Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Influence of the Anteroventral Third Ventricle Region and Sinoaortic Denervation on the Pressor Response to Carotid Occlusion

The effect of anteroventral third ventricle (AV3V) lesion on the pressor response to occlusion of the common carotid artery was studied in freely moving rats with caffs implanted 1 day before the tests. Short-term (6 hours) and long-term (2, 14, and 30 days) lesions greatly depressed the pressor responses to 60 seconds of common carotid occlusion. The initial peak, which depends on carotid inner vat ion, was reduced by 55 % (from 42 ± 2 to 20 ± 2 mm Hg), and the maintained response, which is of central origin (probably ischemic), was reduced by 32% (from 31 ± 2 to 21 ± 2 mm Hg). The effect of carotid or aortic denervation (or both) was also studied on control and lesioned rats. Carotid denervation produced similar extent of depression of the normal and reduced responses of the AV3V-lesioned rats 35% and 37%, respectively. Aortic denervation produced similar relative potentlat ion of the responses to common carotid occlusion of control and lesioned rats (72 % and 66 %, respectively). These data indicate the following: 1) Both short-term and long-term lesions greatly reduce the reflex and central (ischemic) components of the pressor responses to common carotid occlusion in freely moving rats; and 2) the importance of carotid innervation for development of the initial peak and the marked inhibitory effect of the aortic baroreceptor on both components are unchanged after AV3V lesion, when the depressed responses are evaluated as percent changes of the control values rather than as absolute changes.
Student Learning at the Interface of University and Industry Relating to Engineering Professionalism

The engineering profession is challenged with ensuring engineering students are prepared to work within industry in a professional and ethical manner. Reflection on the experience of professional practice is a key element in developing students’ understanding of their professional and ethical roles. This paper builds on a theory of transformative learning based in the analysis of student assignments testing competence in one of the Engineering Council of South Africa’s eleven exit level outcomes, that of Engineering Professionalism, within a fourth year capping course, at a South African university. It looks at final year students’ responses to engaging with the professional environment in terms of their ability to demonstrate competence in engineering professionalism. This results in a nuanced analysis of student learning relating to the different forms of knowledge connected to professionalism and ethics and, thus, contributes to building new knowledge about student learning in the in the under-graduate engineering curriculum.
Modelling Inflation Dynamics: A Critical Review of Recent Research

In recent years, a broad academic consensus has arisen around the use of rational expectations sticky-price models to capture inflation dynamics. These models are seen as providing an empirically reasonable characterization of observed inflation behavior once suitable measures of the output gap are chosen; and, moreover, are perceived to be robust to the Lucas critique in a way that earlier econometric models of inflation are not. We review the principal conclusions of this literature concerning: 1) the ability of these models to fit the data; 2) the importance of rational forward-looking expectations in price setting; and 3) the appropriate measure of inflationary pressures. We argue that existing rational expectations sticky-price models fail to provide a useful empirical description of the inflation process, especially relative to traditional econometric Phillips curves of the sort commonly employed for policy analysis and forecasting.
AccD6, a Key Carboxyltransferase Essential for Mycolic Acid Synthesis in Mycobacterium tuberculosis, Is Dispensable in a Nonpathogenic Strain

ABSTRACT Acetyl coenzyme A carboxylase (ACC) is a key enzyme providing a substrate for mycolic acid biosynthesis. Although in vitro studies have demonstrated that the protein encoded by accD6 (Rv2247) may be a functional carboxyltransferase subunit of ACC in Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the in vivo function and regulation of accD6 in slow- and fast-growing mycobacteria remain elusive. Here, directed mutagenesis demonstrated that although accD6 is essential for M. tuberculosis, it can be deleted in Mycobacterium smegmatis without affecting its cell envelope integrity. Moreover, we showed that although it is part of the type II fatty acid synthase operon, the accD6 gene of M. tuberculosis, but not that of M. smegmatis, possesses its own additional promoter (Pacc). The expression level of accD6Mtb placed only under the control of Pacc is 10-fold lower than that in wild-type M. tuberculosis but is sufficient to sustain cell viability. Importantly, this limited expression level affects growth, mycolic acid content, and cell morphology. These results provide the first in vivo evidence for AccD6 as a key player in the mycolate biosynthesis of M. tuberculosis, implicating AccD6 as the essential ACC subunit in pathogenic mycobacteria and an excellent target for new antitubercular compounds. Our findings also highlight important differences in the mechanism of acetyl carboxylation between pathogenic and nonpathogenic mycobacterial species.
A Systematic Approach to Generate Test Cases based on Faults

For the case of the software we use today, the information outside the specification is increasing. For quality assurance purposes, it would be desirable to integrate the analysis of software and hardware components with testing. In this paper, we propose a fault-based approach for generating test cases, thus overcoming the limitations of specification-based approaches that derive from the intrinsic incompleteness of the specification, and from the focus of specifications on correct behaviors, rather than potential faults. We use Fault Tree Analysis to determine how certain undesirable states can occur in a system. The results of the analysis expressed in terms of Duration Calculus are integrated with statechart based specifications. As a result, we obtain a testing model that provides a representation of the way the system behavior can be compromised by failures or abnormal conditions or interactions. In this way we can automatically derive fault-based test cases from this
Realistic Facial Animation Synthesis and Transfer Based on Flexible Expression Ratio Image

Geometry-controlled image warping performs well in exhibiting shape variations but bad in exhibiting wrinkle such as fossette. Successfully applied in expression cloning, expression ratio image (ERI) provides a way to quantize transferable common wrinkle. However, the warping used in ERI makes it difficult to restrain alignment error, which however prevents further analysis such as PCA. In this paper, flexible expression ratio image (FERI) is defined and further compressed as eigen FERI with PCA to quantize compactly common wrinkle. Based on FERI, a geometry-mapped mechanism consisting of shape-varying mechanism and wrinkling mechanism is constructed to synthesize and transfer realistic facial animation. Given the geometric parameter facial animation parameter (FAP), the shape variation deriving from shape-varying mechanism and the wrinkle deriving from wrinkling mechanism combine to generate realistic facial animation. Having no need for any example photo gallery but only two frontal neutral photos respective captured from source face and target face, as demonstrated in the experiment, the geometry-mapped mechanism based on FERI can map FAP series to the synchronous realistic source animation and target animation.
High Frequency QPOs in Neutron Stars and Black Holes: Probing Dense Matter and Strong Gravitational Fields

Quasi-periodic oscillations (QPOs) have been discovered in the X-ray emission of many neutron stars and black holes. The QPOs with frequencies greater than about 300 Hz are thought to be produced near the surfaces of neutron stars and the event horizons of black holes. I first summarize some of the most important properties of the QPOs seen in neutron star and black hole systems. I then review some of the models that have been proposed and compare them with observational data. Finally, I describe how these QPOs can be used to determine the properties of dense matter and strong gravitational fields.
Comprehensive assessment of microcirculation after primary percutaneous intervention in ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction: insight from thermodilution-derived index of microcirculatory resistance and coronary flow reserve

ObjectivesA pathophysiological mechanism of microvascular dysfunction in ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) is multifactorial; thus, multiple modalities were needed to precisely evaluate a microcirculation. MethodsWe complementarily assessed microcirculation in STEMI by the index of microcirculatory resistance (IMR) and coronary flow reserve (CFR) immediately after a primary percutaneous intervention in 89 STEMI patients. Cardiovascular and cerebrovascular events (MACCE) including cardiovascular death, target vessel failure, heart failure, and stroke were assessed during a mean follow-up period of 3.0 years. ResultsThe microcirculation of enrolled patients was classified into four groups using cutoff CFR and IMR values (CFR>2 and mean IMR): group-1 (n=23, CFR>2 and IMR⩽27); group-2 (n=31, CFR⩽2 and IMR⩽27); group-3 (n=9, CFR>2 and IMR>27); and group-4 (n=26, CFR<2 and IMR>27). On echocardiography 3 months later, improvement in the wall motion score index was shown in group-1 (P<0.01), group-2 (P<0.01), and group-3 (P=0.04), whereas group-4 did not show improvement in wall motion score index (P=0.06). During clinical follow-up, there were no MACCE in group-1 and the patients in group-2 and group-3 showed significantly lower MACCE compared with group-4 (group-1=0%, group-2, and group-3=10%, group-4=23.1%, P=0.04). ConclusionComplimentary assessment of microcirculation by the IMR and CFR may be useful to evaluate myocardial viability and the long-term prognosis of STEMI patients.
In vitro susceptibilities of aerobic and facultatively anaerobic gram-negative bacilli isolated from patients with intra-abdominal infections worldwide: 2005 results from Study for Monitoring Antimicrobial Resistance Trends (SMART).

BACKGROUND The Study for Monitoring Antimicrobial Resistance Trends (SMART) is examining aerobic and facultatively anaerobic gram-negative bacilli (GNB) isolated from intra-abdominal infections. This report summarizes the 2005 annual data. METHODS During 2005, 76 medical centers in 31 countries in five regions collected intra-abdominal GNB for antimicrobial susceptibility testing using broth microdilution according to the Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute guidelines. RESULTS A total of 5,476 unique aerobic and facultatively anaerobic GNB were isolated. Enterobacteriaceae accounted for 86% (4,711) of the total isolates. Among the 12 antimicrobial agents tested, the carbapenems and amikacin were the most reliably active against the Enterobacteriaceae, whereas ampicillin/sulbactam most often was the least active. Escherichia coli was the species most commonly isolated, at 48% (2,654). Extended-spectrum beta-lactamases (ESBLs) were detected phenotypically in 12% (325/2,329) of E. coli and 18% (151/856) of Klebsiella spp. In general, ESBL producers demonstrated lower susceptibility to the majority of the antibiotics than the non-producers; however, ESBL producers usually were susceptible to the carbapenems tested. CONCLUSIONS In 2005, antibiotic resistance continued to be a problem among GNB isolated from intra-abdominal infections, with the highest resistance rates observed in the Asia/Pacific region. Imipenem-cilastatin, ertapenem, and amikacin were the agents most consistently active in vitro against the Enterobacteriaceae isolated.
Optimal buffer control for variable-rate lossy compression

In many lossy data compression systems, such as the one for HDTV, the data stream generated by the source coder has a variable rate, while the channel on which the data is to be transmitted operates in a fixed-rate manner. This necessitates the use of a buffer and a buffer control scheme whereby parameters of the compression system are adjusted based on the state of the buffer, to avoid overflow and at the same time to maintain adequate performance in terms of average distortion. We study a simple model and derive asymptotically optimal control scheme in the regime of large buffer size.
The β Subunit of the Heterotrimeric G Protein Triggers the Kluyveromyces lactis Pheromone Response Pathway in the Absence of the γ Subunit

The Gγ subunit of the heterotrimeric G protein is not required to trigger the mating pathway in K. lactis. When the Gγ subunit is missing, the Gα subunit carry Gβ to the plasma membrane and the pheromone pathway is then activated by the Gα/Gβ heterodimer.
Exploiting Data Parallelism for Efficient Classification of Multi-Dimensional Patterns

Classification of massive multidimensional data requires high computational power and memory resources. In this paper the problem of parallel implementation of the ensemble composed of classifiers operating with multi-dimensional patterns is discussed. The member classifiers of the ensemble operate in the orthogonal subspaces obtained with the Higher-Order Singular Value Decomposition (HOSVD) of the prototype pattern tensors. Computation speed-up was gained firstly by the two-level data parallelism and, secondly, thanks to application of the recently developed algorithm for fast HOSVD decomposition. In this paper we summarize our improvements to the HOSVD classifier, focusing mostly on the computational efficiency. This is achieved thanks to application of the faster decomposition algorithm and due to parallelization. First level of data parallelization is obtained thanks to separate classification of each class of the input patterns. Second level is obtained by partitioning the input dataset into smaller chunks of data, uniformly drawn from all the classes. Thanks to this, an ensemble of classifiers is obtained which allows for parallel operation both, in the training, but also in the response, modes. This allowed for computational speed-up and lower memory requirements, but also increased accuracy due to application of the ensemble instead of a single classifier. The experiments on recognition of visual objects in digital signals show high accuracy and accelerated performance during training and system response.
Identification of 8 INTEGRAL hard X-ray sources with Chandra

We report the results of identification of 8 hard X-ray sources discovered by the INTEGRAL observatory during the ongoing all-sky survey. These sources have been observed by Chandra. In 6 cases a bright X-ray source was found within the INTEGRAL localization region, which permitted to unambiguously identify 5 of the objects with nearby galaxies, implying that they have an active galactic nucleus (AGN), whereas one source is likely an X-ray binary in LMC. 4 of the 5 newly discovered AGNs have measured redshifts in the range 0.025–0.055. The X-ray spectra reveal the presence of significant amounts of absorbing gas ($N_\mathrm{H}$ in the range 10 22 –10 24 cm -2 ) in all 5 AGNs, demonstrating that INTEGRAL is starting to fill in the sample of nearby obscured AGNs.
Producing Wax Esters in Transgenic Plants by Expression of Genes Derived from Jojoba

Jojoba [Simmondsia chinensis, Simmondsiaceae, (Link) Schnieder], a native of deserts of the American Southwest, is unusual and perhaps unique amongst higher plants in that its seed storage lipids are liquid waxes rather than triglycerides. These waxes are esters of long chain (mostly; C20, C22, and C24), monounsaturated, fatty acids and alcohols. The waxes are produced in developing embryos during seed formation. Jojoba oil is primarily used as an ingredient in cosmetics. The stability of the oil under high temperatures and pressures suggests it has potential as a component of industrial lubricants, however, the high price of jojoba oil has served as a barrier to its widespread use for these types of applications. The production of liquid waxes in an oilseed crop more suited to large scale agriculture could allow the production of wax esters at a price more acceptable to industrial users. As in other plants, jojoba fatty acids up to 18 carbons in length are synthesized in plastids. Oleic acid (18:1) is exported from plastids, and its CoA esters serve as substrates for microsomal membrane enzymes involved in wax formation. Three enzyme activities are involved in the formation of waxes (Fig.1, Pollard et al. 1979): 1. Fatty acid elongase (FAE) is a complex of four enzymes that converts 18:1 to eicosenoic acid (20:1), erucic acid (22:1), and nervonic acid (24:1). 2. An acyl-CoA reductase catalyzes the formation of fatty alcohols from 20:1-, 22:1-, and 24:1-CoAs. 3. Wax synthase is an acyltransferase that forms wax esters from fatty alcohol and acyl-CoA substrates. In this manuscript we describe the isolation of genes encoding the enzymes involved in wax synthesis and the use of these genes to produce wax esters in transgenic arabidopsis plants.
Performance of Droplet Digital PCR in Non-Invasive Fetal RHD Genotyping - Comparison with a Routine Real-Time PCR Based Approach

Detection and characterization of circulating cell-free fetal DNA (cffDNA) from maternal circulation requires an extremely sensitive and precise method due to very low cffDNA concentration. In our study, droplet digital PCR (ddPCR) was implemented for fetal RHD genotyping from maternal plasma to compare this new quantification alternative with real-time PCR (qPCR) as a golden standard for quantitative analysis of cffDNA. In the first stage of study, a DNA quantification standard was used. Clinical samples, including 10 non-pregnant and 35 pregnant women, were analyzed as a next step. Both methods’ performance parameters—standard curve linearity, detection limit and measurement precision—were evaluated. ddPCR in comparison with qPCR has demonstrated sufficient sensitivity for analysing of cffDNA and determination of fetal RhD status from maternal circulation, results of both methods strongly correlated. Despite the more demanding workflow, ddPCR was found to be slightly more precise technology, as evaluated using quantitative standard. Regarding the clinical samples, the precision of both methods equalized with decreasing concentrations of tested DNA samples. In case of cffDNA with very low concentrations, variance parameters of both techniques were comparable. Detected levels of fetal cfDNA in maternal plasma were slightly higher than expected and correlated significantly with gestational age as measured by both methods (ddPCR r = 0.459; qPCR r = 0.438).
Six Hydrophobins Are Involved in Hydrophobin Rodlet Formation in Aspergillus nidulans and Contribute to Hydrophobicity of the Spore Surface

Hydrophobins are amphiphilic proteins able to self-assemble at water-air interphases and are only found in filamentous fungi. In Aspergillus nidulans two hydrophobins, RodA and DewA, have been characterized, which both localize on the conidiospore surface and contribute to its hydrophobicity. RodA is the constituent protein of very regularly arranged rodlets, 10 nm in diameter. Here we analyzed four more hydrophobins, DewB-E, in A. nidulans and found that all six hydrophobins contribute to the hydrophobic surface of the conidiospores but only deletion of rodA caused loss of the rodlet structure. Analysis of the rodlets in the dewB-E deletion strains with atomic force microscopy revealed that the rodlets appeared less robust. Expression of DewA and DewB driven from the rodA promoter and secreted with the RodA secretion signal in a strain lacking RodA, restored partly the hydrophobicity. DewA and B were able to form rodlets to some extent but never reached the rodlet structure of RodA. The rodlet-lacking rodA-deletion strain opens the possibility to systematically study rodlet formation of other natural or synthetic hydrophobins.
Predicting Traffic in the Cloud: A Statistical Approach

Monitoring and managing traffic are vital elements to the operation of a network. Traffic prediction is an essential tool that captures the underlying behavior of a network and can be used, for example, to detect anomalies by defining acceptable data traffic thresholds. In this context, most current solutions are heavily based on historical time data, which makes it difficult to employ them in a dynamic environment such as cloud computing. We propose a traffic prediction approach based on a statistical model where observations are weighted with a Poisson distribution inside a sliding window. The evaluation of the proposed method is performed by assessing the Normalized Mean Square Error of predicted values over observed values from a real cloud computing dataset, collected by monitoring the utilization of Drop box. Compared with other predictors, our solution exhibits the strongest correlation level and shows a close match with real observations.
Evaluation, Supervision, and Staff Development under Mandated Reform

The perspectives of three rural middle school principals as they implement Georgia’s A Plus Education Reform Act of 2000 were investigated in this study. A case study approach was used, employing both within case and cross case analyses. Three interviews were conducted with each of the three participants, resulting in a total of nine interviews. Five perspectives emerged from the data: (1) Evaluation of teacher effectiveness can be indicated only by the results of standardized tests, (2) Supervision consists of classroom visits and observations, (3) Ruralness affects how staff development is delivered, (4) Lack of funding limits the effectiveness of the staff development component of teacher evaluation, and (5) Implementation of A Plus adversely affects the traditional middle school schedule.
A robust markerless vision-based human gait analysis system

In this paper, a novel robust markerless image processing system capable of extracting gait features which can be used for gait analysis is presented. The presented system can deal with images of persons captured in natural indoor scenes. The system's robustness against external influences and different person appearance is achieved by employing the idea of improving the image processing robustness by including feedback control at the image segmentation level. The effectiveness of the proposed system is demonstrated by the comparison of gait features, namely knee angles, extracted automatically with the features directly measured using a goniometer. Also a small database is created to extract the gait pattern of healthy subjects. The obtained data is compared to data from medical literature and is also compared to data obtained from persons having a pathological gait.
Minimum-energy trajectory planning and control on a straight line with rotation for three-wheeled omni-directional mobile robots

The minimum-energy trajectory planning and control algorithm on a straight line with rotation is proposed for battery-powered three-wheeled omni-directional mobile robots (TOMRs). In order to lengthen the operation time of a mobile robot with carried batteries, we have chosen a practical cost function as the energy from the batteries to actuation motors. The optimal control theory using a Hamiltonian function is used to solve the minimum-energy trajectory, which gives the rotational velocity profile in analytic form and the translational velocity profile by numerical method. We also establish search algorithm to find the minimum-energy trajectory. These minimum-energy velocity trajectories are compared to the conventional trapezoidal velocity profiles via simulation to analyze actuation energy consumption, which reveal energy savings up to 4.76 %. Also a trajectory following control system is implemented to validate the actual performance.