Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A long pentraxin-3-derived pentapeptide for the therapy of FGF8b-driven steroid hormone-regulated cancers

Fibroblast growth factor-8b (FGF8b) affects the epithelial/stromal compartments of steroid hormone-regulated tumors by exerting an autocrine activity on cancer cells and a paracrine pro-angiogenic function, thus contributing to tumor progression. The FGF8b/FGF receptor (FGFR) system may therefore represent a target for the treatment of steroid hormone-regulated tumors. The soluble pattern recognition receptor long pentraxin-3 (PTX3) binds various FGFs, including FGF2 and FGF8b, thus inhibiting the angiogenic and tumorigenic activity of androgen-regulated tumor cells. Nevertheless, the complex/proteinaceous structure of PTX3 hampers its pharmacological exploitation. In this context, the acetylated pentapeptide Ac-ARPCA-NH2 (ARPCA), corresponding to the N-terminal amino acid sequence PTX3(100-104), was identified as a minimal FGF2-binding peptide able to antagonize the biological activity of FGF2. Here, we demonstrate that ARPCA binds FGF8b and inhibits its capacity to form FGFR1-mediated ternary complexes with heparan sulphate proteoglycans. As a FGF8b antagonist, ARPCA inhibits FGFR1 activation and signalling in endothelial cells, hampering the angiogenic activity exerted in vitro and in vivo by FGF8b. Also, ARPCA suppresses the angiogenic and tumorigenic potential of prototypic androgen/FGF8b-dependent Shionogi 115 mammary carcinoma cells and of androgen/FGF8b/FGF2-dependent TRAMP-C2 prostate cancer cells. In conclusion, ARPCA represents a novel FGF8b antagonist with translational implications for the therapy of steroid hormone-regulated tumors.
Psychopathy and antisocial personality disorder: Gender differences in empathy and alexithymia

Traditional conceptualizations of psychopathy highlight the importance of affective features of the syndrome in perpetuating social deviance. However, little research has directly investigated the callousness that psychopathic offenders display toward society and their victims. The current study investigated the roles of empathy and alexithymia in psychopathy among male and female incarcerated offenders, particularly in distinguishing psychopathy from antisocial personality disorder. Gender differences were also investigated. Regarding empathy, as predicted, group differences were largest between psychopathic and non-psychopathic offenders; no reliable differences emerged between psychopathic and APD-only offenders. In contrast, alexithymia robustly distinguished between offenders with prominent psychopathic traits, those with only APD, and those with neither condition. Psychopathic females unexpectedly exhibited slightly higher levels of alexithymia than their male counterparts, while empathic deficits were relatively consistent across genders. These findings are discussed in terms of improving assessment methods for the accurate identification and treatment of offenders with prominent psychopathic features.
Millimeter wave radar for high resolution 3D near field imaging for robotics and security scans

This paper presents different millimeter wave systems for robotic mapping and localization as well as for security scan applications. The 2D system in the first part of this paper is mechanically rotating the radar module to allow a continous revolving FMCW radar beam in azimuth plane. This extracted data is compared with the data of a LiDAR system. In the second part 3D imaging systems are presented based on synthetic aperture radar and MIMO arrays.
More accurate pinhole camera calibration with imperfect planar target

This paper presents a novel approach to camera calibration that improves final accuracy with respect to standard methods using precision planar targets, even if now inaccurate, unmeasured, roughly planar targets can be used. The work builds on a recent trend in camera calibration, namely concurrent optimization of scene structure together with the intrinsic camera parameters [4, 8, 1]. A novel formulation is presented that allows maximum likelihood estimation in the case of inaccurate targets, as it extends the camera extrinsic parameters into a tight parametrization of the whole scene structure. It furthermore observes the special characteristics of multi-view perspective projection of planar targets. Its natural extensions to stereo camera calibration and hand-eye calibration are also presented. Experiments demonstrate improvements in the parametrization of the camera model as well as in eventual stereo reconstruction.
An event memory for an embodied cooperative virtual guide

Past events influence all of our actions. Yet the artificial agent Max lacks the ability to remember his actions and experiences. This is to be changed! In the project ”May I guide you? ” we build an event memory for an embodied cooperative system that assists and guides novice users in a complex virtual environment [1]. Our scenario is guiding a nonlocal person discovering a virtual city. The guide, Max, employs knowledge about points of interest and cooperates in the discovery. But how can Max structure his experience into events? And how could he compare a situation with memorized events? To attack these questions we incorporate findings from psychology. Zacks and Tversky [2] looked at how humans perceive and structure events and found a) that events are defined by their boundaries and b) that events can be viewed as being organized into partonomic hierarchies. Zwaan et al. [3] found that events are connected in memory along five dimensions: time, space, protagonists, causality, and intentionality. These findings about event structure and event indexing shall help Max to get an event memory and become a better guide.
Neural networks in financial engineering: a study in methodology

Neural networks have shown considerable successes in modeling financial data series. However, a major weakness of neural modeling is the lack of established procedures for performing tests for misspecified models, and tests of statistical significance for the various parameters that have been estimated. This is a serious disadvantage in applications where there is a strong culture for testing not only the predictive power of a model or the sensitivity of the dependent variable to changes in the inputs but also the statistical significance of the finding at a specified level of confidence. Rarely is this more important than in the case of financial engineering, where the data generating processes are dominantly stochastic and only partially deterministic. Partly a tutorial, partly a review, this paper describes a collection of typical applications in options pricing, cointegration, the term structure of interest rates and models of investor behavior which highlight these weaknesses and propose and evaluate a number of solutions. We describe a number of alternative ways to deal with the problem of variable selection, show how to use model misspecification tests, we deploy a novel way based on cointegration to deal with the problem of nonstationarity, and generally describe approaches to predictive neural modeling which are more in tune with the requirements for modeling financial data series.
Usages d’ordinateurs portables à l’école primaire à Madagascar, vers un changement de pédagogie ? Laptop use in a primary school in Madagascar: towards a pedagogical change?

Depuis 2009, l’association OLPC France est en charge d’un projet educatif dans un village au nord-ouest de Madagascar. Ce projet repond a des enjeux contemporains : reduire la fracture numerique, leur donner acces a des connaissances et des ressources nouvelles, favoriser la mise en œuvre d’un apprentissage constructionniste et acquerir de nouvelles competences. L’etude presentee ici vise a mettre en evidence les usages de ces ordinateurs quatre ans apres leur introduction dans le village, et leur effet sur les pedagogies mises en œuvre lorsque les ordinateurs sont utilises. L’etude montre que les usages des ordinateurs s’inscrivent dans la continuite des enseignements mis en place, mais qu’ils induisent des modifications de la pedagogie ; celles-ci offrent plus d’initiative, et plus de temps aux eleves pour realiser individuellement les activites proposees, et introduisent parfois une approche constructionniste de l’apprentissage.
Hydrogen Sulfide Is a Mediator of Cerebral Ischemic Damage

Background and Purpose— We observed recently that elevated plasma cysteine levels are associated with poor clinical outcome in acute stroke patients. In a rat stroke model, cysteine administration increased the infarct volume apparently via its conversion to hydrogen sulfide (H2S). We therefore investigated the effects of H2S and the inhibition of its formation on stroke. Methods— Cerebral ischemia was studied in a rat stroke model created by permanent occlusion of the middle cerebral artery (MCAO). The resultant infarct volume was measured 24 hours after occlusion. Results— Administration of sodium hydrosulfide (NaHS, an H2S donor) significantly increased the infarct volume after MCAO. The NaHS-induced increase in infarct volume was abolished by the administration of dizolcilpine maleate (an N-methyl-d-aspartate receptor channel blocker). MCAO caused an increase in H2S level in the lesioned cortex as well as an increase in the H2S synthesizing activity. Administration of 4 different inhibitors of H2S synthesis reduced MCAO-induced infarct volume dose dependently. The potency of these inhibitors in effecting neuroprotection in vivo appeared to parallel their potency as inhibitors of H2S synthesis in vitro. It also appeared that most of the H2S synthesizing activity in the cortex results from the action of cystathionine β-synthase. Conclusions— The present results strongly suggest that H2S plays a part in cerebral ischemic damage after stroke. Inhibition of H2S synthesis should be investigated for its potential as a novel neuroprotective stroke therapy.
Perceptions of Students Towards Use of Distance Learning: The case in an Executive Masters Business Program in Ghana

Distance learning has become a recognized method for delivering educational content in institutions of higher education. The purpose of this study was to investigate the perceptions held by graduate students about distance learning offered by the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Ghana. The survey utilized a 20 question survey with 691 respondents, who were adult learners enrolled in an Executive Masters of Business/Public Administration Program. The results of the study indicate that distance learning is most patronised by an older (>30 years) and married student population largely because it allows them to combine work and study. The data indicate that student perceptions of distance learning were positive. Respondents indicated that they are satisfied with teaching and learning by distance and also satisfied with learner support provided by the host institute.There remain concerns, however, regarding the provision of prompt feedback on assignments by facilitators, lack of enough study facilities to help students with their program and difficulty they experienced with learning materials that were not self explanatory. Addressing these concerns will improve students’ distance learning experiences and enhance students learning by distance.
Improved large-MIMO detection based on damped belief propagation

In this paper, we consider the application of belief propagation (BP) to achieve near-optimal signal detection in large multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) systems at low complexities. Large-MIMO architectures based on spatial multiplexing (V-BLAST) as well as non-orthogonal space-time block codes(STBC) from cyclic division algebra (CDA) are considered. We adopt graphical models based on Markov random fields (MRF) and factor graphs (FG). In the MRF based approach, we use pairwise compatibility functions although the graphical models of MIMO systems are fully/densely connected. In the FG approach, we employ a Gaussian approximation (GA) of the multi-antenna interference, which significantly reduces the complexity while achieving very good performance for large dimensions. We show that i) both MRF and FG based BP approaches exhibit large-system behavior, where increasingly closer to optimal performance is achieved with increasing number of dimensions, and ii) damping of messages/beliefs significantly improves the bit error performance.
Evolution-based modelling of complex airport networks

This paper presents a time-series model of the United States Airport Network as a directed, weighted network, with the weight representing the total number of passengers flying from an origin to a destination airport, in a two month time period. Six independent networks are built for a given year, in order to capture the seasonal variation of passengers. To explore the evolution of the network over the past two decades, three specific years are investigated: 1990, 2000, and 2010. The results highlight the growth of the network in terms of airports and connections, and suggest a scale-free, small-world topology. In addition, the ranked passenger distribution appears to follow a logarithmic trend, implying high heterogeneity in passengers on different connections.
SIMULATION TOOLS IN CONTROL ENGINEERING EDUCATION

The paper introduces simulation package developed for facilitating the education of discrete-time control theory at undergraduate level. The aim was not only to provide an interactive demonstration tool, but also to provide a better understanding of the applied algorithms. That aim was fulfilled by the choice of the LabVIEW programming environment, which alloys the simplicity of graphical programming with the traceability of the analogue devices. The simulation package provide basic blocks for identification and control: discrete-time filter, discretetime state space models, identification blocks for output error method and equation error method, recursive least square estimation, Kalman-filter, state observer and general predictive control. Furthermore, the package contains a training purpose simulator demonstrating the so-called RST control structure. Beside demonstration, the simulator provides a good basis for control design. Beyond classroom demonstration, the simulator can be an effective tool to intensify self-study and distance education. Several examples are shown to demonstrate the features of the new tool.
What We Know about Emotional Intelligence: How It Affects Learning, Work, Relationships, and Our Mental Health

Sorting out the scientific facts from the unsupported hype about emotional intelligence.Emotional intelligence (or EI)? the ability to perceive, regulate, and communicate emotions, to understand emotions in ourselves and others? has been the subject of best-selling books, magazine cover stories, and countless media mentions. It has been touted as a solution for problems ranging from relationship issues to the inadequacies of local schools. But the media hype has far outpaced the scientific research on emotional intelligence. In What We Know about Emotional Intelligence, three experts who are actively involved in research into EI offer a state-of-the-art account of EI in theory and practice. They tell us what we know about EI based not on anecdote or wishful thinking but on science.What We Know about Emotional Intelligence looks at current knowledge about EI with the goal of translating it into practical recommendations in work, school, social, and psychological contexts.
Space and the Synchronic A-Ram

Space is a circuit oriented, spatial programming language designed to exploit the massive parallelism available in a novel formal model of computation called the Synchronic A-Ram, and physically related FPGA and reconfigurable architectures. Space expresses variable grained MIMD parallelism, is modular, strictly typed, and deterministic. Barring operations associated with memory allocation and compilation, modules cannot access global variables, and are referentially transparent. At a high level of abstraction, modules exhibit a small, sequential state transition system, aiding verification. Space deals with communication, scheduling, and resource contention issues in parallel computing, by resolving them explicitly in an incremental manner, module by module, whilst ascending the ladder of abstraction. Whilst the Synchronic A-Ram model was inspired by linguistic considerations, it is also put forward as a formal model for reconfigurable digital circuits. A programming environment has been developed, that incorporates a simulator and compiler that transform Space programs into Synchronic A-Ram machine code, consisting of only three bit-level instructions, and a marking instruction. Space and the Synchronic A-Ram point to novel routes out of the parallel computing crisis.
Association of Ethnicity with the Minimum Alveolar Concentration of Sevoflurane

Background:Selective breeding produces animal strains with varying anesthetic sensitivity. It thus seems unlikely that various human ethnicities have identical anesthetic requirements. Therefore, the authors tested the hypothesis that the minimum alveolar concentration of sevoflurane differs significantly as a function of ethnicity. Methods:The authors recruited 90 American Society of Anesthesiologists physical status I and II adult patients belonging to three Jewish ethnic groups: European, Oriental, and Caucasian (from the Caucasus Mountain region). All were scheduled to undergo surgery requiring a skin incision exceeding 3 cm. Without premedication, anesthesia was induced with 6–8% sevoflurane in 100% oxygen, and tracheal intubation was facilitated with succinylcholine. The skin incision was made after a predetermined end-tidal concentration of sevoflurane of 2.0% was maintained for at least 10 min in the first patient in each group. Blinded investigators observed the patient for movement during the subsequent minute. The concentration in the next patient was increased by 0.2% when patients moved, or decreased by the same amount when they did not. Results are presented as means [95% confidence intervals]. Results:Morphometric and demographic characteristics were similar among the groups; however, mean arterial pressure was slightly greater in European Jews. Minimum alveolar concentration for sevoflurane was greatest in Caucasian Jews (2.32% [2.27–2.41%]), less in Oriental Jews (2.14% [2.06–2.22%]), and still less in European Jews (1.9% [1.82–1.99%]) (P < 0.001). Conclusions:The results suggest that minimum alveolar concentration varies as a function of ethnicity. However, the extent to which confounding characteristics contribute, including lifestyle choices and environmental factors, remains unknown.
The network effects of prefetching

Prefetching has been shown to be an effective technique for reducing user perceived latency in distributed systems. In this paper we show that even when prefetching adds no extra traffic to the network, it can have serious negative performance effects. Straightforward approaches to prefetching increase the burstiness of individual sources, leading to increased average queue sizes in network switches. However, we also show that applications can avoid the undesirable queueing effects of prefetching. In fact, we show that applications employing prefetching can significantly improve network performance, to a level much better than that obtained without any prefetching at all. This is because prefetching offers increased opportunities for traffic shaping that are not available in the absence of prefetching. Using a simple transport rate control mechanism, a prefetching application can modify its behavior from a distinctly ON/OFF entity to one whose data transfer rate changes less abruptly, while still delivering all data in advance of the user's actual requests.
Psychological Strains Found From In-Depth Interviews With 105 Chinese Rural Youth Suicides

The objective of this study was to investigate the role of different aspects of psychological strain in Chinese rural young suicides, so as to test the strain theory of suicide with the Chinese samples. A Psychological Autopsy (PA) was conducted on 105 suicides in rural China. The background and deep reasons for suicide were obtained from in-depth interviews with survivors and close friends. For each suicide, a story is composed out of the provided information, and the stories were content-analyzed with the SPSS Text Analysis for Surveys. Depression or other mental disorders were observed for less than half of the sampled suicides (42.9%). All suicides (100%) had experienced at least one type of the four strains: conflicting values; aspiration and reality; relative deprivation; and coping deficiency. While 24.9% of all suicides experienced only one type of strain, 36.2% experienced two types of strains, 32.4% experienced three types of strains, and only 6.7% of the suicides experienced all four types of strains. Males are more likely than females to experience aspiration and deprivation strains, and the younger suicides (15–22 years of age) were more likely than the older suicides (23–29 years of age) to experience coping strain. Psychological strains are more prevalent than mental disorders among Chinese rural young suicides. Mental illness might be a function of strain resulting from some negative life events, and future studies need to disentangle the relationship between strain and mental disorders.
Molecular mechanisms of regulation of sulfate assimilation: first steps on a long road

The pathway of sulfate assimilation, which provides plants with the essential nutrient sulfur, is tightly regulated and coordinated with the demand for reduced sulfur. The responses of metabolite concentrations, enzyme activities and mRNA levels to various signals and environmental conditions have been well described for the pathway. However, only little is known about the molecular mechanisms of this regulation. To date, nine transcription factors have been described to control transcription of genes of sulfate uptake and assimilation. In addition, other levels of regulation contribute to the control of sulfur metabolism. Post-transcriptional regulation has been shown for sulfate transporters, adenosine 5′phosphosulfate reductase, and cysteine synthase. Several genes of the pathway are targets of microRNA miR395. In addition, protein–protein interaction is increasingly found in the center of various regulatory circuits. On top of the mechanisms of regulation of single genes, we are starting to learn more about mechanisms of adaptation, due to analyses of natural variation. In this article, the summary of different mechanisms of regulation will be accompanied by identification of the major gaps in knowledge and proposition of possible ways of filling them.
Evaluation metric of an image understanding result

Abstract. Image processing algorithms include methods that process images from their acquisition to the extraction of useful information for a given application. Among interpretation algorithms, some are designed to detect, localize, and identify one or several objects in an image. The problem addressed is the evaluation of the interpretation results of an image or a video given an associated ground truth. Challenges are multiple, such as the comparison of algorithms, evaluation of an algorithm during its development, or the definition of its optimal settings. We propose a new metric for evaluating the interpretation result of an image. The advantage of the proposed metric is to evaluate a result by taking into account the quality of the localization, recognition, and detection of objects of interest in the image. Several parameters allow us to change the behavior of this metric for a given application. Its behavior has been tested on a large database and showed interesting results.