Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
End-to-end assessment of fecal bacteriome analysis: from sample processing to DNA sequencing and bioinformatics results

Intestinal microbiome, comprising the whole microbiota, their genes and genomes living in the human gut have significant roles in promoting health or disease status. As many studies showed so far, identifying the bacterial components of the microbiome can reveal important biomarkers to help in the disease comprehension to a further adequate treatment. However, the human nature is quite variable considering the genetic components associated with life styles, directly reflecting on the gut microbiome. Thus, it is extremely important to know the populational microbiome background in order to draw conclusions regarding the health and disease conditions. Also, methodological best practices and knowledge about the methods being used are essential for the results quality and applicability with clinical relevance. In this way, we standardized the sample collection and processing methods used for the Probiome assay, a test developed to identify the Brazilian bacteriome from stool samples. Neotools Metabarcode pipeline of analysis was developed to obtain the best result from the samples. This pipeline uses the information of amplicon single variants (ASVs) in 100% identical oligotype clusters, and performs a de novo taxonomical assignment based on similarity for unknown sequences. To better comprehend the results obtained in Probiome assays, is essential to know the intestinal bacteriome diversity of Brazilians. Thus, we applied the standardized methods herein developed and began characterizing our populational data to allow a better understanding of the Brazilian bacteriome profiles and how they can be related to other microbiome studies.
Processing speed may improve earlier than response inhibition/ interferens in children with ADHD-combined type receiving methylphenidate: a single-center study

ABSTRACT OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to determine the order of improvement in response inhibition, interference capacity, and processing speed in the Stroop test after starting methylphenidate treatment in children with ADHD. METHODS: This study included a total of 52 children aged 7–16 years who were diagnosed with combined-type ADHD for the first time and who began to use methylphenidate treatment. The Stroop test was applied to each subject at least 3 times (before treatment and at the first and second months of treatment) in the follow-up visits. RESULTS: The participants completed the fifth section of the Stroop test at a median duration of42.09 sec (quartiles: 35.58–54.0 sec) before treatment, while the median duration was 34.49 sec (quartiles: 27.43–34.48 sec) at the first month of treatment and 32.18 sec (quartiles: 26.97–32.18 sec) at the second month of treatment. The task completion duration showed a statistically significant improvement from the first month of treatment (p < 0.001). When the participants were compared in terms of the number of errors and corrections they made in the fifth section of the Stroop test, there was no significant difference between pretreatment measurements and post-treatment first month measurements (p > 0.05). The number of errors and corrections were statistically significantly lower in the second month of treatment compared to pretreatment and 1st mont of the treatment (p < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: This study demonstrated that processing speed, response inhibition, and interference capacity assessed by the Stroop test improved with methylphenidate treatment in children with ADHD. This study is the first study to show that these improvements occur in a certain order over time.
Comprehensive aerosol and gas data set from the Sydney Particle Study

Abstract. The Sydney Particle Study involved the comprehensive measurement of meteorology, particles and gases at a location in western Sydney during February–March 2011 and April–May 2012. The aim of this study was to increase scientific understanding of particle formation and transformations in the Sydney airshed. In this paper we describe the methods used to collect and analyse particle and gaseous samples, as well as the methods employed for the continuous measurement of particle concentrations, particle microphysical properties, and gaseous concentrations. This paper also provides a description of the data collected and is a metadata record for the data sets published in Keywood et al. (2016a, https://doi.org/10.4225/08/57903B83D6A5D) and Keywood et al. (2016b, https://doi.org/10.4225/08/5791B5528BD63).
Looking to the past to understand the future of tropical conservation: The importance of collecting basic data

Tropical biodiversity is under threat from a wide variety of anthropogenic stressors. Understanding the effect of major stressors—most notably land use change, over‐harvesting, emergence of novel pathogens, and climate change—is a major goal of tropical biology. However, to do so requires baseline data with which to compare present‐day patterns. Unfortunately, the tropics suffer from a lack of basic historical data; the few studies which have published such data have proven invaluable. In 1989, Fauth et al. described their studies of reptile and amphibian diversity and population demographics across tropical elevational gradients in Costa Rica. Since then, Fauth et al.'s basic ecological data have been widely used to document shifting patterns of species composition and abundance. Here, 30 years later, we argue that (a) collecting foundational ecological data remains incredibly important, especially in the tropics, and especially in those taxa which are generally understudied (e.g., reptiles and amphibians), (b) despite being one of the original goals of the 1989 study, the mechanisms driving biogeographical patterns of diversity remain unclear (both in the tropics and globally), and (c) that revisiting sites of historic biodiversity surveys—particularly those along gradients of environmental change—is incredibly important to our understanding of how tropical diversity is currently, and will continue to be, affected by activities in the Anthropocene. In its simplest terms, there has never been a time where the collection of basic data in the tropics has ever been more important.
Adaptive Control of Uncertain Hamiltonian Multi-Input Multi-Output Systems: With Application to Spacecraft Control

A novel adaptive tracking control law for nonlinear Hamiltonian multi-input-multi-output (MIMO) systems with uncertain parameters in the actuator modeling as well as the inertia and/or the Coriolis and centrifugal terms is developed. The physical properties of the Hamiltonian systems are effectively used in the control design and the stability analysis. The number of the parameter estimates is significantly lowered as compared to the conventional adaptive control methods which are based on the state-space form. The developed control scheme is applied for attitude control of a spacecraft with both the inertia and the actuator uncertainties, and numerical examples show that the controller successfully deals with the unknown inertia/actuator parameters.
Distributed estimation over fading channels using one-bit quantization

The problem of distributed estimation of an unknown parameter corrupted by noise is studied in this paper. In consideration of the stringent bandwidth constraint in practical wireless sensor network (WSN) applications, a one-bit quantization scheme is adopted to compress local sensor observations. Imperfect data transmission between local sensors and a fusion center is considered and modeled as a Rayleigh fading channel. The conventional maximum likelihood estimation (MLE) usually involves high computational complexity. In this paper, we propose a simple mean estimator which requires only the mean of the channel gain. It is further modified by utilizing the properties of the intermediate parameter under estimation. Theoretical analysis and simulation results show that the proposed estimators are not only more computationally efficient than MLE, but also achieve near MLE performance over a wide range of the channel SNR and the number of sensors, which makes them suitable for practical resource-constraint WSN applications.
Input Impedance Modeling and Analysis of Line-Commutated Rectifiers

This paper presents the modeling and analysis of small-signal input impedance for line-commutated rectifiers. The recently developed impedance mapping method, which has been applied to single-phase rectifiers with sinusoidal line inputs, is generalized to single-phase rectifiers with distorted lines as well as three-phase rectifiers. The modeling method assumes known impedance of the circuit on the dc side of the rectifier bridge (including its output filter and the load), and determines the corresponding ac input impedance by using a current and voltage mapping function which describes the operation of the rectifier bridge in the frequency domain. In this approach, closed-form analytical expressions are derived for the ac input impedance as functions of the dc circuit impedance. The resulting models are intended for stability analysis and design of large ac power systems involving significant number of rectification loads, such as more-electric aircraft power systems and microgrids. Detailed derivation of the models is presented in this paper. Numerical simulation and experimental measurement results are also presented to validate the derived models.
Much Ado about Nothing? The Road to the Incorporation of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child in Sweden

Article 4 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child stipulates that state parties have a positive obligation to implement the necessary legal measures to secure the rights recognised in the Convention. The crc Committee has stated that incorporation is its preferred method of implementation. In Sweden, the issue of incorporation has been the subject of a lengthy and contentious debate. This article aims to unpack the reasons for this. It is suggested that technical-legal arguments against the incorporation of the crc are grounded in and intertwined with cultural-legal arguments. While these arguments may be more or less clearly expressed by the various parties in the Swedish debate, I argue that they seem to have played an important role in the process through which this international treaty has been made applicable on the domestic level in Sweden.
Adsorption, Bioactivity, and Evaluation of Soil Tests for Alachlor, Acetochlor, and Metolachlor

Alachlor [2-chloro-2′,6′-diethyl-N-(methoxymethyl) acetanilide], acetochlor [2-chloro-N-(ethoxymethyl)-6′-ethyl-o-acetotoluidide] and metolachlor [2-chloro-N-(2-ethyl-6-methylphenyl)-N-(2-methoxy-1-methylethyl)acetamide] were adsorbed in similar amounts, approximately one-third that of the reference compound prometryn [2,4-bis(isopropylamino)-6-(methylthio)-s-triazine] by Ca-organic matter and seven soils. Adsorption isotherms for the four herbicides by Ca-montmorillonite were of the same shape, but different bonding mechanisms were involved. Adsorption and bioactivity of the acetanilide herbicides were correlated with organic matter, clay content, and other soil parameters as determined by two different soil- testing laboratories.
Terahertz pioneers: A series of interviews with significant contributors to terahertz science and technology

Aa a tribute to individuals who have contributed significantly, and over many years, to the terahertz community, and as a guide and inspiration for those who are just beginning their professional associationwith this field of study, these transactions have included, on a regular basis, a series of biographical interviews with technical researchers who have appreciably impacted the THz community in a positive manner. For the seventh article in this series, we again return to the tap root of terahertz science, radio astronomy. This month we are extremely excited to relay some experiences from Caltech Professor Tom Phillips, whose pioneering career laid the groundwork formuch of submillimeter-wave astronomy.Not only is he personally responsible for developing two of the key ultra-low noise receiver technologies that have pushed THz spectral line astronomy into outer space and into the public eye, but his Caltech Submillimeter Observatory (CSO) has been the basis for 75 doctoral theses and countless scientific papers from facility users around the globe since it started operations in 1987. Professor Phillip's list of supportive colleagues, former students and post-doctoral fellows is a Who's Who in THz science and astronomy and we are very fortunate to be able to bring some of his history to you.
Les marques : capital de l'entreprise : les chemins de la reconquête

Ce livre est la reference des entreprises sur le management des marques. Cette deuxieme edition, aborde les nouveaux defis de la gestion des marques aujourd'hui. La crise economique a bouscule des marques notoires que l'on croyait fortes. Les marques des distributeurs progressent en qualite et en parts de marche. Elles penetrent tous les secteurs. La percee du hard-discount revele l'attrait de produits sans marque, creuse les ecarts de prix et ebranle les certitudes.
Proposed unified 32-bit multiplier/inverter for asymmetric cryptography

Arithmetic in GF(2n) finite fields in asymmetric cryptography is the key of an efficient cryptosystems implementation. Thus, cryptosystems based on algebraic curves such as Hyper/Elliptic curves (ECC,HECC) and Pairings need a big number of arithmetic operations. They required several GF(2n) inversions and multiplications which are the most time and area consuming operations. This paper describes a hardware architecture for computing both modular multiplication and modular inversion in GF(2n) finite fields, based on a Modified Serial Multiplication/Inversion (MSMI) algorithm. The algorithm is suitable for both hardware implementations and software implementations. The proposed design performs 8-bits, 16-bits, 32-bits or 64-bits modular multiplication or inversion. Our design was modeled using VHDL and implemented in the Xilinx FPGAs Virtex6. Implementation results prove that our MSMI uses only 219 FPGA slices, it achieves a maximum frequency of 150 MHz and it computes 163-bits modular multiplication in 4.21 µ secs.
An efficient fuzzy based neuro - genetic algorithm for stock market prediction

Stock market prediction is a complex and tedious task that involves the processing of large amounts of data, that are stored in ever growing databases. The vacillating nature of the stock market requires the use of data mining techniques like clustering for stock market analysis and prediction. Genetic algorithms and neural networks have the ability to handle complex data. In this paper, we propose a fuzzy based neuro-genetic algorithm - Fuzzy based Evolutionary Approach to Self Organizing Map(FEASOM) to cluster stock market data. Genetic algorithms are used to train the Kohonen network for better and effective prediction. The algorithm was tested on real stock market data of companies like Intel, General Motors, Infosys, Wipro, Microsoft, IBM, etc. The algorithm consistently outperformed regression model, backpropagation algorithm and Kohonen network in predicting the stock market values.
Satisfaction and Engagement Modeling of PT.Garuda Indonesia (Persero)Tbk Employee Using Second Order Confirmatory Factor Analysis(CFA)and Structural Equation Modeling(SEM)

In order to analyze psychological relationship between employee and company, PT. Garuda Indonesia (Persero) Tbk conducts two types of survey: Satisfaction and Employee Engagement Survey. Both types of surveys have indicators that grouped into their respective latent variables. Normal multivariate assumption testing indicates that the data has followed a normal multivariate distribution. The First Order CFA results indicate that the indicators are valid, but there is one latent variable that is not reliable so can not be used in modeling. In Second Order CFA we found fit model that can explain the relationship between latent variable with Satisfaction and Engagement, where the latent variable of Satisfaction and Engagement give a significant positive effect. The latent variables that have the highest influence on Employee Satisfaction are Career Management System (0.982), Performance Management System (0.976), and Reward System (0.970). While latent variables that provide the highest influence on Employee Engagement are Mission & Goals (0.996), Basic (0.994), and Compensation (0.972). In addition, relationship between Satisfaction and Engagement obtained a structural model, where Employee Satisfaction give a significant positive effect on Employee Engagement (0.474). Keywords— Employee, Engagement, First Order, Satisfaction, Second Order CFA, SEM
A closer look at initial CdS growth on high-efficiency Cu(In,Ga)Se2 absorbers using surface-sensitive methods

In this contribution we present further evidence that the post-deposition treatment with alkali elements (PDT) on Cu(In,Ga)Se2 (CIGS) films can positively influence the initial growth of chemical-bath-deposited CdS. We investigate the surface of CIGS films with and without PDT during initial growth of CdS by various surface-sensitive methods — x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), spectroscopic ellipsometry (SE), and high-resolution scanning electron microscopy — in order to gather information about the growth rate and coverage of CdS on the two surface types. We find that the CdS film deposited for 180 seconds on PDT-CIGS is mostly closed, while samples without PDT show very inhomogeneous coverage. Furthermore, for growth on PDT-CIGS, the effective CdS film thickness is determined to be higher by both XPS and SE. Finally, we present a discussion of the information content of the methods employed here.
Using Ion Mobility-Mass Spectrometry to Understand Amyloid β-Protein Assembly: The Effects of Small Molecule Inhibitors and Familial Mutations

Author(s): Zheng, Xueyun | Advisor(s): Bowers, Michael T | Abstract: Amyloid β-protein (Aβ) has been correlated with Alzheimer’s disease (AD) which is the most common form of dementia. Aβ proteins assemble into oligomers, large aggregates, protofibrils before growing into fibrils. Recently more and more evidence has shown that the intermediate, oligomeric states of Aβ, rather than the fibrils are correlated with AD pathology. Among them, the 56 kDa dodecamer species was identified as a proximate toxic agent for AD onset. Therefore to understand the early oligomerization of Aβ proteins and to target the early assembly of Aβ are of significance for therapeutic strategy for AD treatment. In this thesis work, we use mass spectrometry coupled with ion mobility spectrometry method (IM-MS) to investigate the early assembly of Aβ proteins. In the first, we sought to search for small molecule inhibitors for Aβ and understand their binding interactions and the mechanism of inhibitory actions. Several classes of small molecules, including Z-Phe-Ala-diazomethylketone (PADK), two derivatives of the Aβ C-terminal fragment Aβ(39-42), molecular tweezers, and ML, have been studied and shown different effects. These studies of small molecule inhibitors show that ion mobility spectrometry method has emerged to be a powerful tool for the screening and understanding of small molecule inhibitors for AD and other amyloid diseases. In the second, we sought to understand the effects of amino acid substitutions on Aβ structure and aggregation. Two recently discovered familial mutations at Ala2 (A2) within Aβ, a protective A2T mutation and a recessive A2V mutation were investigated. Our ion mobility studies reveal different assembly pathways for early oligomer formation for each peptide and provide a basis for understanding how these two mutations lead to, or protect against, AD. Lastly, we also sought to understand the early assembly of amyloid β-protein (Aβ) from different rodent species. We investigate the biophysical and biological properties of Aβ peptides from humans, mice (Mus musculus), and rats (Octodon degus). In conclusion, we have successfully applied ion mobility spectrometry method to understand complicated aggregation systems. This provides a powerful tool to screen small molecule inhibitors for Aβ proteins and sheds light onto their inhibitory mechanisms. The studies of Aβ mutants imply that ion mobility method can be used as new tool in developing an understanding of the effect of familial mutations on Aβ assembly in AD and the assembly of other mutated protein systems.
Separation and information hiding

We investigate proof rules for information hiding, using the formalism of separation logic. In essence, we use the separating conjunction to partition the internal resources of a module from those accessed by the module's clients. The use of a logical connective gives rise to a form of dynamic partitioning, where we track the transfer of ownership of portions of heap storage between program components. It also enables us to enforce separation in the presence of mutable data structures with embedded addresses that may be aliased.
How Do Sovereign Credit Ratings Help to Financially Develop Low-Developed Countries?

This paper investigates the importance of having a sovereign credit rating for a country’s financial development. After controlling for endogeneity and selection bias, we compare different aspects of the financial sector and the capital markets of recently rated countries with otherwise similar, but unrated countries. We find that obtaining a sovereign credit rating changes the composition of the assets of domestic banks and leads to a growth in bank assets. With a sovereign rating, the government is less dependent on bank financing and it can tap international bond markets. Banks subsequently provide more credit to the private sector, which translates into riskier debt holdings, resulting in an increase in the banks’ risk-weighted assets. We also show that an initial sovereign credit rating attracts foreign investors, both FDI and portfolio investments. Hence, we conclude that a sovereign credit provision plays a crucial role in enabling the financial development in a country.
An Oncogenic Role for Four-Jointed Box 1 (FJX1) in Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma

Nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) is a highly metastatic cancer prevalent in Southern China and Southeast Asia. The current knowledge on the molecular pathogenesis of NPC is still inadequate to improve disease management. Using gene expression microarrays, we have identified the four-jointed box 1 (FJX1) gene to be upregulated in primary NPC tissues relative to nonmalignant tissues. An orthologue of human FJX1, the four-jointed (fj) gene in Drosophila and Fjx1 in mouse, has reported to be associated with cancer progression pathways. However, the exact function of FJX1 in human is not well characterized. The overexpression of FJX1 mRNA was validated in primary NPC tissue samples, and the level of FJX1 protein was significantly higher in a subset of NPC tissues (42%) compared to the normal epithelium, where no expression of FJX1 was observed (p = 0.01). FJX1 is also found to be overexpressed in microarray datasets and TCGA datasets of other cancers including head and neck cancer, colorectal, and ovarian cancer. Both siRNA knockdown and overexpression experiments in NPC cell lines showed that FJX1 promotes cell proliferation, anchorage-dependent growth, and cellular invasion. Cyclin D1 and E1 mRNA levels were increased following FJX1 expression indicating that FJX1 enhances proliferation by regulating key proteins governing the cell cycle. Our data suggest that the overexpression of FJX1 contributes to a more aggressive phenotype of NPC cells and further investigations into FJX1 as a potential therapeutic target for NPC are warranted. The evaluation of FJX1 as an immunotherapy target for NPC and other cancers is currently ongoing.