Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
GABAergic inhibition at dendrodendritic synapses tunes γ oscillations in the olfactory bulb

In the olfactory bulb (OB), odorants induce oscillations in the γ range (20–80 Hz) that play an important role in the processing of sensory information. Synaptic transmission between dendrites is a major contributor to this processing. Glutamate released from mitral cell dendrites excites the dendrites of granule cells, which in turn mediate GABAergic inhibition back onto mitral cells. Although this reciprocal synapse is thought to be a key element supporting oscillatory activity, the mechanisms by which dendrodendritic inhibition induces and maintains γ oscillations remain unknown. Here, we assessed the role of the dendrodendritic inhibition, using mice lacking the GABAA receptor α1-subunit, which is specifically expressed in mitral cells but not in granule cells. The spontaneous inhibitory postsynaptic current frequency in these mutants was low and was consistent with the reduction of GABAA receptor clusters detected by immunohistochemistry. The remaining GABAA receptors in mitral cells contained the α3-subunit and supported slower decaying currents of unchanged amplitude. Overall, inhibitory-mediated interactions between mitral cells were smaller and slower in mutant than in WT mice, although the strength of sensory afferent inputs remained unchanged. Consequently, both experimental and theoretical approaches revealed slower γ oscillations in the OB network of mutant mice. We conclude, therefore, that fast oscillations in the OB circuit are strongly constrained by the precise location, subunit composition and kinetics of GABAA receptors expressed in mitral cells.
A Variant Mimicking Hyperphosphorylated 4E-BP Inhibits Protein Synthesis in a Sea Urchin Cell-Free, Cap-Dependent Translation System

Background 4E-BP is a translational inhibitor that binds to eIF4E to repress cap-dependent translation initiation. This critical protein:protein interaction is regulated by the phosphorylation of 4E-BP. Hypophosphorylated 4E-BP binds to eIF4E and inhibits cap-dependent translation, whereas hyperphosphorylated forms do not. While three 4E-BP proteins exist in mammals, only one gene encoding for 4E-BP is present in the sea urchin genome. The protein product has a highly conserved core domain containing the eIF4E-binding domain motif (YxxxxLΦ) and four of the regulatory phosphorylation sites. Methodology/Principal Findings Using a sea urchin cell-free cap-dependent translation system prepared from fertilized eggs, we provide the first direct evidence that the sea urchin 4E-BP inhibits cap-dependent translation. We show here that a sea urchin 4E-BP variant, mimicking phosphorylation on four core residues required to abrogate binding to eIF4E, surprisingly maintains physical association to eIF4E and inhibits protein synthesis. Conclusions/Significance Here, we examine the involvement of the evolutionarily conserved core domain and phosphorylation sites of sea urchin 4E-BP in the regulation of eIF4E-binding. These studies primarily demonstrate the conserved activity of the 4E-BP translational repressor and the importance of the eIF4E-binding domain in sea urchin. We also show that a variant mimicking hyperphosphorylation of the four regulatory phosphorylation sites common to sea urchin and human 4E-BP is not sufficient for release from eIF4E and translation promotion. Therefore, our results suggest that there are additional mechanisms to that of phosphorylation at the four critical sites of 4E-BP that are required to disrupt binding to eIF4E.
Pre-dispersal seed predation and seed limitation in an annual legume

Abstract In field experiments (1993–1998) using an annual self-pollinated vetch species, Vicia angustifolia , the effects of pre-dispersal seed predators (pre-DSPs) on plant performance and demography were studied. Insect exclusion by insecticides, vegetation perturbation at the start of the experiment by removing the top soil layer, and sowing extra seeds were applied at one site (Site 1) on 32 plots, and only insect exclusion at another site (Site 2) on 14 plots, respectively, in the plant's natural habitat. The number of seedlings was influenced most by perturbation at Site 1. There were 2–4 times more seedlings on bare plots in comparison with vegetation-covered plots, although significant difference was detected only in 1993, 1994 and 1997. Density of adult plants was lower on vegetation-covered plots. Dry matter, height, length of branches, and of pods were positively affected by perturbation on Site 1. The number of seeds infested by pre-DSPs was generally low, however, it was higher on unsprayed plots, regardless whether the plot was perturbed or not. Overall, seed loss to pre-DSPs was only ca. 10%. Sowing extra seeds among vegetation increased net plant recruitment demonstrating that microsites were available in the habitat. V. angustifolia is assumed to be a weak competitor and, in spite of the low percentage of seed loss to pre-DSPs, it is most likely limited by seed number. The deficit in using available microsites might be caused by post-dispersal mortality factors. Der Einfluss von Vordispersions-Samenfresser (VDSF) auf Produktivitat und Demographie der selbstbestaubenden Wickenart, Vicia angustifolia , wurde in Feldversuchen (1993–1998) untersucht. Am naturlichen Standort der Wicke wurden an 32 Quadraten folgende Varianten angelegt: Ausschluss der Insekten mit Insektiziden, Storung der Vegetation (Entfernen der oberen Bodenschicht) und Aussaat von extra Samen (Ort 1), sowie an 14 Quadraten blos Ausschluss der Insekten (Ort 2). Die Anzahl der Keimlinge war am Ort 1 am meisten durch die Storung der Vegetation beeinflusst. In den Quadraten ohne Vegetation entwickelten sich 2 bis 4-mal mehr Keimlinge, als in den kahlen Quadraten, obzwar signifikante Unterschiede nur in 1993, 1994 und 1997 gefunden wurden. Die Populationsdichte der adulten Wickenpflanzen war kleiner in den Quadraten mit Vegetation. Trockensubstanz, Hohe, Lange der Seitentriebe und der Hulsen waren am Ort 1 durch die Storung positiv beeinflusst. Die Anzahl der durch VDSF beschadigten Samen war im allgemeinen klein, sie war jedoch an insektizidbehandelten Quadraten groser, unabhangig davon, ob die Vegetation gestort wurde oder nicht. Der durch VDSF verursachte Samenverlust war durchschnittlich blos etwa 10%. Die Aussaat von Wickensamen in die naturliche Vegetation erhohte die Anzahl der Keimlinge, d.h. , es waren freie Mikroorte vorhanden. V. angustifolia ist wahrscheinlich ein schwacher Kompetitor und ihre Population ist durch die Samenzahl beschrankt, namlich durch den Einfluss von Nachdispersions-Samenschadlingen.
THE POSITION OF THE TARGET IN THE INFLUENCE OF EYE MOVEMENT ON NAVIGATIONAL AND INFORMATIVE RESEARCH TASKS

The main objective of this study is to understand how the position of the target influences the ocular movement in navigational and informative tasks. The study included a sample of 20 university students, 13 females and 7 males, aged between 18 and 44, from a university. Participants answered a socio-demographic questionnaire and performed two tasks, one navigational and one informative. Linear combinations were performed through the MANOVA test (2x2), of dependent variables that maximize the differences between several conditions of the independent variables. We conclude that the position of the target in the navigational task significantly influences the ocular movement of university students and the position of the individual influences the ocular movement in both tasks, navigational and informative.
Active Advice Seeking for Inverse Reinforcement Learning

Intelligent systems that interact with humans typically require demonstrations and/or advice from the expert for optimal decision making. While the active learning formalism allows for these systems to incrementally acquire demonstrations from the human expert, most learning systems require all the advice about the domain in advance. We consider the problem of actively soliciting human advice in an inverse reinforcement learning setting where the utilities are learned from demonstrations. Our hypothesis is that such solicitation of advice reduces the burden on the human to provide advice about every scenario in advance.
Optimal Code Design for Multi-Wavelength OOC Optical CDMA system

The objective of this work is to design optimal codes for a 2 Dimensional Optical Code Division Multiple Access system (2D-OCDMA), and to test their robustness to noise perturbation. 2D coding is performed by Multi-Wavelength Optical Orthogonal Codes (MWOOC). They are obtained with our new construction method which permits to choose the code parameters with high flexibility. Different receiver structures are studied: a Conventional Correlation Receiver (CCR), and a Parallel Interference Cancellation receiver (PIC). For each structure, the optimal code parameters are evaluated, in order to obtain a Bit Error Rate (BER) ≤10, for 30 active users, with a minimal temporal code length, and a minimal number of wavelengths. Finally, we show that, compared to the CCR, the PIC receiver permits to reduce the temporal code length and the number of wavelength, and that it also permits to reduce the required SNR for noisy signal.
EBV-Associated Malignancies

Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) infection has been implicated in the aetiopathogenic mechanisms of several neoplastic and non-neoplastic disorders. Although the precise mechanisms of the tumourigenic actions of EBV have not yet been fully elucidated, this virus has been strongly linked to subtypes of Hodgkin’s and non-Hodgkin’s lymphomas (especially Burkitt’s lymphoma), HIV/AIDS lymphomas, nasopharyngeal carcinoma and gastric carcinoma, among several others. The fact that persistent infections occur in greater than 95% of adults with an overall relatively low incidence of EBV related tumours compared with the prevalence of infection shows that there are definitely many other factors (genetic and environmental) that contribute to tumour development in EBV positive individuals. In this article, we review some of the currently available knowledge about these relationships in the commonly encountered EBV-associated malignancies. It is hoped that with continued research in the pathogenic mechanisms of EBV, specific roles will be identified that will facilitate the development of specific targeted therapy.
Effect of Spa Spring Water on Cytokine Expression in Human Keratinocyte HaCaT Cells and on Differentiation of CD4+ T Cells

Background Skin acts as the first line of defense against any foreign materials outside of our body. In inflammatory skin disease, the pathogenesis is due to an immune reaction in the keratinocytes, immune cells and soluble mediators. Balneotherapy is widely used for the treatment of inflammatory skin disease, but the mechanisms are only partly understood by immune regulation. Balneotherapy in dermatologic disease can affect the secretion of pro-inflammatory cytokines, IL-1α and tumor necrosis factor from keratinocytes, and possibly affect the T cell differentiation. Objective In this study, we evaluated the effect of spa spring water from Yong-gung oncheon on the cells, and investigated the skin immune reaction. Methods We investigated the immunomodulatory or anti-inflammatory effect of thermal spring water on the expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines in the HaCaT cells under Toll-like receptor (TLR) stimulation, as well as the effect on the differentiation of CD4+ T cells under spring water. Results The treatment of spa spring water from Yong-gung oncheon decreased the expression of proinflammatory cytokines under TLR stimulation to the HaCaT cells and antigen presenting cells. In addition, spa spring water attenuated the differentiation process of subsets of CD4+ T cells, i.e., Th1, Th2 and Th17 cells. All these immune parameters can be used to evaluate the efficacy of spa spring water in Korea, in terms of the immune modulatory effect. Conclusion Spa spring water treatment suppressed the inflammatory cytokines production and also modulated the differentiation of CD4+ T cells into Th1, Th2, and Th17 cells, but not the Tregs cells.
Policy incentives in Canadian large-scale assessment: How policy levers influence teacher decisions about instructional change

Large-scale assessment (LSA) is a tool used by education authorities for several purposes, including the promotion of teacher-based instructional change. In Canada, all 10 provinces engage in large-scale testing across several grade levels and subjects, and also have the common expectation that the results data will be used to improve instruction in classrooms. Yet despite agreement between ministries that instructional change based on LSA results is a positive development and employs data-based decision making at its heart, there remain significant differences in the kinds of incentives written into assessment policies in Canada. It is also true that implementation of the policies is less than uniform between schools and school divisions. Using mixed methods (survey data and follow-up interviews), this study examines which policy factors have the most significant impact on teacher decisions regarding the use of data. The findings indicate that highly incentivized policies correlate well to instructional change including aspects of both teaching (to) the curriculum as well as teaching to the test. Since the latter will be examined as a neither an educationally defensible practice nor a stated policy goal, the statement that ‘incentives work’ does not fully capture the nature of these impacts.
On-demand Multi-Path Balancing in Wireless Mesh Networks

In recent years, while Mobile Ad hoc Networks still have many challenges to become popular because of dynamic topology and security vulnerabilities, Wireless Mesh Networks (WMNs) with static Transit Access Points (TAPs) are emerging as the best solution for wireless communication. Much of recent work in routing for Wireless Mesh Networks (WMNs) has focused on overhead reduction, performance improvement and security enhancement for “multi-channel, multi-path” environment using single or multi-radio. However, to the best of our knowledge, there is no current work considering the balancing between the numbers of multi-paths can be used and the needed transmission data in each communication session within the consideration of loss rate. This paper proposes the On-demand Multi-path Balancing protocol (OMB) with an effective algorithm to balance the number of multi-paths can be used and the needed transmission data in each communication session for Wireless Mesh Networks (WMNs) environment. In wireless communication, this balancing is very critical to reduce routing overhead and improve throughput which directly improve routing reliability. Using a threshold to choose the optimal number of disjoint paths and scheduling the transmission time for single radio nodes, we make our routing protocol perform much better. The simulation results show that OMB improves throughput and reduces overhead, especially in case of big size data transmission.
Stabilization of a flying vehicle on a taut tether using inertial sensing

Given a hover-capable flying vehicle attached to a fixed point by a taut tether, we present a novel method to recover the vehicle's relative position and absolute orientation. The proposed method requires only on-board inertial sensors, and indirectly measures the string force, enabling the additional use of the tether as a physical user interaction medium. We present the vertical-plane dynamics of such a system and the localization approach, discuss sensitivity issues, and implement an estimator and controller based on the presented model. We demonstrate the method experimentally on a tethered quadrocopter in the Flying Machine Arena, using both a vertical-plane-constrained vehicle and in 3D.
Species specificity of mammalian connexin‐26 to form open voltage‐gated hemichannels

Mutations of connexin‐26 (Cx26) cause nonsyndromic hearing loss and other syndromes affecting ectoderm‐derived tissues. While the exact mechanisms underlying these diseases remain elusive, Cx's are generally considered to mediate cell‐to‐cell communication by forming gap junction channels. We show here that unlike rat Cx26, human and sheep Cx26 form voltage‐gated hemichannels when expressed in oocytes and Neuro2A cells. A single evolutionary amino acidic change at position 159 of the rodent protein, the replacement of aspartic acid with asparagine in the human and sheep proteins, accounts for this species specificity. At the resting potential and in normal millimolar extracellular calcium, open human Cx26 hemichannels can be detected both electrophysiologically and by dye uptake, although they did not affect cell viability. These hemichannels opened at ~ −50 mV and their activation increased by depolarization until they inactivate at positive membrane potentials. Single‐channel analysis revealed that activation and inactivation involved two distinct voltage gating mechanisms and that the fully open hemichannel displays a conductance twice that of the intercellular channel. The existence of a hemichannel that opens under physiological control of the membrane potential may have important implications for the normal and pathological activity of Cx26 in humans, particularly with respect to hearing and the epidermis. —González, D. , Gómez‐Hernández, J. M. , Barrio, L. C. Species specificity of mammalian connexin‐26 to form open voltage‐gated hemichannels. FASEB J. 20, 2329–2338 (2006)
Sudden Stops, Financial Crises, and Leverage

Financial crashes were followed by deep recessions in the Sudden Stops of emerging economies. An equilibrium business cycle model with a collateral constraint explains this phenomenon as a result of the amplification and asymmetry that the constraint induces in the responses of macro-aggregates to shocks. Leverage rises during expansions, and when it rises enough it triggers the constraint, causing a Fisherian deflation that reduces credit and the price and quantity of collateral assets. Output and factor allocations fall because access to working capital financing is also reduced. Precautionary saving makes Sudden Stops low probability events nested within normal cycles, as observed in the data. (JEL E21, E23, E32, E44, G01, O11, O16)
SNR G320.4–01.2 and PSR B1509–58: new radio observations of a complex interacting system

We describe radio continuum and spectral-line observations of the source G320.4–01.2 (MSH 15–52) and the coincident young pulsar B1509–58 made with the Australia Telescope Compact Array. Based on a comparison between X-ray and radio observations, we argue that the two main radio components of G320.4–01.2 are a single supernova remnant (SNR), which H I absorption indicates is at a distance of 5.2 ± 1.4 kpc. A high-resolution correspondence between radio and X-rays argues that the pulsar is interacting with the SNR via an opposed pair of collimated outflows. The outflow itself is seen as an elongated X-ray feature surrounded by a highly polarized radio sheath, while the interaction with the SNR manifests itself as a ring of radio/X-ray knots within the optical nebula RCW 89. We reject the hypothesis that the pulsar outflow powers the entire RCW 89 region. SNR G320.4–01.2 and PSR B1509–58 agree in distance and in rotation measure, and appear to be interacting. We thus conclude that the two objects are associated and have an age of 1700 yr. We propose that the SNR resulted from a high-energy or low-mass supernova that occurred near the edge of an elongated cavity. Such a model can account for the bilateral appearance of the SNR, its large apparent age, the significant offset of the pulsar from the centre of the SNR and the faintness of the pulsar-powered nebula at radio wavelengths.
Improving Operational Resilience Processes: The CERT Resilience Management Model

The CERT® Resilience Management Model (CERT®-RMM) defines processes for managing operational resilience in complex, risk-evolving environments. The model encompasses and integrates activities from security, business continuity, and aspects of IT operations management. It provides a path for making operational resilience a repeatable, predictable, manageable, and improvable process over which an organization has a significant level of active and direct control. This paper describes the operational resilience management foundations of the model and the evolution of the model, and it provides an example of how the model might be used to manage and improve the resilience of information assets.
An efficient algorithm for contextual bandits with knapsacks, and an extension to concave objectives

We consider a contextual version of multi-armed bandit problem with global knapsack constraints. In each round, the outcome of pulling an arm is a scalar reward and a resource consumption vector, both dependent on the context, and the global knapsack constraints require the total consumption for each resource to be below some pre-fixed budget. The learning agent competes with an arbitrary set of context-dependent policies. This problem was introduced by Badanidiyuru et al. (2014), who gave a computationally inefficient algorithm with near-optimal regret bounds for it. We give a computationally efficient algorithm for this problem with slightly better regret bounds, by generalizing the approach of Agarwal et al. (2014) for the non-constrained version of the problem. The computational time of our algorithm scales logarithmically in the size of the policy space. This answers the main open question of Badanidiyuru et al. (2014). We also extend our results to a variant where there are no knapsack constraints but the objective is an arbitrary Lipschitz concave function of the sum of outcome vectors.
Subcritical dynamos in shear flows

Identifying generic physical mechanisms responsible for the generation of magnetic fields and turbulence in differentially rotating flows is fundamental to understand the dynamics of astrophysical objects such as accretion disks and stars. In this paper, we discuss the concept of subcritical dynamo action and its hydrodynamic analogue exemplified by the process of nonlinear transition to turbulence in non-rotating wall-bounded shear flows. To illustrate this idea, we describe some recent results on nonlinear hydrodynamic transition to turbulence and nonlinear dynamo action in rotating shear flows pertaining to the problem of turbulent angular momentum transport in accretion disks. We argue that this concept is very generic and should be applicable to many astrophysical problems involving a shear flow and non-axisymmetric instabilities of shearinduced axisymmetric toroidal velocity or magnetic fields, such as Kelvin-Helmholtz, magnetorotational, Tayler or global magnetoshear instabilities. In the light of several recent numerical results, we finally suggest that, similarly to a standard linear instability, subcritical MHD dynamo processes in high-Reynolds number shear flows could act as a large-scale driving mechanism of turbulent flows that would in turn generate an independent small-scale dynamo. (© 2008 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)