Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Immunostimulatory Effects of the Anionic Alkali Mineral Complex BARODON on Equine Lymphocytes

ABSTRACT Previous studies have shown that the anionic alkali mineral complex BARODON has an immunoenhancing effect on pigs as an adjuvant and as a nonspecific immunostimulant. Likewise, the equine immune system has been defined with various monoclonal antibodies specific to equine leukocyte differentiation antigens to determine the possibility of enhancing equine resistance to respiratory diseases and promoting other immunostimulatory effects with the application of BARODON. Compared with the control group, after 3 weeks of treatment, BARODON-treated groups showed higher proportions of cells (P < 0.05) expressing major histocompatibility complex class II and CD2, CD4+, CD4+ CD25+, CD8+, and CD8+ CD25+ T lymphocytes, dendritic cells, and surface immunoglobulin M+ B lymphocytes in peripheral blood, as well as enhanced cell proliferative responses with phytohemagglutinin and increased phagocytic activity against Streptococcus equi and Staphylococcus aureus strains with high antibiotic resistance, the bacteria frequently identified as etiologic agents of equine respiratory diseases at the Seoul Race Park in Seoul, Korea. This study shows that BARODON may act as an immunostimulator and can be an effective alternative to antimicrobial feed additives for nonspecific improvements in equine immune responses, particularly against respiratory diseases.
Anaerobic Growth Yields of Aerobacter cloacae and Escherichia coli

Aerobacter cloacae UW-C83 and Escherichia coli K-12 were grown under various anaerobic environments. Yatp values were calculated by determination of cell weights and analyses for fermentation products. These Yatp values are compared with others reported in the literature. Limitation of growth by factors other than adenosine triphosphate supply is discussed.
A blind image steganalysis based on features from three domains

A new blind steganalyzer is constructed to markedly improve performance with higher universalness and detection accuracy. It merges Robert gradient energy in pixel domain, variance of Laplacian parameter in DCT(discrete cosine transform) domain and higher-order statistics extracted from wavelet coefficients as the feature vector of the proposed steganalysis algorithm, and BP(back propagation) neural network is applied as the classifier in this paper. Extensive experiments show the efficacy of our steganalyzer on a large collection of images and on three steganography algorithms. It can detect Jsteg, Stool with the accuracy of 90%.
NO X Emission Reduction by Non Thermal Plasma Technique

The current work demonstrates the feasibility of atmospheric pressure non-thermal plasma technique for NO X pollution control. Atmospheric pressure dielectric barrier discharge plasma reactor has been constructed for the treatment of the exhaust of 4kWs free load diesel engine. The nature and properties of the discharge were identified through studying electrical characterization of the discharge cell. The effect of applied voltage, discharge power and discharge length on the removal and energy efficiency of NO X has been investigated. Different parameters including, NO X removal efficiency, specific energy density and energy cost per molecule have been calculated, analyzed and interpreted. It has been found that the removal efficiency of NO X was varied from (16%-74%) at energy cost of values varied from (123-390 eV/molecule). The obtained data represents promising results and offers a solution for NO X pollution reduction.
Geomagnetic measurement and analysis of Cheongyang observatory

Cheongyang (CYG) observatory conducted two modes of geomagnetic measurement: absolute measurements for deriving the baseline values and continuous measurement of geomagnetic field variation. Measurements are made using high accuracy vector and scalar magnetometers and non-magnetic theodolite in accordance with the INTERMAGNET (International Real-time Magnetic Observatory Network) specifications. The baseline values obtained from the absolute measurements are fitted using piecewise polynomials of order 3 or less from which the final baseline values are calculated. Variations of less than 5 nT was observed in all the components of the geomagnetic field which is within INTERMAGNET requirement.
PCOS according to the Rotterdam consensus criteria: change in prevalence among WHO‐II anovulation and association with metabolic factors

Objective The current report aims to compare the prevalence of polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) diagnosed according to the new Rotterdam criteria (Rott‐PCOS) versus the previous criteria as formulated by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) (NIH‐PCOS) in women with normogonadotropic (WHO‐II) anovulation and assess the frequency of obesity and related factors determined in these women.
Genetic Transformation of Borrelia burgdorferi

The development of robust genetic tools to manipulate Borrelia burgdorferi, the etiologic agent of Lyme disease, now allows investigators to assess the role(s) of individual genes in the context of experimental Lyme borreliosis. This unit is devoted to the description of experimental approaches that are available for the molecular genetic analysis of B. burgdorferi with an emphasis on cultivation, electrotransformation, selection of desired mutants, and genetic complementation of acquired mutants. The intent is to provide a consensus protocol that encapsulates the methodologies currently employed by the B. burgdorferi research community and describe pertinent issues that must be accounted for when working with these pathogenic spirochetal bacteria. Curr. Protoc. Microbiol. 20:12C.4. 1‐12C.4. 17. © 2011 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Capacity Maximization and Transmission Rates Optimization for Relay Assisted Wireless Multicast

In this letter, we maximize the multicast capacity of a cellular system with dedicated decode-and-forward (DF) relays, by jointly optimizing transmission data rates of the base station (BS) and the relays subject to an average outage constraint in Rayleigh fading channels. The optimal transmission rates of the BS and relays and the optimal relay locations are obtained based on an outage probability analysis for the relay-assisted multicast. Numerical results show that relay-aided multicast significantly outperforms direct multicast, and the best transmission strategy is for the BS and dedicated relays to transmit at the same rate.
Weighted re‐randomization tests for minimization with unbalanced allocation

Re‐randomization test has been considered as a robust alternative to the traditional population model‐based methods for analyzing randomized clinical trials. This is especially so when the clinical trials are randomized according to minimization, which is a popular covariate‐adaptive randomization method for ensuring balance among prognostic factors. Among various re‐randomization tests, fixed‐entry‐order re‐randomization is advocated as an effective strategy when a temporal trend is suspected. Yet when the minimization is applied to trials with unequal allocation, fixed‐entry‐order re‐randomization test is biased and thus compromised in power. We find that the bias is due to non‐uniform re‐allocation probabilities incurred by the re‐randomization in this case. We therefore propose a weighted fixed‐entry‐order re‐randomization test to overcome the bias. The performance of the new test was investigated in simulation studies that mimic the settings of a real clinical trial. The weighted re‐randomization test was found to work well in the scenarios investigated including the presence of a strong temporal trend. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
A Hardware Approach to Fairly Balance the Inter-Thread Interference in Shared Caches

Shared caches have become the common design choice in the vast majority of modern multi-core and many-core processors, since cache sharing improves throughput for a given silicon area. Sharing the cache, however, has a downside: the requests from multiple applications compete among them for cache resources, so the execution time of each application increases over isolated execution. The degree in which the performance of each application is affected by the interference becomes unpredictable yielding the system to unfairness situations. This paper proposes Fair-Progress Cache Partitioning (FPCP), a low-overhead hardware-based cache partitioning approach that addresses system fairness. FPCP reduces the interference by allocating to each application a cache partition and adjusting the partition sizes at runtime. To adjust partitions, our approach estimates during multicore execution the time each application would have taken in isolation, which is challenging. The proposed approach has two main differences over existing approaches. First, FPCP distributes cache ways incrementally, which makes the proposal less prone to estimation errors. Second, the proposed algorithm is much less costly than the state-of-the-art ASM-Cache approach. Experimental results show that, compared to ASM-Cache, FPCP reduces unfairness by 48 percent in four-application workloads and by 28 percent in eight-application workloads, without harming the performance.
Detection of viable Legionella pneumophila in water by polymerase chain reaction and gene probe methods

Methods using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and gene probes to detect viable Legionella pneumophila were investigated with cells exposed to biocide or elevated temperature. Exposure to hypochlorite caused viable nonculturable cells to form. Culturable and viable nonculturable cells showed positive PCR amplification, whereas nonviable cells did not. Viable cells were also specifically detected with mip mRNA as the target, reverse transcription (to form cDNA), and PCR amplification. After exposure to elevated temperature, only viable culturable cells were detected, which corresponded with positive PCR amplification.
Tpl 2 knockout keratinocytes have increased biomarkers for invasion and metastasis

Department of Biology, American University, Washington, DC 20016, USA, 1CCRIFX Bioinformatics Core, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA, 2Office of Science & Technology Partnerships, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA and 3Laboratory of Cancer Biology and Genetics, 37 Convent Drive, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA
REMOTE SENSING FOR PHYSICAL PROTECTION OF THE PIPELINE NETWORK ONLINE MONITORING OF CORRIDOR BASED INFRASTRUCTURE

The existing service that locates invasions along a petroleum pipeline, informs an intrusion or warns about a disaster on the Petroleum Pipeline and Telecommunication corridors by using data from the Rights of Way (ROW), which is a buffer zone on each side of a petroleum pipeline. This data is called Co rridor Based Data (CBD). For many years, the ROW has been traced and monitored by using vehicles. Recently, remote sensi ng and sensors technology has helped key-persons to monitor the large boundaries and long corridor of the ROW, by using sp atial information and sensors principle respectivel y. The truth is that scalability and performance of this method has not yet been widely practiced. A large interval of the data acquisition is the main weakness of space borne remote sensing methods. This is due to our need for continuous monitoring and also to make the existing service more useful. Using a concept for automotive assistance and just-in-time decision making helps overcome the limitations of existing methods. The conceptual result proposes an efficient approach to the algorithm of intrusion d etection. This algorithm could be divided into two parts of object detection and m otion field geo-coded methods. Ground based remote sensing on the other hand, considers unmanned monitoring of oil pipeline corri dor based on the literature of the relevant domains including Context Aware Systems, remote sensing, general interaction and GI S. This paper organized as following conceptual sta tement. In section 1, it gives definition of monitoring pipeline corridor. Potenti al monitoring through remote sensing is described i n section 2 and talks briefly about the pitfalls of implementations, theoretical framework, result and conclusion, are discussed in section 3, and 4 respectively.
Instability of electrokinetic microchannel flows with conductivity gradients

Electrokinetic flow is leveraged in a variety of applications, and is a key enabler of on-chip electrophoresis systems. An important sub-class of electrokinetic devices aim to pump and control electrolyte working liquids with spatial gradients in conductivity. These high-gradient flows can become unstable under the application of a sufficiently strong electric field. In this work the instability physics is explored using theoretical and numerical analyses, as well as experimental observations. The flow in a long, rectangular-cross-section channel is considered. A conductivity gradient is assumed to be orthogonal to the main flow direction, and an electric field is applied in the streamwise direction. It is found that such a system exhibits a critical electric field above which the flow is highly unstable, resulting in fluctuating velocities and rapid stirring. Modeling results compare well with experimental observations. The model indicates that the fluid forces associated with the thin dimension of the c.
An Approach to Positioning Road-Users in a Telematics Network

In this invited paper, we discuss positioning of road-users in a traffic environment. Once accurate and reliable position information can be made available, many interesting and innovative telematics applications may be realized. Some of the problems facing radio-frequency (RF) based positioning systems today include blocked RF channels and multipath propagation, complicating distance estimation between network members and between network members and the infrastructure. In this work, we propose a novel estimator of range operating on an ultra-wideband (UWB) physical layer. This distance estimator has been designed specifically with a novel type of positioning algorithm in mind, based on the method of projections onto convex sets. Also, we investigate the feasibility of positioning users that are not members of the telematics network based on arbitrary transmitted RF signals. Numerical simulations, using channel models recently adopted by the IEEE 802.15. 4a working group, confirm the robustness and accuracy of the proposed approach in the presence of both non-line-of-sight (NLOS) channels, and severe multipath propagation
The friend, the enemy, and the anthropologist: hostility and hospitality among the Parakanã (Amazonia, Brazil)

Here I investigate a special relationship existing among the Tupi-speaking Parakana of Amazonia, usually translated as ‘friendship’, and implying expectations of hospitality. Its field of application spans from the closest other (the cross-cousin) to the most distant (the enemy). I show that this kind of relationship is internally structured around an unstable prey-predator polarity, meaning that the most intimate other is also the prey closest to hand. This ambivalence in the friendship relation counteracts the possibility of a space of sovereignty at the levels of the person and of collectivities, but it does not imply a ‘hospitality of visitation’ as envisaged by Derrida. Resume L'auteur etudie ici une relation particuliere entre les Parakana, un peuple amazonien locuteur du tupi, que l'on traduit habituellement par « amitie » et qui implique des attentes d'hospitalite. Le domaine d'application de cette notion va de l'autre le plus proche (le cousin croise) au plus eloigne (l'ennemi). L'article montre que ce type de relation est intrinsequement structure autour d'une polarite proie-predateur instable, dans laquelle l'autre le plus intime est aussi la proie la plus a portee de main. Cette ambivalence de la relation d'amitie s'oppose a la possibilite d'un espace de souverainete au niveau de la personne et des collectivites, mais elle n'implique pas une « hospitalite de visitation » telle que l'envisageait Derrida.
Basic Studies on Chemopreventive Properties of Quercetin and Curcumin and Other Plant-origin Compounds in Ovarian Cancer Cells-A Mini-review

Despite the increasing number of studies on the molecular actions of quercetin and curcumin, their anticancer efficacy, safety and molecular aspects of chemopreventive action in the ovarian cancer prophylaxis or treatment and also their potential in the sensitization to cytostatics used in the clinical practice remains still not clearly understood. Based on basic studies we have summarized evidences for inhibitory activities of several often studied plantorigin bio-active compounds (mostly quercetin and curcumin) against ovarian cancer cells proliferation, their mechanisms of action as well as their strong potential to sensitization of ovarian cancer cells to the presence of several platinum-based cytostatics - cisplatin and oxaliplatin. Up to date only several dietary, clinical (cohort and case–control) studies evaluating the association of some flavonoids (mostly nonisoflavones) and its subgroup components consumption and ovarian cancer risk were already performed. According to the researchers, there has been no association between ovarian cancer risk and total nonisoflavone flavonoids intake. There is a still an insufficient amount of data designed to explain the effect of quercetin or curcumin (alone or together) on ovarian cancer development and/or its chemotherapy. Obtained results provide limited support for an association between nonisoflavone flavonoids intake and ovarian cancer risk, therefore there is a need for further and more accurate studies to be confirmed. We are of the opinion that this paper will contribute to a better understanding of the molecular basis for positive interactions between concomitant usage of quercetin or curcumin with above-mentioned cytostatics and other bio-active agents. This work may also contribute to an increase in the number of preclinical studies or other clinical, dietary trials using these or other phenolic / alkaloid, plant-origin constituents in order to investigate efficiency and safety of pharmacotherapy of ovarian cancer patients.
Novel photonic guiding structures - analysis and measurements

This paper presents an analysis and measurements of periodic holey fibers which belong to a continuously growing group of novel photonic crystal fibers. To analyze the modal properties of these fibers the transverse electric field is decomposed into a series of orthogonal modes which are then used to solve the vector wave equation for optical fibers. Orthogonal functions used in the considered case were Hermite - Gaussian functions because a very small number of modes is needed to achieve reasonable accuracy. The results of this analysis for fiber under test are compared with the measurements performed and are found to be in a very good agreement. Furthermore, additional measurements of bending properties were performed showing that holey fibers have significantly lower bending losses compared to standard G.652 fibers that are mostly in use today.
Tree-based estimation of speaker characteristics for speech recognition

Speaker adaptation by means of adjustment of speaker characteristic properties, such as vocal tract length, has the important advantage compared to conventional adaptation techniques that the adapted models are guaranteed to be realistic if the description of the properties are. One problem with this approach is that the search procedure to estimate them is computationally heavy. We address the problem by using a multi-dimensional, hierarchical tree of acoustic model sets. The leaf sets are created by transforming a conventionally trained model set using leaf-specific speaker profile vectors. The model sets of non-leaf nodes are formed by merging the models of their child nodes, using a computationally efficient algorithm. During recognition, a maximum likelihood criterion is followed to traverse the tree. Studies of one- (VTLN) and four-dimensional speaker profile vectors (VTLN, two spectral slope parameters and model variance scaling) exhibit a reduction of the computational load to a fraction compared to that of an exhaustive grid search. In recognition experiments on children's connected digits using adult and male models, the one-dimensional tree search performed as well as the exhaustive search. Further reduction was achieved with four dimensions. The best recognition results are 0.93% and 10.2% WER in TIDIGITS and PF-Star-Sw, respectively, using adult models.
Multi-robot multi-task allocation for hospital logistics

A number of materials are delivered inside a hospital, and a fleet of autonomous navigating mobile robots are applied to replace these heavy mobility works. To increase the efficiency of using multiple robots, more than one delivery tasks can be assigned to a robot instead of delivering only one package at a time. This multi-task allocation algorithm (MTA) is introduced in this paper and a simulator is developed to measure the performance of the algorithm. The simulator models the hospital environment and enables to compare the delivery productivity by changing the number of robot. It shows that the efficiency of MTA increases dramatically compared to the single task allocation when using the same number of robot.
Information technology investment strategies: a review and synthesis of the literature

ABSTRACT In spite of high importance of information technology (IT) investments, managers do not have sufficient guidelines to formulate IT investment strategy of a firm. In this paper, we review the literature to determine the factors that influence the IT investment strategy. The concept of IT investment strategy so far considered two domains: intensity and proactiveness; we enhance this concept by adding the domain of investment focus. Through this review, we made an attempt to answer three strategic questions related to IT investments: (i) level of investment that a firm should make in IT, that is, investment intensity; (ii) areas of firm where these investments should be more focused, that is, investment focus; and (iii) timing of investment, that is, whether to be an early mover in adopting IT or whether to invest relatively late compared to competitors.
Using psychological word database in Web search

We propose a new approach for indexing Web contents. The essence of our approach is that we use a psycho-linguistic word database for calculating the index of Web pages. Since there is no existing database designed for this purpose, we started our study by creating a word database. We will show that the database can be effectively used for estimating the reading levels of specific Web pages. We will also show that this approach can be used to reflect user profiles in Web searches.