Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Recomputing Causality Assignments on Lumped Process Models When Adding New Simplification Assumptions

This paper presents a new algorithm for the resolution of over-constrained lumped process systems, where partial differential equations of a continuous time and space model of the system are reduced into ordinary differential equations with a finite number of parameters and where the model equations outnumber the unknown model variables. Our proposal is aimed at the study and improvement of the algorithm proposed by Hangos-Szerkenyi-Tuza. This new algorithm improves the computational cost and solves some of the internal problems of the aforementioned algorithm in its original formulation. The proposed algorithm is based on parameter relaxation that can be modified easily. It retains the necessary information of the lumped process system to reduce the time cost after introducing changes during the system formulation. It also allows adjustment of the system formulations that change its differential index between simulations.
Modified Algorithm of Encryption and Decryption of Images using Chaotic Mapping

In recent years, the chaos based cryptographic algorithms have suggested some new and efficient ways to develop secure image encryption techniques. In this paper a new approach for image encryption is based on chaotic baker map and chaotic Lorenz map in order to meet the requirements of the secure image transfer. In the proposed image encryption scheme, an external secret key of 128 bit and two chaotic maps are employed. The initial conditions for both maps are derived using the external secret key by providing different weight age to all its bits. The results of experiment show that the proposed image encryption scheme provides an efficient and secure way for real time image encryption and transmission.
Assay of lovastatin containing dietary supplement by LC-MS/MS under MRM condition.

Monacolin K, the active ingredient present in dietary supplement, is a nutraceutical whose health benefits have been widely documented. A fast approach for the assay of lovastatin in both form, lactone and acid, by mass spectrometry is presented. The quantitative assay is carried out by HPLC-MS/MS using the multiple reaction monitoring (MRM) mode and simvastatin and pravastatin as internal standards. The accuracy values ranged from 97 to 101%; the analytical parameters values of LOQ, LOD, recovery and reproducibility, were calculated analyzing fortified samples, confirming the reliability of the proposed approach.
Modeling the Egyptian Stock Market Volatility Pre- and Post Circuit Breaker

Circuit breakers (price limits and trading halts) are regulatory instruments aiming to reduce severe price volatility and provide markets with a cooling off period. The paper investigated empirically, using daily returns of two Egyptian Stock Market indices the Hermes Financial Index (HFI) and the Egyptian Financial Group Index (EFGI) during the period January 1993 - December 2001, the impact of regulatory policies on conditional volatility estimation. The paper examined four models GARCH, EGARCH, GJR, and APARCH under variety of density functions (Gaussian normal distribution, Student-t distribution, Skewed Student-t and Generalized Exponential Distribution (GED)). The empirical evidence provided in this paper confirms Mecagni and Sourial (1999) findings that the symmetric price limits on individual shares failed to dampen volatility in the market. Furthermore, regulatory and/or structural shifts in the market results in different conditional volatility model structure and using asymmetric models for conditional volatility estimation rather than symmetric models provide better results.
Regime-Switching and Long Memory in Systematic Risk: Evidence from Realized Betas of Industry Portfolios

We employ a two-state Markov-switching model, which allows both regime-switching and long memory (fractional integration) in each regime, to explore the dynamic characteristics of the realized beta. We find that the model is superior to the one regime model. The identified regime switches are closely related to the level and volatility of the monthly realized betas, and there are clear similarities between the regimes and well known financial events. The macroeconomic influences have differences across industries in a pattern consistent with conventional expectations. Industry portfolio realized betas are predominantly identified with the low mean, low volatility regime. Finally, our results show that the two-state Markov-switching model is better than a single regime model in fitting the dynamics of the ex post monthly realized betas for all twelve industry portfolios. Our empirical findings on realized beta have important implications for tests of the conditional CAPM, for use of betas in performance benchmarking and for asset allocation decisions of portfolio managers.
‘2TM proteins’: an antigenically diverse superfamily with variable functions and export pathways

Malaria is a disease that affects millions of people annually. An intracellular habitat and lack of protein synthesizing machinery in erythrocytes pose numerous difficulties for survival of the human pathogen Plasmodium falciparum. The parasite refurbishes the infected red blood cell (iRBC) by synthesis and export of several proteins in an attempt to suffice its metabolic needs and evade the host immune response. Immune evasion is largely mediated by surface display of highly polymorphic protein families known as variable surface antigens. These include the two trans-membrane (2TM) superfamily constituted by multicopy repetitive interspersed family (RIFINs), subtelomeric variable open reading frame (STEVORs) and Plasmodium falciparum Maurer’s cleft two trans-membrane proteins present only in P. falciparum and some simian infecting Plasmodium species. Their hypervariable region flanked by 2TM domains exposed on the iRBC surface is believed to generate antigenic diversity. Though historically named “2TM superfamily,” several A-type RIFINs and some STEVORs assume one trans-membrane topology. RIFINs and STEVORs share varied functions in different parasite life cycle stages like rosetting, alteration of iRBC rigidity and immune evasion. Additionally, a member of the STEVOR family has been implicated in merozoite invasion. Differential expression of these families in laboratory strains and clinical isolates propose them to be important for host cell survival and defense. The role of RIFINs in modulation of host immune response and presence of protective antibodies against these surface exposed molecules in patient sera highlights them as attractive targets of antimalarial therapies and vaccines. 2TM proteins are Plasmodium export elements positive, and several of these are exported to the infected erythrocyte surface after exiting through the classical secretory pathway within parasites. Cleaved and modified proteins are trafficked after packaging in vesicles to reach Maurer’s clefts, while information regarding delivery to the iRBC surface is sparse. Expression and export timing of the RIFIN and Plasmodium falciparum erythrocyte membrane protein1 families correspond to each other. Here, we have compiled and comprehended detailed information regarding orthologues, domain architecture, surface topology, functions and trafficking of members of the “2TM superfamily. ” Considering the large repertoire of proteins included in the 2TM superfamily and recent advances defining their function in malaria biology, a surge in research carried out on this important protein superfamily is likely.
Modeling software defined security using multi-level security mechanism for SDN environment

Software Defined Networking (SDN) support several administrators for quicker access of resources due to its manageability, cost-effectiveness and adaptability. Even though SDN is beneficial it also exists with security based challenges due to many vulnerable threats. Participation of such threats increases their impact and risk level. In this paper a multi-level security mechanism is proposed over SDN architecture design. In each level the flow packet is analyzed using different metric and finally it reaches a secure controller for processing. Benign flow packets are differentiated from non-benign flow by means of the packet features. Initially routers verify user, secondly policies are verified by using dual-fuzzy logic design and thirdly controllers are authenticated using signature based authentication before assigning flow packets. This work aims to enhance entire security of developed SDN environment. SDN architecture is implemented in OMNeT++ simulation tool that supports OpenFlow switches and controllers. Finally experimental results show better performances in following performance metrics as throughput, time consumption and jitter.
An Efficient Design of Advanced Encryption Algorithm with FPGA

: A FPGA-based implementation of the Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) algorithm is presented in this paper. This implementation is performed using a reconfigurable 32-bit MicroBlaze processor embedded in the FPGA chip using RS232 to interface with PC to obtain a prototyped data encryption/decryption system. The iterative looping approach with block and key size of 128 bits, lookup table implementation of S-box will performed. Simulation results, data summary results will be carried out with previous reported designs.
Intra‐organ biodistribution of gold nanoparticles using intrinsic two‐photon‐induced photoluminescence

Gold nanoparticles (GNPs) such as gold nanoshells (GNSs) and gold nanorods (GNRs) have been explored in a number of in vitro and in vivo studies as imaging contrast and cancer therapy agents due to their highly desirable spectral and molecular properties. While the organ‐level biodistribution of these particles has been reported previously, little is known about the cellular level or intra‐organ biodistribution. The objective of this study was to demonstrate the use of intrinsic two‐photon‐induced photoluminescence (TPIP) to study the cellular level biodistribution of GNPs.
An optimal estimation of feet contact distributed normal reaction forces of walking bipeds

The motion of a walking biped has rich information about the contacts with the environment. This paper presents an optimal estimation method of the distributed normal reaction forces at the contact points on the feet soles of walking bipeds. The motion is acquired by employing the inertial measurement unit (IMU) and the joint-encoder readings into Newton-Euler dynamic equations without using any force sensor model. The quadratic programming optimization method is used. The validity of the proposed estimation method was confirmed by simulations on 3D dynamics model of the humanoid robot SURALP while walking.
Beyond Generic Summarization: A Multi-faceted Hierarchical Summarization Corpus of Large Heterogeneous Data

Automatic summarization has so far focused on datasets of ten to twenty rather short documents of mostly news articles. But automatic systems could in theory analyze hundreds of documents from a range of sources and provide an overview to the interested reader. Such a summary would ideally present the most general issues in a specific topic and allow for more in-depth information on specific aspects within said topic. In this paper, we present a new approach for creating hierarchical summarization corpora by first, extracting relevant content from large, heterogeneous document collections using crowdsourcing and second, ordering the relevant information hierarchically by trained annotators. Our resulting corpus can be used to develop and evaluate hierarchical summarization systems.
A strategy to find novel candidate anti-Alzheimer’s disease drugs by constructing interaction networks between drug targets and natural compounds in medical plants

Background Alzheimer’ disease (AD) is an ultimately fatal degenerative brain disorder that has an increasingly large burden on health and social care systems. There are only five drugs for AD on the market, and no new effective medicines have been discovered for many years. Chinese medicinal plants have been used to treat diseases for thousands of years, and screening herbal remedies is a way to develop new drugs. Methods We used molecular docking to screen 30,438 compounds from Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) against a comprehensive list of AD target proteins. TCM compounds in the top 0.5% of binding affinity scores for each target protein were selected as our research objects. Structural similarities between existing drugs from DrugBank database and selected TCM compounds as well as the druggability of our candidate compounds were studied. Finally, we searched the CNKI database to obtain studies on anti-AD Chinese plants from 2007 to 2017, and only clinical studies were included. Results A total of 1,476 compounds (top 0.5%) were selected as drug candidates. Most of these compounds are abundantly found in plants used for treating AD in China, especially the plants from two genera Panax and Morus. We classified the compounds by single target and multiple targets and analyzed the interactions between target proteins and compounds. Analysis of structural similarity revealed that 17 candidate anti-AD compounds were structurally identical to 14 existing approved drugs. Most of them have been reported to have a positive effect in AD. After filtering for compound druggability, we identified 11 anti-AD compounds with favorable properties, seven of which are found in anti-AD Chinese plants. Of 11 anti-AD compounds, four compounds 5,862, 5,863, 5,868, 5,869 have anti-inflammatory activity. The compound 28,814 mainly has immunoregulatory activity. The other six compounds have not yet been reported for any biology activity at present. Discussion Natural compounds from TCM provide a broad prospect for the screening of anti-AD drugs. In this work, we established networks to systematically study the connections among natural compounds, approved drugs, TCM plants and AD target proteins with the goal of identifying promising drug candidates. We hope that our study will facilitate in-depth research for the treatment of AD in Chinese medicine.
Handling Big Data and Sensitive Data Using EUDAT’s Generic Execution Framework and the WebLicht Workflow Engine.

Web-based tools and workﬂow engines can often not be applied to data with restrictive property rights and to big data. In both cases, it is better to move the tools to the data rather than having the data travel to the tools. In this paper, we report on the progress to bring together the CLARIN-based WebLicht workﬂow engine with the EUDAT-based Generic Execution Framework to address this issue.
Mediating Justice: Women’s Perceptions of Fairness in the Civil Protection Order Process

Mediation use has grown rapidly in the past few decades as an efficacious method of civil dispute resolution. However, early research suggests that civil mediation may cause further harm to victims of intimate partner abuse because, based on the inherent power dynamics of abusive relationships, they are not able to effectively advocate on their own behalf. In addition, organizational efficiency concerns have led to the development of consent processes for civil protection orders (POs). However, research has yet to examine the extent to which victims of intimate partner violence who take part in these consent processes perceive the process and associated outcomes as fair. Using qualitative data (N = 19 interviews) collected from women who sought civil POs through Family Court in Delaware, this research finds that the consent process and women’s interactions with mediators reproduce power inequalities that are inherent in cases of intimate partner abuse, which shape their perceptions of fairness in the PO process and outcomes. Victims being silenced and disempowered throughout the consent process results in cumulative effects—similar tactics used by batterers—which continue to leave victims vulnerable. In addition, the power asymmetry victims experience in abusive relationships is replicated by the legal institution and court structure in terms of not having access to attorneys, not receiving guidance and advocacy, and, at times, experiencing insensitive treatment. Thus, this study provides insight into the inequalities present within the PO consent process that can create further harm to victims.
Pharmacognostic Evaluation of Polyherbal Marketed Formulation *

Marketed polyherbal tablet contain Shankhpushpi and Brahmi main ingredient. The polyherbal formulation widely used in Ayurvedic clinical practice to improve the memory and intellect by their action . There is no modern methods of standardization was not reported for analysis of this formulation. Hence the study highlights the physiochemical characterization, dissolution, stability and HPLC profiling which can be applied for authentification of this polyherbal formulation. The polyherbal tablet contain a Shankhpushpi (Evovoulous alsinoide), Brahmi (Centela asiatica),Gulab (Rosa centiofolia),Vaj (Acorous calamous ) . The main ingredients authenticated botanically . Ayurvedic polyherbal tablet formulation subjected to standardization according to official guideline. The standardization of the formulation was carried out as per official guidelines in which the polyherbal tablet formulation was subjected physiochemical characterization Standardization parameter would serve as the identity of this polyherbal formulation.HPLC fingerprinting profile was developed serve as fingerprint for the identification of the formulation. The proposed method for standardization of polyherbal formulation is simple, rapid and effective method . The developed quality standard can be used as quality check for polyherbal formulation. Key word: Ayurvedic polyherbal formulation, Standardization, HPLC
Thermoelectric Array Sensors with Selective Combustion Catalysts for Breath Gas Monitoring

Inflammable breath gases such as H2 and CH4 are used as bio markers for monitoring the condition of the colon. However, their typical concentrations of below 100 ppm pose sensitivity and selectivity challenges to current gas sensing systems without the use of chromatography. We fabricated a compact, gas-selective thermoelectric array sensor (TAS) that uses micro-machined sensor devices with three different combustion catalysts to detect gases such as H2, CO, and CH4 in breath. Using Pt/Pt-W thin-film micro-heater meanders, Pd/Al2O3, Pt,Pd,Au/Co3O4, and Pt/Al2O3 catalysts were heated to 320, 200, and 125 °C, respectively, and the gas sensing performances of the TAS for each gas and for a model breath gas mixture of 100 ppm H2, 25 ppm CO, 50 ppm CH4, and 199 ppm CO2 in air were investigated. Owing to its high catalyst temperature, the Pd/Al2O3 catalyst burned all three gases, while the Pt,Pd,Au/Co3O4 burned CO and H2 and the Pt/Al2O3 burned H2 selectively. To calibrate the gas concentration of the mixture gas without the use of a gas separation tool, linear discriminant analysis was applied to measure the sensing performance of TAS. To enhance the gas selectivity against H2, a double catalyst structure was integrated into the TAS sensor.
Intimate Relationships and Attitudes Toward Celebrities

Previous research indicates that persons who self-report a high level of preoccupation with celebrities tend to have lower levels of well-being. We administered the “Romantic Partner Conflict Scale”, the “Love Attitudes Scale”, the soulmate subscale from the “Relationship Theories Questionnaire”, and the anxiety subscale from the “Experiences in Close Relationships Scale” to 330 students from four universities to see how well scores on these measures would predict scores on each of the three subscales from the “Celebrity Attitude Scale” (CAS). We predicted that persons whose scores on these measures of intimate relationships indicated a troubled, anxious, or poor quality relationship would have higher scores on the CAS, especially on its two problematic subscales. In three multiple regressions, specific measures of behavior during conflict with a romantic partner and certain love styles significantly predicted scores on all three of the CAS subscales. We discuss the implications of being a celebrity worshiper on one’s relationship with an intimate partner.
Test-retest reliability and responsiveness of a Malay tinnitus questionnaire.

INTRODUCTION Tinnitus is a common complaint among patients with ear diseases and can be serious if not treated. Recently, a Malay tinnitus questionnaire, known as the "Borang Evaluasi Soal selidik Tinnitus" (BEST) had been developed and preliminarily validated among Malayspeaking population. The aims of the present study were to determine the test-retest reliability and responsiveness of the BEST questionnaire. METHOD Forty-six Malay adults (aged 23-74 years) with tinnitus were enrolled. They were instructed to fill in the BEST questionnaire accordingly. After one week, 21 of them were asked to fill in the questionnaire again. The other 25 subjects underwent tinnitus intervention for three months and following this; the BEST was administered to them again. RESULTS In the test-retest reliability task, the intraclass correlation values obtained were acceptably high (0.70-0.90). After the intervention, significant differences in the BEST result were found in the mind domain, main domain and composite score (p<0.05) with moderate effect sizes (0.61- 0.70). CONCLUSION The test-retest reliability of the BEST was found to be good. It also showed good responsiveness to intervention. The clinical usefulness of the BEST in assessing patients with tinnitus was further supported by the present study.
Pathogenesis and Immune Response of Crimean-Congo Hemorrhagic Fever Virus in a STAT-1 Knockout Mouse Model

ABSTRACT Tick-borne Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever virus (CCHFV) causes a severe hemorrhagic syndrome in humans but not in its vertebrate animal hosts. The pathogenesis of the disease is largely not understood due to the lack of an animal model. Laboratory animals typically show no overt signs of disease. Here, we describe a new small-animal model to study CCHFV pathogenesis that manifests clinical disease, similar to that seen in humans, without adaptation of the virus to the host. Our studies revealed that mice deficient in the STAT-1 signaling molecule were highly susceptible to infection, succumbing within 3 to 5 days. After CCHFV challenge, mice exhibited fever, leukopenia, thrombocytopenia, and highly elevated liver enzymes. Rapid viremic dissemination and extensive replication in visceral organs, mainly in liver and spleen, were associated with prominent histopathologic changes in these organs. Dramatically elevated proinflammatory cytokine levels were detected in the blood of the animals, suggestive of a cytokine storm. Immunologic analysis revealed delayed immune cell activation and intensive lymphocyte depletion. Furthermore, this study also demonstrated that ribavirin, a suggested treatment in human cases, protects mice from lethal CCHFV challenge. In conclusion, our data demonstrate that the interferon response is crucial in controlling CCHFV replication in this model, and this is the first study that offers an in-depth in vivo analysis of CCHFV pathophysiology. This new mouse model exhibits key features of fatal human CCHF, proves useful for the testing of therapeutic strategies, and can be used to study virus attenuation.