Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Structural Modification of Pristine Graphene Network Towards Nanoporous Graphene Membrane: A Review

A single graphene layer is superior many ways preferably in electronic devices application. However, mild modification of the graphene network could open a new potential to the ultrathin graphene membrane. Moreover, recent studies demonstrated that a few simple techniques could generate and control the nanopores size on single layer graphene sheet simultaneously. This review paper will discuss all potential techniques that are capable to generate nanopores structure on the pristine single layer graphene network.
IMAGE HAZE REMOVAL VIA HAZE DENSITY ANALYSIS BASED ON PIXEL-BASED DARK CHANNEL PRIOR

Images/videos of outdoor scenes are usually degraded by the turbid medium in the atmosphere. In this paper, a novel single image-based dehazing framework is proposed to remove haze effects from image/video, where we propose two novel image priors, called the pixel-based dark channel prior and the pixel-based bright channel prior. Based on the two priors with the haze imaging model, we propose to accurately estimate the atmospheric light via haze density analysis. We can then accurately estimate the transmission map, followed by refining it via the bilateral filter. As a result, highquality haze-free image can be recovered with lower computational complexity, which can be naturally extended to video dehazing.
In vitro Activities of Various Antibiotics, Alone and in Combination with Colistin Methanesulfonate, against Pseudomonas aeruginosa Strains Isolated from Cystic Fibrosis Patients

Background: The in vitro activities of various antibiotics, either alone or in combination with colistin methanesulfonate, were assessed using Pseudomonas aeruginosa strains isolated from cystic fibrosis patients. Methods: Except for colistin methanesulfonate, minimum inhibitory concentrations were determined by microbroth dilution technique as described by the Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI); for colistin methanesulfonate, a modified method of the CLSI was used. Minimum bactericidal concentrations were determined as described by the CLSI. The in vitro activities of antibiotics in combination were determined by microbroth checkerboard technique, and results were interpreted by fractional inhibitory concentration index. Results: According to MIC values, 100, 98, 96 and 84% of the isolates were found susceptible to amikacin, colistin methanesulfonate, meropenem and ceftazidime, respectively. The minimum bactericidal concentrations were generally equal to or twice as high as those of the minimum inhibitory concentrations. With a fractional inhibitory concentration index of ≤0.5 as borderline, synergistic interactions were more frequent with combinations where amikacin was involved than with those with colistin methanesulfonate. No antagonism was observed. Conclusion: The findings of this study may play a useful role in selecting the appropriate combinations when a single agent is inadequate to treat cystic fibrosis patients with P. aeruginosa infections.
Network-Aware Customer Value in Telecommunication Social Networks

The exponential growth of interactions in the networked society becomes gradually a reality. Social networks thrive and expand rapidly across many different interaction platforms delivered by modern telecommunication and internet services. The role and the impact of individuals on network interactions is increasingly important although rather complex and difficult to analyse in the realistic dynamic network environment. The goal of this paper is to look into the key structural changes in social networks: addition and removal of nodes and propose a methodology for temporal modelling of network response to these changes in order to assess the true network impact of the added or removed node. We propose to use the time series of the first order neighbourhood interaction as the key dynamic measure of the impact of individual node on its local network’s interaction. The proposed methodology is supported with some preliminary experimental results carried out on real voice telecommunication network over customer acquisition and churn events and it lays ground for the new network-aware estimation of customer value.
Reduced laser‐evoked potential habituation detects abnormal central pain processing in painful radiculopathy patients

Repetitive painful laser stimuli lead to physiological laser‐evoked potential (LEP) habituation, measurable by a decrement of the N2/P2 amplitude. The time course of LEP‐habituation is reduced in the capsaicin model for peripheral and central sensitization and in patients with migraine and fibromyalgia. In the present investigation, we aimed to assess the time course of LEP‐habituation in a neuropathic pain syndrome, i.e. painful radiculopathy.
The Temporal Program of Chromosome Replication: Genomewide Replication in clb5Δ Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Temporal regulation of origin activation is widely thought to explain the pattern of early- and late-replicating domains in the Saccharomyces cerevisiae genome. Recently, single-molecule analysis of replication suggested that stochastic processes acting on origins with different probabilities of activation could generate the observed kinetics of replication without requiring an underlying temporal order. To distinguish between these possibilities, we examined a clb5Δ strain, where origin firing is largely limited to the first half of S phase, to ask whether all origins nonspecifically show decreased firing (as expected for disordered firing) or if only some origins (“late” origins) are affected. Approximately half the origins in the mutant genome show delayed replication while the remainder replicate largely on time. The delayed regions can encompass hundreds of kilobases and generally correspond to regions that replicate late in wild-type cells. Kinetic analysis of replication in wild-type cells reveals broad windows of origin firing for both early and late origins. Our results are consistent with a temporal model in which origins can show some heterogeneity in both time and probability of origin firing, but clustering of temporally like origins nevertheless yields a genome that is organized into blocks showing different replication times.
A Traffic Accident Recording and Reporting Model at Intersections

In this paper, we suggested a vision-based traffic accident detection algorithm and developed a system for automatically detecting, recording, and reporting traffic accidents at intersections. A system with these properties would be beneficial in determining the cause of accidents and the features of an intersection that impact safety. This model first extracts the vehicles from the video image of the charge-couple-device camera, tracks the moving vehicles (MVs), and extracts features such as the variation rate of the velocity, position, area, and direction of MVs. The model then makes decisions on the traffic accident based on the extracted features. In a field test, the suggested model achieved a correct detection rate (CDR) of 50% and a detection rate of 60%. Considering that a sound-based accident detection system showed a CDR of 1% and a DR of 66.1%, our result is a remarkable achievement
A Multifunctional Nanoplatform against Multidrug Resistant Cancer: Merging the Best of Targeted Chemo/Gene/Photothermal Therapy

Synergistic therapy that combines chemo‐, gene‐, or photothermal means shows great potential for enhancing the therapeutic effects on cancers. Tumor‐targeted nanoparticles based on a doxorubicin (DOX)‐gated mesoporous silica nanocore (MSN) encapsulated with permeability glycoprotein (P‐gp) small interfering RNA (siRNA) and a polydopamine (PDA) outer layer for DOX loading and folic acid decoration are designed. The multifunctional nanoplatform tactfully integrates chemo‐ (DOX), gene‐ (P‐gp siRNA), and photothermal (PDA layer) substances in one system. In vitro results reveal that DOX release behaviors are both pH‐ and thermal‐responsive and the release of co‐delivered P‐gp siRNA is also pH‐dependent due to the pH‐cleavable DOX gatekeeper on MSN. In addition, due to the near‐infrared light‐responsive PDA outer layer and folic acid conjugation, the nanoparticles exhibit outstanding photothermal activity and selective cell targeting ability. Subsequently, in vitro and in vivo antitumor experiments both demonstrate the enhanced antitumor efficacy of the multifunctional nanoparticles, indicating the significance of synergistic therapy combining chemo‐, gene‐, and photothermal treatments in one system.
Is attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder among men associated with initiation or escalation of substance use at 15‐month follow‐up? A longitudinal study involving young Swiss men

Abstract Background and Aims Young adults with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) show higher substance use disorder (SUD) prevalence relative to non‐ADHD controls; few longitudinal studies have examined the course of substance use with reference to conduct disorder (CD). We compared initiation and escalation of substance use at 15‐month follow‐up in men screened positive or negative for ADHD (ADHD+ versus ADHD–), controlling for CD presence in early adolescence. Design Participants were recruited during August 2010 and November 2011 from the census of all young men who have to pass mandatory army conscription from three of six Swiss Army recruitment centres. A two‐wave data collection was performed via questionnaires at baseline and 15‐month follow‐up as a part of the longitudinal Cohort Study on Substance Use Risk Factors. Setting Recruitment centres in Lausanne, Windisch and Mels, responsible for 21 cantons in German‐ and French‐speaking areas of Switzerland. Participants Consecutive sample of 5103 male Swiss Army conscripts who provided informed consent and responded to questionnaires at baseline and 15‐month follow‐up. Their mean age was 20.0 (standard deviation = 1.21) years at baseline. Measurements ADHD and CD were assessed using the adult ADHD Self‐Report Scale and the MINI International Neuropsychiatric Interview Plus, respectively, at baseline, and substance use was measured via self‐administered substance use questionnaires at baseline and follow‐up. Findings Compared with the ADHD– group, the ADHD+ group (n = 215, 4.2%) showed heavier baseline substance use and increased likelihood of alcohol (χ2 = 53.96; P < 0.001), tobacco (χ2 = 21.73; P < 0.001) and cannabis use disorders (χ2 = 48.43; P < 0.001). The extent of alcohol, tobacco and cannabis use in the two groups remained stable from baseline to follow‐up (no escalation). The ADHD+ group was more likely to initiate substance use compared with the ADHD– group (higher initiation rates), particularly with amphetamines [odds ratio (OR) = 3.81; 95% confidence interval (CI) = 2.20–6.60; P < 0.001] and non‐medical use of ADHD medication (OR = 4.45; 95% CI = 2.06–9.60; P < 0.001). CD was associated with initiation of substance use but did not mediate the associations between ADHD and substance use, revealing that the impact of ADHD on substance use was independent of CD. Conclusions For men in their early 20s, attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder is a risk factor for continued heavier but not escalating use of alcohol, tobacco and cannabis when already consuming these substances, compared with young men with no ADHD. It is also a risk factor for initiating the use of cannabis, stimulants, hallucinogens and sedatives, independent of conduct disorder in early adolescence.
For the sake of simplicity: Unsupervised extraction of lexical simplifications from Wikipedia

We report on work in progress on extracting lexical simplifications (e.g., "collaborate" → "work together"), focusing on utilizing edit histories in Simple English Wikipedia for this task. We consider two main approaches: (1) deriving simplification probabilities via an edit model that accounts for a mixture of different operations, and (2) using metadata to focus on edits that are more likely to be simplification operations. We find our methods to outperform a reasonable baseline and yield many high-quality lexical simplifications not included in an independently-created manually prepared list.
Combined Classification Tree Method for Test Suite Reduction

In software testing, test case generation is an important activity to ensure software quality. Various test case generation techniques are being provided for high reliable software systems. It becomes critical to execute all the test cases in certain time period. In order to reduce the number of test cases, test suite reduction techniques with respect to some coverage criteria are used. This paper provides the significance of classification tree method and combined classification tree method over equivalence class partition method for test case generation. This paper presents a comparison of these test case generation methods to show that which method has good potential to use for test suite reduction. General Terms Measurement, Design, Verification.
Proteomics characterization of gastrokine 1‐induced growth inhibition of gastric cancer cells

We previously used proteomics technology to globally identify gastric cancer‐associated proteins and found that gastrokine 1 (GKN1) was dramatically underexpressed in gastric cancer tissues. Here, we further showed that GKN1 could inhibit cell growth and induce cell cycle arrest in gastric cancer cells. The activity of protein kinase PKCδ/θ was inhibited by GKN1, whereas the activity of ERK1/2 and JNK1/2 was increased by GKN1, suggesting that GKN1 induced growth inhibition of gastric cancer cells by synergistically regulating the activity of these protein kinases. Seventy‐four proteins were found to be regulated by GKN1 by proteomics analysis, including α‐enolase (ENO1) and Cathepsin D. Interestingly, ENO1 is an important hub in the protein–protein interaction network of the 74 differential proteins. Silencing of ENO1 resulted in growth inhibition and cell cycle arrest of gastric cancer cells, similar to the effect of GKN1 overexpression in cells, whereas ENO1 overexpression blocked GKN1‐induced growth inhibition and cell cycle arrest. These observations suggested that ENO1 downregulation played an important role in GKN1‐induced growth inhibition of gastric cancer cells.
The Cross-Purposes of Cross-Posting: Boundary Reshaping Behavior in Online Discussion Communities

Increasingly, online discussion communities are used to support activities ranging from software development to political campaigns. An important feature of an online discussion community is its content boundaries, which are individual perceptions of what materials and discussions are part of the community and what are not, and how that community is related to others within a larger system. Yet in spite of its importance, many community infrastructures allow individual participants to reshape content boundaries by simultaneously associating their contributions with multiple online discussion communities. This reshaping behavior is a controversial aspect of the creation and management of many types of online discussion communities. On one hand, many communities explicitly discourage boundary reshaping behaviors in their frequently asked questions or terms-of-use document. On the other hand, community infrastructures continue to allow such reshaping behaviors. To explain this controversy, we theorize how the extent of boundary reshaping in an online discussion community has simultaneously positive and negative effects on its member dynamics and responsiveness. We test predictions about the conflicting effects of reshaping behaviors with 60 months of longitudinal data from 140 USENET newsgroups, focusing on cross-posting activities as a form of reshaping behavior. Empirical results are consistent with the proposed hypotheses that reshaping behaviors within a discussion community affect member dynamics and community responsiveness in both positive and negative ways. Taken together, the findings highlight the boundary-related design challenges faced by managers seeking to support ongoing activity within online discussion communities.
Highly sensitive, durable and stretchable plastic strain sensors using sandwich structures of PEDOT:PSS and an elastomer

Thin-film “plastic” strain sensors can be mounted closely on textile clothing or human skin comfortably to detect human activities without any harm to the human body. However, it is a grand challenge to prepare highly sensitive and durable plastic strain sensors. Herein, we report a high-performance plastic strain sensor with a sandwich structure of poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):poly(styrenesulfonate) doped with poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA–PEDOT:PSS)/highly conductive PEDOT:PSS/polydimethylsiloxane elastomer. The strain sensor exhibited not only high sensitivities but also good durability at large strains owing to its robust structure integration and strong recoverability in conductance. More importantly, our plastic strain sensors are successfully used to monitor a series of human activities including joint/muscle motions, arterial pulsation and voice vibration, and distinguish some complex and diverse bending motions, demonstrating great potential in practical applications.
Roles of Periplasmic Chaperone Proteins in the Biogenesis of Serine Protease Autotransporters of Enterobacteriaceae

ABSTRACT The serine protease autotransporters of Enterobacteriaceae (SPATEs) represent a large family of virulence factors. The prevailing model for autotransporter secretion comprises entry to the periplasm via the Sec apparatus, followed by an obscure series of steps in which the C terminus of the periplasmic species inserts into the outer membrane as a β-barrel protein, accompanied by translocation of the passenger domain to the bacterial cell surface. Little is known about the fate of the autotransporter proteins in the periplasm, including whether accessory periplasmic proteins are involved in translocation to the external milieu. Here we studied the role of the major periplasmic chaperones in the biogenesis of EspP, a prototype SPATE protein produced by Escherichia coli O157:H7. The yeast two-hybrid approach, secretion analysis of chaperone mutant strains, and surface plasmon resonance analysis (SPR) revealed direct protein-protein interactions between the periplasmic SurA and DegP chaperones and either the EspP-β or EspP passenger domains. The secretion of EspP was moderately reduced in the surA and skp mutant strains but severely impaired in the degP background. Site-directed mutagenesis of highly conserved aromatic amino acid residues in the SPATE family resulted in ∼80% reduction of EspP secretion. Synthetic peptides containing aromatic residues derived from the EspP passenger domain blocked DegP and SurA binding to the passenger domain. SPR suggested direct protein-protein interaction between periplasmic chaperones and the unfolded EspP passenger domain. Our data suggest that translocation of AT proteins may require accessory factors, calling into question the moniker “autotransporter. ”
High output nanogenerator based on assembly of GaN nanowires

GaN nanowires (NWs) were synthesized through a vapor–liquid–solid (VLS) process. Based on structural analysis, the c-axis of the NW was confirmed to be perpendicular to the growth direction. Nanogenerators (NGs) fabricated by rational assembly of the GaN NWs produced an output voltage up to 1.2 V and output current density of 0.16 µA cm − 2. The measured performance of the GaN NGs was consistent with the calculations using finite element analysis (FEA).
Vestibulohaptic passive stimulation for a walking sensation

This paper describes a passive stimulation of a body to evoke a walking sensation using a vestibular and haptic device while the real body of the user is sitting. It imparts a pseudo body image to the user through the real (physical) body of the user as a part of the virtual reality (VR) display system. The created walking sensation was evaluated by nine factors to analyze the complex nature of the walking sensation.
Aeroelasticity of compliant span morphing wings

A low-fidelity aeroelastic model is developed to study the dynamic behaviour of uniform, cantilever span morphing wings. The wing structure is modelled using the shape functions of the bending and torsional modes of a uniform cantilever wing according to the Rayleigh–Ritz method. Theodorsen’s unsteady aerodynamic theory is used to model the aerodynamic loads. A Padé approximation for the Theodorsen’s transfer function is utilised to allow time-domain simulation and analysis. The sensitivity of the aeroelastic behaviour of span morphing wings to different geometric parameters and mechanical properties is considered. Furthermore, the impact of morphing rate on the aeroelastic behaviour is studied. Finally, the use of two novel span morphing concepts for flutter suppression is assessed.
Proxemic group behaviors using reciprocal multi-agent navigation

We present a decentralized algorithm for group-based coherent and reciprocal multi-agent navigation. In addition to generating collision-free trajectories for each agent, our approach is able to simulate macroscopic group movements and proxemic behaviors that result in coherent navigation. Our approach is general, makes no assumptions about the size or shape of the group, and can generate smooth trajectories for the agents. Furthermore, it can dynamically adapt to obstacles or the behavior of other agents. The additional overhead of generating proxemic group behaviors is relatively small and our approach can simulate hundreds of agents in real-time. We highlight its benefits on different benchmarks.
Development and comparison of ASR models using kaldi for noisy and enhanced kannada speech data

In this work, the Automatic Speech Recognition (ASR) models are developed using the speech recognition toolkit Kaldi to build an ASR system for Kannada language. A sufficient amount of speech data is collected from the farmers in the field across the different dialect regions of Karnataka state to capture all possible pronunciations. The collected speech data under uncontrolled environment is normally noisy in nature. A method is proposed for speech enhancement and it is a combination of Spectral Subtraction with Voice Activity Detection (SS-VAD) and Minimum Mean Square Error-Spectrum Power Estimator (MMSE-SPZC) based on Zero Crossing. The transcription and validation of noisy and enhanced speech data is done at word level by using Indic language transliteration tool (IT3 TO UTF-8). The Kannada dictionary and phoneme set is created by using Indian Language Speech Label (ILSL12) set. The 75% and 25% of validated speech data is used for system training and testing respectively. Using Kaldi recipe and Kannada language resources, the ASR models are developed, discussed and compared the Word Error Rates (WERs) of noisy and enhanced speech data. The best ASR models could be used in spoken query system to access the on time agricultural commodity price and weather information in Kannada language.
The Pareto-Frontier Solution to the MultiProject & Multiple Item Stochastic Chance-Constrained Investment Combination

This paper aims to solve the multi-project multi-item investment combination under stochastic surroundings. A new stochastic chance-constrained programming model for investigating its problem will be presented, in which there are three objectives with some stochastic constraints to construct a 0-1 integer programming model, and demonstrate how to use PSO to solve the optimization model with a small modification of constraint-handling rule. A simulation experiment is employed to illustrate the application of the proposed model to get the Pareto-optimal solutions by applying the modified algorithm PSO.