Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Phytotoxicity of Triterpenes and Limonoids from the Rutaceae and Meliaceae. 5α,6β,8α,12α-Tetrahydro-28-norisotoonafolin – a Potent Phytotoxin from Toona ciliata

Limonoids and triterpenes are the largest groups of secondary metabolites and have notable biological activities. Meliaceae and Rutaceae are known for their high diversity of metabolites, including limonoids, and are distinguished from other families due to the frequent occurrence of such compounds. The increased interest in crop protection associated with the diverse bioactivity of these compounds has made these families attractive in the search for new allelopathic compounds. In the study reported here we evaluated the bioactivity profiles of four triterpenes (1–4) and six limonoids (5–10) from Meliaceae and Rutaceae. The compounds were assessed in a wheat coleoptile bioassay and those that had the highest activities were tested on the standard target species Lepidium sativum (cress), Lactuca sativa (lettuce), Lycopersicon esculentum (tomato) and Allium cepa (onion). Limonoids showed phytotoxic activity and 5α,6β,8α,12α-tetrahydro-28-norisotoonafolin (10) and gedunin (5) were the most active, with bioactivity levels similar to, and in some cases better than, those of the commercial herbicide Logran. The results indicate that these products could also be allelochemicals involved in the ecological interactions of these plant species.
Knowledge-based neural network (KBNN) modeling of HBT junction temperature and thermal resistance from electrical measurements

A knowledge-based neural network (KBNN) modeling and analysis method is presented for determining junction temperature, Tj, and thermal resistance, Rth, from simple electrical measurements of HBTs. The method retains sound physical principles of classical approaches but provides significant additional practical benefits for modeling and prediction based on the mathematical properties of neural networks when endowed with additional a priori “knowledge”. The method returns explicit, infinitely differentiable approximations for Tj and Rth as functions of ambient temperature, Tamb, and power dissipation, Pdiss. The method enables reliable predictions of Tj over a very wide range (e.g. 30°C to 260°C) by working with any complete set of experimental variables. The method also provides an automatically trained, measurement-based DC electro-thermal transistor model as a function of bias and temperature.
Reply to Karplus: Conformational dynamics have no role in the chemical step

We are pleased that Karplus (1) now agrees with our conclusions (2) that protein dynamics and enzyme catalysis are not coupled, despite the many assertions that they are (see relevant quotations in ref. 3). We agree (3) that rate-determining product release is not an example of chemical catalysis being coupled with dynamics but is a different phenomenon with a very minor relationship to the overall catalytic effect. We disagree with the arguments (1) that dispute our study, which quantified the coupling between conformational dynamics and chemistry (2). First, the value of kcat was taken from the mesophile both because no …
U-shaped fairings suppress vortex-induced vibrations for cylinders in cross-flow

We employ three-dimensional direct and large-eddy numerical simulations of the vibrations and flow past cylinders fitted with free-to-rotate U-shaped fairings placed in a cross-flow at Reynolds number $100\leqslant \mathit{Re}\leqslant 10\,000$ . Such fairings are nearly neutrally buoyant devices fitted along the axis of long circular risers to suppress vortex-induced vibrations (VIVs). We consider three different geometric configurations: a homogeneous fairing, and two configurations (denoted A and AB) involving a gap between adjacent segments. For the latter two cases, we investigate the effect of the gap on the hydrodynamic force coefficients and the translational and rotational motions of the system. For all configurations, as the Reynolds number increases beyond 500, both the lift and drag coefficients decrease. Compared to a plain cylinder, a homogeneous fairing system (no gaps) can help reduce the drag force coefficient by 15 % for reduced velocity $U^{\ast }=4.65$ , while a type A gap system can reduce the drag force coefficient by almost 50 % for reduced velocity $U^{\ast }=3.5,4.65,6$ , and, correspondingly, the vibration response of the combined system, as well as the fairing rotation amplitude, are substantially reduced. For a homogeneous fairing, the cross-flow amplitude is reduced by about 80 %, whereas for fairings with a gap longer than half a cylinder diameter, VIVs are completely eliminated, resulting in additional reduction in the drag coefficient. We have related such VIV suppression or elimination to the features of the wake flow structure. We find that a gap causes the generation of strong streamwise vorticity in the gap region that interferes destructively with the vorticity generated by the fairings, hence disorganizing the formation of coherent spanwise cortical patterns. We provide visualization of the incoherent wake flow that leads to total elimination of the vibration and rotation of the fairing–cylinder system. Finally, we investigate the effect of the friction coefficient between cylinder and fairing. The effect overall is small, even when the friction coefficients of adjacent segments are different. In some cases the equilibrium positions of the fairings are rotated by a small angle on either side of the centreline, in a symmetry-breaking bifurcation, which depends strongly on Reynolds number.
A novel approach for designing large-scale river temperature monitoring networks

Water temperature is an important control on processes in aquatic systems and particularly for freshwater fish, affecting growth, survival and demographic characteristics. In recognition of this importance, the Scottish Government has prioritised developing a robust national river temperature monitoring network. Advances in geographical information systems, spatial statistics and field data loggers make large-scale river temperature monitoring increasingly possible. However, duplication of environmental and thermal characteristics among monitoring sites means many networks have lower than expected statistical power. This paper describes a novel methodology for network design, illustrated by the development of the Scotland River Temperature Monitoring Network. A literature review identified processes controlling stream temperature and associated landscape controls. Metrics indicative of these landscape controls were calculated for points every 500 m along the river network. From these points, sites were chosen to cover the full range of observed environmental gradients and combinations of controlling variables. The resulting network contains sites with unique characteristics covering the range of relevant environmental characteristics observed in Scottish salmon rivers. The network will thus have minimal redundancy, often not seen in large networks, and high statistical power to separate the relative importance of predictor variables thereby allowing large-scale water temperature predictions.
Improvements of Acinetobacter Radioresistens Lipase Adsorption on Celite 535 by Adding Salts

The zeta potential of Celite 535 powder in deionied water can be effectively increased by the addition of salts, especially the divalent ion Ca(superscript ++) or Mg(superscript ++). However, this enhancement was not observed in a sodium phosphate buffer near neutral pH, which implies that Ca(superscript ++) or Mg(superscript ++) can not compete with Na(superscript +) having adsorbed on the support surface. Improvements of the protein and lipase adsorption on Celite 535 were found when salts were added to the crude enzyme solution. The highest specific activity of 167% of the support (c.a. 2.5-fold enhancement by comparing with that without adding salts) was found when the enzyme solution contains 100 mM NH4Cl. An S-shape adsorption isotherm for the lipase activity was found, which was attributed to the larger pores of the support. However, no purification effect was observed when the protein and lipase was precipitated by adding acetone to the enzyme solution containing 100 mM NH4Cl.
Incidence and nature of cognitive decline over 1 year among HIV-infected former plasma donors in China

Objective:To quantify and characterize the nature of cognitive change over 1 year in a cohort of HIV-positive former plasma donors in rural China. Design:The present study is an observational cohort study. Methods:One hundred and ninety-two HIV-positive and 101 demographically comparable HIV-negative individuals, all former plasma donors, who lived in a rural part of China, received comprehensive medical and neuropsychological examinations. At study entry, 56% of HIV-positive group was on combination antiretroviral treatment and 60.9% at follow-up. Multiple regression change score approach was used with the HIV-negative sample to develop norms for change that would be then applied to the HIV-positive participants. Follow-up test scores adjusted for the control group practice effect. Results:Fifty-three HIV-positive individuals (27%) developed significant cognitive decline as compared with five (5%) HIV-negative individuals. Cognitive decline was predicted at baseline by AIDS status, lower nadir CD4, and worse processing speed; at follow-up, it was associated with lower current CD4 cell count and failure of viral suppression on combination antiretroviral treatment. Neuropsychological decline also was associated with decreased independence in activities of daily living. Using neuropsychological impairment scores that were corrected for ‘practice’ on repeated testing, we found that among the decliners, 41.5% (N = 22) had incident impairment, whereas 38% (N = 20) declined within the impaired range and another 20.7% (N = 11) declined within the normal range. Conclusion:The present study demonstrates that despite ongoing combination antiretroviral treatment, cognitive decline in HIV-positive people is common over a 1-year follow-up. Regression-based norms for change on western neuropsychological tests can be used to detect disease-related cognitive decline in a developing country.
Mining Software Repositories for Automatic Interface Recommendation

There are a large number of open source projects in software repositories for developers to reuse. During software development and maintenance, developers can leverage good interfaces in these open source projects and establish the framework of the new project quickly when reusing interfaces in these open source projects. However, if developers want to reuse them, they need to read a lot of code files and learn which interfaces can be reused. To help developers better take advantage of the available interfaces used in software repositories, we previously proposed an approach to automatically recommend interfaces by mining existing open source projects in the software repositories. We mainly used the LDA (Latent Dirichlet Allocation) topic model to construct the Feature-Interface Graph for each software project and recommended the interfaces based on the Feature-Interface Graph. In this paper, we improve our previous approach by clustering the recommending interfaces on the Feature-Interface Graph, which can recommend more accurate interfaces for developers to reuse. We evaluate the effectiveness of the improved approach and the results show that the improved approach can be more efficient to recommend more accurate interfaces for reuse over our previous work.
The effect of exercise modality on respiratory muscle performance in triathletes.

PURPOSE The aim of this study was to examine the effects of the cycle-run and run-cycle successions of the triathlon and duathlon, respectively, on respiratory muscle strength and endurance. METHODS Respiratory muscle strength was assessed by measuring maximal inspiratory (P(Imax)) and expiratory (P(Emax)) pressures. Respiratory muscle endurance was assessed by measuring the time limit (T(lim)). Twelve triathletes participated in a three-trial protocol. The first trial consisted of an incremental cycle test to assess the maximal oxygen uptake (.VO(2max)) of triathletes. Trial 2 consisted of 20 min of cycling followed by 20 min of running (C-R), and trial 3 consisted of 20 min of running followed by 20 min of cycling (R-C). Trials 2 and 3 were performed at the same metabolic intensity (%.VO(2max)). P(Imax) and P(Emax) were measured before and 10 min after C-R and R-C, and 1 min after the post-C-R and post-R-C T(lim) measurements (P(Imax) 1'). T(lim) was measured 1 d before and 30 min after C-R and R-C. RESULTS The results showed a significant decrease in P(Imax) after C-R (126.7 +/- 4.3 cmH(2)O, P < 0.05) and R-C (123.7 +/- 4.9 cmH(2)O, P < 0.05) compared with the baseline values (130 +/- 3.8 and 129.6 +/- 4.3 cmH(2)O, respectively). P(Imax) 1' showed a significantly greater decrease after R-C versus C-R (111.2 +/- 5.5 cmH(2)O vs 121.2 +/- 3.9 cmH(2O), respectively, P < 0.001). Tlim after C-R (3.3 +/- 0.3 min) and R-C (2.1 +/- 0.3 min) decreased significantly compared with baseline values (4.19 +/- 0.3 min and 4.02 +/- 0.3 min, respectively). However, the Tlim decrease after R-C was significantly greater than after C-R (P < 0.001). CONCLUSION We concluded that respiratory muscle strength and endurance were less decreased after the cycle-run succession and that cycling induced a greater decrease in respiratory muscle endurance than running.
Tyrosine Kinase Inhibitor Sorafenib Decreases 111In-Girentuximab Uptake in Patients with Clear Cell Renal Cell Carcinoma

Tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) have revolutionized the treatment of metastatic clear cell renal cell carcinoma (RCC). Although TKIs have demonstrated good clinical efficacy, the lack of complete responses, the chronic nature of the treatment, and the side effects are clear disadvantages. An interesting new approach in the treatment of clear cell RCC is antibody-mediated therapy with the chimeric anti–carbonic anhydrase IX (CAIX) antibody girentuximab (cG250). As the results of several girentuximab trials become available, the question arises of whether TKI treatment can be combined with girentuximab-based therapy. In this study, we assessed the effect of the widely used TKI sorafenib on the tumor-targeting potential of 111In-labeled girentuximab. Methods: 111In-girentuximab imaging was performed on 15 patients suspected of having a renal malignancy, with surgery being part of their treatment plan. Of these, 10 patients were treated in a neoadjuvant setting with sorafenib (400 mg orally twice daily). Five patients received treatment during 1 wk, and 5 patients received treatment during 4 wk. In both sorafenib-treated groups, baseline and posttreatment tumor targeting of 111In-girentuximab were compared. Surgery was performed 3 d after the last image acquisition. Five additional patients were included as a control group and had only a single 111In-girentuximab injection and scintigraphy without any treatment. Distribution of 111In-girentuximab was determined scintigraphically ex vivo in a 1-cm lamella of the resected tumorous kidney. Expression of CAIX and of the vascular marker CD31 was determined immunohistochemically on specimens of both tumor and normal kidney tissue. Results: Treatment with sorafenib resulted in a marked decrease of 111In-girentuximab uptake in the tumor in clear cell RCC patients, especially in the group treated for 4 wk (mean change in both sorafenib-treated groups, −38.4%; range, +9.1% to −79.4%). Immunohistochemical analysis showed markedly reduced CD31 expression and vessel density in the sorafenib-treated groups but no differences in CAIX expression between the sorafenib-treated groups and the nontreated patients. Conclusion: Treatment with sorafenib resulted in a treatment duration–dependent significantly decreased uptake of 111In-girentumab in clear cell RCC lesions. These results indicate that the efficacy of antibody-mediated treatment or diagnosis modalities is hampered by TKI treatment.
mm-Wave CMOS Colpitts VCO & Frequency divider for the 60GHz WPAN

A mm-wave CMOS Colpitts VCO and Frequency divider for the 60GHz WPAN fabricated with the 90nm TSMC Process is presented. The VCO is composed of a NMOS transistor-pair as a core circuit and 3 bit capacitor array for enhancement of the oscillation bandwidth. A mm-wave frequency divider is designed based on CML divider driven by colpitts's high voltage swing. The proposed VCO can operate at 28∼34GHz and the phase noise at 1MHz offset is −112dBc/Hz. The operating range of the suggested CML divider is 20∼46GHz when the driving voltage amplitude is 400mV. The power consumption of the VCO & divider including all the buffers is 30mW. Comparing to previous works, the proposed VCO & divider have the widest bandwidth at mm-wave frequency.
Safety and efficacy of cryopreserved autologous platelet concentrates in HLA‐alloimmunized patients with hematologic malignancies

Curative chemotherapy approaches in patients with malignancies and platelet (PLT) transfusion refractoriness due to alloimmunization may be hampered by the lack of suitable PLT donors. For these patients, transfusion of cryopreserved autologous PLTs is an option, but is time‐ and resource‐consuming. We aimed at further simplifying this process.
Modeling Influence Diffusion in Social Networks for Viral Marketing

Modeling influence diffusion in social networks is an important challenge. There are a large number of models in the literature addressing influence diffusion and viral marketing [2], [4]. However, there exist some significant limitations in these models. First, they approach a social entity’s adoption likelihood from a confined scope, considering only the direct influence from the activated neighbors of the entity. Second, most models overlook the fact that influence does not remain static or constant, but rather attenuates along diffusion paths and decays with time. Third, these models fail to capture the individual temporal diffusion dynamics. In this paper, we propose a novel multiple-path asynchronous threshold (MAT) model to address these issues, and evelop an effective and efficient heuristic to tackle the influence-maximization problem.
Operational definitions for some common information leakage metrics

Maximal leakage from a random variable X to a random variable Y is defined as the multiplicative increase, upon observing Y, of the probability of correctly guessing a randomized function of X, maximized over all such functions [1]. Herein, this guessing framework is used to give operational definitions to common information leakage metrics, including Shannon capacity, maximal correlation, and local differential privacy. Shannon capacity is shown to capture the multiplicative increase of the probability of correct guessing over the restricted set of functions of X that can be reliably reconstructed from Y, hence underestimating leakage. Maximal correlation is shown to capture the multiplicative change in the variance of functions of X, rather than the guessing probability. Local differential privacy is shown to capture the multiplicative increase of the guessing probability of functions of X, maximized over realizations of Y and over distributions Px. Moreover, maximizing over realizations of Y for a fixed Px is shown to yield a valid leakage measure, which is equal to the maximum information rate.
Prognostic impact of matrix metalloproteinases (MMP-9 and MMP-2) and vascular endothelial growth factor expression in non-small cell lung cancer

To investigate the role of matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs), MMP-9 and MMP-2, and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) in metastasis and their relationship with survival. Early metastasis is the most common cause of lung cancer death. Angiogenesis and basement membrane damage are necessary for growth and invasion of the tumoral cells. VEGF, involved in angiogenic activity, and MMPs, involved in matrix destruction, are important for metastasis in lung cancer. Materials and methods: Using immunohistochemistry analysis, we evaluated MMP-9, MMP-2, and VEGF expressions in paraffin specimens from 91 patients with histopathologically confirmed non-small cell lung cancer and the relationship between MMP-9, MMP-2, and VEGF expressions and the prognosis. Results: For MMP-9 expression, 52 (57.1%) patients were positive and 39 (42.9%) were negative. Patients whose tumors had MMP-9-positive staining had a shorter duration of survival than patients whose tumors had no expression, but it was not statistically significant (14.1 ± 1.7 (median: 12) vs. 16.7 ± 2.2 (median: 15), P > 0.05). For MMP-2 expression, 13 (14.3%) patients were positive and 78 (85.7%) were negative. Patients whose tumors had MMP-2-positive staining had a shorter duration of survival than patients whose tumors had no expression, but it was not statistically significant (12.6 ± 3.6 (median: 8) vs. 16.1 ± 1.5 (median: 14), P > 0.05). For VEGF expression, 34 (37.4%) patients were positive and 57 (62.6%) were negative. There was no significant relationship between the duration of survival for patients whose tumors had VEGF-positive and VEGF-negative staining (15.3 ± 1.7 (median: 18) vs. 15.6 ± 2.1 (median: 13), P > 0.05). Conclusion: Angiogenesis and basement membrane damage are the main components for metastasis, but there was no significant relationship between MMP and VEGF expressions and prognosis. This indicates that the metastasis biology of lung cancer is a complex and multistep pathogenetic mechanism, although a small number of patients were included in our study.
The clinical significance of detecting Ureaplasma urealyticum by the polymerase chain reaction in the amniotic fluid of patients with preterm labor.

OBJECTIVE This study was undertaken to determine the clinical significance of a detection of Ureaplasma urealyticum by using the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) in the amniotic fluid of patients with preterm labor and intact membranes. STUDY DESIGN Amniocentesis was performed in 257 patients with preterm labor and intact membranes. Amniotic fluid was cultured for aerobic and anaerobic bacteria as well as genital mycoplasmas. U urealyticum was detected by PCR using specific primers. Patients were divided into 3 groups according to the results of amniotic fluid culture and PCR for U urealyticum: those with a negative culture and negative PCR (n=228), those with a negative culture but positive PCR (n=6), and those with a positive culture regardless of the results of PCR (n=23). RESULTS The prevalence of positive amniotic fluid culture was 9% (23 of 257). U urealyticum was detected by PCR in 6% (15 of 254) of cases. Of the 15 cases with positive PCR for U urealyticum, amniotic fluid culture was negative in 40% (6 of 15). Patients with a negative culture but positive PCR for U urealyticum had significantly shorter median amniocentesis-to-delivery interval and higher amniotic fluid interleukin-6 and white blood cell count than those with a negative amniotic fluid culture and negative PCR (P<.01 for each). Patients with a positive PCR for U urealyticum but a negative amniotic fluid culture had a higher rate of significant neonatal morbidity than those with a negative culture and negative PCR (P<.05). However, no significant differences in perinatal outcome were observed between patients with a negative culture but positive PCR and those with a positive amniotic fluid culture. CONCLUSION Patients with preterm labor and a positive PCR for U urealyticum but negative amniotic fluid culture are at risk for impending preterm delivery and adverse perinatal outcome.