Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Small RNAs with 5′-Polyphosphate Termini Associate with a Piwi-Related Protein and Regulate Gene Expression in the Single-Celled Eukaryote Entamoeba histolytica

Small interfering RNAs regulate gene expression in diverse biological processes, including heterochromatin formation and DNA elimination, developmental regulation, and cell differentiation. In the single-celled eukaryote Entamoeba histolytica, we have identified a population of small RNAs of 27 nt size that (i) have 5′-polyphosphate termini, (ii) map antisense to genes, and (iii) associate with an E. histolytica Piwi-related protein. Whole genome microarray expression analysis revealed that essentially all genes to which antisense small RNAs map were not expressed under trophozoite conditions, the parasite stage from which the small RNAs were cloned. However, a number of these genes were expressed in other E. histolytica strains with an inverse correlation between small RNA and gene expression level, suggesting that these small RNAs mediate silencing of the cognate gene. Overall, our results demonstrate that E. histolytica has an abundant 27 nt small RNA population, with features similar to secondary siRNAs from C. elegans, and which appear to regulate gene expression. These data indicate that a silencing pathway mediated by 5′-polyphosphate siRNAs extends to single-celled eukaryotic organisms.
An integrated "4-phase" approach for setting endocrine disruption screening priorities--phase I and II predictions of estrogen receptor binding affinity

Recent legislation mandates the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to develop a screening and testing program for potential endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs), of which xenoestrogens figure prominently. Under the legislation, a large number of chemicals will undergo various in vitro and in vivo assays for their potential estrogenicity, as well as other hormonal activities. There is a crucial need for priority setting before this strategy can be effectively implemented. Here we report an integrated computational approach to priority setting using estrogen receptor (ER) binding as an example. This approach rationally integrates different predictive computational models into a "Four-Phase" scheme so that it can effectively identify potential estrogenic EDCs based on their predicted ER relative binding affinity (RBA). The system has been validated using an in-house ER binding assay dataset for 232 chemicals that was designed to have both broad structural diversity and a wide range of binding affinities. When applied to 58,000 chemicals identified by Walker et al. as candidates for endocrine disruption screening, some 9100 chemicals were predicted to bind to ER. Of these, only 3600 were expected to bind to ER at RBA values up to 100,000-fold less than that of 17 g -estradiol. The method ruled out 83% of the chemicals as non-binders with a very low rate of false negatives. We believe that the same integrated scheme will be equally applicable to endpoints of other endocrine disrupting mechanisms, e.g. androgen receptor binding.
Learning General Completable Reactive Plans

This paper presents an explanation-based learning strategy for learning general plans for use in an integrated approach to planning. The integrated approach augments a classical planner with the ability to defer achievable goals, thus preserving the construction of provably-correct plans while gaining the ability to utilize runtime information in planning. Proving achievability is shown to be possible without having to determine the actions to achieve the associated goals. A learning strategy called contingent explanation-based learning uses conjectured variables to represent the eventual values of plan parameters with unknown values a priori, and completers to determine these values during execution. An implemented system demonstrates the use of contingent EBL in learning a general completable reactive plan for spaceship acceleration.
Flavonoids from Tephrosia Calophylla

Two new flavanones, (2S)-5-hydroxy-7,4′-di-O-(γ,γ-dimethylallyl)flavanone (1) and 6-hydroxy-E-3-(2,5-dimethoxy-benzylidine)-2′,5′-dimethoxyflavanone (2), together with three known compounds, tephrowatsin C, afrormosin and kaempferol 3-O-β-D-glucopyranoside were isolated from the roots of Tephrosia calophylla. The structures of 1 and 2 were established by extensive 2D NMR spectral studies.
Self-Organizing Assembly Systems

This paper addresses a vision of future manufacturing systems, which are highly agile, user friendly, and increasingly based on autonomous components. Evolvable assembly systems (EASs) provide a solution for agile assembly, including a concept for reconfigurability with modularity at the mechanical as well as at the control level. It takes the multilateral relations among product, processes, and systems into account and allows the systems to evolve together with the requirements. Self-organizing assembly systems (SOASs) are a further development of EAS, allowing them to play an active role in layout design and production. This paper focuses on the self-organization mechanisms for the design of SOAS, as well as the system architecture, including agents and self-knowledge. Agentified modules participate in their own arrangement in the system layout and monitor themselves during production. Policies and metadata for self-management during production are described, and performance metrics for agility scenarios are indicated.
Success Factors for Using Case Management System in Italian Courts

ABSTRACT This study takes a first step toward understanding the effectiveness of e-court applications in Italy. The proposed research model to assess the success factors for using case management system was tested in two Italian courts. Analysis of survey data from 314 users, using structural equation modeling, reveals the explanatory role of the model and the salient contribution of system and information quality variables on court staff’s performance. Our findings have important implications for theory and practice.
Economic MPC of Aggregating Commercial Buildings for Providing Flexible Power Reserve

In order to increase the utilization of renewable energy sources and to reduce the need of generator-provided ancillary services and inefficient peaking generation, buildings are progressively transforming into smarter electricity consumers and active participants in power system operations. In this work, an R-C thermodynamic model of building that strongly relates to the power consumption of heating ventilation air-conditioning system (HVAC) is firstly introduced. To offer the aggregated flexible HVAC power to the grid as regulating power, we propose a building-aggregator-grid contract framework and formulate a robust model predictive control (MPC) algorithm which both maximizes the profit of aggregator and minimizes the payment of each participating building to optimally declare power flexibility. Lastly, simulation results on a group of real and hypothetical buildings validate the feasibility of the proposed method.
Hypoxia‐induced proliferation in mesenchymal stem cells and angiotensin II‐mediated PI3K/AKT pathway

Hypoxia could stimulate proliferation of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) under certain conditions. This study determined angiotensin II mechanisms and PI3K/AKT pathway in hypoxia‐induced proliferation of MSCs. Hypoxia (3% oxygen) induced cellular proliferation in mouse MSCs and upregulated endogenous angiotensin II and angiotensin‐converting enzyme in the cell culture and expression of AT1 receptors. The expressions of Sox2, not Oct4 and Rex1, were significantly increased by the hypoxia. The blockade of AT1 receptors, not AT2 receptors, depressed hypoxia induced the proliferative effects. Both hypoxia and exogenous angiotensin II activated p‐AKT. Moreover, AT1 receptor inhibitor blocked the effects of hypoxia‐mediated p‐AKT upregulation. The data demonstrated that the hypoxia at 3% oxygen level could induce mouse MSC proliferation, probably as a result of the activation of PI3K signalling pathways via AT1 receptors. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Synchronization of delayed coupled discrete-time complex networks via impulsive control

In this brief, exponential synchronization problem is investigated for an array of delayed coupled complex networks under impulsive control. In previous literature, it is well known that impulsive control has been proved to be simple and effective for synchronization control of continuous-time complex networks. We will show that impulsive control is also simple and effective for synchronization control of discrete-time networks. By using the mathematical induction method and the average impulsive interval, a criterion is derived to guarantee that complex networks are synchronized. This criterion can control of the impulsive minimum frequency in order to synchronize the systems. Finally, one example is given to show the simplification and effectiveness of the proposed approach.
Expression patterns of anterior Hox genes in the polychaete Chaetopterus: correlation with morphological boundaries.

Expression patterns for five Hox genes were examined by whole-mount in situ hybridization in larvae of Chaetopterus, a polychaete annelid with a tagmatized axial body plan. Phylogenetic analysis demonstrates that these genes are orthologs of the Drosophila genes labial, proboscipedia, zen, Deformed, and Sex combs reduced and are termed CH-Hox1, CH-Hox2, CH-Hox3, CH-Hox4, and CH-Hox5, respectively. Expression studies reveal a biphasic expression pattern. In early larval stages, well before any indications of segmental organization exist, a novel pattern of expression in bilateral posterior proliferating cell populations, corresponding to the teloblasts, was detected for each of the genes, with CH-Hox1 and CH-Hox2 expressed before the remaining three. In middle larval stages, all five genes are expressed in bilateral strips along the ventral midline, corresponding with the developing ventral nerve cord. In addition, CH-Hox1 and CH-Hox2 show strong expression at the foregut-midgut boundary. By late larval stages the expression is generally confined to the ventral CNS and ectoderm of the anterior parapodia. Anterior boundaries of expression are "colinear," at later larval stages, with CH-Hox2 expressed most rostrally, in the first segment, and anterior expression boundaries for CH-Hox1, CH-Hox3, CH-Hox4, and CH-Hox5 in segments 2, 3, 4, and 5, respectively. Like vertebrates and spiders, but unlike insects, CH-Hox3 participates in this colinear axial expression pattern. CH-Hox1 and CH-Hox2 have distinct posterior boundaries of expression in the ninth segment, which corresponds to a major morphological boundary, and may reflect a reorganization of Hox gene regulation related to the evolutionary reorganization of the Chaetopterus body plan.
The Network Synthesis of Social Action I: Towards a Sociological Theory of Next Society

Sociological theory has always been a theory on the network synthesis of social action. In this age of society intrigued by the introduction of computers, this has to become explicit. To know about the form of the network synthesis of social action means to know how the society, which will cease to be modern and become, instead, the next one, a knowledge society, deals with its inherent dynamics by generating specific structures able to sustain social action. This paper attempts to look more closely at the network synthesis of social action from two perspectives. Firstly it goes back to Niklas Luhmann's conjecture about the structures of society depending mainly on culture forms able to deal with the surplus meaning, or overflow, produced by the introduction of new media for the dissemination of communication. This is a conjecture about the structures of society being the outcome of it having to find a solution to new kinds of overflow by switching from one culture form, and the concomitant social structure, order, and understanding , to another. The morphogenesis of society depends on these dissemination media eclipsing one another, while all however persisting, even if changed in scope, scale, and range. The paper, then, tries to develop a model of social action which takes into account the culture form possibly able to deal with the surplus meaning brought about by the introduction of the computer as a medium for the dissemination of communication. This model proposes a form integrating ideas from sociological systems theory and sociological network theory. It tries to be simple enough to accommodate the complexity of social action.
Burn care and rehabilitation in Australia: health professionals’ perspectives

Abstract Objective: To understand health professionals’ perspectives of burn care and rehabilitation. Design: Qualitative and semi-structured interviews. Setting: Australian burn and rehabilitation units. Participants: Twenty-two clinicians working in burns units across disciplines and healthcare settings. Results: The data portrayed the health professionals’ perspectives of burn care and rehabilitation in Australia. Three themes were identified: (1) interprofessional collaboration; (2) integrated community care, and (3) empowering patients to self-care. Conclusion: Burn care and rehabilitation remains a complex and a challenging area of care with limited access to burn services especially in rural and remote areas. Interprofessional training and education of health professionals involved with the complex care of burn injury remains a key element to support and sustain the long-term rehabilitation requirements for patients and their families. Empowering patients to develop independence early in their rehabilitation is fundamental to their ongoing recovery. A burns model of care that embraces a multidisciplinary collaboration and integrated care across the continuum has the potential to positively impact recovery and improve health outcomes. Implications for rehabilitation Burn care and rehabilitation remains a complex and challenging area of care. Managing the rehabilitation phase after burn injury can be as complex as managing the acute phase. Interprofessional collaboration, integrated community care, and empowering patients to self-care are key elements for sustaining the rehabilitation of adults with burn injuries.
Comparing Decisions for Malaria Testing and Presumptive Treatment

Background. Rapid tests for malaria are being distributed through vendors to individual patients, presenting the dilemma of determining how individuals are incentivized to pursue testing for malaria, versus the traditional approach of presumptively treating fevers with antimalarial drugs. Methods and Findings. We incorporated testing and treatment data from 6 African countries into a dynamic model of malaria transmission and nonmalarial causes of fever to investigate how variations in the epidemiologic risk of malaria and the prices of rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs) and treatments affect testing and treatment choices from the perspective of febrile patients, public health officials, and drug shop owners. In environments falling below a critical threshold infection rate (entomological inoculation rate) of 282 for patients older than 5 years (95% confidence interval [CI]: 275–289) or 300 for 0- to 5-year-olds (95% CI: 203–307), testing was more beneficial than presumptive therapy in terms of health and financial costs to patients. Infection and cost conditions generally aligned the best patient-level strategy with the best public health strategy to minimize an overall population’s morbidity and mortality from both malaria and nonmalarial causes of fever. However, the infection and cost conditions of very high malaria transmission settings did not align patient interests or public health interests with the interests of private drug shop owners. In such settings, a further lowering of testing prices may realign the interests of all 3 parties. Conclusions. A threshold transmission rate exists under which malaria testing confers more health and financial benefits to patients than presumptive treatment. Studying local transmission rates and testing and treatment costs may facilitate an approach to align the interests of individual patients, public health officials, and distributors of tests and therapies.
Impaired fasting glucose and impaired glucose tolerance have distinct lipoprotein and apolipoprotein changes: the insulin resistance atherosclerosis study.

CONTEXT Cardiovascular risk is increased in individuals with impaired glucose tolerance (IGT) and impaired fasting glucose (IFG); however, those with IGT appear to be at greater risk. Lipoprotein abnormalities occur also in the prediabetic state. OBJECTIVE The authors examined lipoprotein composition in IGT and IFG. DESIGN AND SETTING Cross-sectional analysis of a large epidemiological study was done. PARTICIPANTS The Insulin Resistance Atherosclerosis Study had a total of 1107 participants. MAIN MEASURES Lipoproteins and apolipoproteins were measured by conventional methods and lipoprotein composition by nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. RESULTS Compared with normal glucose tolerance, apolipoprotein B (105.2 vs 99.8 mg/dL, P < .05) was high in isolated IFG, triglyceride (1.48 vs 1.16 mmol/L, P < .001) was high in isolated IGT, and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol was low in combined IFG/IGT (1.12 vs 1.26 mmol/L, P < .001). Nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy revealed additional changes: increased total low-density lipoprotein (LDL) particles (1190 vs 1096 nmol/L, P < .01) in isolated IFG; increased large very-low-density lipoprotein (3.61 vs 2.47 nmol/L, P < .01) and small LDL subclass particles (665 vs 541 nmol/L, P < .05) and decreased large LDL subclass particles (447 vs 513 nmol/L, P < .01) in isolated IGT; and decreased large high-density lipoprotein subclass particles in combined IFG/IGT (4.24 vs 5.39 μmol/L, P < .001). CONCLUSIONS Isolated IFG is characterized by increased apolipoprotein B and total LDL particles, whereas isolated IGT is associated with increased triglycerides, large very-low-density lipoprotein subclass particles, and structural remodeling of LDL particles. These results may help to explain differences in cardiovascular disease risk in the prediabetic state.
The simple SNR estimation algorithms for MPSK signals

The data-aimed signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) estimation algorithm (ADML), decision-directed SNR estimation algorithm (DDML) and a new blind SNR estimation algorithm for MPSK signals over an additive white Gauss noise channel (AWGN) have been presented in this paper by using maximum-likelihood (ML) principle. The ADML has perfect performance and is as good as the performance lower bounds. The performance of DD algorithm depends directly on the accuracy of decision, so it's good for high SNR, but suffers when the SNR is low and especially, less than 0 dB. The new blind SNR estimation algorithm has good performance and low computational complexity for M=2(BPSK), but the performance degrades when M is increasing. The brief performance analysis, computer simulation and performance comparing with other SNR estimation algorithms are also given in this paper.
On Input to State Stabilization for Nonlinear Discrete-Time Systems : a Dynamic Programming Approach

A novel technique for synthesizing dynamic state feedback controllers that achieve input to state stability (ISS) property for nonlinear discrete-time systems is presented. The ISS controller design for the original system is solved via an auxiliary l∞-bounded (LIB) robustness synthesis problem for an auxiliary system. A complete solution for the LIB synthesis problem has been presented recently in the literature. The obtained static state feedback LIB controller for the auxiliary system can be interpreted as a dynamic state feedback ISS controller for the original system. The obtained solution is in terms of a dynamic programming equation (or inequality).
An evaluation of the influence of gingival display level in the smile esthetics

intRoduction And liteRAtuRe RevieW The smile is a key factor in the composition of an individual’s overall beauty. Hence, it’s noticed the modern society’s growing demand for beautiful, healthy smiles. Within this context, orthodontics plays a role of paramount importance. Several parameters are available to assess smile esthetics, such as amount of gingival display, midline, buccal corridor, incisor width/height ratio, incisor crown inclination, gingival contour and smile arch appearance, among others. Among these parameters, one should highlight the importance of assessing the amount of gingival display on smiling as it may be related to several factors, such as vertical maxillary excess, upper lip hyperactivity and length, and height of the clinical crowns of maxillary incisors. An evaluation of the influence of gingival display level in the smile esthetics
Intelligent Collaborative Event Query Algorithm in Wireless Sensor Networks

Event query processing is a very important issue in wireless sensor networks (WSNs). In order to detect event early and provide monitoring information and event query timely in WSNs, an efficient intelligent collaborative event query (ICEQ) algorithm is proposed, in which sensor nodes that are near to the boundary of events are selected to accomplish complex event monitoring and query processing through intelligent collaboration. ICEQ will select range-nearest neighbors as the basic components of surrounding nodes. Then it will identify the gaps between the surrounding nodes and try to select the nearest neighbor collaborative nodes for enclosing the event in the node selection phase, which can avoid redundant sensor nodes to join surrounding nodes via identifying a set of association surrounding nodes between the nearest sensor nodes and the query events. Detailed experimental results and comparisons with existed algorithm show that the proposed ICEQ algorithm can achieve better performance in terms of query-processing time, average number of selected collaborative nodes, and query message consumption.
MAP kinase-mediated signalling to nucleosomes and immediate-early gene induction.

Extracellular signals are transduced into the nucleus through a variety of signalling mechanisms to elicit changes in patterns of gene expression. This review is focused in the MAP kinase cascades and the part they play in the induction of the immediate-early (IE) genes. We discuss the MAP kinases and their downstream effectors that are known to phosphorylate substrates in the nucleus. In addition to phosphorylating specific transcription factors, MAP kinases and their downstream kinases are implicated in eliciting rapidly targeted alterations in the chromatin environment of specific genes by modulating the phosphorylation and/or acetylation of nucleosomal and chromatin proteins.
Ability of Essential Oil Candles to Repel Biting Insects in High and Low Biting Pressure Environments

ABSTRACT The first goal of this study was to compare the degree of personal protection against biting insects provided by geraniol, linalool, and citronella candle (5%) vapors outdoors, where such products are commonly used. At a distance of 1.0 m, citronella candles reduced the number of female mosquitoes caught in Centers for Disease Control and Prevention traps by 35.4% and sand flies by 15.4%, linalool candles reduced female mosquitoes by 64.9% and sand flies by 48.5%, while geraniol candles reduced female mosquitoes by 81.5% and sand flies by 69.8%. By increasing the distance to 2 m and 3 m, the repellency dropped significantly. The second goal was to compare the degree of personal protection provided by the best performing candle, geraniol, under conditions of high and low biting pressure. The introduction of geraniol candles to protect volunteers in a high biting pressure environment reduced the mosquito pressure by an average of 56% and the sand fly pressure by 62% over a distance of 1.0 m. In the low biting pressure environment, geraniol reduced the mosquito pressure by an average of 62%. No sand flies were present at this site.