Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Anaerobic Degradation of m-Cresol by a Sulfate-Reducing Bacterium

m-Cresol metabolism under sulfate-reducing conditions was studied with a pure culture of Desulfotomaculum sp. strain Groll. Previous studies with a sulfate-reducing consortium indicated that m-cresol was degraded via an initial para-carboxylation reaction. However, 4-hydroxy-2-methylbenzoic acid was not degraded by strain Groll, and no evidence for ring carboxylation of m-cresol was found. Strain Groll readily metabolized the putative metabolites of a methyl group oxidation pathway, including 3-hydroxybenzyl alcohol, 3-hydroxybenzaldehyde, 3-hydroxybenzoic acid, and benzoic acid. Degradation of these compounds preceded and inhibited m-cresol decay. 3-Hydroxybenzoic acid was detected in cultures that received either m-cresol or 3-hydroxybenzyl alcohol, and trace amounts of benzoic acid were detected in m-cresol-degrading cultures. Therefore, we propose that strain Groll metabolizes m-cresol by a methyl group oxidation pathway which is an alternate route for the catabolism of this compound under sulfate-reducing conditions.
Cognitive-operative model of intelligent learning systems behavior

In this paper behavior during the teaching–learning process is modeled by means of a fuzzy cognitive map. The elements used to model such behavior are part of a generic didactic model, which emphasizes the use of cognitive and operative strategies as part of the student–tutor interaction. Examples of possible initial scenarios for the teaching–learning process are developed, along with the results provided by the model.
R2R controller design using T-S fuzzy model and Extended State Observer

The wafer quality metrology delay is a very common phenomenon in the semiconductor manufacturing processes. Furthermore, the metrology delay is usually stochastic and time-varying, which will affect the stability and control performance of the control system. In this paper, a new kind of Run-to-Run (R2R) controller based on both Takagi-Sugeno (T-S) fuzzy model and Extended State Observer (ESO) is developed to keep the nominal performance of system. Firstly, a R2R controller based on ESO is presented. Then T-S fuzzy model is used to modify the proposed R2R controller. Stochastic delay is analyzed using the Markov chain theory to get the membership function of T-S fuzzy model. An industrial example of a mixed-product manufacturing process is used to demonstrate the performance of the proposed R2R controller.
Radar network node: Performance analysis and visualization in indoor environment

We present a performance evaluation of the inexpensive security or surveillance system. The system consists of a radar network that creates a virtual fence or invisible barrier. The main focus of this paper is on testing a prototype of the radar network node hardware and software in a cluttered indoor environment. The radar network node operation is a combination of remote sensing by commercially available automotive radar and signal processing techniques for target detection. The goal is to explore the limits of current technology and perform an analysis of the post-processing techniques for target detection and localization. A basic idea of the detection is a comparison between current signal `image' stored in memory and `no-intrusion' reference signal. We investigate how to deal with the challenging problem of signal processing when multipath clutter signals may exceed a level of target signals, and a clutter rejection technique. The developed software with flexible scripting capabilities dramatically simplifies the testing and data analysis. Various experimental measurements show the performance of the radar in range estimation, efficiency of the post-processing algorithms and open up new possibilities for future improvements.
In Vivo Monitoring of Inflammation and Regulation in Type 1 Diabetes

T1D is a tissue specific and T cell–mediated autoimmune disease characterized by the inflammation of pancreatic islets, namely insulitis, resulting in selective destruction of insulin-producing beta islet cells and development of overt diabetes (Atkinson & Leiter, 1999, Bach, 1994, Mathis et al., 2001, McDevitt, 2001, Nepom & Kwok, 1998, Quinn et al., 2001). The onset of T1D is preceded by at least two main inflammatory stages during insulitis development (Bach, 1994, Robles et al., 2003). In the first stage, termed peri-insulitis, a mixed population of leukocytes, including macrophages, dendritic cells, and T cells, migrate from draining lymph nodes to the peripheral space to the islets. In the second stage, the leukocytes further migrate and infiltrate into the islets, resulting in invasive insulitis. Overt T1D will develop when the majority of insulin-producing  cells in the islets are destroyed by the invading leukocytes and insufficient insulin is produced to control blood glucose levels in the body. Among leukocytes that infiltrate the islets, the autoantigenspecific diabetogenic T cells play a critical role in development of T1D. Recruitment or homing of these diabetogenic T cells into the islets is a critical component of insulitis leading to T1D. Thus inhibition of their homing to the islets would prevent the development of insulitis and T1D. Consequently, it is necessary to understand the homing or trafficking behavior of diabetogenic T cells during the formation of peri-insulitis and invasive insulitis. The knowledge gained from studies addressing those questions is imperative to the development of early diagnosis methods and immune modulatory approaches to treat T1D. Due to the low number and frequency of T cells specific for an autoantigenic peptide, it has been difficult to identify and trace autoantigen-specific T cells in animals. We have previously addressed this problem by generating novel MHC class II tetramers that can stain T cells specific for a self peptide recognized presented by the MHC class II molecules such as the I-Ag7 in NOD mice (Liu et al., 2000, Chen et al., 2003, You et al., 2003). Using this approach, we have been able to successfully identify and trace autoantigen-specific T cells, such as the CD4+ BDC2.5 (BDC) T cells. The tissue localization of various T cell populations at any given time point can be identified using techniques such as flow cytometry and immunofluorescence. However, these methods involve an invasive approach requiring tissue removal from animals, and therefore only provide terminal data. As such, these
Prevalence, correlates, co-morbidity, and comparative disability of DSM-IV generalized anxiety disorder in the USA: results from the National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions

Background. This study addressed the prevalences, correlates, co-morbidity and disability of DSM-IV generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) and other psychiatric disorders in a large national survey of the general population, the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism's (NIAAA) National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions (NESARC). The study presents nationally representative data, for the first time, on prevalence, correlates, co-morbidity, and comparative disability of DSM-IV GAD. Method. Data are taken from a large (n=43093) representative sample of the adult USA population. Results. Prevalences of 12-month and lifetime GAD were 2·1% and 4·1%. Being female, middle-aged, widowed/separated/divorced, and low income increased risk, while being Asian, Hispanic, or Black decreased risk. GAD was highly co-morbid with substance use, and other anxiety, mood, and personality disorders. Co-morbidity in GAD was not substantially greater than for most other Axis I and II disorders. Disability and impairment in pure GAD were equivalent to pure mood disorders, but significantly greater than in pure substance use, and other anxiety and personality disorders. Individuals co-morbid for GAD and each mood disorder were more disabled than those with pure forms of GAD or each mood disorder. When co-morbid with GAD, nicotine dependence and other anxiety and personality disorders were not associated with increased disability over that associated with pure GAD, but GAD did show increased disability over that due to each of these disorders in pure form. Conclusions. Associations between GAD and Axis I and II disorders were strong and significant, with variation among specific disorders. Results strongly support GAD as an independent disorder with significant impairment and disability.
Characterization of All Solutions for Undersampled Uncorrelated Linear Discriminant Analysis Problems

In this paper the uncorrelated linear discriminant analysis (ULDA) for undersampled problems is studied. The main contributions of the present work include the following: (i) all solutions of the optimization problem used for establishing the ULDA are parameterized explicitly; (ii) the optimal solutions among all solutions of the corresponding optimization problem are characterized in terms of both the ratio of between-class distance to within-class distance and the maximum likelihood classification, and it is proved that these optimal solutions are exactly the solutions of the corresponding optimization problem with minimum Frobenius norm, also minimum nuclear norm; these properties provide a good mathematical justification for preferring the minimum-norm transformation over other possible solutions as the optimal transformation in ULDA; (iii) explicit necessary and sufficient conditions are provided to ensure that these minimal solutions lead to a larger ratio of between-class distance to within-class d.
α‐Lactalbumin‐enriched low‐protein infant formulas: a comparison to breast milk feeding

Tryptophan (TRP) is the limiting amino acid in low‐protein infant formulas. This is mainly due to lower α‐lactalbumin (αLA) content in cow's milk whey as compared with human milk protein. To study the effect of αLA‐enrichment on the TRP supply, cross‐over studies were carried out in 20 healthy infants up to 3 months of age. In this study, two protein‐reduced (1.3%) infant formulas (moderate TRP content of 1.88% and higher TRP content of 2.10%) were alternately fed over a 2 week period in two groups of infants. Serum TRP levels of the formula‐fed infants with the higher TRP content did not differ significantly from an exclusively breastfed control group of 11 infants (10.5 ±4.8 versus 10.9±4.7mgl‐1, p= 0.841), whereas levels of the formula‐fed infants with the moderate TRP content were significantly lower (7.4 ± 3.9, p= 0.038). The supplementation of αLA resulting in a higher TRP supply to low‐protein diets is a further step towards the production of infant formulas more closely adapted to human breast milk.
Unscented Kalman filtering on Lie groups

In this paper, we first consider a simple Bayesian fusion problem in a matrix Lie group, and propose to tackle it using the unscented transform. The method is then leveraged to derive two simple alternative unscented Kalman filters on Lie groups, for both cases of noisy partial measurements of the state, and full state noisy measurements of the state on the group. The general method is applied to a robot localization problem, and results based on experimental data combined with extensive Monte-Carlo simulations at various noise levels illustrate the superiority of the approach over the standard UKF.
Sulfur mustard toxicity: History, chemistry, pharmacokinetics, and pharmacodynamics

Sulfur mustard (SM) and similar bifunctional agents have been used as chemical weapons for almost 100 years. Victims of high-dose exposure, both combatants and civilians, may die within hours or weeks, but low-dose exposure causes both acute injury to the eyes, skin, respiratory tract and other parts of the body, and chronic sequelae in these organs are often debilitating and have a serious impact on quality of life. Ever since they were first used in warfare in 1917, SM and other mustard agents have been the subjects of intensive research, and their chemistry, pharmacokinetics and mechanisms of toxic action are now fairly well understood. In the present article we review this knowledge and relate the molecular-biological basis of SM toxicity, as far as it has been elucidated, to the pathological effects on exposure victims.
Fermentation Pattern of Infant Formulas Containing Different Prebiotics

Abstract Prebiotics play a role in the development of intestinal flora. When exposed to unabsorbed food, such as prebiotic carbohydrates, intestinal bacteria produce hydrogen. Increases in hydrogen may signify a slower rate of fermentation or digestion. In this blinded, crossover study, infants (n = 13) consumed formula containing either 4 g/L galactooligosaccharide (GOS) or 4 g/L polydextrose (PDX) + GOS, and breath hydrogen was measured. Breath hydrogen was higher in the PDX/GOS group versus GOS alone (mean ± standard error, 25.35 ± 2.87 ppm vs 13.69 ± 2.87 ppm, P = 0.0001). These results indicate that the formula with PDX/GOS may have undergone slower digestion.
Continuing to exercise choice after school selection in Nepal

This paper informs the choice debate by analyzing how parents continue to engage with schooling after their initial selection, using parent survey and focus group data collected in Nepal in 2011. I find substantial heterogeneity within and between public and private schools in how parents engage with their children’s schooling. In particular, the parents who chose smaller private schools had stronger engagement with the school and their children, were more likely to voice their concerns, and consequently were more satisfied. In contrast, parents in below average public schools were highly dissatisfied but had no recourse to action.
Colour based fire detection method with temporal intensity variation filtration

Development of video, computing technologies and computer vision gives a possibility of automatic fire detection on video information. Under that project different algorithms was implemented to find more efficient way of fire detection. In that article colour based fire detection algorithm is described. But it is not enough to use only colour information to detect fire properly. The main reason of this is that in the shooting conditions may be a lot of things having colour similar to fire. A temporary intensity variation of pixels is used to separate them from the fire. These variations are averaged over the series of several frames. This algorithm shows robust work and was realised as a computer program by using of the OpenCV library.
THE STATUS OF WHITE MATTER IN PATIENTS WITH HEMIPARESIS

While attempts have been made to identify the cause and mechanism of motor deficit and subsequent recovery, there are several aspects of hemiparesis, especially in the chronic phase of acquired brain injury, that are still unclear. This study used diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) to study the role of white matter in upper extremity motor function in chronic hemiparesis, especially after administration of an efficacious therapy, Constraint-Induced Movement Therapy (CI therapy). This therapy has been proven effective in treating chronic motor deficit and has recently been associated with structural changes in the gray matter tissue in the brain. The goal of this study was to determine if DTI could identify structural brain changes in white matter of chronic stroke patients with motor deficit. In addition, a small number of patients were given CI therapy in a preliminary study to determine the relation of white matter damage to CI therapy outcome. In eighteen chronic hemiparetic patients fractional anisotropy (FA) values were calculated over the whole brain, before and after either CI therapy or comparison therapy, and tractography was utilized to isolate the CST. Results indicate that in the hemisphere contralateral to a hemiparetic limb there was a significantly reduced integrity of the white matter fibers compared to the ipsilateral
Perceived fairness of pay among people with and without disabilities: a propensity score matched analysis of working Australians.

OBJECTIVES Equity and fairness at work are associated with a range of organizational and health outcomes. Past research suggests that workers with disabilities experience inequity in the workplace. It is difficult to conclude whether the presence of disability is the reason for perceived unfair treatment due to the possible confounding of effect estimates by other demographic or socioeconomic factors. METHODS The data source was the Household, Income, and Labor Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) survey (2001-2012). Propensity for disability was calculated from logistic models including gender, age, education, country of birth, and father's occupational skill level as predictors. We then used nearest neighbor (on propensity score) matched analysis to match workers with disabilities to workers without disability. RESULTS Results suggest that disability is independently associated with lower fairness of pay after controlling for confounding factors in the propensity score matched analysis; although results do suggest less than half a standard deviation difference, indicating small effects. Similar results were apparent in standard multivariable regression models and alternative propensity score analyses (stratification, covariate adjustment using the propensity score, and inverse probability of treatment weighting). CONCLUSIONS Whilst neither multivariable regression nor propensity scores adjust for unmeasured confounding, and there remains the potential for other biases, similar results for the two methodological approaches to confounder adjustment provide some confidence of an independent association of disability with perceived unfairness of pay. Based on this, we suggest that the disparity in the perceived fairness of pay between people with and without disabilities may be explained by worse treatment of people with disabilities in the workplace.
Densely Dilated Spatial Pooling Convolutional Network Using Benign Loss Functions for Imbalanced Volumetric Prostate Segmentation

The high incidence rate of prostate disease poses a requirement of accurate early detection. Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) is one of the main imaging methods used for prostate cancer detection so far, but it has problems of imbalance and variation in appearance, therefore, automated prostate segmentation is still challenging. Aiming to accurately segment the prostate from MRI, the focus was on designing a unique network with benign loss functions. A novel Densely Dilated Spatial Pooling Convolutional Network (DDSP ConNet) in an encoderdecoder structure, with a unique DDSP block was proposed. By densely combining dilated convolution and global pooling layers, the DDSP block supplies coarse segmentation results and preserves hierarchical contextual information. Meanwhile, the DSC and Jaccard loss were adopted to train the DDSP ConNet. And it was proved theoretically that they have benign properties, including symmetry, continuity, and differentiability on the parameters of the network. Extensive experiments have been conducted to corroborate the effectiveness of the DDSP ConNet with DSC and Jaccard loss on the MICCAI PROMISE12 challenge dataset. In the test dataset, the DDSP ConNet achieved a score of 85.78. In the conducted experiments, DDSP network with DSC and Jaccard loss outperformed most of the other competitors on the PROMISE12 dataset. Therefore, it has a better ability to extract hierarchical features and solve the imbalanced medical image problem.
Tourists＇ Awareness and Liking of Outdoor Advertising

Tourism has been a fast growing industry in the world in the past decade. However, research that investigates the effectiveness of outdoor ads targeting to tourists has far lagged behind. This study aims to assess the awareness of outdoor ads and to provide insight into effective advertising that target tourists. Pedestrians intercepted in downtown Hong Kong were surveyed using a questionnaire and quota sampling. They were presented with images of seven outdoor advertisements currently displayed in the neighborhood and their recall and impressions of the ads were surveyed. The survey sampled 465 local residents and tourists aged 15 and above. Among the tourists, the awareness of the seven ads ranged from 19 to 49 percent with an average 30 percent. They displayed more positive perceptions of outdoor advertising than the locals, but had lower awareness. Practical suggestions for outdoor advertisers targeting tourists are proposed.
At home? Discoursing on the Commonwealth at the 1965 Commonwealth Arts Festival

The Commonwealth Arts Festival was staged in Britain in 1965. With the working title of “The Commonwealth At Home”, the Festival was designed, ostensibly, to bring together far flung lands, connected by the legacy of empire, to establish goodwill through culture and the arts. This paper explores the cultural work to which the 1965 Festival was put by advocates and detractors. Looking at archival sources from proposed plans for the London events, committee minutes, festival programmes, and letters, to the staging of the “Verse and Voice” festival of Commonwealth Poetry at the Royal Court Theatre in London, the paper fleshes out some of the rationales and motivations for the event, examines tropes and metaphors used, and also situates the events within the context of recently passed British anti-immigration laws. The paper argues that who the Commonwealth was for — its locus and its meaning — can be excavated from the geo-political tropic deployment of space in its discoursing. In particular, the depiction of what was imagined as being at home and what was represented as distant lands tells revealing stories of disavowal for an empire (and a colonial legacy) that occurred somewhere else and to someone else; in this manner, Britain’s “fit of absence of mind” also became a way of disposing of unwanted histories.
Investigation of lattice-free maximum mutual information-based acoustic models with sequence-level Kullback-Leibler divergence

Lattice-free maximum mutual information (LFMMI) was recently proposed as a mixture of the ideas of hidden-Markov-model-based acoustic models (AMs) and connectionist-temporal-classification-based AMs. In this paper, we investigate LFMMI from various perspectives of model combination, teacher-student training, and unsupervised speaker adaptation. Especially, we thoroughly investigate the use of the “sequence-level” Kullback-Leibler divergence with its novel and simple error derivation to enhance LFMMI-based AMs. In our experiment, we used the corpus of spontaneous Japanese (CSJ). Our best AM was an ensemble of three types of time delay neural networks and one long short-term memory-based network, and it finally achieved a WER of 6.94%, which is, to the best of our knowledge, the best published result for the CSJ.