosphorus (P) is an essential element for plant growth and development but it is often a limiting nutrient in soils. Hence, P acquisition from soil by plant roots is a subject of considerable interest in agriculture, ecology and plant root biology. Root architecture, with its shape and structured development, can be considered as an evolutionary response to scarcity of resources. Scope This review discusses the significance of root architecture development in response to low P availability and its beneficial effects on alleviation of P stress. It also focuses on recent progress in unravelling cellular, physiological and molecular mechanisms in root developmental adaptation to P starvation. The progress in a more detailed understanding of these mechanisms might be used for developing strategies that build upon the observed explorative behaviour of plant roots. Conclusions The role of root architecture in alleviation of P stress is well documented. However, this paper describes how plants adjust their root architecture to low-P conditions through inhibition of primary root growth, promotion of lateral root growth, enhancement of root hair development and cluster root formation, which all promote P acquisition by plants. The mechanisms for activating alterations in root architecture in response to P deprivation depend on changes in the localized P concentration, and transport of or sensitivity to growth regulators such as sugars, auxins, ethylene, cytokinins, nitric oxide (NO), reactive oxygen species (ROS) and abscisic acid (ABA). In the process, many genes are activated, which in turn trigger changes in molecular, physiological and cellular processes. As a result, root architecture is modified, allowing plants to adapt effectively to the low-P environment. This review provides a framework for understanding how P deficiency alters root architecture, with a focus on integrated physiological and molecular signalling.
Intelligent household LED lighting system considering energy efficiency and user satisfaction

Saving energy has become one of the most important issues these days. The most waste of energy is caused by the inefficient use of the consumer electronics. Particularly, a light accounts for a great part of the total energy consumption. Various light control systems are introduced in current markets, because the installed lighting systems are outdated and energy-inefficient. However, due to architectural limitations, the existing light control systems cannot be successfully applied to home and office buildings. Therefore, this paper proposes an intelligent household LED lighting system considering energy efficiency and user satisfaction. The proposed system utilizes multi sensors and wireless communication technology in order to control an LED light according to the user's state and the surroundings. The proposed LED lighting system can autonomously adjust the minimum light intensity value to enhance both energy efficiency and user satisfaction. We designed and implemented the proposed system in the test bed and measured total power consumption to verify the performance. The proposed LED lighting system reduces total power consumption of the test bed up to 21.9%1.