Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
In vitro binding of radioiodinated human follicle-stimulating hormone to reptilian and avian gonads: radioligand studies with mammalian hormones.

Human FSH iodinated with the aid of lactoperoxidase (12 5I-hFSH) was used to study gonadotropin binding to a variety of reptilian and avian gonadal tissues; gonads were examined from five species of turtle (Chrysemys, Pseudemys. Chelydra, Trionyx and Chelonia), a snake (Thamnophis), a lizard (Anolis) and two birds (chicken and duck). All gonadal tissues, including testes and ovaries and isolated corpora lutea from a turtle, showed high affinity, saturable, specific binding of the 1 25 l-hFSH. The binding was dependent on tissue concentration, time and temperature; full inhibition curves were obtained with concentrations of unlabeled hFSH ranging from ca. 6-1200 ng/ml (s1010 to i0� M). Maximal binding of I 25 l-hFSH varied from 5 to 30 percent of the total labeled ligand; it was highest in lizard and snake testes and lowest in bird testes (these values are comparable to those obtained with mammalian gonadal tissues). Nongonadal tissues-thyroid, liver and spleen-from snakes and turtles did not show specific binding. Radioligand binding analyses with a variety of purified pituitary hormones from four mammalian species revealed that competition for binding of 1 2 5 I-hFSH by reptilian gonadal tissues was associated with a high degree of hormonal specificity. High concentrations of growth hormone, prolactin and thyrotropin had no appreciable effect; whereas, FSH of ovine, bovine, rat and human origin all inhibited the binding of 125 I-hFSH at relatively low concentrations. These preparations of FSH ranged in potency from 0.2-3 times that of a highly purified hFSH reference preparation. The binding of I 25 I-hFSH to turtle and avian tissues and porcine granulosa cells was also highly specific for FSH; the potency of LH from the four mammalian sources was usually <0.1 percent of the homologous FSH. However, all preparations of LH showed appreciable activity in inhibiting the binding of I 25 l-hFSH to snake and lizard tissues. Some preparations of LH, especially bovine, were almost as potent as the homologous FSH in inhibiting 1 2 5 I-hFSH binding to snake testes. These results suggest that mammalian FSH and LH may act at the same binding sites in some reptilian tissues, and that the hormonal specificity of reptilian binding sites varies among species.
Design and rationale of the tobacco, exercise and diet messages (TEXT ME) trial of a text message-based intervention for ongoing prevention of cardiovascular disease in people with coronary disease: a randomised controlled trial protocol

Background Although supporting lifestyle change is an effective way of preventing further events in people with cardiovascular disease, providing access to such interventions is a major challenge. This study aims to investigate whether simple reminders about behaviour change sent via mobile phone text message decrease cardiovascular risk. Methods and analysis Randomised controlled trial with 6 months of follow-up to evaluate the feasibility, acceptability and effect on cardiovascular risk of repeated lifestyle reminders sent via mobile phone text messages compared to usual care. A total of 720 patients with coronary artery disease will be randomised to either standard care or the TEXT ME intervention. The intervention group will receive multiple weekly text messages that provide information, motivation, support to quit smoking (if relevant) and recommendations for healthy diets and exercise. The primary end point is a change in plasma low-density lipoprotein cholesterol at 6 months. Secondary end points include a change in systolic blood pressure, smoking status, quality of life, medication adherence, waist circumference, physical activity levels, nutritional status and mood at 6 months. Process outcomes related to acceptability and feasibility of TEXT ME will also be collected. Ethics and dissemination Primary ethics approval was received from Western Sydney Local Health Network Human Research Ethics Committee—Westmead. Results will be disseminated via the usual scientific forums including peer-reviewed publications and presentations at international conferences. Clinical trials registration number ACTRN12611000161921.
Study of genetic variability of Ribes L. representatives grown in Belarus

Abstract The research aims to study the genetic variability of Ribes L. representatives grown in Belarus, and to reveal a set of DNAmarkers for its DNA-identification. We formed a set of SSR-markers that possess rather high diagnostic value and allow identifying of black currant and gooseberry varieties at a molecular level and can be recommended for DNA-identification of those cultures.
Scheduling distributed applications: the SimGrid simulation framework

Since the advent of distributed computer systems an active field of research has been the investigation of scheduling strategies for parallel applications. The common approach is to employ scheduling heuristics that approximate an optimal schedule. Unfortunately, it is often impossible to obtain analytical results to compare the efficacy of these heuristics. One possibility is to conducts large numbers of back-to-back experiments on real platforms. While this is possible on tightly-coupled platforms, it is infeasible on modern distributed platforms (i.e. Grids) as it is labor-intensive and does not enable repeatable results. The solution is to resort to simulations. Simulations not only enables repeatable results but also make it possible to explore wide ranges of platform and application scenarios. In this paper we present the SimGrid framework which enables the simulation of distributed applications in distributed computing environments for the specific purpose of developing and evaluating scheduling algorithms. This paper focuses on SimGrid v2, which greatly improves on the first version of the software with more realistic network models and topologies. SimGrid v2 also enables the simulation of distributed scheduling agents, which has become critical for current scheduling research in large-scale platforms. After describing and validating these features, we present a case study by which we demonstrate the usefulness of SimGrid for conducting scheduling research.
Noaa's Short-term Inundation Forecast for Tsunamis validation of the inversion scheme and use for tsunami hazard assessment

The NOAA Center for Tsunami Research (NCTR) has developed a quick, accurate and reliable tool called SIFT (Short-term Inundation Forecasting for Tsunamis) to assist Tsunami Warning Centers in real-time forecasting of tsunami impacts. The SIFT tool acquires real-time sea surface displacement data from the array of DART buoys, and employs an inversion algorithm to identify the tsunami source characteristics that best represent them with its pre-computed propagation database of unit sources, each 100x50km in extent. This methodology is compared by using a USGS finite fault model of seafloor deformation, which consists of 220-20x12.5km sub-faults, as a tsunami source for the November 15, 2006 Kuril Islands tsunami. The availability of a comprehensive, credible propagation database also provides opportunities for training and education, for risk assessment, and for assisting in the design of the observational array. Synthetic tsunamis can simulate the risk associated with source locations and magnitudes not represented in the sparse historical record of tsunami observations, or the consequences of changes in nearshore bathymetry or infrastructure. Risk assessment is illustrated for the case of Hawai’i using sources Atka Island in the Aleutians and the U.S. East Coast.
Low-complexity multiuser detection for uplink large-scale MIMO

In this paper, an iterative multiuser detector is proposed for uplink large-scale Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO). It is developed based on the Generalized Approximate Message Passing (GAMP) algorithm, and its convergence properties are analyzed by a one-dimensional iteration termed as State Evolution (SE). The SE analysis proves that the complexity of the GAMP detector (GAMPd) is one order of magnitude smaller than that of the Minimum Mean Square Error (MMSE) detector. Simulation results show the GAMPd performs similarly to MMSE at least, and even outperforms the latter when the number of BS antennas is not much larger than the number of users. In addition, the GAMPd with matrix-vector multiplications is suitable for hardware implementation.
A Comparative Study on Machine Learning Classification Models for Activity Recognition

Activity Recognition (AR) systems are machine learning models developed for cell-phones and smart wearables to recognize various real-time human activities such as walking, standing, running and biking. In this paper, the performance (accuracy and computational time) of several well-known supervised and unsupervised learning models including Logistic Regression, Support Vector Machine, K-Nearest Neighbors’, Naive Base, ’Decision Tree’ and Random Forest are examined on a dataset. It is shown that Random Forest model outperforms other models with accuracy over 99 percent. It is shown that PCA significantly improved the performance of Artificial Neural Network with one hidden layer and SVM models in both accuracy and time, while PCA showed to have negative impacts on Random Forest or Decision Tree models by increasing the running time and decreasing the prediction accuracy.
Effect of nutrient omission in the development of sunflower BRS-122 in greenhouse conditions

Sunﬂower (Helianthus annuus L.) is responsible for 13% of all vegetable oil produced in the world. These plants’ development depends on the mineral elements that have essential and specific functions in their metabolism. In this sense, visual diagnosis consists of comparing the appearance of a plant that has received all the necessary nutrients with one that has suffered the omission of one or more nutrients. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the absence effects of nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), potassium (K), calcium (Ca), magnesium (Mg), sulfur (S) and iron (Fe) elements on the growth of sunﬂower, BRS-122 cultivar, in order to identify and describe the visual symptoms caused by the absence of such nutrients. The experiment was carried out in a greenhouse and consisted in a completely randomized design with three replications and eight treatments using a diagnostic subtraction technique. The symptoms of the deficiencies were observed and evaluated through biometric parameters (plant height, stem diameter, number of leaves, and leaf area) as well as by visual aspects. The absence of N, P, K, Ca and Fe in the nutrient solution severely affected the sunﬂower plants, preventing their vegetative growth and consequently their development. The negative interference of the Mg omission in sunﬂower growth was slower than the observed for nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, and calcium giving more significant results from 40 days after sowing (DAS). The absence of nutrients gave clear evidence of the distinct effects that the omission of each element can cause on the visual aspects of sunﬂower plants.
Oxidative stress and interleukin-6 secretion during the progression of type 1 diabetes.

OBJECTIVE To evaluate inflammatory, oxidizing, and reducing responses during the progression of type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) in patients without chronic complications. SUBJECTS AND METHODS Plasma antioxidant status, reactive oxygen species (ROS), and interleukin-6 (IL-6) were measured in 42 patients with T1DM and in 24 healthy subjects. RESULTS Significant increases were detected in the median values of ROS and IL-6 in patients with T1DM compared with healthy subjects (ROS ~ 4,836 vs. 2,036 RLU/min, respectively; P < .05: IL-6 ~ 14.2 vs. 9.7 pg/mL, respectively; P = .002). No significant between-group differences (P > 0.05) were observed in oxidizing responses or in IL-6 concentrations when diabetic patients were grouped according to time after diagnosis (0 - 10, 10 - 20 and > 20 years). Plasma antioxidant responses were similar in patients with T1DM and in healthy subjects. CONCLUSIONS Our results demonstrate that oxidizing and inflammatory responses are increased at the onset of T1DM, but remain unchanged during disease progression. These findings suggest that functional changes involved in diabetic complications may commence in the first years after diagnosis.
The metastatic microenvironment: Brain‐residing melanoma metastasis and dormant micrometastasis

Brain metastasis occurs frequently in melanoma patients with advanced disease whereby the prognosis is dismal. The underlying mechanisms of melanoma brain metastasis development are not well understood. We generated a reproducible melanoma brain metastasis model, consisting of brain‐metastasizing variants and local, subdermal variants that originate from the same melanomas thus sharing a common genetic background. The brain‐metastasizing variants were obtained by intracardiac inoculation. Brain metastasis variants when inoculated subdermally yielded spontaneous brain dormant micrometastasis. Cultured cells from the spontaneous brain micrometastasis grew very well in vitro and generated subdermal tumors after an orthotopic inoculation. Expression analysis assays indicated that the brain metastasis and micrometastasis cells expressed higher levels of angiopoietin‐like 4, prostaglandin‐synthesizing enzyme cyclooxygenase‐2, matrix metalloproteinase‐1 and preferentially expressed antigen in melanoma and lower levels of claudin‐1 and cysteine‐rich protein 61 than the corresponding cutaneous variants. The reproducible models of human melanoma metastasizing experimentally and spontaneously to the brain will facilitate the identification of novel biomarkers and targets for therapy and contribute to the deciphering of mechanisms underlying melanoma metastasis.
Image-based rendering of diffuse, specular and glossy surfaces from a single image

In this paper, we present a new method to recover an approximation of the bidirectional reflectance distribution function (BRDF) of the surfaces present in a real scene. This is done from a single photograph and a 3D geometric model of the scene. The result is a full model of the reflectance properties of all surfaces, which can be rendered under novel illumination conditions with, for example, viewpoint modification and the addition of new synthetic objects. Our technique produces a reflectance model using a small number of parameters. These parameters nevertheless approximate the BRDF and allow the recovery of the photometric properties of diffuse, specular, isotropic or anisotropic textured objects. The input data are a geometric model of the scene including the light source positions and the camera properties, and a single image captured using this camera. Our algorithm generates a new synthetic image using classic rendering techniques, and a lambertian hypothesis about the reflectance model of the surfaces. Then, it iteratively compares the original image to the new one, and chooses a more complex reflectance model if the difference between the two images is greater than a user-defined threshold. We present several synthetic images that are compared to the original ones, and some possible applications in augmented reality.
Muscle synergy analysis in children with cerebral palsy

Objective. To explore the mechanism of lower extremity dysfunction of cerebral palsy (CP) children through muscle synergy analysis. Approach. Twelve CP children were involved in this study, ten adults (AD) and eight typically developed (TD) children were recruited as a control group. Surface electromyographic (sEMG) signals were collected bilaterally from eight lower limb muscles of the subjects during forward walking at a comfortable speed. A nonnegative matrix factorization algorithm was used to extract muscle synergies. In view of muscle synergy differences in number, structure and symmetry, a model named synergy comprehensive assessment (SCA) was proposed to quantify the abnormality of muscle synergies. Main results. There existed larger variations between the muscle synergies of the CP group and the AD group in contrast with the TD group. Fewer mature synergies were recruited in the CP group, and many abnormal synergies specific to the CP group appeared. Specifically, CP children were found to recruit muscle synergies with a larger difference in structure and symmetry between two legs of one subject and different subjects. The proposed SCA scale demonstrated its great potential to quantitatively assess the lower-limb motor dysfunction of CP children. SCA scores of the CP group (57.00 ± 16.78) were found to be significantly less (p < 0.01) than that of the control group (AD group: 95.74 ± 2.04; TD group: 84.19 ± 11.76). Significance. The innovative quantitative results of this study can help us to better understand muscle synergy abnormality in CP children, which is related to their motor dysfunction and even the physiological change in their nervous system.
Population-based evidence of a strong decline in the prevalence of smokers in Brazil (1989-2003).

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the evolution in smoking indicators in the adult Brazilian population between 1989 and 2003. METHODS We compared age-adjusted prevalence ratios and means for smoking indicators, stratified by age, sex and sociodemographic variables, obtained from two comparable household surveys that used probabilistic sampling of the Brazilian population aged > 18 years (n = 34 808 in 1989 and n = 5000 in 2003). FINDINGS Between 1989 and 2003, there was a substantial decrease in the prevalence of smoking (from 34.8% to 22.4%; age-adjusted prevalence ratio, 0.65; 95% confidence interval, CI, 0.60-0.70) and a modest reduction in the mean number of cigarettes smoked per day (from 13.3 to 11.6; age-adjusted difference, -1.8; 95% CI, -2.6 - -1.0). Reductions in the prevalence and intensity of smoking were greater among males, younger age groups and higher socioeconomic strata. CONCLUSION The prevalence of smoking in the adult Brazilian population declined by 35% between 1989 and 2003, or an average of 2.5% per year. This exceptional reduction surpasses those seen in other countries that implemented wide-ranging and rigorous policies for controlling smoking during the same period. The more intense decline in smoking in younger age groups was consistent with the concentration of efforts of the Brazilian tobacco control programme to prevent the onset of smoking among youths and the total prohibition of cigarette advertising. We recommend the intensification of programme initiatives targeting women and less economically favoured population strata.
Influence of antimicrobial therapy on kinetics of tumor necrosis factor levels in experimental endocarditis caused by Klebsiella pneumoniae

The kinetics of tumor necrosis factor (TNF) levels in serum during therapy with cell wall-active agents (ceftriaxone, imipenem) and gentamicin were investigated in rabbits with experimental endocarditis caused by an isogenic pair of Klebsiella pneumoniae strains: a TEM-3 beta-lactamase-producing strain (KpR) or its susceptible variant (KpS). In vitro, KpR was resistant to ceftriaxone and was susceptible to gentamicin and imipenem, while KpS was susceptible to all three antibiotics. Serum TNF levels were determined in control rabbits hourly after bacterial inoculation and then daily; they were determined in treated animals hourly after the first antibiotic injection and then daily during a 4-day therapy with either imipenem (60 mg/kg of body weight four times daily), ceftriaxone (75 mg/kg once daily), or gentamicin (4 mg/kg once daily) alone or in combination with ceftriaxone. After a transient peak (10.2 +/- 3.1 ng/ml) at 90 min following bacterial challenge, serum TNF levels remained low and stable in control animals. The peak in the serum TNF levels occurred 4 h after the first antibiotic injection and with ceftriaxone was significantly higher (P < 0.05) against KpS (1.99 +/- 0.52 ng/ml) than against KpR (1.40 +/- 0.17 ng/ml). Against the KpR strain, the levels observed with ceftriaxone were significantly higher (P < 0.05) than those obtained with the other therapeutic regimens (0.70 to 0.80 ng/ml). On the day of sacrifice, effective regimens were associated with low TNF levels. We concluded that TNF production depends on (i) the antiobiotic's mechanism of action and the susceptibility of the strain at the early phase of therapy, without any effect of the rapidity of bacterial killing, and (ii) the final reduction of the bacterial count at a later stage of therapy.
A fast identification algorithm for box-cox transformation based radial basis function neural network

In this letter, a Box-Cox transformation-based radial basis function (RBF) neural network is introduced using the RBF neural network to represent the transformed system output. Initially a fixed and moderate sized RBF model base is derived based on a rank revealing orthogonal matrix triangularization (QR decomposition). Then a new fast identification algorithm is introduced using Gauss-Newton algorithm to derive the required Box-Cox transformation, based on a maximum likelihood estimator. The main contribution of this letter is to explore the special structure of the proposed RBF neural network for computational efficiency by utilizing the inverse of matrix block decomposition lemma. Finally, the Box-Cox transformation-based RBF neural network, with good generalization and sparsity, is identified based on the derived optimal Box-Cox transformation and a D-optimality-based orthogonal forward regression algorithm. The proposed algorithm and its efficacy are demonstrated with an illustrative example in comparison with support vector machine regression.
Electrification in Mesoscale Updrafts of Deep Stratiform and Anvil Clouds in Florida

Airborne observations in deep stratiform and anvil clouds showed extensive layers of 10‐ to 40‐kV/m electric fields colocated with highly stratified uniform radar reflectivity of 20 to 25 dBZ from 5‐ to 9‐km altitude. Size distributions with numerous small‐ and intermediate‐sized ice crystals (mostly aggregates) and large aggregates were observed in these regions. We infer that the uniform electric field, radar reflectivity, and broad particle size distributions were the result of mesoscale updrafts, confirmed by high‐resolution images of particles showing diffusional growth and no riming. No measurable supercooled liquid water was found in these regions from −10 to −45 °C. Calculated particle collision rates from observed distributions were >5 × 103 collisions per cubic meter per second in this volume. Laboratory results show that weak charge separation occurs when ice particles collide and separate even in the absence of supercooled water. We infer that charge separation occurred in the mesoscale updrafts via a noninductive mechanism in which ice particles growing by diffusion collide and transfer charge without supercooled water being present. These regions with strong, uniform fields, stratified radar reflectivity, and broad size distributions also occurred in anvils that barely reached the melting zone. Thus, we deduce that the nonriming collisional mechanism acts at middle to upper cloud levels and is not dependent upon electrification occurring near the melting zone. This mechanism should produce two oppositely charged layers of charge with the top layer residing on smaller particles often existing near the top of the cloud.