Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Face Identification and Clustering

In this thesis, we study two problems based on clustering algorithms. In the first problem, we study the role of visual attributes using an agglomerative clustering algorithm to whittle down the search area where the number of classes is high to improve the performance of clustering. We observe that as we add more attributes, the clustering performance increases overall. In the second problem, we study the role of clustering in aggregating templates in a 1:N open set protocol using multi-shot video as a probe. We observe that by increasing the number of clusters, the performance increases with respect to the baseline and reaches a peak, after which increasing the number of clusters causes the performance to degrade. Experiments are conducted using recently introduced unconstrained IARPA Janus IJB-A, CS2, and CS3 face recognition datasets.
Phylogeny of spore-forming lactic acid bacteria based on 16S rRNA gene sequences.

The phylogeny of spore-forming lactic acid bacteria was investigated on the basis of 16S rRNA gene sequences. Sixteen strains were separated into three lines of descent; one consisted of 14 strains assigned to Sporolactobacillus spp. and Bacillus spp. , and the other two each consisted of "Sporolactobacillus dextrus" and Bacillus coagulans. Strains of all the first lineage but one composed a cluster of similarity values of 97.2% and higher, and were represented by the type strain of S. inulinus. The cluster was further separated into five subclusters, four catalase negative and one positive. The definition of the genus Sporolactobacillus should be amended to accommodate catalase positive strains. Spore-forming lactic acid bacteria originated at different phylogenetic positions, and would have evolved convergently in the area of Bacillus.
GFAP promoter‐controlled EGFP‐expressing transgenic mice: A tool to visualize astrocytes and astrogliosis in living brain tissue

We have generated transgenic mice in which astrocytes are labeled by the enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP) under the control of the human glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) promoter. In all regions of the CNS, such as cortex, cerebellum, striatum, corpus callosum, hippocampus, retina, and spinal cord, EGFP‐positive cells with morphological properties of astrocytes could be readily visualized by direct fluorescence microscopy in living brain slices or whole mounts. Also in the PNS, nonmyelinating Schwann cells from the sciatic nerve could be identified by their bright green fluorescence. Highest EGFP expression was found in the cerebellum. Already in acutely prepared whole brain, the cerebellum appeared green‐yellowish under normal daylight. Colabeling with GFAP antibodies revealed an overlap with EGFP in the majority of cells. Some brain areas, however, such as retina or hypothalamus, showed only low levels of EGFP expression, although the astrocytes were rich in GFAP. In contrast, some areas that were poor in immunoreactive GFAP were conspicuous for their EGFP expression. Applying the patch clamp technique in brain slices, EGFP‐positive cells exhibited two types of membrane properties, a passive membrane conductance as described for astrocytes and voltage‐gated channels as described for glial precursor cells. Electron microscopical investigation of ultrastructural properties revealed EGFP‐positive cells enwrapping synapses by their fine membrane processes. EGFP‐positive cells were negative for oligodendrocyte (MAG) and neuronal markers (NeuN). As response to injury, i.e., by cortical stab wounds, enhanced levels of EGFP expression delineated the lesion site and could thus be used as a live marker for pathology. GLIA 33:72–86, 2001. © 2000 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
European criteria for assessing Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) Systems: Preliminary Results from Multiple Empirical Studies

This research report provides preliminary results in terms of ERP system selection criteria across five European Union countries based on empirical studies. The paper provides a structured list of decision making criteria considered in ERP decisions and contrasts weights as well as achievement levels across countries. Research was guided by the Delone & McLean Information Systems (DM net benefits; project costs and time; and a vendor dimension. Especially the considered dimensions from the D&M IS success model, namely quality and net benefits varied across countries in terms of their initial weighting and satisfaction levels achieved after ERP implementation. However, a common global notion seems to be that quality and project related criteria are more important to the decision maker than potential benefits on the organisational or individual level.
Optimal management of office energy consumption via Q-learning algorithm

In this paper, a Q-learning based algorithm is developed to optimize energy consumption in an office, where solar energy is introduced as the renewable source and a battery is installed as the control unit. The energy consumption in the office, regarded as the energy demand, is divided into those from sockets, lights and air-conditioners. First, the time series of real-time electricity rate, renewable energy, and energy demand are modeled by echo state networks as periodic functions. Second, given these periodic functions, a Q-learning based algorithm is developed for optimal control of the battery in the office, so that the total cost on energy from the grid is reduced. Finally, numerical analysis is conducted to show the performance of the developed algorithm.
Outcome of Lamivudine-Resistant Chronic Hepatitis B after up to 5 Years of Combination Therapy with Adefovir

Background There is a paucity of data on the long-term efficacy of combination lamivudine and adefovir therapy in patients with lamivudine-resistant chronic hepatitis B. Methods We determined the cumulative virological, serological and biochemical outcomes of 165 lamivudine-resistant chronic hepatitis B patients on lamivudine and adefovir for up to 5 years. Resistance profiles using a line probe assay were determined among patients with detectable viraemia. The significance of different baseline and on-treatment virological parameters was analysed. Results The median age and duration of follow-up were 45.1 years and 37.1 months, respectively. The cumulative rates of HBV DNA undetectability (<20 IU/ml), alanine aminotransferase normalization and hepatitis B e antigen seroconversion up to 5 years were 74.0%, 95.1% and 44.4%, respectively. One patient achieved hepatitis B surface antigen seroclearance. The 5-year cumulative resistance rate to adefovir was 10.2%. Among different baseline and on-treatment virological parameters, week 24 HBV DNA<200 IU/ml was associated with an increased chance of long-term virological suppression (P<0.001, OR 13.89, 95% CI 3.90, 49.46). Primary non-response and high baseline viral titres were not useful in predicting long-term virological outcomes. The 5-year cumulative rate of serum creatinine elevation >0.5 mg/dl was 4.1%. Conclusions Combination lamivudine and adefovir therapy for up to 5 years achieved modest rates of virological suppression, but resistance developed in only 10.2% of patients. Week 24 HBV DNA<200 IU/ml was predictive of favourable long-term virological outcomes and could be used to assist treatment decisions on continuing lamivudine and adefovir or switching to more potent therapy.
Function and Well-Being in Ambulatory Children With Cerebral Palsy

The purpose of this study was to determine whether there is a significant association between function and well-being in children with cerebral palsy. To determine this, the authors used validated measures of function (Gillette Functional Assessment Questionnaire, Gross Motor Function Classification System, Gross Motor Function Measure, and walking speed) and correlated them to health-related quality of life (HRQOL) measures (Pediatric Outcomes Data Collection Instrument, Pediatric Quality of Life instrument). In a cross-sectional study of ambulatory children with mild to moderate cerebral palsy aged 10.2 ± 3.2 years, mild to moderate decreases in function were found when compared with normative data. As the assessment of HRQOL comprises both functional well-being and psychosocial well-being, the authors decided to specify the aspect of well-being to which they were referring. It was found that the child's function was not correlated to psychosocial well-being. The children with mild cerebral palsy had greater effects on their psychosocial well-being than would be predicted by their functional disability. Functional measures were good at predicting the functional well-being but were weak at predicting the psychosocial arm of well-being.
OXPRENOLOL AND HYDRALLAZINE IN THE TREATMENT OF HYPERTENSION

Oxprenolol and hydrallazine in combination were found to be as effective as methyldopa in a trial in hypertensive patients. The drugs could be given in a twice‐daily dosage and had a much higher degree of patient acceptance. The side effects of this drug combination were usually due to hydrallazine and were mild and short‐lived, but did require the withdrawal of one patient from the trial. Hydrallazine should be used with caution in the treatment of patients with a history of myocardial ischaemia.
A novel allele of fission yeast rad11 that causes defects in DNA repair and telomere length regulation.

Replication protein A (RPA) is a heterotrimeric single-stranded DNA-binding protein involved in DNA replication, recombination and repair. In Saccharomyces cerevisiae, several mutants in the RFA1 gene encoding the large subunit of RPA have been isolated and one of the mutants with a missense allele, rfa1-D228Y, shows a synergistic reduction in telomere length when combined with a yku70 mutation. So far, only one mutant allele of the rad11(+) gene encoding the large subunit of RPA has been reported in Schizosaccharomyces pombe. To study the role of S.pombe RPA in DNA repair and possibly in telomere maintenance, we constructed a rad11-D223Y mutant, which corresponds to the S.cerevisiae rfa1-D228Y mutant. rad11-D223Y cells were methylmethane sulfonate, hydroxyurea, UV and gamma-ray sensitive, suggesting that rad11-D223Y cells have a defect in DNA repair activity. Unlike the S.cerevisiae rfa1-D228Y mutation, the rad11-D223Y mutation itself caused telomere shortening. Moreover, Rad11-Myc bound to telomere in a ChIP assay. These results strongly suggest that RPA is directly involved in telomere maintenance.
Low-complexity robust relay optimisation for multiple peer-to-peer beamforming: a safe tractable approximation approach

In this study, the authors present a novel outage-based approach for distributed multiuser relay beamforming problem which can provide robustness against channel uncertainty. They assume all the channels are subject to Gaussian perturbation. The relay beamforming design is based on stochastic performance optimisation and has been shown to provide an excellent robustness against channel uncertainty. The robust problem aims to minimise the total power transmission of the relays that are subject to the probability of each receiver's signal-to-interference noise ratio (SINR) do not fall below a given outage-probability specification. The underlying goal is to establish approximate probabilistic SINR constrained formulations in the form of convex conic optimisation problem. They show that the aforementioned problem is non-convex, in general. They develop two novel conservative approximation schemes for handling non-convex probabilistic constraint. Simulation results show the robustness of the proposed methods significantly improves the existing methods, both in terms of the solution quality and the computational complexity.
RNA‐Mediated Inhibition of HIV in a Gene Therapy Setting

Abstract: At present, treatment for HIV‐1 infection employs highly active anti‐retroviral therapy (HAART), which utilizes a combination of RT and protease inhibitors. Unfortunately, HIV can escape many therapies because of its high mutation rate and the complexity of its pathogenesis. HIV‐1 integrates into the cellular genome, which facilitates persistence and acts as a reservoir for reactivation and replication. As an alternative or adjuvant to chemotherapy we have been developing an RNA‐based gene therapy approach for the treatment of HIV‐1 infection. This article summarizes the various RNA based technologies that we have developed for potential application in a gene therapy setting.
The three-collector Magnetotransistor: Variable sensitivity

The sensitivity of bipolar magnetotransistor with the base in the well has been studied. An experiment is conducted to compare the performance of two designs of dual-collector lateral bipolar magnetotransistor, which are formed in a uniformly doped substrate or a diffused well. Their respective differential collector voltages are found to differ in sign under an applied magnetic field. It is noted that acquiring an adequate understanding of the mechanism underlying the operation of the device should help one improve its magnetic-field sensitivity. A low velocity of surface recombination and an extraction of the injected electrons by a base-well p-n junction determined operating mode with a deviation of two flows of charge carriers.
Structural Map of a MicroRNA-122:Hepatitis C Virus Complex

ABSTRACT MicroRNA-122 (miR-122) enhances hepatitis C virus (HCV) fitness via targeting two sites in the 5′-untranslated region (UTR) of HCV. We used selective 2′-hydroxyl acylation analyzed by primer extension to resolve the HCV 5′-UTR's RNA secondary structure in the presence of miR-122. Nearly all nucleotides in miR-122 are involved in targeting the second site, beyond classic seed base pairings. These additional interactions enhance HCV replication in cell culture. To our knowledge, this is the first biophysical study of this complex to reveal the importance of ‘tail’ miR-122 nucleotide interactions.
Performance of double binary turbo coding for high speed PLC systems

In this paper, performance of double binary turbo coded orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) system is analyzed and simulated in power line communications (PLC) channel. In order to make power line channel environments, Bernoulli-Gaussian noise is considered. The performance is evaluated in terms of bit error probability. From the simulation results, it is demonstrated that the double binary turbo coding scheme offers considerable coding gain with reasonable encoding complexity. It is also shown that the system performance can be substantially improved by increasing the number of iterations.
ANTIBACTERIAL STUDIES ON LEAF EXTRACT OF ELEPHANTOPUS SCABER Linn

Methanolic extract of Elephantopus scaber Linn was investigated for its antibacterial activity against Staphylococcus aureus (NCIM – 2079), Escherichia coli (NCIM-2067), Bacillus subtilis (NCIM-2063), Pseudomonas aeruginosa (NCIM-2036), Proteus vulgaris (NCIM-2027) at 100 μg/disc by using disc diffusion method. The extract showed significant anti bacterial activity and were compared to chloramphenicol (30 μg/disc).
Clouds and Earth Radiant Energy System: From Design to Data

The Clouds and the Earth's Radiant Energy System (CERES) project has instruments aboard the Terra and Aqua spacecraft that have provided a decade of radiation budget data. In October 2011, the CERES flight model 5 was placed in orbit on the NPOESS Preparatory Project spacecraft. Data from these instruments are being used to investigate the radiation balance of the Earth at various time and space scales and the role of clouds in this balance. The design and calibration, both on the ground and in-orbit, and operation of the instrument are discussed.
Modulation of cardiac contraction, relaxation and rate by the endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS): lessons from genetically modified mice

The modulatory role of endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) on heart contraction, relaxation and rate is examined in light of recent studies using genetic deletion or overexpression in mice under specific conditions. Unstressed eNOS‐/‐ hearts in basal conditions exhibit a normal inotropic and lusitropic function, with either decreased or unchanged heart rate. Under stimulation with catecholamines, eNOS‐/‐ mice predominantly show a potentiation in their β‐adrenergic inotropic and lusitropic responsiveness. A similar phenotype is observed in β3‐adrenoceptor deficient mice, pointing to a key role of this receptor subtype for eNOS coupling. The effect of eNOS on the muscarinic cholinergic modulation of cardiac function probably operates in conjunction with other NO‐independent mechanisms, the persistence of which may explain the apparent dispensability of this isoform for the effect of acetylcholine in some eNOS‐/‐ mouse strains. eNOS‐/‐ hearts submitted to short term ischaemia‐reperfusion exhibit variable alterations in systolic and diastolic function and infarct size, while those submitted to myocardial infarction present a worsened ventricular remodelling, increased 1 month mortality and loss of benefit from ACE inhibitor or angiotensin II type I receptor antagonist therapy. Although non‐conditional eNOS gene deletion may engender phenotypic adaptations (e.g. ventricular hypertrophy resulting from chronic hypertension, or upregulation of the other NOS isoforms) potentially confounding the interpretation of comparative studies, the use of eNOS‐/‐ mice has undoubtedly advanced (and will probably continue to improve) our understanding of the complex role of eNOS (in conjunction with the other NOSs) in the regulation of cardiac function. The challenge is now to confirm the emerging paradigms in human cardiac physiology and hopefully translate them into therapy.
IOT for smart farm: A case study of the Lingzhi mushroom farm at Maejo University

This research aims to prototype a smart Lingzhi mushroom farm. This research applied the use of IOT with a sensor to measure and monitors the humidity in the Lingzhi mushroom farm. The humidity data processed through NETPIE was developed and provided by NECTEC as a free service for IOT. Humidity data was stored into a NET FEED (a sub service from NETPIE) and displayed on mobile devices and computers through NET FREEBOARD (another sub service of NETPIE). This research also controlled sprinkler and fog pumps automatically and the functional status (switching on and off for periods of time) pushes notifications through LINE API on the LINE Application. The equipment and tools used in this research were NodeMCU, humidity sensor, RTC (real time clock), relay module, sprinkler and fog pumps. C++ and Node.JS were used as programming. The services and protocol used were NETPIE (Network Platform for internet of everything) with subservices such as NETPIE FEED, NETPIE FREEBOARD, and NETPIE REST API. The results of the research showed that using IOT with the sensor enhanced the prototype of smart farming.
Rank-Preserving and Unsupervised Hash Learning from Auxiliary Contextual Cues

Due to the rapid growth of multimedia capture devices, the needs of efficient large-scale multimedia retrieval systems have attracted much attention in different research communities. Recent work shows that hash-based approaches (e.g., LSH - locality-sensitive hashing) can provide efficient and effective retrieval results for approximate nearest neighbor (ANN) problem. Several hash-based learning methods have been proposed to generate more compact binary codes; however, most of them attempt to preserve the similarity score or class (label) information. In the content-based image retrieval (CBIR) tasks, the rank of the search results is also an important information. For web-scale image search, supervised annotations are generally not available; nevertheless, we can easily derive auxiliary semantic cues from the ranking results by different modalities such as keyword search, GPS, tags, where such rankings are easily available. In this work, we propose to preserve the ranking information by utilizing the rank order to learn the hashing functions. Experimental results show that the proposed method is comparable to the state-of-the-art learning-based approaches and can be extended to other existing methods. Moreover, we can further improve the retrieval accuracy by incorporating auxiliary ranking information.
Aspectos socioeconômicos relacionados à pesca amadora de robalo (Centropomus undecimalis e C. parallelus) na Baía da Babitonga, Santa Catarina, Brasil.

O presente trabalho visa mostrar alguns aspectos da pesca amadora das especies de robalo Centropomus undecimalis e Centropomus parallelus , na Baia da Babitonga, localizada no norte de Santa Catarina. Para descricao da pescaria e levantamento dos dados do perfil socioeconomico dos pescadores amadores, foram realizadas entrevistas estruturadas e semiestruturadas (Gil, 1999) e observacoes “ in situ” . Entre setembro de 2004 e outubro de 2006, foram entrevistados 417 pescadores amadores embarcados em 23 saidas a campo. Para avaliacao das capturas, foram aplicados formularios durante o 2° semestre de 2006, em duas marinas situadas em pontos diferentes da baia, sendo amostradas 860 embarcacoes, para 2.184 pescadores atuantes. Foram distribuidos questionarios em pousadas na localidade de Palmital, em Garuva-SC, com o objetivo de se obter informacoes sobre a composicao e caracteristicas dos grupos de pescadores, sendo que apenas 62 pessoas responderam. Os resultados indicaram que o pescador amador atuou durante o ano todo na regiao; 96% deles foram compostos pelo sexo masculino, idade entre 30 e 60 anos; 41% possuem o Ensino Superior completo e 60% deles possuiam a Licenca de Pesca Amadora. O automovel e o principal meio de transporte que foi utilizado para chegar a regiao. Cada pescador utilizou uma ou duas varas com molinete ou carretilha e um unico anzol por petrecho, sendo o camarao vivo a isca mais empregada. Das 30 especies de peixes capturados, o grupo das pescadas (C ynoscion spp.) foi o segundo mais abundante, depois das duas especies de robalo C. undecimalis e C. parallelus .
RETRACTED: Nut consumption with risk of hypertension and type 2 diabetes mellitus: A meta-analysis of prospective cohort studies

Background The consumption of nuts was reported to be associated with risk of hypertension and type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), but the results were inconclusive. The aim of this study was to systematically examine longitudinal studies investigating nut intake in relation to risk of hypertension and T2DM. Methods A systematic search of the PubMed and EMBASE databases to 31 March 2013 was performed. Reference lists of retrieved articles were also screened. Summary relative risks (SRRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated using a random-effects model. Q and I2 statistics were used to examine between-study heterogeneity. Results A total of nine prospective cohort studies (three for hypertension and six for T2DM) were identified. Using random effects models, we found that based on the highest vs lowest analysis, nut consumption were inversely associated with risk of hypertension (SRR = 0.84, 95% CI: 0.76–0.93, pheterogeneity = 0.831, I2 = 0%). Dose-response analyses indicated that nut consumption at more than two servings/wk, but not ne serving/wk, had a preventative role in the hypertension. In addition, nut consumption was not associated with risk of T2DM (SRRs = 0.98, 95% CI: 0.84–1.15; pheterogeneity = 0.008, I2 = 67.7%) on the basis of the highest vs lowest analysis. This null association was also shown in the dose-response analysis. Conclusion In our meta-analysis, nut consumption is found to be inversely associated with hypertension risk but is not associated with the risk of T2DM.