Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Achyranthes bidentata Polypeptide Protects Schwann Cells From Apoptosis in Hydrogen Peroxide-Induced Oxidative Stress

ABPPk, the active ingredient separated from Achyranthes bidentata polypeptides, is a traditional Chinese medicine with multiple pharmaceutical properties. In this study, we investigated the molecular mechanisms of ABPPk in protecting Schwann cells (SCs) from H2O2-induced cell apoptosis. The viability of SCs pretreated with ABPPk was elevated significantly by MTT assay estimation. Meanwhile, the apoptosis of SCs was reduced which was showed in flow cytometry and transferase-mediated dUTP nick end labeling analysis. Furthermore, the addition of ABPPk also increased the activities of SOD and GSH accompanied with a decrease in MDA and LDH activities. According to Western blot analysis, the upregulation of Bcl-2, also downregulation of Bax and cleaved caspase-3 were demonstrated in SCs which was ABPPk pretreated. Further research showed that PI3K/AKT and ERK1/2 pathways in SCs have been activated after pretreatment of ABPPk. Collectively, results in our study suggested that ABPPk protected SCs from H2O2-induced oxidative damage by reducing the expression of apoptotic molecules and enhancing the activities of antioxidant enzymes, which inhibited the apoptosis of SCs modulated by PI3K/AKT and ERK1/2 signaling pathways. In our perspectives, ABPPk as an active factor with its antioxidative activities has potential and promising therapeutic effects in the prevention of neurologic disorders.
From Business Services to IT Services by Capturing Design Decisions

The main goals of any service-oriented design include flexible support and adaptability of business services and improved business-IT alignment. The existing approaches, however, have failed to fully meet these goals. One of the major reasons for this deficiency is the gap that exists between how the computer science and management science communities perceive the concept of service. We present a flexible, semi-automatic, model-driven approach to designing IT services that directly satisfy business needs and requirements. We begin with the design of business services and the capture of the design decisions that transform the business design through multiple model layers to the IT service design. All layers can be simulated using the Alloy Analyzer tool. The last layer can be run on a given target platform. This approach is demonstrated on the running example based on the consulting project conducted at the company General Ressort. The central aspect of our approach is separating the design decisions from anything that can be automated. It provides the multi-perspective view of the system, by making the modeling process faster, leaving the designer the space to focus on the design decisions and not on drawing the models.
A Method of Subgraphs Extraction in a Large Graph Database in a Distributed System

Since many real applications such as web connectivity, social networks, and so on, are emerging now-a-days, thus graph databases have been commonly used as significant tools to exemplify and query complex graph data wherein each vertex in a graph usually contains information, which can be modeled by a set of tokens or elements. The method for subgraphs extraction by considering set similarity query over a large graph database has already been proposed, which retrieves subgraphs that are structurally isomorphic to the query graph, and meanwhile satisfy the condition of vertex pair matching with the (dynamic/fixed) weighted set similarity in a centralized system. This paper explains the efficient implementation of subgraphs extraction in a large graph database in a distributed environment by considering both vertex set similarity and graph topology which offers a better price/performance ratio and increases availability using redundancy when parts of a system fail than centralized systems in case of a large dataset (i.e., a graph with millions/billions of nodes wherein each node contains some information) by performing parallel processing.
Extraction of Scene Text Information from Video Too

In this paper, we present an approach for scene text extraction from natural scene video frames. We assumed that the planar surface contains text information in the natural scene, based on this assumption, we detect planar surface within the disparity map obtained from a pair of video frames using stereo vision technique. It is followed by extraction of planar surface using Markov Random Field (MRF) with Graph cuts algorithm where planar surface is segmented from other regions. The text information is extracted from reduced reference i.e. extracted planar surface through filtering using FourierLaplacian algorithm. The experiments are carried out using our dataset and the experimental results indicate outstanding improvement in areas with complex background where conventional methods fail.
Characterizing an entangled-photon source with classical detectors and measurements

Entangled-photon pairs are essential for many applications in quantum computation and communication, and quantum state tomography (QST) is the universal tool to characterize such entangled-photon sources. In QST, very low-power signals must be measured with single-photon detectors and coincidence logic. Here, we experimentally implement a new protocol, “stimulated-emission tomography” (SET), allowing us to obtain the information provided by QST when the photon pairs are generated by parametric fluorescence. This approach exploits a stimulated process that results in a signal several orders of magnitude larger than in QST. In particular, we characterize the polarization state of photons that would be generated in spontaneous parametric downconversion using SET. We find that SET accurately predicts the purity and concurrence of the spontaneously generated photons in agreement with the results of QST. We expect that SET will be extremely useful to characterize entanglement sources based on parametric fluorescence, providing a fast and efficient technique to potentially replace or supplement QST.
Genetic diversity of some Saudi barley (Hordeum Vulgare L.) landraces based on microsatellite markers

Assessment of the genetic variability within barley landraces is fundamental for barley breeding. In this study, 16 simple sequence repeats (SSRs) markers were used to characterize selected six barley landraces from different cultivated regions in Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) (Gizan, Bahah, Taif, Asser, Qassem and Hail). Amplification of SSRs loci were obtained for 15 primer pairs and only seven among them showed clear polymorphic patterns. These seven primers produce total of 16 alleles with scorable fragment size ranging from approximately 100 to 275 bp. The number of alleles per marker ranged from 1 to 3 with an average of 2.29 alleles per locus. The data generated by these seven primers were sufficient to discriminate the analyzed barley genotypes. Using the unweighed pair-group method using arithmetic averages (UPGMA) cluster analysis, barley landraces were clustered together with respect to their geographical location. These results could be used for barley germplasm management in terms of biodiversity protection and design of new crosses. The present results demonstrate that SSR markers were highly informative and were useful in generating a meaningful classification of barley germplasm.
A Novel Algorithm for Mining Fuzzy High Utility Itemset from Fuzzy Transaction Database

Utility mining discovers the most profitable item in transaction database which is of great importance in the upgrade of revenue. There are various algorithms for mining the high utility itemset such as CTU-PRO, Two phase and also UMMI algorithm. These algorithms mine the high utility itemset in an efficient way, but they do not reflect the fuzzy degree of purchased quantity which is essential for making decision in various applications like sales analysis and stock control. Itemsets with profit slightly less than the threshold is also discarded. To overcome these problems, fuzzy set theory is applied to the utility mining problem and a novel algorithm namely fuzzy high utility item-mine (FHUI-Mine) is introduced to mine the fuzzy high utility itemset. The quantity information from transaction database is fuzzified in order to reflect the fuzzy degree of purchased quantity. FHUI-Mine also provides a fuzzy threshold range that may include the itemsets whose support is slightly less than the designated threshold. More over this algorithm also provides the utility information due to fuzzification of threshold. To prove the feasibility of FHUI-Mine, it was compared with the well known UMMI algorithm through experimental evaluation. The results show that FHUI-Mine delivers higher mining capability as it can not only mine all high utility itemset but also discover additional itemsets that are potentially high utility ones.
Undulatory fish swimming: from muscles to flow

Undulatory swimming is employed by many fish for routine swimming and extended sprints. In this biomechanical review, we address two questions: (i) how the fish's axial muscles power swimming; and (ii) how the fish's body and fins generate thrust. Fish have adapted the morphology of their axial musculature for high power output and efficiency. All but the superficial muscle fibres are arranged along curved trajectories, and the myomeres form nested cones. Two conflicting performance goals shape the fibre trajectories of the axial muscles. Maximum power output requires that all fibres contract uniformly. In a bending fish, uniform contraction in a single myomere can be ensured by curved fibre trajectories. However, uniform strain is only desirable if all muscle fibres have the same contractile properties. The fish needs several muscle-fibre types that generate maximum power at different contraction speeds to ensure effective muscle power generation across a range of swimming speeds. Consequently, these different muscle-fibre types are better served by non-uniform contractions. High power output at a range of swimming speeds requires that muscle fibres with the same contractile properties contract uniformly. The ensuing helical fibre trajectories require cone-shaped myomeres to reduce wasteful internal deformation of the entire muscle when it contracts. It can be shown that the cone-shaped myomeres of fish can be explained by two design criteria: uniform contraction (uniform strain hypothesis) and minimal internal deformation (mechanical stability hypothesis). So far, only the latter hypothesis has found strong support. The contracting muscle causes the fish body to undulate. These body undulations interact with the surrounding water to generate thrust. The resulting flow behind the swimming fish forms vortex rings, whose arrangement reflects the fish's swimming performance. Anguilliform swimmers shed individual vortex rings during steady swimming. Carangiform swimmers shed a connected chain of vortex rings. The currently available sections through the total flow fields are often not an honest representation of the total momentum in the water - the wake of carangiform swimmers shows a net backward momentum without the fish accelerating - suggesting that our current picture of the generated flow is incomplete. To accelerate, undulatory swimmers decrease the angle of the vortex rings with the mean path of motion, which is consistent with an increased rate of backward momentum transfer. Carangiform swimmers also enlarge their vortex rings to accelerate and to swim at a higher speed, while eel, which are anguilliform swimmers, shed stronger vortex rings
Determinants and Effects of Innovative Activities in Vietnam. A Firm-Level Analysis

This paper investigates the determinants of innovative activities and the innovation-performance relationship for the firm population in Vietnam in three consecutive stages: decision – investment – outcome. Cragg’s two-tiered dynamic type-2 Tobit model and instrumental variable GMM method are applied to control for the selectivity and endogeneity of RD (ii) private innovative firms significantly outperform their peers whereas the combination of young, small, and innovative characteristics in young innovative companies (YICs) does not bring the expected higher entrepreneurial performance as how it works in advanced countries; (iii) highly-leveraged firms, exporting firms, and diversified firms are more likely to be innovative than their counterparts, but the ability to transform innovative efforts into higher profitability and growth can only be witnessed among diversified firms; and (iv) firms being endowed with larger asset pool have more favorable conditions to engage in innovation activities, but do not necessarily produce superior performance relatively to their smaller counterparts. However, firm labor size is positively associated with both R&D intensity and entrepreneurial performance of firms. The dataset of population of existing firms (from 2000 to 2005) extracted from the annual enterprise survey conducted by Vietnam General Statistics Organization (GSO) is used for the empirical analysis.
Loop quantum cosmology and the fate of cosmological singularities

Singularities in general relativity such as the big bang and big crunch, and exotic singularities such as the big rip are the boundaries of the classical spacetimes. These events are marked by a divergence in the curvature invariants and the breakdown of the geodesic evolution. Recent progress on implementing techniques of loop quantum gravity to cosmological models reveals that such singularities may be generically resolved because of the quantum gravitational effects. Due to the quantum geometry, which replaces the classical differential geometry at the Planck scale, the big bang is replaced by a big bounce without any assumptions on the matter content or any fine tuning. In this manuscript, we discuss some of the main features of this approach and the results on the generic resolution of singularities for the isotropic as well as anisotropic models. Using effective spacetime description of the quantum theory, we show the way quantum gravitational effects lead to the universal bounds on the energy density, the Hubble rate and the anisotropic shear. We discuss the geodesic completeness in the effective spacetime and the resolution of all of the strong singularities. It turns out that despite the bounds on energy density and the Hubble rate, there can be divergences in the curvature invariants. However such events are geodesically extendible, with tidal forces not strong enough to cause inevitable destruction of the in-falling objects.
Spatial and temporal evolution of the long-term slow slip in the Bungo Channel, Japan

The Global Positioning System network in Japan detected a transient in the Bungo Channel, Japan, in 2009. Time-dependent analysis suggests that between May and September 2009, an aseismic slip might occur beneath the Bungo Channel and southwest Shikoku. From September 2009 to January 2010, the slip area shifted toward southwest Shikoku. Since approximately March 2010, the slip has increased in magnitude and speed while expanding into the Bungo Channel. The estimated rupture process is similar to those of previous Bungo Channel slow slips, in that the slip starts in a shallower region and expands into a deeper region with the acceleration of the slip. The high-speed period of the 2010 event corresponds to a marked increase in the activity of low-frequency earthquakes, similar to that of the 2003 event. The total slip distribution of the 2010 event is similar to that of previous long-term Bungo slow slips, verifying the hypothesis that long-term slow slips are characteristic events in the Bungo Channel.
Otolith research and application: current directions in innovation and implementation

The Third International Symposium on Fish Otolith Research and Application was held in Townsville, Queensland, Australia from 11 to 16 July 2004. The overall theme was ‘Innovation and Implementation’, a collection of which is published here (Volume 56, Issue 5). Although age and growth studies predominated at the Symposium, new areas of quality-control assurance, annual-increment formation in deep-sea and tropical fish, image analysis and two-dimensional feature extraction were demonstrated. New statistical approaches were also evident, particularly in the subsampling of commercial data for estimating age compositions. The chemical composition of otoliths as natural data loggers has greatly advanced since the 1998 Symposium, with the advent of micromilling machines, new instrumentation and the use of isotopes rather than elements as environmental indicators. Otoliths will continue to support modern environmental needs for fisheries, marine park assessment, metapopulation conservation and the management of stocks and biodiversity of fish.
Micro-electro-mechanical variable blaze gratings

Two types of micro-electro-mechanical variable blaze gratings (VBGs) have been designed, fabricated, and tested. The gratings operate by adjusting the blaze angle of each slat so that the specular reflection of the incident light matches a particular grating diffraction order. The VBG blaze angle is adjustable with either electrostatic or thermal actuators. VBGs direct incident light in discrete directions, and are useful for steering light with beam diameters greater than 1 mm and power intensities greater than one watt. Both electrostatic and thermal VBGs were constructed from gold and polysilicon using a surface micromachining process and tested with a 20 mW continuous wave HeNe laser operating at a wavelength of 632.8 nm. Optical selectivities (the ratio of power in the selected order to power in either of the nonselected adjacent orders) were determined for both electrostatically actuated and thermally actuated VBGs. The drive voltages for both types of gratings were measured for specific blaze angles and selected diffraction orders.
Quantum suppression of shot noise in field emitters

We have analyzed the shot noise of electron emission under strong applied electric fields within the Landauer-B\"uttiker scheme. In contrast to the previous studies of vacuum-tube emitters, we show that in new generation electron emitters, scaled down to the nanometer dimensions, shot noise much smaller than the Schottky noise is observable. Carbon nanotube field emitters are among possible candidates to observe the effect of shot-noise suppression caused by quantum partitioning.
The Intracellular Consequences of the Interaction between Epstein-Barr Virus Protein BZLF1 and the Human Protein Pax5

Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) is a human herpes virus that is the cause of infectious mononucleosis and is associated with several types of cancers. These cancers include Burkitt's lymphoma, nasopharyngeal carcinoma, Hodgkin's disease, and a variety of leukemias. EBV is found in two states; latent (dormant state) and lytic (the replicating state). A protein essential for the switch and establishment of the lytic state is the immediate-early protein BZLF1. BZLF1 is known to physically associate with a variety of host cellular proteins leading to changes in cellular environment. One such association is with the human B cell protein Pax5. Pax5 plays an important role in determining B cell differentiation as well as promoting the latent state in EBV infected cells through the activation of the EBV latent promoter Wp. The BZLF1/Pax5 complex was examined to determine if this interaction produces specific cellular changes. Pax5 protein levels in B cells before, during and after EBV infection were established. I also examined the effect the BZLF1/Pax5 complex has on the histone methylation state of chromatin during EBV infection. My final goal was to determine if the BZLF1/Pax5 complex affects Pax5 ability to transcriptionally activate two of its target genes, CD19 and CD79a. My results show that during lytic replication the expression of the EBV protein BZLF1 results in increased levels of Pax5. These increased levels of Pax5 result in increased levels of Pax5 transcriptional targets CD19 and CD79a. Also the increased levels of Pax5 and the BZLF1/Pax5 complex resulted in hypermethylation of histone 3 lysine 9.
Prognostic scores for sorafenib-treated HCC patients: A new application for the HAP Score

Background: No prognostic classification is currently used for patients treated with systemic therapies for Hepatocellular Carcinoma (HCC). Methods: We retrospectively analyzed data from patients treated with sorafenib for HCC from five centers in France and in the United Kingdom. The training set comprised data from two centers and the validation set from three. Variables independently associated with Overall Survival (OS) in the training set were used to build the SAP (Sorafenib Advanced HCC Prognosis) score. The score was tested in the validation set, then compared with other prognostication systems. Results: The training set and validation set included 370 and 468 patients respectively. In the training set, variables independently associated with OS in multivariable analysis were: performance status >0, AFP >400ng/mL, tumor size >7cm, bilirubin >17μmol/L and albumin <36g/L. The SAP score was built giving one point to each abnormal variable, and 3 classes were constructed. The SAP score was significantly associated with OS in the training set, with median OS of 14.9 months for SAP A, 7.2 months for SAP B and 2.5 months for SAP C (P<0.001). In the validation set, the SAP score was significantly associated with OS, and showed greater discriminative abilities than BCLC and ALBI. However, the HAP score showed greater discriminative abilities than the SAP score. Conclusion: In European patients treated with sorafenib, the HAP was the most discriminant prognostic score and may facilitate stratification in trials and inform clinical decision making. Abstract word count: 237word count: 237
African Rainfall Climatology Version 2 for Famine Early Warning Systems

AbstractThis paper describes a new gridded, daily 29-yr precipitation estimation dataset centered over Africa at 0.1° spatial resolution. Called the African Rainfall Climatology, version 2 (ARC2), it is a revision of the first version of the ARC. Consistent with the operational Rainfall Estimation, version 2, algorithm (RFE2), ARC2 uses inputs from two sources: 1) 3-hourly geostationary infrared (IR) data centered over Africa from the European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (EUMETSAT) and 2) quality-controlled Global Telecommunication System (GTS) gauge observations reporting 24-h rainfall accumulations over Africa. The main difference with ARC1 resides in the recalibration of all Meteosat First Generation (MFG) IR data (1983–2005). Results show that ARC2 is a major improvement over ARC1. It is consistent with other long-term datasets, such as the Global Precipitation Climatology Project (GPCP) and Climate Prediction Center (CPC) Merged Analysis of Precipitation (CMAP), wit.
The Effects of Coordination Mechanisms and Embeddedness on The Adoption of Open Standards

Organizations today face great challenges from the unpredictable, globalized and competitive business environment. One of the ways that organizations achieve competitive advantages is by the adoption and diffusion of open standard inter-organizational systems (OSIOS). Despite the benefits that are promised by the adoption of OSIOS, its adoption has slowed down and there are increased cases of failure in OSIOS adoptions. In trying to explain this phenomenon, this study examines various factors relating to the social network theory and coordination theory with the adoption of OSIOS. A survey questionnaire was administered and data was collected from 101 companies in China. Using partial least square analysis, we found that extent of coordination mechanism use and tie strength are positively and significantly associated with the adoption of OSIOS. Results and implications are briefly discussed.