Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Double-stranded RNA-mediated gene silencing in ﬁssion yeast

Double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) can speciﬁcally inhibit gene expression in a variety of organisms by invoking post-transcriptional degradation of homologous mRNA. Here we show that dsRNA-mediated gene regulation also occurs in the ﬁssion yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe . We present evidence that: (i) reporter gene silencing is signiﬁcantly enhanced when additional non-coding sense RNA is co-expressed with antisense RNA; (ii) expression of a panhandle RNA also silences target gene expression; (iii) expression of dsRNA is associated with siRNAs; (iv) a novel host-encoded factor which enhances antisense RNA gene silencing also enhances panhandle RNA-mediated gene inhibition. Both the exogenously introduced lacZ and c-myc genes are shown to be susceptible to dsRNA-mediated gene silencing in this model. Taken together, these data indicate that RNA-mediated gene silencing can occur through a RNAi-like mechanism in ﬁssion yeast.
Impact of the reach of WDM systems and traffic volume on the network resources and cost of translucent optical transport networks

The paper studies the impact of ultra long haul WDM transmission systems and traffic volume on the cost of translucent (or hybrid) optical transport networks. The cost of translucent networks is evaluated as a function of the reach of WDM systems using the prices of commercially available network elements and is compared with the cost of the corresponding opaque networks. The results show that a translucent network is approximately 50% cheaper than the opaque counterpart and a further cost reduction can be expected by extending the reach of WDM systems from 1150 km to 2500 km.
Opinions of Preservice Teachers About Teaching Environmental Pollution and Recycling Lessons with Creative Drama

The main objective of this research is to introduce the views of students about the effects of creative drama on “Environmental Pollution and Recycling”. A case study from qualitative research patterns was adopted in the study. The study was carried out with 34 preservice class teachers studying in the Department of Primary School Education in Division of Basic Education of Kazim Karabekir Faculty of Education of Ataturk University in 2017-2018 academic year. The course is taught with a 90-minute workshop plan and the book named “Garbage and Recycle” of TUBITAK Popular Science Books. After the workshop has been implemented, the research data were collected through an open-ended interview form developed by the researcher and were evaluated by using content analysis from qualitative data analysis techniques. The results obtained from the data analysis show that teaching the lessons of environmental pollution and recycling to preservice teachers by using creative drama technique provides an easy learning and leading them to have consciousness and awareness concerning the subject; besides, the results indicates that the preservice teachers, when they become teachers, think to make use of creative drama technique for giving the lesson of environmental pollution and recycling
Patterns of Objective Physical Functioning and Perception of Mood and Fatigue in Posttreatment Breast Cancer Patients and Healthy Controls: An Ambulatory Psychophysiological Investigation

Objective: To monitor objective physiological and self-report measures among apparently disease-free breast cancer patients (n = 33) in the first 2 years of posttreatment recovery, using a cross-sectional design, and compare findings with women without histories of cancer or other serious disorders (n =33). Time-since-treatment also served as an independent variable. Few studies have examined adjustment of breast cancer patients after primary treatment or objectively characterized posttreatment, everyday patterns of functioning. Methods: A 24-hour ambulatory minute-by-minute cardiorespiratory functioning and accelerometry activity were measured during one day, together with multiple repeated assessments of mood and fatigue. Traditional retrospective measures of well-being were also evaluated. Our ambulatory methodology permitted estimation of physiological rhythms of cardiorespiratory and accelerometry activity. Results: Patients reported lower ambulatory levels of energy and poorer mood during the daytime than controls. Time-since-treatment was related directly to both momentary mood and energy as well as to objective measures of activity and respiratory parameters. Retrospective self-reports of impaired mood and symptoms persisted in patients, independently of time-since-treatment and of ambulatory physical or physiological activity. Ambulatory self-report data were associated with concurrent respiratory measures. Chemotherapy-related elevation of heart rate was found but was unrelated to self-report measures. Conclusions: Impaired sense of well being based on retrospective measures is not associated with pattern of physical or physiological functioning after treatment for breast cancer. However, ambulatory, momentary levels of mood and fatigue seem to be related to concurrent ventilatory activity and time-since-treatment. This is the first investigation that relates ambulatory and retrospective measures of affect and fatigue to concurrent, real-life physical functioning. ACCEL = accelerometer activity; Fb = breathing frequency; DC = duty cycle; IF = inspiratory flow rate; Ti = inspiratory time; Vm = minute ventilation volume; RMANOVA = repeated-measures analysis of variance; Vt = tidal volume.
Activation in the Right Inferior Parietal Lobule Reflects the Representation of Musical Structure beyond Simple Pitch Discrimination

Pitch discrimination tasks typically engage the superior temporal gyrus and the right inferior frontal gyrus. It is currently unclear whether these regions are equally involved in the processing of incongruous notes in melodies, which requires the representation of musical structure (tonality) in addition to pitch discrimination. To this aim, 14 participants completed two tasks while undergoing functional magnetic resonance imaging, one in which they had to identify a pitch change in a series of non-melodic repeating tones and a second in which they had to identify an incongruous note in a tonal melody. In both tasks, the deviants activated the right superior temporal gyrus. A contrast between deviants in the melodic task and deviants in the non-melodic task (melodic > non-melodic) revealed additional activity in the right inferior parietal lobule. Activation in the inferior parietal lobule likely represents processes related to the maintenance of tonal pitch structure in working memory during pitch discrimination.
FIRST SEASON QUIET OBSERVATIONS: MEASUREMENTS OF COSMIC MICROWAVE BACKGROUND POLARIZATION POWER SPECTRA AT 43 GHz IN THE MULTIPOLE RANGE 25 ⩽ ⩽ 475

The Q/U Imaging ExperimenT (QUIET) employs coherent receivers at 43 GHz and 94 GHz, operating on the Chajnantor plateau in the Atacama Desert in Chile, to measure the anisotropy in the polarization of the cosmic microwave background (CMB). QUIET primarily targets the B modes from primordial gravitational waves. The combination of these frequencies gives sensitivity to foreground contributions from diffuse Galactic synchrotron radiation. Between 2008 October and 2010 December, over 10,000 hr of data were collected, first with the 19 element 43 GHz array (3458 hr) and then with the 90 element 94 GHz array. Each array observes the same four fields, selected for low foregrounds, together covering ≈1000 deg2. This paper reports initial results from the 43 GHz receiver, which has an array sensitivity to CMB fluctuations of 69 μK. The data were extensively studied with a large suite of null tests before the power spectra, determined with two independent pipelines, were examined. Analysis choices, including data selection, were modified until the null tests passed. Cross-correlating maps with different telescope pointings is used to eliminate a bias. This paper reports the EE, BB, and EB power spectra in the multipole range = 25–475. With the exception of the lowest multipole bin for one of the fields, where a polarized foreground, consistent with Galactic synchrotron radiation, is detected with 3σ significance, the E-mode spectrum is consistent with the ΛCDM model, confirming the only previous detection of the first acoustic peak. The B-mode spectrum is consistent with zero, leading to a measurement of the tensor-to-scalar ratio of r = 0.35+1.06−0.87. The combination of a new time-stream “double-demodulation” technique, side-fed Dragonian optics, natural sky rotation, and frequent boresight rotation leads to the lowest level of systematic contamination in the B-mode power so far reported, below the level of r = 0.1.
Factors Contributing to Epidemic MRSA Clones Replacement in a Hospital Setting

The mechanisms governing the epidemiology dynamics and success determinants of a specific healthcare-associated methicillin-resistant S. aureus (HA-MRSA) clone in hospital settings are still unclear. Important epidemiological changes have occurred in Europe since 2000 that have been related to the appearance of the ST22-IV clone. Between 2006 and 2010, we observed the establishment of the ST22-IV clone displacing the predominant Italian clone, ST228-I, in a large Italian university hospital. To investigate the factors associated with a successful spread of epidemic MRSA clones we studied the biofilm production, the competitive behavior in co-culture, the capacity of invasion of the A549 cells, and the susceptibility to infection in a murine model of acute pneumonia of the two major HA-MRSA clones, ST22-IV and ST228-I. We showed that persistence of ST22-IV is associated with its increased biofilm production and capacity to inhibit the growth of ST228-I in co-culture. Compared to ST228-I, ST22-IV had a significantly higher capacity to invade the A549 cells and a higher virulence in a murine model of acute lung infection causing severe inflammation and determining death in all the mice within 60 hours. On the contrary, ST228-I was associated with mice survival and clearance of the infection. ST22-IV, compared with ST228-I, caused a higher number of persistent, long lasting bacteremia. These data suggest that ST22-IV could have exploited its capacity to i) increase its biofilm production over time, ii) maintain its growth kinetics in the presence of a competitor and iii) be particularly invasive and virulent both in vitro and in vivo, to replace other well-established MRSA clones, becoming the predominant European clone.
Intergenerational effects of further vocational training in Germany

ABSTRACT This article analyses the influence of unemployed parents’ further vocational training on their children’s future apprenticeship and employment opportunities. We focus on households receiving means-tested benefits in Germany and investigate whether parents’ further vocational training helps avoid an intergenerational transmission of unemployment. Parents’ further vocational training can affect children’s future apprenticeship and employment opportunities directly, for instance by raising the value attributed to education and training within the family. Indirect effects via parents’ improved employment opportunities are possible as well. The sample consists of adolescents who were 14–17 years old when their parents participated in a further vocational training programme. We evaluate apprenticeship and employment outcomes for the young adults at ages 17–23 using entropy balancing methods on the basis of rich large-scale register data. Our findings indicate significantly positive effects of parents’ further vocational training on children’s apprenticeship enrolment but non-significant or negative effects on children’s regular employment at young ages. Moreover, mediation analysis gives evidence that these effects are partly mediated via an increase in parents’ own employment opportunities. Overall, our analyses indicate that parents’ further vocational training improves the qualifications of the next generation as well.
Diversity and functional properties of Lactobacillus plantarum-group strains isolated from Italian cheese products

The aim of this study was to characterize dairy Lactobacillus plantarum-group strains on the basis of their phenotypic and genotypic profiles in order to increase the knowledge on the ecology and biodiversity within this wild Lactobacillus group. In addition, their in vitro potential probiotic properties were evaluated with a view to identifying potential interesting applications. Among the strains, both physiological and biochemical characteristics differed noticeably, indicating biodiverse phenotypic differences. Genotyping experiments using randomly amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD)-PCR with primer M13 also showed a remarkable heterogeneity among the strains and allowed the strains to be grouped into the species L. plantarum and L. pentosus/L. paraplantarum. With regard to probiotic functional characteristics, the L. plantarum strains 31C and 143C and the L. plantarum strains 64FS and 61FS, isolated from Caciotta and Fiore Sardo cheeses, respectively, survived simulated gastrointestinal conditions and were considered to be acid and bile tolerant. The majority of the strains exhibited antagonistic activity towards Escherichia coli ATCC 43895 and L. sakei DSM 20017, but only one of these strains was found to produce a bacteriocin-like compound. The results of this study suggest the presence of both phenotypic and genotypic variation within the L. plantarum group isolated from the two different Italian cheeses. Further investigation and development as potential probiotic strains is required. 摘要为了增加对野生型乳杆菌 (Lactobacillus) 菌群的生态学和生物多样性的了解, 本文利用表型和基因鉴定法研究了意大利干酪 (Italian cheese) 中植物乳杆菌 (Lactobacillus plantarum) 菌群的分布。 并通过体外实验探讨了这些菌株的潜在益生菌功能特性。 结果显示不同菌株的生理和生化特征完全不同。 以引物M13 进行RAPD-PCR实验, 发现不同菌株之间的RAPD图谱有显著差异, 可以归为干酪乳杆菌 (L. plantarum), 戊糖乳杆菌 (L. pentosus) 和副干酪乳杆菌 (L. paraplantarum)。 关于益生菌的功能特性, 源于Caciotta干酪中的菌株L. plantarum 31C 和 143C 及 Fiore Sardo 干酪中的 L. plantarum 64FS 和61FS 菌株都能在模拟肠道环境中存活, 意味着这些菌是耐酸和耐胆汁的。 干酪中大部分乳杆菌能抑制大肠杆菌ATCC 43895 和L. sakei DSM 20017的生长, 但只有一株菌能产生类细菌素的化合物。 结果显示表型和基因鉴定法均能得到两种不同意大利干酪中植物乳杆菌群的变化。 但是其中的潜在益生菌 特性则需要进一步研究。
Bandpass sampling of multiple single sideband RF signals

Bandpass sampling can be used for direct down-conversion without analog mixers. In this paper, we present an efficient method to find the ranges of valid bandpass sampling frequency for direct down converting multiple single-side-band (SSB) RF signals (complex RF signals). The algorithm results in the formulas for the ranges of valid bandpass sampling frequency are in terms of bandwidths and frequency edges of the SSB RF signals. Compared to real bandpass sampling, the valid sampling frequency ranges of complex bandpass sampling are easier to find and the ranges thus obtained having much wider interval than those of real sampling.
Features and Kernels for Audio Event Recognition

One of the most important problems in audio event detection research is absence of benchmark results for comparison with any proposed method. Different works consider different sets of events and datasets which makes it difficult to comprehensively analyze any novel method with an existing one. In this paper we propose to establish results for audio event recognition on two recent publicly-available datasets. In particular we use Gaussian Mixture model based feature representation and combine them with linear as well as non-linear kernel Support Vector Machines.
A miniaturized 3-D particle-tracking velocimetry system to measure the pore flow within a gravel layer

This paper introduces a novel experimental setup that enables 3-D particle-tracking velocimetry (3-D PTV) measurements of the turbulent pore flow within a single pore of a gravel layer. The core of this setup is an artificial pore made up of pebbles fixed to each other, see Figure 1. Optical access to the pore volume is given by two flexible endoscopes, so-called bendoscopes. The artificial pore is embedded in a gravel bed at the bottom of an open-channel flow. Tracer particles are added to visualise the pore flow, and standard CCD-cameras are used to acquire digital image sequences of the flow field inside the artificial pore. Analysis of the image sequences by digital image processing techniques, namely a 3-D PTV algorithm, yields the Lagrangian flow velocities of the tracer particles along their trajectories, see Figure 2. The algorithm is based on stereo correlation of the particle trajectories; the 3-D coordinates are calculated by triangulation of corresponding optical rays. Correlating 2-D trajectories instead of the positions of single particles allows for a simple setup with a minimum number of two cameras resp. endoscopes. Extensive flow measurements under different flow conditions have been carried out in an experimental flume located at the Federal Waterways Engineering and Research Institute (Bundesanstalt fur Wasserbau, BAW) in Karlruhe, Germany. The impact of the turbulent free surface flow on the pore flow inside the gravel bed is clearly reflected in the measurement results. In the conducted experiments, fluctuations of pore velocity are mainly driven by surface waves in the open-channel flow. The results of the velocity estimates have been verified by simultaneous measurements of the free surface flow velocity and of pressure fluctuations. These studies are part of an international research project with the objective to quantify the influence of turbulent velocity and pressure fluctuations on the stability of river beds. It could be shown, that the presented setup is well suited for this task, and it will be extended and used for further research in this area. Fig. 1. The artifical pore with the two bendoscopes and the illumination fibre. The bendoscopes are attached to the pore in a stereo rig enabling 3-D flow measurements. 1 Fig. 2. Reconstructed 3-D Lagrangian particle trajectories within the pore volume. Velocities are encoded in colors: green=low, yellow=medium, red=high.
WAVELET BASED COLOR IMAGE WATERMARKING SCHEME GIVING HIGH ROBUSTNESS AND EXACT

A good quality watermarking scheme should have maximum PSNR, ideally Correlation Factor equals to 1 and should have maximum watermark information hiding capacity. In this paper, a robust digital color image watermarking scheme based on 'Discrete Wavelet Transform' is implemented. The RGB color space is converted into YUV color space and then V component is selected for watermark embedding. The scrambled watermark is embedded in middle frequency sub band. The security levels are increased by generating PN sequence depending on periodicity of watermark image. The image scrambling is applied by Arnold Transform. The decomposition is done with 'Haar' which is simple, symmetric and orthogonal wavelet and the direct weighting factor is used in watermark embedding and extraction process. The scheme results in exact recovery of watermark with standard database images of size 512x512, giving Correlation Factor equals to 1. The PSNR with weighting factor 0.02 is up to 48.51 dBs. The presented scheme is non blind and embeds binary watermark of 64x64 size.
ARTIST : Architectural Model Refinement using Terrestrial Image Sequences from a Trifocal Sensor

This paper proposes a high resolution video sensor for the 3D reconstruction of architectural models from multiple image sequences. The hybrid system unifies triangulation methods of spatial stereo with tracking methods of temporal stereo. We describe an efficient spatial image matching algorithm, which is based on trinocular image rectification and semi-global optimization. The motion of the video sensor is estimated using temporal feature tracking and allows the integration of dense point clouds. First experimental results are shown for images of a real scene.
Genetic Algorithm Based Feature Selection Algorithm for Effective Intrusion Detection in Cloud Networks

Cloud computing is expected to provide on-demand, agile, and elastic services. Cloud networking extends cloud computing by providing virtualized networking functionalities and allows various optimizations, for example to reduce latency while increasing flexibility in the placement, movement, and interconnection of these virtual resources. However, this approach introduces new security challenges. In this paper, we propose a new intrusion detection model in which we combine a newly proposed genetic based feature selection algorithm and an existing Fuzzy Support Vector Machines (SVM) for effective classification as a solution. The feature selection reduces the number of features by removing unimportant features, hence reducing runtime. Moreover, when the Fuzzy SVM classifier is used with the reduced feature set, it improves the detection accuracy. Experimental results of the proposed combination of feature selection and classification model detects anomalies with a low false alarm rate and a high detection rate when tested with the KDD Cup 99 data set.
Biased, Therefore Unhappy: Disentangling the Collectivism-Happiness Relationship Globally

A relationship between individualism and happiness has been observed in many studies, with collectivist cultures having lower indices of happiness. It is often argued that this effect arises because people in individualist countries have greater independence and more freedom to pursue personal goals. It appears, however, that the association is much more complex than this as many collectivist countries suffer from more basic problems, such as social conflicts, discrimination, and prejudice. We hypothesized that global differences in happiness could be the result of ingroup bias and its consequences, rather than of collectivism itself. To test our hypotheses, we applied a country-level design, where a country is considered a unit of analysis. We found that individualism predicted various aspects of a country’s aggregated level of happiness, but was only a marginal predictor of happiness when ingroup favoritism and group-focused enmity were controlled for. We discuss the implications of these findings from evolutionary and social psychological perspectives.
Summarizing Video Scenes

In this paper we address the problem of analyzing and representing complex video data, resulting in different representations of video summaries. To perceive the main content of a video, it must be watched at full length, which is a very time consuming process. People are also challenged by selecting and browsing through video clips in order to find interesting content. Videos are often presented by arbitrarily chosen keyframes of a video sequence, which do not necessarily reflect its content very well. Techniques that give concise summarizations would be desirable, in order to be able to select the video that contains the desired information and shortens browsing time. It might occur that a user needs to gain information from various sources of video material. With a good video summary it would not be necessary to watch all videos at their entire length, since relevant scenes would be presented. One problem is to decide which scenes contribute to a good summary, since an arbitrary choice of scenes would result in a set of unimportant segments. Another challenge of video summarization software is to detect shot and scene boundaries. These are needed to divide the video sequence into reasonable parts to reduce redundancy in a keyframe representation. A last issue is to generate the Permission to make digital or hard copies of all or part of this work for personal or classroom use is granted without fee provided that copies are not made or distributed for profit or commercial advantage and that copies bear this notice and the full citation on the first page. To copy otherwise, or republish, to post on servers or to redistribute to lists, requires prior specific permission and/or a fee. Copyright is held by the authors. video summary as a visually attracting presentation, which is enjoyable for the user.