Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Radioprotective Effects of Honeybee Venom (Apis mellifera) Against 915-MHz Microwave Radiation–Induced DNA Damage in Wistar Rat Lymphocytes: In Vitro Study

The aim of this study is to investigate the radioprotective effect of bee venom against DNA damage induced by 915-MHz microwave radiation (specific absorption rate of 0.6 W/kg) in Wistar rats. Whole blood lymphocytes of Wistar rats are treated with 1 μg/mL bee venom 4 hours prior to and immediately before irradiation. Standard and formamidopyrimidine-DNA glycosylase (Fpg)–modified comet assays are used to assess basal and oxidative DNA damage produced by reactive oxygen species. Bee venom shows a decrease in DNA damage compared with irradiated samples. Parameters of Fpg-modified comet assay are statistically different from controls, making this assay more sensitive and suggesting that oxidative stress is a possible mechanism of DNA damage induction. Bee venom is demonstrated to have a radioprotective effect against basal and oxidative DNA damage. Furthermore, bee venom is not genotoxic and does not produce oxidative damage in the low concentrations used in this study.
DEDD, a novel death effector domain‐containing protein, targeted to the nucleolus

The CD95 signaling pathway comprises proteins that contain one or two death effector domains (DED), such as FADD/Mort1 or caspase‐8. Here we describe a novel 37 kDa protein, DEDD, that contains an N‐terminal DED. DEDD is highly conserved between human and mouse (98.7% identity) and is ubiquitously expressed. Overexpression of DEDD in 293T cells induced weak apoptosis, mainly through its DED by which it interacts with FADD and caspase‐8. Endogenous DEDD was found in the cytoplasm and translocated into the nucleus upon stimulation of CD95. Immunocytological studies revealed that overexpressed DEDD directly translocated into the nucleus, where it co‐localizes in the nucleolus with UBF, a basal factor required for RNA polymerase I transcription. Consistent with its nuclear localization, DEDD contains two nuclear localization signals and the C‐terminal part shares sequence homology with histones. Recombinant DEDD binds to both DNA and reconstituted mononucleosomes and inhibits transcription in a reconstituted in vitro system. The results suggest that DEDD is a final target of a chain of events by which the CD95‐induced apoptotic signal is transferred into the nucleolus to shut off cellular biosynthetic activities.
Influence of carbide on intergranular creep rupture of type 304 stainless steel

The creep rupture behaviours of type 304L stainless steel and 304 stainless steel were investigated in argon at 823 K. The creep ductility of the 304L and solution annealed 304 steels decreases with increasing creep rupture time, while the ductility of sensitised 304 steel increases slightly with rupture time. The extent of necking of solution annealed 304 steel depends on creep rupture time and necking always occurs in sensitised 304 steel. Solution annealed 304 maintains a nearly equiaxed grain structure on a longitudinal section of specimens fractured after long creep rupture times, while sensitised 304 has elongated grains that are clear evidence of high plasticity within the grains. Intergranular fracture surfaces of solution annealed 304 steel are primarily observed with increasing creep rupture time, and creep rupture of sensitised 304 is characterised by transgranular fracture surfaces with carbide walls at grain boundaries. It is suggested that continuous plate shaped carbides at grain boundaries completely inhibit grain boundary sliding, thus causing large total creep strain and high creep ductility in sensitised 304 steel.
The peatland vegetation burning debate: keep scientific critique in perspective. A response to Brown et al. and Douglas et al.

We are glad that Brown et al. [1] and Douglas et al. [2] agree that there is a need to move forward in the debate regarding the use of fire as a management tool in the UK uplands and appreciate their robust responses to some of the issues we identified. We may not agree, but discussing these problems and balancing the current debate from an ecological viewpoint is important. Our recent paper [3] contained a critique of certain aspects of two recent papers they published [4] and [5]. We believe this critique was important, because we believe the interpretations they provided sometimes lacked adequate engagement with existing research on peatland fire ecology, had the potential for damaging misinterpretation, and occasionally appeared to have an unintentional lack of balance. In the case of Brown et al. [4], this concern was exacerbated by the fact it was a review paper and such publications aim to provide an authoritative overview of knowledge in a certain area. We believe there were several respects in which that standard was not met. We also critiqued media outreach and coverage associated with their papers and, in the case of Brown et al. [3], the publication protocol associated with a research report they issued [6]. Here, we briefly address Brown et al. and Douglas et al.'s main concerns regarding our recent paper.
International Funding Liquidity∗

We construct daily funding illiquidity proxies for six different countries and decompose them into one global and six country-specific indices that exhibit significant independent variation. Using a stylized international asset pricing model in which investors face margin constraints, we derive predictions regarding the effect of funding constraints on the cross-section of international stock returns that are strongly supported by the data: (i) Higher global illiquidity implies a lower slope and higher intercept of the security market line. (ii) Stocks with higher local illiquidity and lower beta earn higher alphas and Sharpe ratios. (iii) Betting-against-beta (BAB) strategies in high illiquidity countries outperform those in low illiquidity countries. Finally, (iv) a beta-adjusted-international-illiquidity (BAIL) strategy that is long high illiquidity-to-beta stocks and short low illiquidity-to-beta stocks earns significant positive risk-adjusted returns and outperforms a simple betting-against-beta strategy.
Exotic Fish in Exotic Plantations: A Multi-Scale Approach to Understand Amphibian Occurrence in the Mediterranean Region

Globally, amphibian populations are threatened by a diverse range of factors including habitat destruction and alteration. Forestry practices have been linked with low diversity and abundance of amphibians. The effect of exotic Eucalyptus spp. plantations on amphibian communities has been studied in a number of biodiversity hotspots, but little is known of its impact in the Mediterranean region. Here, we identify the environmental factors influencing the presence of six species of amphibians (the Caudata Pleurodeles waltl, Salamandra salamandra, Lissotriton boscai, Triturus marmoratus and the anurans Pelobates cultripes and Hyla arborea/meridionalis) occupying 88 ponds. The study was conducted in a Mediterranean landscape dominated by eucalypt plantations alternated with traditional use (agricultural, montados and native forest) at three different scales: local (pond), intermediate (400 metres radius buffer) and broad (1000 metres radius buffer). Using the Akaike Information Criterion for small samples (AICc), we selected the top-ranked models for estimating the probability of occurrence of each species at each spatial scale separately and across all three spatial scales, using a combination of covariates from the different magnitudes. Models with a combination of covariates at the different spatial scales had a stronger support than those at individual scales. The presence of predatory fish in a pond had a strong effect on Caudata presence. Permanent ponds were selected by Hyla arborea/meridionalis over temporary ponds. Species occurrence was not increased by a higher density of streams, but the density of ponds impacted negatively on Lissotriton boscai. The proximity of ponds occupied by their conspecifics had a positive effect on the occurrence of Lissotriton boscai and Pleurodeles waltl. Eucalypt plantations had a negative effect on the occurrence of the newt Lissotriton boscai and anurans Hyla arborea/meridionalis, but had a positive effect on the presence of Salamandra salamandra, while no effect on any of the other species was detected. In conclusion, eucalypts had limited effects on the amphibian community at the intermediate and broad scales, but predatory fish had a major impact when considering all the scales combined. The over-riding importance of introduced fish as a negative impact suggests that forest managers should prevent new fish introductions and eradicate fish from already-occupied ponds whenever possible.
Selection of training data for modeling essential oil extraction system using NNARX structure

In this work, the suitable training data for modeling the steam distillation essential oil extraction system is presented. The data were collected from the self-refilling distillation column using RTD sensor with associated signal conditioning circuit. The control signal is on/off The heating system implementing 1.5 kW electrical immersion heater. The power switching is performed using zero-crossing solid-state-relay. The input signals are the PRBS with different probabilities. There are 3 situations of data to be investigated. Since the system is highly-nonlinear, it is expected that the training data that covers the full operating condition will be the optimum training data. These data are separated into training and testing data by interlacing technique, which make the total number of data 6. For each data, the model order selection is based on ARX structure and MDL information criterion. These data are cross-validated between each others and the validation results are presented and concluded. The performance indexes are the percentages of R2 , adjusted-R2 and NMSE.
Minimum Flying Capacitor for N-Level Capacitor DC/DC Boost Converter

This paper proposes a multilevel flying capacitor dc/dc boost converter (FCBC) with a small capacitance of the flying capacitor for the reduction of converter size. In this paper, the design methods for the boost inductor and the flying capacitor in the n-level FCBC are principally and experimentally confirmed. Furthermore, the boost inductor is designed based on maximum product of voltage-time, regardless the number of level. Meanwhile, the minimum capacitance of the flying capacitor is designed based on the maximum switching device voltage stress, regardless of the output voltage ripple influences. Moreover, the achieved maximum efficiency of the designed three-level FCBC is 98.5% at the output power of 1 kW. Finally, the effectiveness of small capacitances of the flying capacitor in the three-level and five-level FCBCs is analyzed. The characteristics of the distorted voltage across the input voltage source and the boost inductor, and the distorted current to the output side (output capacitor and load) are investigated with several capacitances of the flying capacitors in the three-level and five-level FCBCs. As a result, it is experimentally confirmed that the distorted voltage is drastically reduced by increasing the number of level. Besides, the distorted current is almost the same although the number of level is increased. Therefore, based on the experimental results, it is shown that small capacitance of the flying capacitor can be used in the n-level FCBC without compromising the stability of converter operation.
Did the Single Market Cause Competition in Excise Taxes? Evidence from EU Countries

Tax competition theory predicts that the introduction of the EU Single Market in 1993 should have caused excise tax competition and thus increased strategic interaction in the setting of excise taxes among EU countries. We test this prediction using a panel data set of 12 EU countries over the period 1987–2004. We find that for excise duties on still and sparkling wine, beer and ethyl alcohol, strategic interaction significantly increased after 1993. There is weaker evidence of increased interaction in cigarette taxes, possibly because cigarettes are widely smuggled, giving rise to tax competition even before the Single Market.
3D-2D projective registration of free-form curves and surfaces

Some medical interventions require knowing the correspondence between an MRI/CT pre-operative image and the actual position of the patient. Examples occur in neurosurgery, radiotherapy, interventional radiology, but also in video surgery (laparoscopy). We present in this article three new techniques for performing this task without artificial markers. We find the 3D-2D projective transformation (composition of a rigid displacement and a perspective projection) which maps a 3D object onto a 2D image of this object. Depending on the object model (curve or surface), and on the 2D image acquisition system (X-Ray, video), the techniques are different but the framework is common. It does not depend on the initial relative positions of the objects and deals with the occlusions and the outliers. Results are presented on real medical data to demonstrate the validity of our approach. <<ETX>>
Transfixation pinning and casting of a comminuted metacarpal fracture in a 870 kg bull.

OBJECTIVE To report metacarpal fracture repair in a bull. STUDY DESIGN Clinical report. ANIMALS Simmental bull (n = 1; 870 kg). METHODS A comminuted right metacarpal fracture was repaired using 2 transfixation pins (6 mm diameter) through the distal metaphysis and diaphysis of the radius and a full limb synthetic resin cast. RESULTS Slight bending of both pins occurred 1 day after surgery. Both pins were loose and removed at 31 days and a full-limb cast reapplied. The cast was changed at approximately -4 week intervals. On day 50, the right carpus had moderate overextension and a valgus deformity. An exercise program was started on day 62, and on day 110, the cast was replaced with a Robert-Jones-bandage. At 130 days there was circumferential callus formation and the bull was discharged. At 6.5 months, overextension of the right carpus had resolved and carpal valgus had improved. The bull returned to at 7.5 months after surgery, and was successfully used for 4 years. CONCLUSION For highly valuable cattle like this breeding bull, a surgical treatment of such a fracture should be attempted despite a primarily poor prognosis.
The space between the notes: adding expressive pitch control to the piano keyboard

This paper addresses the question of how to extend the capabilities of a well-established interface in a way that respects users' existing expertise. The piano-style keyboard is among the most widely used and versatile of digital musical interfaces. However, it lacks the ability to alter the pitch of a note after it has been played, a limitation which prevents the performer from executing common expressive techniques including vibrato and pitch bending. We present a system for controlling pitch from the keyboard surface using capacitive touch sensors to measure the locations of the player's fingers on the keys. The large community of trained pianists makes the keyboard a compelling target for augmentation, but it also poses a challenge: how can a musical interface be extended while making use of the existing techniques performers have spent thousands of hours learning? In this paper, user studies with conservatory pianists explore the constraints of traditional keyboard technique and evaluate the usability of the continuous pitch control system. The paper also discusses implications for the extension of other established interfaces in musical and non-musical contexts.
The Influence of Visual Motion on Motor Learning

How does visual perception shape the way we coordinate movements? Recent studies suggest that the brain organizes movements based on minimizing reaching errors in the presence of motor and sensory noise. We present an alternative hypothesis in which movement trajectories also result from acquired knowledge about the geometrical properties of the object that the brain is controlling. To test this hypothesis, we asked human subjects to control a simulated kinematic linkage by continuous finger motion, a completely novel experience. This paradigm removed all biases arising from influences of limb dynamics and past experience. Subjects were exposed to two different types of visual feedback; some saw the entire simulated linkage and others saw only the moving extremity. Consistent with our hypothesis, subjects learned to move the simulated linkage along geodesic lines corresponding to the geometrical structure of the observed motion. Thus, optimizing final accuracy is not the unique determinant of trajectory formation.
Clinical features and survival of 338 multiple myeloma patients treated with hematopoietic stem cell transplantation or conventional chemotherapy

Therapeutic approaches against multiple myeloma (MM) have largely changed during the past decade. Hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) and licensing of immunomodulators and proteasome inhibitors have resulted in better response and increased overall survival rates compared to previous conventional therapies. To assess the impact that these new strategies have had on outcome of patients with symptomatic MM in Spain, we conducted an epidemiological retrospective analysis of 338 newly diagnosed patients with stage II‐III MM who started first‐line treatment over a 2‐yr period (2003–2005) by collecting data from their medical records. Most patients had been diagnosed with secretory MM (94.4%), 41.7% stage II and 58.3% stage III. The presence of bone lesions (72.2%), as well as anemia (79.8%) and elevated beta2‐microglobulin levels (62.3%), was a common finding; in contrast, hypercalcemia and elevated serum creatinine were less frequent (25% each). First‐line treatment had consisted of either conventional chemotherapy (62%) or induction treatment plus autologous HSCT (38%), as per standard clinical practice. HSCT not only resulted in greater objective response rates (93% vs. 50%), but also contributed to a significant increase in 3‐yr survival (85% vs. 49.7%; 95% CI, range 77–91 vs. 41–58; P < 0.001). Overall, 55% of patients presented treatment‐related adverse events, mainly hematological. Toxicity rates were higher among patients treated with alkylating‐based regimens and in those undergoing transplantation. In conclusion, data analysis shows an adequate balance between increased response rates and safety that supports the use of up‐front high‐dose HSCT therapy in younger patients. Most importantly, this study provides further confirmation that the introduction of HSCT has significantly prolonged survival of patients with MM.
The narrow pentaquark

The experimental status of the pentaquark searches is briefly reviewed. Recent null results by the CLAS collaboration are commented, and new strong evidence of a very narrow Θ+ resonance by the DIANA collaboration is presented. On the theory side, I revisit the argument against the existence of the pentaquark — that of Callan and Klebanov — and show that actually a strong resonance is predicted in that approach, however its width is grossly overestimated. A recent calculation gives 2 MeV for the pentaquark width, and this number is probably still an upper bound.
Non-blocking, localized routing algorithm for balanced energy consumption in mobile ad hoc networks

As mobile computing requires more computation as well as communication activities, energy efficiency becomes the most critical issue for battery-operated mobile devices. Specifically, in ad hoc networks where each node is responsible for forwarding neighbor nodes' data packets, care has to be taken not only to reduce the overall energy consumption of all relevant nodes but also to balance individual battery levels. Unbalanced energy usage will result in earlier node failure in overloaded nodes, and in turn may lead to network partitioning and reduced network lifetime. This paper presents a new routing algorithm, called local energy-aware routing (LEAR), which achieves a trade-off between balanced energy consumption and shortest routing delay, and at the same time avoids the blocking and route cache problems. Our performance study based on GloMoSim simulator shows that compared to DSR the proposed LEAR improves the energy balance 1.0-35% depending on node mobility.
Protective effects of exercise and phosphoinositide 3-kinase(p110α) signaling in dilated and hypertrophic cardiomyopathy

Physical activity protects against cardiovascular disease, and physiological cardiac hypertrophy associated with regular exercise is usually beneficial, in marked contrast to pathological hypertrophy associated with disease. The p110α isoform of phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K) plays a critical role in the induction of exercise-induced hypertrophy. Whether it or other genes activated in the athlete's heart might have an impact on cardiac function and survival in a setting of heart failure is unknown. To examine whether progressive exercise training and PI3K(p110α) activity affect survival and/or cardiac function in two models of heart disease, we subjected a transgenic mouse model of dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) to swim training, genetically crossed cardiac-specific transgenic mice with increased or decreased PI3K(p110α) activity to the DCM model, and subjected PI3K(p110α) transgenics to acute pressure overload (ascending aortic constriction). Life-span, cardiac function, and molecular markers of pathological hypertrophy were examined. Exercise training and increased cardiac PI3K(p110α) activity prolonged survival in the DCM model by 15–20%. In contrast, reduced PI3K(p110α) activity drastically shortened lifespan by ≈50%. Increased PI3K(p110α) activity had a favorable effect on cardiac function and fibrosis in the pressure-overload model and attenuated pathological growth. PI3K(p110α) signaling negatively regulated G protein-coupled receptor stimulated extracellular responsive kinase and Akt (via PI3K, p110γ) activation in isolated cardiomyocytes. These findings suggest that exercise and enhanced PI3K(p110α) activity delay or prevent progression of heart disease, and that supraphysiologic activity can be beneficial. Identification of genes important for hypertrophy in the athlete's heart could offer new strategies for treating heart failure.
Collecting and Annotating Human Activities in Web Videos

Recent efforts in computer vision tackle the problem of human activity understanding in video sequences. Traditionally, these algorithms require annotated video data to learn models. In this paper, we introduce a novel data collection framework, to take advantage of the large amount of video data available on the web. We use this new framework to retrieve videos of human activities in order to build datasets for training and evaluating computer vision algorithms. We rely on Amazon Mechanical Turk workers to obtain high accuracy annotations. An agglomerative clustering technique brings the possibility to achieve reliable and consistent annotations for temporal localization of human activities in videos. Using two different datasets, Olympics Sports and our novel Daily Human Activities dataset, we show that our collection/annotation framework achieves robust annotations for human activities in large amount of video data.