Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Arginine Deiminase in Staphylococcus epidermidis Functions To Augment Biofilm Maturation through pH Homeostasis

ABSTRACT Allelic replacement mutants were constructed within arginine deiminase (arcA1 and arcA2) to assess the function of the arginine deiminase (ADI) pathway in organic acid resistance and biofilm formation of Staphylococcus epidermidis 1457. A growth-dependent acidification assay (pH ∼5.0 to ∼5.2) determined that strain 1457 devoid of arginine deiminase activity (1457 ΔADI) was significantly less viable than the wild type following depletion of glucose and in the presence of arginine. However, no difference in viability was noted for individual 1457 ΔarcA1 (native) or ΔarcA2 (arginine catabolic mobile element [ACME]-derived) mutants, suggesting that the native and ACME-derived ADIs are compensatory in S. epidermidis. Furthermore, flow cytometry and electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy results suggested that organic acid stress resulted in oxidative stress that could be partially rescued by the iron chelator dipyridyl. Collectively, these results suggest that formation of hydroxyl radicals is partially responsible for cell death via organic acid stress and that ADI-derived ammonia functions to counteract this acid stress. Finally, static biofilm assays determined that viability, ammonia synthesis, and pH were reduced in strain 1457 ΔADI following 120 h of growth in comparison to strain 1457 and the arcA1 and arcA2 single mutants. It is hypothesized that ammonia synthesis via the ADI pathway is important to reduce pH stress in specific microniches that contain high concentrations of organic acids.
Ultrathin (&lt;10nm) Nb2O5/NbO2 hybrid memory with both memory and selector characteristics for high density 3D vertically stackable RRAM applications

We report, for the first time, the novel concept of ultrathin (~10nm) W/NbO<sub>x</sub>/Pt device with both threshold switching (TS) and memory switching (MS) characteristics. Excellent TS characteristics of NbO<sub>2</sub>, such as high temperature stability (~160°C), fast switching speed (~22ns), good switching uniformity, and extreme scalability of device area (φ~10nm)/thickness (~10nm) were obtained. By oxidizing NbO<sub>2</sub>, we can form ultrathin Nb<sub>2</sub>O<sub>5</sub>/NbO<sub>2</sub> stack layer for hybrid memory devices with both TS and MS. Without additional selector device, 1Kb cross-point hybrid memory device without SET/RESET disturbance up to 10<sup>6</sup> cycles was demonstrated.
SEASONAL DISTRIBUTION OF MALARIA VECTORS (DIPTERA: CULICIDAE) IN RURAL LOCALITIES OF PORTO VELHO, RONDÔNIA, BRAZILIAN AMAZON

We conducted a survey of the malaria vectors in an area where a power line had been constructed, between the municipalities of Porto Velho and Rio Branco, in the states of Rondônia and Acre, respectively. The present paper relates to the results of the survey of Anopheles fauna conducted in the state of Rondônia. Mosquito field collections were performed in six villages along the federal highway BR 364 in the municipality of Porto Velho, namely Porto Velho, Jaci Paraná, Mutum Paraná, Vila Abunã, Vista Alegre do Abunã, and Extrema. Mosquito captures were performed at three distinct sites in each locality during the months of February, July, and October 2011 using a protected human-landing catch method; outdoor and indoor captures were conducted simultaneously at each site for six hours. In the six sampled areas, we captured 2,185 mosquitoes belonging to seven Anopheles species. Of these specimens, 95.1% consisted of Anopheles darlingi, 1.8% An. triannulatus l.s. , 1.7% An. deaneorum, 0.8% An. konderi l.s. , 0.4 An. braziliensis, 0.1% An. albitarsis l.s. , and 0.1% An. benarrochi. An. darlingi was the only species found in all localities; the remaining species occurred in sites with specific characteristics.
A Current-Feedback Instrumentation Amplifier with 5μV Offset for Bidirectional High-Side Current-Sensing

In this paper, a current-feedback instrumentation amplifier for bidirectional high-side current-sensing is proposed. The current sense amplifier was fabricated in a 0.8mum BICMOS process with high-voltage transistors and laser-trimmed thin-film resistors. It is concluded that these amplifiers offer a new level of precision in current sensing.
Breaking a Vicious Cycle

New tumor-biomarker diagnostics will emerge along with changes in regulation, development, reimbursement, and investment practices. Despite prodigious advances in tumor biology research, few tumor-biomarker tests have been adopted as standard clinical practice. This lack of reliable tests stems from a vicious cycle of undervaluation, resulting from inconsistent regulatory standards and reimbursement, as well as insufficient investment in research and development, scrutiny of biomarker publications by journals, and evidence of analytical validity and clinical utility. We offer recommendations designed to serve as a roadmap to break this vicious cycle and call for a national dialogue, as changes in regulation, reimbursement, investment, peer review, and guidelines development require the participation of all stakeholders.
Frequency of Propionibacterium acnes Infection in Prostate Glands with Negative Biopsy Results Is an Independent Risk Factor for Prostate Cancer in Patients with Increased Serum PSA Titers

Background Propionibacterium acnes has recently been implicated as a cause of chronic prostatitis and this commensal bacterium may be linked to prostate carcinogenesis. The occurrence of intracellular P. acnes infection in prostate glands and the higher frequency of P. acnes-positive glands in radical prostatectomy specimens from patients with prostate cancer (PCa) than in those from patients without PCa led us to examine whether the P. acnes-positive gland frequency can be used to assess the risk for PCa in patients whose first prostate biopsy, performed due to an increased prostate-specific antigen (PSA) titer, was negative. Methods We retrospectively collected the first and last prostate biopsy samples from 44 patients that were diagnosed PCa within 4 years after the first negative biopsy and from 36 control patients with no PCa found in repeated biopsy for at least 3 years after the first biopsy. We evaluated P. acnes-positive gland frequency and P. acnes-positive macrophage number using enzyme-immunohistochemistry with a P. acnes-specific monoclonal antibody (PAL antibody). Results The frequency of P. acnes-positive glands was higher in PCa samples than in control samples in both first biopsy samples and in combined first and last biopsy samples (P < 0.001). A frequency greater than the threshold (18.5 and 17.7, respectively) obtained by each receiver operating characteristic curve was an independent risk factor for PCa (P = 0.003 and 0.001, respectively) with odds ratios (14.8 and 13.9, respectively) higher than those of serum PSA titers of patients just before each biopsy (4.6 and 2.3, respectively). The number of P. acnes-positive macrophages did not differ significantly between PCa and control samples. Conclusions These results suggested that the frequency of P. acnes-positive glands in the first negative prostate biopsy performed due to increased PSA titers can be supportive information for urologists in planning repeated biopsy or follow-up strategies.
The effect of platyspondyly and pubertal growth spurt on the stature of patients with beta-thalassaemia major.

OBJECTIVE To study the effect of the body proportion and pubertal growth spurt on the stature of children with beta-thalassaemia major. METHODS The height, sitting height, upper to lower segment (U:L) ratio and pubertal development were determined in 71 Chinese children (38 girls and 33 boys) with beta-thalassaemia. The growth patterns of 20 patients with complete growth data between 3 years and final height, were analyzed according to whether they underwent a pubertal growth spurt or not. RESULTS 27% of the boys and 32% of the girls had a height below the 3rd percentile. About 60% of all the children had a U:L ratio below the 10th percentile for age. Abnormal body proportion was found in patients with or without growth retardation. 34% of the 41 children over the age of 14 years underwent spontaneous puberty. In 28 patients over the age of 16 years, a growth spurt was observed in 46% of the children during spontaneous or induced puberty. The retrospective analysis showed that the height deviation from the mean in adulthood was significantly higher in patients without pubertal growth acceleration than in those with a growth spurt (x = -11.8 cm, s = 7.6 cm vs x = -4.4 cm, s = 4.4 cm; P = 0.02). CONCLUSIONS An abnormal U:L ratio was commonly observed in patients with beta-thalassaemia major and may be one factor contributing to the short stature of these patients. Abnormal puberty was present in a significant proportion of children and the lack of a pubertal growth spurt was found to be detrimental to adult height.
Oblivious routing on node-capacitated and directed graphs

Oblivious routing algorithms for general undirected networks were introduced by Räcke [17], and this work has led to many subsequent improvements and applications. Comparatively little is known about oblivious routing in general <i>directed</i> networks, or even in undirected networks with node capacities.We present the first non-trivial upper bounds for both these cases, providing algorithms for <i>k</i>-commodity oblivious routing problems with competitive ratio <i>O</i>(√<i>k</i>log(<i>n</i>)) for undirected node-capacitated graphs and <i>O</i>(√<i>kn</i><sup>1/4</sup>log(<i>n</i>)) for directed graphs. In the special case that all commodities have a common source or sink, our upper bound becomes <i>O</i>(√<i>n</i>log(<i>n</i>)) in both cases, matching the lower bound up to a factor of log(<i>n</i>). The lower bound (which first appeared in [6]) is obtained on a graph with very high degree. We show that in fact the degree of a graph is a crucial parameter for node-capacitated oblivious routing in undirected graphs, by providing an <i>O</i>( polylog(<i>n</i>))competitive oblivious routing scheme for graphs of degree. For the directed case, however, we show that the lower bound of Ω(√<i>n</i>) still holds in low-degree graphs.Finally, we settle an open question about routing problems in which all commodities share a common source or sink. We show that even in this simplified scenario there are networks in which no oblivious routing algorithm can achieve a competitive ratio better than Ω(log <i>n</i>).
Type-based dependency analysis for javascript

Dependency analysis is a program analysis that determines potential data flow between program points. While it is not a security analysis per se, it is a viable basis for investigating data integrity, for ensuring confidentiality, and for guaranteeing sanitization. A noninterference property can be stated and proved for the dependency analysis. We have designed and implemented a dependency analysis for JavaScript. We formalize this analysis as an abstraction of a tainting semantics. We prove the correctness of the tainting semantics, the soundness of the abstraction, a noninterference property, and the termination of the analysis.
Effects of Plasmin on Rabbit Platelets

Summary The effects of plasmin have been examined because platelets may be exposed to plasmin in vivo and treatment of platelets with plasmin shortens platelet survival. Rabbit plasmin was prepared by urokinase activation of plasminogen immobilized on lysine- Sepharose. Plasmin caused rabbit platelets to aggregate and release the contents of their amine storage granules, but aggregation was slower than in response to ADP or thrombin. EDTA, prostaglandin E1, or creatine phosphate/creatine phosphokinase were inhibitory, but indomethacin was not. Deaggregation did not occur when platelets had been aggregated by a concentration of plasmin that caused extensive release of granule contents. EDTA or prostaglandin E1 caused deaggregation. Low concentrations of ADP and plasmin acted synergistically in causing platelet aggregation. Plasmin decreased the amounts of platelet membrane glycoproteins that stained with periodic acid-Schiff reagent; glycoprotein I was more susceptible than glycoproteins II and III. Concentrations of plasmin that induced the release of amine storage granule contents also released PAS- staining granule gylcoproteins. Platelets incubated with plasmin, washed and resuspended, were not aggregated by ADP, but were aggregated strongly by the combination of fibrinogen and ADP, and bound 125I-fibrinogen to a greater extent than untreated platelets. Platelets preincubated with a high concentration of plasmin were unresponsive to thrombin, but were sometimes aggregated by fibrinogen. Plasmin decreased the buoyant density and increased the median size of platelets. Thus plasmin, as well as ADP and thrombin, may contribute to the density shift observed in platelets from rabbits in which thrombosis and continuous vessel injury have been induced.
Multi-Band Configurations of Stub-Loaded Slotted Rectangular Microstrip Antennas

Triple-band rectangular microstrip antennas using combinations of an open-circuit nearly-quarter-wavelength stub, a resonant U-slot, and a pair of rectangular slots are proposed. A new configuration for a tour-band antenna has been realized by cutting two half U-slots inside a stub-loaded rectangular microstrip patch. The multi-port network models for these antennas are also proposed, which help in analyzing the mode distributions at various frequencies. The multi-band response has been experimentally verified, and close agreement was obtained among the simulated, measured, and theoretical results.
Identification of GRP75 as a novel PreS1 binding protein using a proteomics strategy

The PreS1 region of the L protein is important in cell attachment and consequently in hepatitis B virus (HBV) infectivity. To identify novel PreS1 interacting protein, we performed Glutathione-S-transferase (GST) pull-down, two-dimensional gel electrophoresis (2-DE) and mass spectrometry assays. Glucose-regulated proteins (GRP) 78 and 75 were found to bind PreS1. The interactions between PreS1 and GRP75 were confirmed by a co-immunoprecipitation experiment. GRP78 and GRP75 may play important roles in mediating HBV virion entering into hepatocyte and regulating proper folding of the L protein due to their critical functions in protein folding and trafficking. The finding of novel PreS1 binding protein enriches our knowledge about molecular mechanism of HBV infection.
Model Selection for Gaussian Kernel PCA Denoising

We propose kernel parallel analysis (kPA) for automatic kernel scale and model order selection in Gaussian kernel principal component analysis (KPCA). Parallel analysis is based on a permutation test for covariance and has previously been applied for model order selection in linear PCA, we here augment the procedure to also tune the Gaussian kernel scale of radial basis function based KPCA. We evaluate kPA for denoising of simulated data and the U.S. postal data set of handwritten digits. We find that kPA outperforms other heuristics to choose the model order and kernel scale in terms of signal-to-noise ratio of the denoised data.
A Framework for Programming Embedded Systems: Initial Design and Results

Abstract : This paper describes CES, a prototype of a new programming language for robots and other embedded systems, equipped with sensors and actuators. CES contains two new ideas, currently not found in other programming languages: support of computing with uncertain information, and support of adaptation and teaching as a means of programming. These innovations facilitate the rapid development of software for embedded systems, as demonstrated by two mobile robot applications.
Local Minimum Wage Laws: Impacts on Workers, Families and Businesses

IRLE IRLE WORKING PAPER March 2014 Local Minimum Wage Laws: Impacts on Workers, Families and Businesses Michael Reich, Ken Jacobs, and Annette Bernhardt Cite as: Michael Reich, Ken Jacobs, and Annette Bernhardt. (2014). “Local Minimum Wage Laws: Impacts on Workers, Families and Businesses”. IRLE Working Paper No. 104-14. http://irle.berkeley. edu/workingpapers/104-14.pdf irle.berkeley. edu/workingpapers
Plane curves as Pfaffians

Let $C$ be a smooth curve in $\PP^2$ given by an equation F=0 of degree $d$. In this paper we parametrise all linear pfaffian representations of $F$ by an open subset in the moduli space $M_C(2,K_C)$. We construct an explicit correspondence between pfaffian representations of $C$ and rank 2 vector bundles on $C$ with canonical determinant and no sections.
920-nm Vertical-External-Cavity Surface-Emitting Lasers With a Slope Efficiency of 58% at Room Temperature

We report a high-power fundamental transverse mode operation of an optically pumped 920-nm vertical-external- cavity surface-emitting laser. The effects of the gain related structural parameters on the laser performance are investigated. Based on the optimization of the gain structure and the thermal management, a maximum pump-limited output power of 12 W in a TEM00 mode with a slope efficiency of 58% (input power of 24 W) was achieved at room temperature.
p 63 is an alternative p 53 repressor in melanoma that confers chemoresistance and a poor prognosis

The Rockefeller University Press $30.00 J. Exp. Med. 2013 Vol. 210 No. 3 581-603 www.jem. org/cgi/doi/10.1084/jem.20121439 581 Apoptotic dysregulation is a hallmark of mela­ noma pathogenesis and chemoresistance. Mu­ tations in TP53 occur infrequently in melanoma (Weiss et al., 1995; Zerp et al., 1999; Hocker and Tsao, 2007; Ji et al., 2012) and are not crit­ ical for tumor development (Stretch et al., 1991; Lassam et al., 1993; Kanoko et al., 1996; Zerp et al., 1999). Nevertheless, the TP53 apoptotic pathway is abrogated in melanoma; this may result from dysregulation of upstream (Matsuoka et al., 1998; Chehab et al., 2000; Hirao et al., 2000; Shieh et al., 2000) or downstream TP53 cell signaling (Bae et al., 1996; Satyamoorthy et al., 2000) or from alterations in other mem­ bers of the TP53 family (Tuve et al., 2006), in­ cluding the TP53 homologue TP63. To date, there is limited evidence to explain the mechanism or mechanisms of inactivation or attenuation of p53 tumor suppression in melanomagenesis. Whole genome array studies have demonstrated CORRESPONDENCE Daniele Bergamaschi: d.bergamaschi@qmul.ac. uk
Bethe ansatz approach to quench dynamics in the Richardson model

By instantaneously changing a global parameter in an extended quantum system, an initially equilibrated state will afterwards undergo a complex nonequilibrium unitary evolution whose description is extremely challenging. A nonperturbative method giving a controlled error in the long time limit remained highly desirable to understand general features of the quench induced quantum dynamics. In this paper we show how integrability (via the algebraic Bethe ansatz) gives one numerical access, in a nearly exact manner, to the dynamics resulting from a global interaction quench of an ensemble of fermions with pairing interactions (Richardson’s model). This possibility is deeply linked to the specific structure of this particular integrable model which gives simple expressions for the scalar product of eigenstates of two different Hamiltonians. We show how, despite the fact that a sudden quench can create excitations at any frequency, a drastic truncation of the Hilbert space can be carried out therefore allowing access to large systems. The small truncation error which results does not change with time and consequently the method grants access to a controlled description of the long time behavior which is a hard to reach limit with other numerical approaches.
SustData: A Public Dataset for ICT4S Electric Energy Research

Energy and environmental sustainability can benefit a lot from advances in data mining and machine learning techniques. However, those advances rely on the availability of relevant datasets required to develop, improve and validate new techniques. Only recently the first datasets were made publicly available for the energy and sustainability research community. In this paper we present a freely available dataset containing power usage and related information from 50 homes. Here we describe our dataset, the hardware and software setups used when collecting the data and how others can access it. We then discuss potential uses of this data in the future of energy eco- feedback and demand side management research. Index Terms—Public dataset, sustainability, electric energy, feedback.
[Clinical analysis of multiple organ dysfunction syndrome caused by acute paraquat poisoning].

OBJECTIVE To analysis clinical characteristics of the multiple organ dysfunction syndrome (MODS) caused by acute paraquat poisoning (APP). METHOD Clinical data of 68 APP cases from Jan 2006 to Jun 2009, including age, gender, poisoning time and dosage, and MODS time, were compared in two groups, i.e. the death (37 cases) and survived (31cases) groups. It was less than 24 hours from poisoning to rescue in all cases. RESULTS Among the 68 cases, the incident rate of ARDS was 51.47% (35 cases). The rate of acute lung injure was 97.1% (66 cases). The mortality was 54.4% (37 cases). There was no significant difference in age and gender between both groups (P > 0.05). The dosages and times from poisoning to rescue were significant different between two groups (P < 0.05, P < 0.01). In the death group, proportion of amounts (> 3) of organs related with MODS was 70.29%, which was significantly higher than that (38.71%) in survived group (P < 0.01). MODS and ALI/ARDS occurred in death group earlier than those in survival group (P < 0.05). On the other hand, cardiac, hepatic and renal damage occurred earlier than the lung injure. CONCLUSION MODS in APP patients occurred earlier, were more sever, and caused higher mortality. The poisoning dosage and time were important prognostic factors.