Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Antiviral Activity of a Nanoemulsion of Polyprenols from Ginkgo Leaves against Influenza A H3N2 and Hepatitis B Virus in Vitro

In order to improve the bioavailability levels of polyprenols (derived from ginkgo leaves (GBP)) in the human body, a GBP nanoemulsion was prepared, and its antiviral activity was evaluated against influenza A H3N2 and hepatitis B virus in vitro. Methods: A GBP nanoemulsion was prepared by inversed-phase emulsification (IPE). Next, we investigated the antiviral activity of the GBP nanoemulsion on influenza A H3N2 and hepatitis B virus in vitro by the MTT (3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenlytetrezolium bromide) method. ELISA and the fluorescent quantitative PCR method were used to measure the content of HBsAg, HBeAg and DNA virus in human samples. Results: The GBP nanoemulsion exhibited uniformity at an average particle size 97 nm with a hydrophilic-lipophilic balance (HLB) of 9.5. GBP is non-toxic to normal cells, hepatitis B virus DNA, hepatitis B virus antigen and HepG2215. Furthermore, GBP could reach a 70% virucidal activity and a 74.9% protection rate (*** p < 0.001) on MDCK cells infected with H3N2 virus at a high concentration of 100 μg/mL. GBP had a good inhibition rate on HBsAg (52.11%, ** p < 0.01) at 50 μg/mL and Day 9 of incubation, and a 67.32% inhibition effect on HBeAg at a high concentration of 100 μg/mL and Day 9. GBP had good inhibition on HBV DNA with CT 18.6 and lower copies (** p < 0.01) at a middle concentration of 12.5 to 25 μg/mL. Conclusions: The GBP nanoemulsion was very stable and non-toxic and had very strong antiviral activity against influenza A H3N2 and hepatitis B virus in vitro. The inhibitory effects and reactive mechanisms were similar to the drug, 3TC; by lengthening the incubation time and increasing the drug concentration, GBP has promising potential as an antiviral drug.
Bank note authentication using decision tree rules and machine learning techniques

Banknotes are currencies used by any nation to carry-out financial activities and are every countries asset which every nation wants it (bank-note) to be genuine. Lot of miscreants induces fake notes into the market which resemble exactly the original note. Hence, there is a need for an efficient authentication system which predicts accurately whether the given note is genuine or not. Exhaustive experiments have been conducted using different machine learning techniques and found that Decision tree and MLP techniques are effective for banknote authentication which efficiently classifies a given banknote data. The rules given by Decision Tree are also tested and found that they are accurate enough to be used for prediction.
Large system analysis of power minimization in multiuser MISO downlink with transmit-side channel correlation

This paper investigates a joint power control and beamformer design in a correlated multiuser MISO downlink to minimize the weighted transmit power. We firstly review a distributed fixed-point iterative algorithm. This algorithm, though converging to the optimal solution, requires instantaneous power iteration. In order to reduce the implementation complexity, we leverage tools from random matrix theory to derive an asymptotically optimal solution requiring only statistical channel information. In addition, the effect of transmit-side channel correlation on the large system analysis is studied, and a distributed algorithm computing the asymptotically optimal power is proposed. In this algorithm, the asymptotically optimal power is updated according to channel statistics, and thus no instantaneous power update is needed for computing the asymptotically optimal beamformer.
Trust management system for grid and cloud resources

Trust plays an important role in all commercial grid and cloud environments. It is the estimation of competence of a resource provider in completing a task based on reliability, security, capability and availability in the context of distributed environment. It enables users to select the best resources in the heterogeneous grid and cloud infrastructure. This paper introduces a novel trust model to evaluate the grid and cloud resources by means of resource broker. The resource broker chooses appropriate grid/cloud resource in heterogeneous environment based on the requirements of user. Our proposed trust management system is implemented with Kerberos authentication and PERMIS (PrivilEge and Role Management Infrastructure Standard) authorization to enhance the trust of the broker itself. The proposed trust enhanced resource broker evaluates the trust value of the resources based on the identity as well as behavioral trust. The proposed model considers metrics suitable for both grid and cloud resources. The results of the experiments show that the proposed model selects the dependable and reliable resources in grid and cloud environment.
Blood Pressure and Fasting Plasma Glucose Rather Than Metabolic Syndrome Predict Coronary Artery Calcium Progression

OBJECTIVE—To examine the association of the metabolic syndrome, defined by World Health Organization (WHO) and Adult Treatment Panel III (ATP-III) criteria, and its components with coronary artery calcium (CAC) progression. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS—Participants were 338 older community-dwelling men and women without known heart disease who had measurements of heart disease risk factors and CAC at two clinic visits within an average interval of 4.5 years. Progression was defined as an increase in total CAC volume score ≥2.5 mm3. RESULTS—At baseline, mean age was 67.6 years; metabolic syndrome was present in 15.1% by WHO criteria and in 11.8% by ATP-III criteria, and 5.3% met both criteria. Participants with WHO-defined metabolic syndrome had a greater change in total CAC volume score than those without (P = 0.001). There was no significant difference in CAC volume change by ATP-III–defined metabolic syndrome status (P = 0.69). Overall, 46.4% of participants were CAC progressors. In logistic regression analyses adjusted for age, sex, smoking status, and LDL cholesterol, neither WHO–nor ATP-III–defined metabolic syndrome predicted CAC progression. Among metabolic syndrome components, only hypertension was independently associated with CAC progression (odds ratio 2.11 [95% CI 1.33–3.3], P = 0.002). Fasting blood glucose (>100 mg/dl) was an independent predictor of CAC progression, but only for the 118 participants younger than age 65 years (2.3 [1.01–5.5], P = 0.04). CONCLUSIONS—In older adults without known heart disease, blood pressure levels and fasting plasma glucose were better independent determinants of CAC progression than metabolic syndrome itself.
Modal Parameter Tuning of an Axisymmetric Resonator via Mass Perturbation

This paper reports the permanent frequency mismatch reduction of the primary wineglass modes in a planar axisymmetric resonator by strategic mass loading. The resonator consists of a set of concentric rings that are affixed to neighboring rings by a staggered system of spokes. The outer layers of spokes are targets for mass deposition. This paper develops modified ring equations that guide the mass perturbation process, and despite the fact that the deposited mass and deposition locations are quantized, it is possible to systematically reduce the frequency difference of the wineglass modes to effective degeneracy such that two modes cannot be distinguished in a frequency response plot. Results on five resonators are reported with nominal wineglass modes near 14 kHz, quality factors of 50k, and frequency mismatches exceeding 30 Hz in some cases, but with postperturbation mismatches smaller than 80 mHz. Furthermore, it is also shown that the quality factors remain unchanged.
Evolution of Transcription Regulatory Genes Is Linked to Niche Specialization in the Bacterial Pathogen Streptococcus pyogenes

ABSTRACT Streptococcus pyogenes is a highly prevalent bacterial pathogen, most often giving rise to superficial infections at the throat or skin of its human host. Three genotype-defined subpopulations of strains exhibiting strong tropisms for either the throat or skin (specialists) or having no obvious tissue site preference (generalists) are recognized. Since the microenvironments at the throat and skin are distinct, the signal transduction pathways leading to the control of gene expression may also differ for throat versus skin strains of S. pyogenes. Two loci (mga and rofA/nra) encoding global regulators of virulence gene expression are positioned 300 kb apart on the genome; each contains alleles forming two major sequence clusters of ∼25 to 30% divergence that are under balancing selection. Strong linkage disequilibrium is observed between sequence clusters of the transcription regulatory loci and the subpopulations of throat and skin specialists, against a background of high recombination rates among housekeeping genes. A taxonomically distinct commensal species (Streptococcus dysgalactiae subspecies equisimilus) shares highly homologous rof alleles. The findings provide strong support for a mechanism underlying niche specialization that involves orthologous replacement of regulatory genes following interspecies horizontal transfer, although the directionality of gene exchange remains unknown.
Project Description Results from Prior NSF Support

Upgrading of the SCEC Data Center Mass Storage Facility. EAR-9816156 Period: 1999-2001. The equipment covered by this grant was purchased in early 1999, and has been on-line at the Southern California Earthquake Data Center (SCEDC) since mid-1999. The SCEDC has a nearly complete archive of continuous 20 sps seismograms recorded by TriNet since the Hector Mine Earthquake. Currently over 300 channels are archived. In addition, all earthquake information such as epicenter, phase picks and waveforms are archived for local events down to Ml 2.0 and teleseismic and regional events down to Mb 5.0.
Control and modeling for direct teaching of industrial articulated robotic arms

This paper presents an improved force-free control method based on current, which can be applied to industrial articulated robotic arms with large mass and large friction torque for direct teaching. Three kinds of torques that influence direct teaching are analyzed, and thus a calibration method and a compensation model are proposed. The model has been demonstrated effective through experiments. Considering the issue of large inertia, some security strategies are proposed at last and also well testified.
Interactive Free-Viewpoint Video

This paper introduces a representation for multiple view video to support high-quality interactive free-viewpoint rendering of moving people. Multiple wide baseline views are integrated into a view-dependent representation based on pair wise refinement of the visual-hull. An exact viewdependent visual-hull (VDVH) algorithm is presented to compute an initial approximation of the scene geometry. Refinement of the VDVH surface is then performed using photo-consistency and stereo. Interactive rendering with user control of viewpoint is achieved by front-to-back rendering of the refined surfaces with view-dependent texture. Results demonstrate that this representation achieves high-quality rendering of moving people from wide-baseline views without the visual-artefacts associated with previous visual-hull and photo-hull approaches.
Significance of Earlier Carotid Atherosclerosis for Stroke Subtypes

Background and Purpose— In addition to advanced stenosis, earlier stages of carotid atherosclerosis are associated with the risk for stroke. However, the significance has not been established for specific stroke subtypes. This study examines the association of earlier carotid atherosclerosis with stroke subtypes. Methods— The subjects comprised 1059 patients (mean±SD age, 62±11 years) with <60% carotid stenosis. With the use of ultrasound, carotid atherosclerosis was evaluated by the plaque score, as defined by the sum of all plaque heights in bilateral carotid arteries. On the basis of neurological signs and symptoms, medical history, and brain MRI, we diagnosed stroke and its subtypes as follows: no stroke (n=738), atherothrombotic infarction (AI) (n=56), lacunar infarction (LI) (n=117), cardioembolic infarction (n=65), cerebral hemorrhage (n=26), and other or unclassified stroke (n=57). Results— The plaque score was higher in AI (10.5±5.9) and LI (6.0±5.1) groups than in the no-stroke group (4.3±4.9) (both P <0.05), although it was similar between other stroke groups and the no-stroke group. Each 1 SD greater plaque score was associated with 2.5-fold (95% CI, 2.0 to 3.2) higher risk for AI and 1.4-fold (95% CI, 1.2 to 1.7) higher risk for LI compared with the no-stroke group. When we adjusted for cardiovascular risk factors, plaque score remained significantly associated with AI but not with LI. By receiver operating characteristic curve analyses, the receiver operating characteristic area for AI (0.81 to 0.86) was greater than that for LI (0.62 to 0.67) when we used plaque score either alone or in combination with cardiovascular risk factors. Conclusions— Although evaluation of carotid atherosclerosis may aid in the risk assessment for AI and LI, the benefit appears to be greater for AI.
Micro-architecture independent analytical processor performance and power modeling

Optimizing processors for specific application(s) can substantially improve energy-efficiency. With the end of Dennard scaling, and the corresponding reduction in energyefficiency gains from technology scaling, such approaches may become increasingly important. However, designing applicationspecific processors require fast design space exploration tools to optimize for the targeted application(s). Analytical models can be a good fit for such design space exploration as they provide fast performance estimations and insight into the interaction between an application's characteristics and the micro-architecture of a processor. Unfortunately, current analytical models require some microarchitecture dependent inputs, such as cache miss rates, branch miss rates and memory-level parallelism. This requires profiling the applications for each cache and branch predictor configuration, which is far more time-consuming than evaluating the actual performance models. In this work we present a micro-architecture independent profiler and associated analytical models that allow us to produce performance and power estimates across a large design space almost instantaneously. We show that using a micro-architecture independent profile leads to a speedup of 25× for our evaluated design space, compared to an analytical model that uses micro-architecture dependent profiles. Over a large design space, the model has a 13% error for performance and a 7% error for power, compared to cycle-level simulation. The model is able to accurately determine the optimal processor configuration for different applications under power or performance constraints, and it can provide insight into performance through cycle stacks.
Every Low 2 Boolean Algebra has a Recursive Copy

The degree of a structure sv is the Turing degree of its open diagram D(vl) , coded as a subset of co. Implicit in the definition is a particular presentation of the structure; the degree is not an isomorphism invariant. We prove that if a Boolean algebra v has a copy of low 2 degree, then there is a recursive Boolean algebra -7 which is isomorphic to v . This builds on work of Downey and Jockusch, who proved the analogous result starting with a low 1 Boolean algebra.
Control Plane for Advance Bandwidth Scheduling in Ultra High-Speed Networks

A control-plane architecture for supporting advance reservation of dedicated bandwidth channels on a switched network infrastructure is described including the front-end web interface, user and token management scheme, bandwidth scheduler, and signaling daemon. A path computation algorithm for bandwidth scheduling is proposed based on an extension of Bellman-Ford algorithm to an algebraic structure on sequences of disjoint non-negative real intervals. An implementation of this architecture for UltraScience Net is briefly described.
Mechanosensitive systems at the cadherin–F-actin interface

Summary Cells integrate biochemical and mechanical information to function within multicellular tissue. Within developing and remodeling tissues, mechanical forces contain instructive information that governs important cellular processes that include stem cell maintenance, differentiation and growth. Although the principles of signal transduction (protein phosphorylation, allosteric regulation of enzymatic activity and binding sites) are the same for biochemical and mechanical-induced signaling, the first step of mechanosensing, in which protein complexes under tension transduce changes in physical force into cellular signaling, is very different, and the molecular mechanisms are only beginning to be elucidated. In this Commentary, we focus on mechanotransduction at cell–cell junctions, aiming to comprehend the molecular mechanisms involved. We describe how different junction structures are associated with the actomyosin cytoskeleton and how this relates to the magnitude and direction of forces at cell–cell junctions. We discuss which cell–cell adhesion receptors have been shown to take part in mechanotransduction. Then we outline the force-induced molecular events that might occur within a key mechanosensitive system at cell–cell junctions; the cadherin–F-actin interface, at which &agr;-catenin and vinculin form a central module. Mechanotransduction at cell–cell junctions emerges as an important signaling mechanism, and we present examples of its potential relevance for tissue development and disease.
Values and Science: An Argument for Why They Cannot Be Separated

ABSTRACT A distinction between facts and values is often assumed when people in the modern West talk about science. The biologist Stephen Gould, for example, famously argued that religion covers questions of meaning and moral value, but science deals with empirical facts. This paper challenges the traditional fact/value distinction by questioning the presuppositions about science upon which it depends. It begins by describing the origins of the fact/value distinction in the Scientific Revolution and then gives three reasons for the inseparability of facts and values in scientific inquiry, drawing upon themes from the “practice turn” in recent scholarship on the sciences.
Intelligent Lane Reservation for Highways ( Position Paper )

The only way to keep up with the ever-increasing number of cars on roads is through constant change and improvement in the transportation infrastructure. Construction of new roads is constrained by space and financial resources. Therefore, there is a need to devise ways to make optimal use of the existing infrastructure. In this position paper, we describe a lane reservation system for highways. The idea is to allow drivers to reserve a slot on a high-priority lane by paying a premium price. The high-priority lane would provide a guaranteed upper bound on the travel time between any two points on the highway. We describe the design of our system, the challenges that need to be solved and the evaluation methodology we are planning to adopt.
The impact of early detection and intervention of breast cancer‐related lymphedema: a systematic review

Breast cancer‐related lymphedema (BCRL) has become an increasingly important clinical issue as noted by the recent update of the 2015 NCCN breast cancer guidelines which recommends to “educate, monitor, and refer for lymphedema management. ” The purpose of this review was to examine the literature regarding early detection and management of BCRL in order to (1) better characterize the benefit of proactive surveillance and intervention, (2) clarify the optimal monitoring techniques, and (3) help better define patient groups most likely to benefit from surveillance programs. A Medline search was conducted for the years 1992–2015 to identify articles addressing early detection and management of BCRL. After an initial search, 127 articles were identified, with 13 of these studies focused on early intervention (three randomized (level of evidence 1), four prospective (level of evidence 2–3), six retrospective trials (level of evidence 4)). Data from two, small (n = 185 cases), randomized trials with limited follow‐up demonstrated a benefit to early intervention (physiotherapy, manual lymphatic drainage) with regard to reducing the rate of chronic BCRL (>50% reduction) with two additional studies underway (n = 1280). These findings were confirmed by larger prospective and retrospective series. Several studies were identified that demonstrate that newer diagnostic modalities (bioimpedance spectroscopy, perometry) have increased sensitivity allowing for the earlier detection of BCRL. Current data support the development of surveillance programs geared toward the early detection and management of BCRL in part due to newer, more sensitive diagnostic modalities.
Evolution in biocontrol strains: insight from the harlequin ladybird Harmonia axyridis

After being used as a biocontrol agent against aphids for decades without harmful consequences, the Asian harlequin ladybird Harmonia axyridis has suddenly become an invasive pest on a worldwide scale. We investigate the impact of captive breeding on several traits of this ladybird such as genetic diversity, fecundity, survival and pathogen resistance. We conducted an experiment in the laboratory to compare the fecundity and the susceptibility to the entomopathogenic fungus Beauveria bassiana of wild and biocontrol adults of H. axyridis. We compiled these new findings with already published data. Altogether, our findings suggest that mass rearing of biological control agents may strongly impact genetic diversity and life‐history traits. We discuss how such changes may subsequently affect the fitness of biological control strains in natural environments.
Collinearity and Least Squares Regression

In this paper we introduce certain numbers, called collinearity indices, which are useful in detecting near collinearities in regression problems. The coefficients enter adversely into formulas concerning signif- icance testing and the effects of errors in the regression variables. Thus they provide simple regression diagnostics, suitable for incorporation in regression packages.
No evidence for genetic association between DARPP‐32 (PP1R1B) polymorphisms and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) has a strong genetic basis, and evidence from human and animal studies suggests that a dopamine system dysfunction plays a role in the disorder pathophysiology. Several genes involved in dopamine neurotransmission have shown replicated genetic association with ADHD. These include the dopamine receptors D4 (DRD4), D5 (DRD5), and the dopamine transporter (DAT1) genes. Recently, evidence has also accumulated in favor of the dopamine receptor D1 gene (DRD1). The dopamine‐ and cAMP‐regulated phosphoprotein of relative molecular mass of 32 kDa (DARPP‐32) is a key component of dopamine signaling, acting as a converging point for several neurotransmitter systems influencing dopaminergic neurons and regulating a wide variety of downstream effectors. Here, we tested the DARPP‐32 gene, PPP1R1B, for association with ADHD using four polymorphic markers selected across the gene in a sample of 255 ADHD families. We did not detect evidence of association of individual marker alleles and haplotype analysis did not reveal significant association in this sample of families. Moreover, we found no relationship between the same alleles or haplotypes and symptom scores of inattention or hyperactivity/impulsivity in these families using a quantitative approach. In conclusion, albeit a key regulatory role in dopamine signaling, our data do not support a major contribution of the DARPP‐32 gene in ADHD. © 2007 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.