Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A Proposed Universal Medical and Public Health Definition of Terrorism

Abstract The lack of a universally applicable definition of terrorism has confounded the understanding of terrorism since the term was first coined in 18th Century France. Although a myriad of definitions of terrorism have been advanced over the years, virtually all of these definitions have been crisis-centered, frequently reflecting the political perspectives of those who seek to define it. In this article, we deconstruct these previously used definitions of terrorism in order to reconstruct a definition of terrorism that is consequence-centered, medically relevant, and universally harmonized. A universal medical and public health definition of terrorism will facilitate clinical and scientific research, education, and communication about terrorism-related events or disasters. We propose the following universal medical and public definition of terrorism: The intentional use of violence — real or threatened — against one or more non-combatants and/or those services essential for or protective of their health, resulting in adverse health effects in those immediately affected and their community, ranging from a loss of well-being or security to injury, illness, or death.
Mechanisms for restraining cAMP-dependent protein kinase revealed by subunit quantitation and cross-linking approaches

Significance Protein phosphorylation by cAMP-dependent protein kinase (PKA) triggers cellular changes, including fight-or-flight responses in heart cells, and synaptic potentiation in neurons. Uncontrolled activity of PKA catalytic subunits is pathological; however, the mechanism for directing PKA in cells is unclear. Using an approach for monitoring cellular PKA subunit interactions, we show that—contrary to recent proposals—catalytic subunits are released from regulatory subunits by cAMP. Instead, we identify mechanisms for rapid recapture of liberated catalytic subunits. Regulatory subunits are expressed much more highly than catalytic subunits to support rapid catalytic subunit reassociation. Furthermore, analysis of global PKA architecture reveals that type II regulatory subunit anchoring is compatible with catalytic subunit release and recapture within the cell membrane. Protein phosphorylation by cyclic AMP-dependent protein kinase (PKA) underlies key cellular processes, including sympathetic stimulation of heart cells, and potentiation of synaptic strength in neurons. Unrestrained PKA activity is pathological, and an enduring challenge is to understand how the activity of PKA catalytic subunits is directed in cells. We developed a light-activated cross-linking approach to monitor PKA subunit interactions with temporal precision in living cells. This enabled us to refute the recently proposed theory that PKA catalytic subunits remain tethered to regulatory subunits during cAMP elevation. Instead, we have identified other features of PKA signaling for reducing catalytic subunit diffusion and increasing recapture rate. Comprehensive quantitative immunoblotting of protein extracts from human embryonic kidney cells and rat organs reveals that regulatory subunits are always in large molar excess of catalytic subunits (average ∼17-fold). In the majority of organs tested, type II regulatory (RII) subunits were found to be the predominant PKA subunit. We also examined the architecture of PKA complexes containing RII subunits using cross-linking coupled to mass spectrometry. Quantitative comparison of cross-linking within a complex of RIIβ and Cβ, with or without the prototypical anchoring protein AKAP18α, revealed that the dimerization and docking domain of RIIβ is between its second cAMP binding domains. This architecture is compatible with anchored RII subunits directing the myristylated N terminus of catalytic subunits toward the membrane for release and recapture within the plane of the membrane.
On the capacity of two-dimensional run-length constrained channels

Two-dimensional binary patterns that satisfy one-dimensional (d, k) run-length constraints both horizontally and vertically are considered. For a given d and k, the capacity C/sub d,k/ is defined as C/sub d,k/=lim/sub m,n/spl rarr//spl infin//log/sub 2/N/sub m,n//sup d,k//mn, where N/sub m,n//sup d,k/ denotes the number of m/spl times/n rectangular patterns that satisfy the two-dimensional (d,k) run-length constraint. Bounds on C/sub d,k/ are given and it is proven for every d/spl ges/1 and every k>d that C/sub d,k/=0 if and only if k=d+1. Encoding algorithms are also discussed.
Microsphere-induced bronchial artery vasodilation: role of adenosine, prostacyclin, and nitric oxide.

We previously found that injection of 15-μm microspheres into the bronchial artery of sheep decreased bronchial artery resistance. This effect was inhibited partially by indomethacin or 8-phenyltheophylline, suggesting that microspheres caused release of a dilating prostaglandin and adenosine. To identify the prostaglandin and confirm adenosine release, we perfused the bronchial artery in anesthetized sheep. In 12 sheep, bronchial artery blood samples were obtained before and after the infusion of 1 × 106microspheres or microsphere diluent into the bronchial artery. Microspheres, but not diluent, decreased bronchial artery resistance by 40% and increased bronchial artery plasma 6-ketoprostaglandin F1α (194.7 ± 45.0 to 496.5 ± 101.3 pg/ml), the stable metabolite of prostacyclin, and prostaglandin (PG) F2α (28.1 ± 4.4 to 46.2 ± 9.7 pg/ml). There were no changes in PGD2, PGE2, thromboxane B2, adenosine, inosine, or hypoxanthine. Pretreatment with dipyridamole, an adenosine uptake inhibitor, did not affect bronchial artery nucleoside concentrations ( n = 7). Microsphere-induced vasodilation was not enhanced by dipyridamole ( n = 9) and was not inhibited by either the adenosine receptor antagonist xanthine amine congener ( n = 4) or the nitric oxide (NO) synthase inhibitor N G-monomethyl-l-arginine ( n = 8). These results do not support a role for either adenosine or NO and suggest that microspheres caused bronchial artery vasodilation through release of prostacylin and an unidentified vasodilator.
Investment Timing Under Incomplete Information

We study the decision of when to invest in a project whose value is perfectly observable but driven by a parameter that is unknown to the decision maker ex ante. This problem is equivalent to an optimal stopping problem for a bivariate Markov process. Using filtering and martingale techniques, we show that the optimal investment region is characterized by a continuous and nondecreasing boundary in the value-belief state space. This generates path-dependency in the optimal investment strategy. We further show that the decision maker always benefits from an uncertain drift relative to an average drift situation and that the value of the option to invest is not globally increasing with respect to the volatility of the value process.
Publishing Information Systems Action Research for a Positivist Audience

Action research is particularly valuable for its ability to inform theory while making a practical difference. Special issues of MISQ in 2004 and Information Technology and People in 2001 called attention both to action research and research methodology. Yet action research is not widely disseminated across the information systems discipline. The purpose of this tutorial is to advance information systems action research and serve researchers, practitioners, and reviewers by addressing the dissemination problem. We consider how an action research project and the resulting article can widen its appeal to information systems scholars in two ways. First, by clarifying the information systems research paradigm vocabulary of epistemology, methodology, and the action research approach. And second, we outline an article structure more familiar to positivist researchers, thereby creating a bridge among IS scholars to a largely positivist audience. This tutorial is based on the experiences of the authors as information systems action researchers. Editor’s Note: This tutorial was developed based on a presentation made at AMCIS 2005.
Reprogramming adult dermis to a neonatal state through epidermal activation of β-catenin

Hair follicle formation depends on reciprocal epidermal-dermal interactions and occurs during skin development, but not in adult life. This suggests that the properties of dermal fibroblasts change during postnatal development. To examine this, we used a PdgfraEGFP mouse line to isolate GFP-positive fibroblasts from neonatal skin, adult telogen and anagen skin and adult skin in which ectopic hair follicles had been induced by transgenic epidermal activation of β-catenin (EF skin). We also isolated epidermal cells from each mouse. The gene expression profile of EF epidermis was most similar to that of anagen epidermis, consistent with activation of β-catenin signalling. By contrast, adult dermis with ectopic hair follicles more closely resembled neonatal dermis than adult telogen or anagen dermis. In particular, genes associated with mitosis were upregulated and extracellular matrix-associated genes were downregulated in neonatal and EF fibroblasts. We confirmed that sustained epidermal β-catenin activation stimulated fibroblasts to proliferate to reach the high cell density of neonatal skin. In addition, the extracellular matrix was comprehensively remodelled, with mature collagen being replaced by collagen subtypes normally present only in developing skin. The changes in proliferation and extracellular matrix composition originated from a specific subpopulation of fibroblasts located beneath the sebaceous gland. Our results show that adult dermis is an unexpectedly plastic tissue that can be reprogrammed to acquire the molecular, cellular and structural characteristics of neonatal dermis in response to cues from the overlying epidermis.
Literature Survey in Normalised Adaptive Channel Equalizer for MIMO-OFDM

The chief goal in this paper is to provide an analysis on adaptive channel equalizers technique based on the varied approach. This given paper describes a survey on varied techniques for adaptive channel equalization and problems associated with individual operations. Inter-symbol Interference (ISI) is taken into account as a major obstacle in the wireless communication channel to transfer data. The purpose of the equalizer is to reconstruct the original signal by using filters or other methods, and removing the influence of the ISI, thus enhancing the reliability of data transmission. Existing minimum-symbol-error-rate equalizers were derived based on the symbol-error-rate objective function. Because of the complexity of the objective function the derivation isn’t simple. In the current system, MSER-based channel equalization is concentrated. In existing analysis, the MSER equalizer is derived based on the bit error rate (BER) or SER objective function, that are for BPSK sources and QAM sources, correspondingly. The BER/SER objective functions are non-convex and consequently it's tough to get a closed-form solution. The proposed paper describes comparison between approaches and strategies to estimate the novel blind channel estimation algorithm for a multiple input multiple output (MIMO). Keywords— Analysis, Blind, Estimation, distorted,
Neuronal control of bird song production

Bird song represents a powerful model system for many of the important problems in behavioral neurobiology, offering both easily measured sensory and motor patterns and a discrete neural effector system. Methods were developed to record the discharge of neurons in singing birds to examine the functions of nuclei in the song control pathway previously implicated anatomically. In several cases, lesions and other techniques were employed to test predictions derived from electrode recordings. Four major findings emerge from these studies. Single-unit recordings from telencephalic nucleus hyperstriatum ventrale, pars caudale (HVc) show several classes of neurons with apparently specialized roles in song production and/or sensorimotor interaction. The nucleus interfacialis (Nlf; Nottebohm, 1980), which provides an input to HVc and is anatomically the “highest” nucleus in the descending motor pathway, is uniquely placed among vocal control nuclei to be a generator of timing cues for song. Consistent with the unidirectional connections between nuclei of the descending pathway, Nlf, HVc, and nucleus robustus archistriatalis (RA) are activated sequentially prior to sound onset. Three other nuclei with connections to or from the descending tract do not show song-related activity in the adult. Bilateral HVc recordings and peripheral disruptions of the vocal apparatus suggest that both hemispheres and syringeal halves normally make similar contributions to most if not all song syllables. The latter finding casts doubt on the analogy between neural lateralization in bird song and in human speech.
Reputation Attacks Detection for Effective Trust Assessment among Cloud Services

Consumers' feedback is a good source to help assess overall trustworthiness of cloud services. However, it is not unusual that a trust management system experiences malicious behaviors from its users (i.e., collusion or Sybil attacks). In this paper, we propose techniques for the detection of reputation attacks to allow consumers to effectively identify trustworthy cloud services. We introduce a credibility model that not only identifies misleading trust feedbacks from collusion attacks but also detects Sybil attacks, either strategic (in a long period of time) or occasional (in a short period of time). We have collected a large collection of consumer's trust feedbacks given on real-world cloud services (over 10, 000 records) to evaluate and demonstrate the applicability of our approach and show the capability of detecting such malicious behaviors.
Feeding Neural Networks in the Mollusc Aplysia

Aplysia feeding is striking in that it is executed with a great deal of plasticity. At least in part, this flexibility is a result of the organization of the feeding neural network. To illustrate this, we primarily discuss motor programs triggered via stimulation of the command-like cerebral-buccal interneuron 2 (CBI-2). CBI-2 is interesting in that it can generate motor programs that serve opposing functions, i.e., programs can be ingestive or egestive. When programs are egestive, radula-closing motor neurons are activated during the protraction phase of the motor program. When programs are ingestive, radula-closing motor neurons are activated during retraction. When motor programs change in nature, activity in the radula-closing circuitry is altered. Thus, CBI-2 stimulation stereotypically activates the protraction and retraction circuitry, with protraction being generated first, and retraction immediately thereafter. In contrast, radula-closing motor neurons can be activated during either protraction or retraction. Which will occur is determined by whether other cerebral and buccal neurons are recruited, e.g. radula-closing motor neurons tend to be activated during retraction if a second CBI, CBI-3, is recruited. Fundamentally different motor programs are, therefore, generated because CBI-2 activates some interneurons in a stereotypic manner and other interneurons in a variable manner.
Free radical scavenging and mitochondrial antioxidant activities of Reishi- Ganoderma lucidum (Curt: Fr) P. Karst and Arogyapacha-Trichopus zeylanicus Gaertn extracts

Endogenous damage to mitochondrial DNA by free radicals is believed to be a major contributory factor to aging. The current study examined the effects of the extracts of two important anti-fatigue and rejuvenating medicinal herbs Ganoderma lucidum and Trichopus zeylanicus for their free-radical scavenging property and for their effects on liver mitochondrial antioxidant activity in aged mice. Both extracts were administrated orally to aged BALB/c mice at doses of 50 and 250 mg/kg body weight for 15 days. Super oxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT) activity and levels of reduced glutathione (GSH) and lipid peroxidation as equivalents of malondialdehyde (MDA) formed were determined. Groups of young mice and aged mice (more than 15 months old) were taken as controls. Both G. lucidum and T. zeylanicus extracts increased antioxidant status in liver mitochondria of aged mice compared with the aged control. Higher levels of GSH, increased activity of SOD and CAT, and decreased level of MDA in both treated groups compared with the controls were evident. Both extracts possessed significant 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazil (DPPH), 2, 2'-azinobis (3-ethylbenzothiazolin-6-sulphonic acid) (ABTS) radical scavenging activities and ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP). The DPPH, ABTS, and FRAP activities were higher in G. lucidum extract than in T. zeylanicus. G. lucidum extract also showed superoxide and hydroxyl radical scavenging activities. T. zeylanicus had significantly higher lipid peroxidation inhibiting activity than G. lucidum. Thus, we conclude that the antioxidative effect of the G. lucidum extract was higher than that of T. zeylanicus. Our findings suggest a potential therapeutic efficacy of G. lucidum extract to protect against aging and to a certain extent against age-related degenerative diseases.
Development of Microcapsules

Melamine-formaldehyde (PMF) coated microcapsules were produced with liquid pentaerythritol-tetrakis (3-merkaptopropionate) (PETMP) and UV-sensitive indicator colored PETMP cores. Capsules with an average diameter of 43 μm formed due to the adjustments on magnetic stirring, compound ratios, acidity and reaction time. Reproducible recipe was found to produce colored PETMP filled capsules with yields of 1-10%. Optical microscopic investigations were conducted to follow the formation of the particles, and scanning electron-microscope (SEM) was used to verify that the capsules did not break up as an effect of the brittle failure of the epoxy matrix specimens. Improvement of the shell-matrix adhesion was attempted with silane compounds and investigated with X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and SEM.
Covalent binding of methotrexate to immunoglobulins and the effect of antibody-linked drug on tumor growth in vivo.

In an attempt to design cancer chemotherapeutic agents of improved specificity by linking them to antibodies against tumor-associated antigens, we studied the binding of methotrexate (MTX) to immunoglobulins by three different methods, initially using a model system that consisted of bovine serum albumin and rabbit anti-bovine serum albumin immunoglobulin G (IgG). One method used coupling via water-soluble 1-ethyl-3-(3′-dimethylaminopropyl)carbodiimide (ECDI), whereas two others used reactive intermediate derivatives of MTX, i.e. , an active ester formed by reaction with N -hydroxysuccinimide or a mixed anhydride formed by reaction with acetic anhydride. The ECDI and active ester methods yielded covalent conjugates as established by: ( a ) lack of binding of MTX to IgG in the absence of ECDI or when MTX was added without prior activation; and ( b ) the presence of a constant amount of MTX in the IgG fraction after gel filtration. The active ester method was the most effective. Ten mol of MTX per mol of IgG could be incorporated with retention of 90% of the anti-bovine serum albumin activity of an equimolar amount of unconjugated IgG and with recovery of 70% of the original protein. In the ECDI procedure, there was 50% loss of protein, and the recovered protein retained only 50% antibody activity at an incorporation level of 8 mol of MTX per mol of IgG. Conjugates containing 12 mol of drug per mol of IgG lost all antibody activity. MTX conjugated by both the active ester and ECDI methods partially retained the ability to inhibit dihydrofolate reductase. The mixed anhydride procedure failed to incorporate more than 2 to 3 mol of MTX per mol of IgG even when there was a 200-fold molar excess of anhydride in the reaction mixture. The conjugate retained full antibody activity, but neither it nor the product resulting from the reaction of MTX with acetic anhydride inhibited dihydrofolate reductase. The demonstrated superiority of the active ester method in producing active conjugates prompted us to use this technique for linking MTX to a rabbit IgG antibody against the mouse EL4 lymphoma. Conjugates containing 13 mol of MTX per mol of IgG retained their reactivity with EL4 cells on membrane immunofluorescence assay. When tumor-inoculated mice (104 EL4 cells/animal) were given injections of this conjugate on Days 1, 4, and 7 after inoculation (MTX dose, 4 mg/kg/injection), they survived significantly longer than did mice treated with equivalent amounts of drug alone, antitumor IgG alone, drug followed by antibody, or drug linked to non-tumor-specific IgG. Eight of 11 mice treated with this MTX-anti-EL4 IgG conjugate survived tumor free for an observation period of 90 days, whereas control mice died at 17.3 ± 2.47 (S.D.) days after tumor inoculation.
Process model and awareness in SCM

The development of large and complex systems, under hard time constraints, requires the participation of many developers working concurrently. SCM systems allow concurrent access to software artifacts, but provide poor support to maintain data consistency when concurrent changes are performed on the same artifacts. This problem can be reduced if developers are aware of the others work and warned about the conflicts that may arise, allowing the users to manage the risks more effectively.Awareness, without any knowledge about the cooperative process and system models cannot help much, and indeed is not very much used today. We claim that awareness takes its potential only when it takes into account the cooperative process, and the system model in use. This paper, based on the experience gained with our tool Celine, explores the relationships between awareness, process and system models, and shows how the knowledge of these models can be used to improve the relevance of an awareness system.
Degenerate two-phase incompressible flow V: characteristic finite element methods

Abstract This is the fifth paper of a series in which we analyze mathematical properties and develop numerical methods for a degenerate elliptic-parabolic partial differential system which describes the flow of two incompressible, immiscible fluids in porous media. In this paper we study a finite element procedure for numerically solving this system. This procedure uses a mixed finite element method for the elliptic equation of the pressure and velocity and the modified method of characteristics for the degenerate parabolic equation of the saturation. Sharp error estimates in energy norms are obtained for this procedure. The error analysis does not use any regularization of the saturation equation and does not impose any restriction on the nature of degeneracy; these error estimates are derived directly from this degenerate saturation equation. Other characteristic finite element methods such as the modified method of characteristics with adjusted advection (MMOCAA) are also considered.