Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Communication interface synthesis for multilanguage specifications

Nowadays the design of complex systems requires the cooperation of several teams belonging to different cultures and using different languages. It is necessary to dispose of new design and verification methods to handle multilanguage approaches. This paper presents an approach for the communication interface synthesis of multilanguage specifications. In the proposed approach, communication synthesis allows to transform a system composed of subsystems, described in different languages that communicate via different communication primitives through communication channels, into a set of interconnected processors that communicate via signals and share communication controls. An example illustrates the usefulness of this approach for the design of an adaptive speed control system that was described in SDL and Matlab.
Screening and Brief Interventions for Alcohol Use in College Health Centers: A Review

Abstract Objectives: To provide a critical review of the efficacy of brief interventions for alcohol use in college health centers. Methods: Studies were included if (a) they examined brief intervention trials that were conducted in college- or university-based student health centers or emergency departments, and (b) they provided pre–post data to estimate change. Results: Twelve studies suggested that screening and brief interventions in these settings are acceptable, feasible, and promote risk reduction. Conclusions: Findings support continued use of time-limited, single-session interventions with motivational interviewing and feedback components.
Associations of Thromboxane A 2 receptor and IL-5 gene polymorphisms , with atopic asthma in Singapore ethnic Chinese Population

Atopic asthma is a chronic disease whose incidence is rising in developed nations such as Singapore. The exact aetiology of asthma has yet to be elucidated as it is a complex multifactorial disease caused by interactions between both genetic and environmental factors. The Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms (SNPs) of asthma candidate genes Thromboxane A2 receptor (TBXA2R_T924C) and Interleukin-5 (IL-5_T-746C) had previously been found in a different population to be significantly associated with asthma when assessed in combination. This study analysed the two SNPs for associations with atopic asthma in the Singapore ethnic Chinese population, taking into account not only possible gene-gene interactions but also geneenvironment interactions. It was done by mass screening of 868 subjects for both SNPs and then statistically analysing the SNP genotypes together with that of other genes, and with various environmental factors. None of the two SNPs was found to be directly associated with asthma when assessed individually or in combination. However, preliminary analyses reveal promising associations with asthma when the two SNPs are analysed in combination with other interacting factors. Of note, IL5_T-746C, in combination with a SNP in Adrenergic beta-2 receptor gene (ADRB2_A45G) was found to be significantly associated with asthma.
Observer design and active fault tolerant control for Takagi-Sugeno systems affected by sensors faults

This paper deals with the problem of active fault tolerant control strategy for nonlinear systems described by Takagi-Sugeno models. The proposed control law uses the estimated fault. The considered systems are affected by sensor faults. A mathematical transformation is used in order to conceive an augmented system in which the sensor faults affecting the initial system appear as unknown inputs. A proportional integral observer with unknown inputs is conceived in order to estimate simultaneously states and sensor faults. The stability of the system with the proposed fault tolerant control strategy is formulated using Lyapunov theory and the observer gains are obtained by solving linear matrices inequalities. To illustrate the proposed method, it is applied to the three columns.
Revisit' the Silk Road: A Quasi-Experiment Approach Estimating the Effects of Railway Speed-Up Project on China-Central Asia Exports

China's main railway line linking east and west was speeded-up in Oct. 21, 2000, which improves freight efficiency between eastern China and Xinjiang (the hub of China and Central Asia). This paper tests the impact of exogenous domestic accessibility variation on export. By employing a transaction-level customs database, empirical results find benefited exporters (use rail freight) increase the export value to Central Asia by around 30% compared with exporters use other freight modes, and exporters use rail freight but enjoy limited speeded-up mileage. The speed-up effect is due to mixed channels: net export creation, export diversion in freight modes and exporters. Increase in export value of related exporters is exerted by export expansion of existing exporters but not entry of new exporters. This paper also finds exports of medium value products benefit most from speed-up, which are more sensitive to shipping efficiency than low and high value products. Overall, speed-up effect on regional development of Xinjiang is two-fold. It weakens the function of Xinjiang as the hub, but promotes its export in other international markets by better accessibility to coast.
AMYLOID‐RELATED SERUM PROTEIN (SAA) AS AN INDICATOR OF LUNG INFECTION IN CYSTIC FIBROSIS

ABSTRACT. AmyIoid‐rehted serum protein (SAA) was analysd by radioimmunoassay in 32 patients with cystic fibrosis, and compared with other acute phase reactants and lung function. The level of SAA showed significant correlation with impaired lung function due to active Pseudomonas aeruginosa infection, and also to C‐reactive protein. SAA seemed to correlate better to the presence of bacteria in sputum than C‐reactive protein. Ten of the patients received extensive antibiotic treatment for their pulmonary infection, and falling serum levels of SAA paralleled the clinical response to treatment. Thus the concentration of SAA in these patients was a valuable guide for the selection of patients for antibiotic treatment as well as a good parameter of the response to therapy.
Linear viral load increase of a single HPV‐type in women with multiple HPV infections predicts progression to cervical cancer

Persistent high‐risk human papillomavirus (HPV) infection is strongly associated with development of high‐grade cervical intraepithelial neoplasia or cancer (CIN3+). In single type infections, serial type‐specific viral‐load measurements predict the natural history of the infection. In infections with multiple HPV‐types, the individual type‐specific viral‐load profile could distinguish progressing HPV‐infections from regressing infections. A case‐cohort natural history study was established using samples from untreated women with multiple HPV‐infections who developed CIN3+ (n = 57) or cleared infections (n = 88). Enriched cell pellet from liquid based cytology samples were subjected to a clinically validated real‐time qPCR‐assay (18 HPV‐types). Using serial type‐specific viral‐load measurements (≥3) we calculated HPV‐specific slopes and coefficient of determination (R2) by linear regression. For each woman slopes and R2 were used to calculate which HPV‐induced processes were ongoing (progression, regression, serial transient, transient). In transient infections with multiple HPV‐types, each single HPV‐type generated similar increasing (0.27copies/cell/day) and decreasing (−0.27copies/cell/day) viral‐load slopes. In CIN3+, at least one of the HPV‐types had a clonal progressive course (R2 ≥ 0.85; 0.0025copies/cell/day). In selected CIN3+ cases (n = 6), immunostaining detecting type‐specific HPV 16, 31, 33, 58 and 67 RNA showed an even staining in clonal populations (CIN3+), whereas in transient virion‐producing infections the RNA‐staining was less in the basal layer compared to the upper layer where cells were ready to desquamate and release newly‐formed virions. RNA‐hybridization patterns matched the calculated ongoing processes measured by R2 and slope in serial type‐specific viral‐load measurements preceding the biopsy. In women with multiple HPV‐types, serial type‐specific viral‐load measurements predict the natural history of the different HPV‐types and elucidates HPV‐genotype attribution.
Application of anisotropic diffusion potential to sparse view reconstruction problem

In this work, a new constrained optimization problem associated with anisotropic diffusion potential was formulated to provide reconstructions from projection data acquired from limited number of view angles. Our results from both simulated data and physical phantom data showed that the anisotropic diffusion method can produce appealing images from sparse view data which suggests it could be potentially applied to lower the dose delivered to patient. Compared with the total variation minimization algorithm, the anisotropic diffusion method can be an alternative candidate to sparse view reconstruction problem. The similarities between anisotropic diffusion and TV based algorithms are also discussed. A possible combination of the anisotropic diffusion and total variation methods is suggested in this paper.
Bayesian Networks: Aspects of Approximate Inference

A Bayesian network can be used to model consisely the probabilistic knowledge with respect to a given problem domain. Such a network consists of an acyclic directed graph in which the nodes represent stochastic variables, supplemented with probabilities indicating the strength of the influences between neighbouring variables. A qualitative probabilistic network is an abstraction of a Bayesian network in which the probabilistic influences among the variables are modelled by means of signs. A non-monotonic influence between two variables is associated with the ambiguous sign '? ', which indicates that the actual sign of the influence depends on the state of the network. The presence of such ambiguous signs is undesirable as it tends to lead to uninformative results upon inference. In each specific state of the network, however, the influence between two variables is unambiguous. Now to capture the current effect of the influence this thesis introduces the concept of situational sign. It is shown how situational signs can be used upon inference and how they are updated as the state of the network changes. By means of a real-life qualitative network in oncology it is demonstrated that the use of situational signs can effectively forestall uninformative results upon inference. The loopy-propagation algorithm provides for approximate inference with a Bayesian network. Upon loopy propagation errors may arise in the computed probabilities due to the presence of loops in the graph. This thesis indicates that two different types of error arise in the computed probabilities which are termed convergence errors and cycling errors. These types of error are investigated in more detail for the nodes with two or more incoming arcs from a loop and for the other loop nodes seperately. For nodes with two or more incoming arcs on the loop a general expression is derived for the error that is found in the probabilities computed for these nodes in a network in its prior state. This expression includes a weighting factor that is captured by the newly defined notion of quantitative parental synergy. For the other loop nodes, the effect of the cycling error on the decisiveness of the computed probabilities is analysed. More specifically, the over- or underconfidence of these approximations is linked to two concepts from qualitative probabilistic networks. The thesis concludes with an analysis of an algorithm for inference with undirected networks which is equivalent to the loopy-propagation algorithm. It is shown how, although in undirected networks all errors arise from the cycling of information, the convergence error is embedded in the algorithm.
Dual fluorescence analysis of DNA apoptosis in sperm.

OBJECTIVE The objective was to compare fluorochrome Hoechst 33342 (Ho342) with combined Ho342/propidium iodide (PI) stains for assessment of sperm quality. STUDY DESIGN Washed donor sperm cells were incubated in either 0, 0.15, or 15 micromol/L camptothecin (CAM) or 0.37 or 3.7 mmol/L genistein (GEN) for 4 hours at 37 degrees C. The sperm cells were analyzed for cycle-independent apoptosis and necrosis by single- compared with dual-stained fluorescence microscopy to contrast the relative effectiveness of these two approaches. RESULTS The single-stain procedure did not detect viability differences (overall 76.1% +/- 2.2% live). In contrast, the dual-stain procedure identified a dose-dependent decrease in viability and increased necrozoospermia for CAM and GEN treatments. Apoptosis was 2-fold higher with topoisomerase inhibitor treatment. CONCLUSION The two topoisomerase inhibitors were associated with increased apoptosis and dose-dependent necrosis. The data suggested that the dual-stain combination Ho342/PI was more sensitive than the single Ho342 stain analysis and permitted quantifying the apoptosis and necrosis events in sperm.
Research on fault diagnosis and accommodation based on neural network fuzzy model

This paper is related to fault diagnosis and accommodation approach based on neural network, which can be used for flight control systems. A radial basis function (RBF) neural network is designed to approximate the fault, and a fuzzy observer is used to estimate the fault. A new controller is reconfigured in order to compensate the effect of the fault. At last, simulation results of an F-16 aircraft example are given to verify the availability of the proposed method.
In Vitro Incorporation of Serine into the Staphylococcal Cell Wall

A variant of Staphylococcus aureus 44A HJD was isolated by serial growth in Trypticase soy broth to which 2 M serine had been added (wt/vol). Amino acid analysis of hydrolysates of purified mucopeptides from the variant showed that they contained 1.266 serine and 2.156 glycine residues per glutamic acid residue, compared with 0.174 serine and 3.144 glycine residues per glutamic acid residue in the mucopeptide of the parent strain. In addition to this alteration in the chemical composition of the mucopeptide, the variant lost many of the biochemical and cultural characteristics of the parent organism. The variant was not sensitive to the lytic action of lysostaphin and was non-phage-typable. Moreover, in vitro tests indicated that the organism was coagulase negative, did not produce gelatinase or deoxyribonuclease, and did not hemolyze sheep erythrocytes. Apparently due to the change in the serine content in the cell wall of the parent S. aureus strain, the organism had become “epidermidis-like” in its properties.
Extension Mechanisms for DNS (EDNS(0))

The Domain Name System's wire protocol includes a number of fixed fields whose range has been or soon will be exhausted and does not allow requestors to advertise their capabilities to responders. This document describes backward-compatible mechanisms for allowing the protocol to grow. This document updates the Extension Mechanisms for DNS (EDNS(0)) specification (and obsoletes RFC 2671) based on feedback from deployment experience in several implementations. It also obsoletes RFC 2673 ("Binary Labels in the Domain Name System") and adds considerations on the use of extended labels in the DNS. Information about the current status of this document, any errata, and how to provide feedback on it may be obtained at in effect on the date of publication of this document. Please review these documents carefully, as they describe your rights and restrictions with respect to this document. Code Components extracted from this document must include Simplified BSD License text as described in Section 4.e of the Trust Legal Provisions and are provided without warranty as described in the Simplified BSD License. This document may contain material from IETF Documents or IETF Contributions published or made publicly available before November 10, 2008. The person(s) controlling the copyright in some of this material may not have granted the IETF Trust the right to allow modifications of such material outside the IETF Standards Process. Without obtaining an adequate license from the person(s) controlling the copyright in such materials, this document may not be modified outside the IETF Standards Process, and derivative works of it may not be created outside the IETF Standards Process, except to format it for publication as an RFC or to translate it into languages other than English.
Nutritional enhancement of Ghanaian weaning foods using the orange flesh sweetpotato ( Ipomea batatas )

Vitamin A deficiency (VAD) is a public health problem in Ghana. Research on the orange flesh sweetpotato root has been given prominence because of its high β-carotene content as a means to enhance the nutritive value and vitamin A content of the traditional diets of Ghanaian children as a long-term intervention towards combating VAD. Two Ghanaian cereal-legume weaning foods: roasted maize- soy blend and fermented maize-soy blend were added to Orange Flesh Sweetpotato (OFS) flour from the variety, Beauregard, to develop four weaning food formulations. To each product formulation preparation, 25% and 50% OFS flour was added to the basic cereal-legume meals, and mixed thoroughly. The four weaning formulations were evaluated for chemical composition, sensory characteristics and consumer acceptability. All samples had a range of protein (12.1% - 15%), fat (4.8% - 6.4%), carbohydrate (71.1% – 75.1%), energy (380 - 390 kcal/100g) and minerals (calcium, iron and phosphorus) to ensure good nutrient density, while the moisture content was low (5.3% - 6.1%) for storage stability. The contribution of β-carotene (55.18–115.55 ug/g) by the OFS in the formulations further enhanced the nutritive value of all the blends and is enough to meet the daily β-carotene needs of the children (1-6 yrs of 400-450ug/100g). A higher level of β-carotene was seen in the roasted maize meal weaning foods which makes them a better potential blend for combating VAD. Also, sensory evaluation of the products indicated the highest consumer acceptability score (87%) for the roasted maize meal porridge formulation containing 25% OFS. It is, therefore, concluded that OFS flour has the potential to be used at 25% replacement level in the soy-fortified roasted maize meal formulation, and OFS is a useful ingredient with the potential to improve the β-carotene or vitamin A content of such formulations. This will help alleviate vitamin A deficiency of children in Ghana and other countries with similar problems. It is, therefore, recommended that the orange flesh sweetpotato flour be used by mothers as an entry point for enhancing the traditional weaning food preparations. Key words : β-carotene, sweetpotato flour, weaning foods
A novel equivalent circuit expression for electromagnetic coupling between distributed line resonators

A novel equivalent circuit expression is proposed for electromagnetic coupling between two distributed line resonators. The coupling coefficients in this definition may be positive, zero and negative. Based on this definition, 4-pole elliptic function filters of two types are designed by using Sonnet em. The definition is effective for design of filters with multipoles in the stopbands.
Nonequilibrium effect of the turbulent-energy-production process on the inertial-range energy spectrum.

The importance of the nonequilibrium effect of the turbulent-energy-production process is discussed in the context of the inertial-range energy spectrum. A dynamical property of the process related to the Lagrange derivative of the turbulent-energy transfer rate gives rise to an important deviation of the inertial-range spectrum from Kolmogorov's -5/3 power law at the energy-containing side. Through this deviation, the turbulent-viscosity concept possesses a nonequilibrium character that is indispensable for describing statistically highly time- and space-dependent properties of turbulence. It is concluded that the inertial-range energy spectrum cannot be specified using only the energy transfer rate.
Design of Urban Greening Intelligent Monitoring System Based on Internet of Things Technology

The traditional field control of irrigation in the urban greening is often accompanied by some problems such as low irrigation efficiency, high labor costs and low precision. A set of intelligent monitoring system integrated with automatic irrigation and remote monitor is designed in order to solve these problems. The system is based on the Internet of things (IoT) technology which can be divided into three layers of IoT. In the transport layer, we built Zigbee wireless sensor networks (WSN). Besides, we use the J2EE technology to build the Web server application with perfect function in the application layer. The iterative learning control(ILC) arithmetic is used to improve the irrigation efficiency by self correcting the initial lead of closing valve. Both the hardware and software in the system adopt the idea of modularized design and with the cooperation between the hardware and the software it is easy to add or delete of the greening land, ZigBee nodes and sensors. As the experimental results show that the system has the feature of flexibility in the building and expanding process, operating stability, comprehensive functions and high irrigation efficiency, it is suitable to introduce the system to the whole city.
Coxiella burnetii Expresses a Functional Δ24 Sterol Reductase

ABSTRACT Coxiella burnetii, the etiological agent of human Q fever, occupies a unique niche inside the host cell, where it replicates in a modified acidic phagolysosome or parasitophorous vacuole (PV). The PV membrane is cholesterol-rich, and inhibition of host cholesterol metabolism negatively impacts PV biogenesis and pathogen replication. The precise source(s) of PV membrane cholesterol is unknown, as is whether the bacterium actively diverts and/or modifies host cell cholesterol or sterol precursors. C. burnetii lacks enzymes for de novo cholesterol biosynthesis; however, the organism encodes a eukaryote-like Δ24 sterol reductase homolog, CBU1206. Absent in other prokaryotes, this enzyme is predicted to reduce sterol double bonds at carbon 24 in the final step of cholesterol or ergosterol biosynthesis. In the present study, we examined the functional activity of CBU1206. Amino acid alignments revealed the greatest sequence identity (51.7%) with a Δ24 sterol reductase from the soil amoeba Naegleria gruberi. CBU1206 activity was examined by expressing the protein in a Saccharomyces cerevisiae erg4 mutant under the control of a galactose-inducible promoter. Erg4 is a yeast Δ24 sterol reductase responsible for the final reduction step in ergosterol synthesis. Like Erg4-green fluorescent protein (GFP), a CBU1206-GFP fusion protein localized to the yeast endoplasmic reticulum. Heterologous expression of CBU1206 rescued S. cerevisiae erg4 sensitivity to growth in the presence of brefeldin A and cycloheximide and resulted in new synthesis of ergosterol. These data indicate CBU1206 is an active sterol reductase and suggest the enzyme may act on host sterols during C. burnetii intracellular growth.
Glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase deficiency.

IT has been estimated that the red cells of more than 200 million people are deficient in the enzyme glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD). This X-linked hereditary deficiency was discovered more than 30 years ago as an outgrowth of studies of the unique sensitivity of some persons to the hemolytic action of drugs.1 Since that time much has been learned about the population genetics of G6PD deficiency and its effect on human health. More than 400 putative variants of the enzyme have been described, distinguished by their biochemical characteristics. However, some once-accepted concepts concerning the relation between G6PD deficiency and hemolysis have .