Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Role of Commercial Sex Venues in the HIV Epidemic Among Men Who Have Sex With Men

Background: Commercial sex venues such as bathhouses and sex clubs have long been considered important facilitators of HIV transmission among men who have sex with men in the United States. Recent probability surveys of commercial-sex-venue patrons in King County, WA that included data on behavior both within and outside these venues provide an empirical basis for the development of mathematical models to estimate the role that commercial sex venues play in the HIV epidemic. Methods: We constructed deterministic compartmental mathematical models of HIV transmission to estimate both current incidence among King County men who have sex with men and incidence in 5 counterfactual scenarios in which commercial-sex-venues were presumed not to exist. We parameterized the models using a range of values for the proportion of commercial sex venues partnerships replaced in the absence of these venues, and the number of acts of unprotected anal intercourse per other types of partnership. Yearly attributable number was calculated as the difference between incident HIV cases in the main models and each corresponding counterfactual model. We performed extensive sensitivity analyses using Latin hypercube sampling. Results: Replacement of 25% of commercial sex venue partners in the absence of these venues resulted in attributable number values near zero per year. Replacement of 50% or more of commercial sex venue partners resulted in negative yearly attributable numbers, indicating a net increase in incident HIV infections in the absence of these venues. Results of the sensitivity analyses were consistent with the main findings. Conclusions: Our findings imply that commercial sex venues contribute little to the burden of HIV among men who have sex with men in King County, WA.
A Novel Non-Negative Matrix Factorization Method for Recommender Systems

Recommender systems collect various kinds of data to create their recommendations. Collaborative filtering is a common technique in this area. This technique gathers and analyzes information on users preferences, and then estimates what users will like based on their similarity to other users. However, most of current collaborative filtering approaches have faced two pro blems: sparsity and scalability. This paper proposes a novel method by applying non-negative matrix factorization, which alleviates t hese problems via matrix factorization and similarity. Non-negative matrix factorization attempts to find two non-negative matrice s whose product can well approximate the original matrix. It also imposes non-negative constraints on the latent factors. The proposed method presents novel update rules to learn the latent factors for predictin g unknown rating. Unlike most of collaborative filtering met hods, the proposed method can predict all the unknown ratings. It is easily implemented and its computational complexity is very low. Empirical studies on MovieLens and Book-Crossing datasets display that the proposed method is more tolerant against the problems of sparsity and scalability, and obtains good results.
Entwicklung von Prozessen zum Tiefnitrieren von Zahnrädern*

Kurzfassung Durch Nitrieren kann die Beanspruchbarkeit von Zahnrädern, insbesondere die Flanken- und Zahnfußtragfähigkeit, signifikant gesteigert werden. Die Dauerfestigkeit und damit die Lebensdauer nitrierter Bauteile steigen mit zunehmender Nitriertiefe, wobei die benötigte Nitriertiefe abhängig von der Größe der Verzahnung ist. In der Praxis wird eine Nitrierhärtetiefe (NHD bzw. Nht) von etwa 0,6 mm als Grenzwert angesehen, sodass mit zunehmender Größe der Verzahnung überwiegend das Einsatzhärten Anwendung findet. Beim Tiefnitrieren werden Nitrierhärtetiefen von etwa 0,8-1,0 mm angestrebt, daher ist durch diese Behandlung eine deutliche Steigerung der Belastbarkeit der nitrierten Zahnräder bei mittlerer und größerer Verzahnung zu erwarten. Tiefnitrierte Zahnräder bieten aufgrund der höheren Nitrierhärtetiefe im Vergleich zu konventionell nitrierten Zahnrädern ein besseres Tragfähigkeitsverhalten und sind auch für den Einsatz im Trockenlauf und bei Mangelschmierung sowie bei Einsatztemperaturen oberhalb der Anlasstemperatur des Einsatzhärtens geeignet. Wegen der im Vergleich zum Einsatzhärten geringeren Behandlungstemperaturen zum Erreichen vergleichbarer Härtetiefen müssen beim Tiefnitrieren lange Behandlungsdauern in Kauf genommen werden. Mithilfe von Kurzversuchen zum Anlass- und Nitrierverhalten verschiedener Stähle wurden werkstoffabhängig Prozesse zur Erzeugung hoher Nitrierhärtetiefen entwickelt. Dabei wurde auf eine mehrstufige Prozessgestaltung gesetzt, um die Verbindungsschichtdicke und die Veränderung der Festigkeit durch Anlasseffekte zu kontrollieren.
Deacetylase Activity Is Required for Recruitment of the Basal Transcription Machinery and Transactivation by STAT5

ABSTRACT The signal transducer and activator of transcription STAT5 plays a major role in the cellular response to cytokines, but the mechanism by which it activates transcription remains poorly understood. We show here that deacetylase inhibitors (trichostatin A, suberoylanilide hydroxamic acid, and sodium butyrate) prevent induction of endogenous STAT5 target genes, implying that a deacetylase activity is required for that process. Microarray analyses revealed that this requirement is common to all STAT5 target genes. Using chromatin immunoprecipitation, we show that, following STAT5 DNA binding, deacetylase inhibitors block transcription initiation by preventing recruitment of the basal transcription machinery. This inhibition is not due to effects on histone H3 and H4 acetylation or chromatin remodeling within the promoter region. This novel mechanism of transactivation by STAT5 provides a rationale for the use of deacetylase inhibitors for therapeutic intervention in STAT5-associated cancers.
Whole‐exome sequencing expands the phenotype of Hunter syndrome

Whole‐exome sequencing (WES) has proven its utility in finding novel genes associated with rare conditions and its usefulness is being further demonstrated in expanding the phenotypes of well known diseases. We present here a family with a previously undiagnosed X‐linked condition characterized by progressive restriction of joint range of motion, prominence of the supraorbital ridge, audiology issues and hernias. They had an average stature, normal occipitofrontal circumference and intelligence, absence of dysostosis multiplex and otherwise good health. A diagnosis of Hunter syndrome was determined using WES and further supported by biochemical investigations. The phenotype of this family does not correspond to either the severe or attenuated clinical subtypes of Hunter syndrome. As further atypical families are reported, this classification will need to be modified. Our findings highlight the utility of WES in expanding the recognized phenotypic spectrum of known syndromes.
GMM-based multimodal biometric verification

In this work, we describe how biometric data can be used for person identification and verification. We rely on three categories of traits, that is speech, signature, and face. These distinguishing features or characteristics of a person, on their own, do not provide satisfactory results using well-known techniques. This is the case especially when the number of enrolled persons is large. For this reason, we develop techniques for making good use of all the three traits. In particular, we choose to follow late fusion of the scores of each single trait. The results of these techniques are quite better than using only one trait. Another goal of this work is the creation of a high quality multilingual database with video, audio, and signatures from forty seven persons.
Hepatic Tissue Engineering on 3-Dimensional Biodegradable Polymers within a Pulsatile Flow Bioreactor

Background: An optimal method for hepatocyte transplantation is not yet determined. With the principles of tissue engineering in vitro conditioning of hepatocytes on biodegradable polymer in a flow bioreactor before implantation forming spheroids may achieve increased cell mass and function to replace lost organ function in vivo. Methods: Biodegradable poly-L-lactic (PLLA) polymer discs were seeded with rat hepatocytes in a concentration of 10 × 106 cells per ml and exposed to a medium flow of 24 ml/min for 1, 2, 4 and 6 days. The number and diameter of spheroidal aggregates was measured by phase-contrast microscopy. H&E histology was performed. Albumin production as hepatocyte specific function was determined by ELISA. Results: Spheroids of viable hepatocytes of 50–200 µm in diameter were formed. Both the number and diameter of the spheroids increased during the first 2 days and then remained constant until day 6. Albumin production was maintained throughout the culture period. Conclusion: Short (2– 3 days) pre-transplant conditioning of hepatocytes in a flow bioreactor on biodegradable PLLA resulted in formation of spheroids with a liver-like morphology and preserved specific metabolic function. Tissue engineered hepatocyte spheroids on polymer may represent a functionally active and easy transplantable neotissue and may serve as an in vivo substitute for lost liver function.
LMI-based approach for output-feedback stabilization for discrete time Takagi-Sugeno systems

This paper presents a static output-feedback stabilizing controller design for nonlinear systems represented by discrete-time Takagi-Sugeno fuzzy models. The main result concerns the stabilization based on the parallel distributed compensation (PDC) approach. Sufficient conditions are provided for quadratic and nonquadratic stabilization. A numerical procedure based on the cone complementarity algorithm is given for the design of static output-feedback stabilizing controller. It is shown that the relaxed conditions proposed in the nonquadratic case outperform those for the quadratic case. A numerical example is given to illustrate the applicability of the proposed approach
Power loss comparison in two- and three-level PWM converters

This paper presents a fair comparison of power losses in two-level and NPC three-level PWM converters using different switching devices. Conduction losses for IGBT and diode are calculated as a function of modulation index and power factor. Switching losses are calculated as a function of the switching frequency. Three-level converters give a lower total power loss compared with two-level converters. Cost comparison has shown the two-level configuration is about 25% cheaper than the three-level configuration.
An Algorithm Based on Fast Walsh Transform for Multiple Sequence Alignment

As a NPproblem, multiple sequence alignment is solved mainly in approximative or heuristic methods, most of which are based on dynamic programming algorithm raised by Smith-Waterman in 1981. In this paper, an alignment method based on fast Walsh transform by the means of Identification of molecular subsequences is brought forward, and it adopts triplet code and subsection strategy. The method increases the differentiation through adding more vectors, it increases the precision and reduces the complexity, and Star-Alignment is introduced to make pair alignment into the alignment. Experiments show the algorithm is effective.
Everolimus Retards Cyst Growth and Preserves Kidney Function in a Rodent Model for Polycystic Kidney Disease

Background/Aims: Rapamycin inhibits cyst growth in polycystic kidney disease by targeting the mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR). To determine if this is a class effect of the mTOR inhibitors, we examined the effect of everolimus, the analogue of rapamycin, on disease progression in the Han:SPRD rat model of polycystic kidney disease. Methods: Four-week-old male heterozygous cystic (Cy/+) and wild-type normal (+/+) Han:SPRD rats were administered everolimus or vehicle (3 mg/kg/day) by gavage for 5 weeks. Kidney function and whole-blood trough levels of everolimus were monitored. After treatment kidney weight and cyst volume density were assessed. Tubule epithelial cell proliferation was assessed by BrdU staining. Results: Everolimus trough levels between 5 and 7 µg/l were sufficient to significantly reduce kidney and cyst volume density by approximately 50 and 40%, respectively. The steady decrease of kidney function in Cy/+ rats was reduced by 30% compared with vehicle-treated Cy/+ rats. Everolimus treatment markedly reduced the number of 5-bromo-2-deoxyuridine-labeled nuclei in cyst epithelia. Body weight gain and kidney function were impaired in everolimus-treated wild-type rats. Conclusion: Moderate dosage of everolimus inhibits cystogenesis in Han:SPRD rats. The inhibitory effect of everolimus appears to represent a class effect of mTOR inhibitors.
Geometry and physics of proteins

A conceptual framework for understanding the protein folding problem has remained elusive in spite of many significant advances. We show that geometrical constraints imposed by chain connectivity, compactness, and the avoidance of steric clashes can be encompassed in a natural way using a three‐body potential and lead to a selection in structure space, independent of chemical details. Strikingly, secondary motifs such as hairpins, sheets, and helices, which are the building blocks of protein folds, emerge as the chosen structures for segments of the protein backbone based just on elementary geometrical considerations. Proteins 2002;47:315–322. © 2002 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Possible Implication of the Genetic Composition of the Lutzomyia longipalpis (Diptera: Psychodidae) Populations in the Epidemiology of the Visceral Leishmaniasis

ABSTRACT Lutzomyia longipalpis (Diptera: Psychodidae) is the principal vector of American visceral leishmaniasis. Several studies have indicated that the Lu. longipalpis population structure is complex. It has been suggested that genetic divergence caused by genetic drift, selection, or both may affect the vectorial capacity of Lu. longipalpis. However, it remains unclear whether genetic differences among Lu. longipalpis populations are directly implicated in the transmission features of visceral leishmaniasis. We evaluated the genetic composition and the patterns of genetic differentiation among Lu. longipalpis populations collected from regions with different patterns of transmission of visceral leishmaniasis by analyzing the sequence variation in the mitochondrial cytochrome b gene. Furthermore, we investigated the temporal distribution of haplotypes and compared our results with those obtained in a previous study. Our data indicate that there are differences in the haplotype composition and that there has been significant differentiation between the analyzed populations. Our results reveal that measures used to control visceral leishmaniasis might have influenced the genetic composition of the vector population. This finding raises important questions concerning the epidemiology of visceral leishmaniasis, because these differences in the genetic structures among populations of Lu. longipalpis may have implications with respect to their efficiency as vectors for visceral leishmaniasis.
Impact of the stability bound choice on the approximation of ruin probabilities

Abstract. This paper aims to establish the eect of the choice of a stability bound for the ruin probability on the quality of the approximation of the characteristics (ruin probabilities) of two classical risk models to approach (ideal an perturbed models) regarding to dierent large claims. In particular, we use two versions of the strong stability method: strong stability of a Markov chain and strong stability of a Lindley process. A comparative study, based on numerical results obtained by simulation, is performed between the two versions . Resume. Ce travail porte sur l'etude de l'eet du choix de la borne de stabilite pour la probabilite de ruine sur la qualite de l'approximation des caracteristiques (probabilites de ruine) de deux modeles de risque classiques a approcher (modele ideal et modele perturbe) par rapport a dierentes reclamations larges. Particulierement, on utilise deux versions de la methode de stabilite forte: stabilite forte d'une cha^ne de Markov et stabilite forte d'un processus de Lindley. Une etude comparative, basee sur des resultats numeriques obtenus par simulation, est eectuee entre ces deux versions. Key words: Risk model, perturbation, ruin probability, strong stability, large claim, simulation.
Physical activity, gender, weight status, and wellbeing in 9- to 11-year-old children: a cross sectional survey.

BACKGROUND The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between physical activity and wellbeing in children, and to further explore the extent to which this may vary by gender and weight status. METHOD A representative sample of 1424 9- to 11-year-olds completed a self-report measure of physical activity, the Child Health and Illness Profile, KIDSCREEN, and a self-esteem scale. Body Mass Index (BMI) measurements were also obtained. RESULTS 24% of children achieved the recommended level of 60 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous intensity physical activity (MVPA) per day, with more boys than girls achieving this level. Children achieving the recommended level of MVPA scored significantly higher on measures of the Child Health and Illness Profile (F(5, 1354) = 5.03; P < . 001), KIDSCREEN (F(3, 1298) = 4.68; P = . 003), and self-esteem (F(1, 1271) = 18.73; P = . 003) than less active children although the effect sizes were small (ηp2 ≈ .01). Substantial gender differences in wellbeing were found reflecting gender specific behaviors and socialization. Weight status had negligible influence on wellbeing. CONCLUSIONS Children who meet the recommended guidelines of MVPA were more likely to have better wellbeing. When attempting to raise children's physical activity levels consideration should be given to the specific relationships between wellbeing and physical activity.
ABCA2 Deficiency Results in Abnormal Sphingolipid Metabolism in Mouse Brain*

ABCA2, a member of the ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporter family, is localized mainly to late endosome/lysosomes of oligodendrocytes in brain, but the physiological role and function of ABCA2 are unknown. In this study, we generated mutant mice (ABCA2-null) by targeting the abca2 gene. ABCA2-null mice exhibited a phenotype including lower pregnancy rate and body weight, shorter latency period on the balance beam, and sensitization to environmental stress compared with wild type mice but no abnormality in the cytoarchitectonic and compact myelin structure or oligodendroglial differentiation. Lipid analysis of brain from 11 days to 64 weeks of age revealed significant accumulation of gangliosides along with reduced sphingomyelin (SM) from 4 weeks to 64 weeks of age and accumulation of cerebrosides and sulfatides at 64 weeks of age in ABCA2-null mice compared with wild type mice. In addition, a significant accumulation of the major ganglioside GM1 and reduced SM was detected in the myelin fraction of ABCA2-null brain. Comparison of ABCA2-null and wild type mice revealed weak ABCA2 immunoreactivity in some large pyramidal cells of wild type brain. These results suggest that ABCA2 is involved in the intracellular metabolism of sphingolipids in the brain, particularly SM and gangliosides in oligodendrocytes and certain neurons.
Domains of Tra 1 Important for Activator Recruitment and Transcription Coactivator Functions of SAGA and NuA 4 Complexes †

The Tra1 protein is a direct transcription activator target that is essential for coactivator function of both the SAGA and NuA4 histone acetyltransferase (HAT) complexes. The 400-kDa Saccharomyces cerevisiae Tra1 polypeptide and its human counterpart TRRAP contain 67 or 68 tandem -helical HEAT and TPR protein repeats that extend from the N terminus to the conserved yet catalytically inactive phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K) domain. We generated a series of mutations spanning the length of the protein and assayed for defects in transcription, coactivator recruitment, and histone acetylation at SAGAand NuA4-dependent genes. Inviable TRA1 mutants all showed defects in SAGA and NuA4 complex stability, suggesting that similar surfaces of Tra1 mediate assembly of these two very different coactivator complexes. Nearly all of the viable Tra1 mutants showed transcription defects that fell into one of three classes: (i) defective recruitment to promoters, (ii) reduced stability of the SAGA and NuA4 HAT modules, or (iii) normal recruitment of Tra1-associated subunits but reduced HAT activity in vivo. Our results show that Tra1 recruitment at Gcn4-dependent and Rap1-dependent promoters requires the same regions of Tra1 and that separate regions of Tra1 contribute to the HAT activity and stability of the SAGA and NuA4 HAT modules.
On Generalized Lebesgue-Ramanujan-Nagell Equations

Abstract We give a brief survey on some classical and recent results concerning the generalized Lebesgue-Ramanujan-Nagell equation. Moreover, we solve completely the equation x2 + 11a 17b = yn in nonnegative integer unknowns with n ≧ 3 and gcd(x, y) = 1.
Assessment of MODIS BRDF/Albedo Model Parameters (MCD43A1 Collection 6) for Directional Reflectance Retrieval

Measurements of solar radiation reflected from Earth’s surface are the basis for calculating albedo, vegetation indices, and other terrestrial attributes. However, the “bi-directional” geometry of illumination and viewing (i.e., the Bi-directional Reflectance Distribution Function (BRDF)) impacts reflectance and all variables derived or estimated based on these data. The recently released MODIS BRDF/Albedo Model Parameters (MCD43A1 Collection 6) dataset enables retrieval of directional reflectance at arbitrary solar and viewing angles, potentially increasing precision and comparability of data collected under different illumination and observation geometries. We quantified the ability of MCD43A1 Collection 6 for retrieving directional reflectance and compared the daily Collection 6 retrievals to those of MCD43A1 Collection 5, which are retrieved on an eight-day basis. Correcting MODIS-based estimates of surface reflectance from the illumination and viewing geometry of the Terra satellite (MOD09GA) to that of the MODIS Aqua (MYD09GA) overpass, as well as MCD43A4 Collection 6 and Landsat-5 TM images show that the BRDF correction of MCD43A1 Collection 6 results in greater consistency among datasets, with higher R2 (0.63–0.955), regression slopes closer to unity (0.718–0.955), lower root mean squared difference (RMSD) (0.422–3.142), and lower mean absolute error (MAE) (0.282–1.735) compared to the Collection 5 data. Smaller levels of noise (observed as high-frequency variability within the time series) in MCD43A1 Collection 6 in comparison to Collection 5 corroborates the improvement of BRDF parameters time series. These results corroborates that the daily MCD43A1 Collection 6 product represents the anisotropy of surface features and results in more precise directional reflectance derivation at any solar and viewing geometry than did the previous Collection 5.
Parameterized Complexity of CSP for Infinite Constraint Languages

We study parameterized Constraint Satisfaction Problem for infinite constraint languages. The parameters that we study are weight of the satisfying assignment, number of constraints, maximum number of occurrences of a variable in the instance, and maximum number of occurrences of a variable in each constraint. A dichotomy theorem is already known for finite constraint languages with the weight parameter. We prove some general theorems that show, as new results, that some well-known problems are fixed-parameter tractable and some others are in W[1].