Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Poverty and social integration in the enlarged Europe

Empirical studies of the 'old EU' countries suggest that poverty brings limited social relations and a lack of social support in its wake. At the same time, it is thought that in the transition countries, especially, individual supply crises are compensated for by a composite and stable network of social relations as well as a tradition of solidarity as a dominant value. This paper looks at the ways in which cultures of support vary across the enlarged Europe and to this end examines the link between poverty and social disintegration in countries characterised by different economic, cultural and welfare state regimes. The empirical analysis is concerned with (1) the distribution of social integration across the enlarged Europe, and (2) the verification of the hypothesis of accumulation and compensation in the individual countries. An additional step seeks to identify (3) the reasons for the variation across countries in the relationship between poverty and social disintegration. This macro-sociological perspective examines context effects that allow conclusions to be drawn regarding two hypotheses, in particular - that of stigmatisation and that of crowding out. Is poverty, which only affects a minority of the population in countries with a generally high standard of living, closely associated with stigmatisation, and does it lead to social withdrawal? Does a precarious system of social protection increase private solidarity and is support potential reduced in an environment of universal risk insurance? Within this same context, the paper also looks for evidence of (4) greater recourse to family support in precarious life situations. The data on which the study is based is taken from the European Quality of Life Survey - a representative survey of living conditions and quality of life in Europe that was carried out in October 2003.
Non-baseline method for damage detection in truss structures using displacement and strain measurements

Realistic problems restrict the application of many existing structural damage detection methods. Due to the requirement of a comparison between two system states, lack of appropriate baseline data may become one of the limitations to undertake structural health monitoring strategy. This article suggests a non-baseline damage detection approach based on the mixed measurements and the transmissibility concept and demonstrates it in truss structures. The algorithm uses the measurement data from the strains of the truss elements and the displacements of the truss joints, in which the displacements are utilized to estimate the baseline strains based on the transmissibility matrix from an initial finite element model. Wavelet-based damage-sensitive features are extracted from both estimated and measured strains to detect damages of the target elements. Numerical and experimental studies are performed to investigate the feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed approach. It is concluded from the instances that the robustness of the algorithm is realized when handling the measurement noise, modeling errors and the operational condition variability. These permit the potential development of the damage detection method for real structures in site.
Exploring the Graph of Graphs: Network Evolution and Centrality Distances

The topological structure of complex networks has fascinated researchers for several decades, and today we have a fairly good understanding of the types and reoccurring characteristics of many different complex networks. However, surprisingly little is known today about models to compare complex graphs, and quantitatively measure their similarity and dynamics. In the past a variety of node centralities, i.e., functions which assign values to nodes to represent their importance in the graph. Based on such centralities we propose a natural similarity measure for complex networks: the centrality distance $d_C$, the difference between two graphs with respect to a given node centrality $C$. Centrality distances can take the specific roles of the different nodes in the network into account, and have many interesting applications. As a case study, we investigate the evolution of networks with respect to centrality distances and their approximations based on closeness, betweenness, pagerank, clustering and degree centrality. In particular we study the dynamic behavior of six real-world social and physical networks and show that centrality distances can be used to effectively distinguish between randomly generated and actual evolutionary paths of dynamic complex networks.
An Application-Oriented Network Model for Wireless Sensor Networks

Wireless sensor networks (WSNs) are energy-constrained networks. The residual energy real-time monitoring (RERM) is very important for WSNs. Moreover, network model is an important foundation of RERM research at personal area network (PAN) level. Because RERM is inherently application-oriented, the network model adopted should also be application-oriented. However, many factors of WSNs applications such as link selected probability and ACK mechanism etc. were neglected by current network models. These factors can introduce obvious influence on throughput of WSNs. Then the energy consumption of nodes will be influenced greatly. So these models cannot characterize many real properties of WSNs, and the result of RERM is not consistent with the real-world situation. In this study, these factors neglected by other researchers are taken into account. Furthermore, an application-oriented general network model (AGNM) for RERM is proposed. Based on the AGNM, the dynamic characteristics of WSNs are simulated. The experimental results show that AGNM can approximately characterize the real situation of WSNs. Therefore, the AGNM provides a good foundation for RERM research.
The motion map: efficient computation of steady flow animations

The paper presents a new approach for animating 2D steady flow fields. It is based on an original data structure called the motion map. The motion map contains not only a dense representation of the flow field but also all the motion information required to animate the flow. An important feature of this method is that it allows, in a natural way, cyclical variable-speed animations. As far as efficiency is concerned, the advantage of this method is that computing the motion map does not take more time than computing a single still image of the flow and the motion map has to be computed only once. Another advantage is that the memory requirements for a cyclical animation of an arbitrary number of frames amounts to the memory cost of a single still image.
A Study of CC-Chemokine Receptor 5 (CCR5) Polymorphism on the Outcome of HCV Therapy in Egyptian Patients

Background: Chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is a globally serious public health issue. Objectives: In this study, we investigated CC chemokine receptor 5 (CCR5-59029) polymorphism which is considered an important component of the immune system in determining the outcome of HCV infection. Its critical role as a marker in response to interferon therapy of HCV infection is also investigated besides its effect on other clinical patient factors. Patients and Methods: This study was conducted on 82 Egyptian patients with chronic Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) infection who received PEG-INF + Ribavirin treatment for 48 weeks. The study was also conducted on 50 healthy controls (with negative results for HCV antibody and RNA PCR). Full history of patients in this study was recorded. Clinical and histological examinations, qualitative HCV nested RT-PCR, quantitative real –time PCR, and genotyping of HCV RNA genome were performed. CCR5-59029 polymorphism with nucleotide substitution from G to A was amplified. The amplicons were digested with restriction endonuclease Bsp 1286I, and produced RFLPs of the CCR5 genotypes were determined. Results: The present study showed a significant association between the functional SNP of CCR5 gene and the viral response to interferon in chronic HCV Egyptian patients. It was shown that the higher fibrosis stages (F2-F4) had significant association with nonresponse to treatment compared to the lower fibrosis stages (F0-F1) (95% confidence: 5.497 - 55.074, P = 0.0001). In addition, worse liver activity grade (A2-A3) had a very highly significant association with non-responder HCV patients compared to those with better liver activity grade (A1) (95% confidence: 2.242 - 20.974, P = 0.0007). Most importantly HCV patients with G allele had a high significant association with nonresponse to treatment, higher fibrosis stages and worse liver activity grades, while the A allele had a high significant association with sustained response, low fibrosis stages and relatively better liver activity grade (95% confidence: 3.347 - 15.036, P = 0.0001). Conclusions: SNPs within the CCR5 gene should be considered as an important factor used in combination with other host gene SNPs when developing a mathematical model for anticipating response to HCV therapy.
Additive Manufacturing of Porous Structures for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles Applications

Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) have shown promising benefits in many applications. This has been enabled by the emergence of additive manufacturing (AM), which give the designers a large amount of geometrical freedom. In this paper, a novel design process of fused deposition modeling (FDM) combining both topology and infill optimization is introduced for AM of high performance porous structures. Tensile testing of FDM printed samples is first carried out to study the effect of the build orientation on the mechanical properties of acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) samples. It is found that samples built perpendicular to the load axis are the weakest with a tensile strength of 29 MPa and Young's modulus of 1960 MPa. The materials properties are fed to the finite elements analysis (FEA) for geometrical topology optimization, aiming to maximize stiffness and reduce weight of those parts. Afterwards, an infill optimization is carried out on the topology optimized parts using different mesostructures such as honeycomb, triangular, and rectangular to achieve high structural performance. The results showed that triangular pattern with 50% infill density had the lowest developed stresses, less mass, and strain energy when compared to other structures. Optimum UAVs parts of a quadcopter are successfully manufactured, assembled, and tested.
Mitogen‐ and stress‐activated protein kinase‐1 (MSK1) is directly activated by MAPK and SAPK2/p38, and may mediate activation of CREB

We have identified a novel mitogen‐ and stress‐activated protein kinase (MSK1) that contains two protein kinase domains in a single polypeptide. MSK1 is activated in vitro by MAPK2/ERK2 or SAPK2/p38. Endogenous MSK1 is activated in 293 cells by either growth factor/phorbol ester stimulation, or by exposure to UV radiation, and oxidative and chemical stress. The activation of MSK1 by growth factors/phorbol esters is prevented by PD 98059, which suppresses activation of the MAPK cascade, while the activation of MSK1 by stress stimuli is prevented by SB 203580, a specific inhibitor of SAPK2/p38. In HeLa, PC12 and SK‐N‐MC cells, PD 98059 and SB 203580 are both required to suppress the activation of MSK1 by TNF, NGF and FGF, respectively, because these agonists activate both the MAPK/ERK and SAPK2/p38 cascades. MSK1 is localized in the nucleus of unstimulated or stimulated cells, and phosphorylates CREB at Ser133 with a Km value far lower than PKA, MAPKAP‐K1(p90Rsk) and MAPKAP‐K2. The effects of SB 203580, PD 98059 and Ro 318220 on agonist‐induced activation of CREB and ATF1 in four cell‐lines mirror the effects of these inhibitors on MSK1 activation, and exclude a role for MAPKAP‐K1 and MAPKAP‐K2/3 in this process. These findings, together with other observations, suggest that MSK1 may mediate the growth‐factor and stress‐induced activation of CREB.
Discovering expressive process models by clustering log traces

Process mining techniques have recently received notable attention in the literature; for their ability to assist in the (re)design of complex processes by automatically discovering models that explain the events registered in some log traces provided as input. Following this line of research, the paper investigates an extension of such basic approaches, where the identification of different variants for the process is explicitly accounted for, based on the clustering of log traces. Indeed, modeling each group of similar executions with a different schema allows us to single out "conformant" models, which, specifically, minimize the number of modeled enactments that are extraneous to the process semantics. Therefore, a novel process mining framework is introduced and some relevant computational issues are deeply studied. As finding an exact solution to such an enhanced process mining problem is proven to require high computational costs, in most practical cases, a greedy approach is devised. This is founded on an iterative, hierarchical, refinement of the process model, where, at each step, traces sharing similar behavior patterns are clustered together and equipped with a specialized schema. The algorithm guarantees that each refinement leads to an increasingly sound mDdel, thus attaining a monotonic search. Experimental results evidence the validity of the approach with respect to both effectiveness and scalability
Associations between feed intake of growing gilts, lactating sows and other reproductive and performance traits

The genetic and phenotypic associations between performance and feed intake traits of finished gilts (GFI), along with their subsequent reproductive performance and feed intake during lactation (LFI), were estimated using data collected from two maternal lines recorded under the same management system. Ad-libitum feed intake was heritable (h: 0.33±0.08) when recorded in post-finisher gilts or during lactation (h: 0.11±0.09). Genetic (ra) and phenotypic (rp) correlations between GFI and performance traits support the hypothesis that selection for reduced back fat (BF) and lower feed conversion ratio (FCR) are associated with a reduction in feed intake (ra: 0.36±0.11 and 0.79±0.11 for BF and FCR respectively). However, the correlations between GFI and measures of sow reproductive performance were lower (ranges: ra from -0.16 to 0.01; rp from -0.07 to 0.02). Current estimates of genetic and phenotypic correlations between GFI and LFI do not support the expectation of a positive association between these traits (ra: -0.26±0.33; rp: 0.05±0.04) although standard errors are large. More data are required to obtain accurate estimates of correlations between LFI and the other traits.
Using feedback control and micro-fluidics to steer individual particles

We show how it is possible to combine micro-fluidics and feedback control (sense, compare, and apply corrective actuation) to steer many particles at once. The particles are steered by creating a spatially complex and time-varying fluid flow that carries all particles along their desired trajectories. We demonstrated experimental results for steering of a single yeast cell and realistic simulation results for the steering of many particles at once.
New Concepts for 3D Optics in X-ray Microscopy

1. Modern Magnetic Systems Department, Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems, Stuttgart 70569, Germany 2. Physical Intelligence Department, Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems, Stuttgart 70569, Germany 3. Thermo Fisher Scientific, 5651 GG Eindhoven, The Netherlands 4. Stuttgart Center for Electron Microscopy, Max Planck Institute for Solid State Research, Stuttgart 70569, Germany * Corresponding author: keskinbora@is.mpg. de
Eye movements in monkeys with local dopamine depletion in the caudate nucleus. I. Deficits in spontaneous saccades

The basal ganglia contribute to the suppression and initiation of saccadic eye movements through the inhibitory connection from the substantia nigra pars reticulata (SNr) to the superior colliculus. This mechanism consists of serial and parallel connections, which are mostly inhibitory and GABAergic. Dopamine is known to exert powerful modulatory effects on the basal ganglia function, but its nature and mechanism are still unclear, especially in relation to voluntary behavior. The purpose of this series of investigation was to study the role of dopamine in the control of saccadic eye movements. We examined, in the monkey, whether and how the deficiency of the nigrostriatal dopaminergic innervation affects saccadic eye movements. The present article is focused on spontaneous saccades that the monkey made with no incentive to obtain reward; the next paper will describe task-specific saccades. Using an osmotic minipump we infused 1-methyl-4-phenyl- 1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP) unilaterally into the head-body junction of the caudate nucleus of monkeys where presaccadic neurons were clustered. Tyrosine hydroxylase activity, visualized using an immunohistochemical method, decreased locally around the injection site with some effects extending into the ipsilateral putamen and locally in the ipsilateral substantia nigra. Changes of eye movements started to appear 3–5 d after starting the infusion. Spontaneous saccades became less frequent. The area scanned by the saccades became narrower and shifted to the hemifield ipsilateral to the infusion site. The saccade amplitudes and peak velocities decreased; durations were prolonged. These effects were more prominent for saccades directed toward the side contralateral to the infusion site. These monkeys showed no obvious skeletomotor symptoms. These results suggest that the local deprivation of the dopaminergic innervation in the caudate nucleus facilitates neuronal activity of the SNr leading to suppression of saccadic eye movements.
Exopolysaccharide biosynthetic glycoside hydrolases can be utilized to disrupt and prevent Pseudomonas aeruginosa biofilms

Therapeutic enzyme treatment disrupts Pseudomonas biofilms, potentiating antibiotics and ameliorating the innate immune system. Bacterial biofilms present a significant medical challenge because they are recalcitrant to current therapeutic regimes. A key component of biofilm formation in the opportunistic human pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa is the biosynthesis of the exopolysaccharides Pel and Psl, which are involved in the formation and maintenance of the structural biofilm scaffold and protection against antimicrobials and host defenses. Given that the glycoside hydrolases PelAh and PslGh encoded in the pel and psl biosynthetic operons, respectively, are utilized for in vivo exopolysaccharide processing, we reasoned that these would provide specificity to target P. aeruginosa biofilms. Evaluating these enzymes as potential therapeutics, we demonstrate that these glycoside hydrolases selectively target and degrade the exopolysaccharide component of the biofilm matrix. PelAh and PslGh inhibit biofilm formation over a 24-hour period with a half maximal effective concentration (EC50) of 69.3 ± 1.2 and 4.1 ± 1.1 nM, respectively, and are capable of disrupting preexisting biofilms in 1 hour with EC50 of 35.7 ± 1.1 and 12.9 ± 1.1 nM, respectively. This treatment was effective against clinical and environmental P. aeruginosa isolates and reduced biofilm biomass by 58 to 94%. These noncytotoxic enzymes potentiated antibiotics because the addition of either enzyme to a sublethal concentration of colistin reduced viable bacterial counts by 2.5 orders of magnitude when used either prophylactically or on established 24-hour biofilms. In addition, PelAh was able to increase neutrophil killing by ~50%. This work illustrates the feasibility and benefits of using bacterial exopolysaccharide biosynthetic glycoside hydrolases to develop novel antibiofilm therapeutics.
Redundant DNA methylation in colorectal cancers of Lynch‐syndrome patients

Lynch syndrome is an inherited disease resulting predominantly in colorectal cancer (CRC). The crucial cause is DNA mismatch repair (MMR) malfunction that is associated mostly with MLH1 or MSH2 germline mutations. A significant hallmark of repair defects is a high level of instability in microsatellites (MSI‐H). In many sporadic unstable CRCs, the MLH1 gene is inactivated by promoter hypermethylation in addition to extensive promoter methylation in many tumor‐suppressor genes known as CpG island methylation phenotype (CIMP). To investigate the possible role of epigenetic alterations in causing MMR deficiency and thereby Lynch syndrome, we evaluated the MLH1 specific and global hypermethylation in hereditary CRCs. Of 22 Lynch‐syndrome‐related CRCs, 18 (81.8%) demonstrated various levels of DNA methylation; of these, 14 (63.6%) and 4 (18.2%) were methylated in distal and both distal and proximal regions of the MLH1 promoter, respectively. However, only 7/18 (38.9%) of results were confirmed by bisulfite sequencing. Similar methylation patterns in tumors and frequently in matched normal DNA were found in twelve and four patients with MLH1 and MSH2 alterations documented by the absence of protein or presence of germline mutation, respectively. Moreover, the same results were observed in five stable CRCs. None of 22 Lynch‐syndrome‐related tumors presented CIMP in contrast to 3/10 (30%) stable carcinomas. The rather randomly distributed weak methylation patterns in hereditary CRCs indicate that epigenetic events are redundant in Lynch‐syndrome etiology, in contrast to the widespread DNA methylation in sporadic unstable CRCs. These methylation‐profile differences can lead to more effective molecular diagnosis of Lynch syndrome. © 2008 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
A Nonlinear Approach to Robust Routing Based on Reinforcement Learning with State Space Compression and Adaptive Basis Construction

A robust routing algorithm was developed based on reinforcement learning that uses (1) reward-weighted principal component analysis, which compresses the state space of a network with a large number of nodes and eliminates the adverse effects of various types of attacks or disturbance noises, (2) activity-oriented index allocation, which adaptively constructs a basis that is used for approximating routing probabilities, and (3) newly developed control space compression based on a potential model that reduces the control space for routing probabilities. This algorithm takes all the network states into account and reduces the adverse effects of disturbance noises. The algorithm thus works well, and the frequencies of causing routing loops and falling to a local optimum are reduced even if the routing information is disturbed.