Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
DEVELOPMENT OF AN EFFICIENT LINEAR MODEL FOR THE ANALYSIS OF MULTIPLE EFFECT EVAPORATOR SYSTEM

Based on the principles of Process Integration a simplified model has been developed for the analysis of multiple effect evaporator (MEE) systems. It uses the new concepts of stream analysis, temperature path and internal heat exchange for the formulation of the model equations. In addition to it, the above model also takes into account variation in physico-thermal properties as well as boiling point rise while simulating the MEE system. The present model is scalable and is used to simulate three case studies, taken from open literature. The model, consists of linear equations, which are automatically generated through the computer program and are solved using Gaussian Elimination method with partial pivoting. The results of the present model compare well with published models.
The Cyclical Behavior of Equilibrium Unemployment and Vacancies Revisited

Recently, a number of authors have argued that the standard search model cannot generate the observed business-cycle-frequency fluctuations in unemployment and job vacancies, given shocks of a plausible magnitude. We use data on the cost of vacancy creation and cyclicality of wages to identify the two key parameters of the model - the value of non-market activity and the bargaining weights. Our calibration implies that the model is, in fact, consistent with the data.
Generalizing Nonlinear Planning to Handle Complex Goals and Actions with Context-Dependent Effects

This paper presents a general, mathematically rigorous approach to nonlinear planning that handles both complex goals and actions with context-dependent effects. A goal can be any arbitrary well-formed formula containing conjunctions, disjunctions, negations, and quantifiers. Actions are likewise not constrained and can have an unrestricted number of complex, situation-dependent effects. The approach presented here can thus be used to solve a wider range of problems than previous approaches to nonlinear planning. The approach is based on previous work by the author on linear planning. The same mathematical framework is used with the results extended to nonlinear plans.
State based encapsulation and generics December 20 , 2004

A properly encapsulated data representation can be revised without affecting the correctness of client programs and extensions but encapsulation is difficult to achieve for heap based structures and object-oriented (OO) programs with reentrant callbacks. Building on a discipline that uses assertions and auxiliary fields to manage invariants and transferrable ownership, we give a rule for modular reasoning based on simulations. This representation independence result is proved for a sequential OO language with recursive, generic classes.
Women in the Boardroom and Their Impact on Governance and Performance

We show that female directors have a significant impact on board inputs and firm outcomes. In a sample of US firms, we find that female directors have better attendance records than male directors, male directors have fewer attendance problems the more gender-diverse the board is, and women are more likely to join monitoring committees. These results suggest that gender-diverse boards allocate more effort to monitoring. Accordingly, we find that CEO turnover is more sensitive to stock performance and directors receive more equity-based compensation in firms with more gender-diverse boards. However, the average effect of gender diversity on firm performance is negative. This negative effect is driven by companies with fewer takeover defenses. Our results suggest that mandating gender quotas for directors can reduce firm value for well-governed firms.
Effect of Non-Surgical Periodontal Therapy on Interleukin-29 Levels in Gingival Crevicular Fluid of Chronic Periodontitis and Aggressive Periodontitis Patients

Recently discovered interleukin 29 (IL-29) has antiviral properties and its production is induced by herpes viruses. This study was aimed at analyzing the effect of non-surgical periodontal treatment on IL-29 levels in gingival crevicular fluid (GCF) of chronic and aggressive periodontitis patients. A total of 60 participants were divided into healthy group (group 1; n = 20), chronic periodontitis group (group 2; n = 20), and aggressive periodontitis group (group 3; n = 20). GCF samples collected from each subject at baseline and 6–8 weeks after scaling and root planing were quantified for IL-29 levels using ELISA. The mean IL-29 concentration in GCF was found to be highest in group 3 (92.37 pg/μl). The mean IL-29 level in group 1 and group 2 was 36.88 pg/μl and 69.35 pg/μl respectively. After scaling and root planing, the mean concentration of IL-29 in GCF was increased to 85.99 pg/μl in group 2 and to 114.64 pg/μl in group 3. Results of the present study indicate that antiviral IL-29 level was highest in GCF of aggressive periodontitis patients and least in subjects with healthy periodontium, while that of chronic periodontitis lying in between. After non-surgical periodontal therapy, IL-29 levels increased both in chronic and aggressive periodontitis patients and deserve further investigation as a potential therapeutic agent in treating periodontitis.
High-Caloric and Chocolate Stimuli Processing in Healthy Humans: An Integration of Functional Imaging and Electrophysiological Findings

There has been a great deal of interest in understanding how the human brain processes appetitive food cues, and knowing how such cues elicit craving responses is particularly relevant when current eating behavior trends within Westernized societies are considered. One substance that holds a special place with regard to food preference is chocolate, and studies that used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and event-related potentials (ERPs) have identified neural regions and electrical signatures that are elicited by chocolate cue presentations. This review will examine fMRI and ERP findings from studies that used high-caloric food and chocolate cues as stimuli, with a focus on responses observed in samples of healthy participants, as opposed to those with eating-related pathology. The utility of using high-caloric and chocolate stimuli as a means of understanding the human reward system will also be highlighted, as these findings may be particularly important for understanding processes related to pathological overeating and addiction to illicit substances. Finally, research from our own lab that focused on chocolate stimulus processing in chocolate cravers and non-cravers will be discussed, as the approach used may help bridge fMRI and ERP findings so that a more complete understanding of appetitive stimulus processing in the temporal and spatial domains may be established.
Catalases of Aspergillus fumigatus

ABSTRACT Upon infection of a host, the pathogenic fungus Aspergillus fumigatus is attacked by the reactive oxygen species produced by phagocytic cells. Detoxification of hydrogen peroxide by catalases was proposed as a way to overcome this host response. A. fumigatus produces three active catalases; one is produced by conidia, and two are produced by mycelia. The mycelial catalase Cat1p was studied previously. Here we characterized the two other catalases, their genes, and the phenotypes of gene-disrupted mutants. CatAp, a spore-specific monofunctional catalase, is resistant to heat, metal ions, and detergent. This enzyme is a dimeric protein with 84.5-kDa subunits. The 749-amino-acid polypeptide exhibits high levels of similarity to the Aspergillus nidulans CatA catalase and to bacterial catalase HPII of Escherichia coli. In spite of increased sensitivity to H2O2, killing of ΔcatA conidia by alveolar macrophages and virulence in animals were similar to the killing of conidia by alveolar macrophages and virulence in animals observed for the wild type. In contrast to the Cat1p and CatAp catalases, the mycelial Cat2p enzyme is a bifunctional catalase-peroxidase and is sensitive to heat, metal ions, and detergent. This enzyme, an 82-kDa monomer, is homologous to catalase-peroxidases of several fungi and bacteria. Surprisingly, mycelium of the double Δcat1Δcat2 mutant with no catalase activity exhibited only slightly increased sensitivity to H2O2 and was as sensitive to killing by polymorphonuclear neutrophils as mycelium of the wild-type strain. However, this mutant exhibited delayed infection in the rat model of aspergillosis compared to infection by the wild-type strain. These results indicate that conidial catalase is not a virulence factor and that mycelial catalases transiently protect the fungus from the host.
Seroprevalence of CMV, HSV-2 and HBV among HIV-Infected Malawian Children: A Cross-sectional Survey

Background: Little is known about viral co-infections in African human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected children. We examined the prevalence of seromarkers for cytomegalovirus (CMV), herpes simplex virus type 2 (HSV-2) and hepatitis B virus (HBV) infections among HIV-infected, antiretroviral treatment (ART)-naïve children in Lilongwe, Malawi. Methods: Ninety-one serum samples were tested for IgG and IgM antibodies to CMV, and IgG antibodies to HSV-2 and hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg). Baseline demographic, clinical and laboratory data were abstracted from electronic records. Results: CMV IgG was the most common positive result in all age groups (in 73% of children <1 year, and 100% in all other groups). Three patients were CMV IgM positive (3.3%), suggesting acute infection. HSV-2 IgG was positive in four patients (4.4%), and HBsAg in two (2.2%). Conclusions: CMV infection occurred early in life, and few children had specific signs of CMV infection at the time of ART initiation. Unrecognized HBV infection represents opportunities for testing and treatment of HIV/HBV co-infected children.
SuSE : Subspace Selection embedded in an EM algorithm

Subspace clustering is an extension of traditional clustering that seeks to ﬁnd clusters embedded in different subspaces within a dataset. This is a particularly important challenge with high dimensional data where the curse of dimensionality occurs. It also has the beneﬁt of providing smaller descriptions of the clusters found. In this ﬁeld, we show that using probabilistic models provides many advantages over other existing methods. In particular, we show that the difﬁcult problem of the parameter settings of subspace clustering algorithms can be seen as a model selection problem in the framework of probabilistic models. It thus allows us to design a method that does not require any input parameter from the user. We also point out the interest in allowing the clusters to overlap. And ﬁnally, we show that it is well suited for detecting the noise that may exist in the data, and that this helps to provide a more understandable representation of the clusters found.
Protective effect of Cupressus sempervirens extract against indomethacin-induced gastric ulcer in rats

Abstract Cupressus sempervirens (C. sempervirens) belongs to the family Cupressaceae. It is widspread in Northern Africa, Greece, Turkey, North America, Cyprus and Syria. Cupressuflavone is the major ingredient of the plant leave extract. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the antiulcerogenic activity of the extract of C. sempervirens leaves in gastric ulcer tissues induced by indomethacin. The results of the present study revealed that indomethacin significantly decreased glutathione S-transferase (GST), glutathione peroxidase (GPx), catalase (CAT), reduced glutathione (GSH), glutathione reductase (GR) and superoxide dismutase (SOD) levels, while it increased significantly lipid peroxidation (MDA), nitric oxide (NO) and protein carbonyl (PC) levels in gastric tissue. Furthermore, indomethacin decreased p53 expression, while it increased bcl-2 expression in gastric tissue. Pretreatment with 5%, 10% & 20% of the LD50 of C. sempervirens and cupressuflavone of indomethacin-treated rats restored all the above parameters to approach normal values. C. sempervirens at the highest dose was more effective than the two lower doses. C. sempervirens proved more potent than cupressuflavone. In conclusion, C. sempervirens exerted antiulcerogenic activity and the effect was dose-dependent and related to the cupressuflavone ingredient of the plant leave extract.
Classifying clear and conversational speech based on acoustic features

This paper reports an investigation of features relevant for classifying two speaking styles, namely, conversational speaking style and clear (e.g. hyper-articulated) speaking style. Spectral and prosodic features were automatically extracted from speech and classified using decision tree classifiers and multilayer perceptrons to achieve accuracies of about 71% and 77% respectively. More interestingly, we found that out of the 56 features only about 9 features are needed to capture the most predictive power. While perceptual studies have shown that spectral cues are more useful than prosodic features for intelligibility [1], here we find prosodic features are more important for classification. Index Terms: binary classification, acoustic features, decision tree classifier, multilayer perceptron,
A BDDC Method for Mortar Discretizations Using a Transformation of Basis

A BDDC (balancing domain decomposition by constraints) method is developed for elliptic equations, with discontinuous coefficients, discretized by mortar finite element methods for geometrically nonconforming partitions in both two and three space dimensions. The coarse component of the preconditioner is defined in terms of one mortar constraint for each edge/face, which is the intersection of the boundaries of a pair of subdomains. A condition number bound of the form $C\max_i\{(1+\log(H_i/h_i))^2\}$ is established under certain assumptions on the geometrically nonconforming subdomain partition in the three-dimensional case. Here $H_i$ and $h_i$ are the subdomain diameters and the mesh sizes, respectively. In the geometrically conforming case and the geometrically nonconforming cases in two dimensions, no assumptions on the subdomain partition are required. This BDDC preconditioner is also shown to be closely related to the Neumann-Dirichlet version of the FETI-DP algorithm. The results are illustrated by numerical experiments which confirm the theoretical results.
Facilitating active engagement in intercultural teleconferences: A pragmalinguistic study of Russian and Irish participation frameworks

Abstract Taking the Russian and Irish teleconference team of a multinational IT company as the subject of analysis, this paper problematizes the assumption that a community of practice (Eckert and McConnell-Ginet 1992) will converge on a set of conventions through prolonged, recurrent interaction. Although the teleconference team successfully achieves a level of communication sufficient to carry out their task, key pragmalinguistic conventions remain resistant to passive assimilation, affecting the level of engagement expressed by team members. Thus the study of participation frameworks (Goffman 1981) can reveal how participant engagement is established and sustained, as well as where crosslinguistic transfer of pragmalinguistic norms may hinder participation. By means of discourse analysis, CA analysis, and deviant case analysis, normative discourse practices and linguistic strategies in the intra- and intercultural data are identified in terms of their pragmatic function and the participation frameworks they elicit. Attempts to facilitate engagement are analyzed, and general recommendations are made for why the study of culturally specific participation frameworks may have particular relevance for high-level nonnative speakers.
A Computational Approach towards Visual Object Recognition at Taxonomic Levels of Concepts

It has been argued that concepts can be perceived at three main levels of abstraction. Generally, in a recognition system, object categories can be viewed at three levels of taxonomic hierarchy which are known as superordinate, basic, and subordinate levels. For instance, “horse” is a member of subordinate level which belongs to basic level of “animal” and superordinate level of “natural objects. ” Our purpose in this study is to take an investigation into visual features at each taxonomic level. We first present a recognition tree which is more general in terms of inclusiveness with respect to visual representation of objects. Then we focus on visual feature definition, that is, how objects from the same conceptual category can be visually represented at each taxonomic level. For the first level we define global features based on frequency patterns to illustrate visual distinctions among artificial and natural. In contrast, our approach for the second level is based on shape descriptors which are defined by recruiting moment based representation. Finally, we show how conceptual knowledge can be utilized for visual feature definition in order to enhance recognition of subordinate categories.
Glucagon-like peptide 1-related peptides increase nitric oxide effects to reduce platelet activation

Summary Glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1) is object of intensive investigation for not only its metabolic effects but also the protective vascular actions. Since platelets exert a primary role in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis, inflammation and vascular complications, we investigated whether GLP-1 directly influences platelet reactivity. For this purpose, in platelets from 72 healthy volunteers we evaluated GLP-1 receptor (GLP-1R) expression and the effects of a 15-minute incubation with the native form GLP-1(7–36), the N-terminally truncated form GLP-1(9–36) and the GLP-1 analogue Liraglutide (100 nmol/l) on: i) aggregation induced by collagen or arachidonic acid (AA); ii) platelet function under shear stress; iii) cGMP and cAMP synthesis and cGMP-dependent protein kinase (PKG)-induced Vasodilator-Stimulated-Phosphoprotein (VASP) phosphorylation; iv) activation of the signalling molecules Phosphatidylinositol 3-Kinase (PI3-K)/Akt and Mitogen Activated Protein Kinase (MAPK)/ERK-1/2; and v) oxidative stress. Experiments were repeated in the presence of the nitric oxide donor Na–nitroprusside. We found that platelets constitutively express GLP-1R and that, independently of GLP-1R, GLP-1(7–36), GLP-1(9–36) and Liraglutide exert platelet inhibitory effects as shown by: a) increased NO-antiaggregating effects, b) increased the activation of the cGMP/PKG/VASP pathway, c) reduced the activation of PI3-K/Akt and MAPK/ERK-2 pathways, d) reduced the AA-induced oxidative stress. When the experiments were repeated in the presence of the antagonist of GLP-1R Exendin(9–39), the platelet inhibitory effects were maintained, thus indicating a mechanism independent of GLP-1R. In conclusion, GLP-1(7–36), its degradation product GLP-1(9–36) and Liraglutide exert similar inhibitory effects on platelet activation, suggesting a potential protective effect on the cardiovascular system.
Optimization problems in mobile communication

In one way or another mobile phones have changed everyone’s life. Mobile communication networks made it possible to be connected and reachable even in the most remote places. A lot of research effort has been put lately in the planning and optimization of mobile networks. Network providers as well as users can only gain in efficiency and usability if the algorithmic optimization community provides them with efficient algorithmic solutions to the optimization problems raised by mobile communication networks. In this thesis, we analyze three different algorithmically interesting problems stemming from mobile telecommunication: the base station location with frequency assignment; the OVSF code assignment problem; and the joint base station scheduling problem. We propose a new solution technique to the problem of positioning base station transmitters and assigning frequencies to the transmitters. This problem stands at the core of GSM network design and optimization. Since most interesting versions of this problem are NP-hard, we follow a heuristic approach based on the evolutionary paradigm to find good solutions. We examine and compare two standard multiobjective techniques and a new algorithm, the steady state evolutionary algorithm with Pareto tournaments (stEAPT). The evolutionary algorithms used raised an interesting data structure problem. We present a fast priority queue based technique to solve the layers-of-maxima problem arising in the evolutionary computation. The layers-of-maxima problem asks to partition a set of points of size n into layers based on their non-dominatedness. A point in ddimensional space is said to dominate another point if it is not worse than the other point in all of the d dimensions. We also look at the problem of dynamically allocating OVSF codes to users in an UMTS network. The combinatorial core of the OVSF code assignment problem is to assign some nodes of a complete binary tree of height h (the code tree) to n simultaneous connections, such that no two assigned nodes (codes) are on the same root-to-leaf path. A connection that uses 2−d of the total bandwidth requires an arbitrary code at depth d in the tree. This code assignment is allowed to change over time, but we want to keep the number of code changes as small as possible. We consider the one-step code assignment problem: Given an assignment, move the minimum number
Hyperhomocysteinemia and myocardial expression of brain natriuretic peptide in rats.

BACKGROUND Hyperhomocysteinemia (HHcy) has been linked to impaired left ventricular function and clinical class in patients with chronic heart failure. We hypothesized that HHcy stimulates myocardial brain natriuretic peptide (BNP) expression and induces adverse left ventricular remodeling. METHODS We randomized 50 rats into 5 groups. Groups Co1 and Co2 (controls) received a typical diet. Groups Meth, Hcy1, and Hcy2 were fed the same diet supplemented with 2.4% methionine, 1% homocystine, and 2% homocystine, respectively. After 12 weeks, we measured total plasma homocysteine (tHcy) and BNP in plasma and tissue, and we performed histomorphometric analyses. RESULTS All animals had comparable baseline body weight [mean (SD) 234 (26) g] and total circulating Hcy [4.7 (1.7) micromol/L]. After 12 weeks of treatment, total circulating Hcy increased in Meth, Hcy1, and Hcy2 [27.3 (8.8), 40.6 (7.0), and 54.0 (46.0) micromol/L, respectively] and remained unchanged in Co1 and Co2. Serum BNP significantly increased in 1 of 10 animals in Meth, 3 of 10 animals in Hcy1, and 3 of 10 animals in Hcy2. Median (25th-75th percentile) BNP tissue concentrations in Hcy1 and Hcy2 were 55% higher than in the corresponding controls [Co1 vs Hcy1, 225 (186-263) vs 338 (262-410) pg/mg protein, P = 0.05; Co2 vs Hcy2, 179 (107-261) vs 308 (192-429) pg/mg protein, P = 0.12]. In the Meth group, BNP expression was comparable to that of controls [200 (159-235) vs 225 (186-263) pg/mg protein, P = 0.32]. The percentage of perivascular and interstitial collagen and mast cell infiltration were comparable in all groups, indicating no adverse cardiac remodeling. CONCLUSION Three months of intermediate HHcy stimulated increased cardiac BNP expression that was not accompanied by adverse cardiac remodeling.