Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Genetic Variability of the G Glycoprotein Gene of Human Metapneumovirus

ABSTRACT Human metapneumovirus (hMPV) has been associated with respiratory illnesses like those caused by human respiratory syncytial virus (HRSV) infection. Similar to other pneumoviruses, genetic diversity has been reported for hMPV. Little information is currently available on the genetic variability of the G glycoprotein (G), which is the most variable gene in RSV and avian pneumovirus. The complete nucleotide sequences of the G open reading frame (ORF) of 24 Canadian hMPV isolates were determined. Phylogenetic analysis showed the existence of two major groups or clusters (1 and 2). All but one of the hMPV isolates that we examined belonged to cluster 1. Additional genetic variability was observed in cluster 1, which separated into two genetic subclusters. Within cluster 1 the nucleotide sequence identity for the G ORF was 74.2 to 100%, and the identity for the predicted amino acid sequence was 61.4 to 100%. The G genes of cluster 1 isolates were more divergent from the cluster 2 isolates, with 45.6 to 50.5% and 34.2 to 37.2% identity levels for the nucleotide and amino acid sequences, respectively. Sequence analysis also revealed changes in stop codon usage, resulting in G proteins of different lengths (217, 219, 228, and 236 residues). Western blot analysis with the use of hMPV-specific polyclonal antisera to each hMPV cluster showed significant antigenic divergence between the G proteins of clusters 1 and 2. These results suggest that the G protein of hMPV is continuously evolving and that the genetic diversity observed for the hMPV genes is reflected in the antigenic variability, similar to HRSV.
Agile Enablers and Adoption Scenario in Industry Context

In the globalization of fast changing business and technology environment, it becomes very important to respond quickly to changing user requirements. Traditional methodologies are not appropriate for the projects where user requirements are not fixed. Agile methodologies have been developed to cope up with user changing requirements and emphasize more on working software and customer collaboration. Agile is an umbrella term and it is used for many software development methodologies which shares common characteristics. This chapter mainly focuses on the working methodology of agile development and the usage areas of industry where agile development is implemented. Agile software development is difficult in distributed environment as the team members are at distributed locations. This chapter discusses agile industry applicability enablers which are useful for agile software development in distributed environment.
Changes in division of labour and tasks within public dentistry: relationship to employees work demands, health and work ability

Abstract Objective: By 2023, fewer dentists are expected in Sweden, at the same time as the demand for dental care is expected to increase. Older people, in particular, are expected to require more dental health than previous generations. To meet this demand, the public sector dentistry in Sweden is moving towards changes in division of labour among dental professionals, including dentists, dental hygienists and dental nurses. However, the impact of this reallocation on the physical and psychosocial wellbeing of employees is unknown. The aim of this study was to compare workplaces with an equal or larger proportion of dental hygienists than dentists (HDH) with workplaces with a larger proportion of dentists than dental hygienists (HD) on the physical and psychosocial work load, musculoskeletal and psychosomatic disorders and sickness presence. Material: A total of 298 persons employed in the Public Dental Service in a Swedish County Council participated in this study. Conclusion: The medium large clinics HDH reported 85% of employee’s with considerably more high psychosocial demands compared to employees in medium HD (53%) and large HD (57%). Employees in medium large clinics HDH also reported sleep problems due to work (25%) compared with employees in medium large clinics HD (6%), large clinics HD (11%) and small clinics HDH (3%). Clinic size does not seem to influence the outcome of the HD and HD clinics to any great extent. Of all employees, about 94–100% reported high precision demands and 78–91% poor work postures.
Core-state manipulation of single Fe impurities in GaAs with a scanning tunneling microscope

We demonstrate that a scanning tunneling microscope tip can be used to manipulate the tightly bound core (d-electron) state of single Fe ions embedded in GaAs. Increasing tip-sample voltage removes one d electron from the core of a single Fe, changing the dopant from the (Fe2+)(-) ionized acceptor state to the (Fe3+)(0) isoelectronic state, which alters the spin moment and dramatically modifies the measured local electronic contrast in topographic maps of the surface. Evidence of internal transitions among the d states of the Fe core is also seen in topographic maps where dark anisotropic features emerge from the interference between two paths: the direct tip-sample tunneling and tunneling which excites a d-state core exciton of the Fe dopant.
A write-operation-adaptable replication system for multiplayer cloud gaming

Cloud gaming is getting more and more attention due to the growth of smart devices (smartphones, tables, and notebooks). When players update data, a cloud gaming system replicates game states to support massive users for maintaining data consistency. A popular cloud game could incur a huge amount of write operations to increase the complexity for maintaining data consistency. Traffic for transmitting replicas and maintaining consistency may overwhelm networks and raise error rates of the cloud nodes. This paper studies the problem of replicas for cloud gaming systems and presents a write-operation-adaptable replication system (WOARS). WOARS periodically calculates the weights of write operations according to the services with different consistency requirements and assigns replicas between datacenters according to the weights. As compared to other replication protocols, WOARS can efficiently reduce average latency, improve QoS as well as reduce traffic overhead.
Measurements and Channel Modelling of Microwave Line-of-Sight MIMO Links

The fading characteristics during meteorological conditions such as rain and variations of the atmospheric refractivity for Line-of-Sight (LOS) Multiple-Input-Multiple-Output (MIMO) channels are investigated. Measurements have been performed on two prototype LOS-MIMO links in Gothenburg, Sweden. It is showed that rain can be modelled as a fully correlated attenuation of the received MIMO signal. Refractive fading, caused by variations of the atmospheric refractivity, can be modelled as correlated multipath fading and especially as Rician fading. Later in the thesis, we investigated the performance and outage probability of LOS-MIMO systems compared to conventional Single-InputSingleOutput (SISO) systems in a Rician channal. Two MIMO systems are analyzed, a linear zero-forcing (ZF) system and an optimal (capacity-achieving) system using Singular Value Decomposition (SVD) of the channel. It is shown from simulation that an SVD system offers lower or equal outage probability than its SISO counterpart while the ZF system introduces a power penalty offset, given an equal probability of outage.
Systems engineering approach for event monitoring and analysis in high speed enterprise communications systems

Disparate customer support centers in an enterprise system apply different monitoring and analysis tools while attempting to ensure quality of service for the end-user. These tools provide inconsistent metrics that make problem resolution inefficient and reactive rather than proactive and effective. A systems engineering approach is proposed that considers enterprise monitoring and analysis in high-speed enterprise communications systems done by support centers via collaboration rather than in isolation. This paper presents graphical representations of various aspects of the monitoring and analysis approach that include architectural, operational, systems-level, and technical views. For each of these views we identify the applicable system components and the integration of these components that enable solution of system-wide problems.
New measures to chart toddlers² speech perception and language development: a test of the lexical restructuring hypothesis

Language acquisition factors at work in toddlers between 2 1/2 and 3 years of age were investigated in the first longitudinal study of this kind. New age-appropriate tasks were devised to measure the development of vocabulary size; articulation accuracy, sensitivity to the phonemic features of, in this case, Australian English; and the degree of specialisation towards the native tongue, as measured by language-specific speech perception; LSSP, with 45 Australian English learning toddlers (18 male, 27 female) at 30, 33, and 36 months of age. Results indicated that (i) that nearly all measures improved linearly over age; (ii) that there were significant correlations between articulation ability and vocabulary size; and (iii) that, in confirmation of the lexical restructuring hypothesis, vocabulary size is significantly predicted by the broad range of native language abilities under the rubric of phoneme sensitivity, but not under the more specific measure of LSSP.
Remarks on Some Reference Materials for Applications in Elastic Peak Electron Spectroscopy

The quantification of results of electron spectroscopies, AES and XPS, requires knowledge of the inelastic mean free path (IMFP) of signal electrons in solids. This parameter determines the surface sensitivity of both techniques. There are two methods of determining the IMFPs that provide these parameters in agreement with the definition: (i) calculations based on the experimental optical data, and (ii) calculations based on measurements of the electron elastic backscattering intensity. The latter method requires the use of some reference material for which the IMFP is known. In 1999, an extensive analysis of the published IMFPs has been performed; the results indicated that there is a very good agreement between the calculated and measured IMFPs for four elemental solids: Ni, Cu, Ag and Au. The averaged IMFPs for these elements are known under the name of the recommended IMFPs. However, no preference among these four elements has been established. In the present work, an attempt is made to select an element for which the recommended IMFPs result in the best agreement between the calculated and measured intensities of elastic electron backscattering. For this purpose, the elastic backscattering intensity has been measured at eight electron energies varying from 200 to 1500 eV. At each energy, the intensity was measured over a wide range of emission angles from 35° to 74°. The experiments were accompanied with Monte Carlo calculations of the elastic backscattering probability for the same energies and experimental configurations. It has been found, from comparison, that the best agreement is observed for Au, and this element is thus recommended as the reference material. It has been shown that the shape of the emission angle dependence of the elastic backscattering intensity is noticeably influenced by the surface energy losses.
Presentation attack detection methods for fingerprint recognition systems: a survey

Nowadays, fingerprint biometrics is widely used in various applications, varying from forensic investigations and migration control to access control as regards security sensitive environments. Any biometric system is potentially vulnerable against a fake biometric characteristic, and spoofing of fingerprint systems is one of the most widely researched areas. The state-of-the-art sensors can often be spoofed by an accurate imitation of the ridge/valley structure of a fingerprint. An individual may also try to avoid identification by altering his own fingerprint pattern. This study is a survey of presentation attack detection methods for fingerprints, both in terms of liveness detection and alteration detection.
Z-Transform-Based FDTD Analysis of Perfectly Conducting Cylinder Covered With Unmagnetized Plasma

In this paper, a novel and normalized Z-transform-based finite-difference time-domain (ZTFDTD) method is presented for simulating the interaction of the electromagnetic (EM) wave with unmagnetized plasma. The 2-D ZTFDTD formulations for unmagnetized plasma are derived. Using a simplified 2-D model for a perfectly conducting cylinder covered with unmagnetized plasma, the stealth effect of unmagnetized plasma is studied in different thicknesses of plasma, electron densities of plasma, EM wave frequencies, and plasma collision frequencies. Numerical results indicate that plasma stealth is effective in theory and reasonable selection for the plasma parameters can greatly enhance its effectiveness
Electromagnetic production of associated strangeness.

A formalism, based on an isobaric approach using Feynman diagrammatic techniques, which includes the nucleonic (spin {le} 5/2), hyperonic (spin 1/2), and kaonic resonances, is developed. Using this formalism, a thorough investigation of the following electromagnetic strangeness processes, for which experimental results are available, is performed: {gamma}{ital p}{r_arrow}{ital K}{sup +}{Lambda}, {ital K}{sup +}{Sigma}{sup 0}, {ital K}{sup 0}{Sigma}{sup +}, for {ital E}{sub {gamma}}{sup lab}{le} 2.1 GeV, {ital ep}{r_arrow}{ital e}{sup {prime}}{ital K}{sup +}{Lambda}, {ital e}{sup {prime}}{ital K}{sup +}{Sigma}{sup 0}, and {ital K}{sup {minus}}{ital p}{r_arrow}{gamma}{Lambda},{gamma}{Sigma}{sup 0}. A reaction mechanism, describing well enough the data, is found to include a reasonable number of baryonic resonances among a very large number of potential candidates. The extracted main kaon-hyperon-nucleon coupling constants are in good agreement with values predicted using SU(3) symmetry. The main findings of this model are compared with the results of other recent phenomenological studies. Predictions for the upcoming photoproduction polarization and electroproduction observables are presented, and their sensitivity to the phenomenological models ingredients are emphasized. {copyright} {ital 1996 The American Physical Society. }
Furano- and Pyrrolo [2,3-D] Pyrimidine Nucleosides and Their 5′-O-Triphospates: Synthesis and Enzymatic Activity

A series of bicyclic [2,3-d]furano- and pyrrolopyrimidine ribonucleosides were synthesized and converted chemically into corresponding 5′-O-triphosphates. Substrate properties of the triphosphates toward some RNA and DNA polymerases are reported
Control system design for robot arms playing inside-loop yoyo trick

This study aims to realize a dexterous yoyo trick called “inside-loop” by a robot. In the inside-loop, a yoyo is thrown in an arc from the bottom to the front, passed between the arm and the body, accelerated by quick twisting of the wrist and thrown again to the front. Therefore, the yoyo loops around the hand. To realize this trick, the yoyo model including pulling the yoyo up by taking up the slack string, which is similar to the real behavior, is derived. A reference of a position of the hand is decided by simulations patterned on a human motion, and a controller solves discrete-time optimal control problems every control period. These are verified through numerical simulations. As a result, the inside-loop is realized by the robot.
Propionibacterium acnes Wound Contamination at the Time of Spinal Surgery

Bacteria of the normal skin microbiota such as Propionibacterium acnes and coagulase-negative staphylococci often are dismissed as contaminants when detected in clinical samples. Propionibacterium acnes is described as a cause of spinal infection and more recently has been linked to sciatica. To date no researchers formally have examined the incidence of bacterial wound contamination during spinal surgery. Surgical specimens were removed from 79 patients having spinal surgery for analysis using agar culture detection, broth enrichment, and immunofluorescence microscopy. Bacteria were identified in 29.1% of skin samples, 21.5% of tissue samples and 16.5% of washings retrieved from operative wounds. Propionibacterium acnes was identified more frequently than Staphylococcus spp in each of the three sample types. Bacteria were detected using enrichment in 9 (11%) patients and using fluorescence microscopy in 15 (19%). The results of immunofluorescence microscopy suggest that Propionibacterium acnes detected in wounds originates from patient skin. Bacteria from contaminated wounds appeared as single cells using fluorescence microscopy; however previous work shows that bacteria from infected hip prosthesis are observed as large aggregates. Therefore, it is suggested that immunofluorescence microscopy is a useful tool to help discriminate between surgical contamination and infection. Level of Evidence: Diagnostic study, Level I (prospective study). See the Guidelines for Authors for a complete description of levels of evidence.
Automatic Learning of the Morphology of Medical Language using Information Compression

Conversion of free-text strings in a natural language to a standard representation (codes) is an important reoccurring problem in biomedical informatics. Determining the content of a string involves identifying its meaningful constituents (morphemes). One current method of identifying these constituents is to look them up in a preexisting table (lexicon). Manual construction of lexicons and grammars in complex domains such as biomedicine is extremely laborious. As an alternative to the lexico-grammatical approach, we introduce a segmentation algorithm that automatically learns lexical and structural preferences from corpora via information compression. The method is based on the Minimum Description Length (MDL) principle from classic information theory.
Identifying cancer biomarkers by mass spectrometry‐based glycomics

Correlations between aberrant glycosylation and cancer have been established for decades. The major advances in mass spectrometry (MS) and separation science have rapidly advanced detailed characterization of the changes associated with cancer development and progression. Over the past 10 years, many reports have described MS‐based glycomic methods directed toward comparing the glycomic profiles of different human specimens collected from disease‐free individuals and patients with cancers. Glycomic profiling of glycoproteins isolated from human specimens originating from disease‐free individuals and patients with cancers have also been performed. Profiling of native, labeled, and permethylated glycans has been acquired using MALDI‐MS and LC‐MS. This review focuses on describing, discussing, and evaluating the different glycomic methods employed to characterize and quantify glycomic changes associated with cancers of different organs, including breast, colon, esophagus, liver, ovarian, pancreas, and prostate.
Fractional Dynamics of Computer Virus Propagation

This paper studies the fractional order model for computer virus in SEIR model. Firstly, the basic reproduction number R0, which determines the threshold of the spread of the virus is determined. The stability of equilibra was also determined and studied. The Adams-Bashforth-Moulton algorithm was employed to solve and simulate the system of differential equations. The results of the simulation depicts that by small change in α led to big change in the associated numerical results.
Risks of inappropriate secretion of antidiuretic hormone in multiple system atrophy

Multiple system atrophy (MSA) affects the hypothalamus, similar to other neurological diseases. Hypothalamic cells synthesize antidiuretic hormone (ADH), which increases water reuptake in the kidney. Hypothalamic disturbances can lead to the syndrome of inappropriate antidiuretic hormone secretion (SIADH) and resultant hyponatremia. ADH levels usually increase in SIADH. However, normal ADH levels are occasionally seen, but they are inappropriate in the presence of abnormally decreased osmolarity (<280 mOsm/kg), a condition thought to suppress physiological ADH secretion. To date, 6 patients with MSA had SIADH (Table 1). We describe the first MSA patient with extreme hyponatremia (99 mEq/L) and the highest reported ADH concentration. We also measured ADH in 14 severely disabled patients with MSA, but not symptomatic SIADH.
Solving Mathematical Puzzles: A Challenging Competition for AI

has been to understand the nature of intelligence and to engineer systems that exhibit such intelligence through vision, language, emotion, motion, and reasoning. In such context, AI researchers have always looked for challenges to push forward the limit of what computers can do autonomously and to measure the level of “intelligence” achieved. Competitions have been and are currently run on conversational behavior (for example, the Loebner prize1), automatic control (for example, the International Aerial Robotics Competition2 or the DARPA Grand Challenge on driverless cars3), cooperation and coordination in robotics (for example, the RoboCup4), logic reasoning and knowledge (for example, the CADE ATP System competition for theorem provers5), and natural language (for example, the EVALITA competition6 for the Italian language). Historically, also games have raised the interest of the AI community: a number of competitions are still being held nowadays (for example, the World Computer Chess Championship,7 Mario Championship8 [Togelius et al. 2013] and its successor Platformer Competition,9 the General Game Playing competition10). For a high-level overview of the field of AI in games see the paper by Yannakakis and Togelius (2014). Some of these challenges have indeed brought many insights and advancements on various artificial intelligence fields. We mention in the following three of them, notable for the achieved results, as well as for their impact on the media and the consequent dissemination Articles
Managing Information Processing Needs in Global Supply Chains: A Prerequisite to Sustainable Supply Chain Management

Sustainability is an important topic in supply chain management research and practice. For buying firms, one of the most pressing challenges associated with sustainable supply chain management is that they frequently do not possess sufficient information on what is occurring in their complex supply chains, as demonstrated by numerous incidents lacking sustainability. Using eight in-depth case studies across four industries and elaborating on information processing theory, we identify three forms of sustainability-related uncertainty that each firm is facing in its supply chain. We refer to them as task uncertainty, source uncertainty, and supply chain uncertainty. The study shows that the extent to which these uncertainties translate into information processing needs depends on a newly identified boundary condition labelled uncertainty intolerance. With respect to the management of such information processing needs, prior research has pointed primarily at matching information processing needs with fitting information processing capacity and secondly at mitigating information processing needs with corrective measures. This study illuminates how some innovative firms occasionally employ a more radical sustainability-driven supply chain modification mechanism. In doing so, this research exemplifies how sustainable supply chain management may eventually turn from an amendment to a firm’s daily business to a decisive factor for shaping future supply chains. In addition, the study constitutes a nascent step to elevate information processing theory to the supply chain level.