Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Proteomic analysis of mouse mammary terminal end buds identifies axonal growth cone proteins

Ductal morphogenesis in the mouse mammary gland occurs mainly postnatally and is driven by specialized structures at the ends of the developing ducts, the terminal end buds (TEBs), which later regress once ductal growth is complete. To identify proteins that are specifically associated with migration of TEBs we developed a novel method of isolating TEBs, which eliminated the mammary stroma. The protein expression profile of the TEBs was then compared with that of isolates taken from the 4th inguinal mammary gland of adult virgin mice using two‐dimensional (2‐D) gel electrophoresis and mass spectrometry (MS) analysis (matrix‐assisted laser desorption/ionization and quadrupole time of flight). Following construction of an integrated protein expression database, 44 protein features which showed differential expression levels between the two sets were chosen for MS analysis. Of these, 24 gave protein annotations whereas the other 20 produced unidentified peptides. Fourteen unequivocal proteins were identified from these 24, whereas the remaining 10 matched more than one protein within a single 2‐D gel feature. Several of the identified proteins were associated with the cytoskeleton and have previously been reported in axonal growth cones, suggesting that they may influence cell shape and motility within the advancing TEBs, in a similar fashion to migrating axons.
SiteRank-Based Crawling Ordering Strategy for Search Engines

Search engines are playing a more and more important role in discovering information nowadays. Due to limitations of time-consuming, network bandwidth and hardwares, we cannot obtain the whole information on the Web and have to download important information first. In this paper we propose a novel crawling ordering strategy which is based on SiteRank. Experimental results running on over 15 million pages indicate that it can work efficiently in discovering important pages under the PageRank evaluation of page quality. Furthermore, it exhibits the ability of anti-spamming.
PARTS COLOR MATCHING SCANNER FOR EDGE GLUING —RESEARCH THAT WORKS

This paper presents an automatic color sorting system for hardwood edge-glued panel parts. The color sorting system simultaneously examines both faces of a panel part and then determines which face has the “best” color given specified color uniformity and priority defined by management. The real-time color sorting system hardware and color matching hardware is briefly described. An actual working system has undergone extensive plant testing capable of sorting red oak panel parts into a number of color classes at plant production speeds. The system has been developed by Virginia Tech in cooperation with NOVA Technologies and is currently being marketed by Sutton Woodworking Machinery Company.
Cube - An Online Tool for Comparison and Contrasting of Protein Sequences

When comparing sequences of similar proteins, two kinds of questions can be asked, and the related two kinds of inference made. First, one may ask to what degree they are similar, and then, how they differ. In the first case one may tentatively conclude that the conserved elements common to all sequences are of central and common importance to the protein's function. In the latter case the regions of specialization may be discriminative of the function or binding partners across subfamilies of related proteins. Experimental efforts - mutagenesis or pharmacological intervention - can then be pointed in either direction, depending on the context of the study. Cube simplifies this process for users that already have their favorite sets of sequences, and helps them collate the information by visualization of the conservation and specialization scores on the sequence and on the structure, and by spreadsheet tabulation. All information can be visualized on the spot, or downloaded for reference and later inspection. Server homepage: http://eopsf.org/cube
Towards improving mission execution for autonomous gliders with an ocean model and kalman filter

Effective execution of a planned path by an underwater vehicle is important for proper analysis of the gathered science data, as well as to ensure the safety of the vehicle during the mission. Here, we propose the use of an unscented Kalman filter to aid in determining how the planned mission is executed. Given a set of waypoints that define a planned path and a dicretization of the ocean currents from a regional ocean model, we present an approach to determine the time interval at which the glider should surface to maintain a prescribed tracking error, while also limiting its time on the ocean surface. We assume practical mission parameters provided from previous field trials for the problem set up, and provide the simulated results of the Kalman filter mission planning approach. The results are initially compared to data from prior field experiments in which an autonomous glider executed the same path without pre-planning. Then, the results are validated through field trials with multiple autonomous gliders implementing different surfacing intervals simultaneously while following the same path.
DILEMAS ÉTICOS EN TRABAJO SOCIAL: EL MODELO DE LA LEY SOCIAL

El objetivo de este articulo es estudiar los modelos de resolucion de dilemas eticos utilizados en la profesion de trabajo social con el fin de analizar la toma de decisiones eticas en la practica profesional. En el articulo se revisan los modelos de resolucion de dilemas eticos desde el punto de vista de su aplicacion a la profesion en dos grupos: modelos genericos de toma de decisiones y modelos jerarquizantes. Como resultado de la investigacion se propone un nuevo modelo de toma de decisiones eticas para la practica profesional del trabajo social denominado "modelo de la ley social", basado en los principios comunes a las tradiciones kantianas y utilitaristas del trabajo social con especial enfasis en el principio de justicia, que es comun a ambas.
MEMS-Tunable Half Phase Gradient Partially Reflective Surface for Beam-Shaping

A MEMS-tunable beam-shaping half phase-gradient (HPG) resonant cavity antenna (RCA) is presented. Traditionally, the full phase-gradient (FPG) partially reflective surface (PRS) is used in center-fed RCA for generating asymmetric off-broadside beams. Here, the novel configuration of HPG-PRS is offered with the advantages of faster real-time tracking and an improved scan profile compared to the FPG-PRS. A HPG-PRS is designed to scan 12 - 50° off broadside with frequency and also steer its beam for 69° at fixed frequency. Finally, the tunable PRS unit cell required for beam-steering in an RCA is realized using hybrid-integrated in-house developed RF-MEMS switches. These switches can be used to control the beam shape among: broadside, symmetric conical, and also an asymmetric single beam which is either frequency-scanned or steered at fixed frequency.
A Prototype System for Educational Data Warehousing and Mining

Universities are encountering growing demands by legislators and communities who are clamoring for valuable information about student achievement and university system accountability. Not only are universities required to measure annual progress for every single student, but government (through ministries for education) aid is directly linked to these results. The department of Informatics of Aristotle university of Thessaloniki has developed a data warehouse solution that assists the analysis of educational data. In this paper we present the design and development of the proposed data warehouse solution, which facilitates better and more thorough analysis of departmentpsilas data. The proposed system constitutes an integrated platform for a thorough analysis of departmentpsilas past data. Analysis of data could be achieved with OLAP operations. Moreover, we propose a thorough statistical analysis with an array of data mining techniques, that are appropriate for the examined tasks.
Smoking Cessation Rapidly Increases Circulating Progenitor Cells in Peripheral Blood in Chronic Smokers

Objective—Circulating endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) contribute to postnatal angiogenesis. The number of circulating EPCs has an inverse correlation with coronary risk scores. However, the effect of smoking on the number of circulating EPCs is not well-known. Methods and Results—We examined the effects of chronic smoking and of smoking cessation on EPC levels. Circulating EPCs were quantified by flow cytometry as CD45lowCD34+CD133+ (progenitor cells [PCs]) or CD45lowCD34+CD133+VEGFR2+ (EPCs) in 14 nonsmokers and in 15 smokers. All smokers quit smoking. Eight quit smoking with nicotine patch and 7 without nicotine patch. PC/EPC levels were inversely correlated with the number of cigarettes smoked. Circulating PCs/EPCs increased rapidly after cessation (P < 0.0001) and decreased again after resumption of smoking to the level similar to that before cessation (P = 0.0031). The magnitude of increase in EPCs was greater in light smokers than in heavy smokers. Conclusions—The number of circulating PCs/EPCs was reduced in chronic smokers. Smoking cessation led to a rapid restoration of PC/EPC levels. The recovery of EPC levels was greater in light smokers than in heavy smokers. The decreased number of circulating EPCs would make smokers susceptible to cardiovascular disease, and even short-time cessation of smoking may be an effective means to reduce cardiovascular risk.
Low-complexity intra prediction algorithm for video down-sizing transcoder

This paper presents an efficient intra mode decision scheme for down-sizing video transcoding in H.264 using support vector machines (SVMs). In order to reduce the high computational complexity of intra prediction in the H.264 re-encoder, the proposed scheme uses SVMs to exploit the correlation between coding information extracted from the input high-resolution bit-stream and the coding modes of macro-blocks in down-sized video, and turns the intra mode decision problem into pattern classification problem to achieve low complexity video transcoding framework. After the SVMs classifier, improbable modes are eliminated and only a small number of candidate modes are carried out using the RDO operations. Hence, remarkable computing time of up to 65.3% can be saved with trivial bit gain and quality loss.
Hierarchical support vector machine based heartbeat classification using higher order statistics and hermite basis function

The heartbeat class detection of the electrocardiogram is important in cardiac disease diagnosis. For detecting morphological QRS complex, conventional detection algorithm have been designed to detect P, QRS, T wave. However, the detection of the P and T wave is difficult because their amplitudes are relatively low, and occasionally they are included in noise. We applied two morphological feature extraction methods: higher-order statistics and Hermite basis functions. Moreover, we assumed that the QRS complexes of class N and S may have a morphological similarity, and those of class V and F may also have their own similarity. Therefore, we employed a hierarchical classification method using support vector machines, considering those similarities in the architecture. The results showed that our hierarchical classification method gives better performance than the conventional multiclass classification method. In addition, the Hermite basis functions gave more accurate results compared to the higher order statistics.
MetaRNA-Seq: An Interactive Tool to Browse and Annotate Metadata from RNA-Seq Studies

The number of RNA-Seq studies has grown in recent years. The design of RNA-Seq studies varies from very simple (e.g., two-condition case-control) to very complicated (e.g., time series involving multiple samples at each time point with separate drug treatments). Most of these publically available RNA-Seq studies are deposited in NCBI databases, but their metadata are scattered throughout four different databases: Sequence Read Archive (SRA), Biosample, Bioprojects, and Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO). Although the NCBI web interface is able to provide all of the metadata information, it often requires significant effort to retrieve study- or project-level information by traversing through multiple hyperlinks and going to another page. Moreover, project- and study-level metadata lack manual or automatic curation by categories, such as disease type, time series, case-control, or replicate type, which are vital to comprehending any RNA-Seq study. Here we describe “MetaRNA-Seq,” a new tool for interactively browsing, searching, and annotating RNA-Seq metadata with the capability of semiautomatic curation at the study level.
Dramatic Potentiation of the Antiviral Activity of HIV Antibodies by Cholesterol Conjugation*

Background: Some HIV-neutralizing antibodies have an antigen-binding site with dual specificity, for the plasma membrane and a viral epitope. Results: We engineered membrane affinity outside the antigen-binding site by conjugating cholesterol, with concomitantly increased antiviral potency. Conclusion: A natural mechanism dependent on affinity maturation is mimicked by conjugation of a lipid. Significance: This is a general strategy to boost the potency of antiviral antibodies. The broadly neutralizing antibodies HIV 2F5 and 4E10, which bind to overlapping epitopes in the membrane-proximal external region of the fusion protein gp41, have been proposed to use a two-step mechanism for neutralization; first, they bind and preconcentrate at the viral membrane through their long, hydrophobic CDRH3 loops, and second, they form a high affinity complex with the protein epitope. Accordingly, mutagenesis of the CDRH3 can abolish their neutralizing activity, with no change in the affinity for the peptide epitope. We show here that we can mimic this mechanism by conjugating a cholesterol group outside of the paratope of an antibody. Cholesterol-conjugated antibodies bind to lipid raft domains on the membrane, and because of this enrichment, they show increased antiviral potency. In particular, we find that cholesterol conjugation (i) rescues the antiviral activity of CDRH3-mutated 2F5, (ii) increases the antiviral activity of WT 2F5, (iii) potentiates the non-membrane-binding HIV antibody D5 10–100-fold (depending on the virus strain), and (iv) increases synergy between 2F5 and D5. Conjugation can be made at several positions, including variable and constant domains. Cholesterol conjugation therefore appears to be a general strategy to boost the potency of antiviral antibodies, and, because membrane affinity is engineered outside of the antibody paratope, it can complement affinity maturation strategies.
Neudesin is involved in anxiety behavior: structural and neurochemical correlates

Neudesin (also known as neuron derived neurotrophic factor, Nenf) is a scarcely studied putative non-canonical neurotrophic factor. In order to understand its function in the brain, we performed an extensive behavioral characterization (motor, emotional, and cognitive dimensions) of neudesin-null mice. The absence of neudesin leads to an anxious-like behavior as assessed in the elevated plus maze (EPM), light/dark box (LDB) and novelty suppressed feeding (NSF) tests, but not in the acoustic startle (AS) test. This anxious phenotype is associated with reduced dopaminergic input and impoverished dendritic arborizations in the dentate gyrus granule neurons of the ventral hippocampus. Interestingly, shorter dendrites are also observed in the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BNST) of neudesin-null mice. These findings lead us to suggest that neudesin is a novel relevant player in the maintenance of the anxiety circuitry.
Reconfigurable scan chains: A novel approach to reduce test application time

A major drawback in using scan techniques is the long test application times needed to shift test data in and out of a device. This paper presents a novel methodology based on reconfiguring a single scan chain to minimize the shifting time in applying test patterns to a device. The main idea is to employ multiplexers to bypass registers that are not frequently accessed in the test process and hence reduce the overall test time. For partitioned scan designs, we describe two different modes of test application which can be used to efficiently tradeoff the logic and routing overheads of the reconfiguration strategy with the test application time. In each case, we provide optimization techniques to minimize the number of added multiplexers and the corresponding test time. Implementation results demonstrate test time reductions as large as 75% over traditional test schemes at the expense of 1-3 multipliers.
Discriminant Feature Selection by Genetic Programming : Towards a domain independent multi-class object detection system

In order to implement a multi-class object detection system, an efficient object representation is needed; in this short paper, we present a feature selection method based on the Genetic Programming paradigm. This method allows for the identification of a set of features that best represent the classes in the problem at hand. The idea would then be to have a broad set of features to describe any object, and then to use the presented feature selection method to adapt the description to the actual needs of the classification problem. Furthermore, the tree like solutions generated by the method can be interpreted and modified for increased generality. A brief review of literature, the first implementation of the method and the first results are presented here. The method shows potential to be used as a building block of a detection system, although further experimentation is underway in order to fully asses the power of the method.
Learning classifier systems for user context learning

Current computer applications and user interfaces lack user context and are not successful in learning user preferences to improve user interaction. We present Sycophant, a context learning calendaring application program which is designed to learn a mapping from user-related contextual features to reminder actions. In this paper, we consider the feasibility of using a genetics-based machine learning technique, XCS, for the purpose of learning this mapping from a set of context features to reminder actions as a predictive data-mining task. We compare XCS's performance with a decision tree algorithm on this learning task and show that XCS outperforms the decision tree learner.
Using Association Rules to Learn Concept Relationships in Ontologies

Ontology learning is the application of automatic tools to extract ontology concepts and relationships from domain text. Whereas ontology learning tools have been fairly successful in extracting concept candidates, it has proven difficult to detect relationships with the same level of accuracy. This paper discusses the use of association rules to extract relationships in the project management domain. We evaluate the results and compare them to another method based on tf.idf scores and cosine similarities. The findings confirm the usefulness of association rules, but also expose some interesting differences between association rules and cosine similarity methods in ontology relationship learning.
Labour Education in Canada: A SoliNet Conference

ATHABASCA UNIVERSITY is an open, distance university located in Athabasca, Alberta. Its mandate is to break down barriers that traditionally restrict access to university-level education. This mandate is interpreted broadly to include constraints of time, space, educational background, and social position. In the latter case, the university offers innovative programmes in the areas of women's studies, native studies, and labour studies. Athabasca University's Labour Studies programme is one of a small number of similar programmes in Canada. It is unique in a couple of ways. For one dung, like all of Athabasca's programmes it is available entirely through distance education, making it the only distance education labour studies programme in the world to our knowledge. It is also unique in that the programme has a mandate to provide education to its adult constituency, which in the first instance is the Albeitan and Canadian labour movements. One of the ways this mandate is achieved is to collaborate with organizations, services, and educators in the labour movement. In one such collaboration Athabasca University is cooperating with die Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) and the Solidarity Network (SoliNet). CUPE is Canada's largest union, with over 400,000 members in 2200 locals scattered across die country. It represents public sector workers in hospitals, schools, municipalities, and other such workplaces. SoliNet is an electronic mail and computer conferencing system owned and operated by CUPE since 1987, and made available to die Canadian labour movement generally. It links over 1000 users from across die country, as well as some subscribers from the USA and other countries, providing a vital information medium that is unconstrained by time and physical space. It is apparent both to CUPE and to Athabasca University that collaboration is mutually beneficial. It is in CUPE's interest to expand its educational offerings on SoliNet. Indeed, one of SoliNet's educational ideals always has been to offer an on-line university labour programme. Similarly, die Athabasca University Labour
Implementing a real computational-environment jump in order to develop a runtime-adaptable reflective platform

Different techniques are emerging in order to build adaptable computing systems and software engineering methods. Two examples in the software engineering field are aspect-oriented programming and multi-dimensional separation of concerns. They distinguish functional code from reusable crosscutting aspects, creating the final application by weaving the program and its specific aspects. They lack runtime adaptability, simply offering design-time adaptation.Dynamic adaptability is offered by MOP-based reflective systems. However, meta-object protocols (MOPs) restrict the amount of features an application may customize, and the way they can express this customization. Furthermore, this kind of systems uses a fixed programming language.What we present in this paper is a non-restrictive reflective system that achieves a real computational jump, making every application and language feature adaptable at runtime-without any previous restriction. Moreover, the reflection mechanism is independent of the language selected by the programmer.
Slb/Wnt11 controls hypoblast cell migration and morphogenesis at the onset of zebrafish gastrulation

During vertebrate gastrulation, highly coordinated cellular rearrangements lead to the formation of the three germ layers, ectoderm, mesoderm and endoderm. In zebrafish, silberblick (slb)/wnt11 regulates normal gastrulation movements by activating a signalling pathway similar to the Frizzled-signalling pathway, which establishes epithelial planar cell polarity (PCP) in Drosophila. However, the cellular mechanisms by which slb/wnt11 functions during zebrafish gastrulation are still unclear. Using high-resolution two-photon confocal imaging followed by computer-assisted reconstruction and motion analysis, we have analysed the movement and morphology of individual cells in three dimensions during the course of gastrulation. We show that in slb-mutant embryos, hypoblast cells within the forming germ ring have slower, less directed migratory movements at the onset of gastrulation. These aberrant cell movements are accompanied by defects in the orientation of cellular processes along the individual movement directions of these cells. We conclude that slb/wnt11-mediated orientation of cellular processes plays a role in facilitating and stabilising movements of hypoblast cells in the germ ring, thereby pointing at a novel function of the slb/wnt11 signalling pathway for the regulation of migratory cell movements at early stages of gastrulation.