Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Monitoring Protein–Protein Interactions in the Cyanobacterial Circadian Clock in Real Time via Electron Paramagnetic Resonance Spectroscopy

The cyanobacterial circadian clock in Synechococcus elongatus consists of three proteins, KaiA, KaiB, and KaiC. KaiA and KaiB rhythmically interact with KaiC to generate stable oscillations of KaiC phosphorylation with a period of 24 h. The observation of stable circadian oscillations when the three clock proteins are reconstituted and combined in vitro makes it an ideal system for understanding its underlying molecular mechanisms and circadian clocks in general. These oscillations were historically monitored in vitro by gel electrophoresis of reaction mixtures based on the differing electrophoretic mobilities between various phosphostates of KaiC. As the KaiC phospho-distribution represents only one facet of the oscillations, orthogonal tools are necessary to explore other interactions to generate a full description of the system. However, previous biochemical assays are discontinuous or qualitative. To circumvent these limitations, we developed a spin-labeled KaiB mutant that can differentiate KaiC-bound KaiB from free KaiB using continuous-wave electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy that is minimally sensitive to KaiA. Similar to wild-type (WT-KaiB), this labeled mutant, in combination with KaiA, sustains robust circadian rhythms of KaiC phosphorylation. This labeled mutant is hence a functional surrogate of WT-KaiB and thus participates in and reports on autonomous macroscopic circadian rhythms generated by mixtures that include KaiA, KaiC, and ATP. Quantitative kinetics could be extracted with improved precision and time resolution. We describe design principles, data analysis, and limitations of this quantitative binding assay and discuss future research necessary to overcome these challenges.
A framework for service enterprise workflow simulation based on multi-agent cooperation

Service enterprise workflow simulation is an important approach to analyze service enterprise business processes dynamically. Traditionally, service workflow simulation is based on the discrete event queuing theory, which lacks flexibility and scalability. To address this problem, this paper proposes a service workflow simulation framework based on multi-agent cooperation. Social rationality of software agents is introduced into the proposed framework. Adopting rationality as a decision making strategy facilitates the implementation of flexible scheduling for activity instances. A simulation system prototype is developed and a business case study is conducted to validate the proposed framework.
Contrasting effects of HSP72 expression on apoptosis in human umbilical vein endothelial cells and an angiogenic cell line, ECV304

The effect of overexpression of heat shock protein (HSP)72 on apoptosis induced by different stimuli in human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) and the angiogenic cell line, ECV304, was studied. Transient overexpression of HSP72 was achieved using an adenoviral vector (Advhsp72) and apoptosis was induced by heat shock, tumour necrosis factor (TNF)‐α with cycloheximide (CHX), lipopolysaccharide (LPS) with TNF‐α and verocytotoxin (VT). Apoptosis induced by heat shock was reduced by HSP72 expression. However, HSP72 expression in HUVECs increased apoptosis induced by TNF‐α/CHX, LPS and VT measured by flow cytometric analysis of propidium iodide (PI)‐stained permeabilized cells. In contrast, apoptosis in ECV304 induced by the same stimuli was reduced by HSP72 expression. No difference was seen in cells transduced with a control adenoviral vector expressing β‐galactosidase. These data imply that induction of HSP72 in cells modulates responses to apoptotic stimuli, but that the nature of the response varies with the cell type. However, it is clear that in situations where apoptosis may be part of a pathological process, HSP72 induction, for example by reperfusion injury, may exacerbate the process.
ecoSense: Minimize Participants’ Total 3G Data Cost in Mobile Crowdsensing Using Opportunistic Relays

In mobile crowdsensing (MCS), one of the participants’ main concerns is the cost for 3G data usage, which affects their willingness to participate in a crowdsensing task. In this paper, we present the design and implementation of an MCS data uploading mechanism—ecoSense—to help reduce additional 3G data cost incurred by the whole crowd of sensing participants. By considering the two most common real-life 3G price plans—unlimited data plan (UnDP) and pay as you go (PAYG), ecoSense partitions all the users into two groups corresponding to these two price plans at the beginning of each month, with the objective of minimizing the total refunding budget for all participants. The partitioning is based on predicting users’ mobility patterns and sensed data size. The ecoSense mechanism is designed inspired by the observation that during the data uploading cycles, UnDP users could opportunistically relay PAYG users’ data to the crowdsensing server without extra 3G cost, provided the two types of users are able to “meet” on a common local cost-free network (e.g., Bluetooth or WiFi direct). We conduct our experiments using both the Massachusetts Institute of Technology reality mining and the Small World In Motion (SWIM) simulation data sets. Evaluation results show that ecoSense could reduce total 3G data cost by up to $ {\sim }50$ %, when compared to the direct-assignment method that assigns each participant to UnDP or PAYG directly according to the size of her sensed data.
Microstrip Leaky Wave Antenna Performance on a Curved Surface

Microstrip antennas are popular due to their ease of construction and minimal dimensions, especially in terms of thickness. These antennas typically are resonant structures and hence having a relatively small operational bandwidth. An alternative microstrip structure that maintains the advantage of a thin structure at the expense of a larger lateral dimension is a terminated microstrip line. While the fundamental microstrip mode does not radiate well, the first higher-order mode does. Such antennas are generally referred to as leaky wave antennas. One issue with using these antennas is that the driving point impedance is dispersive. Hence, fixed port impedance terminations limit the operational bandwidth of the antenna. In addition, the fraction of supplied power delivered to the terminating port is not radiated. Hence the efficiency of the antenna is not optimal. In this paper, the effect of curvature on radiation properties of a leaky wave antenna is investigated through computational modeling and experiment
Triangular Newton Equations with Maximal Number of Integrals of Motion

Abstract We study two-dimensional triangular systems of Newton equations (acceleration = velocity-independent force) admitting three functionally independent quadratic integrals of motion. The main idea is to exploit the fact that the first component M 1(q 1) of a triangular force depends on one variable only. By using the existence of extra integrals of motion we reduce the problem to solving a simultaneous system of three linear ordinary differential equations with nonconstant coefficients for M 1(q 1). With the help of computer algebra we have found and solved these ordinary differential equations in all cases. A complete list of superintegrable triangular equations in two dimensions is been given. Most of these equations were not known before.
Spectrally Precoded OFDM with Cyclic Prefix

Spectrally precoded orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) is a promising rectangularly pulsed OFDM signaling format which can provide very small power spectral sidelobes, while allowing for efficient implementation by fast Fourier transform and guard insertion. In this paper, a general constraint on spectral precoding is developed for OFDM signals with cyclic prefix (CP-OFDM) to warrant the desirable spectral property that the power spectral sidelobes decay as f-2K-2, with K a preassigned integer. Specifically, block partitioning is adopted to facilitate the precoder design of such spectrally precoded CP-OFDM. New correlative and orthogonal precoders are also devised. It is analytically shown that the proposed spectrally pre- coded OFDMs can provide better choices of spectral efficiency and average error performance than conventional spectrally precoded OFDMs.
Design and Code Optimization of Parallel Concatenated Gallager Codes

Constructing PCGCs with unequal-code-rate irregular component LDPC codes is proposed in this paper. Parameters of component codes are optimized by differential evolution based on EXIT chart. In the optimization results, code rate of component code 1 is relatively higher and the other one is lower so that these two component codes play different roles in different decoding stages. Numerical simulation results show that the proposed PCGCs with optimized parameters outperform PCGCs constructed by equal-code-rate regular/likely regular component codes and optimized irregular LDPC code.
Extracellular vesicles as carriers of microRNA, proteins and lipids in tumor microenvironment

In recent years, the knowledge about the control of tumor microenvironment has increased and emerged as an important player in tumorigenesis. The role of normal stromal cells in the tumor initiation and progression has brought our vision in to the forefront of cell‐to‐cell communication. In this review, we focus on the mechanism of communication between stromal and tumor cells, which is based on the exchange of extracellular vesicles (EVs). We describe several, evergrowing, pieces of evidence that EVs transfer messages through their miRNA, lipid, protein and nucleic acid contents. A better understanding of this sophisticated method of communication between normal cancer cells may lead to developing novel approaches for personalized diagnostics and therapeutics.
Robust Scheduling Practices in the U.S. Airline Industry: Costs, Returns, and Inefficiencies.

Airlines use robust scheduling to mitigate the impact of unforeseeable disruptions on profits. We examine how effectively three common practices—flexibility to swap aircraft, flexibility to reassign gates, and scheduled aircraft downtime—accomplish this goal. We first estimate a multiple-input, multiple-outcome production frontier, which defines the attainable set of outcomes from given inputs. We then recover unobserved input costs and calculate how expenditure on inputs affects outcomes and revenues. We find that the per-dollar return from expenditure on gates, or more effective management of existing gate capacity, is three times larger than the per-dollar returns from other inputs. Next, we use the estimated trade-offs faced by carriers along the frontier to measure the value to carriers of reducing delays. Finally, we calculate the improvement in carriers’ outcomes and profits if their operational inefficiencies are eliminated. On average, we estimate that operational inefficiencies cost carriers about $1.7 billion in revenue annually. This paper was accepted by Serguei Netessine, operations management .
Alternative strategies in newborns and infants with major co-morbidities to improve congenital heart surgery outcomes at an emerging programme*

Abstract Introduction Debilitating patient-related non-cardiac co-morbidity cumulatively increases risk for congenital heart surgery. At our emerging programme, flexible surgical strategies were used in high-risk neonates and infants generally considered in-operable, in an attempt to make them surgical candidates and achieve excellent outcomes. Materials and methods Between April, 2010 and November, 2013, all referred neonates (142) and infants (300) (average scores: RACHS 2.8 and STAT 3.0) underwent 442 primary cardiac operations: patients with bi-ventricular lesions underwent standard (n=294) or alternative (n=19) repair/staging strategies, such as pulmonary artery banding(s), ductal stenting, right outflow patching, etc. Patients with uni-ventricular hearts followed standard (n=96) or alternative hybrid (n=34) staging. The impact of major pre-operative risk factors (37%), standard or alternative surgical strategy, prematurity (50%), gestational age, low birth weight, genetic syndromes (23%), and major non-cardiac co-morbidity requiring same admission surgery (27%) was analysed on the need for extracorporeal membrane oxygenation, mortality, length of intubation, as well as ICU and hospital length of stays. Results The need for extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (8%) and hospital survival (94%) varied significantly between surgical strategy groups (p=0.0083 and 0.028, respectively). In high-risk patients, alternative bi- and uni-ventricular strategies minimised mortality, but were associated with prolonged intubation and ICU stay. Major pre-operative risk factors and lower weight at surgery significantly correlated with prolonged intubation, hospital length of stay, and mortality. Discussion In our emerging programme, flexible surgical strategies were offered to 53/442 high-risk neonates and infants with complex CHDs and significant non-cardiac co-morbidity, in order to buffer risk and achieve patient survival, although at the cost of increased resource utilisation.
An Integrative Model of IT-Enabled Business Process Change: Causal Structures in Theory, Research and Practice

Although various researchers have addressed the topic of BPC success, BPC still suffers from a lack of knowledge on adequate theories and methods. This lack of knowledge is also evident in prominent BPC models. Research outcomes produced to some extant conflicting results and few reliable generalizations. The development of a theory that is falsifiable, generalizable, criticizable and useful is indispensable for future BPC research. The purpose of this research is to provide an understanding for successful BPC that is grounded in relevant theories, prior work on BPC and case-based evidence. The outcome is an integrative model for IT-enabled BPC, which proposes causal structures between different impact factors. The proposed model presents a first step toward a theory for BPC success and prepares the ground for further research in this field.
Online CD Performance Monitoring and Automatic Alignment Correction

Cross Directional (CD) alignment is a key component used in modeling and control of papermaking processes. It specifies the spatial relationship between the center of individual CD actuators and the center of the corresponding measurement responses. A poor CD alignment may cause the quality degradation of the finished product and unnecessary CD actuation at higher spatial frequencies which in turn can lead to higher production cost. This paper presents techniques for monitoring CD performance and correcting poor CD alignment in closed-loop. A revised accumulated sum algorithm is used to detect the onset of CD performance degradation and the pseudo random binary sequence (PRBS) is used in the identification of new CD alignment. The techniques presented in this paper have been implemented in industrial CD control systems and validated in multiple paper mills.
Voicing assimilation in whispered speech

A large body of literature has shown that phonemic voicing contrasts are preserved in the production and perception of whispered speech. Nevertheless, it is unclear to what extent allophonic voicing is also maintained in whisper. The present study investigates whether a non-contrastive voicing distinction in Spanish fricatives – which results from voice assimilation in obstruent clusters – is also acoustically cued in whispered speech. In order to test this, a production experiment was conducted with 11 speakers of Peninsular Spanish. A number of acoustic cues relating to the fricatives in question and their surrounding phonological environment were measured. Four cues were found to be affected by voicing assimilation in normal phonation. Crucially, one cue (preceding vowel duration) was found to be affected by voicing assimilation in both normal and whispered phonation. These results show that non-contrastive voicing distinctions are also maintained in whispered speech.
Detour Light Field Rendering for Diminished Reality Using Unstructured Multiple Views

Instructor's perspective videos are useful for presenting intuitive visual instructions for trainees in medical and industrial settings. In such videos, the instructor's arms often obstruct the trainee's view of the work area. In this article, we present a diminished reality method for visualizing the work area hidden by an instructor's arms by capturing the work area with multiple cameras. To achieve such diminished reality, we propose detour light field rendering (DLFR), in which light rays avoid passing through penalty points set in the unstructured light fields reconstructed from multiple viewpoint images. In DLFR, the camera blending field used in an existing freeviewpoint image generation method known as unstructured lumigraph is re-designed based on our use cases. In this re-design, lesser weights are given to light rays as they pass close to given penalty points. Experimental results demonstrate that using DLFR, the appearance of an undesirable object can be removed from an image in real time.
AKT1 polymorphisms are associated with tuberculosis in the Chinese population

AKT1, a serine/threonine kinase, plays a critical role in the controlling of intracellular growth of Mycobacterium tuberculosis. In this study, we investigated whether polymorphisms in AKT1 affect susceptibility to tuberculosis (TB). Two single nucleotide polymorphisms of AKT1, IVS3+18C>T and +726G>A were genotyped in Chinese patients with pulmonary TB by polymerase chain reaction‐restriction fragment length polymorphism. Patients with pulmonary TB had significantly lower IVS3+18 C/C genotype and higher C/T genotype compared with age‐, gender‐ and ethnically matched controls (P < 0.05). The T–A haplotype frequency was significantly higher in patients than in controls (P < 0.05). In conclusion, our result indicates that AKT1 polymorphisms are associated with susceptibility to pulmonary TB.
Development of an ECG identification system

The purpose of this paper is to present a new identification engine for an ECG identification system. The system identifies subjects based on a comparison of a patient's ECG with previously registered ECG feature parameters. These feature parameters are sampled from the intervals and durations of the electrocardiographic waves extracted using characteristic points appearing on the waveform of the second order derivative and are identified using discriminant analysis. Suitable combinations of feature parameters are selected and the accuracy of the proposed technique verified using ECGs from nine normal subjects.
Production of Functional Glucagon-Secreting Alpha Cells from Human Embryonic Stem Cells

Alireza Rezania, Michael J. Riedel, Rhonda D. Wideman, Francis Karanu, Ziliang Ao, Garth L. Warnock, and Timothy J. Kieffer BetaLogics Venture, Centocor Research & Development, Skillman, NJ, USA; Laboratory of Molecular and Cellular Medicine, Department of Cellular & Physiological Sciences, Life Sciences Institute, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada, V6T 1Z3; Department of Surgery, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada, V5Z 1M9
Design of tapered leaky-wave antennas in hybrid waveguide-planar technology for millimeter waveband applications

Different types of waveguide leaky-wave antennas, asymmetrically perturbed with printed-circuits, are studied in this paper. The capability to modify the leakage constant of the excited leaky-wave mode, while maintaining unchanged its phase constant, is studied in detail for each design. Several slot and strip configurations are proposed, in which the width and the position of the planar printed circuit perturbation is modified along the length of the antenna to obtain different tapering topologies. All of them are mechanically flexible to realize, thus simplifying the manufacturing process for millimeter wavelengths applications. The two-dimensional method used for the analysis is accurate for any geometry of the planar perturbation, and also allows for the computation of the whole spectrum of modes in these open waveguides. This makes possible to predict the appearance of unwanted channel-guide modes, and also allows for the study of the coupling effect between the desired leaky-wave mode and them. A tapered design is performed and compared with full-wave three-dimension simulations to validate the proposed technology.
Fitting of Constrained Models to Poor 3D Data

In this work we have addressed the question of whether it is possible to extract parametric models of features from poor quality 3D data. In doing this we have examined the applicability of an evolutionary strategy to the problem of fitting constrained parametric models. In the first phase, a background surface is fitted and removed leaving points of discontinuity associated with the artifacts. Then the discontinuities are classified, using the RANSAC algorithm, into drilled hole artifacts or blade edges suggesting drilled slots. This information, as well as the set of discontinuity points is passed to the Genocop III algorithm proposed by Michalewicz for optimization using a priori geometric constraints. Results, example times for convergence and comparisons with known ground truths are given.
The influence of nursing home residency on the capacities of low-dependency older adults

Objective: With the growing number of low-dependency older adults in long-stay care and the lack of categorisation of these institutions in the Republic of Ireland, it can be asked if such facilities are truly beneficial. This paper presents an explorative investigation of the influence of the nursing home environment on the capacities of low-dependency older adults. Method: The participants consisted of 50 community residents, as a control group, and 50 nursing home residents ranging in age from 65 to 95 years. The methodology was based on a triangulation of three data sources: a battery of cognitive, sensory, sensorimotor and psychological well-being assessments; a semi-structured participant interview; and an institutional questionnaire. Cluster analysis was then used to identify natural performance groupings within the assessment battery data. Results: There were two performance groupings within the dataset. Interestingly, two community residents were grouped with the majority of nursing home residents and six nursing home residents were grouped with the majority of community residents. The interpretation of the results was informed by the semi-structured interviews and the institutional questionnaires. Conclusion: Although causality cannot be attributed, findings indicate an association between the nursing home environment and the capacities of older adult residents.