Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Microbial community changes during the start-up of an anaerobic/aerobic/anoxic-type sequencing batch reactor

An anaerobic/aerobic/anoxic-type sequencing batch reactor was started up during a summer rainy season to obtain enhanced biological phosphorus removal (EBPR), and its sludge microbial community was also monitored in the hope of observing the microbial community evolution of polyphosphate-accumulating organisms (PAOs). During the start-up process, a total of 17 bands of highest species richness were detected in the sludge microbial community, including Alpha-, Beta-, and Gamma- Proteobacteria, as well as Actinobacteria and Planctomycetes. Major microbial community structural change was observed in Rhodocyclus-related and Acinetobacter-related PAOs, glycogen-accumulating organisms (GAOs), and Actinobacteria. In contrast to the current belief that enrichment of PAOs is essential for the establishment of EBPR, PAOs were not favourably enriched in this study. Instead, Actinobacteria and GAOs overwhelmingly flourished. The overall conclusion of this study challenges the conventional view that EBPR cannot live without traditional PAOs. However, it suggests an non-negligible role of denitrifying phosphorus-accumulating bacteria in EBPR systems, as well as other uncultured bacteria.
Homer, The Archaeology of Crete and the ‘Tomb of Meriones’ at Knossos

Abstract Homeric archaeology long dominated the study of early Greece, but new approaches have recently revolutionized the field. Drawing from these approaches, I offer a regional and diachronic analysis of Homeric stories about Crete, an assessment of the reception of these stories by the island's inhabitants throughout antiquity and an account of their impact on medieval to modern literature and art. I find that Cretan interest in Homer peaks in the Hellenistic period, but also argue for the much earlier familiarity of some Cretans with stories that underlie the Homeric epics. This argument relies on an analysis of the archaeological assemblage of a Knossian tomb of the 11th century BC, which includes a range of arms that is exceptional for both Aegean archaeology and the Homeric epics. In the epics, this equipment is carried by the Knossian hero Meriones, whose poetic persona can be traced back to the Late Bronze Age on philological and linguistic grounds. Based on this, and on current understandings of performance at death, I argue that the Knossian burial assemblage was staged to reference the persona of Meriones, therefore suggesting the familiarity of some Cretans with early stories that eventually filtered into the Homeric epics.
Is an Efficient Inhibitor of NEDD 8 Conjugation in Plants 1 [ C ] [ W ] [ OA ]

The conjugation of the ubiquitin-like modifier NEURAL PRECURSOR CELL-EXPRESSED DEVELOPMENTALLY DOWNREGULATED PROTEIN8/RELATED TO UBIQUITIN1 (NEDD8/RUB1; neddylation) is best known as an important posttranslational modification of the cullin subunits of cullin-RING-type E3 ubiquitin ligases (CRLs). MLN4924 has recently been described as an inhibitor of NEDD8-ACTIVATING ENZYME1 (NAE1) in human. Here, we show that MLN4924 is also an effective and specific inhibitor of NAE1 enzymes from Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) and other plant species. We found that MLN4924-treated wild-type seedlings have phenotypes that are highly similar to phenotypes of mutants with a partial defect in neddylation and that such neddylation-defective mutants are hypersensitive to MLN4924 treatment. We further found that MLN4924 efficiently blocks the neddylation of cullins in Arabidopsis and that MLN4924 thereby interferes with the degradation of CRL substrates and their downstream responses. MLN4924 treatments also induce characteristic phenotypes in tomato (Solanum lycopersicum), Cardamine hirsuta, and Brachypodium distachyon. Interestingly, MLN4924 also blocks the neddylation of a number of other NEDD8-modified proteins. In summary, we show that MLN4924 is a versatile and specific neddylation inhibitor that will be a useful tool to examine the role of NEDD8and CRL-dependent processes in a wide range of plant species.
The Foreign Exchange Risk Exposure of Textile and Garment Industry: Based on the Listed Corporations' Data in China

The purpose of this research is to examine the foreign exchange risk exposure of listed corporations on the Shanghai and Shenzhen Stock Exchange from textile and garment industry over the period 25 July 2005 to 25 July 2008. The augmented Jorion Model is built to estimate the sensitivity of stock returns to exchange rate fluctuation. The findings are showed as follows: (1) Chinese textile and garment industry is significantly exposed to foreign exchange risk. About 26 per cent of firms in the sample have statistically significant exposures to the US dollar and European dollar whilst 44 per cent and 57 per cent are statistically exposed to the Hong Kong dollar and Japanese Yen respectively. (2) The appreciation of RMB-USD and RMB-JPY adversely affect firm returns, while firms are benefited from the appreciation of RMB-EUR and RMB-HKD. (3)The US dollar is the most dominant source of exchange risk among the major currencies, Hong Kong dollar, European dollar and Japanese Yen affect firm returns in turn.
KANADI1 regulates adaxial–abaxial polarity in Arabidopsis by directly repressing the transcription of ASYMMETRIC LEAVES2

Lateral organ polarity in Arabidopsis is regulated by antagonistic interactions between genes that promote either adaxial or abaxial identity, but the molecular basis of this interaction is largely unknown. We show that the adaxial regulator ASYMMETRIC LEAVES2 (AS2) is a direct target of the abaxial regulator KANADI1 (KAN1), and that KAN1 represses the transcription of AS2 in abaxial cells. Mutation of a single nucleotide in a KAN1 binding site in the AS2 promoter causes AS2 to be ectopically expressed in abaxial cells, resulting in a dominant, adaxialized phenotype. We also show that the abaxial expression of KAN1 is mediated directly or indirectly by AS2. These results demonstrate that KAN1 acts as a transcriptional repressor and that mutually repressive interactions between KAN1 and AS2 contribute to the establishment of adaxial–abaxial polarity in plants.
Establishment of a markerless multiple‐gene deletion method based on Cre/loxP mutant system for Bacillus pumilus

In this study, we established a Cre/loxP mutant recombination system (Cre/lox71‐66 system) for markerless gene deletion to facilitate our follow‐up rational genetic engineering to the strain Bacillus pumilus W3. This modified method uses two mutant loxP sites, which after recombination creates a double‐mutant loxP site that is poorly recognized by Cre recombinase, facilitating multiple gene deletions in a single genetic background. Two selected genes, cotA and sigF, were continuously knocked out and verified at different levels using this method. This method is simple and efficient and can be easily implemented for multiple gene deletions in B. pumilus.
Osmoregulation, vasopressin, and cAMP signaling in autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease

Purpose of reviewAutosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD) is the most frequent inherited nephropathy. This review will focus on the vasopressin and 3′-5′-cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP) signaling pathways in ADPKD and will discuss how these insights offer new possibilities for the follow-up and treatment of the disease. Recent findingsDefective osmoregulation is an early manifestation of ADPKD and originates from both peripheral (renal effect of vasopressin) and central (release of vasopressin) components. Copeptin, which is released from the vasopressin precursor, may identify ADPKD patients at risk for rapid disease progression. Increased levels of cAMP in tubular cells, reflecting modifications in intracellular calcium homeostasis and abnormal stimulation of the vasopressin V2 receptor (V2R), play a central role in cystogenesis. Blocking the V2R lowers cAMP in cystic tissues, slows renal cystic progression and improves renal function in preclinical models. A phase III clinical trial investigating the effect of the V2R antagonist tolvaptan in ADPKD patients has shown that this treatment blunts kidney growth, reduces associated symptoms and slows kidney function decline when given over 3 years. SummaryThese advances open perspectives for the understanding of cystogenesis in ADPKD, the mechanisms of osmoregulation, the role of polycystins in the brain, and the pleiotropic action of vasopressin.
Dictated versus database-generated discharge summaries: a randomized clinical trial.

BACKGROUND Hospital discharge summaries communicate information necessary for continuing patient care. They are most commonly generated by voice dictation and are often of poor quality. The objective of this study was to compare discharge summaries created by voice dictation with those generated from a clinical database. METHODS A randomized clinical trial was performed in which discharge summaries for patients discharged from a general internal medicine service at a tertiary care teaching hospital in Ottawa were created by voice dictation (151 patients) or from a database (142 patients). Patients had been admitted between September 1996 and June 1997. The trial was preceded by a baseline cohort study in which all summaries were created by dictation. For the database group, information on forms completed by housestaff was entered into a database and collated into a discharge summary. For the dictation group, housestaff dictated narrative letters. The proportion of patients for whom a summary was generated within 4 weeks of discharge was recorded. Physicians receiving the summary rated its quality, completeness, organization and timeliness on a 100-mm visual analogue scale. Housestaff preference was also determined. RESULTS Patients in the database group and the dictation group were similar. A summary was much more likely to be generated within 4 weeks of discharge for patients in the database group than for those in the dictation group (113 [79.6%] v. 86 [57.0%]; p < 0.001). Summary quality was similar (mean rating 72.7 [standard deviation (SD) 19.3] v. 74.9 [SD 16.6]), as were assessments of completeness (73.4 [SD 19.8] v. 78.2 [SD 14.9]), organization (77.4 [SD 16.3] v. 79.3 [SD 17.2]) and timeliness (70.3 [SD 21.9] v. 66.2 [SD 25.6]). Many information items of interest were more likely to be included in the database-generated summaries. The database system created summaries faster and was preferred by housestaff. Dictated summaries in the baseline and randomized studies were similar, which indicated that the control group was not substantially different from the baseline cohort. INTERPRETATION The database system significantly increased the likelihood that a discharge summary was created. Housestaff preferred the database system for summary generation. Physicians thought that the quality of summaries generated by the 2 methods was similar. The use of computer databases to create hospital discharge summaries is promising and merits further study and refinement.
Nephrin Suppresses Hippo Signaling through the Adaptor

Podocytes are key components of the kidney blood filtration barrier, and their ability to withstand hemodynamic strain is proposed to be closely tied to their unique and flexible cytoarchitecture. However, the mechanisms that control such mechanotransduction are poorly understood. We have previously established that tyrosine phosphorylation of the transmembrane protein nephrin promotes recruitment of the Nck1/2 cytoskeletal adaptor proteins and downstream actin remodeling. We now reveal that Nck integrates nephrin with the Hippo kinase cascade through association with the adaptor protein WTIP. Using mutational analysis, we show that Nck sequesters WTIP and its binding partner Lats1 to phosphorylated nephrin, resulting in decreased phospho-activation of Lats1. We further demonstrate that, coincident with nephrin dephosphorylation in a transient model of podocyte injury in mice, Lats1 is rapidly activated, and this precedes significant down-regulation of the transcription regulator Yap. Moreover, we show reduced levels of Yap protein in mice with chronic disruption of nephrin phospho-signaling. Together, these findings support the existence of a dynamic molecular link between nephrin signaling and the canonical Hippo pathway in podocytes, which may facilitate the conversion of mechanical cues to biochemical signals promoting podocyte viability.
Improved immunomagnetic enrichment of CD34(+) cells from umbilical cord blood using the CliniMACS cell separation system.

BACKGROUND AIMS CD34(+) enrichment from cord blood units (CBU) is used increasingly in clinical applications involving ex vivo expansion. The CliniMACS instrument from Miltenyi Biotec is a current good manufacturing practice (cGMP) immunomagnetic selection system primarily designed for processing larger numbers of cells: a standard tubing set (TS) can process a maximum of 60 billion cells, while the larger capacity tubing set (LS) will handle 120 billion cells. In comparison, most CBU contain only 1-2 billion cells, raising a question regarding the optimal tubing set for CBU CD34(+) enrichment. We compared CD34(+) cell recovery and overall viability after CliniMACS processing of fresh CBU with either TS or LS. METHODS Forty-six freshly collected CBU (≤ 36 h) were processed for CD34(+) enrichment; 22 consecutive units were selected using TS and a subsequent 24 processed with LS. Cell counts and immunophenotyping were performed pre- and post-selection to assess total nucleated cells (TNC), viability and CD34(+) cell content. RESULTS Two-sample t-tests of mean CD34(+) recovery and viability revealed significant differences in favor of LS (CD34(+) recovery, LS = 56%, TS = 45%, P = 0.003; viability, LS = 74%, TS = 59%, P = 0.011). Stepwise linear regression, considering pre-processing unit age, viability, TNC and CD34(+) purity, demonstrated statistically significant correlations only with the tubing set used and age of unit. CONCLUSIONS For CD34(+) enrichment from fresh CBU, LS provided higher post-selection viability and more efficient recovery. In this case, a lower maximum TNC specification of TS was not predictive of better performance. The same may hold for smaller scale enrichment of other cell types with the CliniMACS instrument.
An Investigation on the Bacterial Contents of Natural Springs in a Rural Area of the Middle Blacksea Region in Turkey

Bacterial contamination levels of representative 4 natural springs were detected seasonally through indicator bacterial contents in a rural area of Ordu, Turkiye. Total coliform bacteria, enterococi, Escherichia coli and Clostridium perfringens spores were used as the indicator organisms. According to the bacterial parameters, none of the detected springs comply with the standards implemented by the state health authorities. Contamination level of the springs increases with human and domestic animal activities in spring and summer. Using PCR and duplex PCR, samples collected from the most densely contaminated spring, Soguksu, were analyzed for three pathogenic bacterial groups. After eight-hour enrichment of the samples, positive results were found only for Salmonella spp. In conclusion, this investigation revealed that the natural springs used for drinking water supply in the research area are exposed to bacterial contaminations and the level of contamination increased with settlement density.
Clinical and echocardiographic dissociation in a patient with right ventricular endomyocardial fibrosis

A 51 year old male patient had been followed for endomyocardial fibrosis (EMF) in another hospital for 19 years. He had been oligosymptomatic, with clinical manifestations of right side cardiac failure, and was taking diuretics and an angiotensin receptor blocker. At admission to our institution, the echocardiogram (panel A) showed severe right ventricular …
Bootstrapped Modified Weighted Bit Flipping Decoding of Low Density Parity Check Codes

Recently, various decoding algorithms with Low Density Parity Check (LDPC) codes have been proposed. Most algorithms can be divided into a hard decision algorithm and a soft decision algorithm. The Weighted Bit Flipping (WBF) algorithm that is between a hard decision and a soft decision algorithms has been proposed. The Bootstrapped WBF and Modified WBF algorithms have been proposed to improve the error rate performance and decoding complexity of the WBF algorithm. In this letter, we apply the Bootstrap step to the Modified WBF algorithm. We show that the Bootstrapped modified WBF algorithm outperforms the WBF, Bootstrapped WBF, and Modified WBF algorithms. Moreover, we show that the Bootstrapped modified WBF algorithm has the lowest decoding complexity.
Touch Position Recovery Algorithm for Differential Sensing Touch Screen

Differential sensing methods are more effective in alleviating panel noise than single-line sensing, and thus have been increasingly used in the touch screen industry. However, they have a drawback: they tend to cancel out multiple touches and need touch position recovery algorithms. This paper introduces a novel algorithm of touch position recovery for differential sensing, which is a low-complexity but high-accuracy approach for determining multiple touch positions. We have implemented the proposed method in a touch screen controller system on a chip. In the simulation experiments using realistic touch screen models and a differential sensing circuit, the algorithm exhibited a high detection performance of a signal-tonoise ratio gain of up to 52.21 dB. Therefore, we can conclude that the proposed method is substantially more accurate than the previous method. Further, the proposed method incurs little or no overhead in terms of the detection speed and the chip size.
Application of Grey TOPSIS in Preference Ordering of Action Plans in Balanced Scorecard and Strategy Map

“Strategy implementation” is an inseparable part of strategic management process. Transformation strategies to typical operations and daily functions of staff exert a significant role in organization success. Balanced scorecard (BSC) and strategy map help senior managers to perfectly implement and monitor the accomplishment of the strategies by transforming strategies into operational programs. Using BSC and strategy map, the strategies are translated into some action plans which help the achievement of organizational goals and strategies. Due to shortage of resources, usually all organization's action plans cannot be implemented completely; therefore, managers should make use of some tools for assigning and selecting more efective action plans. In this paper, a procedure is suggested on the basis of grey TOPSIS to determine the preference of action plans to better aid managers in selection of the most effective action plans in a group decision making process.
A Sub-200mV 6T SRAM in 0.13μm CMOS

A deep-subthreshold 6T SRAM functions from 1.2V to 193mV and is fabricated in an industrial 0. 13μm CMOS technology. It provides greater than 2× energy-efficiency improvement over the previously proposed MUX-based subthreshold SRAM designs while using half the area. Adjustable footer and headers are introduced, as well as body-bias techniques to allow low-voltage operation.
Inferring smartphone keypress via smartwatch inertial sensing

Due to numerous benefits, sensor-rich smartwatches and wrist-worn wearable devices are quickly gaining popularity. The popularity of these devices also raises privacy concerns. In this paper we explore one such privacy concern: the possibility of extracting the location of a user's touch-event on a smartphone, using the inertial sensor data of a smartwatch worn by the user on the same arm. This is a major concern not only because it might be possible for an attacker to extract private and sensitive information from the inputs provided but also because the attack mode utilises a device (smartwatch) that is distinct from the device being attacked (smartphone). Through a user study we find that such attacks are possible. Specifically, we can infer the user's entry pattern on a qwerty keyboard, with an error bound of ±2 neighboring keys, with 73.85% accuracy. As a possible preventive mechanism, we also show that adding a little white noise to inertial sensor data can reduce the inference accuracy by almost 30%, without affecting the accuracy of macro-gesture recognition.
Semi-Supervised Learning for Personalized Web Recommender System

To learn a Web browsing behavior model, a large amount of labelled data must be available beforehand. However, very often the labelled data is limited and expensive to generate, since labelling typically requires human expertise. It could be even worse when we want to train personalized model. This paper proposes to train a personalized Web browsing behavior model by semi-supervised learning. The preliminary result based on the data from our user study shows that semi-supervised learning performs fairly well even though there are very few labelled data we can obtain from the specific user.
Fundamentals of MIMO Wireless Communications

In this chapter, we will give introduction to MIMO (pronounced “My-Moe”, J. G. Andrews et al., 2007) systems. First we will summarize some of the background in wireless communications which are required for better understanding of MIMO systems. We will start with three diversity, viz. frequency, time and space diversity to combat detrimental effects of wireless fading channels. Then we will discuss about the fading channel characteristics. We will define two important terms, viz. coherence bandwidth and coherence time. Then we will define what are frequency-flat and selective fading and slow and fast fading. Then we will discuss about multi-antenna systems like Multiple-Input Multiple-Output (MIMO), Multiple-Input Single-Output (MISO) and Single-Input Multiple-Output (SIMO) systems. In SIMO systems, we will briefly discuss about the receiver diversity techniques like Equal-Gain Combining (EGC), Selection Combining (SC) and Maximal Ratio Combining (MRC). In MIMO transmit diversity schemes we will define Open Loop, Close Loop and Blind MIMO systems. MIMO systems have rate and diversity gain over Single-Input Single-Output (SISO) systems. We will define rate and diversity gain and discuss concisely about the diversity multiplexing trade-offs. Finally we will mention some of the applications of MIMO systems.
Performance Analysis of Successive Interference Cancellation in Multiuser CDMA over Flat Channels

We study the bit-error rate (BER) of CDMA system focusing on minimum mean squared error successive interference cancellation (MMSE-SIC). Based on the novel method we developed for MIMO system in (Ohno and Teo, 2005) that do not require the channel probability density functions, we prove analytically that in the non-linear MMSE-SIC scheme, the BER improves with each step of symbol cancellation for any channel that holds not just at high signal-to-noise (SNR) and signal-to-interference noise ratio (SINR) but for all range of SNR and SINR. Simulation results are presented to substantiate our theoretical findings
Calculation of the Surface Excitation Parameter for Si and Ge from Measured Electron Backscattered Spectra by Means of a Monte-Carlo Simulation

A new Monte Carlo method has been developed for simulating backscattered electron spectra, and this was applied for determining the surface excitation parameter (SEP). The simulation is based on direct tracking of electron trajectories in the solid, taking into account elastic and inelastic events. The elastic scattering cross sections are taken from literature, while inelastic cross section data are obtained by a fitting procedure. After some iterations, the program produces electron spectra fitting well to the experimental ones. Si and Ge electron spectra were simulated and SEP values were calculated. The SEP values are compared to other ones from literature.