Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Macroeconomic Forecasting and Structural Change

The aim of this paper is to assess whether explicitly modeling structural change increases the accuracy of macroeconomic forecasts. We produce real time out-of-sample forecasts for inflation, the unemployment rate and the interest rate using a Time-Varying Coefficients VAR with Stochastic Volatility (TV-VAR) for the US. The model generates accurate predictions for the three variables. In particular for inflation the TV-VAR outperforms, in terms of mean square forecast error, all the competing models: fixed coefficients VARs, Time-Varying ARs and the naive random walk model. These results are also shown to hold over the most recent period in which it has been hard to forecast inflation.
A Comparison of Traditionall \ 1 ethods and Sequential Bayesian l \ 1 ethods for Blind Deconvolution Problems

This work concerns sequential techniques for the canonical blind deconvolution problem in communications signal processing, relating to the estimation of the transmitted (discrete-valued) data sequence from the observed signal at the receiver input, in the presence of unknown linear channel filtering, without recourse to extended training sequences for start-up. This problem has a significant history within communications signal processing due to its fundamental importance in the design of high-speed modems; common methods include the well-known Viterbi, List Viterbi Algorithms and BCJR algorithms enhanced with suitable blind channel estimators. Of late, the problem has attracted the attention of computational Bayesians such as Liu and Chen Liu and Chen (1995) who introduced Sequential Importance Sampling (SIS). Subsequently, several extensions have been proposed (e.g. Rejuvenation, Rejection Control, Fixed-Lag Smoothing, Metropolis-Hastings Importance Resampling, etc.) as improvements to SIS. Simulations comparing SIS and Rejuvenation to the more traditional methods were inconclusive as to whether Sequential Importance Sampling is always preferable to the traditional methods. Although Sequential Importance Sampling can be helpful in certain circumstances, it shows signs of instability, and therefore, may not be useful in practice. In conclusion, one should be cautious in using Sequential Importance Sampling or Rejuvenation for blind deconvolution problems.
Assessing the Diversity and Specificity of Two Freshwater Viral Communities through Metagenomics

Transitions between saline and fresh waters have been shown to be infrequent for microorganisms. Based on host-specific interactions, the presence of specific clades among hosts suggests the existence of freshwater-specific viral clades. Yet, little is known about the composition and diversity of the temperate freshwater viral communities, and even if freshwater lakes and marine waters harbor distinct clades for particular viral sub-families, this distinction remains to be demonstrated on a community scale. To help identify the characteristics and potential specificities of freshwater viral communities, such communities from two lakes differing by their ecological parameters were studied through metagenomics. Both the cluster richness and the species richness of the Lake Bourget virome were significantly higher that those of the Lake Pavin, highlighting a trend similar to the one observed for microorganisms (i.e. the specie richness observed in mesotrophic lakes is greater than the one observed in oligotrophic lakes). Using 29 previously published viromes, the cluster richness was shown to vary between different environment types and appeared significantly higher in marine ecosystems than in other biomes. Furthermore, significant genetic similarity between viral communities of related environments was highlighted as freshwater, marine and hypersaline environments were separated from each other despite the vast geographical distances between sample locations within each of these biomes. An automated phylogeny procedure was then applied to marker genes of the major families of single-stranded (Microviridae, Circoviridae, Nanoviridae) and double-stranded (Caudovirales) DNA viruses. These phylogenetic analyses all spotlighted a very broad diversity and previously unknown clades undetectable by PCR analysis, clades that gathered sequences from the two lakes. Thus, the two freshwater viromes appear closely related, despite the significant ecological differences between the two lakes. Furthermore, freshwater viral communities appear genetically distinct from other aquatic ecosystems, demonstrating the specificity of freshwater viruses at a community scale for the first time.
Evaluating perceived trust from procedurally animated gaze

Adventure role playing games (RPGs) provide players with increasingly expansive worlds, compelling storylines, and meaningful fictional character interactions. Despite the fast-growing richness of these worlds, the majority of interactions between the player and non-player characters (NPCs) still remain scripted. In this paper we propose using an NPC's animations to reflect how they feel towards the player and as a proof of concept, investigate the potential for a straightforward gaze model to convey trust. Through two perceptual experiments, we find that viewers can distinguish between high and low trust animations, that viewers associate the gaze differences specifically with trust and not with an unrelated attitude (aggression), and that the effect can hold for different facial expressions and scene contexts, even when viewed by participants for a short (five second) clip length. With an additional experiment, we explore the extent that trust is uniquely conveyed over other attitudes associated with gaze, such as interest, unfriendliness, and admiration.
Effects of Angiotensin II Infusion on the Expression and Function of NAD(P)H Oxidase and Components of Nitric Oxide/cGMP Signaling

Angiotensin II infusion causes endothelial dysfunction by increasing NAD(P)H oxidase-mediated vascular superoxide production. However, it remains to be elucidated how in vivo angiotensin II treatment may alter the expression of the gp91phox isoforms and the endothelial nitric oxide synthase (NOS III) and subsequent signaling events and whether, in addition to the NAD(P)H oxidase, NOS III contributes to vascular superoxide formation. We therefore studied the influence of in vivo angiotensin II treatment (7 days) in rats on endothelial function and on the expression of the NAD(P)H oxidase subunits p22phox, nox1, nox4, and gp91phox and NOS III. Further analysis included the expression of NO-downstream targets, the soluble guanylyl cyclase (sGC), the cGMP-dependent protein kinase I (cGK-I), and the expression and phosphorylation of the vasodilator-stimulated phosphoprotein (VASP) at Ser239 (P-VASP). Angiotensin II caused endothelial dysfunction and increased vascular superoxide. Likewise, we found an increase in vascular protein kinase C (PKC) activity, in the expression of nox1 (6- to 7-fold), gp91phox (3-fold), p22phox (3-fold), NOS III mRNA, and protein. NOS-inhibition with NG-nitro-l-arginine decreased superoxide in vessels from angiotensin II-treated animals, compatible with NOS-uncoupling. Vascular NO assessed with electron paramagnetic resonance was markedly reduced. Likewise, a decrease in sGC-expression and P-VASP levels was found. In vivo PKC-inhibition with chelerythrine reduced angiotensin II-induced superoxide production and markedly inhibited upregulation of NAD(P)H oxidase subunits. We therefore conclude that angiotensin II-induced increases in the activity and the expression of NAD(P)H oxidase are at least in part PKC-dependent. NADPH oxidase-induced superoxide production may trigger NOS III uncoupling, leading to impaired NO/cGMP signaling and to endothelial dysfunction in this animal model. The full text of this article is available at http://www.circresaha. org.
Sin and Self-Functioning, Part 5: Antireligious Humanistic Values, Individualism, and the Community

Grace alone or in combination with intrinsic religiosity was associated with less narcissistic Exploitiveness, Machiavellianism, and individualism while being congruent with a belief in authority and equalitarianism. Measures of individualism were related to a manipulative style of interpersonal relationships. The failure of religious variables to predict healthy self-functioning as measured by the Personal Orientation Inventory appeared to reflect an antireligious ideological bias built into this humanistically based questionnaire. Although humanistic self-values did not generally promote interpersonal manipulativeness, the data nevertheless supported recent arguments by communitarian theorists that an excessive individualism may have unfortunate social consequences and that beliefs rooted in the biblical tradition may help work against such liabilities.
Intracellular and Extracellular Changes of [ Ca 2 + ] in Hypoxia and Ischemia in Rat Brain In Vivo

Changes in intraand extracellular free calcium concentra t ion were evaluated with ion-selective microelectrodes dur ing per iods o f anoxia and ischemia in three different regions of intact rat brain. Recordings stable for at least 2 min and in most cases for 4 6 min were chosen for analysis. Under normoxic conditions neuronal [Ca2+]i varied between <10 -8 and 10 -7 M from cell to cell but no systematic regional differences were observed. Elimination of 09 or in ter rupt ion in b lood flow caused, within 30 -60 s, slight intracellular alkalinization followed by a small rise in [Ca2+]~, a mild degree o f hyperpolar izat ion, and disappearance of electrical activity in the cortex, in that order . I t is postulated that a decline in cellular energy levels, as manifested by H + uptake associated with creatine phosphate hydrolysis, leads to an increase in [Ca2+]i, which activates Ca2+-dependent K + channels and consequently enhances gK. 2 4 min later there was a sudden, large rise in [K+]e, a fall in [CaZ+]~ and a rapid elevation of [Ca2+]i. The magni tude of the lat ter was greatest in a high p ropor t ion of h ippocampal neurons in area CA1 and some cortical cells, while it was smallest and relatively delayed in thalamic neurons. In the h ippocampus area CA1 increases in [Ca2+]~ to as much as 6 8 • 10 -4 were observed; some of these could be reversed when 02 or b lood flow were res tored to normal. Pre t rea tment of animals with ketamine and MK-801, antagonists of excitatory amino acid transmitters, markedly slowed and decreased the rises in [Ca2+]~. The effects of the two agents were most p ronounced in the hippocampus. I t is concluded that the recep tor -opera ted channels are largely responsible for Ca 2+ entry into certain cells dur ing hypoxia/ ischemia. This pathway may be of pr imary impor tance in parts of the h ippocampus and cortex, regions of the brain that are part icularly vulnerable to 02 deprivat ion and which receive high glutamatergic input and have an abundance o f excitatory amino acid receptors. I N T R O D U C T I O N It is well es tab l i shed that ce reb ra l anox ia and ischemia lead to a dec rease in cel lular energy p r o d u c t i o n (Lowry et al., 1964; S ies j r , 1978), a resu l tan t r e d u c t i o n in the Address reprint requests to Dr. Mafia Erecifiska, Department of Pharmacology, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, 39th Street and Hamilton Walk, Philadelphia, PA 19104-6084. J. GI,~N. PHYsIOl. 9 The Rockefeller University Press 9 0022-1295/90/05/0837/30 $2.00 837 Volume 95 May 1990 837-866 on Jne 4, 2017 D ow nladed fom Published May 1, 1990
Online motion synthesis using sequential Monte Carlo

We present a Model-Predictive Control (MPC) system for online synthesis of interactive and physically valid character motion. Our system enables a complex (36-DOF) 3D human character model to balance in a given pose, dodge projectiles, and improvise a get up strategy if forced to lose balance, all in a dynamic and unpredictable environment. Such contact-rich, predictive and reactive motions have previously only been generated offline or using a handcrafted state machine or a dataset of reference motions, which our system does not require. For each animation frame, our system generates trajectories of character control parameters for the near future --- a few seconds --- using Sequential Monte Carlo sampling. Our main technical contribution is a multimodal, tree-based sampler that simultaneously explores multiple different near-term control strategies represented as parameter splines. The strategies represented by each sample are evaluated in parallel using a causal physics engine. The best strategy, as determined by an objective function measuring goal achievement, fluidity of motion, etc., is used as the control signal for the current frame, but maintaining multiple hypotheses is crucial for adapting to dynamically changing environments.
Altered excitatory and inhibitory amino acid receptor binding in hippocampus of patients with temporal lobe epilepsy

We examined binding to excitatory amino acid and inhibitory amino acid receptors in frozen hippocampal sections prepared from surgical specimens resected from 8 individuals with medically refractory temporal lobe epilepsy. The excitatory receptors studied included N‐methyl‐D‐aspartate (NMDA), strychnine‐insensitive glycine, phencyclidine, and quisqualate. The inhibitory receptors studied were gamma‐aminobutyric acid type A (GABAA) and benzodiazepine. Excitatory and inhibitory amino acid receptor binding were differentially altered in the patients with temporal lobe epilepsy in comparison to 8 age‐comparable autopsy control subjects, and changes in receptor binding were regionally selective in four areas. Binding to phencyclidine receptors associated with the NMDA channel was reduced by 35 to 70% in all regions in the hippocampi of the patients. In contrast, binding to the NMDA recognition site and its associated glycine modulatory site was elevated by 20 to 110% in the cornu ammonis (CA) 1 area and dentate gyrus of the hippocampus of the patients. Binding to these sites was unaffected in area CA4. Binding to the quisqualate‐type excitatory amino acid receptor was unchanged in all regions except the stratum lacunosum moleculare CA1, where it was increased by 63%. GABAA and benzodiazepine receptor binding was reduced by 20 to 60% in CA1 and CA4, but unchanged in dentate gyrus. The data indicate that excitatory and inhibitory amino acid receptors are altered in the hippocampus of patients with temporal lobe epilepsy.
Ablation of specific expression domains reveals discrete functions of ectoderm- and endoderm-derived FGF8 during cardiovascular and pharyngeal development

Fibroblast growth factor 8 (Fgf8) is expressed in many domains of the developing embryo. Globally decreased FGF8 signaling during murine embryogenesis results in a hypomorphic phenotype with a constellation of heart, outflow tract, great vessel and pharyngeal gland defects that phenocopies human deletion 22q11 syndromes, such as DiGeorge. We postulate that these Fgf8 hypomorphic phenotypes result from disruption of local FGF8 signaling from pharyngeal arch epithelia to mesenchymal cells populating and migrating through the third and fourth pharyngeal arches. To test our hypothesis, and to determine whether the pharyngeal ectoderm and endoderm Fgf8 expression domains have discrete functional roles, we performed conditional mutagenesis of Fgf8 using novel Crerecombinase drivers to achieve domain-specific ablation of Fgf8 gene function in the pharyngeal arch ectoderm and endoderm. Remarkably, ablating FGF8 protein in the pharyngeal arch ectoderm causes failure of formation of the fourth pharyngeal arch artery that results in aortic arch and subclavian artery anomalies in 95% of mutants; these defects recapitulate the spectrum and frequency of vascular defects reported in Fgf8 hypomorphs. Surprisingly, no cardiac, outflow tract or glandular defects were found in ectodermal-domain mutants, indicating that ectodermally derived FGF8 has essential roles during pharyngeal arch vascular development distinct from those in cardiac, outflow tract and pharyngeal gland morphogenesis. By contrast, ablation of FGF8 in the third and fourth pharyngeal endoderm and ectoderm caused glandular defects and bicuspid aortic valve, which indicates that the FGF8 endodermal domain has discrete roles in pharyngeal and valvar development. These results support our hypotheses that local FGF8 signaling from the pharyngeal epithelia is required for pharyngeal vascular and glandular development, and that the pharyngeal ectodermal and endodermal domains of FGF8 have separate functions.
The computation of Stiefel-Whitney classes

The cohomology ring of a finite group, with coefficients in a finite field, can be computed by a machine, as Carlson has showed. Here "compute" means to find a presentation in terms of generators and relations, and involves only the underlying (graded) ring. We propose a method to determine some of the extra structure: namely, Stiefel-Whitney classes and Steenrod operations. The calculations are explicitly carried out for about one hundred groups (the results can be consulted on the Internet). Next, we give an application: thanks to the new information gathered, we can in many cases determine which cohomology classes are supported by algebraic varieties.
Clinical Ophthalmology Dovepress Dovepress Factors Affecting the Use of Antioxidant Supplements in Patients with Late Amd

Background: The purpose of this study was to assess the use of oral antioxidant supplements in patients with late age-related macular degeneration (AMD) and to identify influencing factors that may affect the use of such supplements. Methods: The study included 47 patients with late AMD. Using a questionnaire, the patients were asked for their demographic, ophthalmologic, and systemic data, their source of recommendation of antioxidant use for AMD, and/or their reasons for nonuse. The demographic, ophthalmologic, and systemic information was correlated with use or nonuse of oral antioxidant supplements for AMD. Results: Sixty-eight percent (32/47) of patients took antioxidant supplements for AMD and 32% (15/47) of patients did not. There were no statistically significant differences in demographic, oph-thalmologic, and systemic parameters between patients with late AMD who used supplements and those who did not. Two thirds of patients with late AMD (66%, 31/47) reported being recommended oral antioxidant supplements for AMD by their ophthalmologist. Patients who did not use antioxidant supplements either did not obtain any recommendation or did not believe in their benefits. Conclusion: This study shows that most patients with late AMD use antioxidant supplements despite the recommendation to do so being missing in the Age-Related Eye Disease Study. Our study emphasizes the importance of seeking further therapeutic options for patients with late AMD.
Interactive Multimodal Learning for Venue Recommendation

In this paper, we propose City Melange, an interactive and multimodal content-based venue explorer. Our framework matches the interacting user to the users of social media platforms exhibiting similar taste. The data collection integrates location-based social networks such as Foursquare with general multimedia sharing platforms such as Flickr or Picasa. In City Melange, the user interacts with a set of images and thus implicitly with the underlying semantics. The semantic information is captured through convolutional deep net features in the visual domain and latent topics extracted using Latent Dirichlet allocation in the text domain. These are further clustered to provide representative user and venue topics. A linear SVM model learns the interacting user's preferences and determines similar users. The experiments show that our content-based approach outperforms the user-activity-based and popular vote baselines even from the early phases of interaction, while also being able to recommend mainstream venues to mainstream users and off-the-beaten-track venues to afficionados. City Melange is shown to be a well-performing venue exploration approach.
Lattice Gaussian Sampling by Markov Chain Monte Carlo: Convergence Rate and Decoding Complexity

Sampling from the lattice Gaussian distribution is an efficient way for solving the closest vector problem (CVP) in lattice decoding. In this paper, decoding by MCMC-based lattice Gaussian sampling is investigated in full details. First of all, the spectral gap of the transition matrix of the Markov chain induced by the independent Metropolis-Hastings-Klein (MHK) algorithm is derived, dictating an exponential convergence rate to the target lattice Gaussian distribution. Then, the decoding complexity of CVP is derived as $O(e^{d^2(\Lambda, \mathbf{c})/\min_i^2\|\widehat{\mathbf{b}}_i\|})$, where $d(\Lambda, \mathbf{c})$ represents the Euclidean distance between the query point $\mathbf{c}$ and the lattice $\Lambda$, and $\mathbf{\widehat{b}}_i$ is the $i$th Gram-Schmidt vector of the lattice basis $\mathbf{B}$. Furthermore, the decoding radius from the perspective of bounded distance decoding (BDD) given a fixed number of Markov moves $t$ is also derived, revealing a flexible trade-off between the decoding performance and complexity. Finally, by taking advantages of $k$ trial samples from the proposal distribution, the independent multiple-try Metropolis-Klein (MTMK) algorithm is proposed to further enhance the exponential convergence rate. By adjusting $k$, the independent MTMK sampler enjoys a flexible decoding performance, where the independent MHK algorithm is just a case with $k=1$. Additionally, the proposed decoding allows a fully parallel implementation, which is beneficial for the practical interest.
Functional Characterization of a Maize Purine Transporter by Expression in Aspergillus nidulans

We have characterized the function of Leaf Permease1 (LPE1), a protein that is necessary for proper chloroplast development in maize, by functional expression in the filamentous fungus Aspergillus nidulans. The choice of this ascomycete was dictated by the similarity of its endogenous purine transporters to LPE1 and by particular genetic and physiological features of purine transport and metabolism in A. nidulans. When Lpe1 was expressed in a purine transport–deficient A. nidulans strain, the capacity for uric acid and xanthine transport was acquired. This capacity was directly dependent on Lpe1 copy number and expression level. Interestingly, overexpression of LPE1 from >10 gene copies resulted in transformants with pleiotropically reduced growth rates on various nitrogen sources and the absolute inability to transport purines. Kinetic analysis established that LPE1 is a high-affinity (Km = 30 ± 2.5 μM), high-capacity transporter specific for the oxidized purines xanthine and uric acid. Competition studies showed that high concentrations of ascorbic acid (>30 mM) competitively inhibit LPE1-mediated purine transport. This work defines the biochemical function of LPE1, a plant representative of a large and ubiquitous transporter family. In addition, A. nidulans is introduced as a novel model system for the cloning and/or functional characterization of transporter genes.