Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Complete Genome Sequences of Seven Vibrio cholerae Phages Isolated in China

ABSTRACT The complete genome sequences of seven closely related Vibrio cholerae phages isolated from environmental sites in southeastern China are reported here. Phages QH, CJY, H1, H2, H3, J2, and J3 are members of the Podoviridae family and are highly similar to the previously sequenced Vibrio phages VP2, VP5, and phiVC8.
Elements: in this month's issue.

As we live longer the prevalence of metabolic bone diseases has substantially increased placing a significant strain on patients, their families and healthcare providers. The Journal has recently published definitive reviews both on stress fractures and bisphosphonate therapy in these clinical conditions. Paget’s disease of the bone (PDB) is prevalent in up to 8% of the UK population over 80 years of age. In this issue of the QJM, Professor Ralston and colleagues provide a comprehensive review on the aetiology, diagnosis and management of this disabling condition.
Low-Cost Application-Aware DVFS for Multi-core Architecture

As technology scales down, energy/power consumption in the microprocessor has become a serious problem. Especially, as the industry moves on to multi-core processor systems, energy/power management in multi-core systems has become more and more important. In this paper, we propose new DVFS technique in multi-core systems. Our proposed technique finds the optimal DVFS level using Energy-Delay Product (EDP) and Energy-Delay2 Product (ED2P), which considers energy-efficiency of computation. According to determined DVFS level, the voltage and frequency of processor cores are changed. In our evaluations, our proposed technique shows 5.6% and 54.3% EDP reduction compared to the energy-biased and performance-biased scheme, respectively. In case of ED2P, our proposed technique reduces 36.4% and 14.7% of ED2P compared to the energy-biased and performance-biased scheme, respectively. The proposed technique can be a good alternative in future multi-core system where the both energy/power consumption and performance are critical.
AIDS and agriculture in Africa: can agricultural policy make a difference?

La pandemie de SIDA revet de multiples aspects et la FAO a centre son attention sur les consequences de cette maladie pour la production agricole et la securite alimentaire des menages. Ce document presente un cadre pour l'analyse des problemes et decrit leurs principaux effets sur les menages et exploitations agricoles. Le VIH/SIDA epuise les ressources humaines et financieres, ce qui entraine une reduction des superficies cultivees, des modifications des pratiques culturales et des baisses de rendement. La reduction de la formation scolaire et non scolaire des enfants et l'evolution des schemas de migration peuvent avoir des consequences negatives sur le developpement. Les politiques agricoles s'efforcent d'influer sur les rendements, la production des cultures commerciales, etc. On ne s'est pas encore demande si ces politiques peuvent affecter la diffusion et l'intensite de la pandemie VIH/SIDA ou, au contraire, en attenuer l'impact. Les secteurs de l'agriculture et de la sante doivent se sensibiliser davantage aux effets de la pandemie sur la production, la securite alimentaire et les institutions. Ils doivent aussi reconnaitre qu'il existe un certain nombre d'outils lies aux politiques et programmes qui pourraient etre utilises pour reduire la vulnerabilite des populations rurales en matiere de VIH/SIDA. A ce stade, il convient d'etudier de maniere plus systematique les instruments disponibles lies aux politiques et programmes qui seraient le plus efficaces. Des efforts visant a mobiliser les institutions agricoles, tant publiques que privees, sont justifies face aux degâts actuels et potentiels de cette pandemie. La reduction de la vulnerabilite a une influence sur les risques, mais ne les elimine pas. Des politiques visant a reduire la vulnerabilite ne remplaceraient pas les politiques visant a reduire les risques, mais elles pourraient creer des synergies positives.
TASK: sensor network in a box

Sensornet systems research is being conducted with various applications and deployment scenarios in mind. In many of these scenarios, the presumption is that the sensornet will be deployed and managed by users who do not have a background in computer science. In this paper we describe the "tiny application sensor kit" (TASK), a system we have designed for use by end-users with minimal sensornet sophistication. We describe the requirements that guided our design, the architecture of the system and results from initial deployments. Based on our experience to date we present preliminary design principles and research challenges that arise in delivering sensornet research to end users.
Optimization of a Subset of Apple Features Based on Modified Particle Swarm Algorithm

Reducing dimension processing is needed in feature samples because the repeated and secondary features would reduce the classification ability and increase computation complexity. In this paper, a feature selection method, named MPSO (Modified Particle Swarm Optimization), is proposed. The original group velocity of a particle swarm was changed into two separate and parallel particle swarm velocity, which was effectively and quickly applied to the feature extraction of the optimum samples on the basis of Discrete Binary PSO. Then the least squares support vector machine classifier is used to verify the feasibility of this method. The experimental results show that, compared with the method in the literature, the iteration times in this method are only 17 times in average, while the iteration times in the literature are 23 times; the selected features and the average recognition accuracy after feature selection are slightly better than the ones in the method in the literature. Therefore,the proposed method is feasible and effective.
Regulation of ROMK Channel and K+ Homeostasis by Kidney-specific WNK1 Kinase*

WNK kinases are serine-threonine kinases with an atypical placement of the catalytic lysine. WNK1, the first member discovered, has multiple alternatively spliced isoforms, including a ubiquitously expressed full-length long form (L-WNK1) and a kidney-specific form (KS-WNK1) predominantly expressed in the kidney. Intronic deletions of WNK1 that increase WNK1 transcript cause pseudohypoaldosteronism type 2, an autosomal-dominant disease characterized by hypertension and hyperkalemia. L-WNK1 inhibits renal K+ channel ROMK, likely contributing to hyperkalemia in PHAII. Previously, we reported that KS-WNK1 by itself has no effect on ROMK1 but antagonizes L-WNK1-mediated inhibition of ROMK1. Amino acids 1–253 of KS-WNK1 (KS-WNK1(1–253)) are sufficient for reversing the inhibition of ROMK1 caused by L-WNK1(1–491). Here, we further investigated the mechanisms by which KS-WNK1 counteracts L-WNK1 regulation of ROMK1. We reported that two regions of KS-WNK1(1–253) are involved in the antagonism of L-WNK1; one includes the first 30 amino acids unique for KS-WNK1 encoded by the alternatively spliced initiating exon 4A, and the other is equivalent to the autoinhibitory domain (AID) of L-WNK1. Mutations of two phenylalanine residues known to be critical for autoinhibitory function of AID abolish the ability of the AID region of KS-WNK1 to antagonize L-WNK1. To examine the physiological role of KS-WNK1 in the regulation of renal K+ secretion, we generated transgenic mice that overexpress amino acids 1–253 of KS-WNK1 under the control of a kidney-specific promoter. Transgenic mice have lower serum K+ levels and higher urinary fractional excretion of K+ compared with wild type littermates despite the same amount of daily urinary K+ excretion. Moreover, transgenic mice (compared with wild type littermates) displayed a higher abundance of ROMK on the apical membrane of distal nephron. Thus, KS-WNK1 is an important physiological regulator of renal K+ excretion, likely through its effects on the ROMK1 channel.
Temporally chimeric mice reveal flexibility of circadian period-setting in the suprachiasmatic nucleus

Significance The suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) is the principal circadian clock of the mammalian brain. To function effectively, SCN neurons must operate as a synchronized circuit. How cell-autonomous and circuit-level circadian mechanisms interact to achieve this is unclear. Here, we used intersectional genetics to create temporally chimeric mice where both 24-h and 20-h clock neurons were present in the SCN, in different cell populations. The 24-h dopamine receptor-positive cells set the speed of the SCN, imposing their cell-autonomous 24-h period on all cells in the circuit. Exposure to a 20-h lighting cycle, however, inverted this dominance, reprograming the circuit to 20 h. These results show how robust circuit-level signaling underlies complex, nonlinear computations of circadian period that also exhibit a remarkable level of plasticity. The suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) is the master circadian clock controlling daily behavior in mammals. It consists of a heterogeneous network of neurons, in which cell-autonomous molecular feedback loops determine the period and amplitude of circadian oscillations of individual cells. In contrast, circuit-level properties of coherence, synchrony, and ensemble period are determined by intercellular signals and are embodied in a circadian wave of gene expression that progresses daily across the SCN. How cell-autonomous and circuit-level mechanisms interact in timekeeping is poorly understood. To explore this interaction, we used intersectional genetics to create temporally chimeric mice with SCN containing dopamine 1a receptor (Drd1a) cells with an intrinsic period of 24 h alongside non-Drd1a cells with 20-h clocks. Recording of circadian behavior in vivo alongside cellular molecular pacemaking in SCN slices in vitro demonstrated that such chimeric circuits form robust and resilient circadian clocks. It also showed that the computation of ensemble period is nonlinear. Moreover, the chimeric circuit sustained a wave of gene expression comparable to that of nonchimeric SCN, demonstrating that this circuit-level property is independent of differences in cell-intrinsic periods. The relative dominance of 24-h Drd1a and 20-h non-Drd1a neurons in setting ensemble period could be switched by exposure to resonant or nonresonant 24-h or 20-h lighting cycles. The chimeric circuit therefore reveals unanticipated principles of circuit-level operation underlying the emergent plasticity, resilience, and robustness of the SCN clock. The spontaneous and light-driven flexibility of period observed in chimeric mice provides a new perspective on the concept of SCN pacemaker cells.
Can the MMSE help clinicians predict progression from mild cognitive impairment to dementia

The Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) is the most widely used bedside cognitive test. It has previously been shown to be poor as a case-finding tool for both dementia and mild cognitive impairment (MCI). This month’s Cochrane Corner review examines whether the MMSE might be used as a risk prediction tool for later dementia in those with established MCI. From 11 studies of modest quality, it appears that the MMSE alone should not be relied on to predict later deterioration in people with MCI. As this is the case, it is likely that only a combination of predictors would be able to accurately predict progression from MCI to dementia.
Catch the Wind: Graph workload balancing on cloud

Graph partitioning is a key issue in graph database processing systems for achieving high efficiency on Cloud. However, the balanced graph partitioning itself is difficult because it is known to be NP-complete. In addition a static graph partitioning cannot keep all graph algorithms efficient for a long time in parallel on Cloud because the workload balancing in different iterations for different graph algorithms are all possible different. In this paper, we investigate graph behaviors by exploring the working window (we call it wind) changes, where a working window is a set of active vertices that a graph algorithm really needs to access in parallel computing. We investigated nine classic graph algorithms using real datasets, and propose simple yet effective policies that can achieve both high graph workload balancing and efficient partition on Cloud.
Minimum capacity in stabilizing an LTI system with quantized control inputs via output feedback

This paper studies the design constraints from network channel in stabilizing a linear time-invariant (LTI) discrete-time system. In the system, the control inputs are quantized and then transmitted through a noise free channel to the remote plant. The quantization error is modeled as a product of the source signal of quantizer and a white noise. The latter is refereed to as the relative quantization error in this work. The channel capacity is measured in terms of the variance of the relative quantization error (or the signal-to-noise ratio of the input channel). The lower bound of the total capacity of all control input channels for stabilizing an LTI minimum phase plant with quantized control inputs via output feedback is found. This lower bound is determined by the product of unstable poles of the plant. This minimum total capacity shows the trade-off among the capacities of control input channels (or the variances of the relative quantization errors) of the system.
The Three Streptomyces lividans HtrA-Like Proteases Involved in the Secretion Stress Response Act in a Cooperative Manner

Overproduction of Sec-proteins in S. lividans accumulates misfolded proteins outside of the cytoplasmic membrane where the accumulated proteins interfere with the correct functioning of the secretion machinery and with the correct cell functionality, triggering the expression in S. lividans of a CssRS two-component system which regulates the degradation of the accumulated protein, the so-called secretion stress response. Optimization of secretory protein production via the Sec route requires the identification and characterisation of quality factors involved in this process. The phosphorylated regulator (CssR) interacts with the regulatory regions of three genes encoding three different HtrA-like proteases. Individual mutations in each of these genes render degradation of the misfolded protein inoperative, and propagation in high copy number of any of the three proteases encoding genes results on indiscriminate alpha-amylase degradation. None of the proteases could complement the other two deficiencies and only propagation of each single copy protease gene can restore its own deficiency. The obtained results strongly suggest that the synthesis of the three HtrA-like proteases needs to be properly balanced to ensure the effective degradation of misfolded overproduced secretory proteins and, at the same time, avoid negative effects in the secreted proteins and the secretion machinery. This is particularly relevant when considering the optimisation of Streptomyces strains for the overproduction of homologous or heterologous secretory proteins of industrial application.
An in-band power-saving protocol for mobile data networks

A new alternative is proposed for reducing the power consumption of the portable (battery-powered) units operating in a mobile packet-data network. First, a review of the current power-saving protocols is given. It is shown that the most common means for conserving power is the intermittent operation of the receivers (at the portable units) and a central administration authority that synchronizes the receivers. Some drawbacks of the synchronous operation lead us to the introduction of an asynchronous power-saving protocol, where no central synchronization is necessary and where each terminal may control its power consumption relative to its current needs. According to the proposed power-saving page-and-answer protocol, an acknowledgment paging procedure is preceding every packet transmission in order to alert mobile terminals with pending traffic. Steady-state performance is evaluated with the aid of simulation. The relationship between the achieved power-saving and the mean packet delay degradation is presented. Finally, we express some notable implementation issues and some considerations regarding the employment of this protocol as a supplementary power-saving service in microcellular mobile data networks and wireless local area networks.
A Case Study on Message-Board and Media Framing of Gay Male Athletes on a Politically Liberal Web Site

In 2013–14, Jason Collins and Michael Sam became the first 2 athletes from the 4 most popular professional leagues in the United States to publicly come out as gay during their playing careers. U.S. men’s pro team sports have historically been arenas where hegemonic masculinity flourishes and open homosexuality is nearly nonexistent. However, these athletes came out during a period when sexual minorities had won numerous civil rights and were gaining acceptance by a majority of Americans, particularly those who self-identify as politically liberal. A textual analysis examined framing of Collins’s and Sam’s coming out in articles published on the liberal political Web site MSNBC.com. Focus was placed on how these athletes, homosexuality, and masculinity were framed in the corresponding message-board comments posted in response to these articles. Five primary themes emerged from the data, showing that acceptable forms of masculinities and homosexuality in sport remain contested terrains, even on liberal mes.
Putting OWL in Order: Patterns for Sequences in OWL

Sequences are a natural part of the world to be modelled in ontologies. Yet the Web Ontology Language, OWL, contains no specific support for ordering. It does, however, have constructs that can be used to model many aspects of sequences, albeit imperfectly. This paper demonstrates a design pattern for modeling order within OWL-DL. This allows us to use standard DL reasoning to perform pattern matching akin to regular expression matching and works surprisingly well. The main point of this paper is that formulating sequences in OWL-DL brings real benefits to users by allowing them to work at a higher level of abstraction than raw sequences and to deal with situations in which the details of the sequences are under specified.
The natural environment's impact upon religious ethics : A cross-cultural study

L'A. explore les capacites des variations de l'environnement naturel a predire les variations de l'ethique religieuse des differents groupes culturels. A partir des perspectives theoriques de William James et de Max Weber, l'A. emet l'hypothese selon laquelle les cultures qui developpent une affinite morale avec une Deite Supreme qui promeuvent un usage social des ressources naturelles sont en relation avec des societes ou le manque d'eau met en danger la vie. L'A. teste cette hypothese sur 186 groupes culturels differents
Dynamics of the bacterial flagellar motor with multiple stators

The bacterial flagellar motor drives the rotation of flagellar filaments and enables many species of bacteria to swim. Torque is generated by interaction of stator units, anchored to the peptidoglycan cell wall, with the rotor. Recent experiments [Yuan J, Berg HC (2008) Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 105:1182–1185] show that at near-zero load the speed of the motor is independent of the number of stators. Here, we introduce a mathematical model of the motor dynamics that explains this behavior based on a general assumption that the stepping rate of a stator depends on the torque exerted by the stator on the rotor. We find that the motor dynamics can be characterized by two timescales: the moving-time interval for the mechanical rotation of the rotor and the waiting-time interval determined by the chemical transitions of the stators. We show that these two timescales depend differently on the load, and that their cross-over provides the microscopic explanation for the existence of two regimes in the torque-speed curves observed experimentally. We also analyze the speed fluctuation for a single motor by using our model. We show that the motion is smoothed by having more stator units. However, the mechanism for such fluctuation reduction is different depending on the load. We predict that the speed fluctuation is determined by the number of steps per revolution only at low load and is controlled by external noise for high load. Our model can be generalized to study other molecular motor systems with multiple power-generating units.
The New Zealand intensive medicines monitoring programme

The New Zealand Intensive Medicines Monitoring Programme which has been in operation for 20 years is described. The methodology is reviewed in detail and illustrated in the results. Some of the principles of early postmarketing surveillance and advantages and problems associated with the IMMP are discussed. The methodology is based on establishing cohorts of patients and the aggregation of adverse events from a combination of prescription follow‐up (PFU) and intensified spontaneous reporting. In signal detection particular emphasis is placed on provisional ‘causality’ assessment and a study of the events thought not to be reactions (incidents) and in addition, their use in controlling for reporting bias particularly in respect of reaction rates and the identification of risk factors. With the small population base, cohorts are built up more slowly, but the longer duration of observation has advantages. Monitoring has been completed for 20 drugs with an average cohort size of 10,511 patients and a mean monitoring period of 55 months. The use of duplicate prescriptions with PFU achieved much higher reporting rates than IMMP spontaneous reporting. Information on deaths was best obtained from questionnaires on reasons for cessation of therapy which also provided data on efficacy. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Process of Judgment Error on Collision Risk by Modeling Judgment Patterns of Officers

The purposes of marine accident analysis are to find out the cause and safety measures of marine accidents and to evaluate the effectiveness of the measures. Many marine accidents are considered to be due to human factors. Experiments with bridge simulators are effective for analyzing human factors in ship operation. Analytical approaches to some accidents with bridge simulators have already been carried out. However, analytical method has not been established yet. In our previous paper [1], as the first phase of analysis, we proposed a method to identify the most important task (bottle neck task) in the accident process. As a result of experiments and analysis of a collision accident, “Judgment” was identified as the bottle neck task for preventing collisions. However, in order to identify the primary cause of the accident, it is necessary to know the process of judgment error (background) of the accident. In this paper, as the second phase for analysis, process of judgment error in the collision accident is made clear by modeling judgment pattern of officers. From the result, two-stage judgment error is identified as the primary cause of the collision.