Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Normal timing of oligodendrocyte development from genetically engineered, lineage-selectable mouse ES cells

Oligodendrocytes are post-mitotic cells that myelinate axons in the vertebrate central nervous system (CNS). They develop from proliferating oligodendrocyte precursor cells (OPCs), which arise in germinal zones, migrate throughout the developing white matter and divide a limited number of times before they terminally differentiate. Thus far, it has been possible to purify OPCs only from the rat optic nerve, but the purified cells cannot be obtained in large enough numbers for conventional biochemical analyses. Moreover, the CNS stem cells that give rise to OPCs have not been purified, limiting one's ability to study the earliest stages of commitment to the oligodendrocyte lineage. Pluripotent, mouse embryonic stem (ES) cells can be propagated indefinitely in culture and induced to differentiate into various cell types. We have genetically engineered ES cells both to positively select neuroepithelial stem cells and to eliminate undifferentiated ES cells. We have then used combinations of known signal molecules to promote the development of OPCs from selected, ES-cell-derived, neuroepithelial cells. We show that the earliest stages of oligodendrocyte development follow an ordered sequence that is remarkably similar to that observed in vivo, suggesting that the ES-cell-derived neuroepithelial cells follow a normal developmental pathway to produce oligodendrocytes. These engineered ES cells thus provide a powerful system to study both the mechanisms that direct CNS stem cells down the oligodendrocyte pathway and those that influence subsequent oligodendrocyte differentiation. This strategy may also be useful for producing human cells for therapy and drug screening.
A Cortical Sparse Distributed Coding Model Linking Mini- and Macrocolumn-Scale Functionality

No generic function for the minicolumn – i.e., one that would apply equally well to all cortical areas and species – has yet been proposed. I propose that the minicolumn does have a generic functionality, which only becomes clear when seen in the context of the function of the higher-level, subsuming unit, the macrocolumn. I propose that: (a) a macrocolumn's function is to store sparse distributed representations of its inputs and to be a recognizer of those inputs; and (b) the generic function of the minicolumn is to enforce macrocolumnar code sparseness. The minicolumn, defined here as a physically localized pool of ∼20 L2/3 pyramidals, does this by acting as a winner-take-all (WTA) competitive module, implying that macrocolumnar codes consist of ∼70 active L2/3 cells, assuming ∼70 minicolumns per macrocolumn. I describe an algorithm for activating these codes during both learning and retrievals, which causes more similar inputs to map to more highly intersecting codes, a property which yields ultra-fast (immediate, first-shot) storage and retrieval. The algorithm achieves this by adding an amount of randomness (noise) into the code selection process, which is inversely proportional to an input's familiarity. I propose a possible mapping of the algorithm onto cortical circuitry, and adduce evidence for a neuromodulatory implementation of this familiarity-contingent noise mechanism. The model is distinguished from other recent columnar cortical circuit models in proposing a generic minicolumnar function in which a group of cells within the minicolumn, the L2/3 pyramidals, compete (WTA) to be part of the sparse distributed macrocolumnar code.
Privately Evaluating Decision Trees and Random Forests

Abstract Decision trees and random forests are common classifiers with widespread use. In this paper, we develop two protocols for privately evaluating decision trees and random forests. We operate in the standard two-party setting where the server holds a model (either a tree or a forest), and the client holds an input (a feature vector). At the conclusion of the protocol, the client learns only the model’s output on its input and a few generic parameters concerning the model; the server learns nothing. The first protocol we develop provides security against semi-honest adversaries. We then give an extension of the semi-honest protocol that is robust against malicious adversaries. We implement both protocols and show that both variants are able to process trees with several hundred decision nodes in just a few seconds and a modest amount of bandwidth. Compared to previous semi-honest protocols for private decision tree evaluation, we demonstrate a tenfold improvement in computation and bandwidth.
Improving Power Saving in MANETs by Dynamically Switching-off Network Interfaces

− The design of efficient power consumption algorithm is a fundamental problem in a Mobile Ad-Hoc Network (MANET) where battery energy is a limited resource. Many different routing protocols have been proposed in the literature. Some of them have been evaluated in detail focussing on issues like routing overhead, latency and route length. In this work we present an energy consumption performance comparison of MANETs of four of them: the DSR, the AODV, the TORA, and the DSDV. The performance comparison establishes the main components that contribute to the global energy consumption in a MANET node. We then propose a power-conserving algorithm, based on the RTS/CTS dialogue of the IEEE 802.11 standard. This algorithm dynamically switches off radio Network Interface Card of nodes when they are neither transmitting nor receiving a packet. We evaluate our algorithm through simulations over the same previous simulated MANET’s. The obtained results indicate that for all the evaluated routing protocol, the power saving is similar and range between 60% and 25%.
Association of Hypoadiponectinemia With Coronary Artery Disease in Men

Background—Adiponectin is an adipocyte-derived plasma protein that accumulates in the injured artery and has potential antiatherogenic properties. This study was designed to determine whether a decreased plasma adiponectin level (hypoadiponectinemia) can be independently associated with the prevalence of coronary artery disease (CAD). Methods and Results—The consecutive 225 male patients were enrolled from inpatients who underwent coronary angiography. Voluntary blood donors (n=225) matched for age served as controls. Plasma adiponectin levels in the CAD patients were significantly lower than those in the control subjects. Multiple logistic regression analysis including plasma adiponectin level, diabetes mellitus, dyslipidemia, hypertension, smoking habits, and body mass index revealed that hypoadiponectinemia was significantly and independently correlated with CAD (P <0.0088). The entire study population was categorized in quartiles based on the distribution of plasma adiponectin levels. The interquartile cutoff points were 4.0, 5.5, and 7.0 &mgr;g/mL. The multivariate-adjusted odds ratios for CAD in the first, second, and third quartiles were 2.051 (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.288 to 4.951), 1.221 (95% CI, 0.684 to2.186), and 0.749 (95%CI, 0.392 to 1.418), respectively. Conclusions—Male patients with hypoadiponectinemia (<4.0 &mgr;g/mL) had a significant 2-fold increase in CAD prevalence, independent of well-known CAD risk factors.
Landing Preference and Reproduction of Rhopalosiphum padi (Hemiptera: Aphididae) in the Laboratory on Three Maize, Potato, and Wheat Cultivars

The bird cherry—oat aphid Rhopalosiphum padi (L.) transmits the nonpersistent Potato virus Y (PVY) to seed potatoes. Planting a nonvirus host plant around the main crop can reduce PVY incidence, because aphids tend to land in high numbers at the edge of a field and the crop border acts as a virus sink. This study determined R. padi landing and settling preferences and reproductive rates on three cultivars each of maize and wheat compared with potato in the laboratory as a basis for identifying an attractive crop border plant. Aphids were reared on maize and wheat to control for bias due to previous experience. Irrespective of origin, alates preferred to land almost exclusively on maize and wheat rather than on potato cultivars in choice experiments. Aphid settling on the maize and wheat cultivars depended on aphid origin. In no-choice experiments, R. padi produced the highest number of offspring on the wheat cultivars, irrespective of origin. Plant nitrogen content and trichome density did not influence R. padi reproduction. The study demonstrates that host plant preference of aphids may vary between plant cultivars and can therefore influence the effectiveness of a crop border. The high landing rate but low reproduction suggest that maize cultivars ‘6Q-121’ and ‘78-15B’ could be suitable crop border plants in regions where R. padi is abundant. Before testing potential crop border plants in the field, cultivars should be screened using aphid landing, settling and reproduction as selection criteria.
Deadly tricks to combat atherosclerosis.

This editorial refers to ‘Phosphatidylserine liposomesmimic apoptotic cells to attenuate atherosclerosis by expanding polyreactive IgM producing B1a lymphocytes’ by H. Hosseini et al . , pp. 443–452. Cardiovascular disease is still the largest morbidity and mortality issue in Western society. Although current medication has proved effective in reducing cardiovascular disease risk, the need for additional therapeutic options remains. In this issue, Hosseini et al. present an elegant new concept with real bench-to-bedside potential: administration of phosphatidylserine (PS) liposomes to dampen atherosclerosis-related immune responses by mobilizing and expanding atheroprotective B1a cells ( Figure 1 ). 1 Figure 1 Apoptotic cells expose phosphatidyl serine (PS) residues on the membrane. Artificial PS-coated liposomes are able to serve as apoptotic-cell-mimics. Administration of apoptotic cells or PS liposomes will promote B1a-cell activity and expansion in the peritoneum, possibly through interaction of PS with TIM-1 receptors. Activated B1a cells will produce increased levels of natural IgM antibodies, which are secreted into the blood where they confer protection against atherosclerotic plaque formation by (i) sequestering oxidized LDL, (ii) inducing elimination of apoptotic cells, and (iii) reducing autoantibody formation, in part by interaction of IgM/OxLDL immune complexes with Fc(micro) receptors on other immune cells. Apoptotic cell and PS liposome dependent B1a cell activation implicates the spleen by a still unknown mechanism; although a role of the recently identified splenic CD138+ B1a cells, representing a major source of IgM, cannot be excluded, it …
Efavirenz Has the Highest Anti-Proliferative Effect of Non-Nucleoside Reverse Transcriptase Inhibitors against Pancreatic Cancer Cells

Background Cancer prevention and therapy in HIV-1-infected patients will play an important role in future. The non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NNRTI) Efavirenz and Nevirapine are cytotoxic against cancer cells in vitro. As other NNRTIs have not been studied so far, all clinically used NNRTIs were tested and the in vitro toxic concentrations were compared to drug levels in patients to predict possible anti-cancer effects in vivo. Methods Cytotoxicity was studied by Annexin-V-APC/7AAD staining and flow cytometry in the pancreatic cancer cell lines BxPC-3 and Panc-1 and confirmed by colony formation assays. The 50% effective cytotoxic concentrations (EC50) were calculated and compared to the blood levels in our patients and published data. Results The in vitro EC50 of the different drugs in the BxPC-3 pancreatic cancer cells were: Efavirenz 31. 5μmol/l (= 9944ng/ml), Nevirapine 239μmol/l (= 63786ng/ml), Etravirine 89. 0μmol/l (= 38740ng/ml), Lersivirine 543μmol/l (= 168523ng/ml), Delavirdine 171μmol/l (= 78072ng/ml), Rilpivirine 24. 4μmol/l (= 8941ng/ml). As Efavirenz and Rilpivirine had the highest cytotoxic potential and Nevirapine is frequently used in HIV-1 positive patients, the results of these three drugs were further studied in Panc-1 pancreatic cancer cells and confirmed with colony formation assays. 205 patient blood levels of Efavirenz, 127 of Rilpivirine and 31 of Nevirapine were analyzed. The mean blood level of Efavirenz was 3587ng/ml (range 162–15363ng/ml), of Rilpivirine 144ng/ml (range 0-572ng/ml) and of Nevirapine 4955ng/ml (range 1856–8697ng/ml). Blood levels from our patients and from published data had comparable Efavirenz levels to the in vitro toxic EC50 in about 1 to 5% of all patients. Conclusion All studied NNRTIs were toxic against cancer cells. A low percentage of patients taking Efavirenz reached in vitro cytotoxic blood levels. It can be speculated that in HIV-1 positive patients having high Efavirenz blood levels pancreatic cancer incidence might be reduced. Efavirenz might be a new option in the treatment of cancer.
Comparing the Influence of Different Treebank Annotations on Dependency Parsing

As the interest of the NLP community grows to develop several treebanks also for languages other than English, we observe efforts towards evaluating the impact of different annotation strategies used to represent particular languages or with reference to particular tasks. This paper contributes to the debate on the influence of resources used for the training and development on the performance of parsing systems. It presents a comparative analysis of the results achieved by three different dependency parsers developed and tested with respect to two treebanks for the Italian language, namely TUT and ISST--TANL, which differ significantly at the level of both corpus composition and adopted dependency representations.
St ucture and Formation Model of Ag / TiO 2 and Au / TiO 2 Nanoparticles Synt esized through Ultras nic Spray Pyrolysis

This article explains the mechanism of the metal/oxide core-shell Ag/TiO2 and Au/TiO2 nanoparticle formation via one-step ultrasonic spray pyrolysis (USP) by establishing a new model. The general knowledge on the standard “droplet-to-particle” (DTP) mechanism, nucleation, and growth processes of noble metals, as well as physical and chemical properties of core and shell materials and experimental knowledge, were utilized with the purpose of the construction of this new model. This hypothesis was assessed on silver (Ag)/titanium oxide (TiO2) and gold (Au) TiO2 binary complex nanoparticles’ experimental findings revealed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), focused ion beam (FIB), high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), and simulation of crystal lattices. It was seen that two mechanisms run as proposed in the new model. However, there were some variations in size, morphology, and distribution of Ag and Au through the TiO2 core particle and these variations could be explained by the inherent physical and chemical property differences of Ag and Au.
Women with disabilities and the challenges to leisure service providers.

The purpose of the study was to explore the lives of women with disabilities to ascertain the implications for parks, recreation, and leisure providers. lndepth qualitative interviews were used to encourage women with disabi~ities to talk about their lives . and the meanings of leisure. Symbolic interactionism provided the framework for conducting this study. A theoretical sampling technique was used to interview 30 women with varying physical disabilities. For the women in this study, experiencing leisure and participating in recreation activities appeared to be highly dependent on the internal meanings of leisure as well as the external social responsiveness of their communities. Although leisure service providers cannot necessarily address the internal, personal components that may prevent women with disabilities from participating in leisure services, they can undertake socially responsive initiatives to make external components in the environment more accessible, psychologically and socially comfortable, and available for both females and males with disabilities.
Specification of Drosophila aCC motoneuron identity by a genetic cascade involving even-skipped, grain and zfh1

During nervous system development, combinatorial codes of regulators act to specify different neuronal subclasses. However, within any given subclass, there exists a further refinement, apparent in Drosophila and C. elegans at single-cell resolution. The mechanisms that act to specify final and unique neuronal cell fates are still unclear. In the Drosophila embryo, one well-studied motoneuron subclass, the intersegmental motor nerve (ISN), consists of seven unique motoneurons. Specification of the ISN subclass is dependent upon both even-skipped (eve) and the zfh1 zinc-finger homeobox gene. We find that ISN motoneurons also express the GATA transcription factor Grain, and grn mutants display motor axon pathfinding defects. Although these three regulators are expressed by all ISN motoneurons, these genes act in an eve→grn→zfh1 genetic cascade unique to one of the ISN motoneurons, the aCC. Our results demonstrate that the specification of a unique neuron, within a given subclass, can be governed by a unique regulatory cascade of subclass determinants.
MICROELECTRODE RECORDING IN THE POSTERIOR HYPOTHALAMIC REGION IN HUMANS

INTRODUCTION Deep brain stimulation of the posterior hypothalamic region (PHR) is an emerging technique for the treatment of medically intractable cluster headache. Few reports have analyzed single unit neuronal recordings in the human PHR. We report properties of spontaneous neuronal discharge in PHR for 6 patients who underwent DBS for cluster headaches. METHODS Initial target coordinates, determined by magnetic resonance imaging stereotactic localization, were 2 mm lateral, 3 mm posterior, and 5 mm inferior to the midpoint of the anterior commissure-posterior commissure plane. A single microelectrode penetration was performed beginning 10 mm above the anatomic target, without systemic sedation. Single units were discriminated off-line by cluster cutting in principal components space. Discharge rates, interspike intervals, and oscillatory activity were analyzed and compared between ventromedial thalamic and hypothalamic units. RESULTS Six patients and 24 units were evaluated. Units in the PHR had a slow, regular spontaneous discharge with wide, low-amplitude action potentials. The mean discharge rate of hypothalamic neurons was significantly lower (mean ± standard deviation, 13.2 ± 12.2) than that of medial thalamic units (28.0 ± 8.2). Oscillatory activity was not detected. Microelectrode recording in this region caused no morbidity. CONCLUSION The single-unit discharge rate of neurons in the PHR of awake humans was 13.2 Hz and was significantly lower than medial thalamic neurons recorded dorsal to the target. The findings will be of use for microelectrode localization of the cluster headache target and for comparison with animal studies.
Exploring self-interruptions as a strategy for regaining the attention of distracted users

In this paper we present a first exploratory study investigating the effects of a contingently self-interrupting vs non-self-interrupting virtual agent in a smart home environment who transmits information to a human interaction partner. We tested the hypothesis that self-interruptions are a strategy for keeping the user's attention, as measured by post-interaction information recall. Interestingly, our experiment does not allow us to confirm this hypothesis. In fact, users found the self-interruption strategy to be less-likeable. From our observations, we draw suggestions for future implementations of attention-retainment strategies.
Comparison of bronchial biopsy, broncho alveolar lavage (BAL), brush cytology and imprint cytology in suspected cases of lung cancer

Background: The use of cytological methods in the diagnosis of malignant lesions of the respiratory tract has been generally acclaimed as one of its most successful applications. Flexible fiberoptic bronchoscopy revolutionized respiratory cytology, as bronchial brushings, broncho-alveolar lavage and bronchial forceps biopsy became more easy, accessible and popular, shifting the emphasis from diagnosis of advanced malignancy in inoperable patients to the use of cytology as a first line diagnostic and management tool. Respiratory tract cytology is well established throughout the world as a diagnostic procedure in the evaluation of patient with suspected lung malignancy. Methodology: The present study compromises of bronchoscopic cytology and histology of bronchial biopsy in 80 patients suspected of lung tumors. The study was carried out in the department of pathology M.P. shah medical college and the samples of the bronchoscopic material were received from tuberculosis and chest department of G.G hospital Jamnagar. Results: Out of 80 patients 66 were found to be malignant. Some of the suspicious lesions turned out to be malignant in biopsy. In the carcinoma of lung squamous cell carcinoma was the most common carcinoma (39.39% ) followed by adenocarcinoma (21.21%) small cell carcinoma 13.63% and large cell carcinoma 7.57 %, majority of the cases 77.5 % were male predominat. Conclusion: Pulmonary cytology is an important, basic diagnostic tool for the detection of lung cancer, that too in early diagnosis. Fibroptic bronchoscopy is an easy, OPD procedure which is minimally invasive and without any risk. It provides direct visualization of respiratory tract as well as lesion proper and variety of specimens can be collected.
Energy localization in nonlinear lattices.

Following the original work by Anderson1, disorder-induced localization has been widely studied, but, more recently, attention was attracted on the possibility to localize energy in an homogeneous system due to nonlinear effects2. These intrinsic localized modes are fundamentally discrete and they have been extensively investigated in lattices of atoms which interact through an anharmonic potential. There is however another class of lattice models which are physically relevant for many applications when the site variables are coupled harmonically, and the nonlinearity is provided by an onsite potential. This case yields a set of linearly coupled nonlinear oscillator equations, which can be viewed as a discrete nonlinear Klein-Gordon equation. This situation is found for instance in models of dislocations, magnetic or ferroelectric domain walls and we have recently introduced such a model for DNA melting where the localization of energy is an essential phenomenon3.
Hierarchical Relationships “is-a”: Distinguishing Belonging, Inclusion and Part/of Relationships.

In thesauri, conceptual structures or semantic networks, relationships are too often vague. For instance, in terminology, the relationships between concepts are often reduced to the distinction established by standard (ISO 704, 1987) and (ISO 1087, 1990) between hierarchical relationships (genus-species relationships and part/whole relationships) and non-hierarchical relationships (time, space, causal relationships, etc.). The semantics of relationships are vague because the principal users of these relationships are industrial actors (translators of technical handbooks, terminologists, data-processing specialists, etc.). Nevertheless, the consistency of the models built must always be guaranteed. One possible approach to this problem consists in organizing the relationships in a typology based on logical properties. For instance, we typically use only the general relation Is-a. It is too vague. We assume that general relation Is-a is characterized by asymmetry. This asymmetry is specified in: (1) the belonging of one individualizable entity to a distributive class, (2) Inclusion among distributive classes and (3) relation part of (or composition).