Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Post-Translational Modifications and Lipid Binding Profile of Insect Cell-Expressed Full-Length Mammalian Synaptotagmin 1

Synaptotagmin 1 (Syt1) is a Ca2+ sensor for SNARE-mediated, Ca2+-triggered synaptic vesicle fusion in neurons. It is composed of luminal, transmembrane, linker, and two Ca2+-binding (C2) domains. Here we describe expression and purification of full-length mammalian Syt1 in insect cells along with an extensive biochemical characterization of the purified protein. The expressed and purified protein is properly folded and has increased α-helical content compared to the C2AB fragment alone. Post-translational modifications of Syt1 were analyzed by mass spectrometry, revealing the same modifications of Syt1 that were previously described for Syt1 purified from brain extract or mammalian cell lines, along with a novel modification of Syt1, tyrosine nitration. A lipid binding screen with both full-length Syt1 and the C2AB fragments of Syt1 and Syt3 isoforms revealed new Syt1–lipid interactions. These results suggest a conserved lipid binding mechanism in which Ca2+-independent interactions are mediated via a lysine rich region of the C2B domain while Ca2+-dependent interactions are mediated via the Ca2+-binding loops.
A temporally-constrained convolutive probabilistic model for pitch detection

A method for pitch detection which models the temporal evolution of musical sounds is presented in this paper. The proposed model is based on shift-invariant probabilistic latent component analysis, constrained by a hidden Markov model. The time-frequency representation of a produced musical note can be expressed by the model as a temporal sequence of spectral templates which can also be shifted over log-frequency. Thus, this approach can be effectively used for pitch detection in music signals that contain amplitude and frequency modulations. Experiments were performed using extracted sequences of spectral templates on monophonic music excerpts, where the proposed model outperforms a non-temporally constrained convolutive model for pitch detection. Finally, future directions are given for multipitch extensions of the proposed model.
Adaptive Mesh Refinement for Efficient Exploration of Cognitive Architectures and Cognitive Models

The majority of cognitive models support some form of parameterization, either of the model itself, or through architectural mechanisms. In order to fully understand these models, it is important to understand the model’s behavior as a result of parameter variation across a wide range of values. Even simple models become difficult to understand without a systematic method of exploring performance across parameter combinations, and scientists have turned to iterative methods to perform sweeps of these spaces. As an alternative to an exhaustive, homogeneous search, we examined adaptive mesh refinement (AMR) to explore simple and complex parameter spaces of several models developed within ACT-R. AMR allows for fewer model runs with minimal loss of information. We found that, with appropriate granularity, AMR methods can provide a sufficient computational exploration of a performance space with only 1% of the sampling of conventional, homogeneous parameter sweeps. The advantages of AMR for computationally efficient exploration of the performance predictions should be of benefit and interest to developers and users of cognitive architectures and cognitive models.
The influence of adversity and perceived social support on the outcome of major depressive disorder in subjects with different levels of depressive symptoms

Background. Adverse life events and social support may influence the outcome of major depressive disorder (MDD). We hypothesized that outcome would depend on the level of depressive symptoms present at the outset, with those in partial remission being particularly vulnerable. Method. In the Vantaa Depression Study (VDS), patients with DSM-IV MDD were interviewed at baseline, and at 6 and 18 months. Life events were investigated with the Interview for Recent Life Events (IRLE) and social support with the Interview Measure of Social Relationships (IMSR) and the Perceived Social Support Scale – Revised (PSSS-R). The patients were divided into three subgroups at 6 months, those in full remission (n=68), partial remission (n=75) or major depressive episode (MDE) (n=50). The influence of social support and negative life events during the next 12 months on the level of depressive symptoms, measured by the Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression (HAMD), was investigated at endpoint. Results. The severity of life events and perceived social support influenced the outcome of depression overall, even after adjusting for baseline level of depression and neuroticism. In the full remission subgroup, both severity of life events and subjective social support significantly predicted outcome. However, in the partial remission group, only the severity of events, and in the MDE group, the level of social support were significant predictors. Conclusions. Adverse life events and/or poor perceived social support influence the medium-term outcome of all psychiatric patients with MDD. These factors appear to have the strongest predictive value in the subgroup of patients currently in full remission.
Lower Extremity Paralysis After Thoracotomy or Thoracic Epidural: Image First, Ask Questions Later

BACKGROUND:When an epidural catheter is present, new motor deficits will often be attributed to a local anesthetic effect, potentially delaying imaging studies, or to an epidural hematoma, ignoring other mechanisms of spinal cord injury. METHODS:A 69-yr-old female patient undergoing thoracotomy received a preoperative thoracic epidural for postoperative analgesia. RESULTS:Intraoperatively, there was bleeding near the costovertebral junction. Hemorrhage was controlled with cellulose gauze and bone wax. Paralysis developed postoperatively and was initially misdiagnosed as a local anesthetic effect when, in fact, it was caused by an extradural deposit of cellulose gauze and bone wax. CONCLUSIONS:We emphasize the need for prompt, definitive imaging when new lower extremity weakness develops after thoracotomy or thoracic epidural analgesia.
CULTURE, COMPETENCE AND ORGANIZATIONAL EFFECTIVENESS BEYOND "STRONG" CULTURE

ULTURE is the social energy that drives or fails to drive an organization. To ignore culture and move on the assumption those formal documents, organizational strategies and structure with different appraisal systems are enough to guide the complex human behavior at work may well turn out to be a step in the wrong direction. The studies in the area of organizational culture demonstrated that most of what goes on in an organization guided by the cultural qualities expressed in shared values, belief systems, for-granted assumptions, and unwritten rules. The relationship between the culture and functioning of social organization has been a recurring theme in the social sciences for over five decades. Each of these authors focused culture as a critical aspect of adaptation of social organizations and viewed culture as a system of ‘socially transmitted behaviour patterns that serve to relate human communities to their ecological settings’ (Kessing, 1974). This perspective has been reflected in the work of ethnographers such as Whyte (1949) and by psychologists such as Schein (1985, 1990) and Hofstede (1980, 1991 & 1990).
Design of a Wireless Power Transfer for Contactless Charging System Using Bio-Inspired Algorithm

A wireless power transfer (WPT) platform optimization design for a contact less charging system is proposed. Drawbacks of WPT include low power transfer, low operation efficiency, and unstable output voltage, which are caused by various air gaps between the coils. A shuffled frog-leaping algorithm (SFLA) is hence applied to obtain the optimal frequency, meanwhile anticipating reaching the maximum output power and highest efficiency. Through the assistance of this bio-inspired algorithm, circuit simulations indicate that noises interfere can be restricted along with a maximum transfer power of 27 W and a conversion efficiency of 81%. This test outcome helps confirm the feasibility of bio-inspired algorithm for wireless power transfer design and its applications.
Early In-Hospital Mortality following Trainee Doctors' First Day at Work

Background There is a commonly held assumption that early August is an unsafe period to be admitted to hospital in England, as newly qualified doctors start work in NHS hospitals on the first Wednesday of August. We investigate whether in-hospital mortality is higher in the week following the first Wednesday in August than in the previous week. Methodology A retrospective study in England using administrative hospital admissions data. Two retrospective cohorts of all emergency patients admitted on the last Wednesday in July and the first Wednesday in August for 2000 to 2008, each followed up for one week. Principal Findings The odds of death for patients admitted on the first Wednesday in August was 6% higher (OR 1.06, 95% CI 1.00 to 1.15, p = 0.05) after controlling for year, gender, age, socio-economic deprivation and co-morbidity. When subdivided into medical, surgical and neoplasm admissions, medical admissions admitted on the first Wednesday in August had an 8% (OR 1.08, 95% CI 1.01 to 1.16, p = 0.03) higher odds of death. In 2007 and 2008, when the system for junior doctors' job applications changed, patients admitted on Wednesday August 1st had 8% higher adjusted odds of death than those admitted the previous Wednesday, but this was not statistically significant (OR 1.08, 95% CI 0.95 to 1.23, p = 0.24). Conclusions We found evidence that patients admitted on the first Wednesday in August have a higher early death rate in English hospitals compared with patients admitted on the previous Wednesday. This was higher for patients admitted with a medical primary diagnosis.
Efficient Greedy Algorithms for Influence Maximization in Social Networks

Influence maximization is an important problem of finding a small subset of nodes in a social network, such that by targeting this set, one will maximize the expected spread of influence in the network. To improve the efficiency of algorithm KK_Greedy proposed by Kempe et al., we propose two improved algorithms, Lv_NewGreedy and Lv_CELF. By combining all of advantages of these two algorithms, we propose a mixed algorithm Lv_MixedGreedy. We conducted experiments on two synthetically datasets and show that our improved algorithms have a matching influence with their benchmark algorithms, while being faster than them. Keywords—Greedy Algorithm, Influence Maximization, Social Network
Virus-specific antibody secreting cell, memory B-cell, and sero-antibody responses in the human influenza challenge model.

BACKGROUND Antibodies play a major role in the protection against influenza virus in human. However, the antibody level is usually short-lived and the cellular mechanisms underlying influenza virus-specific antibody response to acute infection remain unclear. METHODS We studied the kinetics and magnitude of influenza virus-specific B-cell and serum antibody responses in relation to virus replication during the course of influenza infection in healthy adult volunteers who were previously seronegative and experimentally infected with seasonal influenza H1N1 A/Brisbane/59/07 virus. RESULTS Our data demonstrated a robust expansion of the virus-specific antibody-secreting cells (ASCs) and memory B cells in the peripheral blood, which correlated with both the throat viral load and the duration of viral shedding. The ASC response was obviously detected on day 7 post-infection when the virus was completely cleared from nasal samples, and serum hemagglutination-inhibition antibodies were still undetectable. On day 28 postinfection, influenza virus-specific B cells were further identified from the circulating compartment of isotype-switched B cells. CONCLUSIONS Virus-specific ASCs could be the earliest marker of B-cell response to a new flu virus infection, such as H7N9 in humans.
Intraobserver Repeatability of Corneal and Anterior Segment Parameters Obtained Using a Scheimpflug Camera-Placido Corneal Topography System

Objectives: The aim of this study was to assess the intraobserver repeatability of central corneal thickness, peripheral corneal thickness (PCT), keratometry values (steep K, flat K), white-to-white diameter, and anterior chamber depth using the Sirius topography device (Costruzione Strumenti Oftalmici, Florence, Italy) in healthy eyes. Methods: A Sirius device was used by a single examiner to assess 100 eyes in 50 healthy patients. Two consecutive scans were acquired for each eye. Repeatability was assessed using test–retest variability, the coefficient of variation (COV), and the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC). Results: Fifty patients (100 eyes) met the inclusion criteria. There were 18 women (36%) and 32 men (64%), with an age range of 23 to 56 years. The mean age was 30.38±8.03 years. A COV of 0.4% or less and an ICC of more than 0.99 (showing excellent repeatability) were achieved for most parameters, with the exception of PCT (at 2.5-mm temporal, superior, inferior, and nasal thickness). Conclusion: The anterior segment parameters obtained using the Sirius Scheimpflug camera- Placido corneal topography system were highly repeatable.
Probabilistic Inference for Machine Translation

We advance the state-of-the-art for discriminatively trained machine translation systems by presenting novel probabilistic inference and search methods for synchronous grammars. By approximating the intractable space of all candidate translations produced by intersecting an ngram language model with a synchronous grammar, we are able to train and decode models incorporating millions of sparse, heterogeneous features. Further, we demonstrate the power of the discriminative training paradigm by extracting structured syntactic features, and achieving increases in translation performance.
Analytical Thermal Analysis of On-chip Interconnects

A detailed analytical analysis of the on-chip thermal related problems of interconnects is provided in this paper. By examining and simplifying the power generation mechanism of on-chip devices, compact expressions of the dynamic temperature profile of an interconnect line are derived. It is shown that the temperature profile of the interconnect line has a space-time distribution and thus we propose some new suggestions to floorplanning when considering this effect. The temperature effects on the Power/Ground (P/G) interconnect lines and the Signal interconnect lines are also analyzed. It is shown that the IR drop and the Elmore delay can be increased due to this temperature effect.
The projectability of turn constructional units and the role of prediction in listening

In conversation analysis, prediction, in the form of the projectability of turn constructional units, is a central feature of the ways in which talk is structured in interaction. As such, prediction is an important part of what recipients do when listening to talk in progress. This article will examine a number of instances of collaborative talk in English and French in which both participants produce similar talk at roughly the same time. It will be shown that prediction is being exercised in these utterances to determine not only the form of the next lexical item but also to identify larger syntactic structures. The article will also assess the nature of the resources that participants in interaction draw on in order to be able to make their predictions about their interlocutor’s talk.
Homogenising Access to Heterogeneous Biomedical Data Sources

This paper reports our experiences of developing data access services in the context of the ACGT project. The paper documents two aspects of the work that we carried out. First the focus is on the problem of how to best provide a syn- tactically homogeneous data access interface for a set of heterogeneous data sources. We describe related work, outline the approach we have taken, and report our findings. The second part of this paper documents integration issues that we encountered when realizing the data access services. Choices with regards to reali- zation have significant impact on the time and effort that is needed to develop and maintain the services and our experiences may provide useful guidance to others wanting to develop similar functionality.
Cytoskeleton-associated proteins of human lung cancer cells.

The proteins associated with the cytoskeletal framework of the major forms of lung cancer in culture were analyzed by two-dimensional gel electrophoresis of cytoskeletal framework (CSK) fractions. We have found that ( a ) small-cell carcinoma (SCC) lines, which differ from non-SCC lung carcinomas (adenocarcinoma, squamous carcinoma, and large-cell undifferentiated carcinoma) in morphology and growth characteristics, had a CSK composition different from that of non-SCC lines. Six separate SCC lines contained protein 1 ( M r 140,000, pl 5.2), protein 2 ( M r 140,000, pl 5.1), protein 3 ( M r 190,000, pl 7.6), and protein 4 ( M r 190,000, pl 7.5) but lacked protein 5 ( M r 80,000, pl 6.1), protein 6 ( M r 48,000, pl 5.6), and protein 7 ( M r 55,000, pl 5.5); four non-SCC lines lacked proteins 1 to 4 but contained proteins 5 to 7. Protein 7 was identified to be vimentin. ( b ) SCC lines, which have neuroendocrine properties, contained CSK proteins characteristic of neuroblastoma cells. Proteins 1 to 4 were found in all SCC lines, in two neuroblastoma lines, but not in other human cell lines. ( c ) SCC and non-SCC lines contained protein 8 ( M r 40,000, pl 5.4) and protein 9 ( M r 48,000 to 49,000, pl 6.4), which comigrate with purified keratin. These proteins were also detected in other carcinomas but not in neuroblastoma, leukemia, and fibroblast cell lines. ( d ) Carcinomas of the lung were distinguishable from other carcinomas by their CSK components. Nonpulmonary carcinomas lacked proteins 1 to 4 which were found in SCC lines and also lacked proteins 5 and 6 found in non-SCC lung cancer cells. The differences in the content of CSK proteins between cell lines were not due to differences in the distribution of a given protein between CSK, soluble, and nuclear fractions. These studies may have biological and clinical importance since SCC has greater metastatic capacity and therapeutic responsiveness than non-SCC lung cancers. In addition, the identification of these CSK proteins by immunohistochemical staining in human lung cancers and normal bronchial epithelium could help clarify the lineage relationships between normal bronchial epithelial cells and the different forms of lung cancer and lead to more precise diagnostic classification of lung cancer biopsy specimens.
A Longitudinal Study of Developmental Differences in Universal Preventive Intervention for Child Anxiety

Abstract The present paper presents the results of a longitudinal study evaluating the effects of a universal school-based intervention for child anxiety at two developmental stages. The study involved a cohort of 733 children enrolled in grade 6 (n = 336, 45.6%) aged between 9 and 10 years, and grade 9 (n = 401, 54.4%) aged between 14 and 16 years. Participants were allocated to either a school-based cognitive-behavioural intervention or to a monitoring group, and completed standardised measures of anxiety, depression and coping style. Young people identified as “at risk” of an anxiety disorder were assessed for a clinical diagnosis with a structured diagnostic interview. Findings showed universal intervention as potentially successful in reducing symptoms of anxiety and increasing coping skills in children. Primary school children reported the greatest changes in anxiety symptoms, suggesting earlier preventive intervention was potentially more advantageous than later intervention. Developmental differences in anxiety, depression and coping strategies are discussed in addition to the implications and limitations of this study and directions for future research.
Time-domain and frequency-domain muting schemes for interference co-ordination in LTE heterogeneous networks

The need for Inter-cell Interference Coordination (ICIC) schemes in LTE heterogeneous networks, is well elucidated in literature [1]. We consider distributed scheduling mechanisms so that multiple base-station vendors can co-exist. Moreover, in legacy LTE networks, fast timescale coordination across base-stations may not be possible due to the inherent backhaul latency. In such a framework, we study the relative performance of frequency-domain and time-domain interference coordination schemes. We also compare the performance of legacy users who are agnostic to the ICIC scheme employed by the network, with users who can intelligently report channel measurements, depending on the param-eters used in the ICIC scheme. Surprisingly, we find that network can efficiently compensate for the legacy user's inadequacy in reporting. Overall, these studies can help the cellular operator to prioritize the strategy for network evolution and decide the timelines to offer advanced user equipment.
A contribuição das parcelas da renda para a desigualdade do rendimento domiciliar per capita em Minas Gerais de acordo com os dados do Censo Demográfico 2000.

Este trabalho tem por objetivo analisar o impacto de diversos componentes da renda sobre o nivel de desigualdade do rendimento domiciliar per capita em Minas Gerais, utilizando uma decomposicao do indice de Gini sobre os dados do Censo Demografico de 2000. Os dados do Censo demonstram uma intensa heterogeneidade entre as 12 mesorregioes mineiras, tanto em termos de desenvolvimento economico como em composicao da renda, que se reflete sobre a estrutura da desigualdade. Observa-se que, dos sete componentes da renda, tres deles, o trabalho principal, aposentadorias/pensoes e renda minima/bolsa escola/seguro desemprego contribuem para diminuir a desigualdade, sendo que se destaca o papel da renda proveniente dos programas sociais para o combate ao problema.
Frail Elderly as Disaster Victims: Emergency Management Strategies

Abstract Purpose: To identify the vulnerabilities of elderly to disasters, and to develop strategies to address these vulnerabilities. Methods: A relevant literature search of journal articles, government training materials, news reports, and materials from senior organizations was conducted. Results: The vulnerability of the elderly to disasters is related to their impaired physical mobility, diminished sensory awareness, chronic health conditions, and social and economic limitations that prevent adequate preparation for disasters, and hinder their adaptability during disasters. Frail elderly, those with serious physical, cognitive, economic, and psycho-social problems, are at especially high risk. Conclusions: This segment of the population is growing rapidly. Therefore, it is important that emergency management recognize the frail elderly as a special needs population, and develop targeted strategies that meet their needs. Several management strategies are presented and recommendations for further action are proposed.