Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Distinct role of interleukin-6 and tumor necrosis factor receptor-1 in oval cell- mediated liver regeneration and inflammation-associated hepatocarcinogenesis

Interleukin 6 (IL6), tumor necrosis factor α (TNFα) and TNF receptor-1(TNFR1) have been shown to involve in oval cell proliferation and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) development. However, their role in these processes is still unclear. In the present study, by using hepatocytes-specific DDB1 deletion mouse models, we explored the role and mechanism of IL6, TNFα and TNFR1 in oval cell proliferation and HCC development in the context of inflammation, which is the common features of HCC pathogenesis in humans. Our results showed that IL6 promotes oval cell proliferation and liver regeneration, while TNFα/TNFR1 does not affect this process. Deletion of IL6 accelerates HCC development and increases tumor burden. The number of natural killer(NK) cells is significantly decreased in tumors without IL6, implying that IL6 suppresses HCC by NK cells. In contrast to IL6, TNFR1-mediated signaling pathway promotes HCC development, and deletion of TNFR1 reduced tumor incidence. Increased apoptosis, compensatory proliferation and activation of MAPK/MEK/ERK cascade contribute to the oncogenic function of TNFR1-mediated signaling pathway. Intriguingly, deletion of TNFα accelerates tumor development, which shows divergent roles of TNFα and TNFR1 in hepatocarcinogenesis.
Cache Balancer: Access Rate and Pain Based Resource Management for Chip Multiprocessors

This paper presents a runtime resource management scheme named Cache Balancer that improves the utilization of on-chip shared caches and reduces access latencies in chip multiprocessor systems. Cache Balancer incorporates an access rate based memory allocator that improves utilization of on-chip cache resources resulting in up to 60% lower contention at cache banks. Furthermore, it uses information regarding the memory access characteristics of application tasks in order to obtain an optimal task mapping at runtime, and consequently achieves up to 22% lower execution times as compared to existing proposals.
An integrative framework for global self-localization

Concerning the robustness of mobile robot navigation, global self-localization is a key feature for many service applications. In this paper we describe an efficient Bayesian approach for hybrid topological/metric navigation, which is designed to exploit information from multiple sources of sensor data. Experiments with a combination of odometry/laserscans/computer vision show the system was able to generate initial position hypotheses, to cope with environmental ambiguities and to recover from severe position errors.
On the Performance of CSI-Assisted Cooperative Communications over Generalized Fading Channels

Virtual antenna array (VAA) systems (also known as cooperative communications, cooperative diversity, cooperative relaying or antenna sharing systems) are a new and recently proposed kind of (cooperative) spatial diversity, which have been receiving a significant interest in various communities as a means for improving the performance of both infrastructure-based and ad-hoc-based transmission systems operating over multipath fading channels. In particular, in antenna sharing systems the mobile radios share their single-antennas to create a distributed virtual antenna array through distributed transmissions and distributed signal processing operations. Although cooperative wireless communications exhibit various design challenges and research opportunities at different protocol layers, in this contribution we mainly focus on physical layer issues. In particular, we propose a comprehensive and unified framework for performance analysis of multi-hop multi-branch wireless systems with channel state information (CSI-) assisted analog relays over generalized fading channels. The framework relies on the moment generating function (MGF-) approach for performance analysis of digital communication systems over fading channels and on some properties of the Laplace transform, which allow to develop a simple single-integral relation between the MGF of a random variable and the MGF of its inverse. Numerical and simulation results are also provided to substantiate the accuracy of the proposed framework.
Understanding and Combating Poverty: A Quest for Conceptualization, Measurment Indicators, Causes, and Empirical Methodologies

This paper reviews some selected conceptual literature on poverty issues and the various approaches to its definition, measurement, underlying causes, and empirical research methodologies used. The paper is divided into five sections of which the first, second, and third deal with approaches to the definition and measurement of poverty and implications on poverty reduction. While poverty definition and measurement have received sufficient research and discussion, the underlying causes of poverty have been rather under-researched. The fourth section reviews some of the literature on the causes of poverty including issues of economic growth and inequality. The fifth section is devoted to empirical methodologies adopted in poverty research and poverty assessment including advantages and disadvantages of both quantitative and qualitative approaches to poverty research. The paper winds up by concluding remarks after reviewing the literature on poverty.
The Mediterranean and Black Sea Fisheries at Risk from Overexploitation

The status of the Mediterranean and Black Sea fisheries was evaluated for the period 1970-2010 on a subarea basis, using various indicators including the temporal variability of total landings, the number of recorded stocks, the mean trophic level of the catch, the fishing-in-balance index and the catch-based method of stock classification. All indicators confirmed that the fisheries resources of the Mediterranean and Black Sea are at risk from overexploitation. The pattern of exploitation and the state of stocks differed among the western (W), central (C) and eastern (E) Mediterranean subareas and the Black Sea (BS), with the E Mediterranean and BS fisheries being in a worst shape. Indeed, in the E Mediterranean and the BS, total landings, mean trophic level of the catch and fishing-in-balance index were declining, the cumulative percentage of overexploited and collapsed stocks was higher, and the percentage of developing stocks was lower, compared to the W and C Mediterranean. Our results confirm the need for detailed and extensive stock assessments across species that will eventually lead to stocks recovering through conservation and management measures.
Seesaw: Performance Guarantee for RAID Reconstruction

Today, the disk failures in large-scale storage can occur almost on a daily basis and the reconstruction process is very common. Additionally, the reconstruction process is always time-consuming. When RAID is in the reconstruction process, the performance of front-end application will be very poorly. This will significantly impact the end user’s feeling in storage system availability. In order to improve the storage system availability, we propose an architecture which controls the reconstruction speed and provides enough bandwidth to front-end application. Our approach performs well on the write-dominated trace and speeds the average response time up to 8 times.
Neurological diseases as primary gliopathies: a reassessment of neurocentrism

Diseases of the human brain are almost universally attributed to malfunction or loss of nerve cells. However, a considerable amount of work has, during the last decade, expanded our view on the role of astrocytes in CNS (central nervous system), and this analysis suggests that astrocytes contribute to both initiation and propagation of many (if not all) neurological diseases. Astrocytes provide metabolic and trophic support to neurons and oligodendrocytes. Here, we shall endeavour a broad overviewing of the progress in the field and forward the idea that loss of homoeostatic astroglial function leads to an acute loss of neurons in the setting of acute insults such as ischaemia, whereas more subtle dysfunction of astrocytes over periods of months to years contributes to epilepsy and to progressive loss of neurons in neurodegenerative diseases. The majority of therapeutic drugs currently in clinical use target neuronal receptors, channels or transporters. Future therapeutic efforts may benefit by a stronger focus on the supportive homoeostatic functions of astrocytes.
Funded Pension Scheme, Endogenous Time Preference and Capital Accumulation

This paper investigates the effect of the funded pension scheme on capital accumulation in general equilibrium when the time discount factor is endogenously determined. A two-period overlapping generations model with endogenous labor supply and a balanced funded pension scheme is employed. In the benchmark model with exogenous discount factor, the funded pension scheme is neutral to capital accumulation. Contrastingly, in the model with endogenous discount factor, I assume that discount factor is increasing in economy-wide average saving level, and find that the funded pension scheme can be negative to capital accumulation.
Molecular Phylogenetic and Embryological Evidence That Feeding Larvae Have Been Reacquired in a Marine Gastropod

Evolutionary transitions between different modes of development in marine invertebrates are thought to be biased toward the loss of feeding larvae. Because the morphology of feeding larvae is complex and nonfeeding larvae or encapsulated embryos with benthic development often have simplified morphologies, it is presumed to be easier to lose a larval stage than to reacquire it. Some authors have gone so far as to suggest that feeding larvae, morphologically similar to the ancestral feeding larvae, cannot be reacquired. However, the larval structures of some groups, most notably gastropods, are often retained in the encapsulated embryos of species that hatch as benthic juveniles. Therefore the re-evolution of feeding larvae using the same structures may be possible in these groups. Here we present the first well-substantiated case for the recent re-evolution of feeding larvae within a clade of direct-developers. DNA sequence data show that Crepipatella fecunda, a species of calyptraeid gastropod with planktotrophic development, is nested within a clade of species with direct development, and that Crepipatella dilatata, a species with direct development, appears to be paraphyletic with respect to C. fecunda. Observation of the embryos of C. dilatata shows that the features necessary for larval feeding and swimming are retained in the encapsulated veligers, suggesting that heterochronic shifts in hatching time and changes in nurse-egg allotment could have resulted in the re-evolution of feeding larvae in this species.
Glitches in Anomalous X-Ray Pulsars

We report on 8.7 and 7.6 yr of Rossi X-Ray Timing Explorer (RXTE) observations of the anomalous X-ray pulsars (AXPs) RXS J170849.0–400910 and 1E 1841–045, respectively. These observations have allowed us to study the long-term timing, pulsed flux, and pulse profile evolution of these objects. We report on four new glitches, one from RXS J170849.0–400910 and three from 1E 1841–045. With nearly all known persistent AXPs now seen to glitch, such behavior is clearly generic to this source class. We show that in terms of fractional frequency change, AXPs are among the most actively glitching neutron stars, with glitch amplitudes in general larger than in radio pulsars. However, in terms of absolute glitch amplitude, AXP glitches are unremarkable. Unlike radio pulsar glitches, AXP glitches can sometimes, though not always, be accompanied by radiative events. We show that the largest observed AXP glitches have recoveries that are unusual among those of radio pulsar glitches, with the combination of recovery time scale and fraction yielding changes in spin-down rates following the glitch similar to, or larger than, the long-term average. We also observed a large long-term fractional increase in the magnitude of the spin-down rate of 1E 1841–045, following its largest glitch, with . These observations are challenging to interpret in standard glitch models, as is the frequent occurence of large glitches given AXPs' high measured temperatures. We speculate that the stellar core may be involved in the largest AXP glitches.
Olivine-Pyroxene Distribution of S-type Asteroids Throughout the Main Belt

The mineralogical composition of asteroids can be constrained using visible and near-IR (VNIR) spectroscopy. The most prominent spectral features observed over this wavelength range are due to olivine and pyroxene, the two most abundant minerals in both chondritic and achondritic meteorites. The observed ratio of these two minerals is highly dependent on the amount of heating that an asteroid has undergone. The 1-micron band minimum and the band area ratio (BAR) between the 2and 1-micron bands reveal the relative abundance of olivine and/or pyroxene on an asteroid surface (Gaffey 1993). A large sample of S-, A-, V-, and R-type asteroid spectra was collected over the visible and near-IR wavelengths. Here we present a methodology for calculating the location of the 1-micron band minimum and BAR with appropriate 1sigma uncertainties. This method was used to characterize approximately 200 S-type asteroids throughout the main belt. We will also present the distribution of olivine / pyroxene throughout the main belt by measuring how the S-type mineralogy varies with heliocentric distance. This will provide a better understanding of both the thermal processing across the main belt and subsequent mixing of asteroids through collisional and dynamical processes.
Tourism Eclipsed by Crime

Abstract This paper examines the relationships between crime and tourism in Hungary with special reference to spatial and temporal aspects, focusing on the main groups of offences committed against foreign tourists and the problem of crime prevention. The study shows that trends in criminality are closely related to the number of tourists arriving and staying in Hungary and are less associated with general criminal conditions. Most of the victims are Germans; their cars, valuables, and wallets are particularly vulnerable to criminal activity. The density of crime is highest in Budapest, the capital, and in the region surrounding Lake Balaton during the summer season when levels of tourism are at their highest. Tourist information and frequent police controls are considered the most effective measures for crime prevention.
A New Approach to Simulation Studies in Computerized Adaptive Testing

Precision of trait estimation and determination of item exposure rates are always important considerations in conducting CATs. To date, simulation techniques have been used in research concerning these two considerations. Even though conducting simulation studies has some advantages over using real human subjects, the simulation results are not as accurate as analytically obtained results. To improve the accuracy of the results, and to avoid time consuming simulation work, more research on analytical solutions to problems is needed. The purpose of this study was to investigate the precision of CAT trait estimation and to determine CAT item exposure rates using an analytical approach (referred to as Tree). The results thus obtained were compared to those obtained using a simulation study, where three different levels of replications, 100, 500, and 1,000(referred to as S100, S500, and S1K respectively) were implemented. Based on this study, the differences among S100, S500, S1K, and Tree decreased as test length increased. For test length as long as 20 items, the differences among S500, S1K, and Tree were negligible. In other words, a simulation study with 500 replications can provide results as accurate as the analytical approach for a 20-item test.
Mini Project Report One

The Java Architecture for Bytecode Analysis (JABA) of the Aristotle Research Group at Georgia Tech provides static analysis of Java programs. Besides others, JABA uses algorithms that determine inter-procedural control flow caused by exceptions [3]. This means that JABA determines for each throw statement of the program the methods visited on the way to the finally statement or catch statement deactivating the thrown exception. Note that for a given pair of throw catch statements there may be multiple control flow paths through a program. This Mini Project provides a general mechanism to visualize such interprocedural control flow information, for example provided by JABA’s static analysis. The mechanism is general in the sense that also other data sources like the result of a dynamic analysis could be used.
Nonhamiltonian 3-Connected Cubic Planar Graphs

We establish that every cyclically 4-connected cubic planar graph of order at most 40 is hamiltonian. Furthermore, this bound is determined to be sharp, and we present all nonhamiltonian examples of order 42. In addition we list all nonhamiltonian cyclically 5-connected cubic planar graphs of order at most 52 and all nonhamiltonian 3-connected cubic planar graphs of girth 5 on at most 46 vertices. The fact that all 3-connected cubic planar graphs on at most 176 vertices and with face size at most 6 are hamiltonian is also verified.
Factorization and Momentum-Space Resummation in Deep-Inelastic Scattering

Renormalization-group methods in soft-collinear effective theory are used to perform the resummation of large perturbative logarithms for deep-inelastic scattering in the threshold region x {yields} 1. The factorization theorem for the structure function F{sub 2}(x,Q{sup 2}) for x {yields} 1 is rederived in the effective theory, whereby contributions from the hard scale Q{sup 2} and the jet scale Q{sup 2}(1 - x) are encoded in Wilson coefficients of effective-theory operators. Resummation is achieved by solving the evolution equations for these operators. Simple analytic results for the resummed expressions are obtained directly in momentum space, and are free of the Landau-pole singularities inherent to the traditional moment-space results. We show analytically that the two methods are nonetheless equivalent order by order in the perturbative expansion, and perform a numerical comparison up to next-to-next-to-leading order in renormalization-group improved perturbation theory.
Analysis of 3 D Motion Effects in Myocardial Elastography

In this paper, we investigate the elevational beamwidth and the extent of 3D decorrelation on 3D motion estimation of multiple short-axis slices under a previously established theoretical framework, which simulated two sequences, including passive filling and active contraction, in normal and ischemic canine finite-element (FE) left ventricular models. A 3D convolutional image formation model was developed to generate successive RF signals in 3D. Incremental lateral and axial motion components were estimated from lateral-axial plane using 1D cross-correlation and recorrelation techniques in a 2D search with a 1D matching kernel of 3 mm and 80% overlap. Similarly, the elevational displacement was estimated from elevational-axial plane using the same strategy. The cumulative 3D motion was obtained by accumulating the incremental motion from enddiastole to end-systole, while the cumulative lateral and axial strains were obtained using a least-squares strain estimator on the cumulative in-plane motion. Radial and circumferential strains, independent of the orientation of the transducer, were also computed from the in-plane finte strains. The elastographic estimation error was estimated by calculating the relative difference between the FEA and elastographic results. When the elevational beamwidth increased from 2 to 4 mm, the mean absolute differences for cumulative in-plane motion and systolic strains in both the normal and the ischemic cases, decreased. However, the larger the elevational beamwidth was, the larger elevational displacement estimation error was obtained. The findings showed that the elevational beamwidth of 2 mm was the optimal value for both in-plane deformation and out-of-plane motion estimation. In summary, even at the presence of physiologic elevational motion, the in-plane elastographic estimates remained at good agreement with the FE solutions. Error analyses indicated thus a substantial improvement in the performance of the recorrelation technique at various short-axis slices of the 3D left ventricle and at elevational beamwidths well within the clinical equipment range.
The Influence of Tropical Cyclone Size on Its Intensification

AbstractThis study investigates tropical cyclones of the past two decades (1990–2010) and the connection, if any, between their size and their ability to subsequently undergo rapid intensification (RI). Three different parameters are chosen to define the size of a tropical cyclone: radius of maximum wind (RMW), the average 34-knot (kt; 1 kt = 0.51 m s−1) radius (AR34), and the radius of the outermost closed isobar (ROCI). The data for this study, coming from the North Atlantic hurricane database second generation (HURDAT2), as well as the extended best-track dataset, are organized into 24-h intervals of either RI or slow intensification/constant intensity periods (non-RI periods). Each interval includes the intensity (maximum sustained surface wind speed), RMW, AR34, and ROCI at the beginning of the period and the change of intensity during the subsequent 24-h period. Results indicate that the ability to undergo RI shows significant sensitivity to initial size. Comparisons between RI and non-RI cyclones c.
Infection as a Risk Factor in the Pathogenesis of Primary Biliary Cirrhosis: Pros and Cons

Primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC) is a chronic and slowly progressive cholestatic liver disease of autoimmune etiology, characterized by injury of the intrahepatic bile ducts that may eventually lead to cirrhosis and liver failure. Evidence suggests cardinal roles for both environmental factors and genetic susceptibility. Nevertheless, the absolute etiology of PBC is unclear, despite recent well-designed case-control studies that reported environmental risk factors, including infectious agents, for PBC. Of the reported infectious agents, some of them are not reproducible and remain controversial. However, infection is no doubt one of the major risks among the environmental factors. This is supported by the fact that infectious agents in autoimmune diseases express antigens resulting in molecular mimicry and xenobiotics that play a role in breaking tolerance. Taken together, recent findings from genome wide assays as well as novel animal models may enable us to better understand the mechanism of pathogenesis responsible for this disease.
A distributed algorithm for traffic aware clustering in ad hoc networks

Clustering is used commonly in ad hoc networks for hierarchical routing. Size-bounded clustering has been proposed to restrict the maximum size of a cluster so that the routing load, and hence the energy drain, on the clusterhead is bounded. However, all the existing size-bounded clustering algorithms take the size bound as the number of nodes in the cluster. This approach may still result in high routing load on a clusterhead if the traffic rate of the nodes in the cluster is high. In this paper, we propose a simple metric based on average traffic rates of nodes for size-bounded clustering that reflects the actual routing load on a clusterhead. We present a distributed clustering algorithm that bounds the cluster size in terms of this metric, and also reduces the total energy spent in sending all the packets. Detailed simulation results are presented to show that the protocol performs significantly better than some other size-bounded clustering schemes.