Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Preparation of combined extract of cell wall and cytosol antigens of Candida albicans for immunoblot analysis

Immunoblot analysis is not in wide use for diagnosis of invasive candidiasis, mostly because the procedure is not standardized and hence not reliable. This work describes a standardized method for C. albicans antigen extract preparation and immunochemical detection. The major improvement of the method is the preparation of combined antigen extract—consisting of the cell wall and cytosol antigens. The fungal cells and lysis buffer were mixed at a 1:3 ratio and disintegrated by ultrasound for six cycles of one minute each. After centrifugation, cytosol antigens were obtained in the supernatant and cell wall antigens were in the precipitate. Precipitate was dissolved in lysis buffer with 2% sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) and boiled at 100°C for 2 min. After centrifugation, the supernatant was combined with the previous one, so the extract of the combined antigens was obtained in the mixture. With those combined antigen extracts and with sera of three different groups of patients, immunoblot analysis showed sensitivity of 90.2%, specificity of 84.4%, and accuracy of 88.0%. J. Clin. Lab. Anal. 21:406–412, 2007. © 2007 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Self‐Assembled Metastable γ‐Ga2O3 Nanoflowers with Hexagonal Nanopetals for Solar‐Blind Photodetection

Metastable γ-Ga2O3 nanoflowers assembled from hexagonal nanopetals are successfully constructed by the oxidation of metallic Ga in acetone solution. The nanoflowers with a hollow interior structure exhibit a short response time and a large light-current-dark-current ratio under a relatively low bias voltage, suggesting an especially important potential application in solar-blind photodetection.
NetFPGA based IEEE 1588 module for time-synchronized software-defined networking

Software Defined Networking (SDN) is an emerging technology to enhance flexible control on networks through abstraction of lower-level switch functionality. Recently using SDN to construct mobile backhaul networks has attracted a lot of attention. Although IEEE has defined IEEE 1588 Precision Time Protocol (PTP) for providing accurate time synchronization in Ethernet networks, how to distribute accurate time in SDN to facilitate synchronization among wireless base stations is still not clear. In this paper, we present an implementation of a NetFPGA based PTP module to support time-synchronized SDN. The PTP module can be embedded inside an SDN switch or can be placed as an external add-on module to an SDN switch. Both solutions can turn a PTP unaware switch into PTP aware. In our system, an SDN controller can configure the PTP module to determine the routing paths for clock distribution. We have developed a frequency compensation circuit to increase the accuracy. In addition, a moving average technique is applied to stabilize the clock output. Experimental results show that our NetFPGA based SDN switch can provide accurate clock distribution with maximum 50 nsec deviation along a three-hop path over 1 hour measurement. The performance of the proposed PTP switch can meet the microsecond-level requirement for time synchronization in cellular wireless networks.
The Ideal of Conversation in the Study of Mass Media

Social scientists who study the mass media share a widely held "ideal of conservation" which assumes that face-to-face interpersonal communication is characterized by continuous feedback between participants, multichannel communication, spontaneous utterance, and egalitarian norms. Compared to this image of what face-to-face conversation is like, communication by mass media seems inferior. It is argued, however, that this "ideal of conversation" does not correspond closely to most actual conversations. It is argued further that the rise of the mass media is itself responsible for the development of an ideal of conversation and is responsible for making ideal conversations more often realized in practice. The contribution of the mass media to face-to-face conversation has been to make conversation, particularly between men and women and between adults and children, more egalitarian and to enlarge the possibility of spontaneous conversation. It is suggested, finally, that research on the mass media will be improved if it appraises the nature of conversation more realistically.
Calibration-free match finding between vision and LIDAR

We present a learning approach that allows to detect correspondences between visual and LIDAR measurements. In contrast to approaches that rely on calibration, we propose a learning approach that will create an implicit calibration model from training data. Our model can provide three functions: first of all, it can convert a measurement in one sensor into the coordinate system of the other, or into a distribution of probable measurements in case the transformation is not unique. Secondly, using a correspondence observation that we define, the model is able to decide if two visual/LIDAR measurements are likely to come from the same object. This is of profound importance for applications such as object detection or tracking where contributions from several sensors need to be combined. We demonstrate the feasibility of our approach by training and evaluating our system on tracklets in the KITTI database as well as on a small set of real-world scenes containing pedestrians, in which our method finds correspondences between the results of real visual and LIDAR-based detection algorithms.
Theoretical and experimental evidence indicates that there is no detectable auxin gradient in the angiosperm female gametophyte

The plant life cycle alternates between a diploid sporophytic and a haploid gametophytic generation. The female gametophyte (FG) of flowering plants is typically formed through three syncytial mitoses, followed by cellularisation that forms seven cells belonging to four cell types. The specification of cell fates in the FG has been suggested to depend on positional information provided by an intrinsic auxin concentration gradient. The goal of this study was to develop mathematical models that explain the formation of this gradient in a syncytium. Two factors were proposed to contribute to the maintenance of the auxin gradient in Arabidopsis FGs: polar influx at early stages and localised auxin synthesis at later stages. However, no gradient could be generated using classical, one-dimensional theoretical models under these assumptions. Thus, we tested other hypotheses, including spatial confinement by the large central vacuole, background efflux and localised degradation, and investigated the robustness of cell specification under different parameters and assumptions. None of the models led to the generation of an auxin gradient that was steep enough to allow sufficiently robust patterning. This led us to re-examine the response to an auxin gradient in developing FGs using various auxin reporters, including a novel degron-based reporter system. In agreement with the predictions of our models, auxin responses were not detectable within the FG of Arabidopsis or maize, suggesting that the effects of manipulating auxin production and response on cell fate determination might be indirect.
A Link-based Approach to Entity Resolution in Social Networks

Social networks initially had been places for people to contact each other, find friends or new acquaintances. As such they ever proved interesting for machine aided analysis. Recent developments, however, pivoted social networks to being among the main fields of information exchange, opinion expression and debate. As a result there is growing interest in both analyzing and integrating social network services. In this environment efficient information retrieval is hindered by the vast amount and varying quality of the user-generated content. Guiding users to relevant information is a valuable service and also a difficult task, where a crucial part of the process is accurately resolving duplicate entities to real-world ones. In this paper we propose a novel approach that utilizes the principles of link mining to successfully extend the methodology of entity resolution to multitype problems. The proposed method is presented using an illustrative social network-based real-world example and validated by comprehensive evaluation of the results.
Accurate CEGAR-based ATPG in presence of unknown values for large industrial designs

Unknown values emerge during the design and test generation process as well as during later test application and system operation. They adversely affect the test quality by reducing the controllability and observability of internal circuit structures - resulting in a loss of fault coverage. To handle unknown values, conventional test generation algorithms as used in state-of-the-art commercial tools, rely on n-valued algebras. However, n-valued algebras introduce pessimism as soon as X-values reconverge. Consequently, these algorithms fail to compute the accurate result. This paper focuses on a new highly incremental CEGAR-based algorithm that overcomes these limitations and hence is completely accurate in presence of unknown values. It relies on a modified SAT-solver tailored for this specific problem. The experimental results for circuits with up to 2 400 000 gates show that this combination allows high accuracy and high scalability at the same time. Compared to a state-of-the-art commercial tool, the fault coverage could be increased significantly. Furthermore, the runtime is reduced remarkably compared to a QBF-based encoding of the problem.
A Meta-analysis of Cronbach's Coefficient Alpha

Despite some limitations, Cronbach's coefficient alpha remains the most widely used measure of scale reliability. The purpose of this article was to empirically document the magnitudes of alpha coefficients obtained in behavioral research, compare these obtained values with guidelines and recommendations set forth by individuals such as Nunnally (1967, 1978), and provide insights into research design characteristics that may influence the size of coefficient alpha. Average reported alpha coefficients ranged from . 70 for values and beliefs to . 82 for job satisfaction. With few exceptions, there were no substantive relationships between the magnitude of coefficient alpha and the research design characteristics investigated. Copyright 1994 by the University of Chicago.
Adipose-Derived Stem Cells Alleviate Radiation-Induced Muscular Fibrosis by Suppressing the Expression of TGF-β1

We aim to investigate the effects of adipose-derived stem cells (ASCs) transplantation on irradiation-induced skeletal muscle fibrosis. Sixty-four rabbits were randomly divided into ASCs group and PBS group followed by irradiation at unilateral hip with a single dose of 80 Gy. Nonirradiated side with normal skeletal muscle served as normal control. Skeletal muscle tissues were collected from eight rabbits in each group at 1 w, 4 w, 8 w, and 26 w after irradiation. Migration of ASCs was observed in the peripheral tissues along the needle passage in the injured muscle. The proportion of the area of collagen fibers to the total area in sections of ASCs group was lower than those of PBS groups at 4 w, 8 w, and 26 w after irradiation. Significant decrease was noted in the integrated optimal density of the transforming growth factor β1 (TGF-β1) in the ASCs group compared with those of PBS group at 4 w, 8 w, and 26 w after irradiation. Moreover, the expression of TGF-β1 was lower in the ASCs group compared to those of the PBS group at each time point determined by Western blot analysis. ASCs transplantation could alleviate irradiation fibrosis by suppressing the level of TGF-β1 in the irradiated skeletal muscle.
The Impact of Economics Blogs

There is a proliferation of economics blogs, with increasing numbers of economists attracting large numbers of readers, yet little is known about the impact of this new medium. Using a variety of experimental and non-experimental techniques, this study quantifies some of their effects. First, links from blogs cause a striking increase in the number of abstract views and downloads of economics papers. Second, blogging raises the profile of the blogger (and his or her institution) and boosts their reputation above economists with similar publication records. Finally, a blog can transform attitudes about some of the topics it covers.
RECONSTRUCTING PLUMAGE EVOLUTION IN ORIOLES (ICTERUS): REPEATED CONVERGENCE AND REVERSAL IN PATTERNS

Abstract Several empirical studies suggest that sexually selected characters, including bird plumage, may evolve rapidly and show high levels of convergence and other forms of homoplasy. However, the processes that might generate such convergence have not been explored theoretically. Furthermore, no studies have rigorously addressed this issue using a robust phylogeny and a large number of signal characters. We scored the appearance of 44 adult male plumage characters that varied across New World orioles (Icterus). We mapped the plumage characters onto a molecular phylogeny based on two mitochondrial genes. Reconstructing the evolution of these characters revealed evidence of convergence or reversal in 42 of the 44 plumage characters. No plumage character states are restricted to any groups of species higher than superspecies in the oriole phylogeny. The high frequency of convergence and reversal is reflected in the low overall retention index (RI = 0.66) and the low overall consistency index (CI = 0.28). We found similar results when we mapped plumage changes onto a total evidence tree. Our findings reveal that plumage patterns and colors are highly labile between species of orioles, but highly conserved within the oriole genus. Furthermore, there are at least two overall plumage types that have convergently evolved repeatedly in the three oriole clades. This overall convergence leads to significant conflict between the molecular and plumage data. It is not clear what evolutionary processes lead to this homoplasy in individual characters or convergence in overall pattern. However, evolutionary constraints such as developmental limitations and genetic correlations between characters are likely to play a role. Our results are consistent with the belief that avian plumage and other sexually selected characters may evolve rapidly and may exhibit high homoplasy. The overall convergence in oriole plumage patterns is an interesting evolutionary phenomenon, but it cautions against heavy reliance on plumage characters for constructing phylogenies. Editor: S. Edwards
Translation and validation of the parent-adolescent communication scale: technology for DST/HIV prevention.

OBJECTIVES accomplishment of the transcultural adaptation of the Parent-adolescent Communication Scale, which evaluates the frequency of communication between parents and children concerning the subjects related to sex, condom, DST, HIV and pregnancy. METHOD Methodological research of quantitative approach, accomplished with 313 adolescent pupils of the feminine sex in the 14 to 18 year age group in Fortaleza-CE. The content validity was carried through by means of the initial translation, back translation, pre-final version and final version, being analyzed by a committee of specialists; the reliability was verified by the Cronbach's Alpha and ascertained by testing the hypotheses and test-retest within five weeks. The scale was applied via computer in the online modality in the period November/2010 to January/2011. RESULTS The version of the instrument in Portuguese presented an Alpha of 0.86 regarding the validity of the structure, was partially verified since the testing of the hypotheses of the contracted group was not confirmed. CONCLUSION The version of the instrument adapted for Portuguese is considered valid and reliable in the study sample.
Cloning, sequencing, and heterologous expression of a gene coding for Arthromyces ramosus peroxidase.

To understand the relationship between the structure and functions of the peroxidase of Arthromyces ramosus, a novel taxon of hyphomycete, and the evolutionary relationship of the A.ramosus peroxidase (ARP) with the other peroxidases, we isolated complementary and genomic DNA clones encoding ARP and characterized them. The sequence analyses of the ARP and cDNA coding for ARP showed that a mature ARP consists of 344 amino acids with a N-terminal pyroglutamic acid preceded by a signal peptide of 20 amino acid residues. The amino acid sequence of ARP was 99% identical to that of the peroxidase of Coprinus cinereus, a basidiomycete, and also had very high similarities (41-43% identity) to those of basidiomycetous lignin peroxidases, although we could find no lignin peroxidase activities for ARP when assayed with lignin model compounds. We could identified His184 and His56 as proximal and distal ligands to heme, respectively, and Arg52 as an essential Arg. Comparison of the sequences of complementary and genomic DNAs found that protein-encoding DNA is interrupted by 14 intervening sequences. The ARP cDNA was expressed in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae under the promoter of the glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate dehydrogenase gene, yielding 0.02 units/ml of a secreted active peroxidase.
Supervised segmentation of textures in backscatter images

In this paper we present an application of statistical pattern recognition for segmentation of backscatter images (BSE) in product analysis of laundry detergents. Currently, application experts segment BSE images interactively which is both time consuming and expert dependent. We present a new, automatic procedure for supervised BSE segmentation which is trained using additional multi-spectral EDX images. Each time a new feature selection procedure is employed to find a convenient feature subset for a particular segmentation problem. The performance of the presented algorithm is evaluated using ground-truth segmentation results. It is compared with that of interactive segmentation performed by the analyst.
Human tooth and root canal morphology reconstruction using magnetic resonance imaging

Background and aims Visualization of the internal and external root canal morphology is very important for a successful endodontic treatment; however, it seems to be difficult considering the small size of the tooth and the complexity of the root canal system. Film-based or digital conventional radiographic techniques as well as cone beam computed tomography provide limited information on the dental pulp anatomy or have harmful effects. A new non-invasive diagnosis tool is magnetic resonance imaging, due to its ability of imaging both hard and soft tissues. The aim of this study was to demonstrate magnetic resonance imaging to be a useful tool for imaging the anatomic conditions of the external and internal root canal morphology for endodontic purposes. Methods The endodontic system of one freshly extracted wisdom tooth, chosen for its well-known anatomical variations, was mechanically shaped using a hybrid technique. After its preparation, the tooth was immersed into a recipient with saline solution and magnetic resonance imaged immediately. A Bruker Biospec magnetic resonance imaging scanner operated at 7.04 Tesla and based on Avance III radio frequency technology was used. InVesalius software was employed for the 3D reconstruction of the tooth scanned volume. Results The current ex-vivo experiment shows the accurate 3D volume rendered reconstruction of the internal and external morphology of a human extracted and endodontically treated tooth using a dataset of images acquired by magnetic resonance imaging. The external lingual and vestibular views of the tooth as well as the occlusal view of the pulp chamber, the access cavity, the distal canal opening on the pulp chamber floor, the coronal third of the root canals, the degree of root separation and the apical fusion of the two mesial roots, details of the apical region, root canal curvatures, furcal region and interradicular root grooves could be clearly bordered. Conclusions Magnetic resonance imaging offers 3D image datasets with more information than the conventional radiographic techniques. Due to its ability of imaging both hard and soft dental tissues, magnetic resonance imaging can be successfully used as a 3D diagnostic imaging technique in dentistry. When choosing the imaging method, dental clinicians should weight the benefit-risk ratio, taking into account the costs associated to magnetic resonance imaging and the harmful effects of ionizing radiations when cone beam computed tomography or conventional x-ray are used.
Isovolumic contraction acceleration before and after percutaneous closure of atrial septal defects

Aim To compare systemic right ventricular function by isovolumic myocardial acceleration before and 6 months after the percutaneous closure of atrial septal defects (ASD). Material and methods Patients admitted to our tertiary center for the percutaneous closure of atrial septal defects between January 2010 and August 2012 constituted the study group. Right ventricular function of patients was assessed by tissue Doppler echocardiography before and after surgery. Echocardiographic data in patients were compared to age-matched controls without any cardiac pathology and studied in identical fashion mentioned below. Results A total of 44 patients (24 males, 20 females) and 44 age-matched controls (25 males, 19 females) met the eligibility criteria for the study. Right ventricular end-diastolic and end-systolic volume, right ventricular end-diastolic diameter measurements on echocardiogram, and pulmonary artery pressures in both pre- and post-ASD groups were significantly higher than in controls. Tricuspid annular plane systolic excursion and isovolumic myocardial acceleration measurements significantly increased after the percutaneous closure of the defect; however, post-ASD measurements were still significantly lower than the controls. Conclusions Atrial septal defect device closure resulted in a significant increase of isovolumic myocardial acceleration measurements. Tissue Doppler analysis of regional myocardial function offers new insight into myocardial compensatory mechanisms for acute and chronic volume overload of both ventricles.
A presentation authoring tool for media devices distributed environments

Many conference rooms are now equipped with multiple multi-media devices, such as plasma displays and surrounding speakers, to enhance presentation quality. However, most existing presentation authoring tools are based on the one-display-and-one-speaker assumption, which makes it difficult to organize and playback a presentation dispatched to multiple devices, thus hinders users from taking full advantage of additional multimedia devices. In this paper, we propose and implement a tool to facilitate authoring and playback of a multi-channel presentation in a media devices distributed environment. The tool, named PreAuthor, provides an intuitive and visual way to author a multi-channel presentation by dragging and dropping "hyper-slides" on corresponding visual representations of various devices. PreAuthor supports "hyper-slide" synchronization among various output devices during preview and playback. It also offers multiple options for the presenter to view the presentation in a rendered image sequence, live video, 3D VRML model, or real environment.