Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A Dynamic Model of Superhelical DNA Denaturation

Existing models of structural transitions in DNA only analyze their equilibrium properties. But the biological environment within a cell is inconstant dynamic flux. The DNA molecule is affected by numerous biological processes such as protein binding, transcription, replication, recombination, and repair. Equilibrium-based models only portray molecular properties in the thermodynamic limit and do not reflect the near-term dynamic effects of such events. Developing accurate non-equilibrium dynamic models is essential to understand these effects. Here we present a dynamic statistical mechanical model of the response of a DNA molecule to superhelical stresses in an evolving biological environment. The master equation developed here allows us to treat secondary structural transitions, which have not been considered in previous non-equilibrium statistical mechanical studies of DNA. We focus specifically on superhelical denaturation, extending to a non-equilibrium context the approach taken by the equilibrium stress-induced duplex destabilization (SIDD) model. Our model is implemented as a time-dependent simulation using Glauber dynamics. The measures calculated include time-series distributions, such as the time-dependent energies and probabilities of opening for each base pair in the DNA molecule. Our approach enables the development of more nuanced models of in vivo DNA regulatory mechanisms and other normal and pathological processes.
Exosomes derived from human mesenchymal stem cells preserve mouse islet survival and insulin secretion function

Islet cell death and loss of function after isolation and before transplantation is considered a key barrier to successful islet transplantation outcomes. Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) have been used to protect isolated islets owing to their paracrine potential partially through the secretion of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF). The paracrine functions of MSCs are also mediated, at least in part, by the release of extracellular vesicles including exosomes. In the present study, we examined (i) the effect of exosomes from human MSCs on the survival and function of isolated mouse islets and (ii) whether exosomes contain VEGF and the potential impact of exosomal VEGF on the survival of mouse islets. Isolated mouse islets were cultured for three days with MSC-derived exosomes (MSC-Exo), MSCs, or MSC-conditioned media without exosomes (MSC-CM-without-Exo). We investigated the effects of the exosomes, MSCs, and conditioned media on islet viability, apoptosis and function. Besides the expression of apoptotic and pro-survival genes, the production of human and mouse VEGF proteins was evaluated. The MSCs and MSC-Exo, but not the MSC-CM-without-Exo, significantly decreased the percentage of apoptotic cells and increased islet viability following the downregulation of pro-apoptotic genes and the upregulation of pro-survival factors, as well as the promotion of insulin secretion. Human VEGF was observed in the isolated exosomes, and the gene expression and protein production of mouse VEGF significantly increased in islets cultured with MSC-Exo. MSC-derived exosomes are as efficient as parent MSCs for mitigating cell death and improving islet survival and function. This cytoprotective effect was probably mediated by VEGF transfer, suggesting a pivotal strategy for ameliorating islet transplantation outcomes.
Quantifying melt dynamics on a debris-covered Himalayan glacier using repeated UAS photogrammetry derived DSM and point cloud differencing

12 Debris-covered glaciers are a notable feature in the greater Himalaya, and their ongoing mass 13 loss under changing climate will affect the water resources of over a billion people. The current 14 knowledge of the mass balance of Himalayan glaciers is restricted by the paucity of in-situ 15 measurements of glaciers in both space and time, as well as the resolution of satellite remote 16 sensing imageries. Recently, the use of Unmanned Aerial System (UAS) imagery has shown the 17 potential to bridge this gap by enabling very detailed monitoring of inaccessible glacial areas. 18 UAS imagery-based monitoring of Himalayan glaciers has so far been limited to a single glacier 19 in the entire Himalaya, providing a limited understanding of spatial variability in glacier mass 20 balance and driving factors. In the first UAS based glacial mass change estimation in the trans21 Himalaya, we conducted two Unmanned Aerial System (UAS) surveys (May and November 22 2019) over the debris-covered Annapurna III glacier in the Himalaya. We performed Structure23 from-Motion (SfM) analysis and utilized differential GPS field observations to derive 24 geometrically accurate point clouds, ortho-mosaics and digital surface models (DSMs). The 25 glacial volumetric loss was estimated from DSM differencing, and the magnitude and spatial 26 variability of glacier surface change was derived from 3-D differencing of point clouds. Results 27 revealed a heterogeneous glacial melt pattern, with an average elevation loss of 0.89 m during 28
An Application Placement and Migration Management Techniques for IoT Applications in Edge and Fog Computing Environments

—Fog/Edge computing model allows harnessing of resources in the proximity of the Internet of Things (IoT) devices to support various types of latency-sensitive IoT applications. However, due to the mobility of IoT users and a wide range of IoT applications with different resource requirements, it is a challenging issue to satisfy these IoT applications’ requirements. The execution of IoT applications exclusively on one fog/edge server may not be always feasible due to limited resources. Moreover, considering user mobility, some constituent parts of IoT application may require migration to other servers for execution, leading to extra delay. In this article, we propose a new cost model for minimizing the overall delay of IoT applications in hierarchical fog computing environments. Besides, a distributed clustering technique is proposed that enables the collaborative execution of tasks among remote servers. Also, we propose a distributed application placement technique to minimize the overall delay of IoT applications. Furthermore, we propose a distributed migration management technique for the potential migration of IoT applications to other remote servers as the users move along their path. The performance results demonstrate that our technique signiﬁcantly improves its counterparts in terms of total migration delay, the total number of migrations, and average application delay.
U.S. Banking Panics and the Credit Channel: Evidence from 1870-1904

The empirical study of the e ect of banking panics on the economy has traditionally been di cult due to the lack of adequate data on output during the major part of the 19 and early 20 centuries. This paper proposes an alternative approach by looking at the business activity of the banking sector. Using a newly digitized dataset on National Banks resources and liabilities, I argue that distortions to the normal activity of the banking sector are a good proxy for the impact of panics on the economy. Additionally, I propose a novel Instrumental Variables approach for identifying the e ects of banking panics through the exogenous drops in deposits induced by bank runs. The results show a temporary but large e ect of panics on lending activity of approximately 10 p.p. (on impact) and an average duration of one year. "I warn you, Sir! The discourtesy of this bank is beyond all limits. One word more and I I withdraw my overdraft! " Punch Magazine Vol. 152, June 27, 1917
Synthesis , characterization and biological activity of carboxymethyl chitosan / p-dimethylamino benzaldehyde metal complexes

In the present study Schiff bases of Carboxymethyl Chitosan/p-dimethylamino benzaldehyde Schiff base (CMC-SB) and its copper complex (CMC-SB-Cu) were prepared and characterized by FTIR, XRD and SEM studies. The results show the formation of Schiff bases with the amine of carboxymethyl chitosan and aldehyde. The copper (II) metal complexes were prepared by sol gel method. The complexes were again characterized by FTIR, XRD and SEM studies. The antioxidant activities of the prepared CMC derivatives were studied by DPPH studies. From the results it can be concluded that the complexes are less toxic and have good antioxidant activity. The results are discussed.
A Study of a Data Standardization and Cleaning Technique for a Facial Emotion Recognition System

In this paper, we introduce a data standardization and cleaning technique with different facial emotion recognition (FER) datasets in order to improve the FER model system. We discovered some irrelevant facial images in FER 2013 dataset after we successfully converted the comma-separated values (CSV) file into actual images. For FER, we employ the mini-Xception model and in order to improve its performance, all irrelevant facial images must be discarded. After discarding these irrelevant images, we saw the gap between training and testing accuracy and error reducing. Moreover, we obtained a variety of FER datasets such as Cohn-Kanade, Japanese Female Facial Expression (JAFFE), and EmotionNet. We cropped the images using multi-task cascade neural network (MTCNN), and resized images using Pyimagesearch, a tool for resizing images, because each dataset that we obtained had images of different sizes and was not cropped. This technique for data standardization and cleaning enables us to use the Cohn-Kanade dataset for testing and the FER 2013 for training even though initially, they have images of different sizes. As a result, the validation accuracy is increased by 5%, and the validation loss decreases by 2%. We recommend data standardization and cleaning to obtain and use more raw data images in order to improve the performance of the FER model produced by mini-Xception Algorithm.
TIME-FREQUENCY ANALYSIS OF SEISMIC DATA FOR THE CHARACTERIZATION OF GEOLOGIC STRUCTURES VIA SYNCHROEXTRACTING TRANSFORM

Li, Z. , Gao, J.H. , Wang, Z.G. , Liu, N.H. and Sun, F.Y. , 2020. Time-frequency analysis of seismic data for the characterization of geologic structures via synchroextracting transform. Journal of Seismic Exploration, 29: 225-245. Time-frequency (TF) analysis based method is one of the most powerful tools in seismic data processing and interpretation. To delineate the subsurface geological structures clearly, the energy concentration of the seismic TF representation (TFR) is as high as possible. The traditional TF methods, such as the short-time Fourier transform (STFT) and wavelet transform (WT), have been widely applied for seismic TF analysis. However, they suffer from the diffused TFR because of the Heisenberg uncertainty principle. To achieve a higher energy-concentrated TF result, the synchrosqueezing transform (SST) was proposed. The SST method has been successfully used for seismic processing. In this paper, we introduce a novel approach for seismic spectrum analysis based on the synchroextracting transform (SET), which is an extension of the Fourier-based SST (FSST). The SET extracts the TF information only located at the instantaneous frequency (IF) trajectory of the analyzed signal and removes the most smeared TF energy, which leads to a highly sharpened TFR. We also put forward a theorem to prove that the SET can get the exact IF of a linear chirp signal. All the results of the synthetic signal and real seismic data demonstrate the validity and effectiveness of the proposed method.
Femtosecond Filaments for Standoff Detection of Explosives

In this report, we present our results from various studies to qualitatively discriminate the common military explosives viz. RDX, TNT and HMX in their pure form at a distance of ~6.5 m in standoff mode using femtosecond (fs) filament induced breakdown spectroscopy technique (fs FIBS) together with principal component analysis. A ~30 cm length fs filament obtained by a two-lens configuration was used to interrogate those energetic molecules in the form of pressed pellets (150 mg each). The plasma emissions were collected by a Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope (SCT) from a distance of ~8 m away from the investigation zone. Additionally, a few significant results obtained from the LIBS-based investigations of nitroimidazoles with respect to the standoff distance (~2 m) are discussed. Furthermore, we have also summarised a few important results from our recent investigations of bulk energetic materials in various configurations (including those with fs filaments). The results obtained from various fs FIBS configurations corroborate that the filament generation and its properties, the size and f-number of collection optics influence signal strength in the FIBS technique. These results project the fs FIBS technique as a potential technique for investigations aimed at hazardous materials and harsh environments in the standoff mode.
Factors affecting corruption: A cross-country analysis

The developments in the fields of advanced technology, IT, communications and e-government have taken place to improve efficiency, productivity, transparency in the delivery of government services. The demand for efficient and transparent government services has also increased. Thus, this study aims at deriving factors contributing to a decrease in corruption based on literature review and to examine the relationship between e-government and government corruption through a cross-country analysis. The paper analyses how the government corruption is influenced by e-government development status and social, economic and governance factors in various countries. In addition, the mediating effects of ICT use and e-government development (i.e. telecommunication infrastructure, online service and e-participation) were assessed in order to define the relationship between various social, economic and governance factors o government corruption. In this study, data from 130 countries were analyzed using a three-stage method of mediating effects as suggested by Baron and Kenny, 1986. The results of the analysis show a significant relationship between the identified social, economic and governance factors and corruption. In addition, the ICT and e-government developments mediated between these social, economic and governance factors like education level, the openness of the economy, political rights and civil liberties etc. in reducing corruption. These findings suggest the most effective strategies required to curb corruption.
High-throughput molecular testing of ticks using a liquid-handling robot.

Abstract To meet the need for high-throughput sample testing, DNA extraction kits based on the 96-well plate format have been developed for use with blood and tissue samples. These methods have not been applied to DNA extractions from ticks. To meet this need, we developed a high-throughput method for DNA extraction and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing of tick samples. A liquid-handling robot was used to extract DNA in a 96-well binding column plate with vacuum manifold. The quantity, purity, and quality of DNA recovered from Ixodes scapularis Say, 1821 nymphs with this method were reproducible and comparable with existing manual DNA extraction techniques. The DNA yield from pools of five nymphal ticks averaged 0.432 ± 0.04 μg (95% CI). The robot also prepared real-time PCR reactions in 96-well plates, directly from the extracted DNA. A modification of the existing P20 tool resulted in accurate pipetting of 1- to 2-μl volumes with a reproducibility of ±0.038 μl when dispensing 1.0 μl. By using this.
Transversity signals in two hadron correlation at COMPASS

Measurement of two hadron production introducing the chiral odd interference fragmentation function H1∢ is considered a new probe of the transverse spin distribution ΔTq(x). COMPASS is a fixed target experiment on the SPS M2 beamline at CERN. Its target can be polarised both longitudinally and transversally with respect to the polarised 160 GeV/c μ+ beam. In 2002, 2003, and 2004, 20% of the beam‐time was spent in the transverse configuration on a 6LiD target, allowing the measurement of transversity effects. First results of the analysis of two hadron production will be reported.
The Variety of Mall Offering and Shopper’s Emotional Responses

As shopping mallsbecome more wide-spread in Asia, the focus of mall management has shifted to the creation of on-site experiential values as an important precondition forcustomer retention. This studyextended Mehrabian and Russell’s environmental psychology model to investigate the relationship between tenant variety, promotional variety, and physical environment,andcustomers’ emotional states as well as re-patronage intention. A survey was conducted with shoppers from Dream Mall, the largest shopping mall in Taiwan. The findings indicate thatthe variety of tenant mix, promotionalmixand mall physical environment have a positive impact on both shoppers’pleasure and arousal, which consequently influencestheirre-patronage intention. This paper concludes by discussing theoretical and practical implications of the results.
Heat Flux Prediction in a Kerosene Fuelled Scramjet Combustor Through Cfd

Thermo-structural design of high speed propulsive systems require heat transfer as an input. Nonreacting and reacting flow simulations are carried out to predict the heat transfer characteristics of scramjet combustor using commercial software. The software employs finite volume method to solve 3-D RANS equations along with SST-kω turbulence model and infinitely fast chemistry. The flow through a convergent-divergent nozzle is taken as validation test case and very good match is obtained between computed heat flux and experimental data. It is observed that minimum 10 micron 1st grid spacing is required to predict wall heat flux accurately and grid independence of heat flux data is demonstrated. Heat transfer coefficient is independent of various isothermal walls and computed heat fluxes are higher at combustion intense zone behind fuel injection struts.
A Model to Predict The Performance of tunnelling Machines Under Stressed Conditions

One of the most important factors in determining the economic efficiency of rapid excavation systems for tunnel and mining activities is the prediction of the cutting performance of these systems. In the past, different models were developed based on site observations, laboratory smalland full-scale cutting tests. However, it is important to note that none of these models takes into account the rock stresses for machine performance prediction. Within NATO TU-Excavation Project supported by Science for Stability Programme, a detailed research study was carried out using a numerical modelling software (Franc 2D/L) and a small-scale rock cutting rig. Experimental samples were prepared using cast plaster and concrete blocs, which were later stressed by the aid of hydraulic pistons. A shaping machine, a triaxial piezo electric transducer and a data acquisition system were used to record the cutter force in three orthogonal directions and the specific energy value under stressed conditions. Previously described cutting performance models for roadheaders were re-evaluated using the results of numerical modelling and data of cutting test results under stressed conditions.
Programming of circadian rhythms in metabolic tissues by fetal glucocorticoid excess and the interactive effects of postnatal dietary fat manipulation

Developmental programming is now recognised as a key factor in the onset and progression of several adult-onset diseases including hypertension, diabetes, stroke and heart disease. Exposure to a poor environment early in life, including in utero, can increase an individual’s susceptibility to such diseases much later in life. Accordingly, developmental origins of health and disease (DOHaD) has emerged as an important new field of biomedical research in recent years. Animal models show that a variety of fetal insults, including undernutrition, placental insufficiency and glucocorticoid excess, can program adult-onset diseases. Interestingly, the adverse programming effects of different fetal insults are surprisingly consistent, with metabolic and cardiovascular dysfunction prevalent in a range of animal models. Despite this consistency, the underlying mechanisms that drive adult-onset pathologies remain obscure. This thesis tested the hypothesis that fetal glucocorticoid excess (a well-defined programming insult) programs disturbances in the circadian biology of adult offspring, specifically in relation to the expression of clock genes and their downstream targets in key metabolic tissues. Seven core clock genes (Bmal1, Clock, Per1, Per2, Per3, Cry1 and Cry2) form part of an intricate network that operates in both central (i.e. within the hypothalamus) and peripheral tissues (e.g. liver and adipose) to optimise cellular metabolism in relation to food and activity rhythms. This function of the clock network is mediated via transcriptional effects on a wide range of downstream gene targets. Importantly, previous research shows that disruption of clock gene networks results in metabolic disturbances, but whether these critical networks are influenced by developmental programming insults is unknown. Latency is another important concept within the DOHaD field. Thus, certain developmental programming outcomes emerge in postnatal life only in a ‘challenged’ environment (e.g. overnutrition). Therefore, this thesis also tested the hypothesis that a
Technology, Human Capital, Growth and Institutional Development: lessons from endogenous growth theory?

This paper provides a discursive review of seminal contributions to endogenous growth theory. It explains the source of the central . ndings to emerge from endogenous growth theory as well as the main policy implications of alternative new growth theories. The paper ends by considering the need for a reconsideration of the interaction of economic and political institutions in the light of the new growth theory. Technology, Human Capital, Growthand Institutional Development 1
Performance Analysis of 16-Bit Sign Extension, Baugh Woolwy and Modified Baugh Wooley in ANT Architeture

—The reliable multiplier design is the one of the most challenging in the deep submicron technology combined with the low power technique (supply voltage over scaling). While using low power some input dependent soft errors will occur. Algorithmic noise tolerant (ANT) architecture was used to minimise soft errors. Fixed width multiplier along with Sign extension, Baugh wooley and Modified baugh wooley were used in the ANT architecture
Surveillance on Security Issues in Cloud Computing: A View on Forensic Perspective

— The rapid evolution of cloud computing over decade has drawn a wider attention to the number of subscribers growing over time as a result of the flexible services offered by cloud computing. Due to the cloud’s flexible security architecture, attacks have occurred which emanate from subscribers’ cloud-based infrastructure and are passed-through to the end users. It has become difficult to make general forensic diagnoses due to the differing (flexible) security architectures in use in the cloud. In this paper, we key our research on security issues in cloud computing, with a demonstrated experiment. During our experiment, we make use of virtual machine (VM) and set a window server 2003 operating system to serve as a forensic server that monitor and record the behavior of attacks emanate from the cloud and affect end-users of cloud subscription services. At the end of our experiment, we conducted a forensic investigation on this machine, which enables us to obtained ideal evidence.