Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The three trehalases Nth 1 p , Nth 2 p and Ath 1 p participate in the mobilization of intracellular trehalose required for recovery from saline stress in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Received 12 October 2008 Revised 12 May 2009 Accepted 4 June 2009 Trehalose accumulation is a common response to several stresses in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. This metabolite protects proteins and membrane lipids from structural damage and helps cells to maintain integrity. Based on genetic studies, degradation of trehalose has been proposed as a required mechanism for growth recovery after stress, and the neutral trehalase Nth1p as the unique degradative activity involved. Here we constructed a collection of mutants for several trehalose metabolism and transport genes and analysed their growth and trehalose mobilization profiles during experiments of saline stress recovery. The behaviour of the triple Dnth1Dnth2Dath1 and quadruple Dnth1Dnth2Dath1Dagt1 mutant strains in these experiments demonstrates the participation of the three known yeast trehalases Nth1p, Nth2p and Ath1p in the mobilization of intracellular trehalose during growth recovery after saline stress, rules out the participation of the Agt1p H-disaccharide symporter, and allows us to propose the existence of additional new mechanisms for trehalose mobilization after saline stress.
Distribution Systems of Insecticide-Treated Bed Nets for Malaria Control in Rural Burkina Faso: Cluster-Randomized Controlled Trial

Background Insecticide-impregnated bed nets (ITNs) have been shown to be a highly effective tool against malaria in the endemic regions of sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). There are however different opinions about the role of ITN social marketing and ITN free distribution in the roll-out of ITN programmes. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of free ITN distribution through antenatal care services in addition to an ITN social marketing programme in an area typical for rural SSA. Methods A cluster-randomised controlled ITN trial took place in the whole Kossi Province in north-western Burkina Faso, an area highly endemic for malaria. Twelve clusters were assigned to long-term ITN (Serena brand) social marketing plus free ITN (Serena brand) distribution to all pregnant women attending governmental antenatal care services (group A), and 13 clusters to ITN social marketing only (group B). The intervention took place during the rainy season of 2006 and thereafter. The trial was evaluated through a representative household survey at baseline and after one year. Serena ITN household ownership was the primary outcome measure. Findings A total of 1052 households were visited at baseline in February 2006 and 1050 at follow-up in February 2007. Overall Serena ITN household ownership increased from 16% to 28% over the study period, with a significantly higher increase in group A (13% to 35%) than in group B (18% to 23%) (p<0.001). Interpretation The free distribution of ITNs to pregnant women through governmental antenatal care services in addition to ITN social marketing substantially improved ITN household ownership in rural Burkina Faso. Trial registration Controlled-Trials.com ISRCTN07985309
The Large Margin Mechanism for Differentially Private Maximization

A basic problem in the design of privacy-preserving algorithms is the private maximization problem: the goal is to pick an item from a universe that (approximately) maximizes a data-dependent function, all under the constraint of differential privacy. This problem has been used as a sub-routine in many privacy-preserving algorithms for statistics and machine-learning. Previous algorithms for this problem are either range-dependent---i.e., their utility diminishes with the size of the universe---or only apply to very restricted function classes. This work provides the first general-purpose, range-independent algorithm for private maximization that guarantees approximate differential privacy. Its applicability is demonstrated on two fundamental tasks in data mining and machine learning.
Prediction of mango hopper, Idioscopus nitidulus (Walker) based on diurnal variations under south Gujarat climatic conditions

An experiment was carried out five consecutive years (2012-16) on mango to study the role of weather parameters on population dynamics of mango hopper, Idioscopus nitidulus (Walker) under south Gujarat climatic conditions. The results revealed two population peaks of hopper during the study period starting with new flush stage followed by another peak during flowering cum fruit set stage of the crop. The correlation of hopper population with diurnal variation (P<0.01) was positively significant while strong significant negative correlation with temperature (minimum, day and night), relative humidity (morning and evening), rainfall and heat sum (P<0.01) was also established. Further, optimized model was developed using diurnal variation which predicted hopper population based on high R value (77%). This forewarning model can be used for decision making in Integrated Pest Management programme, but future validation is needed to improve its predictive efficacy.
Ab initio linear response study of SrTiO3

Abstract The lattice instabilities of perovskite structure oxides are responsible for many of their interesting properties, such as temperature-dependent ferroelectric phase transitions. First-principles calculations using linear response theory provide an accurate means to determine the lattice dynamics throughout the entire Brillouin zone (BZ). Using the LAPW linear response method[1], we have previously carried out such a study on ferroelectric KNbO3 [2]. We present here the results of a similar investigation for cubic SrTiO3. While KNbO3 has only ferroelectric-type instabilities, SrTiO3 exhibits both ferroelectric (FE) and antiferrodistortive (AFD) instabilities. We correctly predict the known instability at the R-point in the Brillouin zone, which is responsible for the AFD phase transition to the tetragonal structure at about 105 K. Furthermore, the phase space of the ferroelectric instability is greatly reduced compared to KNbO3. Antiferrodistortive instabilities exist in one-dimensional cylindrica.
Localised modes due to defects in high contrast periodic media via homogenization

The spectral problem for an infinite periodic medium perturbed by a compact defect is considered. This may be seen for example as a simplified scalar cross-sectional model of the problem for localised modes in photonic crystal fibers. For a high contrast small size periodicity and a finite size defect we consider the critical (the so called double poros-ity type) scaling. We employ (high contrast) homogenization for deriving asymptotically explicit limit equations for the localised modes (exponentially decaying eigenfunctions) and associated eigenvalues. Those are expressed in terms of the eigenvalues and eigenfunctions of a perturbed version of a " two-scale " limit operator introduced by V.V. Zhikov, with an emergent explicit nonlinear dependence on the spectral parameter for the spectral problem at the macroscale. Using the method of asymptotic expansions supplemented by a " high contrast " boundary layer analysis we establish the existence of the actual eigenvalues near the eigenvalues of the limit operator, with tight " ε square root " error bounds (ε is the small parameter). An example for circular or spherical defects in a periodic medium with isotropic homogenized properties is given and displays explicit limit eigenvalues and eigenfunctions. Further results on improved convergence of eigenfunctions via the technique of strong two-scale re-solvent convergence and associated two-scale compactness properties are discussed.
Seismology of the Accreting White Dwarf in GW Librae

We present a first analysis of the g-mode oscillation spectrum for the white dwarf (WD) primary of GW Lib, a faint cataclysmic variable. Stable periodicities have been observed from this WD for a number of years, but their interpretation as stellar pulsations has been hampered by a lack of theoretical models appropriate to an accreting WD. Using the results of Townsley & Bildsten, we construct accreting models for the observed effective temperature and approximate mass of the WD in GW Lib. We compute g-mode frequencies for a range of accreted layer masses, Macc, and long-term accretion rates, ⟨⟩. If we assume that the observed oscillations are from ℓ = 1 g-modes, then the observed periods are matched when M ≈ 1.02 M☉, Macc ≈ 0.31 × 10-4 M☉, and ⟨⟩ ≈ 7.3 × 10-11 M☉ yr-1. Much more sensitive observations are needed to discover more modes, after which we will be able to more accurately measure these parameters and constrain or measure the WD's rotation rate.
The Use of Peer Mediated Interventions as an Academic Intervention for Students with Emotional Disorders

Students with emotional disorder (ED) present a variety of characteristics and factors that impact their ability to make academic and behavioral progress. Historically, the intervention efforts of educators to help students with ED have focused on changing student behavior. However, these efforts have been largely ineffective in helping students with ED become academically successful. There are several instructional practices that have been found to help students with ED. Peer-mediated interventions combine many of these practices and have been shown to increase the academic and behavioral functioning of students with ED. Treatment effectiveness and acceptability are discussed along with implications for future research.
Communities of Practice

The mixed methods approach has emerged as a ``third paradigm'' for social research. It has developed a platform of ideas and practices that are credible and distinctive and that mark the approach out as a viable alternative to quantitative and qualitative paradigms. However, there are also a number of variations and inconsistencies within the mixed methods approach that should not be ignored. This article argues the need for a vision of research paradigm that accommodates such variations and inconsistencies. It is argued that the use of ``communities of practice'' as the basis for such a research paradigm is (a) consistent with the pragmatist underpinnings of the mixed methods approach, (b) accommodates a level of diversity, and (c) has good potential for understanding the methodological choices made by those conducting mixed methods research.
Inhibition of infection-mediated preterm birth by administration of broad spectrum chemokine inhibitor in mice

Preterm birth (PTB) is the single most important cause of perinatal and infant mortality worldwide. Maternal infection can result in PTB. We investigated the ability of a Broad Spectrum Chemokine Inhibitor (BSCI) to prevent infection‐induced PTB in mice. PTB was initiated in pregnant mice by intraperitoneal injection of lipopolysaccharide (LPS; 50 μg). Half the mice received BSCI (10 mg/kg) 24 hrs prior to and immediately before LPS administration. The impact of LPS alone or LPS plus BSCI was assessed on (i) injection‐to‐delivery interval, foetal survival rate, placental and neonates' weight; (ii) amniotic fluid and maternal plasma cytokine levels (by Luminex assay); foetal and maternal tissue cytokine gene expression levels (by Real‐Time RT‐PCR); (iii) immune cells infiltration into the uterine tissue (by stereological immunohistochemistry). Pre‐treatment with BSCI (i) decreased LPS‐induced PTB (64% versus 100%, P < 0.05); (ii) significantly attenuated cytokine/chemokine expression in maternal tissues (plasma, liver, myometrium, decidua); (iii) significantly decreased neutrophil infiltration in the mouse myometrium. BSCI‐treated mice in which PTB was delayed till term had live foetuses with normal placental and foetal weight. BSCI represents a promising new class of therapeutics for PTB. In a mouse model of preterm labour, BCSI suppresses systemic inflammation in maternal tissues which resulted in the reduced incidence of LPS‐mediated PTB. These data provide support for efforts to target inflammatory responses as a means of preventing PTB.
Title : Metabolic connectomics targeting brain pathology in dementia with Lewy bodies Short title : FDG-PET connectomics in DLB

DLB is characterized by α-synuclein accumulation and degeneration of dopaminergic and cholinergic pathways. To gain an overview of brain systems affected by neurodegeneration, we characterized the [18F]FDG-PET metabolic connectome in 42 DLB patients, as compared to 42 healthy controls, using SICE method and graphtheory. We performed whole-brain and anatomically-driven analyses, targeting cholinergic and dopaminergic pathways, and the α-synuclein spreading. The first revealed substantial alterations in connectivity indexes, brain modularity and hubs configuration. Namely, decreases in local metabolic connectivity within occipital cortex, thalamus, and cerebellum, and increases within frontal, temporal, parietal and basal ganglia regions. There were also long-range disconnections among these brain regions, all supporting a disruption of the functional hierarchy characterizing the normal brain. The anatomically-driven analysis revealed alterations within brain structures early affected by α-synuclein pathology, supporting Braak’s early pathological staging in DLB. The dopaminergic striato-cortical pathway was severely affected, as well as the cholinergic networks, with an extensive decrease in connectivity in Ch1-Ch2, Ch5-Ch6 networks and the lateral Ch4 capsular network significantly towards the occipital cortex. These altered patterns of metabolic connectivity unveil a new in vivo scenario for DLB underlying pathology in terms of changes in whole brain metabolic connections, spreading of α-synuclein, and neurotransmission impairment.
Managing large dynamic graphs efficiently

There is an increasing need to ingest, manage, and query large volumes of graph-structured data arising in applications like social networks, communication networks, biological networks, and so on. Graph databases that can explicitly reason about the graphical nature of the data, that can support flexible schemas and node-centric or edge-centric analysis and querying, are ideal for storing such data. However, although there is much work on single-site graph databases and on efficiently executing different types of queries over large graphs, to date there is little work on understanding the challenges in distributed graph databases, needed to handle the large scale of such data. In this paper, we propose the design of an in-memory, distributed graph data management system aimed at managing a large-scale dynamically changing graph, and supporting low-latency query processing over it. The key challenge in a distributed graph database is that, partitioning a graph across a set of machines inherently results in a large number of distributed traversals across partitions to answer even simple queries. We propose aggressive replication of the nodes in the graph for supporting low-latency querying, and investigate three novel techniques to minimize the communication bandwidth and the storage requirements. First, we develop a hybrid replication policy that monitors node read-write frequencies to dynamically decide what data to replicate, and whether to do eager or lazy replication. Second, we propose a clustering-based approach to amortize the costs of making these replication decisions. Finally, we propose using a fairness criterion to dictate how replication decisions should be made. We provide both theoretical analysis and efficient algorithms for the optimization problems that arise. We have implemented our framework as a middleware on top of the open-source CouchDB key-value store. We evaluate our system on a social graph, and show that our system is able to handle very large graphs efficiently, and that it reduces the network bandwidth consumption significantly.
Loops versus matrices: The Nonperturbative aspects of noncritical string

The nonperturbative aspects of string theory are explored for non-critical string in two distinct formulations, loop equations and matrix models. The effects corresponding to the D-brane in these formulations are especially investigated in detail. It is shown that matrix models can universally yield a definite value of the chemical potential for an instanton while loop equations cannot. This implies that it may not be possible to formulate string theory nonperturbatively solely in terms of closed strings.
Prospective drug utilization evaluation of three broad-spectrum antimicrobials: cefepime, piperacillin-tazobactam and meropenem.

BACKGROUND Cefepime, piperacillin-tazobactam and meropenem are among the broadest-spectrum and most expensive antimicrobials. AIM To evaluate guidelines for appropriate use of these drugs. METHODS We developed guidelines for use of these antibiotics, and conducted a two-phase drug utilization evaluation. We included all patients who received one of the study drugs during two 3-month periods, with an educational intervention in the intervening period. Appropriateness was determined for initiation of treatment, and for adaptation or continuation of established treatment. RESULTS Overall, 205 patients received 271 courses with one of these antibiotics, for a total of 709 defined daily doses (DDD) of cefepime, 543 of piperacillin-tazobactam, and 680 of meropenem (8.3, 6.3 and 7.9 DDD/1000 admission days, respectively). Of these 271 courses, 234 were appropriate (86%). Treatment was continued for > or =5 days in 60%, of which 88% were appropriate (NS). Of the 271 courses, 210 (77%) were empirical (83% appropriate), while 61 (23%) were based on a relevant culture result (97% appropriate) (p < 0.001). Appropriateness differed significantly between departments (p < 0.001), and between the two phases (p < 0.001). The major difference between the two surveys was a decrease in meropenem usage (p < 0.05). DISCUSSION The vast majority of courses with cefepime, piperacillin-tazobactam and meropenem are empirically selected and continued, underlying the importance of an optimal initial choice. Antibiotic guidelines, in conjunction with formal infectious disease consultation, can contribute to more appropriate use of these drugs.
Infant morbidity following amniocentesis and chorionic villus sampling for prenatal karyotyping

Objective To investigate whether amniocentesis and chorionic villus sampling increase the risk of postural deformities, limb reduction defects, respiratory problems in the newborn, fetal and infant mortality, prematurity, low birthweight and fetal distress, and to investigate the impact of gestational length at the time of the procedure.
Capturing and Classifying Functional Status Information in Administrative Databases

The health care delivery system aims to improve the functioning of Americans, but little information exists to judge progress toward meeting this goal. Administrative data generated through running and overseeing health care delivery offer considerable information about diagnoses and procedures in coded formats comparable across settings of care. This article explores the issues raised when considering adding coded information about functional status to administrative databases throughout the health care system. The National Committee on Vital and Health Statistics (NCVHS) identified the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) as the only viable code set for consistently reporting functional status.
The impact of geoengineering aerosols on stratospheric temperature and ozone

Anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions are warming the global climate at an unprecedented rate. Significant emission reductions will be required soon to avoid a rapid temperature rise. As a potential interim measure to avoid extreme temperature increase, it has been suggested that Earth’s albedo be increased by artificially enhancing stratospheric sulfate aerosols. We use a 3D chemistry climate model, fed by aerosol size distributions from a zonal mean aerosol model, to simulate continuous injection of 1–10 Mt/a into the lower tropical stratosphere. In contrast to the case for all previous work, the particles are predicted to grow to larger sizes than are observed after volcanic eruptions. The reason is the continuous supply of sulfuric acid and hence freshly formed small aerosol particles, which enhance the formation of large aerosol particles by coagulation and, to a lesser extent, by condensation. Owing to their large size, these particles have a reduced albedo. Furthermore, their sedimentation results in a non-linear relationship between stratospheric aerosol burden and annual injection, leading to a reduction of the targeted cooling. More importantly, the sedimenting particles heat the tropical cold point tropopause and, hence, the stratospheric entry mixing ratio of H2O increases. Therefore, geoengineering by means of sulfate aerosols is predicted to accelerate the hydroxyl catalyzed ozone destruction cycles and cause a significant depletion of the ozone layer even though future halogen concentrations will be significantly reduced.
Experiments with English-Persian text retrieval

As the number of non-English documents is increasing dramatically on the web nowadays, the study and design of information retrieval systems for these languages is very important. The Persian language is the official language of Iran, Afghanistan and Tajikistan and is also spoken in some other countries in the Middle East, so there are significant amount of Persian documents available on the web. In this study, we will present and compare our English-Persian cross language text retrieval experiments on Hamshahri text collection. Also, we will present Combinatorial Translation Probability (CTP) calculation method for query translation that estimates translation probabilities based on the collection itself.
CHELAE FORCE GENERATION AT VARIABLE GAPE SIZES IN THE MUD CRAB , SCYLLA OLIVACEA ( BRACHYURA : PORTUNIDAE )

— Chelae crushing forces produced by crabs at a single specific gape size have been explored in numerous studies, but very rarely are multiple gape sizes tested. Here, we investigated the chela strength generated at differing gape sizes of the mangrove mud crab, Scylla olivacea. Crabs were induced to grip metal levers fixed to a modified digital pull-push force gauge to generate a force reading. Crushing forces produced by the proximal and distal regions of chelae were significantly different (P<0.05). The major chela of Scylla olivacea had a mechanical advantage compared to its minor chela. Overall, as gape size widened, the force generated increased until an optimal (i.e., greatest force achieved) gape size was attained. Thereafter, a decline in force generation was recorded. The optimal gape size has important implications for foraging behaviour, including prey selection and handling time.
Development of a Dropped Weight Impact Testing Machine

This article presents the development of a dropped weight impact testing machine. The machine was developed as a facility to provide experimental data to validate numerical simulations of impact loads on crash boxes, parts of car structure that absorb kinetic energy during collision. The dropped weight impact machine was designed to produce impact load to a specimen that represents a crash box. The machine was equipped with sensor systems to measure the velocity of the impactor just before it hit the specimen and the force that crushed the specimen, and with a data acquisition system to record the crushing force for further analysis. The development process included the design, fabrication, and function tests of the machine. The function tests performed after the machine was built indicated that the dropped weight impact testing machine can fulfill the design objectives. Results of several experiments using specimens in form of columns with square, hexagonal, octagonal and circular cross sections showed that the experimental results are in good agreements with the results of impact simulations carried out using Finite Element Method. Index Term— Crash box, design, impact load, experiments.