Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Involvement of the catecholaminergic system on the antidepressant-like effects of Alpinia zerumbet in mice

Abstract Context: The traditional uses of Alpinia zerumbet (Pers.) B.L. Burtt & R.m. SM (Zingiberaceae), popularly known as colonia or pacová, suggest that the species has antihypertensive, diuretic, and sedative properties. We previously reported that an ethanol extract of Alpinia zerumbet (HEA) significantly reduced the immobility time in the tail suspension test (TST), similar to the tricyclic antidepressant imipramine. Moreover, HEA presented antioxidant and anxiolytic-like effects in mice. Objective: The objective of this study is to investigate the involvement of monoaminergic and glutamatergic systems in the antidepressant-like effects of this species. Materials and methods: A hydroethanolic extract prepared with the leaves of A. zerumbet was assayed in the TST in male Swiss mice (800 mg/kg, p.o.). Synthesis inhibitors (AMPT, inhibitor of tyrosine hydroxylase, 100 mg/kg, i.p.; and PCPA, irreversible tryptophan hydroxylase inhibitor, 100 mg/kg, i.p.) and a specific glutamate antagonist (AMPA receptor antagonist NBQX, 10 mg/kg, i.p.) were used prior testing. Results: Pre-treatment with the noradrenergic/dopaminergic inhibitor AMPT fully abolished the anti-immobility effects of HEA, with the two-way ANOVA yielding a significant interaction between pre-treatment and treatment (F1,32 = 10.0, p < 0.01); no interaction was observed with the serotonergic inhibitor PCPA (F1,32 = 0.33, p > 0.05) or NBQX (F1,32 = 0.21, p > 0.05). Conclusion: These results indicated that HEA most likely acts through the dopaminergic and/or noradrenergic system but not through the serotoninergic or glutamatergic systems. This study reinforces the idea that the available biodiversity in Brazil can serve as a basis for innovation in the development of new drugs.
Universal theory of workfunctions at metal/Hf-based high-k dielectrics interfaces - guiding principles for gate metal selection

We have constructed a universal theory of workfunctions at metal/Hf-based dielectrics interfaces by combining an oxygen vacancy effects and a new concept of generalized charge neutrality level. Our theory systematically reproduces the experimentally observed workfunctions of various gate materials, including the unusual behaviors of workfunctions of both p-metals and metal silicides, and will become a useful guiding principle for the material selection of gate metals
Dynamically reconfigurable architecture for embedded computer vision systems

The objective of this research work is to design, develop and implement a new architecture which integrates on the same chip all the processing levels of a complete Computer Vision system, so that the execution is efficient without compromising the power consumption while keeping a reduced cost. For this purpose, an analysis and classification of different mathematical operations and algorithms commonly used in Computer Vision are carried out, as well as a in-depth review of the image processing capabilities of current-generation hardware devices. This permits to determine the requirements and the key aspects for an efficient architecture. A representative set of algorithms is employed as benchmark to evaluate the proposed architecture, which is implemented on an FPGA-based system-on-chip. Finally, the prototype is compared to other related approaches in order to determine its advantages and weaknesses.
The reddots data collection for speaker recognition

This paper describes data collection efforts conducted as part of the RedDots project which is dedicated to the study of speaker recognition under conditions where test utterances are of short duration and of variable phonetic content. At the current stage, we focus on English speakers, both native and non-native, recruited worldwide. This is made possible through the use of a recording front-end consisting of an application running on mobile devices communicating with a centralized web server at the back-end. Speech recordings are collected by having speakers read text prompts displayed on the screen of the mobile devices. We aim to collect a large number of sessions from each speaker over a long time span, typically one session per week over a one year period. The corpus is expected to include rich inter-speaker and intra-speaker variations, both intrinsic and extrinsic (that is, due to recording channel and acoustic environment).
Minimax Games with Bandits

One of the earliest online learning games, now commonly known as the hedge setting [Freund and Schapire, 1997], goes as follows. On round t, a Learner chooses a distribution wt over a set of n actions, an Adversary reveals `t ∈ [0, 1], a vector of losses for each action, and the Learner suffers wt · `t = ∑n i=1 wt,i`t,i. Freund and Schapire [1997] showed that a very simple strategy of exponentially weighting the actions according to their cumulative losses provides a near-optimal guarantee. That is, by setting
Spatialized vibrotactile feedback contributes to goal-directed movements in cluttered virtual environments

In virtual reality (VR), spatial awareness is a dominant research topic. It plays an essential role in the assessment of human operators' behavior within virtual environments (VE), notably for the evaluation of the feasibility of manual maintenance tasks in cluttered industrial settings. In such contexts, it is decisive to evaluate the spatial and temporal correspondence between the operator's movement kinematics and that of his/her virtual avatar in the virtual environment. Often, in a cluttered VE, direct kinesthetic (force) feedback is limited or absent. We tested whether vibrotactile (cutaneous) feedback would increase visuo-proprioceptive consistency, spatial awareness, and thus the validity of VR studies, by augmenting the perception of the operator's contact(s) with virtual objects. We present preliminary experimental results, obtained using a head-mounted display (HMD) during a goal-directed task in a cluttered VE. Data suggest that spatialized vibrotactile feedback contributes to visuo-proprioceptive consistency.
Molecular differences between wild-type Japanese encephalitis virus strains of high and low mouse neuroinvasiveness.

Japanese encephalitis (JE) virus strain P3 was highly neurovirulent and neuroinvasive in weanling mice whereas two other JE virus strains, SA14/USA and S892, were only neurovirulent. Infectivity titrations of brains and sera showed that P3 virus multiplied faster and reached a higher infectivity titre than S892 virus following inoculation of viruses by the intraperitoneal (i.p.) route. The p.f. u. /LD50 was 10(1.7) and 10(6.2) for P3 and S892 viruses respectively, following i.p. inoculation, while JE virus strain SA14/USA did not kill mice when inoculated by this route (i.e. > or = 10(6.3) p.f. u. /LD50). Nevertheless, the genomic similarity between P3 virus and strains SA 14/USA and S892 was more than 97.8 percent at the nucleotide level and 99 percent at the amino acid level. Compared with S892 and SA14/USA viruses, P3 virus had 33 and 21 amino acid differences, respectively. The structural protein genes of P3 virus were more divergent than non-structural protein genes. Nine unique amino acids were found in the envelope protein gene. None of these amino acid differences were shared with other wild-type JE virus strains. Although we cannot identify the precise molecular determinants of virulence of JE virus, there were no unique amino acids in M, NS1, NS2A, NS3, NS4A and NS4B proteins of P3 virus compared with other wild-type viruses. Therefore, it appears that these proteins make no significant contribution to the high neuroinvasiveness of P3 virus. The structural proteins, and non-structural proteins NS2B and NS5 may be involved in increasing neurovirulence and neuroinvasiveness of P3 virus. P3 virus differed by several nucleotides in the 3' non-coding region while no nucleotide difference was found in the 5' non-coding region.
Advanced glycation end-products inhibitors isolated from Schisandra grandiflora

Free radicals scavenging and advanced glycation end-products (AGEs) inhibitory potentials in crude chloroform extract of Schisandra grandiflora were evaluated. Bioassay-guided isolation of the chloroform extract led to the identification of 24 compounds. Among the isolates, ( ± ) gomisin M1, arisantetralone C and D, macelignan, saurulignan B and SZ-MO displayed potent-free radical scavenging as well as AGEs inhibitory potentials. This is the first report identifying the presence of AGEs inhibitory activity and assigning AGEs inhibitory activity to these compounds. Therefore, our research finds new application of traditional medicinal plant S. grandiflora having capacity to reduce formation and accumulation of AGEs in diabetes.
Characterization of MtfA , a novel regulatory output signal protein of the 1 glucose-phosphotransferase system in E . coli K-12 2 3

1 glucose-phosphotransferase system in E. coli K-12 2 3 Anna-Katharina Göhler, Ariane Staab, Elisabeth Gabor, Karina Homann, 4 Elisabeth Klang, Anne Kosfeld, Janna-Eleni Muus, Jana Selina Wulftange, 5 and Knut Jahreis* 6 7 Department of Biology and Chemistry, University of Osnabrück, 8 D-49069 Osnabrück, Germany 9 10 11
New replica selection technique for binding replica sites in Data Grids

The objective in Data Grids is to reduce access and file (replica) transfer latencies, as well as to avoid single site congestion by the numerous requesters. To facilitate access and transfer of the data, the files of the Data Grid are distributed across the multiple sites. The effectiveness of a replica selection strategy in data grids depends on its ability to serve the requirement posed by the users' jobs. Most jobs are required to be executed at a specific execution time. To achieve the QoS perceived by the users, response time metrics should take into account a replica selection strategy. Total execution time needs to factor latencies due to network transfer rates and latencies due to search and location. Network resources affect the speed of moving the required data and searching methods can reduce scope for replica selection. This paper presents a replica selection strategy that adapts its criteria dynamically so as to best approximate application providers' and clients' requirements. We introduce a new selection technique (EST) that shows improved performance over the more common algorithms.
Applications to Regular and Bang-Bang Control - Second-Order Necessary and Sufficient Optimality Conditions in Calculus of Variations and Optimal Control

This book is devoted to the theory and applications of second-order necessary and sufficient optimality conditions in the calculus of variations and optimal control. The authors develop theory for a control problem with ordinary differential equations subject to boundary conditions of equality and inequality type and for mixed state-control constraints of equality type. The book is distinctive in that necessary and sufficient conditions are given in the form of no-gap conditions; the theory covers broken extremals where the control has finitely many points of discontinuity; and a number of numerical examples in various application areas are fully solved. Audience: This book is suitable for researchers in calculus of variations and optimal control and researchers and engineers in optimal control applications in mechanics; mechatronics; physics; economics; and chemical, electrical, and biological engineering. Contents: List of Figures; Notation; Preface; Introduction; Part I: Second-Order Optimality Conditions for Broken Extremals in the Calculus of Variations; Chapter 1: Abstract Scheme for Obtaining Higher-Order Conditions in Smooth Extremal Problems with Constraints; Chapter 2: Quadratic Conditions in the General Problem of the Calculus of Variations; Chapter 3: Quadratic Conditions for Optimal Control Problems with Mixed Control-State Constraints; Chapter 4: Jacobi-Type Conditions and Riccati Equation for Broken Extremals; Part II: Second-Order Optimality Conditions in Optimal Bang-Bang Control Problems; Chapter 5: Second-Order Optimality Conditions in Optimal Control Problems Linear in a Part of Controls; Chapter 6: Second-Order Optimality Conditions for Bang-Bang Control; Chapter 7: Bang-Bang Control Problem and Its Induced Optimization Problem; Chapter 8: Numerical Methods for Solving the Induced Optimization Problem and Applications; Bibliography; Index.
Traces and t-Distribution Based Multi-Copy Routing in Delay Tolerant Networks

Delay/disruption tolerant network (DTN) is a typical high durable mobile transmission network. The mobile nodes in DTN move around and share information with each other without an end-to-end path in the network. The previous studies reveal that a main characteristic of such network is that mobile nodes in the networks currently move along with several same paths (namely, traces) frequently. Therefore, in such network condition, we look into the recorded traces as part of priorities, while using t-distribution for the future prediction of nodes trends. We propose a novel localized multi-copy mobile network routing algorithm, which utilizes traces to optimize overall benefit of the network. In extensive simulations, the results show that the algorithm gain a better performance than existing routing algorithms.
Is Minimal, [Almost] Steroid-Free Immunosuppression a Safe Approach in Adult Liver Transplantation? Long-term Outcome of a Prospective, Double Blind, Placebo-Controlled, Randomized, Investigator-Driven Study

Objective:To investigate the safety of minimal immunosuppression (IS) in liver transplantation (LT). Background:The lack of long-term follow-up studies, including pathologic data, has led to a protean handling of IS in LT. Methods:Between February 2000 and September 2004, 156 adults were enrolled in a prospective, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled minimization trial comparing tacrolimus placebo (TAC-PLAC) and TAC short-term steroid (TAC-STER) IS. All patients had a minimum clinical, biochemical, and histological follow-up of 5 years. Results:Five-year actual patient and graft survival rates in TAC-PLAC and TAC-STER groups were 78.1% and 82.1% (P = 0.89) and 74.2% and 76.9% (P = 0.90), respectively. Five-year biopsies were available in 112 (89.6%) of 125 survivors. Twelve patients refused a biopsy because of their excellent evolution; tissue material was insufficient in 1 patient; 11 had normal liver tests; and 2 patients had developed alcoholic and secondary biliary cirrhosis. Histology was normal in 44 (39.3%) patients; 35 (31.3%) had disease recurrence. The remaining biopsies showed nonspecific chronic hepatitis (14.3%), mild inflammatory infiltrates (10.7%), and steatosis (3.5%). All findings were equally distributed between both groups. In each group, 3 patients (4.8%) presented with acute cellular rejection after the first year and only 1 (0.9%) TAC-PLAC patient developed chronic rejection after IS withdrawal because of pneumonitis. Arterial hypertension, diabetes mellitus, renal insufficiency, hypercholesterolemia, gout, and obesity were equally low in both groups. Conclusions:Excellent long-term results can be obtained under minimal IS and absence of steroids. TAC-based monotherapy is feasible in most adult liver recipients until 5 years of follow-up.
Using Aspect-Based Sentiment Analysis to Evaluate Arabic News Affect on Readers

The rapid increase in digital information has raised great challenges especially when it comes to automated content analysis. The adoption of social media as a communication channel for political views demands automated methods for posts' tone analysis, sentiment analysis, and emotional affect. This paper proposes a novel approach of using aspect-based sentiment analysis in evaluating Arabic news posts affect on readers. The approach adopts several phases of text processing, features selection, and text classification. Two widely used classifiers, namely Conditional Random Fields (CRF) and J48, are tested. Experimentation results show that J48 outperforms CRF in aspect terms extraction whereas CRF is slightly better in aspect terms polarity identification.
Clinical trials: Bridging the gap between efficacy and effectiveness

The need for clinical psychiatry research to provide practical information to clinicians, families, and consumers has led to the development of new approaches to clinical trials. Efficacy trials, the historical backbone of clinical research, have many shortcomings in delivering practical information to stakeholders. The ‘effectiveness’ or ‘public-health’ model of intervention research targets a diverse group of patients across multiple settings that are outside of academic medical centres, with study design and outcomes that are selected on the basis of their potential to produce clinically meaningful information. The National Institute of Mental Health has funded three such clinical trials in recent years, respectively targeting schizophrenia and Alzheimer's disease, depression, and bipolar disorder. Each of these studies has made a major impact, and provided new insights into the challenges of public health orientated trials in psychiatry. In this review, we describe the underlying principles and practical considerations in efficacy and effectiveness-orientated trials.
NIIF para PYMES: activos intangibles

Nuestro tema de tesis esta enfocado de acuerdo a las Normas Internacionales de Informacion Financiera para Pequenas y Medianas Entidades Seccion 18: Activos Intangibles distintos de la Plusvalia, considerando la importancia que en la actualidad tanto en el sector industrial como en el sector de comercio o servicios, no reside solamente los activos tangibles sino tambien en los activos intangibles, que otorgan ventajas competitivas sobre otras empresas. En la primera parte del trabajo tratamos sobre los conceptos y principios generales con la finalidad de tener claro definiciones y terminos que serviran para el mejor entendimiento del tema. La segunda parte analiza el tema fundamental de nuestro trabajo, sobre los activos intangibles en su tratamiento correcto en las fases de reconocimiento, adquisicion, permanencia y disposicion; cada uno de estos temas se han ejemplarizado para mejor entendimiento y se da a conocer la informacion que el sistema contable de la empresa debe revelar. En la ultima parte de la tesis se plantea las conclusiones como resultado de haber completado nuestro trabajo y las recomendaciones tanto para los expertos en contabilidad como para las organizaciones, sobre lo importante de la adopcion de la NIIF para las PYMES seccion 18.
Theory of binaural interaction based on auditory-nerve data. I. General strategy and preliminary results on interaural discrimination.

We discuss initial research on a model of binaural hearing in which the peripheral transduction from acoustical waveforms to firing patterns on the auditory nerves is explicitly described. In most of this initial research, attention is focused on interaural time discrimination, and the processing that follows the peripheral transduction (the central processing) is assumed to be ideal. By imposing limitations on the central processing and computing the consequences for performance, we find that performance at least as good as experimentally observed performance can be achieved with central processing that is substantially restricted.
Dynamical crystal creation with polar molecules or Rydberg atoms in optical lattices

We investigate the dynamical formation of crystalline states with systems of polar molecules or Rydberg atoms loaded into a deep optical lattice. External fields in these systems can be used to couple the atoms or molecules between two internal states: one that is weakly interacting and one that exhibits a strong dipole–dipole interaction. By appropriate time variation of the external fields, we show that it is possible to produce crystalline states of the strongly interacting states with high filling fractions chosen via the parameters of the coupling. We study the coherent dynamics of this process in one dimension (1D) using a modified form of the time-evolving block decimation (TEBD) algorithm, and obtain crystalline states for system sizes and parameters corresponding to realistic experimental configurations. For polar molecules these crystalline states will be long-lived, assisting in a characterization of the state via the measurement of correlation functions. We also show that as the coupling strength increases in the model, the crystalline order is broken. This is characterized in 1D by a change in density–density correlation functions, which decay to a constant in the crystalline regime, but show different regions of exponential and algebraic decay for larger coupling strengths.
Glibenclamide, a Blocker of K+ATP Channels, Shows Antileishmanial Activity in Experimental Murine Cutaneous Leishmaniasis

ABSTRACT Glibenclamide reduced the rate of lesion growth in BALB/c mice infected with Leishmania (Leishmania) mexicana, the effect was dose dependent, and the highest dose proved more effective than glucantime. Cross-resistance to glucantime was found in animals infected with a glibenclamide-resistant line, but combined therapy reduced lesion progression even in the glibenclamide-resistant strain.
Human activity recognition by combining discriminative and generative classifiers

In this article, we propose a novel algorithm for the recognition of complex activities in multimedia streams. The algorithm consists of a discriminative feature classifier based on random forests and a generative classifier, for which we use the hierarchical hidden Markov model. The discriminative feature classifier checks the existence or absence of the steps required for the execution of an activity, while the generative classifier encodes the ordering of these steps. The parameters of the classifier are learned automatically from expert labelled data. The classification output is a label indicating, for an input multimedia stream illustrating a complex activity, the type of the activity performed in the stream and whether this activity was performed in a correct or incorrect/anomalous manner. Results for the publicly available bridge design dataset show that our algorithm offers higher accuracy in activity recognition than other leading methods. Keywords—activity recognition, random forest, hierarchical hidden Markov model.
Bacterioplankton Compositions of Lakes and Oceans: a First Comparison Based on Fluorescence In Situ Hybridization

ABSTRACT Fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) with rRNA-targeted oligonucleotide probes was used to investigate the phylogenetic composition of bacterioplankton communities in several freshwater and marine samples. An average of about 50% of the cells were detected by probes for the domains Bacteria and Archaea, and of these, about half could be identified at the subdomain level with a set of group-specific probes. Beta subclass proteobacteria constituted a dominant fraction in freshwater systems, accounting for 16% (range, 3 to 32%) of the cells, although they were essentially absent in the marine samples examined. Members of theCytophaga-Flavobacterium cluster were the most abundant group detected in the marine systems, accounting for 18% (range, 2 to 72%) of the 4′,6-diamidino-2-phenylindole (DAPI) counts, and they were also important in freshwater systems (7%, range 0 to 18%). Furthermore, members of the alpha and gamma subclasses ofProteobacteria as well as members of thePlanctomycetales were detected in both freshwater and marine water in abundances <7%.