Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Comparative Proteomic Analysis of Yak Follicular Fluid during Estrus

The breeding of yaks is highly seasonal, there are many crucial proteins involved in the reproduction control program, especially in follicular development. In order to isolate differential proteins between mature and immature follicular fluid (FF) of yak, the FF from yak follicles with different sizes were sampled respectively, and two-dimensional gel electrophoresis (2-DE) of the proteins was carried out. After silver staining, the Image Master 2D platinum software was used for protein analysis and matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization time of flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF-MS) was performed for differential protein identification. The expression level of transferrin and enolase superfamily member 1 (ENOSF1) was determined by Western blotting for verification analysis. The results showed that 2-DE obtained an electrophoresis map of proteins from mature and immature yak FF with high resolution and repeatability. A comparison of protein profiles identified 12 differently expressed proteins, out of which 10 of them were upregulated while 2 were downregulated. Western blotting showed that the expression of transferrin and ENOSF1 was enhanced with follicular development. Both the obtained protein profiles and the differently expressed proteins identified in this study provided experimental data related to follicular development during yak breeding seasons. This study also laid the foundation for understanding the microenvironment during oocyte development.
Association of active and passive smoking with risk of breast cancer among postmenopausal women: a prospective cohort study

Objective To examine the association between smoking and risk of invasive breast cancer using quantitative measures of lifetime passive and active smoking exposure among postmenopausal women. Design Prospective cohort study. Setting 40 clinical centres in the United States. Participants 79 990 women aged 50–79 enrolled in the Women’s Health Initiative Observational Study during 1993–8. Main outcome measures Self reported active and passive smoking, pathologically confirmed invasive breast cancer. Results In total, 3520 incident cases of invasive breast cancer were identified during an average of 10.3 years of follow-up. Compared with women who had never smoked, breast cancer risk was elevated by 9% among former smokers (hazard ratio 1.09 (95% CI 1.02 to 1.17)) and by 16% among current smokers (hazard ratio 1.16 (1.00 to 1.34)). Significantly higher breast cancer risk was observed in active smokers with high intensity and duration of smoking, as well as with initiation of smoking in the teenage years. The highest breast cancer risk was found among women who had smoked for ≥50 years or more (hazard ratio 1.35 (1.03 to1.77) compared with all lifetime non-smokers, hazard ratio 1.45 (1.06 to 1.98) compared with lifetime non-smokers with no exposure to passive smoking). An increased risk of breast cancer persisted for up to 20 years after smoking cessation. Among women who had never smoked, after adjustment for potential confounders, those with the most extensive exposure to passive smoking (≥10 years’ exposure in childhood, ≥20 years’ exposure as an adult at home, and ≥10 years’ exposure as an adult at work) had a 32% excess risk of breast cancer compared with those who had never been exposed to passive smoking (hazard ratio 1.32 (1.04 to 1.67)). However, there was no significant association in the other groups with lower exposure and no clear dose response to cumulative passive smoking exposure. Conclusions Active smoking was associated with an increase in breast cancer risk among postmenopausal women. There was also a suggestion of an association between passive smoking and increased risk of breast cancer.
Task Decomposition for Communication Computation Overlap to Reengineer a Web-Based System

Overcoming Web code defects, such as nested loops, large multimedia packages, and mixed programming languages by decomposing and then composing program into a set of reusable segments can benefit Web-based system reengineering. However, existing methods seldom meet the needs for correct, reliable, and economical program reengineering process. In this paper, program slicing and program transformations within maintainer's assistant software evolution environment are depicted to decompose and transform Web page source code of a Web-based system, with the purpose for communication and computation overlap. The result presents kinds of overlapped code after decomposition and reengineering achieves a relatively speedy quality when being explored
The Business Rule Approach

Today, a business faces fast changing environments which require frequent adaptations of parts of the business. These adaptations of the business are usually delayed to a great extent by the entailed modification of the business’s applications. Consequently, the business looses much time and money with adapting the applications’ behaviour and therefore cannot keep pace with changing environments. The modification deficiencies commonly result from the distribution of the business logic across the applications. The business rule approach tries to solve these deficiencies. It centralises the business logic and offers the business workers the possibility to modify the business logic on their own. Besides the analysis of the characteristics of the business rule approach, this paper focuses on the consequences of the business rule approach for the development process of applications, the implications on applications, and the advantages and disadvantages for the business.
Peptide tag forming a rapid covalent bond to a protein, through engineering a bacterial adhesin

Protein interactions with peptides generally have low thermodynamic and mechanical stability. Streptococcus pyogenes fibronectin-binding protein FbaB contains a domain with a spontaneous isopeptide bond between Lys and Asp. By splitting this domain and rational engineering of the fragments, we obtained a peptide (SpyTag) which formed an amide bond to its protein partner (SpyCatcher) in minutes. Reaction occurred in high yield simply upon mixing and amidst diverse conditions of pH, temperature, and buffer. SpyTag could be fused at either terminus or internally and reacted specifically at the mammalian cell surface. Peptide binding was not reversed by boiling or competing peptide. Single-molecule dynamic force spectroscopy showed that SpyTag did not separate from SpyCatcher until the force exceeded 1 nN, where covalent bonds snap. The robust reaction conditions and irreversible linkage of SpyTag shed light on spontaneous isopeptide bond formation and should provide a targetable lock in cells and a stable module for new protein architectures.
How Artefacts Influence the Construction of Communications and Contexts during Collaboration in an Agile Software Development Team

This paper reports a cognitive ethnography study on the communication process of an Agile software development team in an industry. The aim of the study is to understand how physical artefacts influence the construction of communications during collaboration. We used a stimulus and response method to uncover correlation patterns of the physical artefact-communication during specific contexts of communications. We found preliminary evidence that the physical artefacts influence the communication process in a mutually constraining relationship with the contexts. In which the context is made up of the teams’ practice that includes how they collaborate, the physical setting, situations, and participation role.
Herbivory and Stoichiometric Feedbacks to Primary Production

Established theory addresses the idea that herbivory can have positive feedbacks on nutrient flow to plants. Positive feedbacks likely emerge from a greater availability of organic carbon that primes the soil by supporting nutrient turnover through consumer and especially microbially-mediated metabolism in the detrital pool. We developed an entirely novel stoichiometric model that demonstrates the mechanism of a positive feedback. In particular, we show that sloppy or partial feeding by herbivores increases detrital carbon and nitrogen allowing for greater nitrogen mineralization and nutritive feedback to plants. The model consists of differential equations coupling flows among pools of: plants, herbivores, detrital carbon and nitrogen, and inorganic nitrogen. We test the effects of different levels of herbivore grazing completion and of the stoichiometric quality (carbon to nitrogen ratio, C:N) of the host plant. Our model analyses show that partial feeding and plant C:N interact because when herbivores are sloppy and plant biomass is diverted to the detrital pool, more mineral nitrogen is available to plants because of the stoichiometric difference between the organisms in the detrital pool and the herbivore. This model helps to identify how herbivory may feedback positively on primary production, and it mechanistically connects direct and indirect feedbacks from soil to plant production.
Electric bus battery-swapping system based on robots

Electric Vehicle which could save energy and protect environment, is an important part of strong smart grid and will be the trend of automotive industry in the future. Nowadays, battery-swapping is the main method of EV charging. In this paper, electric bus battery-swapping system based on robots which includes cartesian robot, stacker and battery charging bay, is introduced considering mechanical parts and control system. At the same time, the experimental data and advanced techniques of the battery swap system are introduced finally.
White matter biomarkers from fast protocols using axially symmetric diffusion kurtosis imaging

White matter tract integrity (WMTI) can characterize brain microstructure in areas with highly aligned fiber bundles. Several WMTI biomarkers have now been validated against microscopy and provided promising results in studies of brain development and aging, as well as in a number of brain disorders. Currently, WMTI is mostly used in dedicated animal studies and clinical studies of slowly progressing diseases, and has not yet emerged as a routine clinical tool. To this end, a less data intensive experimental method would be beneficial by enabling high resolution validation studies, and ease clinical applications by speeding up data acquisition compared with typical diffusion kurtosis imaging (DKI) protocols utilized as part of WMTI imaging.
Channel adaptive pulse shaping for OQAM-OFDM systems

Theory predicts a gain in transmission performance, when adapting pulse shapes of Offset Quadrature Amplitude Modulation (OQAM) Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) systems to delay and Doppler spread in doubly-dispersive channels. Here we investigate the quantitative gains in reconstruction quality and bit error rate (BER) with respect to subcarrier spacing and channel properties. It is shown that it is possible to reduce the uncoded BER by a factor of more than two and the coded BER by a factor of at least four, utilizing only two different pulse shapes. The simulation results show that channel adaptive pulse shaping for OQAM-OFDM systems is a promising concept for future mobile communication systems.
Activities people with cognitive deficits want to continue mastering – A scoping study

Introduction To date, potential difficulties that people with cognitive deficits meet in everyday life are relatively well known, but in which activities mastery is desired, and why, is less researched. The aim of this study was to develop deeper knowledge about activities that people with cognitive deficits want to continue mastering in everyday life and the reasons why these activities were desired. Method In the frame of a scoping study, articles were gathered and charted. Sixteen qualitative studies were selected as meeting the aim of the study and analyzed with a descriptive-interpretative method. Findings The analysis of the studies showed that the desired activities conveyed social values or independence, supported significant roles, diminished negative influence on other people, and increased health and safety. Linkages, in the form of dependencies between the desired activities, were also identified. Conclusion When planning for interventions for facilitating everyday activities, for example with technology, it is beneficial to consider both safety and values that are more closely related to meaningfulness and wellbeing. Most difficult activities were identified as hindering outdoor activities, and targeting those activities might be most valuable for enabling active everyday lives for this group.
Modeling and simulations of ECCM of ocean surveillance satellite electronic intelligence

Utilizing passive location technology, the target, such as, Radar, communication transmitter etc, on the sea can be located by the ocean surveillance satellite (OSS). The capability of passive location system of the OSS can be impaired by jammers, and the operational capacity would be damaged. In this paper, the principle and characteristics of passive location technique are analyzed. According to principle of information processing of OSS electronic intelligence (ELINT), the simulation model of electronic reconnaissance satellite is established. Finally, numerical experiments of ECCM of OSS ELINT are conducted. The results prove that the model is effective.
Using the robust design framework and relative abundance to predict the population size of pallid sturgeon Scaphirhynchus albus in the lower Missouri River.

Several population viability models were constructed to aid recovery in endangered Scaphirhynchus albus, but these models are dependent upon accurate and precise input parameters that are not provided with standard catch per unit effort (CPUE) indices. Nine years of sampling efforts, under the robust design framework, provided 1223 unique captures with an 18·3% recapture rate. The annual population estimates varied from 4·0-7·3 fish rkm-1 for wild and 8·4-18·4 fish rkm-1 for hatchery-reared S. albus. The relationship between abundance (N) and annual trot-line CPUE indices (x = 70.726y + 2·533, R2 = 0·91, P < 0·001) was used to predict an abundance of 13 616 ± 7142 s.e. S. albus in the lower Missouri River. The use of small-scale intensive sampling to develop a relationship with relative abundance indices reported here, may provide a framework for other fisheries management applications where large-scale intensive sampling is not feasible, but catch data are available.
Stereophonic acoustic echo cancellation and two‐channel adaptive filtering: an overview

Stereophonic acoustic echo cancellation (SAEC), has been studied since the early 1990s. Because of spatial realism, two-channel audio is now becoming more interesting in a number of hands-free applications such as teleconferencing, multi-participant desktop conferencing, and televideo gaming. From a theoretical point of view, SAEC differs considerably from traditional mono echo cancellation since the normal equation to be solved by the adaptive algorithm is singular. Of course, this also affects the practical considerations that have to be made when designing a SAEC system, e.g. choice of adaptive algorithm. This paper reviews the basic theory behind SAEC, solutions to the singularity problem, and a number of classical two-channel adaptive algorithms suited to the problem. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Small Molecule DFPM Derivative-Activated Plant Resistance Protein Signaling in Roots Is Unaffected by EDS1 Subcellular Targeting Signal and Chemical Genetic Isolation of victr R-Protein Mutants

The small molecule DFPM ([5-(3,4-dichlorophenyl)furan-2-yl]-piperidine-1-ylmethanethione) was recently shown to trigger signal transduction via early effector-triggered immunity signaling genes including EDS1 and PAD4 in Arabidopsis thaliana accession Col-0. Chemical genetic analyses of A. thaliana natural variants identified the plant Resistance protein-like Toll/Interleukin1 Receptor (TIR)-Nucleotide Binding (NB)-Leucine-Rich Repeat (LRR) protein VICTR as required for DFPM-mediated root growth arrest. Here a chemical genetic screen for mutants which disrupt DFPM-mediated root growth arrest in the Col-0 accession identified new mutant alleles of the TIR-NB-LRR gene VICTR. One allele, victr-6, carries a Gly216-to-Asp mutation in the Walker A domain supporting an important function of the VICTR nucleotide binding domain in DFPM responses consistent with VICTR acting as a canonical Resistance protein. The essential nucleo-cytoplasmic regulator of TIR-NB-LRR-mediated effector-triggered immunity, EDS1, was reported to have both nuclear and cytoplasmic actions in pathogen resistance. DFPM was used to investigate the requirements for subcellular EDS1 localization in DFPM-mediated root growth arrest. EDS1-YFP fusions engineered to localize mainly in the cytoplasm or the nucleus by tagging with a nuclear export signal (NES) or a nuclear localization signal (NLS), respectively, were tested. We found that wild-type EDS1-YFP and both the NES and NLS-tagged EDS1 variants were induced by DFPM treatments and fully complemented eds1 mutant plants in root responses to DFPM, suggesting that enrichment of EDS1 in either compartment could confer DFPM-mediated root growth arrest. We further found that a light and O2-dependent modification of DFPM is necessary to mediate DFPM signaling in roots. Chemical analyses including Liquid Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry and High-Resolution Atmospheric Pressure Chemical Ionization Mass Spectrometry identified a DFPM modification product that is likely responsible for bioactivity mediating root growth arrest. We propose a chemical structure of this product and a possible reaction mechanism for DFPM modification.
Best-effort resource sharing by users with QoS requirements

Communication networks typically provide a basic best-effort service category, in which resources are shared by concurrent users. As no QoS guarantees are provided, a user will submit to best-effort service only if the expected QoS meets some minimal, user-specific, requirements. This results in an inherent conflict of interest among users, which we capture through a dynamic noncooperative game model and investigate its structure and properties. Specifically, we study the operating points of such systems, i.e., their Nash equilibria. First, we investigate the optimal user strategies, which involve a prediction of the evolving system state, and show that they are of the threshold type. We then establish that a Nash equilibrium point exists and is unique. An algorithmic scheme for computing the Nash equilibrium is provided. In practice, rather than making complex predictions, users typically employ simple decision rules, based on what they learn by experience. Interestingly, it can be shown that the Nash equilibrium of the considered system is a stationary point of such learning schemes. Moreover, we demonstrate that the decisions of users which employ such schemes converge to the Nash equilibrium. Finally, we discuss the implications of the study on network design and management.
Higher Groundwater Selenium Exposure Is Associated with Better Memory: A Project FRONTIER Study *

Background: Exposure to elements in groundwater (toxic or beneficial) is commonplace yet, outside of lead and mercury, little research has examined the impact of many commonly occurring exposures on mental abilities during the aging process. Selenium has antioxidant properties as part of the glutathione peroxidase system and may have protective effects on memory abilities. Objectives: To investigate the relationship of groundwater selenium exposure to neuropsychological status. Method: Analysis of data from 484 participants (148 men and 336 women) of Project FRONTIER, a community-based participatory research study of the epidemiology of health issues of rural-dwelling adults and elders. Results: Estimated selenium exposure (current and long-term) was specifically related to memory functioning without relation to other neurocognitive domains. The significant, positive link between selenium and memory (Immediate and Delayed) scores held regardless of APOE4 status as well as when the sample was restricted to only those without cognitive dysfunction. Current selenium was also associated with significantly reduced risk of cognitive decline prospectively. Conclusions: Higher selenium levels were associated with better memory functioning as well as reduced risk of cognitive decline among this community-based sample. Given the antioxidant properties of selenium, and the well-documented link between oxidative stress and the development of cognitive dysfunction and Alzheimer’s disease, additional research is necessary to determine the utility of groundwater selenium monitoring as a potential population-wide prevention effort against Alzheimer’s disease.
Zone specific weather monitoring system using crowdsourcing and telecom infrastructure

Weather monitoring has become a quintessential aspect in a variety of fields. Often the challenge lies in fetching accurate information from the site. Having weather information regarding just a particular city isn't sufficient as the weather changes are brisk. In a large city, weather conditions vary from region-to-region. Zone-specific information is needed during such scenarios. Crowdsourcing can be largely influential in such cases. By acquiring resources from a group of service providers, it can aid in the easy retrieval of weather parameters. The most significant players in this approach are the Telecom Service Providers, who have a pool of infrastructure in the form of towers and grids. This infrastructure can be coupled with wireless weather stations to provide real-time weather data. In this paper, we propose a weather monitoring system which is a confluence of embedded systems, crowdsourcing and telecom infrastructure.
“We Swallowed the State as the State Swallowed Us”: The Genesis, Genealogies, and Geographies of Genocides in Somalia

ABSTRACT This article theorizes both the causes and the consequences of the state-sponsored genocidal campaigns leveled at the Isaaq clan-group, which can be considered as a case of a “forgotten genocide. ” Little is academically known about the various uses of political violence by the Somali State with regard to suppressing armed political oppositions and its repercussions. The article assesses the central significance to the militarized state power to reveal ways in which the Mohamed Siad Barre military regime (1969–1991) unleashed state terror on civilians and argues that the legacy left behind by the regime created unforgivable memories for those who were terrorized during the state terror. By transecting both internal and external dimensions, the article explains the roots of the predatory power and selective genocides that culminated in the communal clan convulsions of the 1990s and how the genocidal campaigns in the North led victims of the violence to resort to secession in Somaliland. Using intelligence reports, ethnographic interviews, and visual evidence to ensure triangulation, backed by author’s direct observations of living in Somalia at the height of the wars, the article provides a nuanced explanation of the legacies of the military regime. Apart from the contribution to the studies of the postcolonial genocides in Africa, the aim of the article is to open up a discussion and debate about what precipitated Somalia’s state collapse to find solutions.