Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Development of high-titer retroviral producer cell lines by using Cre-mediated recombination

Retroviral gene transfer is widely used in experimental and human gene therapy applications. We have devised a novel method of generating high-titer retroviral producer cell lines based on the P1 bacteriophage recombinase system Cre-loxP. Incorporation of loxP sites flanking a Neo(r)-SVTK cassette in the proviral DNA allows excision of these selectable markers through expression of Cre recombinase after production of a high-titer producer cell line. The resultant producer line contains a single loxP site flanked by the viral long terminal repeats. Retransfection of this line with the Cre expression vector and a plasmid containing a gene of interest flanked by loxP sites allows insertional recombination of the gene into the favorable preexisting site in the genome and the generation of a new line with a titer equivalent to that of the parental producer cell line. The efficiency of the process is sufficient to allow the generation of multiple new producer lines without the addition of antibiotic resistance genes. We have successfully generated retroviral vectors carrying different genes by using this approach and discuss the potential applications of this method in gene therapy.
Comorbidity between substance use disorders and psychiatric conditions.

AIM To review information relevant to the question of whether substance-induced mental disorders exist and their implications. DESIGN AND METHOD This paper utilized a systematic review of manuscripts published in the English language since approximately 1970 dealing with comorbid psychiatric and substance use disorders. FINDINGS The results of any specific study depended on the definitions of comorbidity, the methods of operationalizing diagnostic criteria, the interview and protocol invoked several additional methodological issues. The results generally support the conclusion that substance use mental disorders exist, especially regarding stimulant or cannabinoid-induced psychoses, substance-induced mood disorders, as well as substance-induced anxiety conditions. CONCLUSIONS The material reviewed indicates that induced disorders are prevalent enough to contribute significantly to rates of comorbidity between substance use disorders and psychiatric conditions, and that their recognition has important treatment implications. The current literature review underscores the heterogeneous nature of comorbidity.
EMMA: A novel Evaluation Metric for Morphological Analysis

We present a novel Evaluation Metric for Morphological Analysis (EMMA) that is both linguistically appealing and empirically sound. EMMA uses a graph-based assignment algorithm, optimized via integer linear programming, to match morphemes of predicted word analyses to the analyses of a morphologically rich answer key. This is necessary especially for unsupervised morphology analysis systems which do not have access to linguistically motivated morpheme labels. Across 3 languages, EMMA scores of 14 systems have a substantially greater positive correlation with mean average precision in an information retrieval (IR) task than do scores from the metric currently used by the Morpho Challenge (MC) competition series. We compute EMMA and MC metric scores for 93 separate system-language pairs from the 2007, 2008, and 2009 MC competitions, demonstrating that EMMA is not susceptible to two types of gaming that have plagued recent MC competitions: Ambiguity Hijacking and Shared Morpheme Padding. The EMMA evaluation script is publicly available from http://www.cs. bris.ac. uk/Research/MachineLearning/Morphology/Resources/.
Modeling and evaluation of tensile properties of randomly oriented banana/epoxy composite

The main aim of this study is to compare the experimentally observed tensile properties of banana/epoxy composite with those obtained using various theories of reinforcement. Models used for the comparison are Hirsch, Halpin–Tsai, Nielson, Bowyer and Bader’s, and Modified Rule of Mixture. Further, the effect of fiber length on the tensile properties of the composite was compared with Bowyer and Bader method. Of the used theories of reinforcement, it is found that Modified rule of mixture predicts tensile properties closer to experimental values and next comes Bowyer and Bader method.
A maturity model for SCPMS project: an empirical investigation in large sized Moroccan companies

In the recent years many studies on maturity model have been carried out. Some refer specifically to maturity models for supply chain and performance measurement system. Starting from an analysis of the existing literature, the aim of this paper is to develop a maturity model for the supply chain performance measurement system (SCPMS) project based on the concept of critical success factors (CSFs). This model will be validated by two approaches. The first is a pilot test of the model in a Moroccan supply chain to demonstrate his capacity of assessing the maturity of SCPMS project and whether it can develop an improvement roadmap. The second is an empirical investigation in large sized Moroccan companies by using a survey to depict whether it can evaluate the maturity of SCPMS project in different industries.
Granular mixing visualization and quantification in a double screw mixer

xxx CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION . 1 1.1 Motivation . 1 1.2 Goal and Objectives . 2 1.3 Practical Applications . 4 1.4 Outline . 5 CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW . 7 2.1 Granular Mixing . 7 2.1.1 Single Phase and Multiphase Flows . 7 2.1.2 Terminology . 9 2.1.3 History of Granular Mixing . 10 2.1.4 Importance . 11 2.1. 5 Granular Rheology . 12 2.1. 6 Mixing Classification . 13 2.1. 7 Mixing and Segregation . 15 2.1. 7.1 Mixing mechanisms . 18 2.1. 7.1.1 Diffusive Mixing . 18 2.1. 7.1.2 Shear Mixing . 19 2.1. 7.1.3 Convective Mixing.19 2.1. 7.2 Rate of Mixing . 19 2.1. 7.3 Particle Property Effects on Segregation . 20 2.1. 7.3. 1 Particle Size . 23 2.1. 7.3. 1.1 Trajectory segregation . 25 2.1. 7.3. 1.2 Segregation by Percolation . 25
Recent Data Sets on Object Manipulation: A Survey

Data sets is crucial not only for model learning and evaluation but also to advance knowledge on human behavior, thus fostering mutual inspiration between neuroscience and robotics. However, choosing the right data set to use or creating a new data set is not an easy task, because of the variety of data that can be found in the related literature. The first step to tackle this issue is to collect and organize those that are available. In this work, we take a significant step forward by reviewing data sets that were published in the past 10 years and that are directly related to object manipulation and grasping. We report on modalities, activities, and annotations for each individual data set and we discuss our view on its use for object manipulation. We also compare the data sets and summarize them. Finally, we conclude the survey by providing suggestions and discussing the best practices for the creation of new data sets.
Australian Breast Health Survey : survey design and preliminary results

Background: The Breast Health Surveys, conducted by the National Breast Cancer Centre (NBCC) in 1996 and 2003, are designed to gain insight into the knowledge, attitudes and behaviours of a nationally representative sample of Australian women on issues relevant to breast cancer. In this article, we focus on major aspects of the design and present results on respondents' knowledge about mammographic screening. Methods: The 2003 BHS surveyed English-speaking Australian women aged 30–69 without a history of breast cancer using computer-assisted telephone interviewing. Questions covered the following themes: knowledge and perceptions about incidence, mortality and risk; knowledge and behaviour regarding early detection, symptoms and diagnosis; mammographic screening; treatment; and accessibility and availability of information and services. Respondents were selected using a complex sample design involving stratification. Sample weights against Australian population benchmarks were used in all statistical analyses. Means and proportions for the entire population and by age group and area of residence were calculated. Statistical tests were conducted using a level of significance of 0.01. Results: Of the 3,144 respondents who consented to being interviewed, 138 (4.4%) had a previous diagnosis of breast cancer and were excluded leaving 3,006 completed interviews eligible for analysis. A majority of respondents (61.1%) reported ever having had a mammogram and 29.1% identified mammography as being the best way of finding breast cancer. A majority of women (85.9%) had heard of the BreastScreen Australia (BSA) program, the national mammographic screening program providing free biennial screening mammograms, with 94.5% believing that BSA attendance was available regardless of the presence or absence of symptoms. There have been substantial gains in women's knowledge about mammographic screening over the seven years between the two surveys. Conclusion: The NBCC Breast Health Surveys provide a valuable picture of the knowledge of Australian women about a range of issues. The present analysis shows significant gains in knowledge and behaviours relating to mammographic screening, while identifying additional areas for targeted improvement, as in the need to better communicate with women about screening and diagnostic services. Further analysis of additional core topic areas (eg., incidence, mortality, risk and treatment) will provide equally noteworthy insight. Published: 14 January 2008 BMC Public Health 2008, 8:13 doi:10.1186/1471-2458-8-13 Received: 12 June 2007 Accepted: 14 January 2008 This article is available from: http://www.biomedcentral. com/1471-2458/8/13 © 2008 Villanueva et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Novel Functionalized Polythiophene-Coated Fe3O4 Nanoparticles for Magnetic Solid-Phase Extraction of Phthalates

Poly(phenyl-(4-(6-thiophen-3-yl-hexyloxy)-benzylidene)-amine) (P3TArH) was successfully synthesized and coated on the surface of Fe3O4 magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs). The nanocomposites were characterized by Fourier transform infra-red (FTIR), X-ray diffractometry (XRD), Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) surface area analysis, analyzer transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and vibrating sample magnetometry (VSM). P3TArH-coated MNPs (MNP@P3TArH) showed higher capabilities for the extraction of commonly-used phthalates and were optimized for the magnetic-solid phase extraction (MSPE) of environmental samples. Separation and determination of the extracted phthalates, namely dimethyl phthalate (DMP), diethyl phthalate (DEP), dipropyl phthalate (DPP), dibutyl phthalate (DBP), butyl benzyl phthalate (BBP), dicyclohexyl phthalate (DCP), di-ethylhexyl phthalate (DEHP) and di-n-octyl phthalate (DNOP), were conducted by a gas chromatography-flame ionization detector (GC-FID). The best working conditions were as follows; sample at pH 7, 30 min extraction time, ethyl acetate as the elution solvent, 500-µL elution solvent volumes, 10 min desorption time, 10-mg adsorbent dosage, 20-mL sample loading volume and 15 g·L−1 concentration of NaCl. Under the optimized conditions, the analytical performances were determined with a linear range of 0.1–50 µg·L−1 and a limit of detection at 0.08–0.468 µg·L−1 for all of the analytes studied. The intra-day (n = 7) and inter-day (n = 3) relative standard deviations (RSD%) of three replicates were each demonstrated in the range of 3.7–4.9 and 3.0–5.0, respectively. The steadiness and reusability studies suggested that the MNP@P3TArH could be used up to five cycles. The proposed method was executed for the analysis of real water samples, namely commercial bottled mineral water and bottled fresh milk, whereby recoveries in the range of 68%–101% and RSD% lower than 7.7 were attained.
Eliciting Multi-Agent Systems Intentionality: from Language Extended Lexicon to i* Models

MAS methods still lack coverage to the goal elicitation process, especially on how to identify goals from corporate information, mission statements and from interviews with stakeholders. Only after eliciting goals we will be able to properly deal with goal models. On the other hand, intentionality models, for example the i* framework, are, usually, complex and difficult to read. By contrast, this paper proposes an indirect inquire process that can identify goals in a bottom-up and simple elicitation approach together with a proposal to reduce the problem of scalability of i* models.
A stake in the issue of homelessness: identifying values of interest for design in online communities

Social media has the potential to impact how traditionally marginalized and geographically disparate communities, such as the homeless, connect with each other and social services online. However, little is known about how best to support these interactions through designing new information and communication technologies or by enhancing existing ones. Considering the values of stakeholders in an online community before embarking on design is one increasingly utilized step in designing for, by, and with traditionally disenfranchised communities. Current values-based design methods emphasize face-to-face interactions, but online interactions also provide spaces to elicit and consider values. This paper synthesizes the results of three studies into a suite of methods for eliciting shared values and conflicting values in online communities. This paper also contributes a survey-based tool containing value portraits as a first step towards implementing these methods. These methods for identifying values of interest to design contribute to a growing body of tools that support values researchers and designers in explicating values prior to, during, and in the evaluation of the design of ICTs.
A Spatial Contrast Retina With On-Chip Calibration for Neuromorphic Spike-Based AER Vision Systems

We present a 32 times 32 pixels contrast retina microchip that provides its output as an address event representation (AER) stream. Spatial contrast is computed as the ratio between pixel photocurrent and a local average between neighboring pixels obtained with a diffuser network. This current-based computation produces an important amount of mismatch between neighboring pixels, because the currents can be as low as a few pico-amperes. Consequently, a compact calibration circuitry has been included to trimm each pixel. Measurements show a reduction in mismatch standard deviation from 57% to 6.6% (indoor light). The paper describes the design of the pixel with its spatial contrast computation and calibration sections. About one third of pixel area is used for a 5-bit calibration circuit. Area of pixel is 58 mum times 56 mum , while its current consumption is about 20 nA at 1-kHz event rate. Extensive experimental results are provided for a prototype fabricated in a standard 0.35-mum CMOS process.
Innovative SU-8 Lithography Techniques and Their Applications

SU-8 has been widely used in a variety of applications for creating structures in micro-scale as well as sub-micron scales for more than 15 years. One of the most common structures made of SU-8 is tall (up to millimeters) high-aspect-ratio (up to 100:1) 3D microstructure, which is far better than that made of any other photoresists. There has been a great deal of efforts in developing innovative unconventional lithography techniques to fully utilize the thick high aspect ratio nature of the SU-8 photoresist. Those unconventional lithography techniques include inclined ultraviolet (UV) exposure, back-side UV exposure, drawing lithography, and moving-mask UV lithography. In addition, since SU-8 is a negative-tone photoresist, it has been a popular choice of material for multiple-photon interference lithography for the periodic structure in scales down to deep sub-microns such as photonic crystals. These innovative lithography techniques for SU-8 have led to a lot of unprecedented capabilities for creating unique micro- and nano-structures. This paper reviews such innovative lithography techniques developed in the past 15 years or so.
Properties of rice husk‐HDPE composites after exposure to thermo‐treatment

Natural fiber reinforced thermo-plastic composite, with its often-excellent properties, is well known as a material for external flooring and landscaping. Thermo-treatment is considered as a method to improve the mechanical properties of these composites; however, oxidation might occur. In this article, thermo-treatment is applied to a rice husk reinforced high density polyethylene (RH-HDPE) composite. Variations in the mechanical properties, color, mass, and chemical constituents of the RH-HDPE composite after thermo-treatment were investigated. The results indicated that, with the extension of thermo-treatment time, the color of the composites darkened; the composites underwent a gradual mass loss; during the early stages of thermo-treatment the composite's flexural properties increased, and then remained stable after 128 h of treatment. Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy analysis showed wood indices of the RH-HDPE composite decreased, indicating thermo-degradation occurred during thermo-treatment. Wide angle X-ray diffraction (WAXD) results indicated an increased crystallinity of the RH-HDPE composite in the first 128 h of thermo-treatment, and increased crystalline grain size in the first 64 h of thermo-treatment. Appropriate thermo-treatment is essential to improve the mechanical properties of RH-HDPE composites. POLYM. COMPOS. , 35:2180–2186, 2014. © 2014 Society of Plastics Engineers
Metastable photoenhanced thermal generation in a‐SeTe alloys

The mechanism of isothermal bulk carrier generation in the dark and the sensitizing effects of prior penetrating illumination and thermal history have been investigated in a composition series of a‐Se:Te alloy films using xerographic techniques. In all cases, thermal generation is characterized by the simultaneous production of free holes and deeply trapped negative space charge. Results suggest that dark carrier generation is controlled by deep native (thermodynamic) defect centers whose population at a given temperature below Tg can be temporarily altered by photo and/or thermal excitation.
New paradigms in information visualization (poster session)

We present three new visualization front-ends that aid navigation through the set of documents returned by a search engine (hit documents). We cluster the hit documents to visually group these documents and label the groups with related words. The different front-ends cater for different user needs, but all can browse cluster information as well as drilling up or down in one or more clusters and refining the search using one or more of the suggested related keywords.
Undeniable threshold proxy signature scheme

The threshold proxy signature scheme allows the original signer to delegate a signature authority to the proxy group member to cooperatively sign message on behalf of an original signer. In this paper, we also propose a new scheme which includes the features and benefits of the RSA scheme which is a popular security technique. Also, we will evaluate a security of undeniable threshold proxy signature scheme with known signers. We find that the existing threshold proxy scheme is insecure versus the original signer forgery. We also demonstrate that a threshold proxy signature suffers from a conspiracy of an original signer and a secret share dealer, and that the scheme is commonly forgeable, and cannot offer undeniable scheme. We claim that the proposed scheme offers the undeniable characteristic.
On the design of device-to-device autonomous discovery

This paper proposes a synchronous device discovery solution for ad-hoc networks based on the observations that time synchronization, along with an FDM based channel resource allocation, can lead to gains in terms of energy consumption, discovery range, and the number of devices discovered. These attributes are important for the success of proximity-aware networking, where devices autonomously find peer-groups over human mobility scales. In this paper, we develop the PHY and MAC protocols to enable autonomous device discovery. Using both simulations and stochastic-geometry based analysis, we validate our design, and argue that there can be significant gains over a conventional Wi-Fi based solution.
On the statistical significance of event-related EEG desynchronization and synchronization in the time-frequency plane

We propose and discuss a complete framework for estimating significant changes in the average time-frequency density of energy of event-related signals. Addressed issues include estimation of time-frequency energy density (matching pursuit and spectrogram), choice of resampling statistics to test the hypothesis of change in one small region (resel), and correction for multiplicity (false discovery rate). We present estimation of the significance of event-related electroencephalograph desynchronization and synchronization (ERD/ERS) in the time-frequency plane. Complete software implementing all the discussed steps is freely available from the Internet at http://brain.fuw. edu.pl//spl ap/durka/tfstat.
Earth-Rock Dam Deformation Monitoring Based on Three-Dimensional Laser Scanning Technology

Three-dimensional laser scanning can obtain the complete geometry information of the dam quickly and accurately, and then achieve the overall deformation monitoring, which breaks the traditional limitation of single point monitoring and local monitoring. In this paper, the complete point cloud data of the dam was obtained by three-dimensional laser scanning technology, and the surface model of the earth-rock dam was constructed by three-dimensional spherical projection surface dam construction algorithm. Then the accurate three-dimensional surface model of the earth-rock dam was acquired, and the first phase of the model as reference model,with different periods of point cloud data collected were analyzed with the reference model to obtain information about the dam deformation.
Concept Hierarchy Memory Model: a Neural Architecture for Conceptual Knowledge Representation, Learning, and Commonsense Reasoning

This article introduces a neural network based cognitive architecture termed Concept Hierarchy Memory Model (CHMM) for conceptual knowledge representation and commonsense reasoning. CHMM is composed of two subnetworks: a Concept Formation Network (CFN), that acquires concepts based on their sensory representations; and a Concept Hierarchy Network (CHN), that encodes hierarchical relationships between concepts. Based on Adaptive Resonance Associative Map (ARAM), a supervised Adaptive Resonance Theory (ART) model, CHMM provides a systematic treatment for concept formation and organization of a concept hierarchy. Specifically, a concept can be learned by sampling activities across multiple sensory fields. By chunking relations between concepts as cognitive codes, a concept hierarchy can be learned/modified through experience. Also, fuzzy relations between concepts can now be represented in terms of the weights on the links connecting them. Using a unified inferencing mechanism based on code firing, CHMM performs an important class of commonsense reasoning, including concept recognition and property inheritance.