Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Presence of Active Aliphatic Amidases in Helicobacter Species Able To Colonize the Stomach

ABSTRACT Ammonia production is of great importance for the gastric pathogen Helicobacter pylori as a nitrogen source, as a compound protecting against gastric acidity, and as a cytotoxic molecule. In addition to urease, H. pylori possesses two aliphatic amidases responsible for ammonia production: AmiE, a classical amidase, and AmiF, a new type of formamidase. Both enzymes are part of a regulatory network consisting of nitrogen metabolism enzymes, including urease and arginase. We examined the role of the H. pylori amidases in vivo by testing the gastric colonization of mice with H. pylori SS1 strains carrying mutations in amiE and/or amiF and in coinfection experiments with wild-type and double mutant strains. A new cassette conferring resistance to gentamicin was used in addition to the kanamycin cassette to construct the double mutation in strain SS1. Our data indicate that the amidases are not essential for colonization of mice. The search for amiE and amiF genes in 53 H. pylori strains from different geographic origins indicated the presence of both genes in all these genomes. We tested for the presence of the amiE and amiF genes and for amidase and formamidase activities in eleven Helicobacter species. Among the gastric species, H. acinonychis possessed both amiE and amiF, H. felis carried only amiF, and H. mustelae was devoid of amidases. H. muridarum, which can colonize both mouse intestine and stomach, was the only enterohepatic species to contain amiE. Phylogenetic trees based upon the sequences of H. pylori amiE and amiF genes and their respective homologs from other organisms as well as the amidase gene distribution among Helicobacter species are strongly suggestive of amidase acquisition by horizontal gene transfer. Since amidases are found only in Helicobacter species able to colonize the stomach, their acquisition might be related to selective pressure in this particular gastric environment.
Understanding the changing nature of psychological contracts in 21st century organizations

In recent years, scholars have increasingly recognized that the theoretical underpinnings of employee-organization relationships (EOR) are in need of further extension in light of recent organizational changes. In prior research, the study of EOR has been based on social exchange theory, and the psychological contract (PC) has played a central role in understanding this crucial aspect of organizational life. The main objective of this paper is to provide an integration of the existing literature by adopting a multiple-foci exchange relationships approach. Specifically, we looked at identification; the quality of relationships and exchanges with the leader, coworkers, and other organizational agents; justice perceptions involving several organizational sources; and perceived organizational, leader, and coworker support to expand our understanding of the PC. Overall, we advocate a multiple-foci exchange relationships approach that will ultimately enable us to develop a more comprehensive understanding of the complex nature of PCs in 21st century organizations.
A spiking neural network chip for odor data classification

An artificial nose, also known as an “electronic nose” (E-Nose), has found many applications. One of the restrictions for E-Nose becoming popular is its size and power consumption. To reduce the power consumption and physical size of an E-Nose system, a power-efficient odor data classification chip is advantageous. This paper presents a low-power, neuromorphic spiking neural network chip which can be integrated in an electronic nose system to perform odor data classification. The network is composed of integrate-and-fire neurons, using spike-timing dependent plasticity for learning. The network has been fabricated by TSMC 0.18 μm CMOS process. The chip area is 1.033×1.383 mm2. Measurement results show that the chip can correctly classify real world gas data (hami and lemon) sampled by the commercial E-Nose, Cyranose 320. The supply voltage is 1.2 V; the power consumption is 3.6 μW. This learning chip features small area, low voltage and low power, and is very suitable for being integrated in an E-Nose system. The power and size of the E-Nose can be reduced and have more extensive applications.
A process-theoretic approach to supervisory control theory

We revisit the central notion of controllability in supervisory control theory from process-theoretic perspective. To this end, we investigate partial bisimulation preorder, a behavioral preorder that is coarser than bisimulation equivalence and finer than simulation preorder. It is parameterized by a subset of the set of actions that need to be bisimulated, whereas the actions outside this set need only to be simulated. This preorder proves a viable means to define controllability in a nondeterministic setting as a refinement relation on processes. The new approach provides for a generalized characterization of controllability of nondeterministic discrete-event systems. We characterize the existence of a deterministic supervisor and compare our approach to existing ones in the literature. It helped identify the coarsest minimization procedure for nondeterministic plants that respects controllability. At the end, we define the notion of a maximally permissive supervisor, nonblocking property, and partial observability in our setting.
Fault tolerant connected sensor cover with variable sensing and transmission ranges

Sensor networks are often deployed in a redundant fashion. In order to prolong the network lifetime, it is desired to choose only a subset of sensors to keep active and put the rest to sleep. In order to provide fault tolerance, this small subset of active sensors should also provide some degree of redundancy. In this paper, we consider the problem of choosing a minimum subset of sensors such that they maintain a required degree of coverage and also form a connected network with a required degree of fault tolerance. In addition, we consider a more general, variable radii sensor model, wherein every sensor can adjust both its sensing and transmission ranges to minimize overall energy consumption in the network. We call this the variable radiik1-Connected, k2-Cover problem. To address this problem, we propose a distributed and localized Voronoi- based algorithm. The approach extends the relative neighborhood graph (RNG) structure to preserve k-connectivity in a graph, and design a distributed technique to inactivate desirable nodes while preserving k-connectivity of the remaining active nodes. We show through extensive simulations that our proposed techniques result in overall energy savings in random sensor networks over a wide range of experimental parameters.
Self-Organizing Peer-To-Peer Middleware for Healthcare Monitoring in Real-Time

As the number of elderly persons with chronic illnesses increases, a new public infrastructure for their care is becoming increasingly necessary. In particular, technologies that can monitoring bio-signals in real-time have been receiving significant attention. Currently, most healthcare monitoring services are implemented by wireless carrier through centralized servers. These services are vulnerable to data concentration because all data are sent to a remote server. To solve these problems, we propose self-organizing P2P middleware for healthcare monitoring that enables a real-time multi bio-signal streaming without any central server by connecting the caregiver and care recipient. To verify the performance of the proposed middleware, we evaluated the monitoring service matching time based on a monitoring request. We also confirmed that it is possible to provide an effective monitoring service by evaluating the connectivity between Peer-to-Peer and average jitter.
Would Phoenix Dactyflera Pollen (palm seed) be considered as a treatment agent against Males’ infertility? A systematic review

Introduction Oxidative stress is a key factor involved in male infertility, which is due to an unnatural increase in environmental free radicals. In the majority of cases, this has a negative effect on a male’s ability to impregnate a female. Currently, it is believed that spermatozoa can be protected against the damages induced by oxidative stress by saturating sperm with antioxidants. The antioxidant role of phoenix dactylifera pollen is capable of collecting the reactive oxygen and neutralizing it in and out of body cells. The present research provides a review of the antioxidant roles of phoenix dactylifera pollen on male infertility. Methods This research is based on English-Language studies and articles found by comprehensively reviewing electronic databases, websites, books, and academic articles over the last 10 years. Results The phenolic compounds of phoenix dactylifera pollen, due to the existing polyphenols, are strong chelators of heavy metals. Therefore, they are effective in eliminating environmental hydroxyl radicals. Moreover, these plants have high capacities of eliminating hydroxyl free radicals, picrylhydrazyl, diphenyl and phoenix dactylifera pollen and also inhibiting glutathione-S-transferase (GST). Conclusion Currently, the use of herbal antioxidants to neutralize reactive oxygen species (ROS) and reduce the negative effects of oxidative stress on body cells and tissues has attracted researchers’ attention. Various substances, such as flavonoids and catechins, perform their antioxidant role by increasing the concentration of glutathione peroxidase. The final product of this process is an increase in the number of motile sperm, which can have significant effects on fertility.
Human Rights and Statistics: Getting the Record Straight

Well, someone can decide by themselves what they want to do and need to do but sometimes, that kind of person will need some human rights and statistics getting the record straight references. People with open minded will always try to seek for the new things and information from many sources. On the contrary, people with closed mind will always think that they can do it by their principals. So, what kind of person are you?
INDUCED DUSTY FLOW DUE TO NORMAL OSCILLATION OF WAVY WALL

A two-dimensional viscous dusty flow induced by normal oscillation of a wavy wall for moderately large Reynolds number is studied on the basis of boundary layer theory in the case where the thickness of the boundary layer is larger than the amplitude of the wavy wall. Solutions are obtained in terms of a series expansion with respect to small amplitude by a regular perturbation method. Graphs of velocity components, both for outer flowand inner flowfor various values of mass concentration of dust particles are drawn. The inner and outer solutions are matched by the matching process. An interested application of present result to mechanical engineering may be the possibility of the fluid and dust transportation without an external pressure.
Serological classification of Pseudomonas aeruginosa by a slide agglutination test

Serological classification of Pseudomonas aeruginosa by the slide agglutination test with live organisms was studied, based on the O antigen schema adopted by the international expert panel sponsored by the Subcommittee on Pseudomonas and Related Organisms of the International Committee on Systematic Bacteriology. The typing results obtained by the slide test with well-absorbed O sera were identical to those obtained by the conventional tube agglutination test with autoclaved organisms. Most O antigens occur singly; but O2, O5, and O16 occur in four combinations. Antigens O13 and O14 are closely related, as are O7 and O8, and it would be convenient to classify organisms possessing these antigens collectively as O7,8 and O13,14.
Joint MIMO Beamforming and Power Adaptation at Base Station and Broadcasting Relay Transmitters with Quality-of-Service (QoS) Constraints

We propose a broadcasting relay scheme in which the source-to-relay link is a multiple input multiple output (MIMO) channel and the relay-to-destination link is a broadcast channel. The operation for relay station consists of receive beamforming, amplifying and transmit beamforming (R-A-T). We study joint MIMO beamforming and power adaptation to transmit parallel data streams to multiple users with different quality-of-service (QoS) constraints. We derive the optimal solution for the beamforming weights and power adaptation at the base station and the relay station transmitters for the R-A-T scheme, and propose iterative algorithms for joint beamforming weights and power adaption. Simulation results are presented to show that the proposed iterative algorithms achieve the respective target signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR) of mobile receivers.
Behavioural and neurobiological foundations of vicarious processing

Empathy can be broadly defined as the ability to vicariously experience and to understand the affect of other people. This thesis will argue that such a capacity for vicarious processing is fundamental for successful social-cognitive ability and behaviour. To this end, four outstanding research questions regarding the behavioural and neural basis of empathy are addressed 1) can empathy be dissected into different components and do these components differentially explain individual differences in social functioning? [Chapter 2] 2) how does empathy relate to trait prosocial behaviour and do additional trait constructs moderate the association between empathy and prosocial behaviour? [Chapter 3] 3) how does the brain represent vicarious information, and does this vary dependent on individual differences in typical and atypical empathy? [Chapters 4-5] 4) what are the behavioural and neural mechanisms that link empathy to prosocial behaviour? [Chapter 6] The findings of this thesis suggest that: 1) specific components of empathy have distinct associations with different kinds of disrupted trait social-cognitive ability 2) specific components of empathy are positively associated with trait prosocial behaviour and individual differences in the capacity to regulate one’s own emotions moderates the strength with which empathy relates to trait prosocial behaviour 3) anterior cingulate cortex function may be critical in the perception of vicarious information, including pain and reward processing; and individual differences in anterior cingulate cortex function during pain and reward processing relates to individual differences in empathy and 4) empathy is important for prosocial decision making and underpins the neural computations that signal outcomes for others that are different from our expectations. Together, these findings contribute to a more complete and coherent understanding of the structure, function and neural basis of empathic/vicarious processing.
Anti-Phosphatidylserine/Prothrombin Antibodies Are Associated with Adverse Pregnancy Outcomes

Objective. To determine the prevalence and clinical association of anti-phosphatidylserine/prothrombin antibodies (aPS/PT) in patients with a history of pregnancy complications relevant to antiphospholipid syndrome (APS). Materials and Methods. Two hundred and eleven patients with a history of (a) three or more consecutive miscarriages before 10th week of gestation (WG) (n = 64), (b) death of a morphologically normal fetus beyond 10th WG (n = 72), (c) premature birth of a morphologically normal neonate before 34th WG due to eclampsia, preeclamsia and placental insufficiency (n = 33), and (d) less than three unexplained consecutive miscarriages before 10th WG (n = 42). Subjects sera were analyzed for lupus anticoagulant (LA), anti-cardiolipin (aCL), anti-β 2-glycoprotein I (anti-β 2GPI), and aPS/PT antibodies. Results. 41/169 (24.3%) of patients were positive for at least one measured aPL. The highest prevalence was found for aPS/PT and aCL (13.0% and 12.4%, resp.) followed by LA (7.7%) and anti-β 2GPI (7.1%). 11/169 with APS-related obstetric manifestations had only aPS/PT. 17.8% of patients were positive for LA or aCL and/or anti-β 2GPI; however when adding the aPS/PT results, an additional 7% of patients could be evaluated for APS. Conclusion. aPS/PT are associated with recurrent early or late abortions and with premature delivery irrespective of other aPL.
tert-Butyl 4-isopropyl-2-oxo-6-phenyl-3,4-dihydro-2H-pyran-3-carboxylate

In the title compound, C19H24O4, the six-membered lactone ring adopts an envelope conformation with the tert-butoxycarbonyl and isopropyl substituents in axial positions, and the phenyl group in an equatorial position. In the crystal structure, weak intermolecular C—H⋯O hydrogen bonds link the molecules into centrosymmetric dimers.
Cardiac Expression of Microsomal Triglyceride Transfer Protein Is Increased in Obesity and Serves to Attenuate Cardiac Triglyceride Accumulation

Obesity causes lipid accumulation in the heart and may lead to lipotoxic heart disease. Traditionally, the size of the cardiac triglyceride pool is thought to reflect the balance between uptake and β-oxidation of fatty acids. However, triglycerides can also be exported from cardiomyocytes via secretion of apolipoproteinB-containing (apoB) lipoproteins. Lipoprotein formation depends on expression of microsomal triglyceride transfer protein (MTP); the mouse expresses two isoforms of MTP, A and B. Since many aspects of the link between obesity-induced cardiac disease and cardiac lipid metabolism remain unknown, we investigated how cardiac lipoprotein synthesis affects cardiac expression of triglyceride metabolism-controlling genes, insulin sensitivity, and function in obese mice. Heart-specific ablation of MTP-A in mice using Cre-loxP technology impaired upregulation of MTP expression in response to increased fatty acid availability during fasting and fat feeding. This resulted in cardiac triglyceride accumulation but unaffected cardiac insulin-stimulated glucose uptake. Long-term fat-feeding of male C57Bl/6 mice increased cardiac triglycerides, induced cardiac expression of triglyceride metabolism-controlling genes and attenuated heart function. Abolishing cardiac triglyceride accumulation in fat-fed mice by overexpression of an apoB transgene in the heart prevented the induction of triglyceride metabolism-controlling genes and improved heart function. The results suggest that in obesity, the physiological increase of cardiac MTP expression serves to attenuate cardiac triglyceride accumulation albeit without major effects on cardiac insulin sensitivity. Nevertheless, the data suggest that genetically increased lipoprotein secretion prevents development of obesity-induced lipotoxic heart disease.
The prognostic value of p53 expression in negative surgical margins of early glottic carcinoma in the prediction of local recurrences

Abstract Conclusions: p53 overexpression (>5%) in the surgical margins was more valuable than in the primary tumor tissue for the prediction of local recurrence among surgically treated early glottic cancers. This is the first study to compare p53 values in both primary tumor and surgical margin tissues of the same patients with early glottic cancers. Objective: To assess the prognostic value of p53 expression in the surgical margins of early glottic cancers treated with external laryngeal surgery in the prediction of local recurrences. Methods: Fifteen patients with early glottic cancer with local recurrences (group 1) and 15 without any recurrences (group 2) were included in the study. p53 expression was determined in both the tumor and the tumor-negative surgical margins. Results: Median p53 in the primary tumor was 55% (interquartile range (IQR) = 67) and 5% (IQR = 71) in groups 1 and 2, respectively (p = 0.178). Median p53 in the surgical margin was 11% (IQR = 13) and 2% (IQR = 2) in groups 1 and 2, respectively (p = 0.001). In the logistic regression analysis only surgical margin p53 value was significant in the prediction of recurrences (odds ratio (OR) = 1.68, 95% CI = 1.1–2.6, p = 0.017). Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis demonstrated that the area under the curve was 0.86 (p = 0.002) and 0.65 (p = 0.180) in the surgical margin and the primary tumor, respectively.
Bayesian and Decision Models in AI 2011-2012 Assignment II – Learning Bayesian Networks 1 Introduction

The purpose of this assignment is to test and possibly expand your knowledge about learning Bayesian networks from data, by exploring various issues such as comparison of learning algorithms, dealing with missing data and evaluation of the networks learned. Recall that learning Bayesian networks involves both structure learning, i.e., learning the graph topology from data, and parameter learning, i.e., learning the actual, local probability distributions from data. There are basically two approaches to structure learning: (i) searchand-score structure learning, and (ii) constraint-based structure learning. Search-and-score algorithms search for a Bayesian network structure that fits the data best (in some sense). They start with an initial network structure (often a graph without arcs or a complete graph), and then traverse the search space of network structures by in each step either removing an arc, adding an arc, or reversing an arc. Read again the paper by Castello and Kočka [1] for a good overview of the principles and difficulties associated with this learning method. Recent search-and-score-algorithms take Markov equivalence into account, i.e., they search in the space of equivalence classes of Bayesian networks and the scoring method they use give the same score for equivalent networks. Bayesian networks with different graph topologies that are included in the same Markov equivalence class represent exactly the same conditional-independence information by d-separation. Examples of searchand-score algorithms are K2 and inclusion-driven learning. They usually are based on hillclimbing (greedy) search. Constraint-based algorithms carry out a conditional (in)dependence analysis on the data. Based on this analysis an undirected graph is generated (to be interpreted as a Markov network). Using additional independence tests, this network is converted into a Bayesian network. Constraint-based learning algorithms allow for the easy incorporation of background knowledge, i.e., prior knowledge on dependences or independences that hold for the domain under consideration. Examples of constraint-based learning algorithms are PC, NPC, growshrink, and incremental association. A good paper discussing the difficulties with constraintbased methods is the paper by Chickering and Meek [2]. For the underlying theory, consult the book “Bayesian Artificial Intelligence” [3] and the two papers referred to above, which can be downloaded from the course seminar website. Also consult more specialised books and papers if required. In the following Sections 2, 3 and 4 you will find descriptions of the software, datasets and the tasks that you need to perform in order to complete this assignment.