Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Mapping and Preliminary Analysis of ABORTED MICROSPORES (AMS) as the Candidate Gene Underlying the Male Sterility (MS-5) Mutant in Melon (Cucumis melo L.)

Melon is an important agricultural and economic vegetable crop worldwide. The genetic male sterility mutant (ms-5) has a recessive nuclear gene that controls the male sterility germplasm. Male sterility could reduce the cost of F1 seed production in melon, but heterozygous fertile plants should be removed before pollination. In this study, bulked segregant analysis combined with specific length amplified fragment sequencing was applied to map the single nuclear male sterility recessive gene. A 30-kb candidate region on chromosome 9 located on scaffold 000048 and spanning 2,522,791 to 2,555,104 bp was identified and further confirmed by cleavage amplified polymorphic sequence markers based on parental line resequencing data and classical mapping of 252 F2 individuals. Gene prediction indicated that six annotated genes are present in the 30-kb candidate region. Quantitative RT-PCR revealed significant differences in the expression level of the LOC103498166 ABORTED MICROSPORES (AMS) gene in male-sterile lines (ms-5) and male-fertile (HM1-1) lines during the 2-mm (tetrad) and 5-mm (the first pollen mitosis) periods, and negative regulation of the AMS candidate gene transcription factor was also detected. Sequencing and cluster analysis of the AMS transcription factor revealed five single-nucleotide polymorphisms between the parental lines. The data presented herein suggest that the AMS transcription factor is a possible candidate gene for single nuclear male sterility in melon. The results of this study will help breeders to identify male-sterile and -fertile plants at seeding as marker-assisted selection methods, which would reduce the cost of seed production and improve the use of male-sterile lines in melon.
Vector taylor series based joint uncertainty decoding

Joint uncertainty decoding has recently achieved promising results by using front-end uncertainty in the back-endin a mathematically consistent framework. One drawback of the method is that it relies on stereo-data or numerical algorithms, such as DPMC, which have high computational complexity and are difﬁcult to deploy in real applications. We propose a Vector Taylor Series (VTS) approach to joint uncertainty decoding which provides a closed-form solution to the key problem of estimating the clean/noisy speechcross-covariancematrix. Our solution does not require stereo-data or numerical integration. We also propose a new strategy to deal with the cross-covariance matrix singularity. Experiments on Aurora2 show that VTS-based joint uncertainty decoding has similar accuracy compared to DPMC-based joint uncertainty decoding while being at least three times faster. Finally, VTS-based joint uncertainty decodingprovided more than 2% absolute improvement when combined with our new strategy for cross-covariance singularity.
F2-dihomo-isoprostanes as potential early biomarkers of lipid oxidative damage in Rett syndrome

Oxidative damage has been reported in Rett syndrome (RTT), a pervasive developmental disorder caused in up to 95% of cases by mutations in the X-linked methyl-CpG binding protein 2 gene. Herein, we have synthesized F2-dihomo-isoprostanes (F2-dihomo-IsoPs), peroxidation products from adrenic acid (22:4 n-6), a known component of myelin, and tested the potential value of F2-dihomo-IsoPs as a novel disease marker and its relationship with clinical presentation and disease progression. F2-dihomo-IsoPs were determined by gas chromatography/negative-ion chemical ionization tandem mass spectrometry. Newly synthesized F2-dihomo-IsoP isomers [ent-7(RS)-F2t-dihomo-IsoP and 17-F2t-dihomo-IsoP] were used as reference standards. The measured ions were the product ions at m/z 327 derived from the [M–181]− precursor ions (m/z 597) produced from both the derivatized ent-7(RS)-F2t-dihomo-IsoP and 17-F2t-dihomo-IsoP. Average plasma F2-dihomo-IsoP levels in RTT were about one order of magnitude higher than those in healthy controls, being higher in typical RTT as compared with RTT variants, with a remarkable increase of about two orders of magnitude in patients at the earliest stage of the disease followed by a steady decrease during the natural clinical progression. hese data indicate for the first time that quantification of F2-dihomo-IsoPs in plasma represents an early marker of the disease and may provide a better understanding of the pathogenic mechanisms behind the neurological regression in patients with RTT
The Effect of Condom Use on Cervical Intraepithelial Neoplasia Grade I (CIN I)

EDITORIAL COMMENT: This study shows how necessary it is for any research finding relevant to patient care or clinical belief to be verified before enshrinement in the regimens of clinical practice — the more important the finding, the more necessary the verification. This paper will not be the last word on the effect of condom use on prevention of initiation or progression of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia, but it does make one wonder if the role of seminal fluid in the pathogenesis of carcinoma of the cervix should be reexamined — or is the die cast and the role of seminal fluid as carcinogenic factor complete once there is histological evidence of intraepithelial neoplasia Grade 1?
Radiographic repair in three Japanese patients with rheumatoid arthritis treated with bucillamine

Bucillamine (Bc) is a cysteine derivative with two SH groups, and a homolog of d-penicillamine, a disease-modifying antirheumatic drug (DMARD) widely used in Japan. However, it remains unclear whether Bc repairs bone erosion in patients with RA. Here, we treated three RA patients with Bc who subsequently showed radiographic repair of erosions and cysts.
Change readiness: creating understanding and capability for the knowledge acquisition process

Purpose – This study aims to show how change readiness shapes the knowledge acquisition process. The study elicits change readiness factors, at the individual and firm levels, that influence the knowledge acquisition process and are based on the context of professional service firms. Design/methodology/approach – The qualitative study is grounded in interpretive philosophy and adopts a multiple-case study design. Three New Zealand Professional Service firms were analyzed for this study. Using grounded theory analysis, categories and concepts of change readiness that shape knowledge acquisition were identified. Findings – Knowledge acquisition understanding, knowledge acquisition context and individual differences, represent primary dimensions defining change readiness for the knowledge acquisition process. Finally, distinctive firm archetypes, inter-profession differences and professionals’ demography, affect the way change readiness elements shape the knowledge acquisition process in the firms studied. R.
Performance analysis of CNFET based circuits in the presence of fabrication imperfections

This paper presents a comprehensive analysis of the impact of CNT fabrication imperfections on the performance of multichannel Carbon Nanotube FET (CNFET) -based devices. In particular, we introduce a methodology for stochastically estimating the impact of spacing between adjacent tubes and the impact of its variation. This enables accurate prediction of the reduction in drive current due to the removal of tubes, the increase in spacing between adjacent tubes, and variations in tube diameter and spacing. In multichannel CNFETs, when the number of channels (CNTs) is greater than eight, our experiments show that variations in tube diameter and inter-tube spacing result in less than 8% performance variation. Monte Carlo simulation results, however, show that the removal of tubes increases variation in ION from 13% to 26% due to larger variation in inter-tube spacing. The presented realistic analysis and the proposed methodology can be extremely useful in variation-tolerant CNFET-based circuit design.
Adaptive search order determination for effective early termination in the N-step search algorithm

Motion estimation occupies most of the required computation in video compression, and many fast search algorithms were propsoed to reduce huge computation. SAD (sum-of-absolute difference) calculation is the most computation-intensive process in the motion estimation. Early termination is widely used in SAD calculation, where SAD calculation is terminated and it proceeds to next search position if partial SAD during SAD calculation exceeds current minimum SAD. In this paper, we proposed an adaptive search order determination of N-step search algorithm for effective early termination where only search order of search positions are adaptive rearranged. Candidate search positions are examined in the order of their distances from the predicted motion vector, since early termination occurs earlier in the next candidate search positions if the previously examined search position has smaller SAD. From the simulation, it reduces the computation by 19∼29% without performance degradation.
Experience of infectious diseases consultants with outpatient parenteral antimicrobial therapy: results of an emerging infections network survey.

BACKGROUND Despite the increasing use of outpatient parenteral antimicrobial therapy (OPAT), little is known about the role of infectious diseases consultants in the process or their perceptions of OPAT. METHODS In May 2004, the Infectious Diseases Society of America Emerging Infections Network (EIN) surveyed its members to characterize their involvement and experiences with OPAT. RESULTS Of the 454 respondents (54%) who completed the questionnaire, 426 (94%) indicated that patients in their primary inpatient facility were "frequently" discharged while receiving OPAT, estimating that, on average, 19 patients are discharged from their hospitals while receiving OPAT each month. Although 86% of EIN members stated that they personally order OPAT for some patients, 18% indicated that they have no involvement, and 37% stated they only rarely or occasionally oversee OPAT. EIN members involved in OPAT estimated that approximately 90% of their patients who take OPAT received therapy at home, and the members described variable monitoring and oversight methods. Of the respondents, 68% of providers collectively estimated that they encountered 1951 infectious and serious noninfectious complications of OPAT in the past year. The most frequently used antibiotics included vancomycin, ceftriaxone, and cefazolin, most commonly used for bone and joint infections. CONCLUSIONS These results testify to the pervasive use of OPAT in today's health care system, the variable role of infectious diseases consultants, and the heterogeneity in oversight and management practices. The widespread use of OPAT and its frequent complications indicate the need for additional studies to establish optimal methods of delivery and management to insure the quality and safety of the process.
Intra-Arterial Bone Marrow Mononuclear Cells (BM-MNCS) Transplantation in Acute Ischemic Stroke (IBiS Trial): Protocol of a Phase II, Randomized, Dose-Finding, Controlled Multicenter Trial

Rationale No neuroprotective or neurorestorative therapies have been approved for ischemic stroke. Bone marrow mononuclear cell intra-arterial transplantation improves recovery in experimental models of ischemic stroke. Aims This trial aims to test safety and efficacy of intra-arterial injection of autologous bone marrow mononuclear cell in ischemic stroke patients. Design Multicenter, prospective, phase II, randomized, controlled (non-treated group as control), assessor-blinded clinical trial. Seventy-six stroke patients will be enrolled. Patients fulfilling clinical and radiological criteria (e.g. age between 18 and 80 years, middle cerebral artery ischemic stroke with a National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale score of 6–20 within one- to seven-days from stroke onset and no lacunar stroke) will be randomized to intervention or control group (1 : 1). Bone marrow harvest and intra-arterial injection of autologous bone marrow mononuclear cell will be done in the intervention group with two different doses (2 × 106/kg or 5 × 106/kg in 1 : 1 proportion). Patients will be stratified at randomization by National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale score. Patients will be followed up for two-years. Study outcomes The primary outcome is the proportion of patients with modified Rankin Scale scores of 0–2 at 180 days. Secondary outcomes include National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale and Barthel scores at six-months, infarct volume, mortality, and seizures. Discussion This is the first trial to explore efficacy of different doses of intra-arterial bone marrow mononuclear cell in moderate-to-severe acute ischemic stroke patients. The trial is registered as NCT02178657.
Using advanced ML for improving surveillance accuracy

An increase in research over the past 60 years in the field of machine learning widened its areas of application from merely making computers learn to play board games to analysis of big data. Many algorithms have been developed that are now commonly used in various fields ranging from natural language processing to computational finance and has been brought to use commercially as well. Recently, there has been an increase in research on machine learning application in the area of automated video surveillance systems. Most of these algorithms assume that both the training data and test data belong to same feature space with same distribution which might not always be true. This constraint gave rise to the concept of transfer learning which uses the knowledge from the preoccupied knowledge from other related task. This paper aims at improving the efficiency of a transfer learning based machine learning technique for object classification, MKTL framework. It can be brought to use for multiclass object classification in automated video surveillance systems.
Embedded RF Balun for 3D System-in-Package Solutions

Compact concept for RF integration is highly desired, when future wireless communication circuits are designed. With three-dimensional SiP technologies it is possible to realize much smaller package size and weight, and higher integration rate than with planar technologies. However, miniaturization of passive devices is necessary to achieve small low-cost RF systems. In this paper, a multilayer RF balun for the state-of-art 3D SiP is designed. The balun is embedded on a single interposer layer of a three-layer 3D RF SiP. Two metal layers inside the interposer are used to realize the transmission line type balun. The balun is isolated from the other functional blocks with ground planes and via fences. This improves the electromagnetic compatibility of the balun and the package. A full-wave 3D electromagnetic solver is used to analyze the frequency behavior of the balun due to the complex structure of high-density environment. The final measures of the balun are 5.2 mm x 2.6 mm x 0.3 mm. In addition, a test structure is manufactured and measured. The correlation between simulation and experimental results is analyzed. Good input impedance match and excellent amplitude balance between output ports is achieved and phase imbalance is smaller than two degrees. Bandwidth from 1.8 GHz to 2.9 GHz is reported.
Chemical Inhibitors of the Type Three Secretion System: Disarming Bacterial Pathogens

ABSTRACT The recent and dramatic rise of antibiotic resistance among bacterial pathogens underlies the fear that standard treatments for infectious disease will soon be largely ineffective. Resistance has evolved against nearly every clinically used antibiotic, and in the near future, we may be hard-pressed to treat bacterial infections previously conquered by “magic bullet” drugs. While traditional antibiotics kill or slow bacterial growth, an important emerging strategy to combat pathogens seeks to block the ability of bacteria to harm the host by inhibiting bacterial virulence factors. One such virulence factor, the type three secretion system (T3SS), is found in over two dozen Gram-negative pathogens and functions by injecting effector proteins directly into the cytosol of host cells. Without T3SSs, many pathogenic bacteria are unable to cause disease, making the T3SS an attractive target for novel antimicrobial drugs. Interdisciplinary efforts between chemists and microbiologists have yielded several T3SS inhibitors, including the relatively well-studied salicylidene acylhydrazides. This review highlights the discovery and characterization of T3SS inhibitors in the primary literature over the past 10 years and discusses the future of these drugs as both research tools and a new class of therapeutic agents.
Purification and characterization of cloned alkaline protease gene of Geobacillus stearothermophilus

Thermostable alkaline serine protease gene of Geobacillus stearothermophilus B‐1172 was cloned and expressed in Escherichia coli BL21 (DE3) using pET‐22b(+), as an expression vector. The growth conditions were optimized for maximal production of the protease using variable fermentation parameters, i.e., pH, temperature, and addition of an inducer. Protease, thus produced, was purified by ammonium sulfate precipitation followed by ion exchange chromatography with 13.7‐fold purification, with specific activity of 97.5 U mg−1, and a recovery of 23.6%. Molecular weight of the purified protease, 39 kDa, was determined by sodium dodecyl sulfate–polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS–PAGE). The enzyme was stable at 90 °C at pH 9. The enzyme activity was steady in the presence of EDTA indicating that the protease was not a metalloprotease. No significant change in the activity of protease after addition of various metal ions further strengthened this fact. However, an addition of 1% Triton X‐100 or SDS surfactants constrained the enzyme specific activity to 34 and 19%, respectively. Among organic solvents, an addition of 1‐butanol (20%) augmented the enzyme activity by 29% of the original activity. With casein as a substrate, the enzyme activity under optimized conditions was found to be 73.8 U mg−1. The effect of protease expression on the host cells growth was also studied and found to negatively affect E. coli cells to certain extent. Catalytic domains of serine proteases from eight important thermostable organisms were analyzed through WebLogo and found to be conserved in all serine protease sequences suggesting that protease of G. stearothermophilus could be beneficially used as a biocontrol agent and in many industries including detergent industry.
A Case Study of Online Support for International Students in a Doctoral Program

Online delivery methods that replicate aspects of face-to-face teaching and facilitate learning at a distance are becoming a more common teaching and learning approach in Australian universities teaching external international students. This paper examines a trial of a new online method of course delivery, using a CD-ROM as the basis of materials provision, communication and interaction, for a group of Thai doctoral students in a course at Flinders University in South Australia called Approaches to Research. The paper uses a case study approach and employs a focus group to collect data. The twin purposes of the paper are to describe the two methods of course delivery in which Approaches to Research is taught and to investigate the views of the Thai student group about the success of replicating face-to-face with online teaching. The findings of the paper, which are organised into themes, may provide pointers to university staff contemplating the use of online teaching to facilitate learning at a distance for international students.
Idiosyncratic evolution of maternal effects in response to juvenile malnutrition in Drosophila

Maternal effects often affect fitness traits, but there is little experimental evidence pertaining to their contribution to response to selection imposed by novel environments. We studied the evolution of maternal effects in Drosophila populations selected for tolerance to chronic larval malnutrition. To this end, we performed pairwise reciprocal F1 crosses between six selected (malnutrition tolerant) populations and six unselected control populations and assessed the effect of cross direction on larval growth and developmental rate, adult weight and egg‐to‐adult viability expressed under the malnutrition regime. Each pair of reciprocal crosses revealed large maternal effects (possibly including cytoplasmic genetic effects) on at least one trait, but the magnitude, sign and which traits were affected varied among populations. Thus, maternal effects contributed significantly to the response to selection imposed by the malnutrition regime, but these changes were idiosyncratic, suggesting a rugged adaptive landscape. Furthermore, although the selected populations evolved both faster growth and higher viability, the maternal effects on growth rate and viability were negatively correlated across populations. Thus, genes mediating maternal effects can evolve to partially counteract the response to selection mediated by the effects of alleles on their own carriers’ phenotype, and maternal effects may contribute to evolutionary trade‐offs between components of offspring fitness.
Floral diversity and pollen transfer mechanisms in bird-pollinated Salvia species.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS Bird-pollinated (ornithophilous) Salvia species (sages) transfer pollen either by means of a staminal lever mechanism or by immovable stamens. As the distribution of the two modes within the genus is not known, we present a survey of all ornithophilous sages. The main focus is given to floral diversity especially with respect to functional lever morphology. Thereby the hypothesis is tested that, due to a pollinator shift from bees to birds, the lever mechanism became unnecessary. METHODS To get a general idea about the diversity of pollen transfer mechanisms, 186 ornithophilous Salvia species were classified according to the functional morphology of the stamen and the need for a lever movement. To test the functionality of the staminal levers and the fitting between flowers and birds the process of pollen transfer was examined by pollinator observations and tested by inserting museum skins and metal rods into fresh flowers. KEY RESULTS The diversity of pollen transfer mechanisms is represented by eight case studies illustrating three main groups. In group I (approx. 50 %) the staminal lever mechanism is necessary to open access to nectar and to enable the transfer of pollen that is hidden in the upper lip. In group II (approx. 34 %) pollen is freely accessible and the lever mechanism is reduced in different ways and to different degrees. In group III (approx. 4 %) the lever works as in group I, but pollen is freely accessible as in II. The remaining approx. 13 % are not clearly classified. CONCLUSIONS It is considered that the driving force behind the diverse modes of reduction is the necessity to increase the distance between nectar and pollen, thereby ensuring pollen deposition on the bird's feathered head. This is achieved several times in parallel by corolla elongation and/or exposure of the pollen-sacs. As soon as pollen is freely accessible, the lever movement loses its significance for pollination.