Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Learning classifier systems: introducing the user-friendly textbook

ed Rules e.g. 'if side guide setting < width, then poor quality product Base rules e.g. if side-guide-setting = 80, width = 82 then poor quality product if side-guide-setting = 79, width = 80 then poor quality product Abstraction checks for patterns in the base rules and crates and abstracted rules for each discovered pattern Abstracted Rules Learning system Raw Data e.g. Features ‘side-guide setting’, ‘ width’ : ‘product quality’ 78 81 : poor 79 80 : poor 78 76 : good . Connect4 is a noiseless domain so the fitness update can be simplified: p  p + 2 win p  p draw p  p 2 lose k  k + 2 if prediction is correct, k  k – 2 otherwise Abstraction
Meeting Report: Synthetic DNA – Writing with the Letters of Life

The one-day meeting on Synthetic DNA (January 24, 2012) organized by and held at the DECHEMA in Frankfurt attracted about 100 participants from academia and industry interested in synthesizing DNA and its applications in synthetic biology. In recent years the cost for synthetic DNA reduced from 7€/bp to 0.35€/bp which has opened up many new possibilities for molecular biology. You can purchase the gene, cDNA, oligo library or full vector specifically for a particular expression host and apply synthetic biology principles to produce or create new drugs, vaccines or any other biotechnological products. There are, however, great concerns within society to produce organisms that do not exist in nature, and the potential misuse of them. Adressing these concerns and to use a clear terminology that do not cause misunderstandings are important issues within the field, which were also discussed at this meeting.
Women's experiences of prenatal serum screening.

BACKGROUND Maternal serum screening is used to detect pregnancies at risk for Down syndrome and neural tube defects, but most positive test results (6.6% of all) are false positives. This study examined the influence of positive test results on women's experiences of pregnancy. METHODS The study population was all 67 pregnant women who received a positive result on serum screening in two Finnish towns from September 1993 to March 1994. For each case woman a control woman, matched for age, parity, education, and previous miscarriages, was selected. Of those invited, 45 case women and 46 control women (79%) responded to semistructured interviews. RESULTS Of the 45 case women, 2 underwent termination of pregnancy after the diagnosis of an abnormality and 1 had a miscarriage. Of the remaining 42, 7 decided not to undergo further diagnostic tests, for 2 women the second serum test was normal, and 33 had amniocentesis or chorionic villus sampling. The positive screening result and wait for the final results negatively affected the emotional well-being of most of these 33 women, and 6 were still worried after receiving final reassuring results. Of the 46 control women, 17 felt some worry or fear regarding abnormality in their fetus. CONCLUSION The significant negative psychosocial effects of serum screening should be taken into account by caregivers when deciding whether and how to institutionalize these tests as part of antenatal care.
Computer Simulation of an Synthetic Ultraviolet Absorbent in the Interface of DMB and DMF

This work studies the aggregation of an synthetic ultraviolet absorbent, named 2-hydroxy-4-perfluoroheptanoate-benzophenone (HPFHBP), in the interface between two solvents which can not completely dissolve each other. The aggregation is studied by computer simulations based on a dynamic density functional method and mean-field interactions, which are implemented in the MesoDyn module and Blend module of Material Studios. The simulation results show that the synthetic ultraviolet absorbent diffuse to the interface phase and the concentration in the interface phase is greater than it in the solvents phase.
Materialized views and data warehouses

A data warehouse is a redundant collection of data replicated from several possibly distributed and loosely coupled source databases, organized to answer OLAP queries. Relational views are used both as a specification technique and as an execution plan for the derivation of the warehouse data. In this position paper, we summarize the versatility of relational views and their potential.
Experimental Analysis of the Fertilization Process

In flowering plants, double fertilization is one of the defining features of reproductive development ([Raghavan, 2003][1]). Double fertilization was first discovered in 1898 by Nawaschin. It involves a complex series of interactions between essentially three plants—the male gametophyte (MG), the
Performance evaluation of Call-center with call redirection

Development of Call-center functioning schemes has given rise to investigations in new call-management schemes, changes in the number of agents and call forwarding [1-4]. Let’s examine a Call-center that consists of two groups of agents: G1 with capacity 1 С and G2 with capacity 2 С (see Fig.1). The incoming calls to G1(2) are presented by Poisson arrivals with the ) ( 2 1 λ λ density. The times of call processing by any agent of G1(2) are independent random variables distributed according to the exponential law with the ) ( 2 1 μ μ parameter. An incoming call to G1(2) call is redirected to G2(1) for processing with a probability of ) ( , 2 , 1 j i g g , which
Linkage and sequence analysis of mannose-rich glycoprotein core oligosaccharides by proton nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy.

The anomeric proton (H-1) chemical shifts of D-mannopyranosides in aqueous solution are affected both by the aglycon and by substitution of the ring [Lee, Y. C. , & Ballou, C. E. (1965) Biochemistry 4, 257]. We have examined the 1H NMR spectra for a variety of linear and branched mannooligosaccharides and have assigned the H-1 resonances to the component sugars. The chemical shifts, which range from delta 4.76 to 5.36, provide information regarding the linkages, sequences, and anomeric configurations of mannose residues in an oligomer. Thus, 1H NMR spectroscopy can complement enzymatic hydrolysis, methylation analysis, and acetolysis for the structural characterization of oligosaccharides. Furthermore, small structural differences between otherwise identical oligosaccharides are often accompanied by long-range chemical shift changes for the anomeric protons. Because sugars three or more residues away from the structural alteration can be affected, the changes must reflect conformational differences. We have placed emphasis on the mannose-rich oligosaccharides from glycoproteins, particularly those produced by endo-beta-N-acetylglucosaminidase digestion. Two mannose-rich glycopeptides were isolated from a monoclonal human IgM and their positions of origin on the polypeptide chain were determined. The oligosaccharides were released with endo-beta-N-acetylglucosaminidase and fractionated into several size classes. Our structural studies show that each glycopeptide possessed a unique set of oligosaccharides, in agreement with a recent report [Chapman, A. & Kornfeld, R. (1979) J. Biol. Chem. 254, 816]. The NMR spectra were particularly valuable in detecting and quantitating isomeric fragments not observed previously, and our results suggest a modification of the scheme presented by Chapman and Kornfeld for the processing of mannose-rich IgM oligosaccharides.
Searching for the Achilles Heel of FOXP3

FOXP3 is a multifaceted transcription factor with a major role in the control of immune homeostasis mediated by T regulatory cells (Treg). The immunoregulatory function of FOXP3 may hinder the induction of immune responses against cancer and infectious agents, and thus, development of inhibitors of its functions might give new therapeutic opportunities for these diseases. But also, FOXP3 is an important tumor suppressor factor in some types of cancers, and therefore, understanding the structure and function of FOXP3 is crucial to gaining insights into the development of FOXP3-targeted therapeutic strategies. FOXP3 homodimerize and likely form supramolecular complexes which might include hundreds of proteins which constitute the FOXP3 interactome. Many of the functions of FOXP3 are clearly regulated by the interactions with these cofactors contributing importantly on the establishment of Treg-cell signature. We summarize here the structural/functional information on this FOXP3 complex, to identify potential opportunities for the development of new strategies to modulate FOXP3 activity.
Angiostatic Factors in the Pulmonary Endarterectomy Material from Chronic Thromboembolic Pulmonary Hypertension Patients Cause Endothelial Dysfunction

Chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension (CTEPH) is a rare disease with persistent thrombotic occlusion or stenosis of the large pulmonary arteries resulting in pulmonary hypertension. Surgical removal of the neointimal layer of these vessels together with the non-resolved thrombus consisting of organized collagen-rich fibrotic areas with partly recanalized regions is the treatment of choice (pulmonary endarterectomy, PEA). The present study investigates endothelial cells isolated from such material as well as factors present in the surgical PEA material, which may contribute to impairment of recanalization and thrombus non-resolution. We observed muscularized vessels and non-muscularized vessels in the PEA material. The isolated endothelial cells from the PEA material showed significantly different calcium homeostasis as compared to pulmonary artery endothelial cells (hPAECs) from normal controls. In the supernatant (ELISA) as well as on the tissue level (histochemical staining) of the PEA material, platelet factor 4 (PF4), collagen type I and interferon-gamma-inducible 10 kD protein (IP-10) were detected. CXCR3, the receptor for PF4 and IP-10, was particularly elevated in the distal parts of the PEA material as compared to human control lung (RT-PCR). PF4, collagen type I and IP-10 caused significant changes in calcium homeostasis and affected the cell proliferation, migration and vessel formation in hPAECs. The presence of angiostatic factors like PF4, collagen type I and IP-10, as recovered from the surgical PEA material from CTEPH patients, may lead to changes in calcium homeostasis and endothelial dysfunction.
TagClusters: Enhancing Semantic Understanding of Collaborative Tags

Many online communities use TagClouds, an aesthetic and easy to understand visualization, to represent popular tags collaboratively generated by their users. However, due to the free nature of tagging, such collaborative tags have linguistic problems and limitations, such as high semantic density. Moreover, the alphabetical order of TagClouds poorly supports a hierarchical exploration among tags. This paper presents an exploration to support semantic understanding of collaborative tags beyond TagClouds. Based on the results of the authors' survey of practical usages of collaborative tags, they developed a visualization named TagClusters, in which tags are clustered into different groups, with font size representing tag popularity and the spatial distance indicating the semantic similarity between tags. The subgroups in each group and the overlap between groups are highlighted, illustrating the underlying hierarchical structure and semantic relations between groups. The authors conducted a comparative evaluation with TagClouds and TagClusters based on the same tag set. The results confirmed the advantage of TagClusters in facilitating browsing, comparing and comprehending semantic relations between tags.
Proactive server roaming for mitigating denial-of-service attacks

We propose a framework based on proactive server roaming to mitigate the effects of denial-of-service (DoS) attacks. The active server proactively changes its location within a pool of servers to defend against unpredictable and undetectable attacks. Only legitimate clients can follow the active server as it roams. We present algorithms that are secure, distributed, randomized, and adaptive for triggering the roaming and determining the next server to roam to. We propose some modifications to the state recovery process of existing TCP connection-migration schemes to suit roaming. Preliminary experiments in a FreeBSD network show that the overhead of server roaming is small, in terms of response time, in the absence of attacks. Further, during an attack, roaming significantly improves the response time.
Performance Analysis of Centrifugal Pumps Subjected to Voltage Variation and Unbalance

Frequent variation of single-phase loads on power system networks results in voltage fluctuations and imbalance at consumer terminals. The application of such fluctuating voltages to operate centrifugal loads causes large variations in system performance. As a consequence, the incorporation of large safety factors have resulted in efficiency of pumping operations being less than 50% in most cases. However, small improvements in pump efficiency can lead to a significant reduction in energy consumption, and at the same time energy usage can be optimized. The operating point of a pump is obtained when the system curve intersects the pump curve. Variation in applied voltages leads to variation in the operating point, leading to inefficiency of system operation. This paper presents the impact of voltage variation and imbalance on the working performance of an induction motor-driven centrifugal pump system with an experimental study. Both overvoltage and undervoltage conditions along with phase imbalance were considered for analysis.
Learning pedestrian dynamics with kriging

This paper proposes a method for learning pedestrian dynamics with kriging, which is a spatial interpolation method in geosciences. Pedestrian dynamics is generally restricted by other pedestrians and its restriction is caused by social interaction between them. In the proposed method, the social interaction is represented by spatio-temporal correlation of pedestrian dynamics and the correlation is estimated by kriging. As an application of the proposed method, the prediction of pedestrian movement is examined and its performance is evaluated with publicly available benchmark dataset. The experimental results show that 10-step ahead prediction is successful with more than 80% trajectories of the datasets if 2.0[m] distance error is allowed.
Management of a malignant pleural effusion: British Thoracic Society pleural disease guideline 2010

The discovery of malignant cells in pleural fluid and/or parietal pleura signifies disseminated or advanced disease and a reduced life expectancy in patients with cancer.1 Median survival following diagnosis ranges from 3 to 12 months and is dependent on the stage and type of the underlying malignancy. The shortest survival time is observed in malignant effusions secondary to lung cancer and the longest in ovarian cancer, while malignant effusions due to an unknown primary have an intermediate survival time.2–6 Historically, studies showed that median survival times in effusions due to carcinoma of the breast are 5–6 months. However, more recent studies have suggested longer survival times of up to 15 months.7–10 A comparison of survival times in breast cancer effusions in published studies to 1994 calculated a median survival of 11 months.9 Currently, lung cancer is the most common metastatic tumour to the pleura in men and breast cancer in women.4 11 Together, both malignancies account for 50–65% of all malignant effusions (table 1). Lymphomas, tumours of the genitourinary tract and gastrointestinal tract account for a further 25%. 2 12–14 Pleural effusions from an unknown primary are responsible for 7–15% of all malignant pleural effusions.3 13 14 Few studies have estimated the proportion of pleural effusions due to mesothelioma: studies from 1975, 1985 and 1987 identified mesothelioma in 1/271, 3/472 and 22/592 patients, respectively, but there are no more recent data to update this in light of the increasing incidence of mesothelioma.4 13 14 View this table: Table 1 Primary tumour site in patients with malignant pleural effusion Attempts have been made to predict survival based on the clinical characteristics of pleural fluid. None has shown a definite correlation: a recent systematic review of studies including 433 patients assessing the predictive value of pH concluded that low pH does not reliably predict …
Regulated Ire1-dependent decay of messenger RNAs in mammalian cells

Maintenance of endoplasmic reticulum (ER) function is achieved in part through Ire1 (inositol-requiring enzyme 1), a transmembrane protein activated by protein misfolding in the ER. The cytoplasmic nuclease domain of Ire1 cleaves the messenger RNA (mRNA) encoding XBP-1 (X-box-binding protein 1), enabling splicing and production of this active transcription factor. We recently showed that Ire1 activation independently induces the rapid turnover of mRNAs encoding membrane and secreted proteins in Drosophila melanogaster cells through a pathway we call regulated Ire1-dependent decay (RIDD). In this study, we show that mouse fibroblasts expressing wild-type Ire1 but not an Ire1 variant lacking nuclease activity also degrade mRNAs in response to ER stress. Using a second variant of Ire1 that is activated by a small adenosine triphosphate analogue, we show that although XBP-1 splicing can be artificially induced in the absence of ER stress, RIDD appears to require both Ire1 activity and ER stress. Our data suggest that cells use a multitiered mechanism by which different conditions in the ER lead to distinct outputs from Ire1.
Modification of the Streptococcus mutans transcriptome by LrgAB and environmental stressors

The Streptococcus mutans Cid/Lrg system is central to the physiology of this cariogenic organism, affecting oxidative stress resistance, biofilm formation and competence. Previous transcriptome analyses of lytS (responsible for the regulation of lrgAB expression) and cidB mutants have revealed pleiotropic effects on carbohydrate metabolism and stress resistance genes. In this study, it was found that an lrgAB mutant, previously shown to have diminished aerobic and oxidative stress growth, was also much more growth impaired in the presence of heat and vancomycin stresses, relative to wild-type, lrgA and lrgB mutants. To obtain a more holistic picture of LrgAB and its involvement in stress resistance, RNA sequencing and bioinformatics analyses were used to assess the transcriptional response of wild-type and isogenic lrgAB mutants under anaerobic (control) and stress-inducing culture conditions (aerobic, heat and vancomycin). Hierarchical clustering and principal components analyses of all differentially expressed genes revealed that the most distinct gene expression profiles between S. mutans UA159 and lrgAB mutant occurred during aerobic and high-temperature growth. Similar to previous studies of a cidB mutant, lrgAB stress transcriptomes were characterized by a variety of gene expression changes related to genomic islands, CRISPR-C as systems, ABC transporters, competence, bacteriocins, glucosyltransferases, protein translation, tricarboxylic acid cycle, carbohydrate metabolism/storage and transport. Notably, expression of lrgAB was upregulated in the wild-type strain under all three stress conditions. Collectively, these results demonstrate that mutation of lrgAB alters the transcriptional response to stress, and further support the idea that the Cid/Lrg system acts to promote cell homeostasis in the face of environmental stress.
Supply chain management integration and implementation: a literature review

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to review a sample of the literature relating to the integration and implementation of supply chain management practices from a strategic viewpoint.Design/methodology/approach – The literature is examined from three perspectives. First, supply chain integration covers issues relating to integration of core processes across organizational boundaries through improved communication, partnerships, alliances and cooperation. Second, strategy and planning examines supply chain management as a strategic matter for trading partners, along with factors relating to the amount of planning required. Third, implementation issues concern factors critical for successful implementation, as well as issues specific to inter and intra‐organizational aspects of supply chain initiatives are contained in this sub‐groupFindings – An important emergent theme from the literature is the importance of taking a holistic view, and the systemic nature of interactions between the participants. At .
Generalizing from Freebase and Patterns using Cluster-Based Distant Supervision for TAC KBP Slotfilling 2012

For the slot filling task of TAC KBP 2012 we extended last year’s system in several respects. The core of the system is a set of semisupervised per-relation classifiers, trained by a scheme known as distant supervision. Training data are generated by using Freebase and applying patterns. Relation models rely on (1) word clusters generalizing from context surface forms and (2) additional argument-level features. For the retrieval of answer candidates, we use document retrieval in combination with an entity expansion model based on Wikipedia link texts. We do not use a separate sentence retrieval step and rely entirely on the classifier for filtering out bad candidates. Our system does not rely on any syntactic analysis or co-reference resolution. The best-ranked run of the full system achieves an F-score of 23.4% on the official test queries.
Automatic pre-crash collision avoidance in cars

In recent years, a number of European Commission funded projects have investigated how the objective of increasing pedestrian safety can be attained by means of intelligent driver assistance systems. The results already at disposal show that, while in the long range case, a warning system, to alert the driver as soon as a vulnerable road users (VRU) is detected and classified by the sensors, can be sufficient to reduce the number of accidents, an active intervention system is mandatory in pre-crash situations. In this paper, an automatic pre-crash collision avoidance strategy for cars is presented. It produces a collision avoidance manoeuvre, if feasible, or, otherwise, an emergency braking to reduce the energy at the impact.
Nuclear-Mitochondrial Barcoding Exposes the Global Pest Western Flower Thrips (Thysanoptera: Thripidae) as Two Sympatric Cryptic Species in Its Native California

ABSTRACT Over the past three decades, Western flower thrips, Frankliniella occidentalis (Pergande) (Thysanoptera: Thripidae), has become a major worldwide pest of many agricultural and horticultural crops. In response, much time, money, and effort have been put into pure and applied research focusing on the biology and control of this pest, Western flower thrips is native to Western North America and widespread in California. High levels of variation in basic biology, pest status, and resistance to insecticides bring into question the specific status of Western flower thrips. We used nuclear-mitochondrial barcoding to compare DNA sequences of nuclear and mitochondrial genes between Western flower thrips populations across California, looking for association between these unlinked loci. Sequences of D2 domain of 28S and cytochrome c oxidase I gene revealed the existence of two distinct but sympatric genetic entities, and we describe a simple polymerase chain reactionbased method for diagnosing these entities. The complete association of these nuclear and mitochondrial loci in areas of sympatry is indicative of reproductive isolation and the existence of two cryptic species, both of which key out to Western flower thrips by using morphological characters. The finding that Western flower thrips is a complex of two species has important implications for past, current, and most importantly future research on these pests.