Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Surveillance Network for Herpes Simplex Virus Resistance to Antiviral Drugs: 3-Year Follow-Up

ABSTRACT Herpes simplex virus (HSV) infections are very common in the general population and among immunocompromised patients. Acyclovir (ACV) is an effective treatment which is widely used. We deemed it essential to conduct a wide and coordinated survey of the emergence of ACV-resistant HSV strains . We have formed a network of 15 virology laboratories which have isolated and identified, between May 1999 and April 2002, HSV type 1 (HSV-1) and HSV-2 strains among hospitalized subjects. The sensitivity of each isolate to ACV was evaluated by a colorimetric test (C. Danve, F. Morfin, D. Thouvenot, and M. Aymard, J. Virol. Methods 105:207-217, 2002). During this study, 3,900 isolated strains among 3,357 patients were collected; 55% of the patients were immunocompetent. Only six immunocompetent patients excreted ACV-resistant HSV strains (0.32%), including one female patient not treated with ACV who was infected primary by an ACV-resistant strain. Among the 54 immunocompromised patients from whom ACV-resistant HSV strains were isolated (3.5%), the bone marrow transplantation patients showed the highest prevalence of resistance (10.9%), whereas among patients infected by human immunodeficiency virus, the prevalence was 4.2%. In 38% of the cases, the patients who excreted the ACV-resistant strains were treated with foscarnet (PFA), and 61% of them developed resistance to PFA. The collection of a large number of isolates enabled an evaluation of the prevalence of resistance of HSV strains to antiviral drugs to be made. This prevalence has remained stable over the last 10 years, as much among immunocompetent patients as among immunocompromised patients.
3D part segmentation using simulated electrical charge distributions

A novel approach to 3D part segmentation is presented. Beginning with range data of a 3D object, we simulate the charge density distribution over an object's surface which has been tessellated by a triangular mesh. We then locate the object part boundary at deep surface concavities by tracing local charge density minima. Finally, we decompose the object into parts at the part boundary points.
Power control in full duplex networks: Area spectrum efficiency and energy efficency

Full-duplex (FD) allows the exchange of data between nodes on the same temporal and spectrum resources, however, it introduces self interference (SI) and additional network interference compared to half-duplex (HD). Power control in the FD networks, which is seldom studied in the literature, is promising to mitigate the interference and improve the performance of the overall network. In this work, we investigate the random and deterministic power control strategies in the FD networks, namely, constant power control, uniform power control, fractional power control and ALOHA-like random on-off power control scheme. Based on the obtained coverage probabilities and their robust approximations, we show that power control provides remarkable gain in area spectrum efficiency (ASE) and energy efficiency (EE), and improves the fairness among the uplink (UL) and downlink (DL) transmissions with respect to the FD networks. Moreover, we evaluate the minimum SI cancellation capability to guarantee the performance of the cell-edge users in FD networks. Generally, power control is helpful to improve the performance of the transmission for long distance in the FD networks and reduce the requirement of SI cancellation capability.
MQDF Discriminative Learning Based Offline Handwritten Chinese Character Recognition

This paper has proposed a discriminative learning method of modified quadratic discriminant function (MQDF) based on sample importance weights. Firstly, sample importance function is derived from distance based recognition results under bayes decision rule. It weights samples according to extended recognition confidence. On these weighted samples, parameters of MQDF are modulated indirectly by re-estimating the mean vector and covariance matrix. The proposed method is investigated and compared with other discriminative learning methods about MQDF on THU-HCD offline Chinese handwriting sets. The results show that the proposed method has improved the basic MQDF drastically and outperforms other methods compared.
Compartment Model Predicts VEGF Secretion and Investigates the Effects of VEGF Trap in Tumor-Bearing Mice

Angiogenesis, the formation of new blood vessels from existing vasculature, is important in tumor growth and metastasis. A key regulator of angiogenesis is vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), which has been targeted in numerous anti-angiogenic therapies aimed at inhibiting tumor angiogenesis. Systems biology approaches, including computational modeling, are useful for understanding this complex biological process and can aid in the development of novel and effective therapeutics that target the VEGF family of proteins and receptors. We have developed a computational model of VEGF transport and kinetics in the tumor-bearing mouse, which includes three-compartments: normal tissue, blood, and tumor. The model simulates human tumor xenografts and includes human (VEGF121 and VEGF165) and mouse (VEGF120 and VEGF164) isoforms. The model incorporates molecular interactions between these VEGF isoforms and receptors (VEGFR1 and VEGFR2), as well as co-receptors (NRP1 and NRP2). We also include important soluble factors: soluble VEGFR1 (sFlt-1) and α-2-macroglobulin. The model accounts for transport via macromolecular transendothelial permeability, lymphatic flow, and plasma clearance. We have fit the model to available in vivo experimental data on the plasma concentration of free VEGF Trap and VEGF Trap bound to mouse and human VEGF in order to estimate the rates at which parenchymal cells (myocytes and tumor cells) and endothelial cells secrete VEGF. Interestingly, the predicted tumor VEGF secretion rates are significantly lower (0.007–0.023 molecules/cell/s, depending on the tumor microenvironment) than most reported in vitro measurements (0.03–2.65 molecules/cell/s). The optimized model is used to investigate the interstitial and plasma VEGF concentrations and the effect of the VEGF-neutralizing agent, VEGF Trap (aflibercept). This work complements experimental studies performed in mice and provides a framework with which to examine the effects of anti-VEGF agents, aiding in the optimization of such anti-angiogenic therapeutics as well as analysis of clinical data. The model predictions also have implications for biomarker discovery with anti-angiogenic therapies.
Mortality Risk Prediction: Can Comorbidity Indices Be Improved With Psychosocial Data?

Background:Predicting risk of premature death is one of the most basic tasks in medicine and public health, but has proven to be difficult over the long term even with the best prognostic models. One popular strategy has been to improve prognostic models with candidate genes and other novel biomarkers. However, the gains in predictive power have been modest and the costs have been high, leading to a demand for cost-effective alternatives. We conducted a proof-of-principle investigation to examine whether simple, cheap, and noninvasive paper-and-pencil measures of social class and personality phenotype could improve the performance of one of the most widely used prediction models for all-cause mortality, the Charlson Comorbidity Index (CCI). Methods:We used data from baseline and 25-year mortality follow-up of the UK Health and Lifestyle Study cohort. In a subset of the cohort, we first identified 5 psychosocial factors highly predictive of mortality: income, education, type A personality, communalism (preference for the company of others), and “lie” scale (a measure of denial, putatively associated with ill health). We then examined the predictive performance of the CCI with and without these measures in a validation subsample. Results:Across 5-, 10-, 15-, 20-, and 25-year time horizons, the psychosocially augmented CCI showed substantially better discrimination [area under the receiver-operating curves (95% confidence interval) from 0.83 (0.81–0.85) to 0.84 (0.83–0.86)] than the CCI [area under the receiver-operating curves from 0.74 (0.71–0.76) to 0.77 (0.76–0.79)]. These translated into net reclassification improvements from 27% (23%–31%) to 35% (32%–38%) of survivors and from 23% (17%–30%) to 34% (17%–30%) of decedents; and 23%–42% reductions in the Number Needed to Screen. Calibration improved at all time horizons except 25 years, where it was decreased. Conclusion:Widespread attempts to improve prognostic models might consider not only novel biomarkers, but also psychosocial questionnaire measures.
Genetic and physical interaction of Ssp1 CaMKK and Rad24 14-3-3 during low pH and osmotic stress in fission yeast

The Ssp1 calmodulin kinase kinase (CaMKK) is necessary for stress-induced re-organization of the actin cytoskeleton and initiation of growth at the new cell end following division in Schizosaccharomyces pombe. In addition, it regulates AMP-activated kinase and functions in low glucose tolerance. ssp1− cells undergo mitotic delay at elevated temperatures and G2 arrest in the presence of additional stressors. Following hyperosmotic stress, Ssp1-GFP forms transient foci which accumulate at the cell membrane and form a band around the cell circumference, but not co-localizing with actin patches. Hyperosmolarity-induced localization to the cell membrane occurs concomitantly with a reduction of its interaction with the 14-3-3 protein Rad24, but not Rad25 which remains bound to Ssp1. The loss of rad24 in ssp1− cells reduces the severity of hyperosmotic stress response and relieves mitotic delay. Conversely, overexpression of rad24 exacerbates stress response and concomitant cell elongation. rad24− does not impair stress-induced localization of Ssp1 to the cell membrane, however this response is almost completely absent in cells overexpressing rad24.
PROMOTING DEEP AND PRACTICAL STUDENT CENTRED LEARNING IN ENGINEERING ANALYSIS

This paper describes a student centred approach to engineering analysis as part of the work carried out under The Student-centred Learning In Construction Education (SLICE) project. SLICE is a UK government financed project supported by the Fund for the Development of Teaching and Learning (FDTL) Phase 3. The project seeks to enhance the quality of construction education by promoting effective student -centred learning in the building and civil engineering subject areas. The main objective of SLICE is promoting good practice and assisting staff to develop effective student centred learning activities. This paper sets out how a student centred learning exercise was used to teach mathematical concepts to overcome practical engineering problems for a group of civil engineering undergraduates. The exercise involved students learning mathematical concepts and applying these to practical engineering problems i.e. flat slab design. The students presented their work to an audience of their peers who assessed what had been done in the context of the project brief. All students in the class were given a test carried out under exam conditions to find out whether they had learned
Chapter Number 1 Defects in Product Line Models 2 and How to Identify Them 3

The history of software and system development shows that abstraction plays a major role 8 in making complexity manageable (Bosch 2000). Thus, abstracting the common and variable 9 artefacts of an undefined collection of products and organising them into a model may be a 10 good option to manage the complexity of a product line. Product line models improve 11 decision-making processes. In addition, the representation of PLMs in different views 12 improves communication of the actors participating in the product line management 13 (Finkelstein et al. 1992). Nuseibeh et al. (1994) describe views as partial representations of a 14 system and its domain. 15
Word-Wise Script Identification from Video Frames

Script identification is an essential step for the efficient use of the appropriate OCR in multilingual document images. There are various techniques available for script identification from printed and handwritten document images, but script identification from video frames has not been explored much. This paper presents a study of some pre-processing techniques and features for word-wise script identification from video frames. Traditional features, namely Zernike moments, Gabor and gradient, have performed well for handwritten and printed documents having simple backgrounds and adequate resolution for OCR. Video frames are mostly coloured and suffer from low resolution, blur, background noise, to mention a few. In this paper, an attempt has been made to explore whether the traditional script identification techniques can be useful in video frames. Three feature extraction techniques, namely Zernike moments, Gabor and gradient features, and SVM classifiers were considered for analyzing three popular scripts, namely English, Bengali and Hindi. Some pre-processing techniques such as super resolution and skeletonization of the original word images were used in order to overcome the inherent problems with video. Experiments show that the super resolution technique with gradient features has performed well, and an accuracy of 87.5% was achieved when testing on 896 words from three different scripts. The study also reveals that the use of proper pre-processing approaches can be helpful in applying traditional script identification techniques to video frames.
Vector field and rotational curves in dark galactic halos

We study equations of a non-gauge vector field in a spherically symmetric static metric. The constant vector field with a scale arrangement of components, the temporal component about the Planck mass mPl and the radial component about M suppressed with respect to the Planck mass, serves as a source of metric reproducing flat rotation curves in dark halos of spiral galaxies, so that the velocity of rotation v0 is determined by the hierarchy of scales: , and M ∼ 1012 GeV. A natural estimate of Milgrom's acceleration about the Hubble rate is obtained.
Differential Roles of Macrophages in Diverse Phases of Skin Repair

Influx of macrophages plays a crucial role in tissue repair. However, the precise function of macrophages during the healing response has remained a subject of debate due to their functional dichotomy as effectors of both tissue injury and repair. We tested the hypothesis that macrophages recruited during the diverse phases of skin repair after mechanical injury exert specific functions to restore tissue integrity. For this purpose, we developed a mouse model that allows conditional depletion of macrophages during the sequential stages of the repair response. Depletion of macrophages restricted to the early stage of the repair response (inflammatory phase) significantly reduced the formation of vascularized granulation tissue, impaired epithelialization, and resulted in minimized scar formation. In contrast, depletion of macrophages restricted to the consecutive mid-stage of the repair response (phase of tissue formation) resulted in severe hemorrhage in the wound tissue. Under these conditions, transition into the subsequent phase of tissue maturation and wound closure did not occur. Finally, macrophage depletion restricted to the late stage of repair (phase of tissue maturation) did not significantly impact the outcome of the repair response. These results demonstrate that macrophages exert distinct functions during the diverse phases of skin repair, which are crucial to control the natural sequence of repair events.
Children's Rights and Early Childhood Education

THERE IS STILL RESISTANCE and hostility within some circles to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (the Convention), but professionals working with children should be familiar with rights principles and their use in advocating for change. A rights perspective fits well with the new paradigm of Childhood Studies, which is critical of developmental psychology and recognises multiple childhoods, children's agency and competency, and the primacy of children's lived experience. The Convention has been used in advocating for reforms in early childhood services in New Zealand. One example is the development and implementation of our early childhood education curriculum, Te Whariki. The second example is New Zealand's Strategic Plan for Early Childhood Education (Ngā Huarahi Arataki), which is focused on improving early childhood education quality and participation. It is argued that child advocacy for better early childhood education policies can be strengthened by the use of the Convention.
A 12 $\mathsf{\mu}$m ISOCAM survey of the ESO-Sculptor field - Data reduction and analysis

We present a detailed reduction of a mid-infrared 12 µ m( LW10 filter) ISOCAM open time observation performed on the ESOSculptor Survey field (Arnouts et al. 1997, AA these methods yield consistent results. We also apply an empirical flux density calibration using stars in the field. For each star, the 12 µm flux density is derived by fitting optical colours from a multi-band χ 2 to stellar templates (BaSel-2.0) and using empirical optical-IR colour-colour relations. This article is a companion analysis to our 2007 paper (Rocca-Volmerange et al. 2007, A&A, 475, 801) where the 12 µm faint galaxy counts are presented and analysed per galaxy type with the evolutionary code PEGASE.3.
Identification of functionally important microRNAs from rice inflorescence at heading stage of a qDTY4.1-QTL bearing Near Isogenic Line under drought conditions

A cross between IR64 (high-yielding but drought-susceptible) and Aday Sel (drought-tolerant) rice cultivars yielded a stable line with enhanced grain yield under drought screening field trials at International Rice Research Institute. The major effect qDTY4.1 drought tolerance and yield QTL was detected in the IR77298-14-1-2-10 Backcrossed Inbred Line (BIL) and its IR87705-7-15-B Near Isogenic Line (NIL) with 93.9% genetic similarity to IR64. Although rice yield is extremely susceptible to water stress at reproductive stage, currently, there is only one report on the detection of drought-responsive microRNAs in inflorescence tissue of a Japonica rice line. In this study, more drought-responsive microRNAs were identified in the inflorescence tissues of IR64, IR77298-14-1-2-10 and IR87705-7-15-B via next-generation sequencing. Among the 32 families of inflorescence-specific non-conserved microRNAs that were identified, 22 families were up-regulated in IR87705-7-15-B. Overall 9 conserved and 34 non-conserved microRNA families were found as drought-responsive in rice inflorescence with 5 conserved and 30 non-conserved families induced in the IR87705-7-15-B. The observation of more drought-responsive non-conserved microRNAs may imply their prominence over conserved microRNAs in drought response mechanisms of rice inflorescence. Gene Ontology annotation analysis on the target genes of drought-responsive microRNAs identified in IR87705-7-15-B revealed over-representation of biological processes including development, signalling and response to stimulus. Particularly, four inflorescence-specific microRNAs viz. osa-miR5485, osa-miR5487, osa-miR5492 and osa-miR5517, and two non-inflorescence specific microRNAs viz. osa-miR169d and osa-miR169f.2 target genes that are involved in flower or embryonic development. Among them, osa-miR169d, osa-miR5492 and osa-miR5517 are related to flowering time control. It is also worth mentioning that osa-miR2118 and osa-miR2275, which are implicated in the biosynthesis of rice inflorescence-specific small interfering RNAs, were induced in IR87705-7-15-B but repressed in IR77298-14-1-2-10. Further, gene search within qDTY4.1 QTL region had identified multiple copies of NBS-LRR resistance genes (potential target of osa-miR2118), subtilisins and genes implicated in stomatal movement, ABA metabolism and cuticular wax biosynthesis.
Nucleotide sequence of chicken myb proto-oncogene promoter region: detection of an evolutionarily conserved element.

The nucleotide sequence of the chicken myb proto-oncogene putative promoter region was determined and compared with the corresponding sequence of the mouse c-myb gene (1). 118 bp upstream from the initiation codon suggested by Gerondakis and Bishop (2) for the chicken c-myb protein, a 124-bp-long conserved element was found (92% identity in chicken and mouse sequences). Sequences homologous to this element were detected on Southern blots of restricted genomic DNAs from mouse, man, lizard, frog, and carp. No hybridization was observed with Drosophila, yeast, or Escherichia coli DNA. In human DNA, sequences homologous to this element were located at the 5' end of the c-myb gene, i.e. in the same position as in the chicken and mouse genes. Several lines of evidence suggest that the element is not a coding exon of a gene overlapping the c-myb gene. It may be of importance that one of the DNase I-sensitive sites and several c-myb mRNA cap sites localized recently in the mouse c-myb gene (3,4) lie within this region. It is suggested that this evolutionarily conserved element is involved in the regulation of myb proto-oncogene expression in vertebrates.
Kinematics parameters estimation for an AFM/robot integrated micro-force measurement system

This paper introduces a novel atomic force microscope (AFM) and parallel robot integrated micro-force measurement system whose objective is the measurement of adhesion force between planar micro-objects. This paper is mainly focused on the kinematics parameters estimation between the objects to be measured, the parallel robot and the AFM system in order to position both objects during measurement. A substrate is placed on the end-platform of the parallel robot system, on which three markers are utilized as the reference information to the kinematics parameters estimation. The markers are identified by the AFM scanning in order to identify the kinematics parameters of the whole system. Based on the classic Gauss-Newton algorithm, the position and orientation can be solved. Finally, the effectiveness of the proposed method is demonstrated through the experiments on the prototype of the micro-force measurement system. The parameters estimation methodology outlined is generic and also can be extended to a variety of applications in calibration of micro-robots.
Sociological Perspectives on Modernity: Multiple Models and Competing Realities

This book examines several sociological perspectives on the defining characteristics of modernity through the construction of conceptual models. Each model specifies the prime movers of the social system and the key agencies of change and development. According to one model, technology is the moving force in society, while another emphasizes metropolitan dominance, and yet another concentrates on materialistic values and consumerism. A growing number of social scientists perceive knowledge to be the driving force of modernity; yet others emphasize cultural pluralism or mass society. Because of the many ways dramatic changes are occurring in so many different directions at the same time, the multiple realities of modernity are recognized and clarified. Accelerations of experimentation and innovation are occurring in all areas of social life. The Enlightenment, the industrial revolution, and civil society are emphasized as the pathways to modernity. The themes of relativity, incompleteness, uncertainty, and fragmentation are implicated in postmodernist critiques of the values of the enlightenment.