Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Extracellular glutathione promotes migration of hydrogen peroxide-stressed cultured chick embryonic skin cells

The ability of glutathione to affect melanocyte survival has fostered its use in a variety of applications related to epithelial cells. Our study focused on fibroblast migration and the effects of oxidative stress. We used scratch assays to measure cell migration: fibroblasts were harvested from embryonic chicks, grown to confluence in a monolayer, and the layer was scratched to initiate migration. Migration rates were measured over 8 h using photomicrographs, and vinculin expression as an indicator focal adhesion formation was measured using immunofluorescence. Addition of 200 μM glutathione to the culture media in which the cells grew resulted in a significantly increased rate of scratch closure. When the scratch assays were performed in the presence of 100 μM H2O2 (to simulate oxidative stress), the cells ceased to migrate. Addition of 200 μM glutathione to the H2O2-treated scratched layers resulted in a restoration of the scratch closure capabilities. At the subcellular level, addition of extracellular glutathione resulted in a redistribution of vinculin into fewer but larger aggregates. In cells at the edge of scratched monolayers that were treated with H2O2, vinculin particles were distributed throughout the cell in smaller aggregates; addition of glutathione resulted in vinculin aggregates that were larger and closer to the edges of the cell, indicating that these cells were more migratory. Our results suggest that glutathione promotes fibroblast migration, possibly via a mechanism that promotes the formation of focal adhesions.
Layout design for high strength steel automotive structural parts based on UG-PDW

The automotive installation soleplate part researched in this paper is made by the high strength steel. It has a very complex shape and is difficult to be deformed. The forming processes of the installation soleplate part include blanking, deep drawing, local forming and bending, etc. To obtain the reasonable strip layout design and the multi-position progressive die with the characteristics of high precision, high efficiency and long-life, the Progressive Die Wizard (PDW) module of UG NX was adopted, and the formability of the installation soleplate part was analyzed in detail by the one-step inverse forming analysis method. The advantages and disadvantages of the single-row and double-row layout patterns was compared and analyzed, and the double-row layout with intermediate carrier was finally designed. The results show that the high material utilization of workpiece and more uniform load of die can be obtained by the double-row layout with intermediate carrier, which is more suitable for the mass production. The progressive die with 13 positions was manufactured accordingly and used for the practical production. An annual production output of one million parts of was achieved.
Modelling Theories of Actions by Equational Logic Programs Modelling Theories of Actions by Equational Logic Programs

A sound and complete approach for encoding the action description language A developed by M. Gelfond and V. Lifschitz in an equational logic program is given. Our results allow the comparison of the resource-oriented equational logic based approach and various other methods designed for reasoning about actions, most of them based on variants of the situation calculus, which were also related to the action description language recently. A non-trivial extension of A is proposed which allows to handle uncertainty in form of non-deterministic action descriptions, i.e. where actions may have alternative randomized eeects. It is described how the equational logic programming approach forms a sound and complete encoding of this extended action description language A ND as well.
A characterization of collective conflict for defeasible argumentation

In this paper we define a recursive semantics for warrant in a general defeasible argumentation framework by formalizing a notion of collective (non-binary) conflict among arguments. This allows us to ensure direct and indirect consistency (in the sense of Caminada and Amgoud) without distinguishing between direct and indirect conflicts. Then, the general defeasible argumentation framework is extended by allowing to attach levels of preference to defeasible knowledge items and by providing a level-wise definition of warranted and blocked conclusions. Finally, we formalize the warrant recursive semantics for the particular framework of Possibilistic Defeasible Logic Programming, characterize the unique output program property and design an efficient algorithm for computing warranted conclusions in polynomial space.
A Limited Dependent Variable Analysis of Integrated Pest Management Adoption in Uganda

In Uganda overall crop loss due to pests exceeds that caused by drought, soil infertility, or poor planting material. Integrated Pest Management (IPM) technologies can reduce pest damage to crops by emphasizing non-chemical control methods thereby reducing potential negative effects of chemicals on the environment while preserving profitability. This study investigates the adoption of eight IPM practices including intercropping, crop rotation, two improved varieties, incorporating an 'exotic weed chaser', optimal planting dates, optimal planting density and fertilizer use. Variables include market forces, social factors, management factors, and technology delivery mechanisms. Results were consistent across the multivariate logit and ordered logit analyses. The single most important category of influential factors across all crops and technologies is economic/market forces, including labor availability, technology resource requirements, technology complexity, and the level of expected benefits. Social factors are generally less associated with IPM technology adoption than either market or institutional factors. Management factors are not important for adoption of the IPM technologies evaluated for the cowpea crop, while with groundnut IPM practices, no social or institutional factors are found to be important. High expected/potential benefits from the groundnut IPM technologies increase the probability of their adoption, as does the availability of off-farm income and farmers' membership in farm organizations. Generally high levels of adoption (>75%) were observed with crop rotation, and improved varieties. Other technologies registered low levels of adoption (<25%), the least popular being the application of fertilizer on sorghum fields.
Structure and function in the cerebral ganglion

Evidence is reviewed to evaluate whether the term “brain” is justified in referring to the snail's cerebral ganglion. The focus of the review is terrestrial species, with particular attention given to the genus Helix. In accordance with a standard definition of “brain,” the cerebral ganglion is found to be differentiated both structurally and functionally. It receives convergent sensory inputs from a variety of anterior sensory organs plus the posterior body wall. Its outputs comprise motor commands directed towards anterior muscle systems, e.g., the tentacles and the penis, as well as premotor commands directed towards executory centers in other ganglia, e.g., the buccal, visceral, and pedal ganglia. Of the three major divisions in the ganglion, the procerebrum and the mesocerebrum are the most differentiated, whereas the metacerebrum is the least differentiated. The specializations of the procerebrum for olfactory functions, and the mesocerebrum for reproductive functions, reflect the importance of adaptations for feeding and mating in the evolution of the Gastropoda. Microsc. Res. Tech. 49:511–520, 2000. © 2000 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Interactive PC Texture-Based Volume Rendering for Large Datasets

We present a novel technique for rendering large-scale volume datasets interactively on general purpose PC hardware. To circumvent the limited texture memory for texture based volume rendering, the dataset is partitioned into the bricks with reasonable size. The bricks are loaded to the graphics hardware dynamically and rendered using 3D texture mapping. During the rendering only one brick resides on the texture memory. Additionally, the sophisticated PC graphics hardware functionality is utilized to estimate the gradient on the fly avoiding the huge memory consumption in previous approaches. Using a prototype implementation of the algorithm, we are able to perform fast data loading and interactive visualization for the large datasets on a single standard PC
Functional testing of Complex Event Processing applications

Complex Event Processing (CEP) is a powerful technology for implementing real time applications. It offers efficient processing of occurring information pieces, so called events, based on an architecture that provides strong decoupling of its components: event producer, event processors and event consumer [4]. For this CEP is seen as an important contribution in future information systems. CEP applications already have been successfully applied in different fields of industry like finance, logistics and manufacturing1. Vendors of CEP products promise agile real time systems as you are able to change business logic on the fly. But this promise brings risks. Without comprehensive quality assurance changing small pieces of these complex systems can lead to unpredictable errors. Modern agile methodologies rely on strong quality assurance techniques like test driven development, continuous integration or automated user acceptance tests [27]. These methodologies will also be important in the development of CEP applications. This paper gives an overview about what requirements CEP products will have to meet to support up to date software quality assurance.
Downregulation of Fasting-Induced cAMP Response Element-Mediated Gene Induction by Leptin in Neuropeptide Y Neurons of the Arcuate Nucleus

States of increased metabolic demand such as fasting modulate hypothalamic neuropeptide gene expression and decrease circulating leptin levels. This study tested the hypotheses that fasting stimulates gene induction mediated by cAMP response element (CRE)-dependent increases in gene transcription and that fasting-induced decreases in leptin can regulate this CRE-mediated gene induction. Using C57BL/6J mice transgenic for a CRE-lacZ construct, an immunocytochemical study showed that fasting activated reporter gene expression in the hypothalamic arcuate nucleus (Arc) in a small subset of neurons and increased phosphorylation of CRE binding protein. The increase of β-galactosidase expression caused by fasting was inhibited by a protein kinase A inhibitor, Rp-8-Br-cAMPS, when the compound was microinjected into the medial basal hypothalamus, and enhanced by intraperitoneal injection of selective phosphodiesterase inhibitors. In situ hybridization studies showed that neuropeptide Y (NPY) mRNA levels increased in the Arc during fasting, whereas proopiomelanocortin (POMC) mRNA levels decreased. Double labeling of mRNA and β-galactosidase immunoreactivity in the fasted brain indicated that the subpopulation of the neurons expressing β-galactosidase all produced NPY but not POMC. To study the possible involvement of decreased circulating leptin during starvation on CRE-mediated gene induction, leptin was administered intraperitoneally to fasted mice. Leptin significantly attenuated both β-galactosidase expression and NPY gene expression stimulated by fasting, suggesting that leptin inhibits fasting-stimulated NPY gene expression at least in part through downregulation of CRE-mediated gene induction in the Arc. Leptin-induced modification of CRE-mediated gene induction in the Arc may play an essential role in the central regulation of feeding behavior and energy expenditure.
Versatile sample environments and automation for biological solution X-ray scattering experiments at the P12 beamline (PETRA III, DESY)

An integrated environment for biological small-angle X-ray scattering (BioSAXS) at the high-brilliance P12 synchrotron beamline of the EMBL (DESY, Hamburg) allows for a broad range of solution scattering experiments. Automated hardware and software systems have been designed to ensure that data collection and processing are efficient, streamlined and user friendly.
A Novel and Compact Eight-Port Forward-Wave Directional Coupler With Arbitrary Coupling Level Design Using Four-Mode Control Technology

We propose a novel, eight-port, forward-wave directional coupler with periodically patterned ground structures. The input impedances of the four modes for the proposed coupler can be matched, and the phase difference between the even–even and the other three modes is also strongly enhanced. Equivalent models have been constructed to predict the propagation properties based on the Bloch–Floquet theorem. A design procedure is also proposed completely based on the equivalent models. The proposed couplers, with both equal and unequal power divisions, are fabricated on a Duroid substrate. Then, there is good agreement between theoretical simulations and measurements.
THE SEMANTIC MODEL OF A LINGUISTIC KNOWLEDGE BASE

This paper suggests basic principles for creating the semantic model of a linguistic knowledge base (SMLKB). The approach we’re using here allows us to unify all stages of the automated processing of natural language structures. The given model enables us to create applied natural language systems using the same principles as with knowledge-based systems. The new SMKLB also makes possible deep-level language research and the creation of corresponding knowledge bases to store the results of such research. For the developers of applied intelligent systems SMKLB can become a starting point for a more efficient creation of natural language interfaces. Finally, language intelligent tutoring systems could be created within the new approach.
The MBROLA project: towards a set of high quality speech synthesizers free of use for non commercial purposes

The aim of the MBROLA project, initiated by the Faculte Polytechnique de Mons (Belgium), is to obtain a set of speech synthesizers for as many voices, languages and dialects as possible, free of use for non-commercial and non-military applications. The ultimate goal is to boost academic research on speech synthesis, and particularly on prosody generation, known as one of the biggest challenges taken up by text-to-speech synthesizers for the years to come. Central to the MBROLA project is MBROLA 2.00, a speech synthesizer based on the concatenation of diphones. Executable files of this synthesizer have been made freely available for many computers/operating systems, as well as a first diphone database for a French male voice. We describe the terms of participation to the project, as a user, as an associated developer, or as a database provider.
Does Hypothyroidism Affect Gastrointestinal Motility?

Background. Gastrointestinal motility and serum thyroid hormone levels are closely related. Our aim was to analyze whether there is a disorder in esophagogastric motor functions as a result of hypothyroidism. Materials and Methods. The study group included 30 females (mean age ± SE 45.17 ± 2.07 years) with primary hypothyroidism and 10 healthy females (mean age ± SE 39.40 ± 3.95 years). All cases underwent esophagogastric endoscopy and scintigraphy. For esophageal scintigraphy, dynamic imaging of esophagus motility protocol, and for gastric emptying scintigraphy, anterior static gastric images were acquired. Results. The mean esophageal transit time (52.56 ± 4.07 sec for patients; 24.30 ± 5.88 sec for controls; P = .02) and gastric emptying time (49.06 ± 4.29 min for the hypothyroid group; 30.4 ± 4.74 min for the control group; P = .01) were markedly increased in cases of hypothyroidism. Conclusion. Hypothyroidism prominently reduces esophageal and gastric motor activity and can cause gastrointestinal dysfunction.
Feasibility of Principal Component Analysis in hand gesture recognition system

Nowadays actions are increasingly being handled in electronic ways, instead of physical interaction. From earlier times biometrics is used in the authentication of a person. It recognizes a person by using a human trait associated with it like eyes (by calculating the distance between the eyes) and using hand gestures, fingerprint detection, face detection etc. Advantages of using these traits for identification are that they uniquely identify a person and cannot be forgotten or lost. These are unique features of a human being which are being used widely to make the human life simpler. Hand gesture recognition system is a powerful tool that supports efficient interaction between the user and the computer. The main moto of hand gesture recognition research is to create a system which can recognise specific hand gestures and use them to convey useful information for device control. This paper presents an experimental study over the feasibility of principal component analysis in hand gesture recognition system. PCA is a powerful tool for analyzing data. The primary goal of PCA is dimensionality reduction. Frames are extracted from the Sheffield KInect Gesture (SKIG) dataset. The implementation is done by creating a training set and then training the recognizer. It uses Eigen space by processing the eigenvalues and eigenvectors of the images in training set. Euclidean distance with the threshold value is used as similarity metric to recognize the gestures. The experimental results show that PCA is feasible to be used for hand gesture recognition system.
Efficient Mining of Frequent Item Sets on Large Uncertain Databases

The data handled in emerging applications like location-based services, sensor monitoring systems, and data integration, are often inexact in nature. In this paper, we study the important problem of extracting frequent item sets from a large uncertain database, interpreted under the Possible World Semantics (PWS). This issue is technically challenging, since an uncertain database contains an exponential number of possible worlds. By observing that the mining process can be modeled as a Poisson binomial distribution, we develop an approximate algorithm, which can efficiently and accurately discover frequent item sets in a large uncertain database. We also study the important issue of maintaining the mining result for a database that is evolving (e.g., by inserting a tuple). Specifically, we propose incremental mining algorithms, which enable Probabilistic Frequent Item set (PFI) results to be refreshed. This reduces the need of re-executing the whole mining algorithm on the new database, which is often more expensive and unnecessary. We examine how an existing algorithm that extracts exact item sets, as well as our approximate algorithm, can support incremental mining. All our approaches support both tuple and attribute uncertainty, which are two common uncertain database models. We also perform extensive evaluation on real and synthetic data sets to validate our approaches.
Wearable Communicator Badge: Designing a New Platform for Revealing Organizational Dynamics

We are developing a new wearable electronic badge that will enable people working in large organizations to communicate, find information, and interact in more efficient and intelligent ways. The badge will perform speech analysis and speech recognition using a microphone and state-ofthe-art micro-power electronics. It will be capable of playing audio messages and reminders through a speaker. An accelerometer will allow us to study how people move and behave throughout the day: Are they walking to a meeting? Are they talking to someone? Are they sitting in front of their computers? An infrared sensor will be used to capture face-to-face interactions and study social networks. A 2.4 GHz radio transceiver will send and receive information from base stations distributed along a specific area and a Bluetooth module will enable it to interface with cell phones, PDAs, portable computers, and other Bluetoothenabled sensors and devices.
Isotopic incorporation rates for shark tissues from a long-term captive feeding study

SUMMARY Stable isotope analysis has provided insight into the dietary and habitat patterns of many birds, mammals and teleost fish. A crucial biological parameter to interpret field stable isotope data is tissue incorporation rate, which has not been well studied in large ectotherms. We report the incorporation of carbon and nitrogen into the tissues of leopard sharks (Triakis semifasciata). Because sharks have relatively slow metabolic rates and are difficult to maintain in captivity, no long-term feeding study has been conducted until the point of isotopic steady state with a diet. We kept six leopard sharks in captivity for 1250 days, measured their growth, and serially sampled plasma, red blood cells and muscle for stable carbon and nitrogen isotope analysis. A single-compartment model with first-order kinetics adequately described the incorporation patterns of carbon and nitrogen isotopes for these three tissues. Both carbon and nitrogen were incorporated faster in plasma than in muscle and red blood cells. The rate of incorporation of carbon into muscle was similar to that predicted by an allometric equation relating isotopic incorporation rate to body mass that was developed previously for teleosts. In spite of their large size and unusual physiology, the rates of isotopic incorporation in sharks seem to follow the same patterns found in other aquatic ectotherms.
A new VPN routing approach for large scale networks

One of the most common provider provisioned VPN technologies uses MPLS as a data plane for customer flow isolation and BGP as a control plane for routing between VPN sites. From a data plane perspective, such networks can provision hundreds of thousands of VPN sites. However, the BGP control plane is prone to scalability concerns. Some BGP routers in VPN backbones must handle routes for all the VPN sites that the provider connects. The number of sites can generate two million BGP routes in large VPN backbones, almost ten times the number of routes in a core Internet router. Prior work proposed solutions to evolve such networks. Yet, we argue that they fail to address the root cause of VPN routing performance issues. In this paper, we show that VPN routing scheme's poor scalability stems from the application to VPNs of a protocol originally designed for full routing, specifically the Internet. Rather than evolving the current standard based on BGP, we take a principled approach to rethink routing in large VPNs. We propose Two-Step VPN Routing, a new approach for scalable VPN routing. We validate our design choices and compare our approach to existing ones, using both BGP updates and router configurations collected from a large VPN provider.
Image annotation using Principal component analysis of Census Transform

In this paper we propose the method that extracts the semantic keyword from digital images automatically using color and texture features. The image semantic keyword is widely used in research area like image retrieval, categorization, annotation, management. The method consists of two steps: feature extraction and classification module. In order to extract feature, the image color and PACT (Principal component analysis of Census Transform) histogram are used. For classification, SVM (Support Vector Machine) classifier is used. The final keyword is annotated after post-processing. Experimental results indicate that the proposed method can accurately extract the image semantic keywords.
Coping with Terms-of-Trade Shocks in Developing Countries

Sharp swings in a developing country's terms of trade - the price of its exports relative to the price of its imports - can seriously disrupt output growth. An analysis of the effects of a decline in export prices in seventy-five developing economies suggests that countries with a flexible exchange rate will experience a much milder contraction in output than their counterparts with fixed exchange rate regimes.