Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Predicting late-onset Alzheimer’s disease from genomic data using deep neural networks

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is the leading form of dementia. Over 25 million cases have been estimated worldwide and this number is predicted to increase two-fold every 20 years. Even though there is a variety of clinical markers available for the diagnosis of AD, the accurate and timely diagnosis of this disease remains elusive. Recently, over a dozen of genetic variants predisposing to the disease have been identified by genome-wide association studies. However, these genetic variants only explain a small fraction of the estimated genetic component of the disease. Therefore, useful predictions of AD from genetic data could not rely on these markers exclusively as they are not sufficiently informative predictors. In this study, we propose the use of deep neural networks for the prediction of late-onset Alzheimer’s disease from a large number of genetic variants. Experimental results indicate that the proposed model holds promise to produce useful predictions for clinical diagnosis of AD.
Similarity and divergence among viruses in the genus Furovirus.

Nucleotide sequences of RNAs 1 and 2 of a Japanese strain of soil-borne wheat mosaic virus (SBWMV), the type species of the genus Furovirus, and sorghum chlorotic spot virus (SCSV) were determined from cloned cDNA. The relationship among the Japanese and US strains of SBWMV, SCSV, oat golden stripe virus (OGSV), and recently proposed Chinese wheat mosaic and European wheat mosaic viruses (CWMV and EWMV) were examined at the nucleotide and amino acid levels. Pairwise comparisons of genome-encoded proteins among the six viruses showed that the US strains of SBWMV and CWMV were the most closely related pair in RNA 1 and the Japanese strains of SBWMV and EWMV were most closely related in RNA 2. SCSV was most distantly related to the other five viruses. Phylogenetic analysis indicated that there may have been an ancient reassortment between RNAs 1 and 2 of the four wheat-infecting viruses and OGSV, while SCSV was shown to have separated from the rest before the other five viruses diverged. The fact that CWMV and EWMV have almost identical biological properties as well as the sequence similarities to the two strains of SBWMV suggests that they be regarded as strains of SBWMV, considering that SBWMV consists of genetically diverged strains. OGSV and SCSV are distinct in biological properties in addition to genetic divergence in the genus Furovirus.
Behavior-based Robot Control Using Fuzzy Discrete Event System

This paper presents a novel behavior-based approach for mobile robot control using Fuzzy Discrete Event System (FDES). The method exploits the multi-valued feature of Fuzzy Logic (FL) and event-driven property of Discrete Event System (DES) to define activity of each behavior using fuzzy state vectors. State-based prediction of activity is accomplished using fuzzily defined event matrices. The method combines aspects of both command fusion and behavior arbitration. Furthermore, the proposed approach has the ability to define state-based observability and controllability to handle sensor uncertainty and environment dynamics. Observability describes decision vagueness associated with sensory data, whereas controllability specifies undesirable state-reach within the observed environment. The present work employs observability and controllability to modify the velocity commands and the sampling frequency depending on decision vagueness and undesirable state-reach. Real-time results of FDES-based mobile robot navigation are presented to validate the performance of the proposed method.
F2-Isoprostanes in HDL are bound to neutral lipids and phospholipids

Abstract Low HDL cholesterol (HDL-C) is a risk factor for coronary artery disease (CAD). However, interventions that raise HDL-C have failed to reduce cardiovascular events. We previously reported that HDL is the main carrier of plasma F2-isoprostanes (F2-IsoPs) that are markers of oxidative stress formed upon oxidation of arachidonic acid. F2-IsoPs are predominantly associated with phospholipids. However, there is evidence that F2-IsoPs in the liver of rats treated with carbon tetrachloride associate with the neutral lipids. To date it is not known whether F2-IsoPs are found in the neutral lipids in HDL in humans. Possible candidate neutral lipids include cholesteryl esters, triglycerides, diglycerides, and monoglycerides. This study aimed to identify the lipid classes within native and oxidized HDL that contain F2-IsoPs. We showed that F2-IsoPs in HDL are bound to neutral lipids as well as phospholipids. HDL-3 contained the highest concentration of F2-IsoPs in all lipid classes before and after in vitro oxidation. Using targeted LC/MS and high resolution MS, we were unable to provide conclusive evidence for the presence of the synthesized standards 15(R)-15-F2t-isoP cholesterol and 1-ent-15(RS)-15-F2t-isoprostanoyl-sn-glycerol in the neutral lipids of HDL. Our findings show that oxidized lipids such as F2-IsoPs are found in the core and surface of HDL. However, the exact molecular species remain to be definitively characterized. Future studies are required to determine whether the presence of F2-IsoPs in neutral lipids alters HDL function.
Ethnic Scienti…c Communities and International Technology Diusion

This study explores the importance of tacit knowledge transfer for international tech- nology diusion by examining ethnic scienti…c communities in the US and their ties to their home countries. US ethnic research communities are quanti…ed by applying an ethnic-name database to individual patent records. International patent citations con…rm knowledge diuses through ethnic networks, and manufacturing output in foreign countries increases with an elasticity of approximately 0.3 to stronger scienti…c integration with the US frontier. To address reverse-causality concerns, reduced-form speci…cations exploit exogenous changes in US immigration quotas. Consistent with a model of sector real- location, output growth in less developed economies is facilitated by employment gains, while more advanced economies experience sharper increases in labor productivity. The …ndings suggest tacit knowledge channels partly shape the eective technology frontiers of developing economies.
T cell inhibitory mechanisms in a model of aggressive Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma

ABSTRACT A reduced immune surveillance due to immune deficiency or treatment with immunosuppressive drugs is associated with a higher risk to develop aggressive Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL). Nevertheless, NHL also develops in immunocompetent patients indicating an escape from the immune system. T cell function in advanced aggressive lymphoma is not well characterized and the molecular mechanisms how malignant B cells influence T cell function are ill-defined. We therefore studied T cell function in Eμ-myc transgenic mice that develop an aggressive B cell lymphoma with some similarities to human Burkitt-lymphoma (BL). In advanced lymphoma, the number of T cells was severely reduced and the remaining CD4+ and CD8+ T cells lost the capacity to produce effector cytokines and expand upon re-stimulation. T cells in lymphoma-bearing mice were characterized by the expression of the immune inhibitory molecules programmed death (PD)-1, 2B4 and lymphocyte activation protein (LAG)-3. The proto-oncogene c-Myc not only drives cell proliferation and disease progression but also induces apoptosis of the malignant cells. We found that apoptotic lymphoma cells release purine metabolites that inhibit T cell function. Taken together, our data document that the characteristic high cell turnover and apoptotic rate in aggressive NHL induce a severe T cell dysfunction mediated by several immune-inhibitory mechanisms including ligation of inhibitory ligands and purine metabolites. Blocking a single mechanism only partially restored T cell function and did not increase survival of lymphoma mice.
Approaches to quantifying carbon emissions from degradation in pan‐tropic forests—Implications for effective REDD monitoring

Special attention is needed to quantify emissions from human‐induced degradation in forest lands because these data are more uncertain and less comprehensive than deforestation data in target countries in the United Nations Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD) programme. This study illustrates a Residual Trends (RESTREND) technique with a new baseline that isolates the human influence from natural climatic fluctuations to estimate emissions from forest degradation in countries across the tropics. Based on the recommended Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change methodology and framework, we found a pattern of high carbon density of 183 t C/ha in degraded areas, which was on average 1.5 times that of deforestation areas. Further analysis revealed that the initial value of carbon stock in degraded areas was about 5.45 Pg C during 2002–2012. We found that 17% of countries displayed values more than 100% of those from deforestation under the low degradation emission scenario, whereas 23% of countries displayed values less than 10% under the high degradation emission scenario. Thus, at a national level, with such an approach REDD could be further optimized and REDD targets could be achieved in an effective way.
An electrically large circularly polarized metallic cavity antenna with wide beamwidth for satellite applications

A circularly polarized metallic cylindrical cavity antenna with wide beamwidth is proposed in this paper. The idea is to enlarge the antenna size for high-frequency applications such as C-band, X-band, K-band and other higher-band systems but still maintain good performance. A C-band prototype is designed, fabricated and measured. The overall dimensions are 1. 35λ0 × 1. 35λ0 × 0. 83λ0, which is electrically large compared to the central operating wavelength λ0. The proposed cavity antenna is excited by the insertion of a coaxial probe, and circular polarization is realized by an inserted screw. The unidirectional radiation of the cavity antenna is achieved by making one port of the cylindrical resonant cavity open while keeping the opposite one closed. An upper ring is added to the cavity antenna near the open port to widen the radiation pattern. The measured -10 dB impedance bandwidth and 3 dB axial ratio bandwidth is 1.36 GHz (6.02 GHz to 7.38GHz) and 340 MHz (6.59 GHz to 6.93 GHz) respectively. The measured and simulated half-power beamwidths are 137° and 135° in two principal planes respectively, which shows good agreement.
A Multi-Factor Model of Excess Discount Return: A Comparative Study of UK Investment Trusts and US Closed-End Funds

This article provides an explanation of the fluctuations and persistence of excess discount return in the UK and the US. On average, Guirguis six-factor model can explain 67% of the variation in the excess discount return in the UK market by taking into consideration the market effect, size, the book-to-market effect, momentum, sentiment and expenses. In contrast, FAMA and French’s (1993) three-factor and Carhart’s (1997) four-factor models explain only 42% of the variation of the excess discount return in the UK. Similarly, Guirguis six-factor model can explain 66% of the variation of the excess discount returns in the US market by taking into consideration the same six independent variables. In contrast, FAMA and French’s (1993) three-factor model explains 59% of the excess discount returns variation and Carhart’s (1997) four-factor model explains 65% of the variation.
Adaptive sliding mode control for the speed regulation of PMSMs with load change

This paper mainly studies the speed control for a permanent magnet synchronous motor system. The relationship between the reference quadrature axis current and the speed output is approximately considered as a second-order model. Based on this second-order model, an adaptive sliding mode controller is designed for the speed regulation, which can provide effective control for load torque change and parameter uncertainty. Simulation results are presented to veryfy the proposed method.
Intergenerational Mobility and Income Effects for Entrepreneurial Activity in Mexico

This paper uses the Mexican Social Mobility Survey 2006 to analyze intergenerational social mobility as it relates to entrepreneurial activity. First, the paper analyzes whether entrepreneurs experience greater upward social mobility than self-employed workers or employees. Second, probit models are estimated to identify whether predetermined characteristics are the main determinants of the decision to become an entrepreneur. Third, using the propensity score matching method (PSM), the paper estimates the effect of entrepreneurial activity on income. Results show that entrepreneurs have more options for upward social mobility. For entrepreneurs with low-income parents, it is more difficult to reach the top of the socioeconomic distribution compared to those with middle- or upper-class parents. Second, the probability of becoming an entrepreneur increases when the respondent's father was an entrepreneur. Finally, the mean effect of entrepreneurial activity on income is positive, and is greater for those whose parents belonged to the extreme ends of the socioeconomic distribution.
VARIM: A computer vision system for the automatic creation of high resolution reflectographic mosaics

Infrared reflectography allows to obtain an image of the underlying drawing in paintings. In this work we have designed and developed a system, which acquires a great number of reflectographic images with a high level of detail in an automatic way. After this acquisition process the images are merged using a reduced overlapping area, and a whole reflectographic mosaic of the painting is obtained. The architecture is composed of a reflectographic camera, located on a mobile structure, which allows the movement of the camera along two axes parallel to the painting, and a software application developed for handling these devices and making the mosaic. The main advantage of our system is the automatic nature of the full process, so that no intervention of the user is required. The result is a high resolution image obtained in a fast and efficient way.
The analgesic efficacy of valdecoxib vs. oxycodone/acetaminophen after oral surgery.

BACKGROUND The authors conducted two studies to compare the analgesic efficacy and safety of the cyclooxygenase, or COX, -2-specific inhibitor, valdecoxib, with oxycodone/ acetaminophen in patients who have undergone oral surgery. METHODS In total, 205 eligible subjects in Study A and 201 in Study B were randomized to receive a single oral dose of valdecoxib (20 or 40 milligrams), a combination of oxycodone 10 mg/acetaminophen 1,000 mg or placebo. Eligible subjects experienced moderate-to-severe pain within six hours of surgery during which two or more impacted third molars were extracted. Analgesic efficacy was assessed over 24 hours or until the patient required rescue analgesia. RESULTS In both studies, subjects receiving either dose of valdecoxib experienced a rapid onset of analgesia and (among those who received valdecoxib 40 mg) a level of pain relief comparable with that of those who received oxycodone/ acetaminophen. Both valdecoxib doses had a significantly longer duration of analgesic effect than did oxycodone/acetaminophen. Pooled safety data demonstrated that each valdecoxib dose had a tolerability profile superior to that of oxycodone/ acetaminophen and similar to that of placebo. CONCLUSIONS Orally administered valdecoxib is as rapidly acting and effective as oxycodone/acetaminophen, and it has a superior duration of analgesic effect in patients after oral surgery. Valdecoxib has a tolerability profile superior to that of oxycodone/acetaminophen. CLINICAL IMPLICATIONS The current standard of care for alleviating acute pain after oral surgery has rested largely on conventional nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs or opioid/analgesic combination products. The studies reported here suggest that the COX-2-specific inhibitor valdecoxib offers an efficacious and safe alternative to other analgesics used to treat pain after oral surgery.
Simulation, analysis and experimental validation of BP 380 solar photovoltaic module performance

This paper deals with a number of experimental measurements curried out to evaluate the behavior of a BP 380 photovoltaic (PV) module under real environmental test conditions and for different values of load. A Maximum Power Point Tracking (MPPT) connected to a DC-DC boost converter is applied to extract the maximum available power generated by solar PV modules in order to supply load demands under varying solar irradiance and cell temperature. In the first part, the implementation of the system has been made with Matlab/Simulink software. Simulation results of the BP 380 PV model under meteorological standard conditions have been accomplished. The second part presents experimental results of the system under real test conditions and for various load demand scenarios. The performances of the control system are then validated.
An Application of the 2D Gaussian Filter for Enhancing Feature Extraction in Off-line Signature Verification

Similar to many other pattern recognition problems, feature extraction contributes significantly to the overall performance of an off-line signature verification system. To be successful, a feature extraction technique must be tolerant to different types of variation whilst preserving essential information of input patterns. In this paper, we describe a grid-based feature extraction technique that utilises directional information extracted from the signature contour, i.e. the chain code histogram. Our experimental results for signature verification indicated that, by applying a suitable 2D Gaussian filter on the matrices containing the chain code histograms, an average error rate (AER) of 13.90% can be obtained whilst maintaining the false acceptance rate (FAR) for random forgeries as low as 0.02%. These figures are comparable or better than those reported by other state of the art feature extraction techniques such as the Modified Direction Feature (MDF) and the Gradient feature.
Transcriptional Activation of mRNA of Intercellular Adhesion Molecule 1 and Induction of Its Cell Surface Expression in Normal Human Gingival Fibroblasts by Mycoplasma salivarium andMycoplasma fermentans

ABSTRACT Lipoproteins in the cell membranes of both Mycoplasma salivarium and Mycoplasma fermentans were demonstrated to trigger the transcription of intercellular adhesion molecule-1 mRNA in normal fibroblasts isolated from human gingival tissue and to induce its cell surface expression by a mechanism distinct from that of Escherichia coli lipopolysaccharide. The lipid moiety of the lipoproteins was suggested to play a key role in the expression of the activity.
Physiology and Phylogeny of Green Sulfur Bacteria Forming a Monospecific Phototrophic Assemblage at a Depth of 100 Meters in the Black Sea

ABSTRACT The biomass, phylogenetic composition, and photoautotrophic metabolism of green sulfur bacteria in the Black Sea was assessed in situ and in laboratory enrichments. In the center of the western basin, bacteriochlorophyll e (BChl e) was detected between depths of 90 and 120 m and reached maxima of 54 and 68 ng liter−1. High-pressure liquid chromatography analysis revealed a dominance of farnesyl esters and the presence of four unusual geranyl ester homologs of BChl e. Only traces of BChl e (8 ng liter−1) were found at the northwestern slope of the Black Sea basin, where the chemocline was positioned at a significantly greater depth of 140 m. Stable carbon isotope fractionation values of farnesol indicated an autotrophic growth mode of the green sulfur bacteria. For the first time, light intensities in the Black Sea chemocline were determined employing an integrating quantum meter, which yielded maximum values between 0.0022 and 0.00075 μmol quanta m−2 s−1 at the top of the green sulfur bacterial layer around solar noon in December. These values represent by far the lowest values reported for any habitat of photosynthetic organisms. Only one 16S rRNA gene sequence type was detected in the chemocline using PCR primers specific for green sulfur bacteria. This previously unknown phylotype groups with the marine cluster of the Chlorobiaceae and was successfully enriched in a mineral medium containing sulfide, dithionite, and freshly prepared yeast extract. Under precisely controlled laboratory conditions, the enriched green sulfur bacterium proved to be capable of exploiting light intensities as low as 0.015 μmol quanta m−2 s−1 for photosynthetic 14CO2 fixation. Calculated in situ doubling times of the green sulfur bacterium range between 3.1 and 26 years depending on the season, and anoxygenic photosynthesis contributes only 0.002 to 0.01% to total sulfide oxidation in the chemocline. The stable population of green sulfur bacteria in the Black Sea chemocline thus represents the most extremely low-light-adapted and slowest-growing type of phototroph known to date.
RPD1 (SIN3/UME4) is required for maximal activation and repression of diverse yeast genes

We show that the extent of transcriptional regulation of many, apparently unrelated, genes in Saccharomyces cerevisiae is dependent on RPD1 (and RPD3 [M. Vidal and R. F. Gaber, Mol. Cell. Biol. 11:6317-6327, 1991]). Genes regulated by stimuli as diverse as external signals (PHO5), cell differentiation processes (SPO11 and SPO13), cell type (RME1, FUS1, HO, TY2, STE6, STE3, and BAR1), and genes whose regulatory signals remain unknown (TRK2) depend on RPD1 to achieve maximal states of transcriptional regulation. RPD1 enhances both positive and negative regulation of these genes: in rpd1 delta mutants, higher levels of expression are observed under repression conditions and lower levels are observed under activation conditions. We show that several independent genetic screens, designed to identify yeast transcriptional regulators, have detected the RPD1 locus (also known as SIN3, SD11, and UME4). The inferred RPD1 protein contains four regions predicted to take on helix-loop-helix-like secondary structures and three regions (acidic, glutamine rich, and proline rich) reminiscent of the activating domains of transcriptional activators.
Pharmacognostic studies on Pergularia daemia roots

Pergularia daemia (Forsk.) Chiov. (Asclepiadaceae) is used traditionally as an anthelmintic, laxative, antipyretic, and expectorant, and also used to treat malarial intermittent fever. But the scientific parameters are not yet available to identify the true plant material. In the present investigation, various pharmacognostic standards for P. daemia have been established. Microscopically, thick root and thick taproot of P. daemia showed the presence of periderm, secondary phloem and secondary xylem. Abundant starch grains and calcium oxalate crystals are present in the cortical parenchyma masses included within the xylem. Powdered roots of the plant showed vessel elements, tracheids, fibers and xylem parenchyma. Total ash of the root of P. daemia was not more than 5% and water-soluble extractive value was two times higher than alcohol soluble extractive value. Phytochemically, the ethanol and aqueous extracts of the root of P. daemia showed maximum phytochemicals such as alkaloids, glycosides, steroids, flavonoids, saponin, tannin and phenolic compounds, terpenoids, carbohydrates, gums and mucilage. The results of this study should provide a standard for identification and preparation of monograph of this drug.