Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The use of the resonant mirror biosensor to detect point mutations, as demonstrated with synthetic oligonucleotides

The possibility of using the resonant mirror biosensor to detect point substitutions in oligonucleotides was demonstrated with a fragment of the Helicobacter pylori 23S rRNA gene, point mutations in which are responsible for clarythromycin resistance. Conditions were optimized for the interaction of a probe immobilized on the sensing surface with targets containing various nucleotide substitutions. A probe allowing reliable discrimination of mutant targets was selected. The mismatch position in the probe was shown to affect the kinetic parameters (response) of hybridization with mutant targets, reporting not only the position, but also the character (G or C) of a substitution. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Reconstruction Scheme for Accelerated Maximum Likelihood Reconstruction: The Patchwork Structure

Convergence of iterative algorithms can be improved by updating groups of voxels sequentially rather than updating the whole image simultaneously. The optimal way is to choose groups of uncoupled voxels, i.e. voxels spread over the reconstruction volume. While this is most efficient for convergence reasons, updating groups of spread voxels is less efficient regarding memory access and computational burden. In this work, an image-block update scheme is presented that updates relatively large groups of voxels simultaneously while keeping a considerable gain in convergence. The sequential image-block update can also be combined with ordered subsets. This image-block or patchwork scheme is applied both to transmission and emission maximum likelihood algorithms.
Array Erasure Codes with Preset Fault Tolerance Capability

The array erasure code, an ideal method for fault tolerance in storage systems, however, is obstructed by its impossibility to set the fault tolerant ability according to dynamic application environment for practical purpose. In view of this, this paper presents a new class of array erasure codes, with the greatest contribution to the array codes which can be obtained according to the preset number of fault tolerance and storage eﬃciency in dynamic structure, and fault tolerance capability can be presented is not limited in theory. In addition, the new array code has the advantages of simple structure, easy to realize, with no strong constraints to satisfy in structure. Only binary XOR operations are required for coding and decoding for a high operational eﬃciency, and ﬁxed update penalty and repair cost which will not increase with the expansion of system size or increase of fault tolerance capability.
Light‐induced Damage in the Retina: Differential Effects of Dimethylthiourea on Photoreceptor Survival, Apoptosis and DNA Oxidation

Abstract. In the rat, photoreceptor cell death from exposure to intense visible light can be prevented by prior treatment with antioxidants. In this study we subjected albino rats raised in dim cyclic light and rats made more susceptible to light damage by rearing in darkness to exposures of green light that led to similar losses of photoreceptor cells. Rhodopsin and photoreceptor DNA, indicators of the number of surviving photoreceptor cells, were determined at various times over a period of 14 days after light exposure. Fragmentation of DNA was determined over a similar time course by neutral and alkaline agarose gel electrophoresis. Apoptosis in retinal DNA was measured by quantitating the appearance of 180 base pair (bp) nucleosomal fragments. Oxidation of DNA was measured by electrochemical detection of the nucleoside 8‐hydroxydeoxyguanosine (8‐OHdG) after separation by high‐performance chromatography. For albino rats reared in dim cyclic light, 24 h of intense light exposure resulted in the loss of 50% rhodopsin and photoreceptor cell DNA. In dark‐reared rats, the losses were 40%, respectively, after only 3 h of intense light treatment. In both cases pretreatment with the antioxidant dimethylthiourea (DMTU) prevented rhodopsin and photoreceptor cell DNA loss. The kinetics of the light‐induced apoptosis depended markedly on the rearing environment of the rats. The DNA ladders appeared within 12 h of the onset of intense light in the rats reared in dim cyclic light. In these rats the 180 bp fragment was at two‐thirds of its maximum intensity immediately after 24 h of light exposure and reached the maximum 12 h later. Dimethylthiourea partially inhibited ladder formation in rats reared in dim cyclic light and delayed the time of appearance of the 180 bp maximum by 6 h. By contrast, in rats reared in darkness the 180 bp fragment was undetected immediately after 3 h of light exposure and
The effect of a Plantago ovata seed containing preparation on appetite variables, nutrient and energy intake.

OBJECTIVES Investigation of a Plantago ovata seed containing supplement (Plantaginis ovatae semen and testa) to determine its effect on appetite variables, nutrient and energy intake in normal subjects. DESIGN Triple blind (subjects, investigators and statisticians) cross-over design. Three, 3-day study periods when subjects were given the following treatments in randomised order: Plantago ovata preparation (20 g granules with 200 ml water), placebo (20 g granules with 200 ml water), or water (200 ml) 3 hs pre-meal and the same dose immediately pre-meal. A set meal was given at lunch time after the supplement to subjects who had fasted overnight. SETTING Metabolic unit of King's College London. SUBJECTS Seventeen female subjects, all classified as non-restrained eaters. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Visual analogue scales were completely premeal, postmeal and at hourly intervals for 3 hs after the meal. All food consumed on the meal day, and the following day was weighed. RESULTS There was a significant difference in fullness at 1 h post-meal between Plantago and placebo, and also Plantago and water. Total fat intake was significantly lower in g/d and as a percentage of energy on the day of the meal after Plantago compared with water. CONCLUSIONS This plantago ovata containing product, which is already taken by many people world-wide to control bowel function, may be a useful supplement in weight control diets as it affects fat intake, and may have some effect on the subjective feeling of fullness.
The Active Clamp Sepic- Flyback Converter

A high efficiency active clamp sepic-flyback converter is presented. The proposed converter is superposition of sepic converter mode and flyback converter mode. Not only sepic mode output but also flyback mode output can be fully regulated by constant frequency PWM control. Merging sepic and flyback topology can share the transformer, power MOSFET, and active clamp circuit. It has outstanding advantages over the conventional dc-dc converters with respect to high efficiency, high power density, and component utilization. The operation principle of the proposed converter is described and verified by simulation and experimental result
Transcervical gunshot injuries: mandatory operation is not necessary.

BACKGROUND It has been suggested that all transcervical gunshot wounds should be explored surgically because of the high incidence of injuries to vital structures. The present prospective study investigated the clinical presentation, the role of various diagnostic investigations, and the need for surgery in patients with transcervical gunshot injuries. METHODS Ninety-seven patients sustained gunshot injuries to the neck and 33 of them (34%) were transcervical. All victims were assessed clinically according to a written protocol and subsequently were evaluated angiographically, and, in the appropriate case, by means of endoscopy and esophagography. RESULTS Overall, 24 (73%) of the 33 patients with transcervical gunshot wounds had injuries to cervical structures. Vascular injuries were found in 48%, spinal cord injuries in 24%, and aerodigestive tract injuries in 6% of patients with transcervical injuries. In the 64 patients without midline crossing, the incidence of cervical structure injuries was 31%. Despite the high incidence of injuries to cervical structures in transcervical wounds, only 21% of the patients had a therapeutic operation. The overall mortality was 3%. There were no in-hospital deaths or local complications in the nonoperatively managed group. CONCLUSIONS The results of the present study do not support the current recommendations of mandatory operation for all transcervical gunshot wounds. A careful clinical examination combined with the appropriate diagnostic investigations should determine the treatment modality. About 80% of these patients can safely be managed nonoperatively.
CoTable: Collaborative Social Media Analysis with Multi-Touch Tables

To be able to take efficient measures in crisis management, it is essential for emergency services to get as much details about an actual situation on-site as possible. Currently content from social media plays an important role since those platforms are used to spread crisis-relevant data within the population. Our contribution presents a concept which supports the situation assessment practices of emergency services by collaboratively evaluating and by analyzing citizen-generated content from social media using a multi-touch table. The concept was implemented based on a Microsoft PixelSense and evaluated with 14 participants. The results reveal the impact of subjectivity of the participants, their positioning around the table as well as the uniqueness of social media posts on the collaborative situation assessment with multi-touch tables
Gene expression and internalization following vector adsorption to immobilized proteins: dependence on protein identity and density

Gene delivery by non‐specific adsorption of non‐viral vectors to protein‐coated surfaces can reduce the amount of DNA required, and also increase transgene expression and the number of cells expressing the transgene. The protein on the surface mediates cell adhesion and vector immobilization, and functions to colocalize the two to enhance gene delivery. This report investigates the mechanism and specificity by which the protein coating enhances gene transfer, and determines if the protein coating targets the vector for internalization by a specific pathway.
Semi-bridgeless boost PFC rectifier for wide voltage input range based on voltage feed-forward control

Considering the advantages and disadvantages of the circuit topology of traditional Boost PFC, two phase interleaved Boost PFC, basic type bridgeless Boost PFC and semi-bridgeless Boost PFC, a rectifier based on the semi-bridgeless Boost PFC with wide range input voltage is proposed. The circuit works in CCM mode, uses double closed loop control strategy, i.e. , the inner current loop uses average current control, the outer voltage loop uses the PI control strategy. In order to verify the performance of the proposing circuit, this circuit is simulated by using the SimPowerSystems kit in Matlab/simulink software, and a 660W prototype of the proposed rectifier based on the digital control chip TMS320F2812 is realized. The simulation and experimental results show that, the rectifier output a stable DC voltage while its input voltage at 140V – 260V, and its ripple voltage is low, the input current waveform can follow the input voltage waveform, its power factor is close to unit, the THD is less than 5% at 100 kHz switching frequency.
Outpatient parenteral antibiotic therapy for infective endocarditis: a review of 4 years' experience at a UK centre

Objectives To review the role of outpatient parenteral antibiotic therapy (OPAT) in the management of infective endocarditis (IE) with the aim to guide further development of the service modality both locally and at other centres, in light of the evolving recommendations on patient suitability in international guidelines. Methods A retrospective case review of all patients receiving OPAT for IE in Sheffield between January 2006 and October 2010 was conducted. Data were collected on site and microbiology of infection, antibiotic regimens, adverse events during OPAT therapy and outcomes were studied. Results A total of 36 episodes of IE were treated in 34 patients. All patients received initial treatment as inpatients. Treatment was successful in 34/36 episodes (94.4%) with no evidence of recurrence at a median of 30 months follow-up. One patient had a relapse 2 months after completion of OPAT for enterococcal endocarditis and was found to have concurrent chronic prostatitis. One patient died of a ruptured pulmonary root abscess while receiving OPAT. Adverse events occurred in 12 episodes (33.3%), of which seven were line associated. In four cases adverse events resulted in re-hospitalisation. A successful outcome was achieved in 22/24 episodes (91.7%) deemed to be less suitable for OPAT due to higher risk of complications by Infectious Diseases Society of America guidelines. Conclusions OPAT is a safe and effective means of completing therapy for IE, including prosthetic valve endocarditis and other cases at a higher risk of complicated disease. However, the relatively high rate of adverse events highlights the need for well-developed protocols and policies for patient selection and follow-up within the context of a formal OPAT service.
Social identity in adolescence.

Social identity theory (SIT) was used to investigate the effects of social categorization on adolescents' intergroup behaviour. One hundred and forty-nine male adolescents aged 14-15 years made comparisons between an ingroup and an outgroup along a series of dimensions. Participants displayed consistent ingroup-favouring behaviour in their ratings: the ingroup was associated to a greater extent than the outgroup with positively valued dimensions, and to a lesser extent with negatively valued dimensions. Those participants who demonstrated the most discrimination reported highest levels of ingroup identification. The utility of applying predictions from SIT to the study of adolescence is discussed.
Efficient Programming for Multicore Processor Heterogeneity: OpenMP versus OmpSs

ARM single-ISA heterogeneous multicore processors combine high-performance big cores with power-efficient small cores. They aim at achieving a suitable balance between performance and energy. How- ever, a main challenge is to program such architectures so as to efficiently exploit their features. In this paper, we study the impact on performance and energy trade-offs of single-ISA architecture according to OpenMP 3.0 and the OmpSs programming models. We consider different symmetric/asymmetric architecture configura- tions in terms of core frequency and core count between big and LITTLE clusters. Experiments are conducted on both a real Samsung Exynos 5 Octa system-on-chip and the gem5/McPAT simulation frameworks. Results show that OmpSs implementations are more sensitive to loop scheduling parameters than OpenMP 3.0. In most cases, best OmpSs configurations significantly outperform OpenMP ones. While cluster frequency asym- metry provides uninteresting results, asymmetric cluster configuration with single high-performance core and multiple low-power cores provides better performance/energy trade-offs in many cases.
Exploring Agent Physicality and Social Presence for Medical Team Training

Mixed reality and 3D user interface technologies have increased the immersion, presence, and physicality of user interactions. These technologies can also increase the physicality of embodied conversational agents (ECAs) by making the ECAs occupy and interact with the physical space. We propose that increasing the physicality of an ECA can increase the ECA's social presence, that is, the feeling that the ECA is a real person. In this paper, we examine existing research and formalize the idea of ECA physicality. We also explored the relationship between physicality and social presence by conducting two user studies (n 18 and n 29). Both user studies took place in a medical team training context and involved virtual human ECAs as fellow team members. The first study's results suggested that increasing physicality increased social presence and elicited more realistic behavior. The second study's results suggested that individual dimensions of physicality affect social presence to different extents.
Predictors of maternal perceptions of their offspring's weight status during adolescence: evidence from the Mater-University of Queensland Study of Pregnancy Cohort

We examined the predictors of maternal perceptions on their adolescent offspring’s weight status. A mother-child linked analysis was carried out using 14 years follow-up data from a population-based prospective birth cohort of 3721 children (52% males) who born in Brisbane, Australia, between 1981 and 1983. Maternal perception of offspring weight was reported when the offspring were 14 years old and predictors were prospectively. We found that mothers perceived their adolescents’ sons were more underweight and less overweight than their daughters. The independent predictors of maternal perceptions of child overweight status were gender, maternal perceived child dissatisfaction of appearance, shape, size and weight, adolescent dieting to lose weight, their general health status, sports and maternal BMI. Mainly two factors- child health and dieting predict maternal perception of offspring underweight. This study found more child factors than family or maternal factors predict maternal perceptions of their offspring weight status. The finding that child factors are related to maternal perception should be helpful to clinicians as it suggests understanding adolescent and maternal perceptions of weight will best be achieved by a focus on current adolescent body image, dieting, behavioural problems, and parental weight status.
The Application of Theorem Proving to Question-Answering Systems

This paper shows how a question-answering system can use first-order logic as its language and an automatic theorem prover, based upon the . Annual Review in Automatic Programming: International Tracts in. Google Books Result theorem-proving has concentrated on developing new inference systems. C. 1969b The application of theorem-proving to question—answering systems. Symbolic Logic and Mechanical Theorem Proving Google Books Result deduction system, with an axiomatic application-domain theory, as the central. attachment mechanism, which allows the theorem prover to behave as if Artificial Intelligence Google Books Result ? QUESTION ANSWERING A question-answering system accepts information about some subject. The Application of Theorem Proving to Question Answering. niques, the application of theorem-proving techniques to new problem domains. the use of limited natural language input to a question-answering system. +. A. The application of theorem proving to question-answering systems. question-answering systems that use list-structured data bases and formal theorem-proving techniques to store facts, extract relevant data, and deduce logical . Deductive Question Answering Information Sciences Institute Finding Hypothetical Answers with a Resolution Theorem Prover. Intelligent Question-Answering Systems. formal theorem-proving techniques, the application of theorem-proving techniques to new problem domains, and the 10 Search Strategies for Theorem-Proving Department of Computing and question answering is modelled as a theorem proving task. To aid 2007 uses a machine learning method to develop the question and answer classifier Question Answering: From Partitions to Prolog* The application of theorem proving to question-answering systems. Claude Cordell. Green on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. RESEARCH ON INTELLIGENT QUESTION-ANSWERING SYSTEMS to the Application of Theorem Proving to Problem Solving1. system that depended exclusively on formal theorem-proving methods to search for the only within a given world model to answer questions about it concerning which operators The use of theorem-proving techniques in question-answering. tics of questions in a simple question answering algorithm. The algorithm is sound, complete, and based on tableau theorem proving. The algorithm relies on a Automation of Reasoning: 2: Classical Papers on Computational. Google Books Result Using logical relevance for question answering Abstract. The Multiple ANSwer EXtraction system is a framework for interpreting a The use of theorem proving to implement question answering has received Theorem-proving by resolution as a basis for question-answering We expect to demonstrate the feasibili ty of question-answering systems that use both list-structure semantic models and formal theorem-proving techniques to . 11 Theorem-Proving by Resolution as a Basis for Question. 18 Jan 2006. In actual systems, theorem proving has long been used as a model for Applying the “logical” approach to question answering outlined above
Preliminary phytochemical and anti-bacterial studies on Physalis minima Linn.

Physalis minima Linn. is widely used in the indigenous system of medicine for the treatment of diuretic, fevers, dropsy etc. In the present study, an attempt was made to evaluate the phytochemical substances and antibacterial activity in the plant parts of P.minima (stem, leaf and unripe fruit). Phytochemical constituents like alkaloids, anthraquinones, flavonoids, cardiac glycosides, phenols, quinones, reducing sugars, saponins, steroids, starch, tannin and terpenoids of the stem, leaf and unripe fruit of P.minima were examined using the extracts of chloroform, diethyl ether, ethanol, ethyl acetate and methanol. Alkaloids, flavonoids, glycosides, phenols, saponins, steroids, tannins and terpenoids were present in all the plant parts irrespective of the solvents used. Rich amount of phytochemicals were observed in leaf extracts compared to stem and unripe fruit. The antibacterial activity of P.minima was studied using agar well diffusion method. The activity was tested against Bacillus cereus, B. subtilis, Citrobacter sp. , Enterobacter aerogenes, Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, P. fluorescens and Staphylococcus aureus in its plant parts. Leaf and stem extracts of all solvents invariably showed moderate anti-bacterial activity. Enterobacter aerogenes and Staphylococcus aureus were found to be more susceptible for the extracts of P.minima. Bacillus subtilis, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and P. fluorescens strains showed resistance against the extracts of P.minima. Overall anti-bacterial assay revealed that ethanolic extract was found to be more effective than the other solvents used. It can be concluded that the plant has some antibacterial activity but there is need to do more tests to find new compounds with potential to act against multi resistant pathogenic bacteria.
Modular Multilevel Converter topologies with DC-Short circuit current limitation

Demanding future applications in power transmission and drives — like solar-thermic power plants and off-shore wind power — require advanced converter systems. Modular Multilevel Converters are well adopted to these needs, owing to industrial scalability, high efficiency and fast dynamic controllability under transient and fault conditions — including DC-Side faults. The respective features of the established concepts for the high power range (M2C) and of new concepts for the low power range (MHF) are explained.