Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Cloning and Recombinant Expression of Chitosanase Gene from Bacillus Sp. S-1

In this work, we report the characterization of a chitosanase-producing bacterium isolated from soil. This strain was grouped under the genus Bacillus by virtue of its morphological, physiological properties and 16S rDNA gene sequence and named it Bacillus sp. S-1. According to the information of chitosanase full-length sequences deposited in NCBI, a pair of degenerated primes was designed and a partial sequence of chitosanase gene was obtained by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) using Bacillus sp. S-1 genome DNA as the template. A genome walking library was constructed followed as the protocol provided by CLONTECH Company. The flanking sequences of the 5’ and 3’ terminal was obtained by genome walking method and two-step PCR technique. After overlapped and confirmed, the full-length sequence of chitosanase from Bacillus sp. S-1 was achieved and it contained 1362 bp coding 453 amino acids (accession number is EU924147). The predicted amino acid sequence was 96% similar to that of Bacillus cereus ATCC 14579 (accession number is NC_004722). The fusion protein containing BSCHITO was produced in Escherichia coli and purified using Ni-NTA affinity chromatography. The purified rBSCHITO degraded the chitosan (the degree of deacetylation of 99%) to produce mixture of chitooligosaccharides. The BSCHITO is thus an endo-chitosanase.
Effects of Continuous Use of Entonox in Comparison with Intermittent Method on Obstetric Outcomes: A Randomized Clinical Trial

Background. Entonox (N2O2) which is an inhalational gas for relieving labor pain is commonly used intermittently; however some women are interested in continuous breathing in face mask. So we decided to compare the complications induced by two methods to find out whether it is safe to permit the mothers to use Entonox continuously or not. Patients and Methods. This randomized clinical trial was performed in Mobini Hospital, Sabzevar, Iran. 50 parturients used Entonox intermittently and 50 cases used it continuously during labor. Then obstetrical outcomes were analyzed in two groups by spss 17 software, t-test, and Chi2 while P < 0.05 was considered significant. Results. This study showed the mean duration of second stage of labor had no significant difference (P = 0.3). Perineal laceration was less in continuous group significantly (P = 0.04). Assisted vaginal birth was not different significantly (P = 0.4). Uterine atony had no significant difference in two groups (P = 0.2). Maternal collaboration in pushing and satisfaction were higher in continuous group significantly (P = 0.03), (P < 0.0001). Apgar score of neonates at first and fifth minute was acceptable and not different significantly in two groups (P = 0.3). Conclusions. Our study demonstrated continuous method is also safe. So, it seems reasonable to set mothers free to choose the desired method of Entonox usage.
Optimal Software Release Using Time and Cost Benefits via Fuzzy Multi-Criteria and Fault Tolerance

As we know every software development process is pretty large and consists of different modules. This raises the idea of prioritizing different software modules so that important modules can be tested by preference. In the software testing process, it is not possible to test each and every module regressively, which is due to time and cost constraints. To deal with these constraints, this paper proposes an approach that is based on the fuzzy multi-criteria approach for prioritizing several software modules and calculates optimal time and cost for software testing by using fuzzy logic and the fault tolerance approach.
[Repair of unstable cuffs with a deltoid flap].

We have found that upper arthrolysis for major ruptures of the cuff affecting the supraspinatus and infraspinatus muscles yielded only 40% of excellent and good clinical results at three years, with 1/4 of cases of exenteration of the humeral head on radiographs after 10 years, so that, as early as 1984, we had the idea of using a "tailor-made" active muscle flap taken from the anterior fibers of the middle deltoid muscle (Fick's fibers n degrees III) and sutured to the edges of the trophic perforation after exeresis reaching to the healthy tissue. In our opinion, this procedure is logical as we use a synergic transplant of the ruptured muscles of the cuff, preserving its nerves and blood vessels. This forms a living interposition material between the acromion and the greater tuberosity of the humerus, forming a real "three-bellies" muscle resisting the ascent of the humeral head. In fact, it reconstructs a contained cuff, which plays an important role to lower the humeral head. After a minimum of one year and an average of nineteen months for fifty shoulders, all of these have an esthetically satisfactory appearance, forty-seven are painless or painful only episodically; thirty-two have an active elevation exceeding 120 degrees; twenty-one have a symmetrical muscular strength for elevation and fifteen for outward rotation with 90 degrees abduction. Thirty-nine patients (78%) show satisfactory clinical results. Seventeen humeral heads are realigned. Electromyograms performed after six months showed that the flap contracted synchronously with the supra- and infraspinatus. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
FM1-43 Dye Behaves as a Permeant Blocker of the Hair-Cell Mechanotransducer Channel

Hair cells in mouse cochlear cultures are selectively labeled by brief exposure to FM1-43, a styryl dye used to study endocytosis and exocytosis. Real-time confocal microscopy indicates that dye entry is rapid and via the apical surface. Cooling to 4°C and high extracellular calcium both reduce dye loading. Pretreatment with EGTA, a condition that breaks tip links and prevents mechanotransducer channel gating, abolishes subsequent dye loading in the presence of calcium. Dye loading recovers after calcium chelation with a time course similar to that described for tip-link regeneration.Myo7a mutant hair cells, which can transduce but have all mechanotransducer channels normally closed at rest, do not label with FM1-43 unless the bundles are stimulated by large excitatory stimuli. Extracellular perfusion of FM1-43 reversibly blocks mechanotransduction with half-blocking concentrations in the low micromolar range. The block is reduced by high extracellular calcium and is voltage dependent, decreasing at extreme positive and negative potentials, indicating that FM1-43 behaves as a permeant blocker of the mechanotransducer channel. The time course for the relief of block after voltage steps to extreme potentials further suggests that FM1-43 competes with other cations for binding sites within the pore of the channel. FM1-43 does not block the transducer channel from the intracellular side at concentrations that would cause complete block when applied extracellularly. Calcium chelation and FM1-43 both reduce the ototoxic effects of the aminoglycoside antibiotic neomycin sulfate, suggesting that FM1-43 and aminoglycosides enter hair cells via the same pathway.
Genetic algorithm for data aggregation trees in wireless sensor networks

This paper uses a genetic algorithm (GA) to generate balanced and energy efficient data aggregation spanning trees for wireless sensor networks. In a data gathering round, a single best tree consumes lowest energy from all nodes but assigns more load to some sensors. As a result, the energy resources of heavily loaded nodes will be depleted earlier than others. Therefore, we use a collection of trees that balances load among nodes and consumes less energy. Our proposed GA takes these two issues in generating aggregation trees. The GA is simulated in an open source simulator, J-sim. The simulation results show that proposed GA outperforms a few other data aggregation tree-based approaches in terms of extending network lifetime.
A Case Study in Structure Specification: A Grid Description of Scribe

The author describes a case study in which the grid mechanism was used to describe the structure of Scribe, a document-processing system in widespread use. The structure description is presented and explained in some detail, and the effectiveness of the grid for specifying the important structural features of Scribe is discussed. It is shown that the grid succeeds in its objective of presenting complex structures clearly. A grid specification forms a suitable basis for a narrative explanation of system structure. It is further noted that some detailed improvements would further enhance the expressiveness of the grid, and that environment support is essential for serious use of the grid. >
Range correlation effect on ISM band I/Q CMOS radar for non-contact vital signs sensing

A quadrature direct conversion microwave Doppler radar has been fully integrated in 0.25 /spl mu/m CMOS. This ISM band radar chip has been used to detect heart and respiration movement 50 cm from the subject. While oscillator phase noise is a performance-limiting factor in CW radar systems, the range correlation effect enables measurement of small phase modulations in spite of the notoriously high phase noise of the on-chip CMOS oscillator. This is the first reported quantitative experimental verification of the range correlation effect.
Extruded Cement Based Composites Reinforced with Sugar Cane Bagasse Fibres

The extrusion process can produce composites with high-density matrix and fibre packing, low permeability and fibre matrix bond strengthening. This process is also compatible with the use of vegetable fibres as raw materials in the production of cost-effective construction elements such as ceiling panels. Sugar cane bagasse fibres (SCF), one of the largest cellulosic agroindustrial by-products of sugar and alcohol industry available in Brazil, are a renewable resource usually used as a biomass fuel for the boilers. The remaining bagasse is still a source of contamination to the environment, so there is a great interest on exploiting novel applications to sugar cane bagasse fibres. In this work, the effect of SCF on extruded cementitious composite performance was evaluated. Three different contents of SCF were considered, using cellulose pulp as secondary micro-reinforcement to improve the resistance to the appearance of microcracks. Composites were prepared using a laboratory Auger extruder with vacuum chamber and were tested after 28 days of water curing and after 200 accelerated ageing cycles. Modulus of rupture (MOR) and Tenacity (TE) of extruded composites were assessed by four point bending test. Water absorption and apparent volume were determined by water immersion. Microstructure behavior was evaluated by mercury intrusion porosimetry and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Results indicated that the introduction of larger fibres increased tenacity (TE) at 28 days and favored a higher amount of macropores (0.1 to 1 mm); SEM observations confirmed that fibre degradation occurred after 200 cycles.
A Real Time Virtual Dressing Room Application using Kinect

We introduce a virtual dressing room application using the Microsoft Kinect sensor. We extract the user from the video stream by using depth and user label data provided by the Kinect sensor, register the cloth model with the Kinect skeletal tracking data, and detect skin to adjust the order of layers. We report an average percentage of overlap between the user and the cloth models of 83.97%.
Formation of Segmented Chips in Semi-Finish Turning of α-Titanium Alloy BT5

Machining is gradually giving way to alternative manufacturing methods for titanium components. Although powder metallurgy based methods are more complicated and expensive, they are gaining more ground because of the difficulty of machining titanium due to its low thermal conductivity. Moreover documented information on research works on titanium remains so limited in comparison with steel and aluminium. This paper highlights the importance of titanium based alloys, its properties and areas of application as well as its major classifications. A typical case of semi-finish turning of α-titanium BT5 alloy is also presented. Results of chip root examination based on the application of a quick-stop mechanism with about 11m/s withdrawal speed to freeze the cutting operation is also presented, thereby highlighting some main features that are peculiar to the chip formation in titanium as compared with other materials.
Feeding behavior, voluntary intake and digestibility of various summer fodders in sheep and goats

Study was conducted to compare the voluntary intake and digestibility of sheep and goats fed janter (Coriandrum sativum), guar (Cyamopsis tetragonolba), and cowpea (Vigna sinesis) in small ruminants. For this purpose,90 female animals, 45 sheep and 45 goats, were randomly selected and divided equally in six groups having three replicate (n=15) in each species under 2×3 factorial arrangements. Three fodders (jantar, guar and cowpea) were randomly fed to their respective replicates in both goats and sheep. Results showed that eating time was significantly higher in goats than sheep. Ruminating time was statistically (P<0.05) different between sheep and goats. Sheep and goats showed different eating pattern on offered fodders. Drinking time was lower while playing, resting and others activities were higher in goats than sheep. Dry matter, crude protein, neutral detergent fiber, acid detergent fiber digestibility was higher (P<0.05) in sheep than goats fed on various summer fodders. Dry matter digestibility was varied in both species on all fodders.
Phospholipase D2 Activity Suppresses Hydrogen Peroxide‐Induced Apoptosis in PC12 Cells

Abstract: Phospholipase D (PLD) plays an important role as an effector in the membrane lipid‐mediated signal transduction. However, the precise physiological functions of PLD are not yet well understood. In this study, we examined the role of PLD activity in hydrogen peroxide (H2O2)‐induced apoptosis in rat pheochromocytoma (PC12) cells. Treatment of PC12 cells with H2O2 resulted in induction of apoptosis in these cells, which is accompanied by the activation of PLD. This H2O2‐induced apoptosis was enhanced remarkably when phosphatidic acid production by PLD was selectively inhibited by pretreating the PC12 cells with 1‐butanol. Expression of PLD2, but not of PLD1, correlated with increased H2O2‐induced PLD activity in a concentration‐ and time‐dependent manner. Concomitant with PLD activation, the PLD2 activity suppressed H2O2‐induced apoptosis in PC12 cells. Expression of PLD2 lipase‐inactive mutant (K758R) had no effect on either PLD activity or apoptosis. PLD2 activity also suppressed H2O2‐induced cleavage and activation of caspase‐3. Taken together, the results suggest that PLD2 activity is specifically up‐regulated by H2O2 in PC12 cells and that it plays a suppressive role in H2O2‐induced apoptosis.
Predictability of Liver-Related Seromarkers for the Risk of Hepatocellular Carcinoma in Chronic Hepatitis B Patients

Background Hepatitis B virus (HBV)-related hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a major global health problem. A few risk calculators have been developed using mainly HBV seromarkers as predictors. However, serum HBV DNA level, HBV genotype, and mutants are not routinely checked in regular health examinations. This study aimed to assess the predictability of HCC risk in chronic hepatitis B patients, using a combination of liver-related seromarkers combined with or without HBV seromarkers. Methods A prospective cohort of 1,822 anti-HCV-seronegative chronic HBV carriers was included in this study. Liver-related seromarkers including aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), alpha-fetoprotein (AFP), gamma-glutamyltransferase (GGT), total bilirubin, total protein, albumin, serum globulins, apolipoprotein A1, and apolipoprotein B were examined. Hazard ratios of HCC with 95% confidence intervals were estimated using Cox proportional hazards regression models. Regression coefficients of seromarkers significantly associated with HCC risk in multivariate analyses were used to create integer risk scores. The predictability of various risk models were assessed by area under receiver operating characteristic curves (AUROCs). Results During a median follow-up of 5.9 years, 48 newly-developed HCC cases were ascertained. Elevated serum levels of ALT (≥28 U/L), AFP (≥5 ng/mL), and GGT (≥41 U/L), an increased AST/ALT ratio (AAR, ≥1), and lowered serum levels of albumin (≤4.1 g/dL) and alpha-1 globulin (≤0.2 g/dL) were significantly associated with an increased HCC risk (P<0.05) in multivariate analysis. The risk model incorporating age, gender, AAR, and serum levels of ALT, AFP, GGT, albumin, and alpha-1 globulin had an AUROC of 0.89 for predicting 6-year HCC incidence. The AUROC was 0.91 after the addition of HBV seromarkers into the model, and 0.83 for the model without liver-related seromarkers, with the exception of ALT. Conclusion Liver-related seromarkers may be combined into useful risk models for predicting HBV-related HCC risk.
Reduced complexity sphere decoding using a geometrical approach

In this paper we propose an algorithm with reduced complexity for the sphere detection (SD) which is used in multiple input multiple output (MIMO) detection algorithms without any performance degradation. The trade-off between the complexity and the bit error rate is a main challenge in wireless MIMO systems. The maximum likelihood (ML) detector considered as the optimum detector in the literatures. Since the complexity of the naive ML detectors is significantly high, the SD algorithms are proposed to lower the complexity. In this paper, we use the result of the geometrical decoder (GD) proposed in [8] which performs as the ML detector and has lower complexity than SD algorithm. We propose a method to further reduce the complexity of this SD algorithm. We show that the complexity is further reduced by almost 60%, i.e, the number of nodes visited by the proposed SD method is in average 60% less than that of the original one.
Content-based Information Retrieval from Handwritten Documents ∗

This paper is about retrieving the closest matches from a set of scanned handwritten documents based on a query that is a document image. System indexing and retrieval is based on writer characteristics, textual content as well as document meta data such as writer profile. Documents are indexed using global image features, e.g., stroke width, slant, word gaps, as well local features that describe shapes of characters and words. Image indexing is done automatically using page analysis, page segmentation, line separation, word segmentation and recognition of characters and words. Retrieval is based on a probabilistic model of information retrieval, where feature difference between documents are modeled as probability distributions. The system has been implemented using Microsoft Visual C++ and a relational database system. This paper reports on the performance of the system for retrieving documents based on writing style.
Predicting POI visits with a heterogeneous information network

A point of interest (POI) is a specific location that people may find useful or interesting. Examples include restaurants, stores, attractions, and hotels. With recent proliferation of location-based social networks (LBSNs), numerous users are gathered to share information on various POIs and to interact with each other. POI recommendation is then a crucial issue because it not only helps users to explore potential places but also gives LBSN providers a chance to post POI advertisements. As we utilize a heterogeneous information network to represent a LBSN in this work, POI recommendation is remodeled as a link prediction problem, which is significant in the field of social network analysis. Moreover, we propose to utilize the meta-path-based approach to extract implicit (but potentially useful) relationships between a user and a POI. Then, the extracted topological features are used to construct a prediction model with appropriate data classification techniques. In our experimental studies, the Yelp dataset is utilized as our testbed for performance evaluation purposes. Results of the experiments show that our prediction model is of good prediction quality in practical applications.
Controlled dephasing of a quantum dot in the Kondo regime.

Kondo correlation in a spin polarized quantum dot (QD) results from the dynamical formation of a spin singlet between the dot's net spin and a Kondo cloud of electrons in the leads, leading to enhanced coherent transport through the QD. We demonstrate here significant dephasing of such transport by coupling the QD and its leads to potential fluctuations in a nearby "potential detector. " The qualitative dephasing is similar to that of a QD in the Coulomb blockade regime in spite of the fact that the mechanism of transport is quite different. A much stronger than expected suppression of coherent transport is measured, suggesting that dephasing is induced mostly in the "Kondo cloud" of electrons within the leads and not in the QD.
Inverse square rank fusion for multimodal search

Rank fusion is the task of combining multiple ranked document lists (ranks) into a single ranked list. It is a late fusion approach designed to improve the rankings produced by individual systems. Rank fusion techniques have been applied throughout multiple domains: e.g. combining results from multiple retrieval functions, or multimodal search where several feature spaces are common. In this paper, we present the Inverse Square Rank fusion method family, a set of novel fully unsupervised rank fusion methods based on quadratic decay and on logarithmic document frequency normalization. Our experiments created with standard Information Retrieval datasets (image and text fusion) and image datasets (image features fusion), show that ISR outperforms existing rank fusion algorithms. Thus, the proposed technique has comparable or better performance than existing state-of-the-art approaches, while maintaining a low computational complexity and avoiding the need for document scores or training data.
Hot embossing of photonic crystal polymer structures with a high aspect ratio

Hot embossing is a promising approach for mass production of photonic crystal structures. This paper describes the fabrication of a replication tool for two-dimensional photonic crystal patterns and its replication in substrates of poly(methylmethacrylate) (PMMA) and cyclic olefin copolymer (COC). A nickel tool for the replication of structures with lateral dimensions of 110 nm and heights of approximately 370 nm is fabricated via electroplating of a nanostructured sample resulting in an aspect ratio of approximately 3.5. The structures are subsequently hot embossed into PMMA and COC substrates.
Enhancing human understanding of a mobile robot's state and actions using expressive lights

In order to be successfully integrated into human-populated environments, mobile robots need to express relevant information about their state to the outside world. In particular, animated lights are a promising way to express hidden robot state information such that it is visible at a distance. In this work, we present an online study to evaluate the effect of robot communication through expressive lights on people's understanding of the robot's state and actions. In our study, we use the CoBot mobile service robot with our light interface, designed to express relevant robot information to humans. We evaluate three designed light animations on three corresponding scenarios for each, for a total of nine scenarios. Our results suggest that expressive lights can play a significant role in helping people accurately hypothesize about a mobile robot's state and actions from afar when minimal contextual clues are present. We conclude that lights could be generally used as an effective non-verbal communication modality for mobile robots in the absence of, or as a complement to, other modalities.