Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Active Bijection between Regions and Simplices in Supersolvable Arrangements of Hyperplanes

Comparing two expressions of the Tutte polynomial of an ordered oriented matroid yields a remarkable numerical relation between the numbers of reorientations and bases with given activities. A natural activity preserving reorientation-to-basis mapping compatible with this relation is described in a series of papers by the present authors. This mapping, equivalent to a bijection between regions and no broken cir- cuit subsets, provides a bijective version of several enumerative results due to Stanley, Winder, Zaslavsky, and Las Vergnas, expressing the number of acyclic orientations in graphs, or the number of regions in real arrangements of hyperplanes or pseudohyper- planes (i.e. oriented matroids), as evaluations of the Tutte polynomial. In the present paper, we consider in detail the supersolvable case { a notion introduced by Stanley { in the context of arrangements of hyperplanes. For linear orderings compatible with the supersolvable structure, special properties are available, yielding constructions signicantly simpler than those in the general case. As an application, we completely carry out the computation of the active bijection for the Coxeter arrangements An and Bn. It turns out that in both cases the active bijection is closely related to a classical bijection between permutations and increasing trees.
Modeling of cohesive failure processes in structural adhesive bonded joints

This paper presents an approach to predicting the strength of joints bonded by structural adhesives using a finite element method. The material properties of a commercial structural adhesive and the strength of single-lap joints and scarf joints of aluminum bonded by this adhesive were experimentally measured to provide input for and comparison with the finite element model. Criteria based on maximum strain and stress were used to characterize the cohesive failure within the adhesive and adherend failure observed in this study. In addition to its simplicity, the approach described in this paper is capable of analyzing the entire deformation and failure process of adhesive joints in which different fracture modes may dominate and both adhesive and adherends may undergo inelastic deformation. It was shown that the finite element predictions of the joint strength generally agreed well with the experimental measurements.
Fluconazole prophylaxis against fungal colonization and invasive fungal infection in very low birth weight infants.

BACKGROUND Fungal infections are common cause of morbidity and mortality in very low birth weight Infants OBJECTIVES To evaluate the efficacy of prophylactic Fluconazole in preventing fungal colonization and invasive fungal infection in VLBW infants. DESIGN Prospective, randomized, double blind placebo controlled clinical trial. SETTING Tertiary level Neonatal intensive care unit. SUBJECTS 120 preterm infants with birth Weight < 1500 g. INTERVENTION Infants were randomly assigned during first three days to receive either Fluconazole or placebo till 28 days or less if, discharged or died earlier. Weekly surveillance cultures from groin, oropharynx, rectum and blood were collected in all patients. Fungal isolates were typed based on standard microbiologic techniques. Liver enzymes were monitored. RESULTS Baseline risk factors for fungal infection in Fluconazole and Placebo groups were similar. Fungal colonization was seen in 30 infants (50%) in the placebo group and 11 infants (19%) in the Fluconazole group (P <0.001). Fungal colonization at rectum, groin and oropharynx was less in fluconazole groups. Fluconazole group showed significantly lower colonizations with Candida albicans but not with C. glabrata. Invasive infection was seen in 15 (25%) infants in Placebo group and 16 (26.7%) infants in Fluconazole group (P = 0.835). Various non-albicans Candida were responsible for 96.8% cases of invasive fungal infection (Candida glabrata 71%, C. parapsilosis 14.7% and C. tropicalis 9.6%). No significant hepatotoxicity was noticed during Fluconazole therapy. CONCLUSION Prophylactic fluconazole during the first four weeks of life is effective in reducing fungal colonization but not invasive infection in VLBW infants.
The psychological profile of the fragile X syndrome

An attempt is made to present a more accurate description of the psychological profile of males with the fragile X syndrome after the evaluation of an unselected group of 21 affected patients. Except for one boy with slight mental retardation, all were moderately to severely mentally retarded, with retardation of motor development and pronounced speech disability. The most striking behavioral problem is hyperactivity together with concentration difficulties. A great number of patients show auto mutilation especially with hand biting, and autistic behaviour also appears in some of them.
Effect of strain on the properties of a styrene–butadiene rubber filled with multiwall carbon nanotubes

Multiwall carbon nanotubes were dispersed in a styrene–butadiene copolymer. The effect of nanotube concentration on the tensile characteristics of the composites was examined. Electrical properties carried out under uniaxial extension show an increase in resistivity upon gradual stretching. A second stretch performed after total release of the stress was shown to lead to a flat response in resistivity. Atomic force microscopy was used to examine orientational effects and changes in filler structure occurring upon application of an uniaxial deformation. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2007
Gene Targeting by Homologous Recombination as a Biotechnological Tool for Rice Functional Genomics1[W][OA]

The modification of an endogenous gene into a designed sequence by homologous recombination, termed gene targeting (GT), has broad implications for basic and applied research. Rice (Oryza sativa), with a sequenced genome of 389 Mb, is one of the most important crops and a model plant for cereals, and the single-copy gene Waxy on chromosome 6 has been modified with a frequency of 1% per surviving callus by GT using a strong positive-negative selection. Because the strategy is independent of gene-specific selection or screening, it is in principle applicable to any gene. However, a gene in the multigene family or a gene carrying repetitive sequences may preclude efficient homologous recombination-promoted GT due to the occurrence of ectopic recombination. Here, we describe an improved GT procedure whereby we obtained nine independent transformed calli having the alcohol dehydrogenase2 (Adh2) gene modified with a frequency of approximately 2% per surviving callus and subsequently isolated eight fertile transgenic plants without the concomitant occurrence of undesirable ectopic events, even though the rice genome carries four Adh genes, including a newly characterized Adh3 gene, and a copy of highly repetitive retroelements is present adjacent to the Adh2 gene. The results indicate that GT using a strong positive-negative selection can be widely applicable to functional genomics in rice and presumably in other higher plants.
Genome-wide association analysis of agronomic traits in wheat under drought-stressed and non-stressed conditions

This study determined the population structure and genome-wide marker-trait association of agronomic traits of wheat for drought-tolerance breeding. Ninety-three diverse bread wheat genotypes were genotyped using the Diversity Arrays Technology sequencing (DArTseq) protocol. The number of days-to-heading (DTH), number of days-to-maturity (DTM), plant height (PHT), spike length (SPL), number of kernels per spike (KPS), thousand kernel weight (TKW) and grain yield (GYLD), assessed under drought-stressed and non-stressed conditions, were considered for the study. Population structure analysis and genome-wide association mapping were undertaken based on 16,383 silico DArTs loci with < 10% missing data. The population evaluated was grouped into nine distinct genetic structures. Inter-chromosomal linkage disequilibrium showed the existence of linkage decay as physical distance increased. A total of 62 significant (P < 0.001) marker-trait associations (MTAs) were detected explaining more than 20% of the phenotypic variation observed under both drought-stressed and non-stressed conditions. Significant (P < 0.001) MTA event(s) were observed for DTH, PHT, SPL, SPS, and KPS; under both stressed and non-stressed conditions, while additional significant (P < 0.05) associations were observed for TKW, DTM and GYLD under non-stressed condition. The MTAs reported in this population could be useful to initiate marker-assisted selection (MAS) and targeted trait introgression of wheat under drought-stressed and non-stressed conditions, and for fine mapping and cloning of the underlying genes and QTL.
Throughput-Delay Tradeoffs in Large-Scale MANETs with Network Coding

This paper characterizes the throughput-delay tradeoffs in mobile ad hoc networks (MANETs) with network coding, and compares results in the situation where only replication and forwarding are allowed in each node. The schemes/protocols achieving those tradeoffs in an effective and decentralized way are proposed and the optimality of those tradeoffs is established. The scenarios in which network coding can provide significant improvement on network performance are identified under different node mobility patterns (fast and slow mobility). The insights on when and how information mixing is beneficial for MANETs with multiple unicast and multicast sessions are provided. As far as we know, this is the first work characterizing scaling laws of throughput and delay of MANETs with network coding.
SYNCHRONOUS VOCAL RESPONSE MEDIATED BY THE AMPHIBIAN PAPILLA IN A NEOTROPICAL TREEFROG: BEHAVIOURAL EVIDENCE

SUMMARY Acoustic playback experiments with treefrogs (Eleutherodactylus coqui Thomas) in their natural habitat reveal that males readily synchronize their vocalizations with synthetic calls containing frequencies equal to or lower than their own. Low-level artificial stimuli were used in order preferentially to stimulate auditory fibres originating in the amphibian papilla while avoiding excitation of basilar papillar or saccular fibres. Moreover, the synchronous vocal response persists unabated, even when the synthetic calls were simultaneously 'masked' with narrow- and wide-band noise, which strongly excited a large fraction of the basilar papillar fibres. These behavioural findings support the hypothesis that the amphibian papilla alone mediates this critical vocal behaviour.
A Hybrid-Assembled MEMS Fabry-Perot Wavelength Tunable Filter

We have developed a wavelength-tunable fiber optic filter of superior performance by using a hybrid-assembly technique of glass reflector cubes (1 mm3) onto a bulk-micromachined electrostatic translation stage (4 mm times 5 mm). More than 3-micron-change of the Fabry-Perot interferometer gap could be electrostatically controlled with a tuning voltage upwards of 5 V with the aid of a DC bias voltage of 70 V. A wide tuning range from 1479 nm to 1579 nm was achieved with preliminary results of a 2.6 ~ 2.9 nm bandwidth and a 6.6 dB insertion loss.
Functions that Protect Escherichia coli from Tightly Bound DNA-Protein Complexes Created by Mutant EcoRII Methyltransferase

Expression of mutant EcoRII methyltransferase protein (M.EcoRII-C186A) in Escherichia coli leads to tightly bound DNA-protein complexes (TBCs), located sporadically on the chromosome rather than in tandem arrays. The mechanisms behind the lethality induced by such sporadic TBCs are not well studied, nor is it clear whether very tight binding but non-covalent complexes are processed in the same way as covalent DNA-protein crosslinks (DPCs). Using 2D gel electrophoresis, we found that TBCs induced by M.EcoRII-C186A block replication forks in vivo. Specific bubble molecules were detected as spots on the 2D gel, only when M.EcoRII-C186A was induced, and a mutation that eliminates a specific EcoRII methylation site led to disappearance of the corresponding spot. We also performed a candidate gene screen for mutants that are hypersensitive to TBCs induced by M.EcoRII-C186A. We found several gene products necessary for protection against these TBCs that are known to also protect against DPCs induced with wild-type M.EcoRII (after 5-azacytidine incorporation): RecA, RecBC, RecG, RuvABC, UvrD, FtsK, XerCD and SsrA (tmRNA). In contrast, the RecFOR pathway and Rep helicase are needed for protection against TBCs but not DPCs induced by M.EcoRII. We propose that stalled fork processing by RecFOR and RecA promotes release of tightly bound (but non-covalent) blocking proteins, perhaps by licensing Rep helicase-driven dissociation of the blocking M.EcoRII-C186A. Our studies also argued against the involvement of several proteins that might be expected to protect against TBCs. We took the opportunity to directly compare the sensitivity of all tested mutants to two quinolone antibiotics, which target bacterial type II topoisomerases and induce a unique form of DPC. We uncovered rep, ftsK and xerCD as novel quinolone hypersensitive mutants, and also obtained evidence against the involvement of a number of functions that might be expected to protect against quinolones.
Tracing the Development of Ideas in Distributed, IT-Supported Teams during Synchronous Collaboration

Interaction in teams brings together team members’ knowledge and drives innovation by shaping and reshaping ideas transiting through phases of collaboration. Organisations increasingly rely on teams in the hope that collaboration improves problem-solving or decision-making, especially in highly dynamic environments which require quick and reliable development, sharing, and application of knowledge. This paper investigates small group interaction in distributed, IT-supported teams during synchronous collaboration. It aims to understand the dynamics of interactions by tracing ideas to help improve processes and outcomes of team collaboration. The paper enriches a method of collaboration process analysis with the concept of idea trace, i.e. the aggregation of communication actions related to the same topic. Using idea traces, we suggest an approach to identify phases of collaboration, which are afterwards described with process interaction metrics. The metrics are used to analyse the team’s behaviour shaping development of ideas. The usefulness of the concept of idea trace and of the process interaction metrics is showcased in a case study with six teams of 27 professionals conducted in July 2013 in a medium-sized telecommunication company. The paper contributes to our understanding of collaborative development of ideas and the design of supportive IT to foster team collaboration.
A study of maternal mortality at the University Teaching Hospital, Lusaka, Zambia: the emergence of tuberculosis as a major non-obstetric cause of maternal death.

SETTING The Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, University Teaching Hospital, Lusaka, Zambia. OBJECTIVES To ascertain 1) the non-obstetric causes of maternal mortality, 2) the importance of tuberculosis as a cause of maternal deaths, and 3) the trends in the aetiology of non-obstetric causes of maternal deaths during the past decade in the light of the human immunodeficiency virus epidemic. DESIGN A 2-year retrospective study of the aetiology of all maternal deaths occurring at the University Teaching Hospital (UTH), Lusaka, Zambia between 1 January 1996 and 31 December 1997. Comparison of these data with available data published between 1974 and 1989. RESULTS There were 251 maternal deaths recorded during the study period. Of these, 106 (42%) were due to direct (obstetric) causes and 145 (58%) were due to indirect (non-obstetric) causes. Malaria (30%), tuberculosis (25%) and unspecified chronic respiratory tract infections (22%) accounted for 77% of non-obstetric causes of maternal deaths and 44% of all causes of maternal deaths. The diagnosis of AIDS was closely linked with that of tuberculosis (92% of cases), and unspecified chronic respiratory illnesses (97%), but not with malaria (37%). The maternal mortality ratio for UTH was calculated at 921 per 100,000 live births, a significant increase from the 118 noted in 1982 and 667 in 1989. CONCLUSIONS Despite improved obstetric services, the maternal mortality ratios at UTH, Lusaka, have increased eight-fold over the past two decades. This dramatic increase is mainly due to non-obstetric causes of death. Malaria and AIDS-associated tuberculosis and unspecified 'chronic respiratory illnesses' are now major causes of maternal death in Zambia. Greater emphasis is urgently required on early detection, accurate diagnosis, treatment and prevention of malaria and tuberculosis in pregnancy. Further definition of chronic 'unspecified' respiratory illnesses is also required.
Information Relaxation Bounds for Infinite Horizon Markov Decision Processes

We consider the information relaxation approach for calculating performance bounds for stochastic dynamic programs (DPs), following Brown et al. [Brown DB, Smith JE, Sun P (2010) Information relaxations and duality in stochastic dynamic programs. Oper. Res. 58(4, Part 1):785–801]. This approach generates performance bounds by solving problems with relaxed nonanticipativity constraints and a penalty that punishes violations of these constraints. In this paper, we study infinite horizon DPs with discounted costs and consider applying information relaxations to reformulations of the DP. These reformulations use different state transition functions and correct for the change in state transition probabilities by multiplying by likelihood ratio factors. These reformulations can greatly simplify solutions of the information relaxations, both in leading to finite horizon subproblems and by reducing the number of states that need to be considered in these subproblems. We show that any reformulation leads to a lowe.
PTEN Expression as a Predictor of Response to Focal Adhesion Kinase Inhibition in Uterine Cancer

PTEN is known to be frequently mutated in uterine cancer and also dephosphorylates FAK. Here, we examined the impact of PTEN alterations on the response to treatment with a FAK inhibitor (GSK2256098). In vitro and in vivo therapeutic experiments were carried out using PTEN-mutated and PTEN-wild-type models of uterine cancer alone and in combination with chemotherapy. Treatment with GSK2256098 resulted in greater inhibition of pFAKY397 in PTEN-mutated (Ishikawa) than in PTEN-wild-type (Hec1A) cells. Ishikawa cells were more sensitive to GSK2256098 than the treated Hec1A cells. Ishikawa cells were transfected with a wild-type PTEN construct and pFAKY397 expression was unchanged after treatment with GSK2256098. Decreased cell viability and enhanced sensitivity to chemotherapy (paclitaxel and topotecan) in combination with GSK2256098 was observed in Ishikawa cells as compared with Hec1a cells. In the Ishikawa orthoptopic murine model, treatment with GSK2256098 resulted in lower tumor weights and fewer metastases than mice inoculated with Hec1A cells. Tumors treated with GSK2256098 had lower microvessel density (CD31), less cellular proliferation (Ki67), and higher apoptosis (TUNEL) rates in the Ishikawa model when compared with the Hec1a model. From a large cohort of evaluable patients, increased FAK and pFAKY397 expression levels were significantly related to poor overall survival. Moreover, PTEN levels were inversely related to pFAKY397 expression. These preclinical data demonstrate that PTEN-mutated uterine cancer responds better to FAK inhibition than does PTEN wild-type cancer. Therefore, PTEN could be a biomarker for predicting response to FAK-targeted therapy during clinical development. Mol Cancer Ther; 14(6); 1466–75. ©2015 AACR.
Learning to predict a context-free language: analysis of dynamics in recurrent hidden units

Recurrent neural network processing of regular languages is reasonably well understood. Recent work has examined the less familiar question of context-free languages. Previous results regarding the language a(n)b(n) suggest that while it is possible for a small recurrent network to process context-free languages, learning them is difficult. This paper considers the reasons underlying this difficulty by considering the relationship between the dynamics of the network and weightspace. We are able to show that the dynamics required for the solution lie in a region of weightspace close to a bifurcation point where small changes in weights may result in radically different network behaviour. Furthermore, we show that the error gradient information in this region is highly irregular. We conclude that any gradient-based learning method will experience difficulty in learning the language due to the nature of the space, and that a more promising approach to improving learning performance may be to make weight changes in a non-independent manner.
Using protein design for homology detection and active site searches

We describe a method of designing artificial sequences that resemble naturally occurring sequences in terms of their compatibility with a template structure and its functional constraints. The design procedure is a Monte Carlo simulation of amino acid substitution process. The selective fixation of substitutions is dictated by a simple scoring function derived from the template structure and a multiple alignment of its homologs. Designed sequences represent an enlargement of sequence space around native sequences. We show that the use of designed sequences improves the performance of profile-based homology detection. The difference in position-specific conservation between designed sequences and native sequences is helpful for prediction of functionally important residues. Our sequence selection criteria in evolutionary simulations introduce amino acid substitution rate variation among sites in a natural way, providing a better model to test phylogenetic methods.
The role of men in women's acceptance of an intravaginal gel in a randomized clinical trial in Blantyre, Malawi: a qualitative and quantitative analysis

Abstract Survey questionnaires and focus group discussions were used to investigate the association between a female participant's acceptance and her perception of her male partner's acceptance of an intravaginal gel as a prototype microbicide. Women who perceived their male partners would accept using the gel were more likely to highly accept the gel as compared to women who perceived their male partners would not accept using the gel (OR=24.57; 95%CI: 16.49–36.61). Qualitative analysis supported a positive association between female acceptability and perceived male partner acceptability. Qualitative research reiterated this finding and also found that men and women had different approaches to assess gel acceptability. Women integrated perceptions of their partner's acceptance into their own acceptability and reported their partners had positive experiences. In contrast, men reported a more neutral experience with the gel and assessed the gel without overt consideration of their partner's experiences. These results indicate that female perceptions of male partner acceptability and actual male partner acceptability need to be considered when addressing female-controlled product acceptability and use.