Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Anthraquinone G503 Induces Apoptosis in Gastric Cancer Cells through the Mitochondrial Pathway

G503 is an anthraquinone compound isolated from the secondary metabolites of a mangrove endophytic fungus from the South China Sea. The present study elucidates the anti-tumor activity and the underlying mechanism of G503. Cell viability assay performed in nine cancer cell lines and two normal cell lines demonstrated that the gastric cancer cell line SGC7901 is the most G503-sensitive cancer cells. G503 induced SGC7901 cell death via apoptosis. G503 exposure activated caspases-3, -8 and -9. Pretreatment with the pan-caspase inhibitor Z-VAD-FMK and caspase-9 inhibitor Z-LEHD-FMK, but not caspase-8 inbibitor Z-IETD-FMK, attenuated the effect of G503. These results suggested that the intrinsic mitochondrial apoptosis pathway, rather than the extrinsic pathway, was involved in G503-induced apoptosis. Furthermore, G503 increased the ratio of Bax to Bcl-2 in the mitochondria and decreased the ratio in the cytosol. G503 treatment resulted in mitochondrial depolarization, cytochrome c release and the subsequent cleavage of caspase -9 and -3. Moreover, it is reported that the endoplasmic reticulum apoptosis pathway may also be activated by G503 by inducing capase-4 cleavage. In consideration of the lower 50% inhibitory concentration for gastric cancer cells, G503 may serve as a promising candidate for gastric cancer chemotherapy.
NURBS with extraordinary points: high-degree, non-uniform, rational subdivision schemes

We present a subdivision framework that adds extraordinary vertices to NURBS of arbitrarily high degree. The surfaces can represent any odd degree NURBS patch exactly. Our rules handle non-uniform knot vectors, and are not restricted to midpoint knot insertion. In the absence of multiple knots at extraordinary points, the limit surfaces have bounded curvature.
An Experimental Analysis of Suggestions in Collaborative Tagging

Most tagging systems support the user in the tag selection process by providing tag suggestions, or recommendations, based on a popularity measurement of tags other users provided when tagging the same resource, like a web-page. In this paper we investigate the influence of tag suggestions on the emergence of power-law distributions as a result of collaborative tag behavior. Although previous research has already shown that power-laws emerge in tagging systems, the cause of why power-law distributions emerge is not understood empirically. The majority of theories and mathematical models of tagging found in the literature assume that the emergence of power-laws in tagging systems is mainly driven by the imitation behavior of users when observing tag suggestions provided by the user interface of the tagging system. This imitation behavior leads to a feedback loop in which some tags are reinforced and get more popular which is also known as the `rich get richer' or a preferential attachment model. We present experimental results that show that the power-law distribution forms when tag suggestions are not presented to the users, and the power-law distribution does not hold when there are tag suggestions presented to the user. Furthermore, we show that the real effect of tag suggestions is rather subtle; the power-law distribution that would naturally occur without tag suggestions is `compressed' if tag suggestions are given to the user, resulting in a shorter long tail and a `compressed' top of the power-law distribution. The consequences of this experiment show that tag suggestions by themselves do not account for the formation of power-law distributions in tagging systems.
Practical Considerations for the Assessment of the Metabolic and Physiological Responses to Closed-Wheel Motor Racing Using the Actiheart System: A Single Participant Study

The purpose of this single participant case-study was to assess the effectiveness of using a non-invasive ECG system for the determination of the cardiovascular responses to closed-wheel motor racing and to offer some insights into the practicalities of working in the field with extreme sports participants. A professional racing driver participated in two driving trials and a laboratory based assessment of V̇O2max. During the driving trials HR telemetry was recorded every 15 s using the Actiheart system. Linear regression interpolation techniques were applied to the laboratory data for the estimation of the metabolic cost of driving from the collected HR data. During the practice session, HR was closely related to driving pace (p < 0.05). The metabolic demand for the 45 min session was 44.5 ± 16.6 kJ·min−1. In the competition trial the mean HR response was 182.1 ± 6.9 b·min−1, with an energy expenditure of 59.6 ± 9.5 kJ·min−1. The results from this study indicate that there is a profound metabolic strain associated with motor racing and that the Actiheart system provides a non-invasive means of determining the physical demands of automobile motor racing. However, metabolic demand may be overestimated in the presence of other influences on heart rate during competition.
Effects of temperature distribution in the tissue around the tumor on the quality of hyperthermia

Cancer is a disease that has no definite treatment yet, and its mortality rate is high. In recent years a new method called hyperthermia has been wide-spread in clinical investigations. In this method magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) have been injected into the cancerous tumor and warmed up to kill cancerous cells. It has been a promising method for cancer treatment but there is a lack of knowledge about temperature distribution after injection yet. In this article, the maximum temperature caused by hyperthermia with MNPs has been investigated by using a numerical method and information about MNPs distribution from recent experimental investigations done by authors. Changing the temperature’s boundary condition has also been studied to find how they can affect temperature distribution in tumor and maximum temperature. Finally, the ablation of cancerous tumors and surrounding healthy tissue has been calculated and achieving the best initial and boundary conditions for using this method to treat cancer has been discussed. Results show that the effect of hyperthermia on treatment can be increased and the time required for treatment can be reduced with the rise in body temperature before hyperthermia. Results show that the effect of hyperthermia on treatment can be increased and the time required for treatment can be reduced with the rise in body temperature before hyperthermia. Results also show by considering the heat flux in the boundary, the distribution of temperature and thus the distribution of tissue necrosis changes and the necrotized tissue reduces in some cases that the tumor is near to the body surface.
Multi-user efficacy of collaborative virtual environments

Multi-user efficacy is a key factor of genuine collaboration among multiple users towards a common goal. To assess multi-user efficacy, social scientists have traditionally applied subjective measurements from a theoretical perspective. Researchers in human-computer interaction have developed combined metrics of objective and subjective measurements. Nevertheless, the combined metrics fall short to fully cover the theoretical perspective of social scientists. To remedy this shortfall, we have developed a set of objective and subjective metrics to complete the theoretical perspective. Utilizing the metrics, we present in this paper a study to verify the robustness of our dynamic priority (DP) model, which under a quasi-practical scenario resolves command conflicts and promotes perceived equality in interaction among multiple users. In the study, we utilized a realistic scenario which differs from the quasi-practical scenario in the allowance of verbal communication among users. The results of the study revealed that the DP model yielded a significantly higher degree of multi-user efficacy under the realistic scenario than the quasi-practical scenario. Moreover, there was no significant difference of the perceived equality in interaction between both scenarios. These observations confirm the robustness of the DP model, and imply the potential application of the model for genuine collaboration within multi-user VEs.
Burnout e Justiça Organizacional: um estudo em servidores públicos federais

A percepcao da falta de justica pode trazer consequencias para o ambiente organizacional atraves da saude dos colaboradores. Com este ponto em vista o presente estudo buscou investigar a relacao entre a percepcao de Justica Organizacional e a sindrome de Burnout, atraves de uma survey com 511 servidores publicos de uma universidade publica federal de ensino superior, por meio da escala MBI-GS para mensurar Burnout e a escala de Percepcao de Justica Organizacional. Foram encontrados que os niveis de Burnout e Justica Organizacional encontram-se moderados, porem com servidores que apresentam niveis elevados. A justica organizacional relacionou-se de forma indireta e com forca moderada, aumentando a importância do tratamento justo dos colaboradores por parte dos gestores. A pesquisa contribuiu com os estudos da sindrome de Burnout e Justica Organizacional no Brasil, onde ainda encontram-se escassos estudos sobre este tema.
Hybrid-Pol Based Three-Component Scattering Model for Analysis of RISAT Data

In this paper, we present an unsupervised model-based decomposition technique for the analysis of hybrid-pol datasets. The proposed approach develops a hybrid-pol version of full-pol three-component scattering model by deriving all decomposition parameters in terms of the hybrid-pol Stokes parameters. By using these decomposition parameters, the contribution of three basic scattering mechanisms, namely surface-scattering from Bragg surface region, dihedral-scattering from urban region and volume-scattering from forest region, are estimated. The decomposition parameters take surface dielectric properties under consideration that makes the proposed method suitable to provide more realistic representation of the Earth's surface. To estimate the efficacy of the proposed technique, the hybrid-pol data acquired over Mumbai city using ISRO's RISAT-1 satellite is used. For comparative analysis, the proposed technique is compared with the conventional decomposition techniques, such as <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$m-\delta$</tex-math></inline-formula>, <inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX"> $m-\dot{\alpha }$</tex-math></inline-formula>, and modified <inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">$m-\chi$ </tex-math></inline-formula>.
A Review of Web Based Interventions for Managing Tobacco Use

Web based interventions (WBIs) have been developed for various health conditions. These include interventions for various psychoactive substance use disorders including tobacco and alcohol. Tobacco use has remained the single largest preventable cause of global mortality and morbidity for many years. It is responsible for around 6 million deaths annually world-wide. Ironically, most of the tobacco users reside in resource poor low and middle-income countries. The article reviews the existing literature on WBIs for management of tobacco use. The literature search was performed using MedLine, PubMed, PsycINFO, Embase and Cochrane Review for relevant English language articles published from 1998 up to 2013. There is limited support for effectiveness of WBIs for managing tobacco use among adolescents. Although most of the trials among adults found WBIs to be more effective at short term follow-up (a few days to weeks), the benefits failed to extend beyond 3 months in most of the studies. All but one interventions studied in a randomized controlled trial is for smoking forms.
Trichoderma-Induced Acidification Is an Early Trigger for Changes in Arabidopsis Root Growth and Determines Fungal Phytostimulation

Trichoderma spp. are common rhizosphere inhabitants widely used as biological control agents and their role as plant growth promoting fungi has been established. Although soil pH influences several fungal and plant functional traits such as growth and nutrition, little is known about its influence in rhizospheric or mutualistic interactions. The role of pH in the Trichoderma–Arabidopsis interaction was studied by determining primary root growth and lateral root formation, root meristem status and cell viability, quiescent center (QC) integrity, and auxin inducible gene expression. Primary root growth phenotypes in wild type seedlings and STOP1 mutants allowed identification of a putative root pH sensing pathway likely operating in plant–fungus recognition. Acidification by Trichoderma induced auxin redistribution within Arabidopsis columella root cap cells, causing root tip bending and growth inhibition. Root growth stoppage correlated with decreased cell division and with the loss of QC integrity and cell viability, which were reversed by buffering the medium. In addition, stop1, an Arabidopsis mutant sensitive to low pH, was oversensitive to T. atroviride primary root growth repression, providing genetic evidence that a pH root sensing mechanism reprograms root architecture during the interaction. Our results indicate that root sensing of pH mediates the interaction of Trichoderma with plants.
Hand Vein Infrared Image Segmentation for Biometric Recognition

In this paper we propose a technique for both finding vein regions from thermal dorsal hand images and extracting features for biometric recogni- tion; our technique analyzes the geometry of the hand to isolate the vein regions and extract some features (vein bifurcations and ending points) for being used as features in the training sets for classifiers. Commonly, the features extracted are used as geometric and descriptive representation of the vein patterns which are matched with hand vein images in a database in order to determine/verify the person's identity. Keywor ds: Biometry, Hand vein recognition, Infrared image segmentation, Dorsal hand vein image processing
Compartive study of MPPT methods for PV systems : Case of Moroccan house

The use of renewable energies has become important for their beneficial effects on the environment. In this category we find photovoltaic (PV) energy, taking a considerable share of use due to the large availability of the solar potential, but its main obstacle is the extraction of maximum power. In fact, a photovoltaic panel supplying a load, isn’t necessarily working at the point corresponds to the peak of the characteristic (V, P) of the system. To fix this problem is required to use power electronics, via a DC / DC converter controlled by a maximum power point tracking (MPPT) algorithm. In the literature, several algorithms are proposed that differ by the number of inputs used, the response time and also by their accuracy. In this work, we tested a photovoltaic system feeding a traditional Moroccan house, by four methods of MPPT, with four degree of complexity, namely: open circuit voltage fraction, Perturb & observe, the incremental conductance, and the MPPT algorithm using fuzzy logic, with the use of a boost chopper that keeps the DC bus voltage constant. The results are analyzed, and they show that perturb and observe is the good algorithm for a low cost application and the fuzzy logic is suitable for more accuracy.
Breast cancer adjuvant therapy: time to consider its time-dependent effects.

Breast cancer is a chronic and heterogeneous disease that may recur many years after initial diagnosis and treatment.1 This has important implications for the practicing oncologist. For instance, an early effect of adjuvant treatment may diminish over time after cessation of therapy, or, alternatively, there may exist a lag time before some treatment effects become pronounced. Indeed, the risk of breast cancer recurrence and death (hazard rate) varies over time (ie, is nonproportional) according to prognostic and predictive factors (Figs 1 and ​and2;2; Table 1). 6,13 The hazard curve for breast cancer death peaks between 2 and 3 years after initial diagnosis and then declines sharply, suggesting that the biologic mechanisms responsible for early and late cancer-specific events are fundamentally different. Thus the early and late effects of adjuvant therapy may vary accordingly.
Supporting Context-Aware Media Recommendations for Smart Phones

A context-aware media recommendation platform uses an NtimesM-dimensional model and a hybrid processing approach to support media recommendation, adaptation, and delivery for smart phones. To provide media recommendations for smart phones based on all three context categories, we present a generic and flexible NtimesM-dimensional (N2M) recommendation model. The model considers context information ranging from user preference and situation to device and network capability as input for both content and presentation recommendations. We propose a hybrid recommendation approach to synergize content-based, Bayesian-classifier, and rule-based methods. Based on the recommendation model and hybrid-processing approach, we built a context-aware media recommendation platform called CoMeR to support media recommendation, adaptation, and delivery for smart phones
CERBERUS: Tracing Requirements to Source Code Using Information Retrieval, Dynamic Analysis, and Program Analysis

The concern location problem is to identify the source code within a program related to the features, requirements, or other concerns of the program. This problem is central to program development and maintenance. We present a new technique called prune dependency analysis that can be combined with existing techniques to dramatically improve the accuracy of concern location. We developed CERBERUS, a potent hybrid technique for concern location that combines information retrieval, execution tracing, and prune dependency analysis. We used CERBERUS to trace the 360 requirements of RHINO, a 32,134 line Java program that implements the ECMAScript international standard. In our experiment, prune dependency analysis boosted the recall of information retrieval by 155% and execution tracing by 104%. Moreover, we show that our combined technique outperformed the other techniques when run individually or in pairs.
A ${\bm \lambda}$-Cut and Goal-Programming-Based Algorithm for Fuzzy-Linear Multiple-Objective Bilevel Optimization

Bilevel-programming techniques are developed to handle decentralized problems with two-level decision makers, which are leaders and followers, who may have more than one objective to achieve. This paper proposes a λ-cut and goal-programming-based algorithm to solve fuzzy-linear multiple-objective bilevel (FLMOB) decision problems. First, based on the definition of a distance measure between two fuzzy vectors using λ-cut, a fuzzy-linear bilevel goal (FLBG) model is formatted, and related theorems are proved. Then, using a λ-cut for fuzzy coefficients and a goal-programming strategy for multiple objectives, a λ-cut and goal-programming-based algorithm to solve FLMOB decision problems is presented. A case study for a newsboy problem is adopted to illustrate the application and executing procedure of this algorithm. Finally, experiments are carried out to discuss and analyze the performance of this algorithm.
Constraint solving for beautiful user interfaces: how solving strategies support layout aesthetics

Layout managers provide an automatic way to place controls in a graphical user interface (GUI). With the wide distribution of fully GUI-enabled smartphones, as well as very large or even multiple personal desktop monitors, the logical size of commonly used GUIs has become highly variable. A layout manager can cope with different size requirements and rearrange controls depending on the new layout size. However, there has been no research on how the distribution of additional or lacking space, to all controls in the layout, effects aesthetics. Much of the previous research focuses on discrete changes to layout. This includes changing the layout elements [15], or swapping around layout elements [7]. In this paper we focus strictly on the optimization of resizing of GUI components, and in this area we focus on rather subtle changes. This paper describes and compares strategies to distribute available space in a visual appealing way. All strategies are modeled with a constraint-based layout manager, since such a layout manager can be used to describe a wide range of layouts. Some aesthetic problems of constraint based layout managers have been identified and solutions have been provided. In a user evaluation three solving strategies, equal distribution, weighted distribution and a minimal deviation, have been compared. As a result, the minimal deviation approach seems to be a good strategy for large and small layout sizes. The minimal deviation and the equal distribution strategy is best at large layout sizes while the weighted distribution approach seems to perform better at small layout sizes. Furthermore, the evaluation shows that layouts with a high degree of symmetry are clearly preferred by the users.
Practitioners’ perceptions of dyslexia and approaches towards teaching learners with dyslexia in adult literacy classes

Learners with dyslexia are likely to be over-represented in adult literacy classes because of the convergence in perceptions, causes and understanding of literacy problems and dyslexia. Given the great amount of apprehension about practitioners’ and policy makers’ understanding of dyslexia itself, it is important to carry out an exploration of the perceptions of literacy teachers, who increasingly have responsibility for teaching learners with dyslexia. This study reports such an exploration. It employed a questionnaire survey and a focus group interview to collect data on the perceptions of literacy teachers on issues around the teaching of learners with dyslexia. The data collected were analysed using the conceptual analysis strand of concept analysis. It found that their perception of dyslexia and their approaches to teaching learners with dyslexia were informed by a dominant discourse which derives from a deficit model of dyslexia and which concurs with the metaphor of dyslexia and illiteracy as a form of disease. Furthermore, participants in this research revealed that they had limited confidence in the long-term value of the tuition they provide to their learners. The study concludes by highlighting that there is a need to explore alternatives in terms of perceptions and approaches if learners with dyslexia are to succeed in literacy classes.