Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Bacillus wiedmannii sp. nov., a psychrotolerant and cytotoxic Bacillus cereus group species isolated from dairy foods and dairy environments.

A facultatively anaerobic, spore-forming Bacillus strain, FSL W8-0169T, collected from raw milk stored in a silo at a dairy powder processing plant in the north-eastern USA was initially identified as a Bacillus cereus group species based on a partial sequence of the rpoB gene and 16S rRNA gene sequence. Analysis of core genome single nucleotide polymorphisms clustered this strain separately from known B. cereus group species. Pairwise average nucleotide identity blast values obtained for FSL W8-0169T compared to the type strains of existing B. cereus group species were <95 % and predicted DNA-DNA hybridization values were <70 %, suggesting that this strain represents a novel B. cereus group species. We characterized 10 additional strains with the same or closely related rpoB allelic type, by whole genome sequencing and phenotypic analyses. Phenotypic characterization identified a higher content of iso-C16 : 0 fatty acid and the combined inability to ferment sucrose or to hydrolyse arginine as the key characteristics differentiating FSL W8-0169T from other B. cereus group species. FSL W8-0169T is psychrotolerant, produces haemolysin BL and non-haemolytic enterotoxin, and is cytotoxic in a HeLa cell model. The name Bacillus wiedmannii sp. nov. is proposed for the novel species represented by the type strain FSL W8-0169T (=DSM 102050T=LMG 29269T).
Physical Properties and Biocompatibility of a Core-Sheath Structure Composite Scaffold for Bone Tissue Engineering In Vitro

Scaffolds play a critical role in the practical realization of bone tissue engineering. The purpose of this study was to assess whether a core-sheath structure composite scaffold possesses admirable physical properties and biocompatibility in vitro. A novel scaffold composed of poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid)/β-tricalcium phosphate (PLGA/β-TCP) skeleton wrapped with Type I collagen via low-temperature deposition manufacturing (LDM) was prepared, and bone mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) were used to evaluate cell behavior on the scaffold. PLGA/β-TCP skeleton was chosen as the control group. Physical properties were evaluated by pority ratio, compressive strength, and Young's modulus. Scanning electron microscope (SEM) was used to study morphology of cells. Hydrophilicity was evaluated by water absorption ratio. Cell proliferation was tested by 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyl tetrazolium bromide assay (MTT). Osteogenic differentiation of BMSCs was evaluated by alkaline phosphates activity (ALP). The results indicated that physical properties of the novel scaffold were as good as those of the control group, hydrophilicity was observably better (P < 0.01) than that of control group, and abilities of proliferation and osteogenic differentiation of BMSCs on novel scaffold were significantly greater (P < 0.05) than those of control group, which suggests that the novel scaffold possesses preferable characteristics and have high value in bone tissue engineering.
Semi-blind downlink inter-cell interference cancellation for FDD DS-CDMA systems

We address the problem of downlink interference rejection in a DS-CDMA system. Periodic orthogonal Walsh-Hadamard sequences spread different users' symbols followed by scrambling by a symbol aperiodic base-station specific overlay sequence. The point-to-point propagation channel from the cell-site to a certain mobile station is the same for all downlink signals (desired user as well as the intracell interference). The intercell interference (which can be seen as co-channel interference) degrades significantly the performance of the receiver when the mobile approaches the edge of its cell and the situation becomes more critical at the soft handover. We propose to simultaneously equalize the user of interest while cancelling (or reducing) the intercell interferers by the interference cancelling matched filter (ICMF) receiver which we introduced previously. We can get rid of the intracell interference by the maximum SINR receiver following the ICMF. The ICMF depends on the common channel for the cell of interest, to be estimated with a pilot sequence, and contains a blind interference cancellation part. The critical part is the channel estimation. The usual correlation method may lead to poor estimates in high interference environments. Significant improvements result from the exploitation of the sparceness of the propagation channel model.
Performance Comparison of Using SOA and HNLF as FWM Medium in a Wavelength Multicasting Scheme With Reduced Polarization Sensitivity

In this paper, we propose and demonstrate the practical all-optical wavelength multicasting scheme based on the four-wave mixing (FWM) effect in both a highly nonlinear fiber (HNLF) and a semiconductor optical amplifier (SOA). Then we carry out comprehensive comparisons of the performance differences between using the HNLF and SOA for this proposed multicasting scheme. Seven multicast channels are experimentally demonstrated by using three co-polarized probes and a modulated signal. The merit of the proposed scheme is that the polarization sensitivity is significantly reduced from more than 20 dB to approximately 5 dB using the HNFL and 2.5 dB using the SOA. The low polarization sensitivity leads to a difference of less than 1 dB in the power penalty of the multicast channels at bit error rate . In addition, we compare the multicasting performance of the OOK and differential phase-shift keying (DPSK) signals using the proposed scheme and found that the power penalties of the DPSK multicast channels in the HNLF and the SOA are less than 1.25 and 1.1 dB respectively, and the power penalties of the OOK multicast channels are less than 1.5 dB and 3.1 dB in the HNLF and the SOA, respectively.
"liveness" Verification in Audio-video Authentication

This paper proposes to use combined acoustic and visual feature vectors to distinguish live synchronous audio-video recordings from replay attacks that use audio with a still photo. Equal error rates below 2 % are achieved using a multidimensional eigenlip representation and EERs of 7% are achieved with a one-dimensional lip-opening ratio.
The Dynamics of Green HRM Behaviors: A Cognitive Social Information Processing Approach

This paper applies cognitive-social theory to Green HRM, articulating a meta-theory based on cognitive-social HRM information processing (C-SHRIP) which centers on initiation and maintenance of green HRM behaviors. It focuses on managers' encodings, expectancies, affects, goals and values, self-regulation, and their interactions with each other, and the green HRM-relevant information in the course of cognitive-affective processing. In processing green HRM information, managers are presumed to differ in accessibility of mental representations and the organization of relationships among them. Implications for research and practice of Green HRM in organizations are discussed.
Mid-range wireless power transfer with segmented coil transmitters for implantable heart pumps

In wireless power transfer systems, the transmitting coil dimensions can substantially affect the transmission range and alignment sensitivity. We found that a transmitting coil with larger inner and outer diameter has a wider transmission range and lower alignment sensitivity. Thus, we developed a larger coil (24×30 cm2) designed to be embedded in the back of a vest to power DC pumps for artificial hearts or LVADs. To significantly reduce the required voltage, the coil was divided into 8 segments with resonant capacitors. The coil was operated at 6.78 MHz and evaluated with a 5.3-cm diameter receiving coil. A circuit model for the energy coupling coils was developed to predict the output power and efficiency. Having a coil separation of 7.7 cm, the output power and efficiency of the energy coupling coils are higher than 48 W and 80%, respectively. The system was experimentally tested with a DC pump, demonstrating that the proposed coil segmentation technique can significantly reduce the transmitter voltage to a safe level (~10 Vrms).
Differentiation between Mycobacterium bovis BCG-Vaccinated and M. bovis-Infected Cattle by Using Recombinant Mycobacterial Antigens

ABSTRACT Tuberculosis continues to be a worldwide problem for both humans and animals. The development of tests to differentiate between infection with Mycobacterium tuberculosis orMycobacterium bovis and vaccination with M. bovis BCG could greatly assist in the diagnosis of early infection as well as enhance the use of tuberculosis vaccines on a wider scale. Recombinant forms of four major secreted proteins ofM. bovis—MPB59, MPB64, MPB70, and ESAT-6—were tested in a whole-blood gamma interferon (IFN-γ) assay for differentiation between cattle vaccinated with BCG and those experimentally infected with M. bovis. BCG vaccination induced minimal protection in the present study, with similar numbers of animals infected withM. bovis in BCG-vaccinated and nonvaccinated groups. Following vaccination with BCG, the animals produced moderate IFN-γ responses to bovine purified protein derivative (PPDB) but very weak responses to the recombinant antigens. Cattle from both the BCG-vaccinated and nonvaccinated groups which were M. bovisculture positive following challenge produced IFN-γ responses to PPDB and ESAT-6 which were significantly stronger than those observed in the corresponding M. bovis culture-negative animals. IFN-γ responses to MPB59, MPB64, and MPB70 were significantly weaker, and these antigens could not discriminate between vaccinated animals which develop disease and the culture-negative animals. The results of the study indicate that of the four antigens tested in the IFN-γ assay, only ESAT-6 would be suitable for differentiating BCG-vaccinated animals from those infected with bovine tuberculosis.
Meta-Analysis of TNF 308 G/A Polymorphism and Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus

Background and Objectives Many investigations have focused the association between TNF 308 G/A polymorphism and risk for type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). However, the sample sizes of most of the studies were small. The aim of this study is to evaluate the precise association between this variant and risk for T2DM in a large-scale meta-analysis. Methods All publications were searched on the association between TNF 308 G/A polymorphism and T2DM. The key words were as follows: diabetes, tumor necrosis factor and polymorphism/variant/genotype. This meta-analysis was assessed by Review manager 5.0. Results There were 18 studies identified. The odd ritos (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) for GA+AA versus GG genotype of TNF 308 G/A polymorphism were 1.03 (0.95–1.12), 1.03 (0.94–1.13) and 1.03 (0.78–1.36) in overall, Caucasian and Asian populations, respectively. The sensitivity analysis further strengthened the validity of this association. No publication bias or heterogeneity was observed in this study. Conclusion In summary, there was no significant association detected between the TNF 308 G/A polymorphism and risk for T2DM.
A Model For Signature Revocation

This paper introduces the important concept of signature revocation. An important property of digital signature is nonrepudiatability that a signer can’t deny his legal signature. However, in some occasion a signer wants to take back his previously singed signature in a proper legal way, so that after certain interaction a signature can be regarded as invalidate. We originate a new study of instance management regarding digital signature and develop the definition of security requirements. We show under some careful treatments the non-repudiatability can be removed from the original signature. Our scheme is simple and effective. We also give a proof that our scheme is as secure as the underlying signature scheme.
Redifferentiation of High-Throughput Generated Fibrochondrocyte Micro-Aggregates: Impact of Low Oxygen Tension

In meniscus tissue engineering strategies, enhancing the matrix quality of the neomeniscal tissue is important. When the differentiated phenotype of fibrochondrocytes is lost, the quality of the matrix becomes compromised. The objective of this study was to produce uniform fibrochondrocyte micro-aggregates with desirable phenotype and tissue homogeneity in large quantities using a simple and reproducible method. Furthermore, we investigated if hypoxia could enhance the matrix quality. Porcine fibrochondrocytes were expanded at 21% oxygen until passage 3 (P3) and a gene expression profile was determined. P3 fibrochondrocytes were cultivated in chondrogenic medium at 5 and 21% oxygen in high-throughput agarose chips containing 2,865 microwells 200 µm in diameter. Evaluation included live/dead staining, histological examination, immunohistochemistry, dimethylmethylene blue assay and real-time reverse transcriptase quantitative polymerase chain reaction of the micro-aggregates. Gene expression analysis showed a drastic decline in collagen II and high expression of collagen I during monolayer culture. After 4 days, uniform and stable micro-aggregates could be produced. The redifferentiation and matrix quality of the hypoxic cultured micro-aggregates were enhanced relative to the normoxic cultures. Sulfated glycosaminoglycan synthesis was significantly higher, and collagen II expression and the collagen II/collagen I ratio were significantly upregulated in the hypoxic cultures. High-throughput production of uniform microtissues holds promise for the generation of larger-scale tissue engineering constructs or optimization of redifferentiation mechanisms for clinical applications.
The shortest path from the surface to the nucleus: RBP‐Jκ/Su(H) transcription factor

Communication between cell surface receptors and nuclear transcription factors is of primary importance to multicellular organisms. Since there are numerous molecules involved in this process, their mutual interaction forms complex networks of informational regulation, which is still under extensive investigation. The RBP‐Jκ transcription factor interacts directly with the Notch receptor involved in cell lineage commitment, implicating the presence of a uniquely simple communication strategy between the surface receptor and the nucleus.
The First Delinquent Peers Are the Most Important: Examining Nonlinearity in the Peer Effect

Criminologists have long recognized the importance of peers in the etiology of delinquency. Yet, the bulk of empirical studies on this topic make the implicit assumption that the peer effect to be conditioned is linear. With few notable exceptions, prior criminological research has not thought deeply about possible nonlinearity in the peer effect. To address this issue, the present study examines whether the functional form of the relationship between peer and respondent smoking, getting drunk, and fighting is nonlinear, and whether this nonlinearity is moderated by lagged respondent delinquency. Logistic regression models on adolescents from The National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health indicate that the marginal effect of peer delinquency on respondent delinquency decreases as the count of delinquent friends increases, consistent with a satiation effect. Moreover, the models indicate that the nonlinear effect of peer delinquency on respondent delinquency is moderated by prior respondent delinquency.
Performance and Energy Consumption Analysis of Embedded Applications Based on Android Platform

This paper presents an analysis of embedded applications based on Android Platform. Analyzing performance and energy consumption from different algorithmic versions this work tries to find a performance and energy pattern for the paradigm used in each used algorithm. Thus, the developer can select the best algorithm version for each application based on the requirements. Android is a Linux based mobile operating system developed by Google in conjunction with the Open Handset Alliance. Nowadays, Android is the world's leading smartphone platform. The Android Platform provides a rich development environment (SDK) including an API, development and debug tool and so on. However, during the development process it is necessary to handle with the system functionalities and it must at the same time help the handling of the embedded systems tight constraints, like performance, energy and power. This paper shows some performance and energy consumption results for a set of applications using different algorithmic versions.
Mindblind Eyes: An Absence of Spontaneous Theory of Mind in Asperger Syndrome

Diverting Asperger Deficit Placement of Asperger syndrome within the family of autism spectrum disorders (ASD) has always been a bit uneasy; although people with Asperger syndrome do exhibit the core impairments in social interaction and communication that are characteristic of ASD, they nevertheless perform well on tests that are thought to assess the ability to mentalize or to possess Theory of Mind skills. One of the classic tests of mentalizing ability is the false-belief task, in which subjects must be able to represent their own beliefs (true) and another's beliefs, which are false because they have not been given complete information, such as not having seen the transfer of a piece of candy from one drawer to another. People with Asperger syndrome succeed at the verbal form of the false-belief task, yet Senju et al. (p. 883, published online 16 July) show that this is owing entirely to their having learned how to cope with an existing and still demonstrable deficit in an implicit version of the false-belief task. That is, the core impairment is present, but conscious and explicit learning allows them to compensate. Asperger syndrome individuals do not pass a nonverbal false-belief test. Adults with Asperger syndrome can understand mental states such as desires and beliefs (mentalizing) when explicitly prompted to do so, despite having impairments in social communication. We directly tested the hypothesis that such individuals nevertheless fail to mentalize spontaneously. To this end, we used an eye-tracking task that has revealed the spontaneous ability to mentalize in typically developing infants. We showed that, like infants, neurotypical adults’ (n = 17 participants) eye movements anticipated an actor’s behavior on the basis of her false belief. This was not the case for individuals with Asperger syndrome (n = 19). Thus, these individuals do not attribute mental states spontaneously, but they may be able to do so in explicit tasks through compensatory learning.
Comparison of Placido disc and Scheimpflug image-derived topography-guided excimer laser surface normalization combined with higher fluence CXL: the Athens Protocol, in progressive keratoconus

Background The purpose of this study was to compare the safety and efficacy of two alternative corneal topography data sources used in topography-guided excimer laser normalization, combined with corneal collagen cross-linking in the management of keratoconus using the Athens protocol, ie, a Placido disc imaging device and a Scheimpflug imaging device. Methods A total of 181 consecutive patients with keratoconus who underwent the Athens protocol between 2008 and 2011 were studied preoperatively and at months 1, 3, 6, and 12 postoperatively for visual acuity, keratometry, and anterior surface corneal irregularity indices. Two groups were formed, depending on the primary source used for topoguided photoablation, ie, group A (Placido disc) and group B (Scheimpflug rotating camera). One-year changes in visual acuity, keratometry, and seven anterior surface corneal irregularity indices were studied in each group. Results Changes in visual acuity, expressed as the difference between postoperative and preoperative corrected distance visual acuity were +0.12 ± 0.20 (range +0.60 to −0.45) for group A and +0.19 ± 0.20 (range +0.75 to −0.30) for group B. In group A, K1 (flat keratometry) changed from 45.202 ± 3.782 D to 43.022 ± 3.819 D, indicating a flattening of −2.18 D, and K2 (steep keratometry) changed from 48.670 ± 4.066 D to 45.865 ± 4.794 D, indicating a flattening of −2.805 D. In group B, K1 (flat keratometry) changed from 46.213 ± 4.082 D to 43.190 ± 4.398 D, indicating a flattening of −3.023 D, and K2 (steep keratometry) changed from 50.774 ± 5.210 D to 46.380 ± 5.006 D, indicating a flattening of −4.394 D. For group A, the index of surface variance decreased to −5.07% and the index of height decentration to −26.81%. In group B, the index of surface variance decreased to −18.35% and the index of height decentration to −39.03%. These reductions indicate that the corneal surface became less irregular (index of surface variance) and the “cone” flatter and more central (index of height decentration) postoperatively. Conclusion Of the two sources of primary corneal data, the Scheimpflug rotating camera (Oculyzer™) for topography-guided normalization treatment with the WaveLight excimer laser platform appeared to provide more statistically significant improvement than the Placido disc topographer (Topolyzer™). Overall, the Athens protocol, aiming both to halt progression of keratoconic ectasia and to improve corneal topometry and visual performance, produced safe and satisfactory refractive, keratometric, and topometric results. The observed changes in visual acuity, along with keratometric flattening and topometric improvement, are suggestive of overall postoperative improvement.
Detection of Carcinoembryonic Antigens Using a Surface Plasmon Resonance Biosensor

Carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) is an oncofoetal cell-surface glycoprotein that serves as an important tumor marker for colorectal and some other carcinomas. In this work, a CEA immunoassay using a surface plasmon resonance (SPR) biosensor has been developed. SPR could provide label-free, real-time detection with high sensitivity, though its ability to detect CEA in human serum was highly dependent on the analytical conditions employed. We investigated the influences of various analytical conditions including immobilization methods for anti-CEA antibody and composition of sensor surface on the selective and sensitive detection of CEA. The results show that anti-CEA antibody immobilized via Protein A or Protein G caused a large increase in the resonance signal upon injection of human serum due to the interactions with IgGs in serum, while direct covalent immobilization of anti-CEA antibody could substantially reduce it. An optimized protocol based on further kinetic analysis and the use of 2nd and 3rd antibodies for the sandwich assay allowed detecting spiked CEA in human serum as low as 25 ng/mL. Furthermore, a self-assembled monolayer of mixed ethylene-glycol terminated alkanethiols on gold was found to have a comparable ability in detecting CEA as CM5 with thick dextran matrix and C1 with short flat layer on gold.
Private IaaS Clouds: A Comparative Analysis of OpenNebula, CloudStack and OpenStack

Despite the evolution of cloud computing in recent years, the performance and comprehensive understanding of the available private cloud tools are still under research. This paper contributes to an analysis of the Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) domain by mapping new insights and discussing the challenges for improving cloud services. The goal is to make a comparative analysis of OpenNebula, OpenStack and CloudStack tools, evaluating their differences on support for flexibility and resiliency. Also, we aim at evaluating these three cloud tools when they are deployed using a mutual hypervisor (KVM) for discovering new empirical insights. Our research results demonstrated that OpenStack is the most resilient and CloudStack is the most flexible for deploying an IaaS private cloud. Moreover, the performance experiments indicated some contrasts among the private IaaS cloud instances when running intensive workloads and scientific applications.