Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
InterPro: the integrative protein signature database

The InterPro database (http://www.ebi.ac.uk/interpro/) integrates together predictive models or ‘signatures’ representing protein domains, families and functional sites from multiple, diverse source databases: Gene3D, PANTHER, Pfam, PIRSF, PRINTS, ProDom, PROSITE, SMART, SUPERFAMILY and TIGRFAMs. Integration is performed manually and approximately half of the total ∼58 000 signatures available in the source databases belong to an InterPro entry. Recently, we have started to also display the remaining un-integrated signatures via our web interface. Other developments include the provision of non-signature data, such as structural data, in new XML files on our FTP site, as well as the inclusion of matchless UniProtKB proteins in the existing match XML files. The web interface has been extended and now links out to the ADAN predicted protein–protein interaction database and the SPICE and Dasty viewers. The latest public release (v18.0) covers 79.8% of UniProtKB (v14.1) and consists of 16 549 entries. InterPro data may be accessed either via the web address above, via web services, by downloading files by anonymous FTP or by using the InterProScan search software (http://www.ebi.ac.uk/Tools/InterProScan/).
School effectiveness in East Asia: Concepts, origins and implications

Identifies several features in East Asian schools which coincide with commonly recognized characteristics of effective schools in the Western literature: community support, teacher professionalism, attention to quality and high expectations. Attributes this to the East Asian culture and discusses three major dimensions of the East Asian culture: the individual‐community dimension, the effort‐ability dichotomy and the holistic‐analytic tendency in analyses. Traces the origin of such cultural dimensions in the ancient literature and explores the implications of such cultural dimensions in school management. Briefly highlights two major challenges to the adoption of an effective schooling system in East Asia.
On the Pseudocodeword Redundancy of Binary Linear Codes

For a binary linear code, the pseudocodeword redundancy with respect to the additive white Gaussian noise channel, the binary symmetric channel, or the max-fractional weight is defined to be the smallest number of rows in a parity-check matrix such that the corresponding minimum pseudoweight is equal to the minimum Hamming distance of the code. It is shown that most codes do not have a finite pseudocodeword redundancy. Also, upper bounds on the pseudocodeword redundancy for some families of codes, including codes based on designs, are provided. The pseudocodeword redundancies for all codes of small length (at most 9) are computed. Furthermore, comprehensive results are provided on the cases of cyclic codes of length at most 250 for which the eigenvalue bound of Vontobel and Koetter is sharp.
Computer Models and Analysis Tools for Neural Microcircuits

This chapter surveys web resources regarding computer models and analysis tools for neural microcircuits. In particular it describes the features of a new website (www.lsm.tugraz.at) that facilitates the creation of computer models for cortical neural microcircuits of various sizes and levels of detail, as well as tools for evaluating the computational power of these models in a Matlab-
Natural Language Model Re-usability for Scaling to Different Domains

Natural language understanding is the core of the human computer interactions. However, building new domains and tasks that need a separate set of models is a bottleneck for scaling to a large number of domains and experiences. In this paper, we propose a practical technique that addresses this issue in a web-scale language understanding system: Microsoft’s personal digital assistant Cortana. The proposed technique uses a constrained decoding method with a universal slot tagging model sharing the same schema as the collection of slot taggers built for each domain. The proposed approach allows reusing of slots across different domains and tasks while achieving virtually the same performance as those slot taggers trained per domain fashion.
Decision Combination in Multiple Classifier Systems

A multiple classifier system is a powerful solution to difficult pattern recognition problems involving large class sets and noisy input because it allows simultaneous use of arbitrary feature descriptors and classification procedures. Decisions by the classifiers can be represented as rankings of classifiers and different instances of a problem. The rankings can be combined by methods that either reduce or rerank a given set of classes. An intersection method and union method are proposed for class set reduction. Three methods based on the highest rank, the Borda count, and logistic regression are proposed for class set reranking. These methods have been tested in applications of degraded machine-printed characters and works from large lexicons, resulting in substantial improvement in overall correctness. >
Molecular MRI Detects Low Levels of Cardiomyocyte Apoptosis in a Transgenic Model of Chronic Heart Failure

Background—The ability to image cardiomyocyte (CM) apoptosis in heart failure could facilitate more accurate diagnostics and optimize targeted therapeutics. We thus aimed to develop a platform to image CM apoptosis quantitatively and specifically in heart failure in vivo. The myocardium in heart failure, however, is characterized by very low levels of CM apoptosis and normal vascular permeability, factors thought to preclude the use of molecular MRI. Methods and Results—Female mice with overexpression of Gaq were studied. Two weeks postpartum, these mice develop a cardiomyopathy characterized by low levels of CM apoptosis and minimal myocardial necrosis or inflammation. The mice were injected with the annexin-labeled nanoparticle (AnxCLIO-Cy5.5) or a control probe (CLIO-Cy5.5) and imaged in vivo at 9.4 T. Uptake of AnxCLIO-Cy5.5 occurred in isolated clusters, frequently in the subendocardium. Myocardial T2* was significantly lower (7.6±1.5 versus 16.8±2.7 ms, P<0.05) in the mice injected with AnxCLIO-Cy5.5 versus CLIO-Cy5.5, consistent with the uptake of AnxCLIO-Cy5.5 by apoptotic CMs. A strong correlation (r2=0.86, P<0.05) was seen between in vivo T2* (AnxCLIO-Cy5.5 uptake) and myocardial caspase-3 activity. Conclusions—The ability of molecular MRI to image sparsely expressed targets in the myocardium is demonstrated in this study. Moreover, a novel platform for high-resolution and specific imaging of CM apoptosis in heart failure is established. In addition to providing novel insights into the pathogenesis of CM apoptosis, the developed platform could facilitate the development of novel antiapoptotic therapies in heart failure.
Six‐week gait retraining program reduces knee adduction moment, reduces pain, and improves function for individuals with medial compartment knee osteoarthritis

Dear Sir, We read with interest the article “Six-Week Gait Retraining Program Reduces Knee Adduction Moment, Reduces Pain, and Improves Function for Individuals with Medial Compartment Knee Osteoarthritis” by Shull et al. This is an important article that supports existing knowledge about the effect of non-invasive interventions, based on gait training, to establish new motor patterns for patients suffering from knee OA. The researchers examined the influence of a 6-week gait retraining program on the knee adduction moment (KAM), as well as knee pain and function, on 10 patients with medial compartment knee OA. Results demonstrated that following the 6-week program, the first peak KAM reduced by 20%, and WOMAC pain and function scores were improved by 29% and 32%, respectively. After reading this study, we would like to provide some additional information to the reader. The results of the current article support previous articles published by Erhart et al. in 2010 and by Haim et al. in 2012. The research methodology of all three articles was similar in that they examined the changes in KAM and WOMAC following intervention, and in all cases patients walked barefoot during examinations. Erhart et al. reported a 6.6% reduction in KAM for subjects with knee OA wearing variable-stiffness shoes for six months, whereas Haim et al. reported a 15.5% reduction in KAM, and an improvement of WOMAC pain and function by 61.0% and 63.0%, respectively. The importance of non-invasive biomechanical interventions, and their effect on biomechanical parameters (i.e., KAM) and clinical symptoms of pain and function has increased in the last decade. Only in the past few years it has been shown that, following training with a certain biomechanical device, the above-mentioned parameters improve while walking barefoot. Recently, Shakoor et al. evaluated the effects of 6 months of use of flat, flexible footwear (the mobility shoe) on knee loading in OA. Their findings support the results of previous publications, which showed a 10% reduction in KAM. The current article of Shull et al. and the studies of Erhart et al., Haim et al., and Shakoor et al., establish the realization of the effect of biomechanical interventions on biomechanical parameters and clinical symptoms. These articles should serve as the supporting pillar in this field and should further be examined. The next challenge should be to examine the longterm effect of these interventions on the disease’s progress.
Artificial Intelligence Techniques to Optimize the EDC/NHS-Mediated Immobilization of Cellulase on Eudragit L-100

Two artificial intelligence techniques, namely artificial neural network (ANN) and genetic algorithm (GA) were combined to be used as a tool for optimizing the covalent immobilization of cellulase on a smart polymer, Eudragit L-100. 1-Ethyl-3-(3-dimethyllaminopropyl) carbodiimide (EDC) concentration, N-hydroxysuccinimide (NHS) concentration and coupling time were taken as independent variables, and immobilization efficiency was taken as the response. The data of the central composite design were used to train ANN by back-propagation algorithm, and the result showed that the trained ANN fitted the data accurately (correlation coefficient R2 = 0.99). Then a maximum immobilization efficiency of 88.76% was searched by genetic algorithm at a EDC concentration of 0.44%, NHS concentration of 0.37% and a coupling time of 2.22 h, where the experimental value was 87.97 ± 6.45%. The application of ANN based optimization by GA is quite successful.
"I am a Hmong American": An exploration of the experiences of Hmong students in college

As the changing demographics in the United States are steadily shifting the student populations in colleges and universities, the focus on retention and college success becomes ever more important. When marginalized and underrepresented students like Asian Americans enter post-secondary education institutions and are assumed to fit stereotypes like the Model Minority Myth which suggests that all Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) students are high achievers, how do these students succeed and continue with their education under challenges including discrimination, language barriers (Lee, 2008) and cultural tension (Xiong and Lee, 2011; Ngo, 2007)? This study explores the experiences of Hmong college students. More specifically, the goal of this research is to describe how Hmong students make sense of their college experiences from their perspectives by examining two research questions: How do Hmong students make sense of their experiences in college? What contexts and situations influence the experiences and success of Hmong students in college? This research uses a phenomenological approach consisting of in-depth interviews with Hmong students from a New England college and Hmong individuals who have graduated from college. The first interview required the participants to respond to questions exploring their family backgrounds, experiences in schools prior to college, and their experiences in post-secondary education. The second interview was facilitated to provide opportunities for participants to elaborate on statements and stories from the first interview and was used for member checking. The students’ responses from the interviews were audio recorded, transcribed, and analyzed. Using phenomenological analysis and specifically thematic inductive analysis, the data were analyzed to develop themes. Three themes emerged from the data and captured how Hmong students make sense of their college experience: navigating the college system, support structures, and living in a bicultural world: “I am Hmong American”. These themes were used to develop recommendations for practitioners in higher education and suggestions for future research.
Curvelets: A Surprisingly Effective Nonadaptive Representation for Objects with Edges

Abstract : It is widely believed that to efficiently represent an otherwise smooth object with discontinuities along edges, one must use an adaptive representation that in some sense 'tracks' the shape of the discontinuity set. This folk-belief - some would say folk-theorem - is incorrect. At the very least, the possible quantitative advantage of such adaptation is vastly smaller than commonly believed. We have recently constructed a tight frame of curvelets which provides stable, efficient, and near-optimal representation of otherwise smooth objects having discontinuities along smooth curves. By applying naive thresholding to the curvelet transform of such an object, one can form m-term approximations with rate of L(sup 2) approximation rivaling the rate obtainable by complex adaptive schemes which attempt to track' the discontinuity set. In this article we explain the basic issues of efficient m-term approximation, the construction of efficient adaptive representation, the construction of the curvelet frame, and a crude analysis of the performance of curvelet schemes.
Efficiency Assessment of Modular Multilevel Converters for Battery Electric Vehicles

This paper evaluates the performance of modular multilevel converters with integrated battery cells when used as traction drives for battery electric vehicles. In this topology, individual battery cells are connected to the dc link of the converter submodules, allowing the highest flexibility for the discharge and recharge. The traditional battery management system of battery electric vehicles is replaced by the control of the converter, which individually balances all the cells. The performance of the converter as a traction drive is assessed in terms of torque-speed characteristic and power loss for the full frequency range, including field weakening. Conduction and switching losses for the modular multilevel converter are calculated using a simplified model, based on the datasheet of power devices. The performance of the modular multilevel converter is then compared with a traditional two-level converter. The loss model of the modular multilevel converter is finally validated by experimental tests on a small-scale prototype of traction drive.
Hierarchical mobile router support in nested mobile networks

With the rapid development from mobile computing toward ubiquitous computing, more and more users access to wireless network service at anytime anywhere with various kinds of portable mobile devices. To effectively support a group of mobile devices move together, the network mobility basic support protocol (NEMO-BSP) has been proposed. It defines a mobile network as one or more mobile router (MR) with one or more IP subnets each with some mobile network nodes (MNN). Each MNN acquires its network prefix from the MR and accesses the Internet through MR. Mobile network could be nested as one mobile network moves into the scope of another mobile network. However, routing path becomes very long as the nested level increases. As a consequence, it also increases the overhead of the IP tunneling. In this paper, we propose a Hierarchical Mobile Router architecture, called HMR-NEMO, to improve the routing performance as well as reduce the IP tunneling overhead of NEMO for nested mobile networks. In HMR-NEMO, the top level MR acts as a MAP such that packets from Home Agent (HA) or Corresponding Node (CN) of MNN could be directly tunneled to the top level MR and then tunneled to MR. Furthermore, binding update could also be suppressed at top level MR. Our simulation results show that HMR-NEMO significantly reduces the IP tunneling overhead and binding update overhead while improves the routing efficiency.
What constitutes a level of analysis?: Reflections on Yammarino's, “Levels of analysis and the US Constitution”

Purpose – This paper aims to respond to Yammarino's article in this issue on level of analysis and the US Constitution.Design/methodology/approach – This paper expands on two concepts central to levels of analysis: entity and causal process. Then additional alternative ways of conceptualizing, analyzing, and representing multi‐level organizations – beyond the organization chart – are described. A rationale for America's use of the Electoral College is sought.Findings – The paper reveals connections among traditional notions of hierarchy (including the traditional organization chart) and contemporary social network concepts.Practical implications – Leaders and other members of social and organizational systems should be mindful of their mental representations of hierarchy, of organizational or social groupings (e.g., US States), and of social distance. These representations can influence behaviors and perceptions, including perceived fairness of procedures.Originality/value – The paper presents interesting.
Machinery Degradation Inspection and Maintenance Using a Cost-Optimal Non-Fixed Periodic Strategy

Optimization of inspection and maintenance strategies based on machinery degradation could improve the operation safety and manufacturing efficiency. In this paper, a novel non-fixed periodic inspection strategy will be proposed and applied in precognitive maintenance to monitor and repair a multistage degradation process. The overall cost function of each degradation stage can be individually constructed based on its existing cost factors, and optimal solutions of the above-applied inspection intervals will be obtained by minimizing the corresponding cost function. Due to the high breakdown risk in the final stage, a warning threshold is tailored to divide it into two parts, where two additional inspection intervals are applied, accordingly. The effectiveness of our cost-optimal non-fixed periodic inspection strategy is testified for the inspection and maintenance of an industrial tool wear experiment in a high-speed milling machine, which can save 37% of the total maintenance cost without accuracy loss of the wear estimation and prediction, compared with the conventional periodic inspection strategy.
Neonatal tetanus in Nigeria: does it still pose a major threat to neonatal survival?

Of the 130 million babies born annually globally, 4 million (3.1%) die within the first 4 weeks of life.1 In Nigeria, of the 5 million babies born annually, 240 000 (4.8%) die within the first 4 weeks of life.2 Globally, tetanus accounts for 7% of these neonatal deaths, but accounts for up to 20% in Nigeria, one of 27 countries that account for 90% of the global burden of the disease.1,3–8 At the University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital, Port Harcourt, Nigeria, a tertiary hospital located in the capital of Rivers State, one of the oil-producing states of Nigeria, 30–50 patients with neonatal tetanus (NNT) are admitted annually; most of them are full-term normal-sized babies.9–11 This review highlights some of the reasons for the persistently high incidence of NNT in Nigeria and examines options for reduction within the context of Millennium Development Goal 4—that is, reduction in child mortality by two thirds from 1990 to 2015. The clinical picture of NNT is too well known to be discussed here. Briefly, the affected baby usually establishes sucking after birth, but stops sucking 2 days later, and about the same time develops a fixed expression on the face resembling a smile, sometimes referred to as the smile of the wicked (risus sardonicus). This is later followed by stiffness or spasms. Usually death occurs by the end of the …
An Encounter-Type Multi-Fingered Master Hand Using Circuitous Joints

We have developed a new type of master hand to control a dexterous slave robot hand for telexistence. Our master hand has two features. One is a compact exoskeleton mechanism called “circuitous joint,” which covers wide workspace of an operator’s finger. Another is the encounter-type force feedback that enables unconstrained motion of the operator’s finger and natural contact sensation. In this paper, the mechanism and control method of our master hand are introduced and experimental master-slave finger control is conducted.
Zero-voltage-switching multi-resonant technique-a novel approach to improve performance of high frequency quasi-resonant converters

The power transistor in zero-current-switched quasiresonant converters (ZCS-QRCs) suffers from excessive voltage stress, and the converter regulation characteristics and stability are adversely affected by parasitic oscillations caused by the junction capacitance of the rectifying diode. A novel, multiresonant switch concept is proposed to overcome these problems. A unique multiresonant network arrangement results in absorption of all parasitic components, including transistor output capacitance, diode junction capacitance, and transformer leakage inductance, in the resonant circuit. This results in favorable switching conditions for all devices. Experimental results show that ZVS multiresonant converters are superior to ZVS-QRCs due to reduced transistor voltage stress and improved load range and stability. <<ETX>>
Research and commentary: Change in exercise tolerance, activity and sleep patterns, and quality of life in patients with cancer participating in a structured exercise program.

PURPOSE/OBJECTIVES To investigate the feasibility of an exercise program patterned after a phase II cardiac rehabilitation program to improve selected physiologic and psychological parameters of health in patients with cancer. DESIGN Prospective, repeated measures study. SETTING Two major military medical centers in the southwestern United States. SAMPLE 62 patients diagnosed with cancer within the previous two years. Ages ranged from 24-83 (meanX = 59). Half of the participants were male and half were female. Minorities made up 29% of the sample. Participants had a wide range of cancer diagnoses and all stages of cancer. Fifteen subjects were undergoing treatment when they enrolled in the study. More than half of the subjects exercised prior to their cancer diagnoses, but fewer than half were able to resume an exercise routine following their cancer diagnoses. METHODS Subjects met two days each week for 12 weeks for exercise and education. MAIN RESEARCH VARIABLES Exercise tolerance as measured with a graded exercise test, activity and sleep patterns as measured with a wrist actigraph, and quality of life (QOL) as measured with the Cancer Rehabilitation Evaluation System-Short Form. FINDINGS Significant improvements were observed over time in exercise tolerance, selected activity and sleep patterns, and QOL among the 46 (74%) subjects who completed the program. CONCLUSIONS Patients with various types and stages of cancer can safely exercise using a cardiac rehabilitation model and can realize significant improvements in exercise tolerance, selected activity and sleep patterns, and QOL. IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING Most people are aware that regular exercise is part of a healthy lifestyle. After cancer diagnosis and treatment, patients experience uncertainty regarding how to resume exercise or how to begin an exercise program as part of their rehabilitation. Participation in a structured exercise program can provide patients with a safe environment within which to exercise at an intensity appropriate to their individual needs.