Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Measuring cache freshness by additive age

Motivated by the work of cache freshness by Cho and Garcia-Molina [2], we present a new metric called <i>additive age</i> as an extension of existing freshness metrics. The <i>additive age</i>, being formulated somewhat differently, deviates from existing freshness metrics in its ability to better quantify the impact of frequently updated content on cache freshness. Mathematical result shows that the long-run average <i>additive age</i> is proportional to λT<sup>2</sup>, where λ is the change rate of source content, and <i>T</i> the refresh interval. This short paper briefly reviews the key elements of Cho and Garcia-Molina's work and simplifies their derivation by using renewal reward theory, with a focus on formulation of the notion of <i>additive age</i>.
Low resistivity bcc-Ta/TaN/sub x/ metal gate MNSFETs having plane gate structure featuring fully low-temperature processing below 450/spl deg/C

We have developed a low-resistivity metal gate metal-nitride-semiconductor (MNS) FET technology with conventional plane gate structure using fully low-temperature processing. The gate stack consists of directly grown silicon nitride (Si/sub 3/N/sub 4/) dielectric using high-density plasma and bcc-phase tantalum (/spl sim/15 /spl mu//spl Omega/cm)/tantalum nitride (bcc-Ta/TaN/sub x/) stacked metal gate below 1.0 /spl Omega//sq. In order to avoid deterioration of the metal gate system, we adopted low-temperature S/D annealing by the solid phase epitaxy (SPE) method. In this paper, we demonstrate the excellent characteristics of fully-depleted silicon-on-dielectric (FDSOI) metal gate MNSFETs with conventional plane gate structure using fully low-temperature processing below 450/spl deg/C.
Guanylate binding proteins directly attack Toxoplasma gondii via supramolecular complexes

GBPs are essential for immunity against intracellular pathogens, especially for Toxoplasma gondii control. Here, the molecular interactions of murine GBPs (mGBP1/2/3/5/6), homo- and hetero-multimerization properties of mGBP2 and its function in parasite killing were investigated by mutational, Multiparameter Fluorescence Image Spectroscopy, and live cell microscopy methodologies. Control of T. gondii replication by mGBP2 requires GTP hydrolysis and isoprenylation thus, enabling reversible oligomerization in vesicle-like structures. mGBP2 undergoes structural transitions between monomeric, dimeric and oligomeric states visualized by quantitative FRET analysis. mGBPs reside in at least two discrete subcellular reservoirs and attack the parasitophorous vacuole membrane (PVM) as orchestrated, supramolecular complexes forming large, densely packed multimers comprising up to several thousand monomers. This dramatic mGBP enrichment results in the loss of PVM integrity, followed by a direct assault of mGBP2 upon the plasma membrane of the parasite. These discoveries provide vital dynamic and molecular perceptions into cell-autonomous immunity. DOI: http://dx.doi. org/10.7554/eLife.11479. 001
AMBIENCE: A Novel Approach and Efficient Algorithm for Identifying Informative Genetic and Environmental Associations With Complex Phenotypes

We developed a computationally efficient algorithm AMBIENCE, for identifying the informative variables involved in gene–gene (GGI) and gene–environment interactions (GEI) that are associated with disease phenotypes. The AMBIENCE algorithm uses a novel information theoretic metric called phenotype-associated information (PAI) to search for combinations of genetic variants and environmental variables associated with the disease phenotype. The PAI-based AMBIENCE algorithm effectively and efficiently detected GEI in simulated data sets of varying size and complexity, including the 10K simulated rheumatoid arthritis data set from Genetic Analysis Workshop 15. The method was also successfully used to detect GGI in a Crohn's disease data set. The performance of the AMBIENCE algorithm was compared to the multifactor dimensionality reduction (MDR), generalized MDR (GMDR), and pedigree disequilibrium test (PDT) methods. Furthermore, we assessed the computational speed of AMBIENCE for detecting GGI and GEI for data sets varying in size from 100 to 105 variables. Our results demonstrate that the AMBIENCE information theoretic algorithm is useful for analyzing a diverse range of epidemiologic data sets containing evidence for GGI and GEI.
Selective mobilization of fatty acids from adipose tissue in migratory birds

SUMMARY During times of high energy demand, stored fatty acids are mobilized from adipocytes. This mobilization has previously been shown to be a non-random process, with more hydrophilic fatty acids being mobilized most readily. The objectives of this study were to characterize the relative mobilization of fatty acids from adipocytes in two migratory bird species and to investigate possible changes in selective fatty acid mobilization associated with the migratory period. Captive ruffs (Philomachus pugnax) and white-crowned sparrows (Zonotrichia leucophrys) were studied. The sparrows were divided into two treatments: `winter' (photoperiod 8 h:16 h L:D) and `migrant' (in which migratory condition was induced with a photoperiodic manipulation of 8 h:16 h L:D, followed by 16 h:8 h L:D). Adipose tissue was removed from ruffs and sparrows and incubated for 90 min after stimulation with epinephrine. The proportions of individual fatty acid species released into the incubation medium were compared with their proportions in the adipocytes to determine relative mobilizations. We found that patterns of relative mobilization in ruffs and sparrows are similar to those of mammals, with shorter chain lengths and more double bonds leading to higher relative mobilization. Seasonal condition in sparrows did not alter this pattern. This pattern of relative mobilization from adipocytes seems to be a general rule amongst birds and mammals and should be considered before inferring functionality about selective retention or mobilization of certain fatty acids. The composition of adipose stores in birds may affect migratory performance; however, our results indicate that patterns of relative mobilization at the adipocytes do not vary with season in migratory birds.
Establishing a model workplace tobacco cessation program in India

Background: Tobacco use is highly prevalent and culturally accepted in rural Maharashtra, India. Aims: To study the knowledge, attitude, and practices (KAP) regarding tobacco consumption, identify reasons for initiation and continuation of tobacco use, identify prevalence of tobacco consumption and its relation with different precancerous lesions, provide professional help for quitting tobacco, and develop local manpower for tobacco cessation activities. Settings, Design, Methods and Material: The present study was conducted for one year in a chemical industrial unit in Ratnagiri district. All employees (104) were interviewed and screened for oral neoplasia. Their socio-demographic features, habits, awareness levels etc. were recorded. Active intervention in the form of awareness lectures, focus group discussions, one-to-one counseling and, if needed, pharmacotherapy was offered to the tobacco users. Results: All employees actively participated in the program. Overall, 48.08% of the employees were found to use tobacco, among which the smokeless forms were predominant. Peer pressure and pleasure were the main reasons for initiation of tobacco consumption, and the belief that, though injurious, it would not harm them, avoiding physical discomfort on quitting and relieving stress were important factors for continuation of the habit. Employees had poor knowledge regarding the ill-effects of tobacco. 40% of tobacco users had oral precancerous lesions, which were predominant in employees consuming smokeless forms of tobacco. Conclusions: Identifying reasons for initiation and continuation of tobacco consumption along with baseline assessment of knowledge, attitudes, and practices regarding tobacco use, are important in formulating strategies for a comprehensive workplace tobacco cessation program.
Thiocyanate, a plausible physiological electron donor of gastric peroxidase.

Gastric peroxidase (GPO) was purified to apparent homogeneity to characterize its major physiological electron donor. The enzyme (RZ = 0.7), with a subunit molecular mass of 50 kDa, is a glycoprotein, with a relative abundance of aspartic and glutamic acid over arginine and lysine. It has a Soret maximum at 412 nm, which is shifted to 426 nm by H2O2 due to formation of compound II. Although the physiological electron donors I-, Br- and SCN-, but not Cl-, are oxidized by GPO optimally at acid pH, only I- and SCN- are oxidized appreciably at physiological pH. Considering that the I- concentration in stomach is less than 1 microM, whereas the SCN- concentration is about 250 microM, SCN- may act as a major electron donor for GPO. Moreover, SCN- oxidation remains unaltered in the presence of physiological concentrations of other halides. The second-order rate constant for the reaction of GPO with H2O2 (k1) and compound I with SCN- (k2) at pH 7 was found to be 8 x 10(7) M-1.s-1 and 2 x 10(5) M-1.s-1 respectively. GPO has significant pseudocatalase activity also in the presence of I- or Br-, but it is blocked by SCN-. The SCN- oxidation product OSCN- may be reduced back to SCN- by cellular GSH, and GSSG may be reduced back to GSH by glutathione reductase and NADPH. In a system reconstituted with pure glutathione reductase, NADPH, GSH, SCN- and H2O2. GPO-catalysed SCN- oxidation could be coupled to NADPH oxidation. This system where GPO utilizes SCN- as the major physiological electron donor may operate efficiently to scavenge intracellular H2O2.
A “Random Chemistry” Algorithm for Identifying Collections of Multiple Contingencies That Initiate Cascading Failure

This paper describes a stochastic “Random Chemistry” (RC) algorithm to identify large collections of multiple (n-k) contingencies that initiate large cascading failures in a simulated power system. The method requires only O(log (n)) simulations per contingency identified, which is orders of magnitude faster than random search of this combinatorial space. We applied the method to a model of cascading failure in a power network with n=2896 branches and identify 148243 unique, minimal n-k branch contingencies (2 ≤ k ≤ 5) that cause large cascades, many of which would be missed by using pre-contingency flows, linearized line outage distribution factors, or performance indices as screening factors. Within each n-k collection, the frequency with which individual branches appear follows a power-law (or nearly so) distribution, indicating that a relatively small number of components contribute disproportionately to system vulnerability. The paper discusses various ways that RC generated collections of dangerous contingencies could be used in power systems planning and operations.
Investigation into the performance of eco-friendly graphite nanofluid as lubricant in MQL grinding

Abstract In this study, the lubrication and cooling properties of eco-friendly graphite nanofluids in MQL grinding were investigated. Grinding forces, subsurface temperature of workpiece, surface roughness, micro-hardness and metallographic observations of ground surfaces were employed to evaluate the performance of synthesized nanofluids as lubricant under different grinding parameters. The results were also compared with grinding in dry, pure MQL and flood cooling conditions. The results showed that the tangential forces and force ratios in grinding using graphite nanofluid MQL are lower than that of other lubricating methods especially at extreme cutting parameters. Also, application of graphite nanofluid MQL reduced the grinding temperature at high velocities of workpiece. These reductions could be attributed to the formation of a tribofilm on the ground surface by the present of graphite nanoparticles in the wheel-workpiece interface. Additionally, the presence of this tribofilm in the contact area generated a smooth surface even at high depth of cut and velocity of workpiece. Furthermore, the micro-hardness of ground surfaces increased in graphite nanofluid MQL grinding because of infiltration of graphite nanoparticles in the grinding surface and the plastic deformation of subsurface of workpiece.
Higher criticism thresholding: Optimal feature selection when useful features are rare and weak

In important application fields today—genomics and proteomics are examples—selecting a small subset of useful features is crucial for success of Linear Classification Analysis. We study feature selection by thresholding of feature Z-scores and introduce a principle of threshold selection, based on the notion of higher criticism (HC). For i = 1, 2, …, p, let πi denote the two-sided P-value associated with the ith feature Z-score and π(i) denote the ith order statistic of the collection of P-values. The HC threshold is the absolute Z-score corresponding to the P-value maximizing the HC objective (i/p − π(i))/ i/p(1−i/p). We consider a rare/weak (RW) feature model, where the fraction of useful features is small and the useful features are each too weak to be of much use on their own. HC thresholding (HCT) has interesting behavior in this setting, with an intimate link between maximizing the HC objective and minimizing the error rate of the designed classifier, and very different behavior from popular threshold selection procedures such as false discovery rate thresholding (FDRT). In the most challenging RW settings, HCT uses an unconventionally low threshold; this keeps the missed-feature detection rate under better control than FDRT and yields a classifier with improved misclassification performance. Replacing cross-validated threshold selection in the popular Shrunken Centroid classifier with the computationally less expensive and simpler HCT reduces the variance of the selected threshold and the error rate of the constructed classifier. Results on standard real datasets and in asymptotic theory confirm the advantages of HCT.
The Staphylococcus aureus KdpDE Two-Component System Couples Extracellular K+ Sensing and Agr Signaling to Infection Programming

ABSTRACT The Kdp system is widely distributed among bacteria. In Escherichia coli, the Kdp-ATPase is a high-affinity K+ uptake system and its expression is activated by the KdpDE two-component system in response to K+ limitation or salt stress. However, information about the role of this system in many bacteria still remains obscure. Here we demonstrate that KdpFABC in Staphylococcus aureus is not a major K+ transporter and that the main function of KdpDE is not associated with K+ transport but that instead it regulates transcription for a series of virulence factors through sensing external K+ concentrations, indicating that this bacterium might modulate its infectious status through sensing specific external K+ stimuli in different environments. Our results further reveal that S. aureus KdpDE is upregulated by the Agr/RNAIII system, which suggests that KdpDE may be an important virulence regulator coordinating the external K+ sensing and Agr signaling during pathogenesis in this bacterium.
In vitro α-glucosidase and α-amylase enzyme inhibitory effects of Andrographis paniculata extract and andrographolide

There has been an enormous interest in the development of alternative medicines for type 2 diabetes, specifically screening for phytochemicals with the ability to delay or prevent glucose absorption. The goal of the present study was to provide in vitro evidence for potential inhibition of α-glucosidase and α-amylase enzymes, followed by a confirmatory in vivo study on rats to generate a stronger biochemical rationale for further studies on the ethanolic extract of Andrographis paniculata and andrographolide. The extract showed appreciable α-glucosidase inhibitory effect in a concentration-dependent manner (IC50 = 17.2 ± 0.15 mg/ml) and a weak α-amylase inhibitory activity (IC50 = 50.9 ± 0.17 mg/ml). Andrographolide demonstrated a similar (IC50 = 11.0 ± 0.28 mg/ml) α-glucosidase and α-amylase inhibitory activity (IC50 = 11.3 ± 0.29 mg/ml). The positive in vitro enzyme inhibition tests paved way for confirmatory in vivo studies. The in vivo studies demonstrated that A. paniculata extract significantly (P < 0.05) reduced peak blood glucose and area under curve in diabetic rats when challenged with oral administration of starch and sucrose. Further, andrographolide also caused a significant (P < 0.05) reduction in peak blood glucose and area under the curve in diabetic rats. Hence α-glucosidase inhibition may possibly be one of the mechanisms for the A. paniculata extract to exert antidiabetic activity and indicates that AP extract can be considered as a potential candidate for the management of type 2 diabetes mellitus.
Identification and Functional Characterization of CLCN1 Mutations Found in Nondystrophic Myotonia Patients

Mutations in the gene coding for the skeletal muscle Cl− channel (CLCN1) lead to dominant or recessive myotonia. Here, we identified and characterized CLCN1 mutations in Costa Rican patients, who had been clinically diagnosed with myotonic dystrophy type 1 but who were negative for DM1 mutations. CLCN1 mutations c.501C>G, p.F167L and c.1235A>C, p.Q412P appeared to have recessive inheritance but patients had atypical clinical phenotypes; c.313C>T, p.R105C was found in combination with c.501C>G, p.F167L in an apparently recessive family and the c.461A>G, p.Q154R variant was associated with a less clear clinical picture. In Xenopus oocytes, none of the mutations exhibited alterations of fast or slow gating parameters or single channel conductance, and mutations p.R105C, p.Q154R, and p.F167L were indistinguishable from wild‐type (WT). p.Q412P displayed a dramatically reduced current density, surface expression and exerted no dominant negative effect in the context of the homodimeric channel. Fluorescently tagged constructs revealed that p.Q412P is expressed inefficiently. Our study confirms p.F167L and p.R105C as myotonia mutations in the Costa Rican population, whereas p.Q154R may be a benign variant. p.Q412P most likely induces a severe folding defect, explaining the lack of dominance in patients and expression systems, but has WT properties once expressed in the plasma membrane.
Dictionary learning based image enhancement for rarity detection

Image enhancement is an important image processing technique that processes images suitably for a specific application e.g. image editing. The conventional solutions of image enhancement are grouped into two categories which are spatial domain processing method and transform domain processing method such as contrast manipulation, histogram equalization, homomorphic filtering. This paper proposes a new image enhance method based on dictionary learning. Particularly, the proposed method adjusts the image by manipulating the rarity of dictionary atoms. Firstly, learn the dictionary through sparse coding algorithms on divided sub-image blocks. Secondly, compute the rarity of dictionary atoms on statistics of the corresponding sparse coefficients. Thirdly, adjust the rarity according to specific application and form a new dictionary. Finally, reconstruct the image using the updated dictionary and sparse coefficients. Compared with the traditional techniques, the proposed method enhances image based on the image content not on distribution of pixel grey value or frequency. The advantages of the proposed method lie in that it is in better correspondence with the response of the human visual system and more suitable for salient objects extraction. The experimental results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed image enhance method.
Code development of a DSP-FPGA based control platform for power electronics applications

This paper focuses on the implementation of power electronics algorithms in control platforms based on DSP-FPGA. Today's power electronics technology demands high power computation with high speed interfacing at the same time. The most popular configuration is a DSP for the former and a FPGA for the latter. The main goal of this work was to develop a generic control system for power electronics application, but it is explained for an active power electronic transformer, which will be an active player in the energy storage, management and production game in the smart grids. Thus, demands for the control system are high, so it is mandatory to have a reliable, fast and user friendly control algorithm basis. The control board (SH363) used in this work contains a SHARC ADSP21363 DSP and a CYCLONE II EP2C8F256I8N FPGA. FPGA as a system interface, critical and non-critical communications between DSP and FPGA, including synchronization, and DSP programming are detailed. Also, a PC interface has been developed for an easy debugging and future system management. The methods used to achieve the maximum loop control frequency and the issues found during the implementation are discussed. The performance of the control board of the active power electronic transformer is verified experimentally.
Towards a Systematic Evaluation of protein Mutation Extraction Systems

The development of text analysis systems targeting the extraction of information about mutations from research publications is an emergent topic in biomedical research. Current systems differ in both scope and approach, thus preventing a meaningful comparison of their performance and therefore possible synergies. To overcome this evaluation bottleneck, we developed a comprehensive framework for the systematic analysis of mutation extraction systems, precisely defining tasks and corresponding evaluation metrics, that will allow a comparison of existing and future applications.
Altered resting-state brain activity in obstructive sleep apnea.

STUDY OBJECTIVES Structural and functional brain changes may contribute to neural dysfunction in patients with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). However, the effect of OSA on resting-state brain activity has not been established. The objective of this study was to investigate alterations in resting-state functional connectivity (rsFC) of the common brain networks in patients with OSA and their relationships with changes in gray matter volume (GMV) in the corresponding brain regions. DESIGNS Resting-state functional and structural MRI data were acquired from patients with OSA and healthy controls. Seven brain networks were identified by independent component analysis. The rsFC in each network was compared between groups and the GMV of brain regions with significant differences in rsFC was also compared. SETTING University hospital. PATIENTS AND PARTICIPANTS Twenty-four male patients with untreated OSA and 21 matched healthy controls. INTERVENTIONS N/A. MEASUREMENTS AND RESULTS OSA specifically affected the cognitive and sensorimotor-related brain networks but not the visual and auditory networks. The medial prefrontal cortex and left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) showed decreased rsFC and GMV in patients with OSA, suggesting structural and functional deficits. The right DLPFC and left precentral gyrus showed decreased rsFC and unchanged GMV, suggesting a functional deficit. The right posterior cingulate cortex demonstrated increased rsFC and unchanged GMV, suggesting functional compensation. In patients with OSA, the rsFC of the right DLPFC was negatively correlated with the apnea-hypopnea index. CONCLUSIONS OSA specifically affects resting-state functional connectivity in cognitive and sensorimotor-related brain networks, which may be related to the impaired cognitive and motor functions in these patients.