Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Identi�cation of critical genes and pathways involved in intervertebral disc degeneration (IDD) An integrated bioinformatics analysis

Background: In western countries and China, back and neck pain has become a common problem that bothers daily life and severely in�uences the quality of our daily life. Among all factors that lead to chronic neck and back pain, IDD is the one that couldn’t be easily neglected. Methods: This study aims to �gure out the critical genes and pathways involved in the development of IDD and provide a new aspect of following investigations on the etiology of IDD. We �rstly systemically searched the GEO database and identi�ed the differentially expressed genes (DEGs) from the expression pro�le dataset we selected. We secondly constructed the protein-protein interaction (PPI) network for DEGs, identi�ed the top ten hub genes from the whole PPI network and found two statically and medically signi�cant modules from the network, we then performed the GO and KEGG analysis on the DEGs, top ten hub genes, the PPI network and the two statically and medically modules. In the end, we provided the primers of the mRNAs of all DEGs, which will be useful for the validation experiment of this study. Results: FN1, MMP2, POSTN, COL3A1, TIMP3, FBN1, GJA1, TGFBI, EFEMP1 and ID1 were top ten hub genes identi�ed from this study, and they may play a vital role in the development of IDD. Angiogenesis and integrin binging are crucial biological process and molecular function de�ned in this study, which are worthy of being intensely investigated. Conclusion: More studies on the top ten hub genes, the role
An ABC transporter mutation alters root exudation of phytochemicals that provokes an overhaul of natural soil microbiota

Root exudates influence the surrounding soil microbial community and recent evidence demonstrates the involvement of ABC transporters in root secretion of phytochemicals. In this study, we examined effects of seven Arabidopsis ABC transporter mutants on the microbial community in native soils. After two generations, only the Arabidopsis abcg30 (Atpdr2) mutant had significantly altered both the fungal and bacterial communities compared with the wild type using automated ribosomal intergenic spacer analysis (ARISA). Similarly, root exudate profiles differed between the mutants; however, the largest variance from the wild type (Col-0) was observed in abcg30, which showed increased phenolics and decreased sugars. In support of this biochemical observation, whole genome expression analyses of abcg30 roots revealed that some genes involved in biosynthesis and transport of secondary metabolites were up-regulated while some sugar transporters were down-regulated compared with genome expression in wild type roots. Microbial taxa associated with Col-0 and abcg30 cultured soils determined by pyrosequencing, revealed that exudates from abcg30 cultivated a microbial community with a relatively greater abundance of potentially beneficial bacteria (i.e. PGPRs, nitrogen fixers) and were specifically enriched in bacteria involved in heavy metal remediation. In summary, this is the first report of a single gene mutation from a functional plant mutant influencing the surrounding community of soil organisms, showing that genes are not only important for intrinsic plant physiology but for the interactions with the surrounding community of organisms. we believe that this work provides a strong foundation for the development of new technologies that exploit ABC transporters’ control of root exudation to modify the soil microbial community composition for beneficial purposes.
EFFICIENCY AND ACCURACY OF KNEE ULTRASOUND FOR DIAGNOSING ANTERIOR CRUCIATE LIGAMENT AND POSTERIOR CRUCIATE LIGAMENT INJURIES

: Introduction: Knee injuries are common injuries that occur daily during sports activities and are common presentation in the emergency department. Among various knee injuries, anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) and posterior cruciate ligament (PCL) are important structures as they have important biomechanical function, so their injuries are very important. That’s why accurate and early diagnosis of ACL and PCL injuries are extremely important. Methodology: The PubMed database was searched for studies published in the last 20 years from 1999 to 2019 which used ultrasound in diagnosis of ACL and PCL injuries. Results: Knee ultrasound provides a high diagnostic value in the diagnosis of ACL and PCL injuries, especially when done by well experienced musculoskeletal radiologists. Ultrasound is cost-effective if compared to MRI scan and can be used as a first step of investigation in cases with suspected ACL and PCL injuries.
Tracing ext3 file system operations in the QEMU emulator

The paper proposes an approach to monitoring file operations through capturing virtual disk accesses in the emulator. This method allows obtaining information about file operations in the OS-agnostic manner but requires a separate implementation for each file system. An important problem for implementing this approach is the correct handling of changes in the file system. Operating systems that cache write requests can perform operations in any order. The authors have created a method for detecting read, write, create, delete and rename operations, and a module for QEMU, which monitors operations in the ext3 file system. The advantage of this method over others is that it does not interfere with the operation of the OS and does not depend on it. It is assumed that the QEMU module for file systems other than ext2/3 can be implemented using the methods described in this article.
Path Planning for an Industrial Robotic Arm

—Enabling humans and robots to work together in modern industrial environments can increase production volumes and reduce costs. However, a robot must be equipped to perceive humans and redirect its actions under hazardous events or for cooperative tasks. Thus, dealing with dynamic obstacles appears as an essential exercise. This work presents a motion planning algorithm for robots based on Probabilistic Road Maps (PRM). For efﬁcient nearest neighbour search, we use k d-trees in learning and query phases of the algorithm. We construct the roadmap as an undirected graph in the free space. We implement the method for a simple conﬁguration space in R 2 and a point robot is considered to navigate between given initial and goal conﬁgurations added to the roadmap, all speciﬁed in two dimensions. We use Euclidean distance when ﬁnding the closest neighbours. The shortest path between the start and goal conﬁgurations is found using Dijkstra’s algorithm. The method is easy to implement. After the learning phase, the method can answer multiple queries. We propose to use this method in combination with a labelled voxel-based grid for solving multiple path planning queries efﬁciently.
Background Migration is a risk factor for the developmentof schizophrenia. Aims To examinewhethermigration is also a risk factor for bipolar affective disorder, unipolardepressive disorder and mood disorders in general. Method Medlinewas searched for population-based incidence studies

Results Only a few studies of unipolar depressive disorderwereretrieved.The meanrelative riskof developing bipolar affective disorder amongmigrantswas 2.47 (95% CI1.33^4.59). However, after excludingpeople of African^Caribbean origin inthe UK this riskwasno longer significantly increased.Themeanrelative riskofmood disorders of unspecified polarity was1.25 (95% CI1.04^1.49) and thatof anymood disorderwas1.38 (95% CI1.17^1.62).
ApoptosisAntiviral Signaling to Bax/Bak-Independent Induced Innate - Platform Links RNA Virus A Novel Mitochondrial MAVS/Caspase-8

Semliki Forest virus (SFV) requires RNA replication and Bax/Bak for efﬁcient apoptosis induction. However, cells lacking Bax/Bak continue to die in a caspase-dependent manner. In this study, we show in both mouse and human cells that this Bax/Bak-independent pathway involves dsRNA-induced innate immune signaling via mitochondrial antiviral signaling (MAVS) and caspase-8. Bax/Bak-deﬁcient or Bcl-2– or Bcl-x L –overexpressing cells lacking MAVS or caspase-8 expression are resistant to SFV-induced apoptosis. The signaling pathway triggered by SFV does neither involve death receptors nor the classical MAVS effectors TNFR-associated factor-2, IRF-3/7, or IFN- b but the physical interaction of MAVS with caspase-8 on mitochondria in a FADD-independent manner. Consistently, caspase-8 and -3 activation are reduced in MAVS-deﬁcient cells. Thus, after RNAvirus infection MAVS does not only elicit a type I antiviral response but also recruits caspase-8 to mitochondria to mediate caspase-3 activation and apoptosis in a Bax/Bak-independent manner. The Journal of Immunology , 2014, 192: 000–000.
GRID CONNECTED PHOTOVOLTAIC ARRAY MAXIMUM POWER POINT TRACKING USING FUZZY FOR DC-DC BOOST CONVERTER AND THREE PHASE INVERTER

Photovoltaic solar electricity and solar thermal has the highest potential of all the renewable energies, since solar energy is a practically unlimited resource and available everywhere. These days photovoltaic energy has the potential to play an important role in the transition towards a sustainable energy supply system, to cover a significant share of the electricity needs, and is expected to be one of the key energy technologies of this century. This paper presents a grid-connected photovoltaic (PV) system with the functionality of on-line Maximum Power Point Tracking (MPPT) at different irradiation and temperatures. The used Simulation data characteristics for climatic changes is similarly to the real Egyptian climatic data. The integration topology based on two-stage power conditioning modules, boost converter and three phase voltage source inverter. Therefore, the proposed MPPT algorithm implemented to the boost converter to enable PV arrays to operate at maximum power point during variable climate and irradiation conditions. Fuzzy logic algorithm (MPPT) technique control applied for on-line adapting the boost converter’s duty cycle. The Boost output is feeding the two level PWM inverter DC link. Accordingly, the Inverter modulation depth is tuning to have constant AC voltage and frequency for grid integration requirements. In addition, the three-phase output current is in phase with the voltage to optimize the PV power utilization . The results show that proposed on-line fuzzy algorithm performance has a fast response, stable and reliable to have MPP for the PV system during the different irradiation.
Security in Brain-Computer Interfaces

Brain-Computer Interfaces (BCIs) have significantly improved the patients’ quality of life by restoring damaged hearing, sight, and movement capabilities. After evolving their application scenarios, the current trend of BCI is to enable new innovative brain-to-brain and brain-to-the-Internet communication paradigms. This technological advancement generates opportunities for attackers, since users’ personal information and physical integrity could be under tremendous risk. This work presents the existing versions of the BCI life-cycle and homogenizes them in a new approach that overcomes current limitations. After that, we offer a qualitative characterization of the security attacks affecting each phase of the BCI cycle to analyze their impacts and countermeasures documented in the literature. Finally, we reflect on lessons learned, highlighting research trends and future challenges concerning security on BCIs.
Idealized Model of Mineral Infillings in Bones of Fossil Freshwater Animals, on the Example of Late Triassic Metoposaurs from Krasiejów (Poland)

Pore spaces preserved in bones are not studied so often, however they contain a very important information about post-mortem history, which is presented below on the example of microscope observations of fossil aquatic amphibians. Cavities from decay of soft tissues have been filled with a few mineral phases, which form more or less complete sequence related to post-mortem events. The most interesting complete sequence is referred to diagenesis of bones buried together with soft parts in fine-grained sediment of a flooding pool. It starts with the surrounding sediment sucked in by outgoing gas bubbles created during bacterial decomposition of soft tissues. Next two generations of infillings (pyrite, substituted in places by siderite, and granular sparite) have been interpreted as a result of sulfate and iron reducing bacteria activity. The two last generations (blocky sparite and barite) have been interpreted as chemical precipitates. Blocky sparite crystallized from pore solution being in equilibrium with respect to carbonates. Barite evidences shift in pore water chemistry (supersaturation with respect to sulfates), according to progressive evaporation of a flooding pool. based on a sequence of mineral phases filling pore spaces in bones of aquatic animals, is the main purpose of this paper. The study has been carried out on metoposaurs: large, freshwater amphibians living in the Triassic times. Their fossils are best known from Germany [22,23] and Poland [24], where they occur in lacustrine or alluvial plain deposits of the Carnian-Norian age. Paleontological knowledge of those animals is quite broad within the realm of osteology [25,26] and rapidly developing osteohistology [27-32]. Post-mortem history of metoposaurian bones is still unknown apart from the pioneer publication [33], in which the origin of the metoposaur rich bone bed has been explained on the ground of diagenetic studies. Tissue of analysed bones underwent partial
Inhibition of DNA gyrase activity by Mycobacteriumsmegmatis

Glutamate racemase (MurI) catalyzes the interconversion of L -glutamate to D -glutamate, one of the essential amino acids present in the peptidoglycan. In addition to this essential enzymatic function, MurI from Escherichia coli, Bacillus subtilis and Mycobacterium tuberculosis inhibit DNA gyrase activity. A single gene for murI found in the Mycobacterium smegmatis genome was cloned and overexpressed in a homologous expression system to obtain a highly soluble enzyme. In addition to the racemization activity, M. smegmatis MurI inhibits DNA gyrase activity by preventing DNA binding of gyrase. The sequestration of the gyrase by MurI results in inhibition of all reactions catalyzed by DNA gyrase. More importantly, MurI overexpression in vivo in mycobacterial cells provides protection against the action of ciprofloxacin. The DNA gyrase-inhibitory property thus appears to be a typical characteristic of MurI
AIS Electronic Library (AISeL) Empirical view of interactions between reselling and agency selling in platform-based retailing

Platform-based retailing markets, such as Amazon, operate in a hybrid mode, which contains both reselling and agency selling. Prior studies have only used theoretical models to discuss how to choose between reselling and agency selling. However, empirical interactions between these two selling modes have not been well studied. We analyze the relationship between reselling and agency selling, the moderating effect of spillovers and the popularity of agency selling by using panel vector auto-regression model. Notably, reselling and agency selling are mutually promotive as a 1 percent increase in sales in reselling (agency selling) upsurges sales in agency selling (reselling) by . 052 (.047) percent. We show that different types of spillovers exert different impacts on the main effect. In addition, we find that the popularity of agency selling strengthens the positive relationship between reselling and agency selling. Our results provide important theoretical contributions and managerial implications.
AND DEVELOPMENT OF METHODS FOR ENDOSCOPIC (MEDICAL) IMAGES

Introduction. The modern technologies of virtual chromoendoscopy provide significant increase of diagnostic value of images considered by a doctor. The analysis of existing technologies shows that the existing solutions have significant disadvantages. Some of them require a complex preliminary calibration of the equipment for operation. Others use global transformations, making impossible consideration of local tissues characteristics and so on. In general, nowadays the technology of virtual chromoendoscopy, which suits the majority of potential users – doctors, does not exists, and, therefore, there it is a field for research. Objective. Development of the method for virtual chromoendoscopy, with regard to disadvantages identified within the frames of carried out analysis of similar methods. Methods and materials. For implementation of the research were used open endoscopic image data-bases, by the instru-mentality of which, as a result of modeling and experiment, were evaluated quality characteristics of the proposed method. Results. The new method of virtual chromoendoscopy. The main feature of the method is usage of nonlinear local transformation functions in transformation of RGB channels, as well as absence of calibration procedure for obtaining the effect of virtual chromoendoscopy. The proposed method is completely based on the technology of digital image processing and includes image brightness correction, which provides the possibility to obtain the necessary visual information both from very dark and overexposed fragments; image sharpening, contrasting small details and vessels. Conclusion. The expert assessment of the obtained results shows that the visual effect of the proposed method corresponds, or in some cases, exceeds the visual effect of proprietary technologies of virtual endoscopy I-Scan and FICE.
Do taxon-specific DNA barcodes improve species discrimination relative to universal barcodes in Lauraceae?

The aim of DNA barcoding is to enable fast and accurate species identification. However, universal plant DNA barcodes often do not provide species-level discrimination, especially in taxonomically complex groups. Here we use Lauraceae for the design and evaluation of DNA barcoding strategies, considering: (1) the efficacy of taxon-specific DNA barcode regions compared with universal barcodes for species discrimination; and (2) how the extent of intra- and interspecific sampling affects species discrimination rates. To address these areas, we targeted the highly polymorphic, taxon-specific barcode regions ycf1 + ndhH – rps15 + trnL – ycf2 for Lauraceae and compared them against the suite of standard plastid loci used for DNA barcoding ( rbcL + matK + trnH – psbA ) and the standard nuclear barcode ITS. The highest discrimination success came from nrDNA ITS, whereas the plastid regions ( rbcL + matK + trnH – psbA ) and the taxon-specific regions ( ycf1 + ndhH – rps15 + trnL – ycf2 ) showed limited and inconsistent resolution. These results highlight that taxon-specific plastid barcodes may provide limited gains in discriminatory power in complex, closely related groups like Lauraceae. Moreover, our study showed that species discrimination greatly depends on the taxon sampling scheme, with relatively lower species discrimination observed where there is more comprehensive intra- and interspecific sampling. The outstanding challenge for plant DNA barcoding is the development of assays that allow routine low-cost access to large numbers of nuclear markers to facilitate the sequencing of large numbers of individuals.
Bid Forecasting in Public Procurement

Public procurement amounts to a significant part of Sweden's GDP. Nevertheless, it is an overlooked sector characterized by low digitization and inefficient competition where bids are not submitted based on proper mathematical tools. This Thesis seeks to create a structured approach to bidding in cleaning services by determining factors affecting the participation and pricing decision of potential buyers. Furthermore, we assess price prediction by comparing multiple linear regression models (MLR) to support vector regression (SVR). In line with previous research in the construction sector, we find significance for several factors such as project duration, location and type of contract on the participation decision in the cleaning sector. One notable deviant is that we do not find contract size to have an impact on the pricing decision. Surprisingly, the performance of MLR are comparable to more advanced SVR models. Stochastic dominance tests on price performance concludes that experienced bidders perform better than their inexperienced counterparts and companies place more competitive bids in lowest price tenders compared to economically most advantageous tenders (EMAT) indicating that EMAT tenders are regarded as unstructured. However, no significance is found for larger actors performing better in bidding than smaller companies. Examiner Pontus Braunerhjelm Comissioner Tendium AB Supervisor Almas Heshmati Contact person Farzad Khoshnoud Approved 2019-06-14 Bid Forecasting in Public Procurement Karim Stiti Shih Jung Yape
The Debut of Sirolimus-Eluting Balloons The In-Stent Restenosis?*

SEE PAGE 2029 D uring its 40-year journey, percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) has witnessed enormous progress in procedural results and patient outcomes. The efficacy profile of the procedure has greatly improved from initial rates of restenosis of more than 40% with balloon angioplasty to approximatively 10% in the current era of new-generation drug-eluting stents (DES) (1,2). Notwithstanding this, in-stent restenosis (ISR) is not eradicated from any catheter-based percutaneous treatment, and its occurrence continues to negatively impact long-term prognosis (3). Observational studies presented some evidence that ISR following DES implantation is more challenging to treat than bare-metal stent restenosis and may have a far higher long-term disease burden (4). In view of the preferential use of PCI instead of bypass surgery for myocardial revascularization, and the ubiquitous implantation of new-generation DES in clinical practice, ISR remains a clinically relevant issue—particularly in absolute terms—and poses new questions to its treatment. In the past 15 years, at least 10 strategies for the percutaneous treatment of ISR have been evaluated in randomized clinical trials (5,6). However, the all-round effective option is far from being achieved and unmet need continues. In fact, the greater effectiveness of new-generation DES compared with paclitaxel-coated balloons, resulting in about 10% difference in diameter stenosis at angiographic follow-up (6), presents the unavoidable corollary of a newer metallic layer indwelling in the coronary vessel. Most of us would agree that despite being