Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
An integrated home-based self-management system to support the wellbeing of older adults

With an ageing population and the constant need towards improving the quality of life for older people in our socie- ty, there comes an urgent challenge to support people where they live in an environment that adapts to their needs as they age. While much research on ubiquitous sensor systems and telehealth devices focuses on this need, many of these solutions operate at less than full capacity, and with little scope at present to assess everyday aspects of wellbeing. They focus on detecting sud- den critical physiological and behavioural changes and offer few mechanisms to support preventative actions. The challenge of predicting changes and prompting positive preventative intervention measures, aiding the avoidance of severe physical or men- tal harm, has not adequately been addressed. This paper discusses our experiences of designing, deploying and testing an inte- grated home-based ambient assisted living (AAL) system for older adults, consisting of ambient monitoring, behaviour recog- nition and feedback to support self-management of wellness, in addition to providing feedback on home security and home energy. It offers a complete system overview of an AAL solution in smart environments and discusses our lessons learned with the goal of assisting other researchers in the field in designing and deploying similar environments.
Fast-scanning AFM is now applicable to the analyses of single-molecule reactions in nano-biophysics

Atomic force microscopy (AFM) has been used to visualize nano-scale structures of DNA, proteins and higher-order structures of DNA/protein complexes, such as chromatin and chromosome. Recently, there has been remarkable progress to visualize reaction dynamics at a single molecular level in real time and to measure a single molecular kinetics by using newly developed fast-scanning AFM. In this paper, we addressed these recent applications of fast-scanning AFM technology. With this novel technology, we succeeded to visualize the DNA cleavage reaction by a type IIP restriction endonuclease Apal and to kinetically analyze the chaperonin (GroEL) cochaperonin (GroES) at a single molecular level. Thus, the fast-scanning AFM is powerful to understand protein structures and dynamics in biological reactions at the single molecule level in sub-seconds
An Overview of MAC Protocols with Directional Antennas in Wireless ad hoc Networks

Although directional antennas have been used in mobile communications systems for quite a long time, realistic applications of directional or smart antennas in wireless ad hoc network have emerged just in recent years. Directional antennas provide numerous benefits, such as higher gains, increased transmission range and low interferences. Wireless medium access schemes play a crucial role in ensuring the efficient and fair sharing of wireless resources. Therefore there are many research work on mechanisms at the wireless medium access layer by using directional antennas. The new features of MAC with directional antennas can cause not only location dependent carrier sensing problems, which have appeared in omnidirectional wireless networks, but also novel issues related to directional antennas. In this paper, an introduction of directional antennas is given. We give a classification of the current wireless MAC protocols using directional antennas. We also present different MAC protocols and compare them. This survey discusses the challenges in the design of these MAC protocols.
Financing constraints, micro adjustment of factor use and aggregate implications

Following a positive shock, financing constraints will prolong or impede economic expansion that would have been optimal in an unconstrained environment. The study of dynamic adjustment therefore offers a direct way of verifying the presence of financing constraints and assessing their consequences for economic allocation. This paper compares the speed of adjustment of constrained and unconstrained firms using categorical information from survey data on the restrictions under which adjustment takes place. A set of moment conditions for the use in GMM estimation is developed, to cope with the problem of time varying speed of adjustment when the target level is partially unobserved. After estimating the micro-dynamics of capital and labour demand, some of the aggregate consequences are worked out. The changing composition of the population makes for a timevarying sensitivity of the aggregate with respect to macroeconomic shocks. The asymmetry of microeconomic adjustment dynamics may induce a shortfall of the mean relative to the average of targets on the aggregate level, even in dynamic equilibrium. Whereas the first effect is sizeable though not overwhelming, the second looks surprisingly small.
Hamsters Running on Time: Is the Lateral Habenula a Part of the Clock?

Previous anatomical and physiological studies have implicated the lateral habenula, and especially its medial division (LHbM), as a candidate component of the circadian timing system in rodents. We assayed lateral habenula rhythmicity in rodents using c‐FOS immunohistochemistry and found a robust rhythm in immunoreactive cell counts in the LHbM, with higher counts during the dark phase of a light‐dark (LD) cycle and during subjective night in constant darkness. We have also observed an obvious asymmetry of c‐FOS expression in the LHbM of behaviorally “split” hamsters in constant light, but only during their active phase (when they were running in wheels). Locomotor activity rhythms appear to be regulated by the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) via multiple output pathways, one of which might be diffusible while the other might be neural, involving the lateral habenula.
Power losses calculations in windings of gapped magnetic components

A model is proposed for the calculation of the winding losses at the beginning of the design process of high frequency transformers and inductors. Although this kind of losses have been subject of investigation for years, their analytical calculation in gapped components is still limited, and the use of numerical analysis tools, such as finite elements analysis (FEA) tools, are commonly needed for winding characterization. A general 2-D equivalent analytical model for windings losses calculation in gapped magnetic components that shows very good results compared with FEA calculation is presented. The model can be integrated in design and optimization tools in order to evaluate the influence of the gap on the windings at the very early stages of the design process.
A fast temporal compression/expansion algorithm for sampled audio

An algorithm for compressing or expanding the duration of an arbitrary sound is presented, in which the frequencies present in the sound are not changed by the process. This means that music can be slowed without changing the key, and that sped up or slowed down voices can still be recognized. The process can be performed in a small fraction of real time, meaning that it can be done live, while the sounds are being captured.
Effects of pure interferons on Epstein-Barr virus infection in vitro

Pure human gamma-interferon as well as alpha-interferon inhibited induction of immunoglobulin synthesis by Epstein-Barr virus but not by pokeweed mitogen in B lymphocytes from adult but not from newborn humans. The interferons inhibited the infected B lymphocytes directly, irrespective of the Epstein-Barr virus immune status of the donor, and their inhibitory effect was synergistic.
Mechanical and dynamical behavior of carbon nanotube with defects:A molecular dynamics simulation

In this paper, molecular dynamics simulation is carried out to investigate the mechanical properties and dynamic behaviors of carbon nanotubes with vacancies and related defects. We have shown the Yang's modulus and tensile strength of nanotubes with vacancy-related defects are dependent on the characteristics of vacancies. Meanwhile, the phonon density of state (DOS) are used to study the vibration properties of carbon nanotubes of various types. and further determine the dynamical behavior of carbon nanotubes under different tensile strains.
Orotidylate decarboxylase: insights into the catalytic mechanism from substrate specificity studies.

Pyrimidine nucleotides were tested as substrates for pure yeast orotidylate decarboxylase in an attempt to gain insight into the nature of the catalytic mechanism of the enzyme. Substitutions of the 5-position in the pyrimidine ring of the orotidylate substrate resulted in compounds that are either excellent inhibitors or substrates of the enzyme. The 5-bromo- and 5-chloroorotidylates are potent inhibitors while the 5-fluoro derivative is a good substrate with a turnover number 30 times that observed with orotidylate. When carbon 5 of the pyrimidine ring is replaced by nitrogen in 5-azaorotidylate, the resulting compound is unstable in solution with a half-life of 25 min at pH 6. However, studies with freshly generated 5-azaorotidylate show that an enzyme-dependent reaction occurs, presumably decarboxylation. This enzyme reaction follows simple Michaelis-Menten kinetics. Because the 5-aza group is not electrophilic, an enzyme mechanism utilizing a nucleophilic addition of the enzyme at the 5-position is ruled out. We also present studies that are not compatible with a mechanism requiring the formation of a Schiff's base prior to decarboxylation. The enzyme is tolerant of modest substitution at the 4-position, for the 4-keto group can be replaced with a thioketone. However, no catalysis is observed when the same substitution is made at the 2-position. Similarities in the substrate specificity of orotate phosphoribosyltransferase and orotidylate decarboxylase led us to compare the amino acid sequences of the two enzymes; significant (20%) sequence homology was observed. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Feedback equalization for fading dispersive channels

Data transmission through a slowly fading dispersive channel is considered. A receiver that linearly operates on both the received signal and reconstructed data is postulated. Assuming an absence of decision errors, the receiver is optimized for a minimum-mean-square-error criterion. Transfer functions are determined and superiority over nonfeedback receivers is indicated. The feedback receiver can be realized in a slowly varying unknown environment by means of an adaptive technique that requires neither test signals nor statistical estimation. The receiver will eliminate timing jitter and Doppler shifts. In addition, the receiver provides a time-diversity effect, as the receiver probability of error averaged over the fading statistics is lower in the presence of dispersion than in its absence.
Proteolytic Processing of Cut Homeobox 1 by Neutrophil Elastase in the MV4;11 Myeloid Leukemia Cell Line

Proteolytic processing by cathepsin L generates p110 Cut homeobox 1 (CUX1) at the end of the G1 phase, whereas an alternative transcript encodes p75 CUX1. These short CUX1 isoforms were reported to be overexpressed in cancer cells, and transgenic mice overexpressing the p75 isoform were found to develop myeloproliferative disease–like myeloid leukemias. In the present study, we report that the neutrophil elastase can also generate a short CUX1 isoform in the MV4;11 acute myeloid leukemia cell line. Proteolytic processing was so efficient that the full-length CUX1 protein was detected only when cells were maintained in the presence of the specific elastase inhibitor III. In agreement with these findings, higher levels of the processed cyclin E isoforms were also detected in MV4;11 cells. Reappearance of full-length cyclin E and CUX1 could be induced upon the treatment of MV4;11 cells with the differentiation inducer phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate or, unexpectedly, following overexpression of a short recombinant CUX1 protein. In both cases, the mechanism involved transcriptional repression of the neutrophil elastase gene. This result revealed a negative feedback loop whereby CUX1 shuts down the expression of the protease that cleaves it. Overall, the findings in MV4;11 and other cancer cells suggest that various mechanisms are used in cancer to favor the expression of short CUX1 isoforms. (Mol Cancer Res 2008;6(4):644–53)
Early detection of eukaryotic communities from marine biofilm using high-throughput sequencing: an assessment of different sampling devices

Marine biofilms are precursors for colonization by larger fouling organisms, including non-indigenous species (NIS). In this study, high-throughput sequencing (HTS) of 18S rRNA metabarcodes was used to investigate four sampling methods (modified syringe, sterilized sponge, underwater tape and sterilized swab) for characterizing eukaryotic communities in marine biofilms. PerspexTM plates were sampled in and out of water. DNA collected with tape did not amplify. Otherwise, there were no statistical differences in communities among the remaining three sampling devices or between the two environments. Sterilized sponges are recommended for ease of use underwater. In-depth HTS analysis identified diverse eukaryotic communities, dominated by Metazoa and Chromoalveolata. Among the latter, diatoms (Bacillariophyceae) were particularly abundant (33% of reads assigned to Chromalveolata). The NIS Ciona savignyi was detected in all samples. The application of HTS in marine biofilm surveillance could facilitate early detection of NIS, improving the probability of successful eradication.
NASOPHARYNGEAL FIBROMA: EXTENSION INTO CHEEK.

Incidence NASOPHARYNGEAL | ASOPHARYNGEAL fibroma is not a very common disease; its extension into the cheek rarer still. Mishra and Sardana reported on seven patients with nasopharyngeal fibroma admitted to K. G. Medical College, Lucknow, between October 1952 and September 1955. None of these patients had an extension into the cheek. Between 1955 and 1956 I came across a very large nasopharyngeal fibroma without extension into the cheek. During my three years' stay at the Institute of Otology and Laryngology, London, I did not see a single case of nasopharyngeal fibroma with extension into the cheek. Since 1962 to date, six cases of nasopharyngeal fibroma have been seen, of which four showed extension into the cheek. It is just a chance that we have been able to see four consecutive cases of this complication in such a short time. Age and Sex All the patients were adolescent males. Signs and Symptoms
Impact of manufacturing on routing methodology at 32/22 nm

As the IC industry accelerates adoption of the 45 nm and 32 nm process nodes, designers are facing significant new challenges in meeting quality and manufacturability targets. The new challenges of nanometer routing---including very large (1B transistor) designs, complex DRC/DFM, and multiple optimization objectives---are stressing the fundamental ability of digital routing tools to solve the layout topology. To ensure that physical designs can be reliably manufactured, foundries are greatly expanding the number and complexity of design rules and DFM requirements at advanced nodes. The number of DRC and DFM rules has roughly doubled between the 90- and 32-nm nodes, depending on the foundry. The rule complexity, which is measured by the number of operations required to verify the rules, has grown even faster. DFM checks, which used to be voluntary, are now becoming mandatory just like traditional DRCs---with the type and complexity of checks being foundry dependent. DFM violations can cause issues ranging from chip failure to reduced reliability and decreased performance. If they aren't made carefully, however, changes to improve manufacturability can reduce performance, increase power consumption, or otherwise compromise the design. 20 nm brings one more aspect from manufacturing side to the routing. It's double patterning (DP) what is completely new term both for process and Place&Route system. Contrary to DRC/DFM which is local effect double pattern violation is global one. Improper geometry on one side of a chip could result in the problem on other side of the chip. Such formulation contradicts to the local Search&Repair approach. To fully realize the advantages of moving to a new process node, while also maintaining turn-around-time, designers need a new routing platform that can more accurately model the numerous and complex DRC and DFM rules from the earliest stages of the routing process, natively invoke signoff DRC/DFM models and engines, use timing-driven routing to optimize critical paths, and manage huge design sizes with predictable runtimes.
Metabolism of isolated fat cells. V. Preparation of "ghosts" and their properties; adenyl cyclase and other enzymes.

Abstract A procedure is described for preparing sacs of plasma membrane from free fat cells. The resultant spherical "ghosts" were essentially devoid of fat and contained 25% of the mitochondria, 2% of the soluble glycolytic enzymes measured (glucose 6-phosphate dehydrogenase, fructose 1,6-diphosphate aldolase, lactic dehydrogenase), and 15% of the hexokinase activity originally present in fat cells. A large fraction of the hexokinase activity was associated with particles. Some ghosts were nucleated, but all contained undefined particles and vesicles. The plasma membrane of ghosts was semipermeable to ions and sucrose and thus retained some of the characteristics of permeability shown by the plasma membrane of intact fat cells. Adenyl cyclase activity was found in ghosts and in a particulate fraction containing mitochondria released during lysis of fat cells. Ghosts contained 62% of the adenyl cyclase activity, with specific activities that averaged 2.5 times that found in the mitochondrial fraction. The enzyme was not dissociated from membranes by sonic oscillation. Adrenocorticotropin stimulated adenyl cyclase activity in both ghosts and mitochondria fractions, the effect of the hormone being greater on ghosts.
Photothermal properties of gold nanoparticles under exposure to high optical energies

Photothermal (PT) efficacy and damage thresholds of gold nanoparticles (NP)—spheres, rods and silica–gold shells—were experimentally studied during their excitation with nanosecond laser pulses at the fluence levels at and above the NP damage threshold. The maxima of PT efficacy of gold NPs with near-infrared (NIR) plasmon resonances (gold rods and shells) and the minima of their damage thresholds were found to be shifted from their plasmon resonance NIR wavelengths into non-resonant visible wavelengths. This suppression of PT efficacy of NIR plasmon resonances (bleaching) was found to be up to 18 times for the rods and up to 22 times for the shells. During laser-induced deterioration the NPs maintained their PT properties at least within 40–150 ns after exposure to laser pulses. PT properties of the gold NPs can be enhanced with the pulse train mode within the above time. The PT bubbles generated around superheated NPs were used as their optical markers and allowed us to quantify PT efficacy of plasmon resonance through the bubble parameters under the conditions when other methods of NP detection are not applicable.
Proteomic profiling of murine oocyte maturation

In an effort to better understand oocyte function, we utilized two‐dimensional (2D) electrophoresis and mass spectrometry to identify proteins that are differentially expressed during murine oocyte maturation. Proteins from 500 germinal vesicle (GV) and metaphase II‐(MII) arrested oocytes were extracted, resolved on 2D electrophoretic gels, and stained with silver. Analysis of the gels indicated that 12 proteins appeared to be differentially expressed between the GV and MII stage. These proteins were then cored from the 2D gels and identified by mass spectrometry as: transforming acidic coiled‐coil protein 3 (TACC3), heat shock protein 105 (HSP105), programmed cell death six‐interacting protein (PDCD6IP), stress‐inducible phosphoprotein (STI1), importin α2, adenylsuccinate synthase (ADDS), nudix, spindlin, lipocalin, lysozyme, translationally controlled tumor protein (TCTP), and nucleoplasmin 2 (NPM2). Interestingly, PDCD6IP, importin α2, spindlin, and NPM2 appear slightly larger in mass and more acidic on the MII oocyte gel compared to the GV oocyte gel, suggesting that they may be post‐translationally modified during oocyte maturation. Given NPM2 is an oocyte‐restricted protein, we chose to further investigate its properties during oocyte maturation and preimplantation development. Real‐Time RT‐PCR showed that NPM2 mRNA levels rapidly decline at fertilization. Indirect immunofluorescence analysis showed that, with the exception of cortical localization in MII‐arrested oocytes, NPM2 is localized to the nucleus of both GV stage oocytes and all stages of preimplantation embryos. We then performed one‐dimensional (1D) western blot analysis of mouse oocytes and preimplantation embryos and found that, as implicated by the 2D gel comparison, NPM2 undergoes a phosphatase‐sensitive electrophoretic mobility shift during the GV to MII transition. The slower migrating NPM2 form is also present in pronuclear embryos but by the two‐cell stage, the majority of NPM2 exists as the faster migrating form, which persists to the blastocyst stage. Mol. Reprod. Dev. 74: 608–616, 2007. © 2006 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Likelihood Analysis for the Ratio of Means of Two Independent Log‐Normal Distributions

Summary. Existing methods for comparing the means of two independent skewed log‐normal distributions do not perform well in a range of small‐sample settings such as a small‐sample bioavailability study. In this article, we propose two likelihood‐based approaches—the signed log‐likelihood ratio statistic and modified signed log‐likelihood ratio statistic—for inference about the ratio of means of two independent log‐normal distributions. More specifically, we focus on obtaining p‐values for testing the equality of means and also constructing confidence intervals for the ratio of means. The performance of the proposed methods is assessed through simulation studies that show that the modified signed log‐likelihood ratio statistic is nearly an exact approach even for very small samples. The methods are also applied to two real‐life examples.
Constrained Longest Common Subsequences with Run-Length-Encoded Strings

Given two strings X and Y and a constraining string P , a string Z is called a constrained longest common subsequence of X and Y with respect to P if Z is the longest common subsequence of X and Y such that P is a subsequence of Z. In this paper, we propose an O(r×min{mN, nM})-time algorithm for solving this problem, where m, n and r are the lengths of X, Y and P , respectively, and M and N are the number of runs of the run-length-encoded strings of X and Y , respectively.
Identification of genes from a schizophrenia-linked translocation breakpoint region.

The translocation t(1:11)(q42.1,q14.3) has previously been found to be linked with schizophrenia. Genes present at the chromosome 1 breakpoint have been investigated in some detail but little was known about genes in the chromosome 11 breakpoint region. Here we report a BAC clone contig encompassing 2.51 Mb around the chromosome 11 breakpoint, which was constructed computationally using draft genomic sequence data and existing mapping data for the region. The contig includes 26 clones and has led to the identification and relative ordering of 10 candidate genes in the region, including 2 novel transcripts. It constitutes a resource for polymorphic marker discovery and association studies to validate or reject candidate genes. Four candidate genes appear to be particularly promising based upon their proximity to the breakpoint and their likely functional roles. Three of these are involved in glutamatergic neurotransmission (the glutamate receptor GRM5, NAALADase II, and a close homolog), perturbation of which is one of the most widely held theories on the underlying biochemistry of schizophrenia. The 4th gene, tyrosinase, has been previously linked to schizophrenia through the cosegregation of oculocutaneous albinism with psychosis in several pedigrees.