Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Comparison of the Inhibitory Profiles of Itraconazole and Cimetidine in Cytochrome P450 3A4 Genetic Variants

CYP3A4, an important drug-metabolizing enzyme, is known to have genetic variants. We have previously reported that CYP3A4 variants such as CYP3A4.2, 7, 16, and 18 show different enzymatic kinetics from CYP3A4.1 (wild type). In this study, we quantitatively investigated the inhibition kinetics of two typical inhibitors, itraconazole (ITCZ) and cimetidine (CMD), on CYP3A4 variants and evaluated whether the genetic variation leads to interindividual differences in the extent of CYP3A4-mediated drug interactions. The inhibitory profiles of ITCZ and CMD on the metabolism of testosterone (TST) were analyzed by using recombinant CYP3A4 variants. The genetic variation of CYP3A4 significantly affected the inhibition profiles of the two inhibitors. In CYP3A4.7, the Ki value for ITCZ was 2.4-fold higher than that for the wild-type enzyme, whereas the Ki value for CMD was 0.64-fold lower. In CYP3A4.16, the Ki value for ITCZ was 0.54-fold lower than that for wild-type CYP3A4, whereas the Ki value for CMD was 3.2-fold higher. The influence of other genetic variations also differed between the two inhibitors. Docking simulations could explain the changes in the Ki values, based on the accessibility of TST and inhibitors to the heme moiety of the CYP3A4 molecule. In conclusion, the inhibitory effects of an inhibitor differ among CYP3A4 variants, suggesting that the genetic variation of CYP3A4 may contribute, at least in part, to interindividual differences in drug interactions mediated by CYP3A4 inhibition, and the pattern of the influences of genetic variation differs among inhibitors as well as substrates.
Authentication Using Fuzzy Vault Based on Iris Textures

Crypto-biometrics is an emerging architecture where cryptography and biometrics are merged to achieve high level security systems. This paper explores the realization of cryptographic construction called fuzzy vault to store digital signature based on iris pseudo textures. Iris pseudo textures such as nodes and end points does not change through out the life period of user and can be used to extract minutiae to lock and unlock the fuzzy vault. The proposed algorithm aims to create a fuzzy vault to store secret key, based on iris pseudo textures. The algorithm has two phases: The first is to extract binary key (digital signature) from iris textures, and the second to generate fuzzy vault by using Lagrange interpolating polynomial projections, further which is projected by using data units extracted from iris minutiae.
The Sequential Relationships among Operational Capabilities and Performance in Service Industry: An Empirical Study *

This study seeks to identify the elements of operational capability and obtain a detailed picture of the sequential relationships among operational capabilities and business performance in the hospitality industry. In addition, it attempts to prove that the capability to offer an enhanced customer experience constitutes a core competitive advantage in service firms. A phone survey was conducted among Korean hotels, and 102 data sets were collected. Structural equation modeling and multiple regressions were used to test hypotheses using the survey data. As a result, it was discovered an optimum path for the accumulation of operational capabilities in the hospitality industry and customer experience is revealed to be the only dimension of operational capabilities that is directly linked to market performance.
Learn++ for Robust Object Tracking

In this paper, a Learn++ (LPP) tracker is proposed to efficiently select specific classifiers for robust and long-term object tracking. In contrast to previous online methods, LPP tracker dynamically maintains a set of basic classifiers which are trained sequentially without accessing original data but preserving the previously acquired knowledge. The different subsets of basic classifiers can be specified to solve different sub-problems occurred in a non-stationary environment. Thus, an optimal classifier can be approximated in an active subspace spanned by selected adaptive basic classifiers. As a result, LPP tracker can address the “concept drift”, by automatically adjusting the active subset and searching the optimal classifier in an active subspace spanned by the subset according to the distribution of the samples and recent performance. Experimental results show that LPP tracker yields state-of-the-art performance under various challenging environmental conditions and, especially, can overcome several challenges simultaneously.
Magnetofossil spike during the Paleocene-Eocene thermal maximum: Ferromagnetic resonance, rock magnetic, and electron microscopy evidence from Ancora, New Jersey, United States

Previous workers identified a magnetically anomalous clay layer deposited on the northern United States Atlantic Coastal Plain during the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM). The finding inspired the highly controversial hypothesis that a cometary impact triggered the PETM. Here we present ferromagnetic resonance (FMR), isothermal and anhysteretic remanent magnetization, first order reversal curve, and transmission electron microscopy analyses of late Paleocene and early Eocene sediments in drillcore from Ancora, New Jersey. A novel paleogeographic analysis applying a recent paleomagnetic pole from the Faeroe Islands indicates that New Jersey during the initial Eocene had a ~6-9 degrees lower paleolatitude (~27.3 degrees for Ancora) and a more zonal shoreline trace than in conventional reconstructions. Our investigations of the PETM clay from Ancora reveal abundant magnetite nanoparticles bearing signature traits of crystals produced by magnetotactic bacteria. This result, the first identification of ancient biogenic magnetite using FMR, argues that the anomalous magnetic properties of the PETM sediments are not produced by an impact. They instead reflect environmental changes along the eastern margin of North America during the PETM that led to enhanced production and/or preservation of magnetofossils.
Explorer Current trends in bone tissue engineering

General rights Copyright for the publications made accessible via the Edinburgh Research Explorer is retained by the author(s) and / or other copyright owners and it is a condition of accessing these publications that users recognise and abide by the legal requirements associated with these rights. Take down policy The University of Edinburgh has made every reasonable effort to ensure that Edinburgh Research Explorer content complies with UK legislation. If you believe that the public display of this file breaches copyright please contact openaccess@ed.ac. uk providing details, and we will remove access to the work immediately and investigate your claim. The development of tissue engineering and regeneration constitutes a new platform for translational medical research. Effective therapies for bone engineering typically employ the coordinated manipulation of cells, biologically active signaling molecules, and biomimetic, biodegradable scaffolds. Bone tissue engineering has become increasingly dependent on the merging of innovations from each of these fields, as they continue to evolve independently. This foreword will highlight some of the most recent advances in bone tissue engineering and regeneration, emphasizing the interconnected fields of stem cell biology, cell signaling biology, and biomaterial research. These include, for example, novel methods for mesenchymal stem cell purification, new methods of Wnt signaling pathway manipulation, and cutting edge computer assisted nanoscale design of bone scaffold materials. In the following special issue, we sought to incorporate these diverse areas of emphasis in order to reflect current trends in the field.
Identification and susceptibility of clinical isolates of Candida spp . to killer toxins

Although invasive infections and mortality caused by Candida species are increasing among compromised patients, resistance to common antifungal agents is also an increasing problem. We analyzed 60 yeasts isolated from patients with invasive candidiasis using a PCR/RFLP strategy based on the internal transcribed spacer (ITS2) region to identify different Candida pathogenic species. PCR analysis was performed from genomic DNA with a primer pair of the ITS2‐5.8S rDNA region. PCR‐positive samples were characterized by RFLP. Restriction resulted in 23 isolates identified as C. albicans using AlwI, 24 isolates as C. parapsilosis using RsaI, and 13 as C. tropicalis using XmaI. Then, a group of all isolates were evaluated for their susceptibility to a panel of previously described killer yeasts, resulting in 75% being susceptible to at least one killer yeast while the remaining were not inhibited by any strain. C. albicans was the most susceptible group while C. tropicalis had the fewest inhibitions. No species‐specific pattern of inhibition was obtained with this panel of killer yeasts. Metschnikowia pulcherrima, Pichia kluyveri and Wickerhamomyces anomalus were the strains that inhibited the most isolates of Candida spp.
Road sign detection and recognition system for real-time embedded applications

In this paper, we propose a road sign detection and recognition algorithm for an embedded application, which requires computationally simple but accurate algorithms. The algorithm is developed by using the Hue Saturation Intensity (HSI) color space to segment the road signs color (red, yellow, blue and white) and the regions of interest (ROI) in order to locate and determine the shape of the road sign (diamond, square, hexagonal and circular) in real street-view images. The shape is then used to classify road signs into four categories, i.e. warning, mandatory, prohibitory and informational signs. The characteristics of the shapes such as area and perimeter variables are used to identify the symbols in the road signs. These variables are compared with the template library which we have developed. The proposed algorithm is tested on the Malaysia's road signs which are captured on the roadside in their real environment. Experimental results on the accuracy of the road sign detection are reported in this paper. The proposed algorithm will be implemented in a real time embedded system using Xilinx Video Starter Kit Board- Spartan-3a DSP 3400A Edition.
Are Cardiovascular Risk Factors Associated with Verbal Learning and Memory Impairment in Patients with Schizophrenia? A Cross-Sectional Study

Objective. The aim of this study is to assess the relationships of cardiovascular risk factors with verbal learning and memory in patients with schizophrenia. Methods and Design. cross-sectional study. Inclusion Criteria. Diagnosis of schizophrenia according to the DSM-IV-TR criteria. Data Collection. Sociodemographic information, clinical characteristics, anthropometric measurements, blood tests, and episodic memory using the California Verbal Learning Test (CVLT). Analysis. A multivariate analysis using multiple linear regressions was performed to determine variables that are potentially associated with verbal learning and memory. Results. One hundred and sixty-eight outpatients participated in our study. An association was found between the metabolic syndrome (MetS) and memory impairment on measures of verbal learning, and short- and long-term memory. Among the different components of MeTS, hypertriglycerides, abdominal obesity, and low HDL cholesterol were the only factors associated with memory impairment. Alcohol dependence or abuse was associated with a higher rate of forgetting. Conclusion. Our findings suggest that MetS and alcohol use may be linked with memory impairment in schizophrenia. These findings provide important insights into the interdependencies of cardiovascular risk factors and cognitive disorders and support novel strategies for treating and preventing cognitive disorders in patients with schizophrenia.
Translating unknown words using WordNet and IPA-based-transliteration

Due to small available English-Bangla parallel corpus, Example-Based Machine Translation (EBMT) system has high probability of handling unknown words. To improve translation quality for Bangla language, we propose a novel approach for EBMT using WordNet and International-Phonetic-Alphabet(IPA)-based transliteration. Proposed system first tries to find semantically related English words from WordNet for the unknown word. From these related words, we choose the semantically closest related word whose Bangla translation exists in English-Bangla dictionary. If no Bangla translation exists, the system uses IPA-based-transliteration. For proper nouns, the system uses Akkhor transliteration mechanism. We implemented the proposed approach in EBMT, which improved the quality of good translation by 16 points.
FEATURE EXTRACTION OF HYPERSPECTRAL IMAGES USING ELM CLASSIFIER

Hyperspectral images are the images that are taken using satellites. For the classification of these images, feature extraction is found to be an effective method. This paper mainly focuses on image fusion and recursive filtering. Firstly the image is divided into subsets of adjacent bands and then image fusion is adopted. For the better classification of features, recursive filtering is performed. The above methods along with the ELM classifier will increase the accuracy of classification. By using ELM, the overall accuracy and performance could be increased since ELM offers the advantages of smallest training error, good generalization ability, and ease of implementation as compared with other classifiers. Great superiority in computational speed especially for large-scale sample is also found in ELMs.
Dynamic Beaconing using Probability Density Functions in Cooperative Vehicular Networks

Vehicular networks comprise vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) and vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I) communications based on wireless radio access technologies. These network s require the periodic exchange of beacon messages between neighboring vehicles, to support cooperativ road safety applications. The regular broadcast of beacon in the common control channel (CCH) using the IEEE 802 . 11p standard can lead to interference and recurrent packet collisions. This issue impacts negativel y in the quality and freshness of the beaconing information which is essential to detect and mitigate potentiall y dangerous traffic situations on time. In this paper, we evaluate the performance of a dynamic beaconing strategy where both beacon rate and transmit power are assigned by means of probability density functions (PDFs). The idea is to know which PDF is more convenient to increase the system’s performance according to vehicula r scenario characteristics. We investigate four types of PDFs, attending to four different performance metrics, i n four distinct vehicular scenarios, using the well established Veins (Vehicles in network simulation) framew ork. The simulation results show that a beaconing strategy based on uniform PDF is convenient in scenarios wit h high vehicle density and low relative speed, whereas a beaconing strategy based on normal PDF is suitable in sc narios with high relative speed and low vehicle density.
Research on Ontology Instance Learning Based on Maximum Entropy Model

Ontology Instance learning is a significant part in the research of ontology evolution and is important for the applications of ontology. One of the key points of ontology instance learning is automatic instances learning from large amounts of unstructured data. In this paper, an effective method of ontology instance learning is proposed, while the experience of the methods of information extraction and the structure of ontology model--introducing maximum entropy model to the study of learning ontology instances from free texts--are also focused. The experiment is based on the Chinese Toponym Ontology. Results show that rapid and effective ontology instance learning is available.
COCHLEAR IMPLANTATION: NEW FRONTIERS IN CHILDREN AND ADULTS

Objectives: To investigate the efficacy of cochlear implants (CIs) in infants versus children operated at later age in term of spoken language skills and cognitive performances. Method: The present prospective cohort study focuses on 19 children fitted with CIs between 2 and 11 months (X = 6.4 months; SD = 2.8 months). The results were compared with two groups of children implanted at 12–23 and 24–35 months. Auditory abilities were evaluated up to 10 years of CI use with: Category of Auditory Performance (CAP); Infant-Toddler Meaningful Auditory Integration Scale (ITMAIS); Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test (PPVT-R); Test of Reception of Grammar (TROG) and Speech Intelligibility Rating (SIR). Cognitive evaluation was performed using selected subclasses from the Griffiths Mental Development Scale (GMDS, 0–8 years of age) and Leiter International Performance Scale-Revised (LIPS-R, 8–13 years of age). Results: The infant group showed significantly better results at the CAP than the older children from 12 months to 36 months after surgery (p < .05). Infants PPVT-R outcomes did not differ significantly from normal hearing children, whereas the older age groups never reached the values of normal hearing peers even after 10 years of CI use. TROG outcomes showed that infants developed significantly better grammar skills at 5 and 10 years of follow up (p < .001). Scores for the more complex subtests of the GMDS and LIPS-R were significantly higher in youngest age group (p < .05). Conclusion: This study demonstrates improved auditory, speech language and cognitive performances in children implanted below 12 months of age compared to children implanted later. 2011 Published by Elsevier Ireland Ltd. * Corresponding author at: ENT Department, University of Verona, Piazzale L. A. Scuro, 10, 37134 Verona, Italy. Tel. : +39 0458124275; fax: +39 045802749. E-mail address: lillicolletti@yahoo.it (L. Colletti).
Haptic access to 3 D objects on the web

Making a web browser haptically accessible, makes it possible also for visually impaired persons to access graphical properties such as the layout of a web browser. With haptic interaction, it will also be possible to access 3D objects (VRML or X3D files) over the internet. In the present short paper the design of such a system is described. Keyw ords : haptic, browser, 3D objects, visual impairments
Privacy and Security Issues in BAT Web Browsers

In this position paper, we summarize our technical analysis of the security and privacy vulnerabilities in three web browsers developed by China’s three biggest web companies: UC Browser, QQ Browser and Baidu Browser; developed by UCWeb (owned by Alibaba), Tencent and Baidu, respectively. We found them to consistently contain sensitive data leaks and remote code execution vulnerabilities in their update processes. Despite the massive user bases of these browsers, particularly in China, there has been limited attention paid to the applications by the information security research community. This lack of attention is problematic, as it is known that the insecure transmission of personal user data by UC Browser has been used by the intelligence community to perform surveillance. We conclude by evaluating explanations for why this class of apps has such uniform security and privacy issues, and recommend researchers better engage software development companies in developing and newly industrialized economies.
The Wnt Adaptor Protein ATP6AP2 Regulates Multiple Stages of Adult Hippocampal Neurogenesis

In the mammalian hippocampus, canonical Wnt signals provided by the microenvironment regulate the differentiation of adult neural stem cells (NSCs) toward the neuronal lineage. Wnts are part of a complex and diverse set of signaling pathways and the role of Wnt/Planar cell polarity (PCP) signaling in adult neurogenesis remains unknown. Using in vitro assays on differentiating adult NSCs, we identified a transition of Wnt signaling responsiveness from Wnt/β-catenin to Wnt/PCP signaling. In mice, retroviral knockdown strategies against ATP6AP2, a recently discovered core protein involved in both signaling pathways, revealed that its dual role is critical for granule cell fate and morphogenesis. We were able to confirm its dual role in neurogenic Wnt signaling in vitro for both canonical Wnt signaling in proliferating adult NSCs and non-canonical Wnt signaling in differentiating neuroblasts. Although LRP6 appeared to be critical for granule cell fate determination, in vivo knockdown of PCP core proteins FZD3 and CELSR1-3 revealed severe maturational defects without changing the identity of newborn granule cells. Furthermore, we found that CELSR1-3 control distinctive aspects of PCP-mediated granule cell morphogenesis with CELSR1 regulating the direction of dendrite initiation sites and CELSR2/3 controlling radial migration and dendritic patterning. The data presented here characterize distinctive roles for Wnt/β-catenin signaling in granule cell fate determination and for Wnt/PCP signaling in controlling the morphological maturation of differentiating neuroblasts.
Rapid Identification of BitTorrent traffic

BitTorrent is one of the dominant traffic generating applications in the Internet today. The ability to identify BitTor-rent traffic in real-time could allow network operators to better manage network traffic and provide a better service to their customers. In this paper we analyse the statistical properties of BitTorrent traffic and select four features that can be used for real-time classification using Machine Learning techniques. We then train and test a classifier using the C4.5 algorithm. Our results show that based on statistics calculated on 150-packet sub-flows, we can classify BitTorrent traffic with Recall of 98.2% and Precision of 96.5%. We then show that 98.1% of sub-flows from other client-server bulk transfer applications are correctly classified as non-BitTorrent.
On using the seasonal cycle to interpret extratropical temperature changes since 1950

Extratropical near‐surface air temperature variability is explored on three different time scales: the seasonal cycle, observed changes in temperature since 1950, and the equilibrium response to increasing CO2 in an atmospheric general circulation simulation with fixed sea surface temperatures. Exploration is undertaken using an energy balance model (EBM) that parameterizes advective land‐ocean heat fluxes. The EBM is tuned only to the climatological seasonal cycle yet captures 47% of the variability in observed multidecadal temperature changes in the extratropics and 78% of the variability in the equilibrated model simulation. The subseasonal time scale of atmosphere‐surface heat fluxes explains, at least in the context of this EBM, the ability to infer patterns of multidecadal change using information primarily drawn from the seasonal cycle.