Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Slowly Digestible Starch—A Review

The link between carbohydrate intake and health is becoming increasingly important for consumers, particularly in the areas of glycemic index (GI) and extended energy-releasing starches. From a physiological point of view, slowly digestible starch (SDS) delivers a slow and sustained release of blood glucose along with the benefits resulting from low glycemic and insulinemic response. SDS has been implicated in several health problems, including diabetes, obesity, and cardiovascular diseases (metabolic syndromes). It may also have commercial potential as a novel functional ingredient in a variety of fields, such as nutrition, medicine, and agriculture. The present review assesses this form of digestion by analyzing methods to prepare and evaluate SDS, and factors affecting its transformation, its health benefits, and its applications.
A distributed semantic similar search for high-dimensional resources in low-dimensional content addressable network

A mechanism for distributed semantic similar resource search is proposed in P2P network. The mechanism is based on the content addressable network (CAN). CAN, one of P2P networks, has the natural ability to support the semantic similar search with the semantic vector space model (SVSM) of resources. However, there exists a mismatching problem between the low-dimension CAN network and the high-dimension resources, which needs a dimensionality reduction algorithm. For the semantic similar search in distributed environment of CAN, the applied dimensionality reduction algorithm needs to meet two specific requirements: maintenance for semantic similarity of SVSM of resources, and distributed computing with large and dynamic data, which is not well researched. A distributed algorithm called D-PCA is proposed based on the statistical characteristic of resources in each node. It extracts the principal components of original high-dimensional SVSM to reduce the dimension in a distributed way. D-PCA is taken as a novel hash function to project high-dimensional SVSM into low-dimensional space of distributed hash table in CAN. A semantic indexing and searching process based on semantic DHT in CAN are simulated to show the applicability of D-PCA and the effectiveness of semantic similar search.
A prospective analysis of the pattern of immune reconstitution in a paediatric cohort following transplantation of positively selected human leucocyte antigen‐disparate haematopoietic stem cells from parental donors

Transplantation of haematopoietic stem cells from human leucocyte antigen (HLA)‐disparate parental donors presents a promising new approach for the treatment of patients lacking a HLA‐matched donor. Success against major obstacles such as graft‐versus‐host disease (GvHD) and graft rejection has recently been demonstrated, so that immune reconstitution is one of the prime factors that determines the long‐term prognosis following transplantation. Twenty children transplanted with megadoses of highly purified CD34+ haematopoietic stem cells after rigorous T‐cell depletion were prospectively monitored for their immune reconstitution during the first post‐transplant year. Natural killer (NK) cells showed a marked increase on d +30. T and B cells began to reconstitute on d +72 and +68 respectively. During extended follow‐up, their numbers and proliferative capacity upon mitogen stimulation continually increased. Early reconstituting T cells were predominantly of a primed, activated phenotype with severely skewed T‐cell receptor (TCR)‐repertoire complexity. Naive T cells emerged 6 months post transplantation, paralleled by an increase in TCR‐repertoire diversity. All patients self‐maintained sufficient immunoglobulin levels after d +200. This study demonstrates that paediatric recipients of highly purified, haploidentical stem cells are able to reconstitute functioning T‐, B‐ and NK‐cell compartments within the first post‐transplant year. This, together with the absence of significant GvHD, provides a strong indication for this approach to be considered in children who lack a HLA‐matched donor.
Intelligent Initialization and Interactivity : Optimizing Level Sets for T 1-weighted White Matter Segmentation

White matter (WM) segmentation from T1-weighted MRI is complicated by intensity non-uniformities, noise, and WM’s high surface area to volume ratio. Accurate algorithms are often computationally intensive and time consuming, precluding interactivity and routine clinical use. To address this we developed a workand step-efficient parallel narrow-band level set algorithm and mapped this onto commodity GPU hardware. Our algorithm can segment brain WM in 3 seconds. However, it requires expert tuning of 3 parameters. Here we describe recent efforts to improve the precision, accuracy and simplicity of WM segmentation by: a) intelligently initializing algorithm parameters; and, b) allowing interactive parameter tuning during algorithm execution, along with real-time 2D and 3D visualization of parameter effects on segmentation results.
Adaptive median filter background subtractions technique using fuzzy logic

This paper is based on the median filter algorithm that is considered one of the most commonly used algorithms in the field of background subtraction. In order to make the median filter algorithm adaptive with sudden change in surrounding circumstances a fuzzy logic inference system has been developed to make the parameters of Median Filter algorithm adaptive to the changes of sudden circumstances that surrounding the moving object to detach it from the background. Experimental results demonstrate that the fuzzy inference system is very efficient and robust.
Design and analysis of isolated boost converter for microgrid applications

Solar photovoltaic based microgrids and nanogrids are becoming very popular in many developing countries due to lowering panels and balance of system costs. While many nanogrids (isolated houses with solar generation or small integrated community with very low power provisioning) have been popular, the need for interconnecting these for bidirectional power transactions is growing. This allows efficient resource utilization due to usage diversity. This work therefore analyses a 12/24 V to 380 V isolated boost converter suitable for many DC microgrid applications with bidirectional power flow requirements. The proposed converter has been evaluated for operation under different microgrid scenarios requiring an efficient bidirectional flow of power between a low-voltage nanogrid (single house or a close neighborhood) and a high-voltage microgrid (which interconnects several nanogrids). The converter is tested up to 250W with power flow in each direction with satisfactory results.
Millimeter-wave radar micro-Doppler signatures of human motion

Radar micro-Doppler signatures can be utilized for security applications like detection and assessment of human activity at airports, power plants etc. The micro-Doppler signature reflects the movement of various body parts. Using a 77 GHz radar we have obtained human micro-Doppler signatures of one or two persons, with different ways of movement, different movement directions and without or with carrying objects. We have analyzed the micro-Doppler signatures for these cases and we observe general properties of the signatures. We further suggest properties to use when designing detectors and classifiers of human targets.
Structure of polyubiquitinated histone H2A.

We have recently demonstrated that trout liver histones H2A, H2B, and H2A.Z can be polyubiquitinated [Davie, J.R. , Delcuve, G.P., Nickel, B.E. , Moyer, R. , & Bailey, G. (1987) Cancer Res. 47, 5407-5410]. In the present study we determined the arrangement of the ubiquitin molecules in polyubiquitinated histone H2A. Trout liver chromatin fragments. which had histone H1 removed, were digested with Staphylococcus aureus (V8 strain) protease which cleaves specifically on the carboxyl side of glutamic acid residues under the conditions used. The V8 protease readily degraded histone H2A and ubiquitinated (u) H2A at equivalent rates. One site in H2A and uH2A, the peptide bond between Glu 121 and Lys 122, was cleaved, yielding protein species cH2A and cuH2A, respectively. None of the other nucleosomal histones (H2B, H2A.Z, H3, and H4) including uH2B and uH2A.Z were sensitive to digestion. Trout liver histones cleaved with either V8 protease, histone H2A specific protease, or cyanogen bromide were resolved by two-dimensional gel electrophoresis and ubiquitinated peptides detected with anti-ubiquitin IgG. The results suggest that the major arrangement of ubiquitin in polyubiquitinated H2A is a chain of ubiquitin molecules joined to each other by isopeptide bonds to a ubiquitin molecule that is attached to the epsilon-amino group of lysine 119 of histone H2A.
Short communication Identification of a novel herpesvirus from a California desert tortoise (Gopherus agassizii)

Herpesviruses are significant pathogens of tortoises, causing upper respiratory tract disease and necrotizing stomatitis, with infections often associated with high mortality rates. Herpesvirus infection in a captive California desert tortoise (Gopherus agassizii) was detected by light microscopic observation of intranuclear inclusion bodies in various tissues followed by transmission electron microscopic observation of herpesvirus-like particles, and amplification of herpesvirus nucleic acid sequences using polymerase chain reaction. Using an indirect enzyme linked immunosorbent assay, anti-tortoise herpesvirus antibodies were detected one month after initial onset of clinical signs. This novel herpesvirus is distinct from the previously described tortoise herpesvirus (tortoise herpesvirus-1, THV-1) sharing 83% sequence identity of 60 amino acids of a portion of the DNA polymerase gene and 79% sequence identity across 120 amino acids of a portion of the ribonucleotide reductase gene. Similar to THV-1, this novel herpesvirus, tortoise herpesvirus-2 (THV-2), also clusters with the alphaherpesviruses. # 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Inhibition of Matrix Metalloproteinases Prevents Cardiac Hypertrophy Induced by &bgr;-Adrenergic Stimulation in Rats

Insulin-like growth factor (IGF) -I is one of the candidates for cardiac hypertrophy induced by &bgr;-adrenergic stimulation. However, the mechanisms by which the biologic actions of IGF-I are regulated under this condition remain unclear. IGF-I becomes bioavailable for its receptors upon its dissociation from IGF-binding protein (IGFBP) through IGFBP degradation. Because matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) have been implicated in the degradation of IGFBPs, the authors investigated the role of MMPs in the regulation of the IGF-I action through the degradation of IGFBPs in cardiac hypertrophy induced by &bgr;-adrenergic stimulation. They examined the expression of MMPs in cardiac tissues of rats infused with isoproterenol (3 mg/kg per day), the effect of a MMP inhibitor, SI-27 (5 mg/rat per day), on cardiac hypertrophy, and the expression of IGF-I and IGFBP-3. MMP-1 and -2 activities increased and IGFBP-3 was degraded in heart hypertrophied by isoproterenol. MMP inhibition caused a regression in the myocyte hypertrophy in association with the suppression of both IGF-I protein in myocytes and the degradation of IGFBP-3 protein. These results suggest that the induction of myocyte hypertrophy by isoproterenol is mediated, at least in part, by a modulation of the IGF-I axis.
The fabrication of highly ordered silver nanodot patterns by platinum assisted nanoimprint lithography

Silver has been widely used for optical sensing and imaging applications which benefit from localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) in a nanoscale configuration. Many attempts have been made to fabricate and control silver nanostructures in order to improve the high performance in sensing and other applications. However, a fatal mechanical weakness of silver and a lack of durability in oxygen-rich conditions have disrupted the manufacturing of reproducible nanostructures by the top-down lithography approach. In this study, we suggest a steady fabrication strategy to obtain highly ordered silver nanopatterns that are able to provide tunable LSPR characteristics. By using a protecting layer of platinum on a silver surface in the lithography process, we successfully obtained large-area (2.7 × 2.7 mm2) silver nanopatterns with high reproducibility. This large-area silver nanopattern was capable of enhancing the low concentration of a Cy3 fluorescence signal (∼10 − 10 M) which was labeled with DNA oligomers.
Organic transistors manufactured using inkjet technology with subfemtoliter accuracy

A major obstacle to the development of organic transistors for large-area sensor, display, and circuit applications is the fundamental compromise between manufacturing efficiency, transistor performance, and power consumption. In the past, improving the manufacturing efficiency through the use of printing techniques has inevitably resulted in significantly lower performance and increased power consumption, while attempts to improve performance or reduce power have led to higher process temperatures and increased manufacturing cost. Here, we lift this fundamental limitation by demonstrating subfemtoliter inkjet printing to define metal contacts with single-micrometer resolution on the surface of high-mobility organic semiconductors to create high-performance p-channel and n-channel transistors and low-power complementary circuits. The transistors employ an ultrathin low-temperature gate dielectric based on a self-assembled monolayer that allows transistors and circuits on rigid and flexible substrates to operate with very low voltages.
The New Frontier in Communication Research: Why We Should Study Social Robots

Social robots—robots that are made for interaction with humans—are becoming increasingly popular. In contrast to other disciplines, however, communication research has been slow in studying them. In our view, there are at least three theoretical reasons for communication researchers to deal with social robots. First, social robots challenge our notions of medium and media. Second, social robots challenge our understanding of the communication partner. Finally, social robots challenge our notions of the boundaries of communication. We therefore believe that social robots should play a more central role in communication research than it is currently the case.
Economic and Environmental Impacts of Mass Tourism on Regional Tourism Destinations in Indonesia

The study examines economic and environmental impacts of mass tourism on regional tourism destinations, particularly the establishment of “Ten New Bali”, in Indonesia. The sample is restricted to the period of time in which annual data is available and comparable among variables from 1980 to 2015 (36 observations). All of the time series data was collected and retrieved from the World Development Indicator database published by the World Bank. This study applies cointegrating regression analysis using the fully modified OLS, canonical cointegrating regression, and dynamic OLS. The results of the study suggest that 1) there is a long-run equilibrium relationship between tourism receipts, environmental degradation and economic growth in Indonesia, 2) tourism growth and agriculture land growth are positively related to an increase of total output in the short-run in Indonesia, and 3) arable land is significant at the 0.01 level, but forest rents and CO2 from transport are not significant in the short-run in Indonesia. The results confirm that arable land is negatively related to an increase of total output in Indonesia. That is, when tourism growth in the economy is getting realized it shows that the environmental degradation increases greatly in inverse in the model, eventually negative impacts to the environment.
Plane-wave expansion based modelling of laser beam propagation in anisotropic medium

An efficient method of numerical calculation of optical field distribution during propagation through generally anisotropic medium is proposed. The method is based on plane-wave representation of the vector field and is valid for nonparaxial case of highly focused laser beams and fully describe polarization effects. It allows to specify arbitrary distribution of intensity, phase and polarization at source plane and include both evanescent field and propagating modes into consideration. The computation algorithm is fast and easily parallelizable because conventional two-dimensional fast Fourier transform is used as a core.
Glocal motion control system of in-wheel-motor electric vehicles based on driving force distribution

Utilizing the glocal control concept, this paper presents a novel framework of in-wheel-motor electric vehicle motion control based on driving force distribution. Considering each wheel as a local agent, this paper proposes an appropriate model of driving force dynamics as linear time-varying inter-connected system. Moreover, this paper introduces a new hierarchical structure to attain multi-objectives of motion control. Last but not least, a new hierarchical LQR controller is proposed for driving force tracking. The effectiveness of the proposed system is verified through a simulation of motion control of electric vehicle driven by four in-wheel-motors.
SDZ HTF 919 stimulates canine colonic motility and transit in vivo.

Effects of the nonbenzamide 5-hydroxytryptamine4 agonist SDZ HTF 919 on gastrointestinal motility are unclear. Our aim was to assess the in vivo effects on gastrointestinal and colonic transit of radiolabeled residue and on colonic phasic contractility. In six female dogs, transit was measured over a period of 2 days by radioscintigraphy and colonic motility was measured by pneumohydraulic perfusion manometry of the proximal and distal colon. SDZ HTF 919 was administered initially by bolus i.v. infusion, followed by s.c. injection 8 and 16 hr later. Doses tested were 0.03, 0.1 and 0.3 mg/kg, and isotonic saline and vehicle served as controls in each dog. Stomach and small bowel transit was not significantly altered by SDZ HTF 919. Overall, i.v. SDZ HTF 919 accelerated colonic transit during the first 1 hr, compared with controls. These effects were significant even with the lowest dose of SDZ HTF 919. Responses to higher infusion doses were more variable. SDZ HTF 919 did not cause significant changes in quantitative pressure indices, such as amplitude or motor index, in the small bowel or colon. Prolonged postprandial colonic contractions, each lasting >30 sec, were noted after each i.v. agent and were significantly more frequent with the 0.03 mg/kg dose than with control (vehicle) treatment. Thus, SDZ HTF 919 accelerates canine colonic transit in vivo during the first 1 hr after i.v. administration. SDZ HTF 919 appears to be a promising agent for stimulation of mammalian colonic transit.
Triple-Mode Cavity Perturbation Method for the Characterization of Anisotropic Media

This paper presents a novel triple mode cavity perturbation method for the characterization of the permittivity and dielectric loss tensor of general biaxial anisotropic media. At first the basic theory of the cavity perturbation method is introduced. Then, an enhanced extraction procedure will be developed which leads to a set of equations for every resonator mode. Finally, a comparison of the extracted results of known material shows the validation of the developed procedure.
Phenotypic discrimination of Mycobacterium tuberculosis by Raman spectroscopy

"This work was supported by the PreDiCT-TB consortium [IMI Joint undertaking grant agreement number 115337, resources of which are composed of financial contribution from the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007– 2013) and EFPIA companies’ in kind contribution (www.imi.europa.eu)]. " -- Acknowledgements
The economic and fiscal value of German guarantee banks

Guarantee banks backed by the state aim to close the gap in the financing of small and medium-sized enterprises or start-ups caused by lacking collateral or equity and high information asymmetry. The present study quantifies the economic and fiscal net benefits of guarantee banks in the new federal states of Germany, where economic development is still lacking behind those in the old federal states. Using data of five guarantee banks and results from enterprise and bank surveys, we measure finance and project additionality of loan and equity guarantees provided over the period 1991-2015. Cost-benefit analyses show that the economic benefits of the guarantee banks are considerable because of increased production and employment, while the economic costs are negligible. The real GDP increases by about 1.2 euro per euro guarantee each year. In the years 2008 to 2014, there were net fiscal gains of several hundred million euros in the respective federal states.
Incidence, outcomes, and comparisons across definitions of AKI in hospitalized individuals.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES At least four definitions of AKI have recently been proposed. This study sought to characterize the epidemiology of AKI according to the most recent consensus definition proposed by the Kidney Disease Improving Global Outcomes (KDIGO) Work Group, and to compare it with three other definitions. DESIGN, SETTING, PARTICIPANTS, & MEASUREMENTS This was a retrospective cohort study of 31,970 hospitalizations at an academic medical center in 2010. AKI was defined and staged according to KDIGO criteria, the Acute Dialysis Quality Initiative's RIFLE criteria, the Acute Kidney Injury Network (AKIN) criteria, and a definition based on a model of creatinine kinetics (CK). Outcomes of interest were incidence, in-hospital mortality, length of stay, costs, readmission rates, and posthospitalization disposition. RESULTS AKI incidence was highest according to the KDIGO definition (18.3%) followed by the AKIN (16.6%), RIFLE (16.1%), and CK (7.0%) definitions. AKI incidence appeared markedly higher in those with low baseline serum creatinine according to the KDIGO, AKIN, and RIFLE definitions, in which AKI may be defined by a 50% increase over baseline. AKI according to all definitions was associated with a significantly higher risk of death and higher resource utilization. The adjusted odds ratios for in-hospital mortality in those with AKI were highest with the CK definition (5.2; 95% confidence interval [95% CI], 4.1 to 6.6), followed by the RIFLE (2.9; 95% CI, 2.2 to 3.6), KDIGO (2.8; 95% CI, 2.2 to 3.6), and AKIN (2.6; 95% CI, 2.0 to 3.3) definitions. Concordance in diagnosis and staging was high among the KDIGO, AKIN, and RIFLE definitions. CONCLUSIONS The incidence of AKI in hospitalized individuals varies depending on the definition used. AKI according to all definitions is associated with higher in-hospital mortality and resource utilization. AKI may be inappropriately diagnosed in those with low baseline serum creatinine using definitions that incorporate percentage increases over baseline.