Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
EEACE: Energy Efficient ACE Algorithm for Wireless Sensor Networks

The ultimate goal of researches on Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) is how to improve network energy efficiency as possible as can. Certainly, there are many researches concerned to energy efficient scheme in wireless sensor networks. Dividing geographically distributed sensor nodes into different clusters in order to decrease transmission range and transmission quantity is one of traditional energy efficient strategies for WSNs. In this paper, an energy efficient ACE clustering algorithm named EEACE in short is presented to improve the performance of ACE scheme. The EEACE algorithm is derived from ACE scheme but overcomes many shortcomings of ACE and other clustering algorithms such as famous LEACH and DCHS. By dividing sensor nodes into uniform clusters with minimum communication cost, EEACE algorithm improves the network’s performance at aspect of lifetime and energy efficiency significantly. The simulation results verified that EEACE algorithm prolongs the lifetime of WSNs by more than 15% comparing with ACE and DCHS algorithm.
Elucidation of the Molecular Mechanism Driving Duplication of the HIV-1 PTAP Late Domain

ABSTRACT HIV-1 uses cellular machinery to bud from infected cells. This cellular machinery is comprised of several multiprotein complexes known as endosomal sorting complexes required for transport (ESCRTs). A conserved late domain motif, Pro-Thr-Ala-Pro (PTAP), located in the p6 region of Gag (p6Gag), plays a central role in ESCRT recruitment to the site of virus budding. Previous studies have demonstrated that PTAP duplications are selected in HIV-1-infected patients during antiretroviral therapy; however, the consequences of these duplications for HIV-1 biology and drug resistance are unclear. To address these questions, we constructed viruses carrying a patient-derived PTAP duplication with and without drug resistance mutations in the viral protease. We evaluated the effect of the PTAP duplication on viral release efficiency, viral infectivity, replication capacity, drug susceptibility, and Gag processing. In the presence of protease inhibitors, we observed that the PTAP duplication in p6Gag significantly increased the infectivity and replication capacity of the virus compared to those of viruses bearing only resistance mutations in protease. Our biochemical analysis showed that the PTAP duplication, in combination with mutations in protease, enhances processing between the nucleocapsid and p6 domains of Gag, resulting in more complete Gag cleavage in the presence of protease inhibitors. These results demonstrate that duplication of the PTAP motif in p6Gag confers a selective advantage in viral replication by increasing Gag processing efficiency in the context of protease inhibitor treatment, thereby enhancing the drug resistance of the virus. These findings highlight the interconnected role of PTAP duplications and protease mutations in the development of resistance to antiretroviral therapy. IMPORTANCE Resistance to current drug therapy limits treatment options in many HIV-1-infected patients. Duplications in a Pro-Thr-Ala-Pro (PTAP) motif in the p6 domain of Gag are frequently observed in viruses derived from patients on protease inhibitor (PI) therapy. However, the reason that these duplications arise and their consequences for virus replication remain to be established. In this study, we examined the effect of PTAP duplication on PI resistance in the context of wild-type protease or protease bearing PI resistance mutations. We observe that PTAP duplication markedly enhances resistance to a panel of PIs. Biochemical analysis reveals that the PTAP duplication reverses a Gag processing defect imposed by the PI resistance mutations in the context of PI treatment. The results provide a long-sought explanation for why PTAP duplications arise in PI-treated patients.
Tracing the Origin of the East-West Population Admixture in the Altai Region (Central Asia)

A recent discovery of Iron Age burials (Pazyryk culture) in the Altai Mountains of Mongolia may shed light on the mode and tempo of the generation of the current genetic east-west population admixture in Central Asia. Studies on ancient mitochondrial DNA of this region suggest that the Altai Mountains played the role of a geographical barrier between West and East Eurasian lineages until the beginning of the Iron Age. After the 7th century BC, coinciding with Scythian expansion across the Eurasian steppes, a gradual influx of East Eurasian sequences in Western steppes is detected. However, the underlying events behind the genetic admixture in Altai during the Iron Age are still unresolved: 1) whether it was a result of migratory events (eastward firstly, westward secondly), or 2) whether it was a result of a local demographic expansion in a ‘contact zone’ between European and East Asian people. In the present work, we analyzed the mitochondrial DNA lineages in human remains from Bronze and Iron Age burials of Mongolian Altai. Here we present support to the hypothesis that the gene pool of Iron Age inhabitants of Mongolian Altai was similar to that of western Iron Age Altaians (Russia and Kazakhstan). Thus, this people not only shared the same culture (Pazyryk), but also shared the same genetic east-west population admixture. In turn, Pazyryks appear to have a similar gene pool that current Altaians. Our results further show that Iron Age Altaians displayed mitochondrial lineages already present around Altai region before the Iron Age. This would provide support for a demographic expansion of local people of Altai instead of westward or eastward migratory events, as the demographic event behind the high population genetic admixture and diversity in Central Asia.
Different doses of Pilates-based exercise therapy for chronic low back pain: a randomised controlled trial with economic evaluation

Objectives To evaluate the effectiveness and cost-utility of the addition of different doses of Pilates to an advice for non-specific chronic low back pain (NSCLBP) from a societal perspective. Design Randomised controlled trial with economic evaluation. Setting Physiotherapy clinic in São Paulo, Brazil. Participants 296 patients with NSCLBP. Interventions All patients received advice and were randomly allocated to four groups (n=74 per group): booklet group (BG), Pilates once a week (Pilates group 1, PG1), Pilates twice a week (Pilates group 2, PG2) and Pilates three times a week (Pilates group 3, PG3). Main outcome measures Primary outcomes were pain and disability at 6-week follow-up. Results Compared with the BG, all Pilates groups showed significant improvements in pain (PG1, mean difference (MD)=−1.2, 95% CI −2.2 to −0.3; PG2, MD=−2.3, 95% CI −3.2 to −1.4; PG3, MD=−2.1, 95% CI −3.0 to −1.1) and disability (PG1, MD=−1.9, 95% CI −3.6 to −0.1; PG2, MD=−4.7, 95% CI −6.4 to −3.0; PG3, MD=−3.3, 95% CI −5.0 to −1.6). Among the different doses, PG2 showed significant improvements in comparison with PG1 for pain (MD=−1.1, 95% CI −2.0 to −0.1) and disability (MD=−2.8, 95% CI −4.5 to −1.1). The cost-utility analysis showed that PG3 had a 0.78 probability of being cost-effective at a willingness-to-pay of £20 000 per quality-adjusted life-year gained. Conclusions Adding two sessions of Pilates exercises to advice provided better outcomes in pain and disability than advice alone for patients with NSCLBP; non-specific elements such as greater attention or expectation might be part of this effect. The cost-utility analysis showed that Pilates three times a week was the preferred option. Trial registration number NCT02241538, Completed.
Land Spreading of Wastewaters from the Fruit-Packaging Industry and Potential Effects on Soil Microbes: Effects of the Antioxidant Ethoxyquin and Its Metabolites on Ammonia Oxidizers

ABSTRACT Thiabendazole (TBZ), imazalil (IMZ), ortho-phenylphenol (OPP), diphenylamine (DPA), and ethoxyquin (EQ) are used in fruit-packaging plants (FPP) with the stipulation that wastewaters produced by their application would be depurated on site. However, no such treatment systems are currently in place, leading FPP to dispose of their effluents in agricultural land. We investigated the dissipation of those pesticides and their impact on soil microbes known to have a key role on ecosystem functioning. OPP and DPA showed limited persistence (50% dissipation time [DT50], 0.6 and 1.3 days) compared to TBZ and IMZ (DT50, 47.0 and 150.8 days). EQ was rapidly transformed to the short-lived quinone imine (QI) (major metabolite) and the more persistent 2,4-dimethyl-6-ethoxyquinoline (EQNL) (minor metabolite). EQ and OPP exerted significant inhibition of potential nitrification, with the effect of the former being more persistent. This was not reflected in the abundance (determined by quantitative PCR [qPCR]) of the amoA gene of ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB) and archaea (AOA). Considering the above discrepancy and the metabolic pattern of EQ, we further investigated the hypothesis that its metabolites and not only EQ were toxic to ammonia oxidizers. Potential nitrification, amoA gene abundance, and amoA gene transcripts of AOB and AOA showed that QI was probably responsible for the inhibition of nitrification. Our findings have serious ecological and practical implications for soil productivity and N conservation in agriculturally impacted ecosystems and stress the need to include metabolites and RNA-based methods when the soil microbial toxicity of pesticides is assessed.
Measurement of temperature-dependent mechanical properties of magnetorheological fluids using a parallel disk shear stress testing device

Mechanical properties are critical to the working performance of magnetorheological fluids (MRFs), especially in high temperature situations. This paper presents an experimental investigation to analyze the effects of temperature on mechanical properties of MRFs. First, a parallel disk method was implemented for the shear stress measurement of MRFs and the measurement principle was theoretically illustrated. Then, a detailed introduction to the MRF sample preparation and the testing device development was performed as well. In the study, five kinds of MRF samples with different material parameters were prepared and a shear stress testing device which possesses the temperature control function was developed and evaluated. After these, a series of measurements were conducted on the viscosity–temperature characteristic, shear stress–temperature characteristic and thermal stability of MRF samples. Measuring results indicated that the mechanical properties of MRFs were obviously dependent on temperature. The phenomenon mainly embodied in the reduction of off-field viscosity and shear stress with increasing temperature, as well as the performance degradation after undergoing a low–high–low temperature cycle or a high temperature treatment of more than 150 ℃.
1 THE ASSESSMENT OF LEVELS OF DISADVANTAGE IN PRIMARY SCHOOLS FOR DEIS

Policies that involve providing additional resources to address the educational problems of children from disadvantaged backgrounds often give rise to debate about whether such resources should be directed at schools, individual children and their families or geographic areas. In Ireland some initiatives are targeted at families (e.g., the Back to School Clothing and Footwear Allowance) and some are targeted at geographic areas (e.g., the educational components of Area Partnership Companies). However, since 1984, most initiatives have been targeted at schools that have been assessed as having high concentrations of disadvantage. These include the Disadvantaged Areas Scheme (DAS), the Home/School/Community Scheme, Breaking the Cycle (BTC), the most important elements of Giving Children an Even Break (GCEB), and the School Support Programme under Delivering Equality of Opportunity In Schools (DEIS) which is the most recent initiative in this area. [For a description of these and other schemes, see the Social Inclusion page of the website of the Department of Education and Science, www.education. ie; for an account of evaluations of these schemes, see Archer and Weir (2004). ]
The effects of cigarette smoking on learning and memory performance among people living with HIV/AIDS

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of smoking (past and current) on multiple domains of cognitive functioning in a sample of people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA). We hypothesized that among PLWHA, current smokers would demonstrate poorer cognitive functioning when compared to non-smokers, specifically in the cognitive domains of auditory-verbal learning and memory, visuospatial memory, overall cognitive efficiency, executive skills, processing speed, and working memory. Results suggest that in patients being treated for HIV infection, current smoking is negatively associated with learning, memory, and global cognitive functioning. There was also some evidence that cognitive deficits in learning associated with smoking were more pronounced among men compared to women. However, the cause of these effects is not at all clear. In multivariate models, the differences associated with smoking were non-significant when adjusting for education and hepatitis C virus infection. Therefore, smoking may simply reflect a general tendency to more widespread deficits and comorbidities rather than directly impacting cognitive function. Future studies should attempt to examine a priori cognitive factors which contribute to smoking debut and other associated risk factors in order to understand why smoking may be a marker for other risk factors and may ultimately influence neurocognitive functioning critical to daily activities and adherence.
Evolution of Quality Assurance for Clinical Immunohistochemistry in the Era of Precision Medicine: Part 1 Fit-for-Purpose Approach to Classification of Clinical Immunohistochemistry Biomarkers

Technical progress in immunohistochemistry (IHC) as well as the increased utility of IHC for biomarker testing in precision medicine avails us of the opportunity to reassess clinical IHC as a laboratory test and its proper characterization as a special type of immunoassay. IHC, as used in current clinical applications, is a descriptive, qualitative, cell-based, usually nonlinear, in situ protein immunoassay, for which the readout of the results is principally performed by pathologists rather than by the instruments on which the immunoassay is performed. This modus operandi is in contrast to other assays where the instrument also performs the readout of the test result (eg, nephelometry readers, mass spectrometry readers, etc.). The readouts (results) of IHC tests are used either by pathologists for diagnostic purposes or by treating physicians (eg, oncologists) for patient management decisions, the need for further testing, or follow-up. This paper highlights the distinction between the original purpose for which an IHC test is developed and its subsequent clinical uses, as well as the role of pathologists in the analytical and postanalytical phases of IHC testing. This paper is the first of a 4-part series, under the general title of “Evolution of Quality Assurance for Clinical Immunohistochemistry in the Era of Precision Medicine. ”
Reading Faces: Differential Lateral Gaze Bias in Processing Canine and Human Facial Expressions in Dogs and 4-Year-Old Children

Sensitivity to the emotions of others provides clear biological advantages. However, in the case of heterospecific relationships, such as that existing between dogs and humans, there are additional challenges since some elements of the expression of emotions are species-specific. Given that faces provide important visual cues for communicating emotional state in both humans and dogs, and that processing of emotions is subject to brain lateralisation, we investigated lateral gaze bias in adult dogs when presented with pictures of expressive human and dog faces. Our analysis revealed clear differences in laterality of eye movements in dogs towards conspecific faces according to the emotional valence of the expressions. Differences were also found towards human faces, but to a lesser extent. For comparative purpose, a similar experiment was also run with 4-year-old children and it was observed that they showed differential processing of facial expressions compared to dogs, suggesting a species-dependent engagement of the right or left hemisphere in processing emotions.
The S. pombe Histone H2A Dioxygenase Ofd2 Regulates Gene Expression during Hypoxia

Post-translational modification of histone proteins are known to play an important role in regulating chromatin structure. In an effort to find additional histone modifications we set out to screen enzymes of the 2-oxoglutarate and Fe(II)-dependent (2-OG-Fe(II)) dioxygenase family for activity towards histones. Here we show that the Schizosaccharomyces pombe 2-OG-Fe(II) dioxygenase domain containing protein-2 (Ofd2) is a histone H2A dioxygenase enzyme. Using a combination of peptide screening and alanine scanning substitution analysis, we identify an HxxLR motif in H2A as a substrate for Ofd2 activity. Transcriptional profiling indicates that Ofd2 regulates the repression of oxidative phosphorylation genes during hypoxic stress. We show that Ofd2 is recruited to the 5′ end of oxidative phosphorylation genes specifically during hypoxia and that it uses its dioxygenase activity to regulate their transcription. Together, these data uncover a novel histone H2A modifying activity involved in the regulation of gene expression during hypoxia.
HMM Revises Low Marginal Probability by CRF for Chinese Word Segmentation

This paper presents a Chinese word segmentation system for CIPS-SIGHAN 2010 Chinese language processing task. Firstly, based on Conditional Random Field (CRF) model, with local features and global features, the character-based tagging model is designed. Secondly, Hidden Markov Models (HMM) is used to revise the substrings with low marginal probability by CRF. Finally, confidence measure is used to regenerate the result and simple rules to deal with the strings within letters and numbers. As is well known that character-based approach has outstanding capability of discovering out-of-vocabulary (OOV) word, but ex-ternal information of word lost. HMM makes use of word information to increase in-vocabulary (IV) recall. We participate in the simplified Chinese word segmentation both closed and open test on all four corpora, which belong to different domains. Our system achieves better performance.
Looking for Bird Nests: Identifying Stay Points with Bounded Gaps

A stay point of a moving entity is a region in which it spends a significant amount of time. In this paper, we identify all stay points of an entity in a certain time interval, where the entity is allowed to leave the region but it should return within a given time limit. This definition of stay points seems more natural in many applications of trajectory analysis than those that do not limit the time of entity's absence from the region. We present an $O(n \log n)$ algorithm for trajectories in $R^1$ with $n$ vertices and a $(1 + \epsilon)$-approximation algorithm for trajectories in $R^2$ to identify all such stay points. Our algorithm runs in $O(kn^2)$, where $k$ depends on $\epsilon$ and the ratio of the duration of the trajectory to the allowed gap time.
Optical and Near-IR Field Luminosity Functions

We present preliminary measurements of the b_J and K-band luminosity functions (LFs) of field galaxies obtained from optical and K-band imaging of a sample of galaxies selected from the Stromlo-APM Redshift Survey. The b_J LF is consistent with that previously published from photographic data. The K-band LF has been estimated over a range of 12 magnitudes and is reasonably well fit by a Schechter function with faint-end slope alpha = -1.2.
Complete mitochondrial genome of the Trichogaster trichopterus (Anabantoidei: Osphronemidae)

Abstract The complete mitochondrial genome of Trichogaster trichopterus was determined in this study. It is 16,452 bp in size and consists of 2 rRNA genes, 13 protein-coding genes, 22 tRNA genes and 1 non-coding control regions (D-loop). The overall base composition of the heavy strand of the T. trichopterus mitochondrial genome is A: 29.50%, T: 28.36%, C: 26.62% and G: 15.49%. The total length of the 13 protein-coding genes was 11,427 bp. Analysis of the genes indicated the high genetic variability among Osphronemidae species.
PRIPARE: Integrating Privacy Best Practices into a Privacy Engineering Methodology

Data protection authorities worldwide have agreed on the value of considering privacy-by-design principles when developing privacy-friendly systems and software. However, on the technical plane, a profusion of privacy-oriented guidelines and approaches coexists, which provides partial solutions to the overall problem and aids engineers during different stages of the system development lifecycle. As a result, engineers find difficult to understand what they should do to make their systems abide by privacy by design, thus hindering the adoption of privacy engineering practices. This paper reviews existing best practices in the analysis and design stages of the system development lifecycle, introduces a systematic methodology for privacy engineering that merges and integrates them, leveraging their best features whilst addressing their weak points, and describes its alignment with current standardization efforts.
Distinct Modulation of Event-Related Potentials during Motor Preparation in Patients with Motor Conversion Disorder

Objective Conversion paresis patients and healthy people feigning weakness both exhibit weak voluntary movement without detectable neuropathology. Uniquely, conversion patients lack a sense of conscious awareness of the origin of their impairment. We investigated whether conversion paresis patients show distinct electroencephalographic (EEG) markers associated with their unconscious movement deficits. Methods Six unilateral upper limb conversion paresis patients, 12 feigning participants asked to mimic weakness and 12 control participants performed a precued reaction time task, requiring movements of either hand, depending on precue information. Performance measures (force, reaction and movement time), and event-related EEG potentials (ERP) were compared, between groups and across hands or hemisphere, using linear mixed models. Results Feigners generated the same inter-hand difference in reaction and movement time as expressed by patients, even though no specific targets were set nor feedback given on these measures. We found novel ERP signatures specific to patients. When the symptomatic hand was precued, the P3 ERP component accompanying the precue was dramatically larger in patients than in feigning participants. Additionally, in patients the earlier N1 ERP component was diminished when the precue signalled either the symptomatic or asymptomatic hand. Conclusions These results are consistent with previous suggestions that lack of awareness of the origin of their symptoms in conversion disorder patients may result from suppression of brain activity normally related to self-agency. In patients the diminished N1 to all precues is consistent with a generalised reduction in cognitive processing of movement-related precues. The P3 enhancement in patients is unlikely to simply reflect changes required for generation of impaired movements, because it was not seen in feigners showing the same behavioural deficits. Rather, this P3 enhancement in patients may represent a neural biomarker of unconscious processes, including additional emotional loading, related to active suppression of brain circuits involved in the attribution of self-agency.