Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
IgM-enriched immunoglobulin (pentaglobin) positively influences the course of post-surgical intra-abdominal infections.

BACKGROUND Polyvalent IgM-enriched intravenous human immunoglobulin (IVIG) preparations are discussed to be beneficial regarding sepsis outcome. MATERIALS AND METHODS Sixty-four patients with abdominal infection were treated with Pentaglobin or Albumin. Serum levels of endotoxin and chemokines were determined. RESULTS Incidence of fever was 19/28 in the pentaglobin and 18/26 in the albumin group, the percentage of days with fever was 34 +/- 26 for pentaglobin and 43 +/- 25 for albumin (mean +/-SD). Procalcitonin levels of the pentaglobin treated patients fell under the upper limit of normal on day six whereas levels of albumin patients remained elevated. CONCLUSION Pentaglobin has a positive influence on the course of post-surgery intra-abdominal infection.
An efficient hardware implementation of Gaussian random number generator

A pair of 32 bit Gaussian Random Numbers (GRaNs) is generated. Box Muller (BM) transformation is widely used for generation of high quality Gaussian Random Numbers in hardware. The BM transformation is a direct method to convert random numbers into a Gaussian random numbers. For the generation of uniform random number skip-ahead linear feedback shift register (SA-LFSR) is used which is given as input to BM transformation. CORDIC algorithm is used for the hardware design of BM transformation. The SA-LFSR does not suffer from correlations since they skip n number of bits at every sample.
Potential benefits of satiety to the consumer: scientific considerations

Foods and dietary patterns that enhance satiety may provide benefit to consumers. The aim of the present review was to describe, consider and evaluate research on potential benefits of enhanced satiety. The proposal that enhanced satiety could only benefit consumers by a direct effect on food intake should be rejected. Instead, it is proposed that there is a variety of routes through which enhanced satiety could (indirectly) benefit dietary control or weight-management goals. The review highlights specific potential benefits of satiety, including: providing appetite control strategies for consumers generally and for those who are highly responsive to food cues; offering pleasure and satisfaction associated with low-energy/healthier versions of foods without feeling ‘deprived’; reducing dysphoric mood associated with hunger especially during energy restriction; and improved compliance with healthy eating or weight-management efforts. There is convincing evidence of short-term satiety benefits, but only probable evidence for longer-term benefits to hunger management, possible evidence of benefits to mood and cognition, inadequate evidence that satiety enhancement can promote weight loss, and no evidence on which consumers would benefit most from satiety enhancement. The appetite-reducing effects of specific foods or diets will be much more subtle than those of pharmaceutical compounds in managing hunger; nevertheless, the experience of pharmacology in producing weight loss via effects on appetite suggests that there is potential benefit of satiety enhancement from foods incorporated into the diet to the consumer.
Molecular Requirements for MHC Class II α-Chain Engagement and Allelic Discrimination by the Bacterial Superantigen Streptococcal Pyrogenic Exotoxin C1

Superantigens (SAgs) are microbial toxins that bind to both TCR β-chain variable domains (Vβs) and MHC class II molecules, resulting in the activation of T cells in a Vβ-specific manner. It is now well established that different isoforms of MHC II molecules can play a significant role in the immune response to bacterial SAgs. In this work, using directed mutational studies in conjunction with functional analyses, we provide a complete functional map of the low-affinity MHC II α-chain binding interface of the SAg streptococcal pyrogenic exotoxin C (SpeC) and identify a functional epitope in the β-barrel domain that is required for the activation of T cells. Using cell lines that exclusively express individual MHC II isoforms, our studies provide a molecular basis for the selectivity of SpeC-MHC II recognition, and provide one mechanism by how SAgs are capable of distinguishing between different MHC II alleles.
VeriFast: Imperative Programs as Proofs

This paper describes the VeriFast prototype program verification tool, which implements a separation-logic-based approach for the specification and verification of safety properties of pointer-manipulating imperative programs. The approach’s distinctive feature is that it combines very good and predictable verification performance with powerful proofs written conveniently as part of the program. We describe the tool’s support for the C language. The paper introduces the tool’s various features by means of a running example of a linked list implementation. A detailed formalization of the core of the approach and a soundness proof are available on the website.
Visualizing vector field topology in fluid flows

Methods for automating the analysis and display of vector field topology in general, and flow topology in particular, are described. By using techniques to extract and visualize topological information, it is possible to combine the simplicity of schematic depictions with the quantitative accuracy of curves and surfaces computed directly from the data. Two-dimensional vector field topology is discussed, covering critical points and time-dependent flows, to provide a basis for the examination of topology in three-dimensional separated flows. Surface topology and separation structures in three-dimensional flows are then addressed. The construction of representations of tangent surfaces that are accurate, as well as efficient to compute and display, is examined, covering tessellation, clipping, and refinement. Locating, characterizing, and displaying three-dimensional critical points are considered. <<ETX>>
Family Work Conflict and Information Security Policy Compliance - An Empirical Study

Using Conservation of Resources Theory (COR), this study investigates burnout’s mediating relationship between family-work conflict (FWC) and information security policy noncompliance (ISPNC). We also hypothesize that both self-control and sanction affects ISPNC. In addition, we examine whether selfcontrol and sanction moderate the relationship between burnout and ISPNC.
Spatial and Color Spaces Combination for Natural Scene Text Extraction

Natural scene images brought new challenges for a few years and one of them is text understanding over images or videos. Text extraction which consists to segment textual foreground from the background succeeds using color information. Faced to the large diversity of text information in daily life and artistic ways of display, we are convinced that this only information is no more enough and we present a color segmentation algorithm using spatial information. Moreover, a new method is proposed in this paper to handle uneven lighting, blur and complex backgrounds which are inherent degradations to natural scene images. To merge text pixels together, complementary clustering distances are used to support simultaneously clear and well-contrasted images with complex and degraded images. Tests on a public database show finally efficiency of the whole proposed method.
Energy Aware Dynamic Routing Using SDN for a Campus Network

Increase in traffic over internet by large number of mobile devices results into high energy consumption on network devices. In this paper, we address the necessity to reduce the energy consumption in a campus network that includes both wired and wireless network devices. Specifically, we propose dynamic link rate adaptation mechanism on Software Defined Network (SDN) switches and control power consumption on Access Points (APs) by using users association to an AP. Moreover, our online flow routing approach dynamically routes user traffic in order to decrease the overall energy consumption of whole network while taking in consideration Quality of Service (QoS), acceptance ratio on forwarding table and link BandWidth (BW) constraints. Our simulation result shows that our approach results in 3.69% less power consumption, and furthermore, there is no congested links nor overflow in flow table as compared to Dijkstra Ant colony Power (DAPower) that has 2 congested links for 150 users in a network, each generating 34 flows.
Elevated Levels of Interferon-γ Production by Memory T Cells Do Not Promote Transplant Tolerance Resistance in Aged Recipients

Immunosenescence predisposes the elderly to infectious and autoimmune diseases and impairs the response to vaccination. We recently demonstrated that ageing also impedes development of transplantation tolerance. Unlike their young counterparts (8-12 weeks of age) aged male recipients (greater than 12 months of age) transplanted with a full MHC-mismatched heart are resistant to tolerance mediated by anti-CD45RB antibody. Surprisingly, either chemical or surgical castration restored tolerance induction to levels observed using young recipients. Based on the strong impact of endocrine modulation on transplant tolerance, we explored the impact of ageing and castration on the immune system. Here we report a significant increase in the percentage of T cells that produce interferon-γ (IFN-γ) in aged male versus young male animals and that the overall increase in IFN-γ production was due to an expansion of IFN-γ-producing memory T cells in aged animals. In contrast to IFN-γ production, we did not observe differences in IL-10 expression in young versus old male mice. We hypothesized that endocrine modulation would diminish the elevated levels of IFN-γ production in aged recipients, however, we observed no significant reduction in the percentage of IFN-γ+ T cells upon castration. Furthermore, we neutralized interferon-γ by antibody and did not observe an effect on graft survival. We conclude that while elevated levels of interferon-γ serves as a marker of tolerance resistance in aged mice, other as yet to be identified factors are responsible for its cause. Defining these factors may be relevant to design of tolerogenic strategies for aged recipients.
Stable Carbon Isotopes Reveal Soil‐Stream DIC Linkages in Contrasting Headwater Catchments

Large CO2 evasion to the atmosphere occurs as dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) is transported from soils to streams. While this physical process has been the focus of multiple studies, less is known about the underlying biogeochemical transformations that accompany this transfer of C from soils to streams. Here we used patterns in stream water and groundwater δ13C‐DIC values within three headwater catchments with contrasting land cover to identify the sources and processes regulating DIC during its transport. We found that although considerable CO2 evasion occurs as DIC is transported from soils to streams, there were also other processes affecting the DIC pool. Methane production and mixing of C sources, associated with different types and spatial distribution of peat‐rich areas within each catchment, had a significant influence on the δ13C‐DIC values in both soils and streams. These processes represent an additional control on δ13C‐DIC values and the catchment‐scale cycling of DIC across different northern landscape types. The results from this study demonstrate that the transport of DIC from soils to streams results in more than just rapid CO2 evasion to the atmosphere but also represents a channel of C transformation, which questions some of our current conceptualizations of C cycling at the landscape scale.
Correction to "The Conformation of Thermoresponsive Polymer Brushes Probed by Optical Reflectivity".

We describe a microscope-based optical setup that allows us to perform spaceand time-resolved measurements of the spectral reflectance of transparent substrates coated with ultrathin films. This technique is applied to investigate the behavior in water of thermosensitive polymer brushes made of poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) grafted on glass. We show that spectral reflectance measurements yield quantitative information about the conformation and axial structure of the brushes as a function of temperature. We study how molecular parameters (grafting density, chain length) affect the hydration state of a brush, and provide one of the few experimental evidence for the occurrence of vertical phase separation in the vicinity of the lower critical solution temperature of the polymer. The origin of the hysteretic behavior of poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) brushes upon cycling the temperature is also clarified. We thus demonstrate that our optical technique allows for in-depth characterization of stimuli-responsive polymer layers, which is crucial for the rational design of smart polymer coatings in actuation, gating or sensing applications.
A Q value-based Dynamic Programming algorithm with Boltzmann Distribution for optimizing the global traffic routing strategy

In this paper, we propose a heuristic method trying to find a good approximation to the global optimum route for origin-destination pairs through iterations until the total traveling time converges in static traffic systems. The overall idea of our method is to iteratively update the traveling time of each route section according to its corresponding traffic volume, and continuously generate a new global route by Q value-based dynamic programming combined with Boltzmann distribution. Finally, we can get the global optimum route considering the traffic volumes of the road sections. The new proposed method is compared with the conventional shortest-path method and the result demonstrates that the proposed method performs better than the conventional method in global perspective.
Paleozoic petroleum systems of Saudi Arabia: a basin modeling approach

The major Paleozoic petroleum system of Saudi Arabia is qualitatively characterized by a proven Silurian (Qusaiba Member, Qalibah Formation) source rock, Devonian (Jauf Formation), Permian and Carboniferous (Khuff and Unayzah formations) reservoirs, a laterally extensive, regional Permian seal (basal Khuff clastics and Khuff evaporites), and four-way closed Hercynian structures. Hydrocarbons found in these systems include non-associated gas in Eastern Arabia and extra light oil in Central Arabia. A basin modeling approach was used to quantify important aspects of the petroleum system. Firstly, seventeen regional wells were selected to establish a reference tool for the three-dimensional (3-D) basin model using multiple one-dimensional (1-D) models. This was accomplished by studying core material from source rocks and other lithologies for thermal maturity and kerogen quality. The major emphasis was on the Silurian section, other Paleozoic intervals and to a lesser extent on the Mesozoic cover from which only few samples were studied. Although vitrinite macerals, solid bitumen, and other vitrinite-like particles were not abundant in most of the investigated samples, enough measured data established valid maturity-depth trends allowing for calibrated models of temperature history. Sensitivity analyses for maturity support the view that thermal boundary conditions and Hercynian uplift and erosion did not greatly influence the Paleozoic petroleum systems. Secondly, a 3-D basin model was constructed using major geologic horizon maps spanning the whole stratigraphic column. This model was used to gain insight into the general maturity distribution, acquire a better control of the model boundary conditions and investigate charge, drainage, migration and filling history of the main Paleozoic reservoirs. The 3-D hydrocarbon migration simulation results qualitatively account for the present gas accumulations in the Permian-Early Triassic Khuff and Carboniferous-Permian Unayzah reservoirs in the Ghawar area. This kind of study illustrates the importance of basin modeling when used with other geologic data to describe petroleum systems. It provides a predictive exploratory tool for efficiently modeling hydrocarbon distribution from known fields. Real earth models can only be described in 3-D as pressure variations and fluid movements in the subsurface are impossible to address in 1-D and 2-D domains.
Exhausted Parents: Development and Preliminary Validation of the Parental Burnout Inventory

Can parents burn out? The aim of this research was to examine the construct validity of the concept of parental burnout and to provide researchers which an instrument to measure it. We conducted two successive questionnaire-based online studies, the first with a community-sample of 379 parents using principal component analyses and the second with a community- sample of 1,723 parents using both principal component analyses and confirmatory factor analyses. We investigated whether the tridimensional structure of the burnout syndrome (i.e., exhaustion, inefficacy, and depersonalization) held in the parental context. We then examined the specificity of parental burnout vis-à-vis professional burnout assessed with the Maslach Burnout Inventory, parental stress assessed with the Parental Stress Questionnaire and depression assessed with the Beck Depression Inventory. The results support the validity of a tri-dimensional burnout syndrome including exhaustion, inefficacy and emotional distancing with, respectively, 53.96 and 55.76% variance explained in study 1 and study 2, and reliability ranging from 0.89 to 0.94. The final version of the Parental Burnout Inventory (PBI) consists of 22 items and displays strong psychometric properties (CFI = 0.95, RMSEA = 0.06). Low to moderate correlations between parental burnout and professional burnout, parental stress and depression suggests that parental burnout is not just burnout, stress or depression. The prevalence of parental burnout confirms that some parents are so exhausted that the term “burnout” is appropriate. The proportion of burnout parents lies somewhere between 2 and 12%. The results are discussed in light of their implications at the micro-, meso- and macro-levels.
Road wetness quantification via tyre spray

Road wetness can lead to a significant loss in tyre traction. Although a driver can easily distinguish between dry and wet roads, the thickness of a water film on the road (wetness) and its impact on the vehicle dynamics are more difficult for a driver to classify. Furthermore, autonomous vehicles also need a graded classification of road conditions. There are known sensors, which are able to classify road conditions, but these are either not able to quantify the road wetness or are not suitable for mass production. Therefore, this work analyses a method to measure the road wetness by analysing tyre spray with plain acceleration sensors at positions like wheel arch liner or side skirt. It discusses influences of vehicle speed, road wetness, tyres, road structure and sensor positioning. The results show that a quantification of road wetness is possible, but it relies on the sum of all boundary conditions.
An Integration Approach for Mapping Field Capacity of China Based on Multi-Source Soil Datasets

Field capacity is one of the most important soil hydraulic properties in water cycle, agricultural irrigation, and drought monitoring. It is difficult to obtain the distribution of field capacity on a large scale using manual measurements that are both time-consuming and labor-intensive. In this study, the field capacity ensemble members were established using existing pedotransfer functions (PTFs) and multiple linear regression (MLR) based on three soil datasets and 2388 in situ field capacity measurements in China. After evaluating the accuracy of each ensemble member, an integration approach was proposed for estimating the field capacity distribution and development of a 250 m gridded field capacity dataset in China. The spatial correlation coefficient (R) and root mean square error (RMSE) between the in situ field capacity and ensemble field capacity were 0.73 and 0.048 m3·m−3 in region scale, respectively. The ensemble field capacity shows great consistency with practical distribution of field capacity, and the deviation is revised when compared with field capacity datasets provided by previous researchers. It is a potential product for estimating field capacity in hydrological and agricultural practices on both large and fine scales, especially in ungauged regions.
Drug-Related Problems Detected in Australian Community Pharmacies: The PROMISe Trial

Background Drug-related problems (DRPs) are a major burden on health care systems. Community pharmacists are ideally placed to detect, prevent, and resolve these DRPs. Objective: To determine the number and nature of DRPs detected and clinical interventions performed by Australian community pharmacists, using an electronic system. Methods: An electronic documentation system was designed and integrated into the existing dispensing software of 186 pharmacies to allow pharmacists to record details about the clinical interventions they performed to prevent or resolve DRPs. Participating pharmacies were randomly allocated to 3 groups: group 1 had documentation software, group 2 had documentation software plus a timed reminder to document interventions, and group 3 had documentation software, a timed reminder, and an electronic decision support prompt. Pharmacists classified DRPs, entered recommendations they made, and estimated the clinical significance of the intervention. An observational substudy that included pharmacies without any documentation software was completed to verify intervention rates. Results: Over 12 weeks, 531 participating pharmacists recorded 6230 clinical interventions from 2,013,923 prescriptions, with a median intervention rate of 0.23% of prescriptions. No significant differences were seen between the 3 groups that used documentation software; as expected, however, the pharmacies that used this software had a significantly higher documentation rate compared to the pharmacies without documentation software. The most common interventions were related to drug selection problems (30.8%) and educational issues (24.4%). Recommendations were often related to a change in therapy (40.0%), and 41.6% of interventions were self-rated as highly significant. Drug groups most commonly subject to an intervention included antibiotics, glucocorticoids, nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs, and opioids. Conclusions: The documentation system allowed for the determination of the frequency and types of DRPs, as well as the recommendations made to resolve them In community pharmacy practice. Use of the software, including its electronic prompts, significantly increased the documentation of interventions by pharmacists.
Molecular cloning and expression of cDNA for mammalian translation initiation factor 5.

Eukaryotic translation initiation factor 5 (eIF-5) catalyzes the hydrolysis of GTP bound to the 40S ribosomal initiation complex (40S.AUG.Met-tRNAf-eIF-2.GTP) with the subsequent joining of a 60S ribosomal subunit resulting in the formation of a functional 80S initiation complex. A rat cDNA that encodes eIF-5 has been isolated and expressed in Escherichia coli to yield a catalytically active eIF-5 protein. The 3.55-kb cDNA encodes a protein of 429 amino acids (calculated M(r) 48,926) with properties that are similar to eIF-5 isolated from rabbit reticulocyte lysates. The deduced amino acid sequence of eIF-5 contains sequence motifs characteristic of proteins of the GTPase superfamily.