Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A generalized theory of DNA looping and cyclization

We have developed a generalized semi-analytic approach for efficiently computing cyclization and looping J factors of DNA under arbitrary binding constraints. Many biological systems involving DNA-protein interactions impose precise boundary conditions on DNA, which necessitates a treatment beyond the Shimada-Yamakawa model for ring cyclization. Our model allows for DNA to be treated as a heteropolymer with sequence-dependent intrinsic curvature and stiffness, yet faithfully reproduces the results of Shimada and Yamakawa for the ring and unconstrained loop. In this framework, we independently compute enthlapic and entropic contributions to the J factor and show that even at small length scales (∼ℓp) entropic effects are significant. We propose a simple analytic formula to describe our numerical results for near planar loops of homogenous DNA, which can be used to predict experimental cyclization and loop formation probabilities as a function of loop size and binding geometry. We also introduce an effective torsional persistence length that describes the coupling between twist and bending of DNA when looped.
Data Storage Research Vision 2025 Report on NSF Visioning Workshop held May 30–June 1

develop a collective vision for future storage research, as well as to prioritize near-term and long-term storage research and scientific investigations. In-depth discussions were carried out at the workshop along four major themes: (1) Storage for Cloud, Edge, and IoT Systems; (2) AI and Storage; (3) Rethinking Storage Systems Design; and (4) Evolution of Storage Systems with Emerging Hardware. The participants especially underscored the need for focused educational and training activities to instill storage system tools and technologies in the next generation of researchers and IT practitioners. Finally, the development of shared, scalable, and flexible community infrastructure to enable and sustain innovative storage research and verifiable evaluation was also discussed. This report presents the findings from these discussions.
An Investigation into Automatic Dynamic Memory Management Strategies using Compacting Collection

This paper describes the design, implementation and performance characteristics of several compacting collectors in the Java Memorymanagement Toolkit (JMTk). Compacting collectors are an important class of collectors used in several production runtimes, including Microsoft’s Common Language Runtime and IBM’s Java Runtime Environment. The development of a strategy using compaction makes an important contribution to JMTk, and provides a platform where side-by-side comparisons between compacting collectors and other important classes of collector can be made. This work should be considered but a first step into the investigation of this class of collectors. It is anticipated that through broadening the set of operations supported by JMTk and Jikes RVM that this work will also allow new classes of collectors to be implemented and compared. Although there was found to be a high cost in performing a compacting collection, it was found to be provide reduced memory fragmentation.
Preliminary experiments on the robustness of biologically motivated features for DNN-based ASR

A perceptually motivated feature extraction method based on mimicking the masking properties of the cochlea has been recently found to provide enhanced performance when applied to conventional speech recognition back-ends. On the other hand, the introduction of Deep Neural Network (DNN) based acoustic models has produced dramatic improvements in performance. In particular, we found that Deep Maxout Networks, a modification of DNNs' feed-forward architecture that uses a max-out activation function, provides enhanced robustness to environmental noise. In this paper, we present preliminary experiments on the combination of these two elements that already show how the DMN-based back-end is capable of taking advantage of these auditorily inspired features making the whole system more robust and also suggesting that human-like representations of speech keep playing an important role in DNN-based automatic speech recognition systems.
Signals and mechanisms for protein retention in the endoplasmic reticulum

ER before being further transported downstream in the secretory system. Polypeptides that fail to fold properly After their co-translational insertion into the ER lumen or never become part of a multisubunit complex are or the ER membrane, most proteins are transported retained within this compartment. It seems that multiple via the Golgi apparatus downstream on the secretory proteolytic pathways exist for purging the ER from these pathway while a few protein species are retained in misfolded products. The cell then performs a ‘quality the ER. Polypeptide retention in the ER is either signal- control’ of neosynthesized peptides, allowing elimination independent or depends on specific retention signals of non-functional proteins. The process whereby polypepencoded by the primary sequence of the polypeptide. tides attain their native structure is directly influenced by A first category, i.e. the newly synthesized polypep- ER-resident molecular chaperones. The latter bind either tides that are unable to reach their final conformation, nascent proteins, next releasing them so that they can are retained in the ER where this quality control gener- exit from the ER, or persistently malfolded and incom
Presentation of a four-quadrant converter based system in traction applications — Reference to modeling, simulation and analysis

This paper describes the development of an improved four-quadrant converter simulation model for AC traction drives. The functions of each of the major components of the system have been analyzed and the parameters of the model have been chosen in a way to enable building the model using IGBT modules with blocking voltage of 3.3 kV. It has also been developed the simulation model of the complete energy circuit and respective control-regulation structure which encompasses: 25 kV traction system, transformer model with magnetic coupling, control and regulation structure, real parameter influence of IGBT module with respect to switching losses and forward losses of IGBT and diode. The model is constructed using SIMPLORER/Schematic graphical simulation platform. Experimental results are also presented to verify the analysis and they have been recorded from the model.
Learning optimal data representation for cross-media retrieval

Cross-media retrieval is an interesting and challenging issue in content-based multimedia retrieval. Cross-media data representation, which is the fundamental problem for cross-media retrieval, is mainly discussed in this paper. First, heterogeneous low-level features are analyzed with Kernel Canonical Correlation Analysis; and then the Laplacian Space is constructed for data representation and correlation estimation; thirdly, multimodal semantic representation is calculated by solving the objective function learned from pairwise constraints. Extensive experiments have validated the proposed methods with encouraging results, and demonstrated the superiority of our method over several existing algorithms.
A novel analytical method for the BER evaluation in optical systems affected by parametric gain

A novel analytical method to evaluate the bit-error rate in optical links where the amplified spontaneous emission (ASE) noise at the receiver is a nonwhite random process is presented. The technique is used to estimate the impact of the nonlinear phenomenon called parametric gain on the performance of a wavelength-division-multiplexed (WDM) system. It is also compared with the Q-factor approximation, showing how this method may lead to significant errors.
New SRCO with explicit current-mode output using two CCs and Grounded Capacitors

A new grounded-capacitor single resistance controlled sinusoidal oscillator (SRCO) with explicit current output using two current conveyors (CCs) and five passive elements is presented. The proposed circuit offers (i) independent control of condition of oscillation and frequency of oscillation, (ii) low active and passive sensitivities, (iii) use of both the grounded capacitors (suitable for IC implementation) and (iv) reasonably good frequency stability. The workability of the proposed configuration has been confirmed by the PSPICE simulations.
Wireless Geographical Data Broadcasting for Urban Intelligent Information Infrastructures ( UI 3 )

This paper proposes using data broadcasting to build urban intelligent information infrastructures. It presents a conceptual framework for integrating cellular network location management into geographical data broadcast to provide efficient location dependent services. Within the context of the proposed framework, the paper then discusses the four major research issues: generic and geographic data broadcasting, location-dependent (continuous) query processing, moving object databases, and mobility management in cellular network.
High-potential Mediators of Drug-Abuse Prevention Program Effects

Cl are mont G rad u ate U n ive rsitY Drug prevention efforts designed by social scientists do not work. Despite billions of dollars invested in prevention, America's drug problem is alive and well. Face it, we have lost the war on drugs. Supply reduction approaches (law enforcement) are effective, but demand reduction (prevention) is hopeless. The most popular drug-abuse prevention program in America today is not effective, and represents the largest waste of taxpayer resources in the history of prevention and health education. These statements and perspectives are part of the popular discourse about drug-abuse prevention at the turn of the century. These and similar claims are commonly voiced in the mass media, by human service professionals working with youth on a day-today basis, in policy arenas, and in the drug-abuse prevention research literature. Given these views and your current thoughts about the effectiveness of drug-abuse prevention, please take a moment and answer the following forced-choice questions: 1. Do drug-abuse prevention interventions work?
Cell scheduling and bandwidth allocation for heterogeneous VBR video conferencing traffic

We first propose a new cell loss scheduling scheme, referred to as the QoS-scheme. This scheme can satisfy different individual quality of service (QoS) requirements of a group of virtual channel connections with minimum required bandwidth. We next derive a simple formula based on Gaussian approximation to allocate bandwidth to heterogeneous VBR video conferencing connections. Comparing the proposed QoS-scheme with the simple last-in-first-out (LIFO) scheme, we find that if the LIFO scheme is adopted as the loss scheduling scheme, developing any more efficient bandwidth allocation algorithms can at most improve bandwidth utilization by about 10%. However, if the proposed QoS-scheme is implemented, an efficient allocation algorithm can improve bandwidth utilization by roughly 20%.
World Crude Oil Markets: Monetary Policy and the Recent Oil Shock

This paper examines the relationship between monetary policy and oil prices within a world oil demand and supply model. Low price and high income elasticities of demand and rigid supply explain high price volatilities and producers' market power. Exchange and interest rates do influence oil market equilibrium. The relationship between oil prices and interest rates is a two-way relationship that depends on the type of oil shock. During a supply shock, rising oil prices caused interest rates to increase; whereas during a demand shock, falling interest rates caused oil prices to rise. Record low interest rates led to high oil price volatility in 2005. Data shows that world economic growth and price stability require stable oil markets and therefore more prudent monetary policies.
Literacy Adolescents and Reading for the 21 st Century

The Alliance for Excellent Education is a national policy, advocacy, and research organization created to help middle and high school students receive an excellent education. The Alliance focuses on America's six million most at-risk secondary school students–those in the lowest achievement quartile–who are likely to leave school without a diploma or to graduate unprepared for a productive future. Based in Washington, D.C., we work to make it possible for these students to achieve high standards and graduate prepared for college and success in life. To inform the national debate about education policies and options, we produce reports and other materials, make presentations at meetings and conferences, brief policymakers and the press, and provide timely information to a wide audience via our biweekly newsletter and regularly updated Web site, www.all4ed. org. His most recent publications include a co-edited volume (with Dorothy Strickland) on professional development, Professional Development for Teaching Reading, as well as many other chapters and articles in professional journals. His research explores the effects of computer technologies on literacy and learning and the acquisition of literacy in first and second languages. School Students. That report contained a call to Congress and the administration to adopt, nationally, four research-based initiatives to dramatically improve the culture and conditions of America's secondary schools. When implemented, we believe that these initiatives will create an academically rich, supportive environment that will help assure that every student—regardless of socioeconomic status or race—graduates from high school with the skills necessary to succeed in college. Nationally, 25 percent of our secondary students are reading at " below basic " levels. Therefore, they are unable to understand or comprehend the advanced material that is an integral part of the high school educational experience. Is it really surprising , then, that only 70 percent of the children who enter the eighth grade actually graduate from high school; that in many urban areas, only 50 percent of students will receive a high school diploma; and that every school day, three thousand students drop out of school, rarely to return? The first of the Alliance's recommended initiatives focuses on these problems, addressing the urgent need to improve the reading, writing, and comprehension skills of our middle and high school students. The Adolescent Literacy Initiative, described in the box that follows, recognizes that the approximately six million secondary school children who read well below grade level have little chance of academic success without …
Effects of nutrient supply and nutrient ratio on diversity–productivity relationships of phytoplankton in the Cau Hai lagoon, Vietnam

Abstract Diversity and productivity of primary producers are known to be influenced simultaneously by resource availability and resource ratio, but the relative importance of these two factors differed among studies and so far only entire phytoplankton communities were investigated which might ignore specific nutrient requirements and stoichiometric plasticity of different functional groups. We measured nutrient availability (DIN, total N [TN], total P [TP]), nutrient imbalance (TN:TP, DIN:TP, N:Pseston), species richness, and abundance of the whole phytoplankton community, as well as those specific for cyanobacteria, diatoms, and dinoflagellates in Cau Hai lagoon in Vietnam. We determined the correlation among these variables, using structural equation modeling. The models applied to the whole phytoplankton community indicated that the nutrient availability (particularly TP and DIN) drove variation in phytoplankton abundance and richness, and that abundance also depended on species richness. The models applied to different functional groups differed considerably from the entire community and among each other, and only a part of the models was significant. The relationship between nutrient availability (mainly TP) and abundance was driven by cyanobacteria, and the relationship between nutrient imbalance (only with N:Pseston) and species richness was driven by diatoms. Remarkably, the positive relationship between species richness and abundance, as consistently observed for the whole phytoplankton community, was only observed for one of the three functional groups (diatoms), indicating that resource complementarity occurs particularly among species of different functional groups. Our results emphasized that nutrient availability (TP and to a lesser extent DIN) as well as nutrient imbalance (albeit only with N:Pseston as proxy) were driving factors for the phytoplankton community in the Cau Hai lagoon and hence alterations in both of these factors leading to a shift in phytoplankton species composition and productivity.
Joint Scheduling and Routing for Ad-hoc Networks Under Channel State Uncertainty

We determine a joint link activation and routing policy that maximizes the stable throughput region of time-varying wireless ad-hoc networks with multiple commodities. In practice, the state of the channel process from the time it is observed till the time a transmission actually takes place can be significantly different. With this in mind, we introduce a stationary policy that takes scheduling and routing decisions based on a possibly inaccurate estimate of the true channel state. We show optimality of this policy within a broad class of link activation processes under certain mild conditions. In particular, processes in this class may be induced almost by any policy, possibly non-stationary, even anticipative and aware of the entire sample paths of the arrival, estimated and true channel processes, provided that it has no knowledge on the current true channel state, besides that available through its estimate.
Active shock noise cancellation with variable step-size algorithms

The study aims to suppress the transient and nonstationary high-SPL (sound pressure level) shock noise. A full-size acrylic model is built up for mimicking the sound field of the control room of a rocket-launching vehicle. For achieving the noise reduction, an adaptive algorithm called the FXLMS is applied to implement the active noise control system. The convergence speed and stability of the FXLMS-type systems depend on the step-size values mainly. They are usually difficult to be decided for fast converging, and keeping the system stable. In the study, the variable step-size algorithms are implemented to automatically select an appropriate step size varying with the system status for desired performance. Experimental results show that the ANC system with the variable step-size algorithm performs well both in complex harmonic and transient high-SPL shock noise environments.
Anesthesia Management of a 20-Month-Old Patient with Giant Unilateral Wilms Tumor

Wilms tumour (WT) (or nephroblastoma) is one of the most common malignant kidney tumors in children. On subsequent stages clinically it is often characterized by abdominal hypertension syndrome, which, in turn, leads to development of respiratory insufficiency. Other symptoms comprise renal deficiency, hypertension, and abnormalities of hemostasis and hemogram. Treatment includes rounds of preoperative chemotherapy and subsequent surgery. We report a case of perioperative management for nephrectomy in 20-month-old patient with a giant unilateral WT. The complexity of anesthesia was determined by the size of tumor, increased intra-abdominal pressure, respiratory deficiency, and hypercoagulation.
Gemstone of human personality: The smile

The science of smiling was initiated by Charles Darwin. He noticed that the causes, consequences, and manifestations of smiling are universal, whereas many other nonverbal body language behaviors such as gesture or touch differ between cultures and are therefore probably learnt. People express their emotions through smile and also it plays an important role in facial beauty. In this article, we will discuss various patterns of smile and factors influencing esthetics of smile.
The General Practitioner's Consultation Approaches to Medically Unexplained Symptoms: A Qualitative Study

Background. The prevalence of medically unexplained symptoms (MUSs) in primary care is about 10–15%. The definition of MUS is descriptive and there are no specific diagnostic criteria for MUS in primary care. Furthermore, a general practitioner's (GP's) categorisation of patients with MUS shows large variation. The aim of the present study is to investigate how GPs employ the definition of MUS and how they manage patients with MUS in daily practice. Methods. With a grounded theory approach five focus group interviews with GPs were performed. The interviews addressed how GPs managed MUS and their reflections on the course and prognosis for MUS patients. Results. Consultations about MUS develop around the individual patient and usually include several appointments. We identified three different types of consultations: (1) “searching for a disease,” (2) “going by the routine,” and (3) “following various paths. ” These types of consultations spanned from a biomedical approach to an approach where multiple explanations were offered to explain the patient's problem. The choice of consultation types was influenced by the GP, the patient and contextual factors which, in turn, affected the diagnostic process. Conclusions. A diagnosis of MUS is contextually embedded and the diagnostic process is shaped by the consultation.
Improving text-independent phonetic segmentation based on the Microcanonical Multiscale Formalism

In an earlier work, we proposed a novel phonetic segmentation method based on speech analysis under the Microcanonical Multiscale Formalism (MMF). The latter relies on the computation of local geometrical parameters, singularity exponents (SE). We showed that SE convey valuable information about the local dynamics of speech that can readily and simply used to detect phoneme boundaries. By performing error analysis of our original algorithm, in this paper we propose a 2-steps technique which better exploits SE to improve the segmentation accuracy. In the first step, we detect the boundaries of the original signal and of a low-pass filtred version, and we consider the union of all detected boundaries as candidates. In the second step, we use a hypothesis test over the local SE distribution of the original signal to select the final boundaries. We carry out a detailed evaluation and comparison over the full training set of the TIMIT database which could be useful to other researchers for comparison purposes. The results show that the new algorithm not only outperforms the original one, but also is significantly much more accurate than state-of-the-art ones.
Comparative experiments to evaluate the use of a CHMM-based speaker identification engine for Arabic spontaneous speech

In this paper, we present a comparative study between two identification engines to identify speakers automatically from their voices when speaking spontaneously in Arabic. The first engine is based on the continuous hidden Markov models (CHMMs) while the second one is based on the artificial neural networks (ANNs). The Mel frequency cepstral coefficients (MFCCs) were selected to describe the speech signal. The general Gaussian density distribution HMM was developed for the CHMM-based engine. Elman network was developed for the ANN-based engine. A series of experiments to evaluate both engines have been carried out using a subset of an arabic database. The identification rate was found to be 100% for both engines during text dependent experiments. However, for text-independent experiments, the performance for the CHMM-based engine outperformed that of the ANN-based engine. The identification rates for the CHMM- and the ANN-based engines were found to be 80% and 50%, respectively.