nils-herrmann/clean_scirepeval huggingface dataset:
Targeted gene editing restores regulated CD40L function in X linked hyper IgM syndrome.
Venue: Blood

Loss of CD40 ligand (CD40L) expression or function results in X linked hyper immunoglobulin (Ig)M syndrome (X HIGM) characterized by recurrent infections due to impaired immunoglobulin class switching and somatic hypermutation. Previous attempts using retroviral gene transfer to correct murine CD40L expression restored immune function; however, treated mice developed lymphoproliferative disease, likely due to viral promoter dependent constitutive CD40L expression. These observations highlight the importance of preserving endogenous gene regulation in order to safely correct this disorder. Here, we report efficient, on target, homology directed repair (HDR) editing of the CD40LG locus in primary human T cells using a combination of a transcription activator like effector nuclease induced double strand break and a donor template delivered by recombinant adeno associated virus. HDR mediated insertion of a coding sequence (green fluorescent protein or CD40L) upstream of the translation start site within exon 1 allowed transgene expression to be regulated by endogenous CD40LG promoter/enhancer elements. Additionally, inclusion of the CD40LG 3' untranslated region in the transgene preserved posttranscriptional regulation. Expression kinetics of the transgene paralleled that of endogenous CD40L in unedited T cells, both at rest and in response to T cell stimulation. The use of this method to edit X HIGM patient T cells restored normal expression of CD40L and CD40 murine IgG Fc fusion protein (CD40 muIg) binding, and rescued IgG class switching of naive B cells in vitro. These results demonstrate the feasibility of engineered nuclease directed gene repair to restore endogenously regulated CD40L, and the potential for its use in T cell therapy for X HIGM syndrome.
Underwater Noise Pollution at the Strait of Istanbul (Bosphorus)

Underwater noise pollution (UNP) has become a major concern in marine habitats, which is intense anthropogenic noise in the marine (aquatic) environment. It is caused by ship traffic, oceanographic experiments, and use of explosives in geophysical research, underwater construction, active sonars and seismic survey techniques. Oceans are much nosier than 1960s. Narrow and shallow channel noisy aquatic environments where noise levels reach the highest value is not surprising. The Strait of Istanbul (SoI; Bosphorus) is one of the most important maritime passages (app. 50 000 vessel/year or 140 vessel/day) which is situated between the Black Sea and the Aegean Sea are also biologically extremely important gateway not only it provides access to a channel. Many of the varieties of fish migration hunting value are realized through the TSS. Local maritime traffic is another important acoustic sources which are more than 3 000 elements (Kesgin and Vardar, 2001) of everyday local traffic in SoI, which are causing noise in the 2 and 10 kHz range. Large vessels create signals both in bands below 1 kHz (main engine, electrical instruments) cavitation noise creates higher frequency bands. Almost all elements of marine traffic in SoI located therefore encountered UND in all bands.
A set Archaic anchor arm exposed within P. oceanica matte at Klazomenai/Liman Tepe, Turkey: A contribution for understanding marine stratigraphy

Excavation in Posidonia oceanica matte in the ancient harbor of Klazomenai/Liman Tepe, on the Aegean coast of Turkey, demonstrates the stratigraphic archaeological potential of underwater excavation. Among the finds is a fractured wooden anchor arm exposed in situ. The anchor arm dates to approximately 600 b.c. based on stratigraphically associated ceramics, a dating supported by radiocarbon. The arm was found embedded in this marine sediment, which preserved the arm in its set position within the ancient sea floor. This archaeological excavation through matte and silt harbor sediments overturns the misconception that stratigraphic excavation is impossible in a marine environment. The excavation further boosts optimism regarding the preservation of maritime heritage along the littoral of the eastern Aegean and the many other Mediterranean regions where Posidonia oceanica grows.
Violence and Statebuilding in a Borders Conflict Context: A Study of the Israeli Palestinian Conflict

Violence, while conceived of and defined as objective, is in reality a subjective phenomenon that takes on myriad forms (political, physical, and psychological) From a constructivist perspective, the identification of violence is contingent on conflicts to signify actions as legitimate; in the Israeli Palestinian conflict, the experience of different forms of violence has meant that violence has come to acquire multiple meanings. This violence is legitimate from both Israeli and Palestinian points of view, and it creates and fulfils a cycle that perpetuates intractable conflict. This article aims to demonstrate how strongly this culture of violence has affected the state formation process in this area, and it calls attention particularly to ongoing statebuilding processes in Palestine. The paper will also explore the intricacies related to violence and border definition in terms of 'mapping practices' and territoriality, and examine how, in the wake of the Oslo agreement, the Palestinian statebuilding process is created under the ruling power of the Israeli military force, restraining Palestinian capacity to create state bodies capable of establishing and retaining the monopoly of violence.
Experimental demonstration of channel estimation using image processing in optical direct detection OFDM
Venue: 2016 25th Wireless and Optical Communication Conference (WOCC)

In direct detection optical orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) system, channel impairments such as residual chromatic dispersion (CD) residual synchronization error, and clock frequency offset induce phase shifts over subcarriers. We propose a method of using image processing for phase channel estimation with negligible overhead which is applicable to various subcarrier modulation formats. We conduct experiment of 32 Gbit/s, 40 Gbit/s, and 48 Gbit/s direct detection optical (DDO) OFDM with 16QAM, 32QAM, and 64QAM subcarrier modulation to verify this method. We investigate the effects of the numbers of required test phases and OFDM symbols with experimental data. We also present an approach to reduce the complexity of this method.
Rapidly co evolving technology adoption and diffusion models
Venue: Telematics Informatics

South African university students' MMS adoption does not fit established models.Major factors are: Perceived enjoyment (positive) and cost (negative).Social influence seems more important to current users than to non users.Results demonstability is perceived to be undesirable by non users.Context influences the factors which dominate technology adoption. Marketing managers; those not currently sharing personal photos. Mobile and Internet based technologies evolve rapidly and new hardware or software tends to stimulate related innovation. There are some indications that accessible and affordable technologies that allow the sharing of multimedia may attract interest from new groups of users, namely for marketing and by people who use mobile phones to take photographs but currently cannot share them easily and affordably. The question raised in this paper is whether the nature of these technologies has made the well established theories and models of technology adoption obsolete. The constructs used come from the Diffusion of Innovation Model (DIM) and the extensions to it and the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) and 'the constructs of cost and perceived enjoyment are added. The data obtained from South African university students was analysed according to whether they classify themselves as innovator, early adopter, early majority or late majority adopters of Multimedia Message Services. Different factors were found to be significant for different diffusion groups but cost and perceived enjoyment (neither of which come from DIM or UTAUT) were significant for the majority. A second comparison was done for current users versus non users and social influence was found to be significant for current users only; non users identified perceived enjoyment (positively) and results demonstrability (negatively) The results were then compared with a similar study carried out in Taiwan by Hsu et al. (2007) and differences between the two studies highlight the importance of time, place and the respondents selected. The conclusion is that new technology adoption and diffusion models are needed for rapidly co evolving mobile technologies.
Domestic Technology Adoption: Comparison of Innovation Adoption Models and Moderators

Domestic technologies, such as assistant robots, have the potential to provide considerable assistance to families in societies with aging populations and increasing labor costs. This study intends 1 to test a series of innovation adoption theories to examine which models may better predict consumer behavioral intention toward the use of domestic technologies and 2 to examine whether lead usership and global identity predict intentions. With the floor cleaning robots as target products of the survey and employing a sample of 299 potential consumers in Taiwan, a rapidly aging society, this study finds: 1 the theory of planned behavior TPB model accounts for 55% of the variance and better predicts purchase intention than the technology acceptance model and the theory of reasoned action. 2 In the nested TPB model, the effects of usefulness and ease of use on intentions are fully mediated by attitude. 3 When including 2 additional constructs, global identity and lead usership, the explanatory power of the extended TPB model rises from 55% to 66% 4 Lead usership moderates the link between attitude and intentions, that is, the stronger the lead usership the weaker the effect of attitude on intentions. 5 As lead usership and global identity are included in the model, the impact of perceived behavioral control vanishes. 6 Subjective norms moderate weakening the effect of attitude on adoption intentions; thus, word of mouth and peer pressure could be powerful communication tools to persuade follower consumers to adopt domestic technologies, such as family robots.
Mouse sperm begin to undergo acrosomal exocytosis in the upper isthmus of the oviduct.
Venue: Developmental biology

Recent evidence demonstrated that most fertilizing mouse sperm undergo acrosomal exocytosis (AE) before binding to the zona pellucida of the eggs. However, the sites where fertilizing sperm could initiate AE and what stimuli trigger it remain unknown. Therefore, the aim of this study was to determine physiological sites of AE by using double transgenic mouse sperm, which carried EGFP in the acrosome and DsRed2 fluorescence in mitochondria. Using live imaging of sperm during in vitro fertilization of cumulus oocyte complexes, it was observed that most sperm did not undergo AE. Thus, the occurrence of AE within the female reproductive tract was evaluated in the physiological context where this process occurs. Most sperm in the lower segments of the oviduct were acrosome intact; however, a significant number of sperm that reached the upper isthmus had undergone AE. In the ampulla, only 5% of the sperm were acrosome intact. These results support our previous observations that most of mouse sperm do not initiate AE close to or on the ZP, and further demonstrate that a significant proportion of sperm initiate AE in the upper segments of the oviductal isthmus.
Three Year Outcomes of Cranial Nerve Stimulation for Obstructive Sleep Apnea
Venue: Otolaryngology head and neck surgery official journal of American Academy of Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery

To describe the 36 month clinical and polysomnography (PSG) outcomes in an obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) cohort treated with hypoglossal cranial nerve upper airway stimulation (UAS)  A multicenter prospective cohort study.  Industry supported multicenter academic and clinical setting. Subjects Participants (n 116) at 36 months from a cohort of 126 implanted participants.  Participants were enrolled in a prospective phase III trial evaluating the efficacy of UAS for moderated to severe OSA. Prospective outcomes included apnea hypopnea index, oxygen desaturation index, other PSG measures, self reported measures of sleepiness, sleep related quality of life, and snoring.  Of 126 enrolled participants, 116 (92% completed 36 month follow up evaluation per protocol; 98 participants additionally agreed to a voluntary 36 month PSG. Self report daily device usage was 81% In the PSG group, 74% met the a priori definition of success with the primary outcomes of apnea hypopnea index, reduced from the median value of 28.2 events per hour at baseline to 8.7 and 6.2 at 12 and 36 months, respectively. Similarly, self reported outcomes improved from baseline to 12 months and were maintained at 36 months. Soft or no snoring reported by bed partner increased from 17% at baseline to 80% at 36 months. Serious device related adverse events were rare, with 1 elective device explantation from 12 to 36 months.  Long term 3 year improvements in objective respiratory and subjective quality of life outcome measures are maintained. Adverse events are uncommon. UAS is a successful and appropriate long term treatment for individuals with moderate to severe OSA.
Digital Makeup from Internet Images
Venue: ArXiv

We present a novel approach of color transfer between images by exploring their high level semantic information. First, we set up a database which consists of the collection of downloaded images from the internet, which are segmented automatically by using matting techniques. We then, extract image foregrounds from both source and multiple target images. Then by using image matting algorithms, the system extracts the semantic information such as faces, lips, teeth, eyes, eyebrows, etc. from the extracted foregrounds of the source image. And, then the color is transferred between corresponding parts with the same semantic information. Next we get the color transferred result by seamlessly compositing different parts together using alpha blending. In the final step, we present an efficient method of color consistency to optimize the color of a collection of images showing the common scene. The main advantage of our method over existing techniques is that it does not need face matching, as one could use more than one target images. It is not restricted to head shot images as we can also change the color style in the wild. Moreover, our algorithm does not require to choose the same color style, same pose and image size between source and target images. Our algorithm is not restricted to one to one image color transfer and can make use of more than one target images to transfer the color in different parts in the source image. Comparing with other approaches, our algorithm is much better in color blending in the input data.
Semantic and Visual Cues for Humanitarian Computing of Natural Disaster Damage Images
Venue: 2016 12th International Conference on Signal Image Technology Internet Based Systems (SITIS)

Identifying different types of damage is very essential in times of natural disasters, where first responders are flooding the internet with often annotated images and texts, and rescue teams are overwhelmed to prioritize often scarce resources. While most of the efforts in such humanitarian situations rely heavily on human labor and input, we propose in this paper a novel hybrid approach to help automate more humanitarian computing. Our framework merges low level visual features that extract color, shape and texture along with a semantic attribute that is obtained after comparing the picture annotation to some bag of words. These visual and textual features were trained and tested on a dataset gathered from the SUN database and some Google Images. The best accuracy obtained using low level features alone is 91.3 while appending the semantic attributes to it raised the accuracy to 95.5% using linear SVM and 5 Fold cross validation which motivates an updated folk statement "an ANNOTATED image is worth a thousand word "
Does Firm Age Affect Profitability? Evidence from Turkey

The objective of this study is to investigate the impact of firm age on the profitability of Turkish firms listed on Borsa Istanbul. Using a dataset covering the years between 2005 and 2014 and consisting of 302 non financial firms per year on the average, a fixed effects model with robust standard errors is estimated. Results reveal that there is a negative and convex relationship between firm age and profitability measured by return on assets, return on equity or gross profit margin. This suggests that younger firms start to see a decline in their profitability from the beginning but they may become profitable again at an old age. Implications are provided.
Recognition of Concurrent Control Chart Patterns in Autocorrelated Processes Using Support Vector Machine

Control chart pattern recognition (CCPR) is an important issue in statistical process control because unnatural control chart patterns (CCPs) exhibited on control charts can be associated with specific causes that adversely affect the manufacturing processes. In recent years, many machine learning techniques have been successfully applied to CCPR. However, such existing research for CCPR has mostly been developed for identification of basic CCPs (Shift Patterns, Trend Patterns, Cyclic Pattern and Systematic Pattern) Little attention has been given to the identification of concurrent CCPs (two or more basic CCPs occurring simultaneously) which are commonly encountered in practical manufacturing processes. In addition, these existing researches also assume the process data are independently and identically distributed which may not be appropriate for certain manufacturing processes. This study proposes a support vector machine (SVM) approach to identify concurrent CCPsfor a multivariate process with autocorrelated observations which can be characterized by afirst order autoregressive (AR(1) model. The numerical results indicate that the proposed model can effectively identify two concurrent identical CCPs but for those cases involving one trend pattern and one shift pattern, their recognition accuracy deteriorates to around 20% to 50% depending on the autocorrelation coefficients used in the data model.
Scaling of Advanced Theory of Mind Tasks.
Venue: Child development

Advanced theory of mind (AToM) development was investigated in three separate studies involving 82, 466, and 402 elementary school children (8 9 and 10 year olds) Rasch and factor analyses assessed whether common conceptual development underlies higher order false belief understanding, social understanding, emotion recognition, and perspective taking abilities. The results refuted a unidimensional scale and revealed three distinct AToM factors: social reasoning, reasoning about ambiguity, and recognizing transgressions of social norms. Developmental progressions emerged for the two reasoning factors but not for recognizing transgressions of social norms. Both social factors were significantly related to inhibition, whereas language development only predicted performance on social reasoning. These findings suggest that AToM comprises multiple abilities, which are subject to distinct cognitive influences. Importantly, only two AToM factors involve conceptual development.
A Short Course on Topological Insulators: Band structure topology and edge states in one and two dimensions

This course based primer provides newcomers to the field with a concise introduction to some of the core topics in the emerging field of topological band insulators in one and two dimensions. The aim is to provide a basic understanding of edge states, bulk topological invariants, and of the bulk boundary correspondence with as simple mathematical tools as possible. We use noninteracting lattice models of topological insulators, building gradually on these to arrive from the simplest one dimensional case (the Su Schrieffer Heeger model for polyacetylene) to two dimensional time reversal invariant topological insulators (the Bernevig Hughes Zhang model for HgTe) In each case the model is introduced first and then its properties are discussed and subsequently generalized. The only prerequisite for the reader is a working knowledge in quantum mechanics, the relevant solid state physics background is provided as part of this self contained text, which is complemented by end of chapter problems.
The role of project manager in benefits realization management as a project constraint/driver

Expected benefits are the main drivers beyond projects, programs, and portfolios. This is becoming a very well recognized fact across project management practitioners. Although project benefits are always listed in the project or program business cases, many project managers drive their project toward generating specified outputs (deliverables) while not giving enough attention to the expected outcomes (benefits) This may be referred to their belief they do not have a role in this regard, and that it is totally someone else job to ensure benefits realization. A survey was conducted to investigate the awareness and level of implementation of project level benefits management versus other organizational governance practices across different organizations. The results showed very low implementation level of benefits management practices at project level compared to benefits at higher levels (programs portfolios) and among other organizational practices and systems (quality management, excellence, risks, performance, etc. This paper proposes the role of a project manager in benefits management at project level, and introduces a benefits realization management process compatible with the process groups of the Project Management Institute (PMI) body of knowledge which will enable organizations to cascade responsibilities of delivering values to the project manager level. To have a practical tool for implementation, examples of benefits measures were suggested which will play an active role in monitoring the potential project benefits. To validate the authors' proposal, a real life case was presented showing how it was planned to implement, the implementation itself, the faced challenges, and finally, the suggestion for more successful implementation in organizations seeking to apply the benefits realization concept. In summary, the results of this paper can be used to: enlarging the project manager responsibilities to acquire the benefits realization, giving a high level 6 step process for benefits management, suggesting a mechanism for managing these benefits through benefits register, benefits realization plan, measures and KPIs and closure business case.