Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Frequency Characteristics of Retinal Neurons in the Carp

Frequency characteristics of various retinal neurons in the carp were studied using sinusoidally modulated light as an input. They were affected by both intensity and pattern of illumination. In the horizontal cells, in which the effect of light intensity was studied most extensively, an increase in the light intensity brought about a decrease of the gain, which was more marked at lower frequencies, resulting in a shift of cutoff frequency towards higher frequencies and in a slight low frequency attenuation. A decrease in the area illuminated had an effect similar to a decrease in the light intensity. In the receptor, the low frequency attenuation was not apparent even at high light intensities. The adaptation process in receptors was not sufficient to explain the low frequency attenuation in the horizontal cells, and a possible contribution of negative feedback from horizontal cells to receptors was suggested. In the bipolar cell, the lateral interaction played an important role. An increase in an area resulted in the suppression of the response at low frequencies where the phases of the center and the surround responses were opposed, but in the augmentation near 5 Hz where the two responses were in phase. In amacrine cells, a low frequency attenuation and a phase advance at low frequencies were very prominent, and were considered to be due mainly to a process designated here as the neural adaptation.
Business Network Management as a Survival Strategy: A Tale of Two Software Ecosystems

Software vendors and software service providers can no longer function without taking their software ecosystem into account. Software vendors presently face three challenges in regards to software ecosys- tems: (1) they require insight into software ecosystems, (2) they require insight into the possible survival strategies that exist for software ecosys- tem participants, and (3) they require an overview of possible ways in which the organization can open up to the software ecosystem without losing intellectual property. This paper addresses these needs and pro- vides an overview of the dening characteristics of software ecosystems. To illustrate these dening characteristics two case studies are provided.
Remote effects of intermittent theta burst stimulation of the human pharyngeal motor system

Intermittent theta burst stimulation (iTBS) is a novel, non‐invasive form of brain stimulation capable of facilitating excitability of the human primary motor cortex with therapeutic potential in the treatment of neurological conditions, such as multiple sclerosis. The objectives of this study were to evaluate the effects of iTBS on cortical properties in the human pharyngeal motor system. Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS)‐evoked pharyngeal motor responses were recorded via a swallowed intra‐luminal catheter and used to assess motor cortical pathways to the pharynx in both hemispheres before and for up to 90 min after iTBS in 15 healthy adults (nine male/six female, 22–59 years old). Active/sham iTBS comprised 600 intermittent repetitive TMS pulses, delivered in a double‐blind pseudo‐randomised order over each hemisphere on separate days at least 1 week apart. Abductor pollicis brevis (APB) recordings were used as control. Hemispheric interventional data were compared with sham using repeated‐measures anova. iTBS was delivered at an average intensity of 43 ± 1% of stimulator output. Compared with sham, iTBS to the hemisphere with stronger pharyngeal projections induced increased responses only in the contralateral weaker projection 60–90 min post‐iTBS (maximum 54 ± 19%, P ≤ 0.007), with no change in stronger hemisphere responses. By contrast, iTBS to weaker projections had no significant effects (P = 0.39) on either hemisphere. APB responses similarly did not change significantly (P = 0.78) across all study arms. We conclude that iTBS can induce remote changes in corticobulbar excitability. While further studies will clarify the extent of these changes, iTBS holds promise as a potential treatment for dysphagia after unilateral brain damage.
Blue light negatively regulates the sexual filamentation via the Cwc1 and Cwc2 proteins in Cryptococcus neoformans

Cryptococcus neoformans is a heterothallic basidiomycetous yeast that primarily infects immunocompromised individuals. Dikaryotic hyphae resulting from the fusion of the MATa and MATα mating type strains represent the filamentous stage in the sexual life cycle of C. neoformans. In this study we demonstrate that the production of dikaryotic filaments is inhibited by blue light. To study blue light photoresponse in C. neoformans, we have identified and characterized two genes, CWC1 and CWC2, which are homologous to Neurospora crassa wc‐1 and wc‐2 genes. Conserved domain analyses indicate that the functions of Cwc1 and Cwc2 proteins may be evolutionally conserved. To dissect their roles in the light response, the CWC1 gene deletion mutants are created in both mating type strains. Mating filamentation in the bilateral cross of cwc1 MATa and MATα strains is not sensitive to light. The results indicate that Cwc1 may be an essential regulator of light responses in C. neoformans. Furthermore, overexpression of the CWC1 or CWC2 gene requires light activation to inhibit sexual filamentation, suggesting both genes may function together in the early step of blue light signalling. Taken together, our findings illustrate blue light negatively regulates the sexual filamentation via the Cwc1 and Cwc2 proteins in C. neoformans.
A phase III protocol of androgen suppression (AS) and 3DCRT/IMRT versus AS and 3DCRT/IMRT followed by chemotherapy (CT) with docetaxel and prednisone for localized, high-risk prostate cancer (RTOG 0521).

LBA5002 Background: High-risk, localized prostate cancer (PCa) patients have a relatively poor prognosis. We hypothesized that the addition of adjuvant docetaxel and prednisone to long-term (24 month) AS and radiation therapy (RT) would improve overall survival (OS). METHODS RTOG 0521 opened December 2005 and closed August 2009 with targeted accrual of 600 cases. It was designed to detect improvement in 4-year OS from 86% to 93% with a 51% hazard reduction (HR = 0.49). Under a 0.05 1-sided type I error and 90% power, at least 78 deaths were required to analyze the OS endpoint. Patients had 1) Gleason (Gl) 7-8, any T-stage, and PSA > 20, or 2) Gl 8, ≥ T2, any PSA, or 3) Gl 9-10, any T-stage, any PSA. All had PSA ≤ 150. RT dose was 75.6 Gy. CT consisted of 6, 21-day cycles of docetaxel + prednisone starting 28 days after RT. RESULTS Of 612 enrolled, 50 were excluded for eligibility issues, leaving 562 evaluable. Median age = 66, median PSA = 15.1, 53% had Gl 9-10, 27% had cT3-4. Median follow-up = 5.5 yrs. 4-yr OS rates were 89% [95% CI: 84-92%] for the AS+RT arm and 93% [95% CI: 90-96%] for the AS+RT+CT arm (1-sided p = 0.03, HR = 0.68 [95% CI: 0.44, 1.03]). There were 52 centrally-reviewed deaths in the AS+RT arm and 36 in the AS+RT+CT arm, with fewer deaths both due to PCa/treatment (20 vs 16) and due to other causes/unknown (32 vs 20) in the AS+RT+CT arm. 5-yr disease-free survival rates were 66% for AS+RT and 73% for AS+RT+CT (2-sided p = 0.05, HR = 0.76 [95% CI: 0.57, 1.00]). There was 1, Gr 5 unlikely-related adverse event (AE) in the AS+RT arm and 2, Gr 5 possibly/probably-related AEs with AS+RT+CT. CONCLUSIONS For high-risk, localized PCa, adjuvant CT improved the OS from 89% to 93% at 4 years. Toxicity was acceptable. This trial was designed with a short OS assessment period and additional follow-up is warranted to determine the long-term benefit of CT to the current standard of care of long-term AS+RT. This project was supported by grants U10CA21661, U10CA180868, U10CA180822, from the National Cancer Institute and Sanofi with additional support from AstraZeneca for Australian site participation. CLINICAL TRIAL INFORMATION NCT00288080.
The Dictyostelium LvsA Protein is Localized on the Contractile Vacuole and is Required for Osmoregulation

LvsA is a Dictyostelium protein that is essential for cytokinesis and that is related to the mammalian beige/LYST family of proteins. To better understand the function of this novel protein family we tagged LvsA with GFP using recombination techniques. GFP‐LvsA is primarily associated with the membranes of the contractile vacuole system and it also has a punctate distribution in the cytoplasm. Two markers of the Dictyostelium contractile vacuole, the vacuolar proton pump and calmodulin, show extensive colocalization with GFP‐LvsA on contractile vacuole membranes. Interestingly, the association of LvsA with contractile vacuole membranes occurs only during the discharge phase of the vacuole. In LvsA mutants the contractile vacuole becomes disorganized and calmodulin dissociates from the contractile vacuole membranes. Consequently, the contractile vacuole is unable to function normally, it can swell but seems unable to discharge and the LvsA mutants become osmosensitive. These results demonstrate that LvsA can associate transiently with the contractile vacuole membrane compartment and that this association is necessary for the function of the contractile vacuole during osmoregulation. This transient association with specific membrane compartments may be a general property of other BEACH‐domain containing proteins.
Evaluating Indirect Branch Handling Mechanisms in Software Dynamic Translation Systems

Software Dynamic Translation (SDT) systems are used for program instrumentation, dynamic optimization, security, intrusion detection, and many other uses. As noted by many researchers, a major source of SDT overhead is the execution of code which is needed to translate an indirect branch's target address into the address of the translated destination block. This paper discusses the sources of indirect branch (IB) overhead in SDT systems and evaluates several techniques for overhead reduction. Measurements using SPEC CPU2000 show that the appropriate choice and configuration of IB translation mechanisms can significantly reduce the IB handling overhead. In addition, cross-architecture evaluation of IB handling mechanisms reveals that the most efficient implementation and configuration can be highly dependent on the implementation of the underlying architecture.
NPC-26 kills human colorectal cancer cells via activating AMPK signaling

NPC-26 is novel mitochondrion-interfering compound. The current study tested its potential effect against colorectal cancer (CRC) cells. We demonstrated that NPC-26 induced potent anti-proliferative and cytotoxic activities against CRC cell lines (HCT-116, DLD-1 and HT-29). Activation of AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) signaling mediated NPC-26-induced CRC cell death. AMPKα1 shRNA knockdown or dominant negative mutation abolished NPC-26-induced AMPK activation and subsequent CRC cell death. NPC-26 disrupted mitochondrial function, causing mitochondrial permeability transition pore (mPTP) opening and reactive oxygen species (ROS) production. ROS scavengers (NAC or MnTBAP) and mPTP blockers (cyclosporin A or sanglifehrin A) blocked NPC-26-induced AMPK activation and attenuated CRC cell death. Significantly, intraperitoneal injection of NPC-26 potently inhibited HCT-116 tumor growth in severe combined immuno-deficient (SCID) mice. Yet, its anti-tumor activity was significantly weakened against AMPKα1-silenced HCT-116 tumors. Together, we conclude that NPC-26 kills CRC cells possibly via activating AMPK signaling.
Caring for people with chronic conditions: a health system perspective

This book focuses on a range of health system and policy issues related to caring for people with chronic conditions. Edited by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine’s Ellen Nolte and Martin McKee, this book features contributions from twenty different authors based in five European and three non-European countries. This volume represents the newest addition to the European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies Series, which “. seeks to contribute to the evolution of a more evidence-based approach to policy formulation in the health sector (p. v)”.
Invariant Global Motion Recognition in the Dorsal Visual System: A Unifying Theory

The motion of an object (such as a wheel rotating) is seen as consistent independent of its position and size on the retina. Neurons in higher cortical visual areas respond to these global motion stimuli invariantly, but neurons in early cortical areas with small receptive fields cannot represent this motion, not only because of the aperture problem but also because they do not have invariant representations. In a unifying hypothesis with the design of the ventral cortical visual system, we propose that the dorsal visual system uses a hierarchical feedforward network architecture (V1, V2, MT, MSTd, parietal cortex) with training of the connections with a short-term memory trace associative synaptic modification rule to capture what is invariant at each stage. Simulations show that the proposal is computationally feasible, in that invariant representations of the motion flow fields produced by objects self-organize in the later layers of the architecture. The model produces invariant representations of the motion flow fields produced by global in-plane motion of an object, in-plane rotational motion, looming versus receding of the object, and object-based rotation about a principal axis. Thus, the dorsal and ventral visual systems may share some similar computational principles.
Casein kinase 2 phosphorylation of Hsp90 threonine 22 modulates chaperone function and drug sensitivity

The molecular chaperone Heat Shock Protein 90 (Hsp90) is essential for the function of various oncoproteins that are vital components of multiple signaling networks regulating cancer cell proliferation, survival, and metastasis. Hsp90 chaperone function is coupled to its ATPase activity, which can be inhibited by natural products such as the ansamycin geldanamycin (GA) and the resorcinol radicicol (RD). These compounds have served as templates for development of numerous natural product Hsp90 inhibitors. More recently, second generation, fully synthetic Hsp90 inhibitors, based on a variety of chemical scaffolds, have also been synthesized. Together, 18 natural product and synthetic Hsp90 inhibitors have entered clinical trial in cancer patients. To successfully develop Hsp90 inhibitors for oncology indications it is important to understand the factors that influence the susceptibility of Hsp90 to these drugs in vivo. We recently reported that Casein Kinase 2 phosphorylates a conserved threonine residue (T22) in helix-1 of the yeast Hsp90 N-domain both in vitro and in vivo. Phosphorylation of this residue reduces ATPase activity and affects Hsp90 chaperone function. Here, we present additional data demonstrating that ATP binding but not N-domain dimerization is a prerequisite for T22 phosphorylation. We also provide evidence that T22 is an important determinant of Hsp90 inhibitor sensitivity in yeast and we show that T22 phosphorylation status contributes to drug sensitivity in vivo.
Forecasting seat sales in passenger airlines: introducing the round-trip model

The innovative idea of this research is changing the focus from valuation based customer segmentation into segmenting customers in base of their travel plans, and using price information of flights that are likely to be considered by passengers as pairs, in forecasting models. This improves forecasting models precision, supports better management of the demand among a set of potential related flights, and results in revenue increase. Finite regression mixture models were tested to identify linked traffic in the two directions and potentially connected flights on a route in reverse directions; Adaptive Neuro-Fuzzy Inference System (ANFIS) is applied to develop comparative models for studying sales effect between one-way versus round-trip models. The RTM demonstrated 5% error reduction, comparing with one-way model by entering only one linked flight. This empirical study is performed on a database with 22,900 flights which was obtained from a major North American passenger airline.
Short-Packet Communications Over Multiple-Antenna Rayleigh-Fading Channels

Motivated by the current interest in ultra-reliable, low-latency, machine-type communication systems, we investigate the tradeoff between reliability, throughput, and latency in the transmission of information over multiple-antenna Rayleigh block-fading channels. Specifically, we obtain finite-blocklength, finite-SNR upper and lower bounds on the maximum coding rate achievable over such channels for a given constraint on the packet error probability. Numerical evidence suggests that our bounds delimit tightly the maximum coding rate already for short blocklengths (packets of about 100 symbols). Furthermore, our bounds reveal the existence of a tradeoff between the rate gain obtainable by spreading each codeword over all available time-frequency-spatial degrees of freedom, and the rate loss caused by the need of estimating the fading coefficients over these degrees of freedom. In particular, our bounds allow us to determine the optimal number of transmit antennas and the optimal number of time-frequency diversity branches that maximize the rate. Finally, we show that infinite-blocklength performance metrics such as the ergodic capacity and the outage capacity yield inaccurate throughput estimates.
Dynamic spectral shaping in cognitive radios with quality of service constraints

In this paper we consider cognitive radios (CR) that employ orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) modulation at the physical layer and present an algorithm for transmitter adaptation subject to specified quality of service (QoS) constraints. The proposed algorithm explicitly considers multipath channels between the CR transmitter and its intended receiver, and performs joint spectral shaping and transmitter power control in order to avoid spectral bands used by licensed users of the spectrum while maintaining specified target signal-to-interference+noise-ratios (SINR) at the CR receiver. The algorithm is illustrated with numerical examples obtained from simulations in which dynamic scenarios are considered with licensed transmitters getting in and out of the system.
An assessment of alcohol abuse by midshipmen at the United States Naval Academy

Abstract : This thesis utilized a multi-method approach to conduct exploratory research regarding the use and abuse of alcohol by midshipmen at the United States Naval Academy (USNA). Quantitative data were analyzed regarding midshipmen perceptions of abuse. Over 50% of midshipmen consider alcohol abuse as a problem at the Academy. Focus groups were conducted in order to gather qualitative data concerning midshipmen drinking behaviors. Midshipmen representing all four classes at USNA reported significant pressures not only to drink underage but to binge drink. The probability of binge drinking at USNA may be related to the fact that midshipmen are restricted in their use of alcohol; there exists an attitude that they need to make up for lost time by over-indulging when they do have the opportunity. Sixty-five percent of the female and 77% of the male midshipmen participants admitted binge drinking within the last six months (significantly higher than the national college average of 44%). Fear of jeopardizing future careers prevents midshipmen from getting the medical assistance they need for alcohol poisoning or concerns about alcohol dependency. Recommendations include playing down the novelty of drinking, providing more opportunities for responsible use, establishing alternate avenues for reporting midshipmen for medical help, holding the 1/c midshipmen accountable for modeling responsible alcohol use, and continuing to support the ADEO program and prevention education.
WeSeE-Match results for OEAI 2012

WeSeE-Match is a simple, element-based ontology matching tool. Its basic technique is invoking a web search engine request for each concept and determining element similarity based on the similarity of the search results obtained. Multi-lingual ontologies are translated using a standard web based translation service. The results show that the approach, despite its simplicity, is competitive with the state of the art.
Band-theoretical investigation of the magneto-optical Kerr effect in Fe and Co multilayers.

A band theory of the magneto-optical (MO) properties of solids, based on the first-principles spin-polarized, relativistic linear muffin-tin orbital method, is described. Two expressions of the relativistic electron-photon-interaction matrix elements are implemented and their accuracies are investigated. It is found that the spin-polarized, relativistic band theory, together with the expression of the photon-absorption matrix elements, is able to give reliable optical conductivity and MO Kerr rotation spectra of bcc Fe that agree well with both experiments and recent calculations using a different method. The MO properties of several Fe and Co multilayers [Fe(Co${)}_{2}$${\mathrm{Cu}}_{6}$ fcc-(001), FeCu(Ag${)}_{5}$ fcc-(001), bcc-Fe/fcc-${\mathrm{Ag}}_{5}$ (001), bcc-${\mathrm{Fe}}_{\mathit{n}}$/fcc-${\mathrm{Au}}_{5}$ (001) (n=1,3), ${\mathrm{Co}}_{2}$${\mathrm{Pd}}_{4}$ fcc-(111), and ${\mathrm{Co}}_{2}$${\mathrm{Pt}}_{\mathit{m}}$ fcc-(111) (m=1,4,7)] are then investigated theoretically. The calculated MO Kerr effect in all the multilayers except ${\mathrm{Co}}_{2}$${\mathrm{Pt}}_{1}$ fcc-(111) is not larger than in bulk Fe and Co. Nevertheless, the results suggest that materials with larger Kerr rotations can be achieved by making Fe (Co) superlattices with ultrathin layers (few monolayers thick) of heavy elements possessing a partially filled d band (e.g., Pt and Os).
Automatically recommending test code examples to inexperienced developers

New graduates joining the software engineering workforce sometimes have trouble writing test code. Coming from university, they lack a hands-on approach to testing and have little experience with writing tests in a real-world setting. Software companies resort to costly training camps or mentoring initiatives. Not overcoming this lack of testing skills early on can hinder the newcomer’s professional progress in becoming a high-quality engineer. Studying open source developers, we found that they rely on a project’s pre-existing test code to learn how to write tests and adapt test code for their own use. We propose to strategically present useful and contextual test code examples from a project’s test suite to newcomers in order to facilitate learning and test writing. With an automatic suggestion mechanism for valuable test code, the newcomer is enabled to learn how senior developers write tests and copy it. Having access to suitable tests lowers the barrier for writing new tests.
Just-in-Time Verification in ADL-based processor design

A novel verification methodology, combining the two new techniques of Live Verification and Processor State Transfer, is introduced to Architecture Description Language (ADL) based processor design. The proposed Just-in-Time Verification significantly accelerates the simulation-based equivalence check of the register-transfer and instruction-set level models, generated from the ADL-based specification. This is accomplished by omitting redundant simulation steps occurring in the conventional architecture debug cycle. The potential speedup is demonstrated with a case study, achieving an acceleration of the debug cycle by 660x.