Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The pyruvate requirement of some members of the Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex is due to an inactive pyruvate kinase: implications for in vivo growth

Through examination of one of the fundamental in vitro characteristics of Mycobacterium bovis– its requirement for pyruvate in glycerol medium – we have revealed a lesion in central metabolism that has profound implications for in vivo growth and nutrition. Not only is M. bovis unable to use glycerol as a sole carbon source but the lack of a functioning pyruvate kinase (PK) means that carbohydrates cannot be used to generate energy. This disruption in sugar catabolism is caused by a single nucleotide polymorphism in pykA, the gene which encodes PK, that substitutes glutamic acid residue 220 with an aspartic acid residue. Substitution of this highly conserved amino acid residue renders PK inactive and thus blocks the ATP generating roles of glycolysis and the pentose phosphate pathway. This mutation was found to occur in other members of the M. tuberculosis complex, namely M. microti and M. africanum. With carbohydrates unable to act as carbon sources, the importance of lipids and gluconeogenesis for growth in vivo becomes apparent. Complementation of M. bovis with the pykA gene from M. tuberculosis H37Rv restored growth on glycerol. Additionally, the presence of a functioning PK caused the colony morphology of the complemented strain to change from the characteristic dysgonic growth of M. bovis to eugonic growth, an appearance normally associated with M. tuberculosis. We also suggest that the glycerol‐soaked potato slices used for the derivation of the M. bovis bacillus Calmette and Guérin (BCG) vaccine strain selected for an M. bovis PK+ mutant, a finding that explains the alteration in colony morphology noted during the derivation of BCG. In summary, the disruption of a key step in glycolysis divides the M. tuberculosis complex into two groups with distinct carbon source utilization.
EFFECT OF ARBUSCULAR MYCORRHIZAL FUNGI AND MULTI- COMBINATION OF BIOINOCULANTS ON REGENERATED SEEDLINGS OF COTTON

Cotton, referred as “The white gold” is an important commercial crop in India and stands third in the world by means of area of cultivation. Cotton plant regeneration from callus by somatic embryogenesis and its efficiency has been improved significantly in recent times. Our primary investigation was on regenerative studies and multiple shoot induction system focusing mainly on meristematic tissues like seedling cotyledonary nodal explants in RAH-9750 cotton cultivar. An attempt has been made to improve the rate of surveillance and growth of regenerated cotton seedlings by bio-inoculant (mainly AMF) treatment under greenhouse conditions. Out of a total seven pure cultures of AMF fungi, R1-R2 have shown maximum mycorrhizal colonization with RAH-9750 (R) and was identified as Glomus mosseae. This variety was also tested with three different bioinoculants i.e., Rhizobium sp. RHPU-7, Azospirillum sp. PPK-27, Bacillus sp. PU-1, apart from AMF R1-R2 in different combinations. The cotton seedlings have shown the best results in single, dual, triple and multiple combinations i.e R+R1-R2, R+R1-R2+Rhizobium, R+R1-R2+Rhizobium+Azospirillum and R+R1-R2+Rhizobium+Azospirillum+Bacillus respectively. The growth of cotton plants (RAH-9750) generated from meristematic tissue culture was found to be increasing significantly when compared with the normal seeds. Similar results were noticed when the same experiment was subjected to the different soil types of Mahabubnagar district. The investigation clearly infers that better yield of cotton RAH-9750 (R) could be achieved by treating the regenerated cotton seedlings with bioinoculants in different combination in various soil types of Mahabubnagar district.
Strength-enhancing of Cationic Starch on Recycled Fibers via Layer-by-Layer Self-assembly

The main objective in this study was to evaluate the possibility for the polyelectrolyte multilayer (PEM) assembly, selecting the cationic starch (CS) and anionic starch (AS) to increase the amount adsorption of cationic starch leading to modifying the bonding ability between recycled fibers. Experiments were conducted at neutral pH and 750 rpm stirring rate in Dynamic Drainage Jar (DDJ) for 10-minute deposition time to build 1 to 8 consecutive layers. The results have shown that CS/AS multilayers formation had significant influence on bonding ability between fibers. Tensile index increased from 15.62 N.m/g to 33.51 N.m/g at 5layer assembly. Internal bonding between fibers showed a remarkable increase from 21.22 J/m 2 to 74.08 J/m 2 as well. Moreover, the most level of strength was obtained when cationic starch was the outermost layer. SEM images indicated that PEM formation makes the fiber surface rather rougher due to increase in adsorption that was not found in sheets made out of untreated fibers.
Liquid: Library for Interactive User Interface Development

Developing multi-touch applications is a great challenge for developers: they have to adopt a novel interaction paradigm, but lack suitable tools and reliable design guidelines. The goal of Liquid consists in introducing the concept of visual programming to multi-touch technology, implementing a promising approach to overcome the difficulties in developing applications for multi-touch devices. As a novel feature, Liquid allows the development of multi-touch applications with the help of the technology itself. This contribution illustrates the application of visual programming in the multi-touch context, presents related work, and explains the workflow of Liquid with the help of an instructive example.
Proactive AP Selection Method Considering the Radio Interference Environment

SUMMARY In the near future, wireless local area networks (WLANs) will overlap to provide continuous coverage over a wide area. In such ubiquitous WLANs, a mobile node (MN) moving freely between multiple access points (APs) requires not only permanent access to the Internet but also continuous communication quality during handover. In order to satisfy these requirements, an MN needs to (1) select an AP with better performance and (2) execute a handover seamlessly. To satisfy requirement (2), we proposed a seamless handover method in a previous study. Moreover, in order to achieve (1), the Received Signal Strength Indicator (RSSI) is usually employed to measure wireless link quality in a WLAN system. However, in a real environment, especially if APs are densely situated, it is difficult to always select an AP with better performance based on only the RSSI. This is because the RSSI alone cannot detect the degradation of communication quality due to radio interference. Moreover, it is important that AP selection is completed only on an MN, because we can assume that, in ubiquitous WLANs, various organizations or operators will manage APs. Hence, we cannot modify the APs for AP selection. To overcome these difficulties, in the present paper, we propose and implement a proactive AP selection method considering wireless link condition based on the number of frame retransmissions in addition to the RSSI. In the evaluation, we show that the proposed AP selection method can appropriately select an AP with good wireless link quality, i.e., high RSSI and low radio
Scalability of Sub-100 nm InAs HEMTs on InP Substrate for Future Logic Applications

We have experimentally studied the scaling behavior of sub-100-nm InAs high-electron mobility transistors (HEMTs) on InP substrate from the logic operation point of view. These devices have been designed for scalability and combine a thin InAlAs barrier and a thin channel containing a pure InAs subchannel. InAs HEMTs with gate length down to 40 nm exhibit excellent logic figures of merit, such as I<sub>ON</sub>/I<sub>OFF</sub> = 9 × 10<sup>4</sup>, drain-induced-barrier lowering = 80 mV/V, S = 70 mV/dec, and an estimated logic gate delay of 0.6 ps at V<sub>DS</sub> = 0.5 V. In addition, we have obtained excellent high-frequency operation with L<sub>g</sub> = 40 nm, such as f<sub>T</sub> = 491 GHz and f<sub>max</sub> = 402 GHz at V<sub>DS</sub> = 0.5 V. In spite of the narrow bandgap of InAs subchannel, under the studied conditions, our devices are shown not to suffer from excessive band-to-band tunneling. When benchmarked against state-of-the-art Si devices, 40-nm InAs HEMTs exhibit I<sub>ON</sub> = 0.6 A/μm at I<sub>Leak</sub> = 200 nA/μm. This is about two times higher I<sub>ON</sub> than state-of-the-art high-performance 65-nm nMOSFET with comparable physical gate length and I<sub>Leak</sub>.
An Introduction to Chemically Enhanced Primary Treatment

Chemically Enhanced Primary Treatment (CEPT) is the process by which chemicals — typically metal salts — are added to primary sedimentation basins. The chemicals cause the suspended particles to clump together via the processes of coagulation and flocculation. The particle aggregates, or flocs, settle faster thereby enhancing treatment efficiency, measured as removal of solids, organic matter and nutrients from the wastewater. The chemicals utilized in CEPT are the same ones commonly added in potable water treatment (e. g. ferric chloride, aluminum sulfate), and there are practically no residual metals in the supernatant [Harleman and Murcott, 1992].
A Web Prototype for Detecting Chemical Compounds and Drugs

This paper introduces a web prototype for named entity recognition of chemical compounds and drugs. The tool is based on a system developed to participate in the ChemDNER task organized as part of Biocreative 2013 work- shop. The system combines the ChemSpot tool as well as a set of semantic- based rules, which were defined according to the guidelines provided to task participants. The prototype is available at http://multimedica.uc3m. es:8080/biocreative2013demo/
Limit-Cycle Oscillations Based Auto-Tuning System for Digitally Controlled DC–DC Power Supplies

This paper introduces a new method and system for parameter extraction and automated controller adjustment, suitable for low power digitally controlled DC-DC switch-mode power supplies (SMPS). The system allows closed-loop calibration throughout regular converter operation. During a short-lasting test phase, SMPS parameters, such as output capacitance and load, are estimated by examining the amplitude and frequency of intentionally introduced limit cycle oscillations in duty ratio control variable as well as from its steady state value. Accordingly, a digital compensator is automatically constructed to provide fast dynamic response and good output voltage regulation. In addition, the load estimation data are used for improving efficiency of a converter having segmented transistors. It is performed through a selection of driving sequence resulting in minimized sum of switching and conduction losses. The effectiveness of the system is demonstrated on an experimental 400 kHz, 9 V-to-3.3 V, 10 W, digitally controlled synchronous buck converter.
oliar anti-herbivore defenses in Qualea multiflora Mart . Vochysiaceae ) : Changing strategy according to leaf development

Knowledge about plant defense systems against herbivory is crucial to understanding trophic relationships in terrestrial ecosystems. Distinct defenses may act either alone or in combination during foliar sprouting. In our study, we explored the effect of the three most conspicuous defenses found in the leaves of Qualea multiflora (Vochysiaceae) during foliar sprouting, which are: (1) the presence of trichomes, (2) foliar toughness and (3) activity of extrafloral nectaries (EFNs). In addition, we quantified foliar herbivory at different leaf stages. We determined that the three defenses evaluated vary in effec-
Evaluation for Released and Promising Genotypes of Potato against Red Ant

Red ant is the most destructive insect pest of potato tubers in the field. Utilization of varietal resistance is the best option to control the pest. The resistance of five released and nine promising genotypes of potato were evaluated against red ant (Dorylus orientalis Westwood) under natural infestation in red ant prone field. Potato resistance was evaluated based on tuber damage index value (0.00 to 1) which was calculated on the bases of the percentage of damaged tubers and number of injuries on per kilogram of tubers made by the pest. Based on the results of combined data, the levels of varietal damage were categorized to be less damaged (TDI value ranging from 0.35 to 0.49), moderately damaged (TDI value ranging from 0.50to 0.64) and highly damaged (TDI value ranging from 0.65 to 0.79) types. Among the 14 genotypes compared for levels of tuber damage, the fivegenotypes: IPY-8 (TDI value: 0.35), Khumal Seto (TDI value: 0.39), PRP-056267.1 (TDI value: 0.40), Janak Dev (TDI value: 0.44) and PRP-25861.1 (TDI value: 0.49) were determined to be the less damaged types. The less damaged potato genotypes can be used by farmers as the relatively resistant genotypes against red ant.
University of Groningen Frequency of and Prognostic Significance of Cardiac Involvement at Presentation in Hereditary Transthyretin-Derived Amyloidosis and the Value of N-Terminal ProB-Type Natriuretic Peptide

Citation for published version (APA): Klaassen, S. H. C. , Tromp, J., Nienhuis, H. L. A. , van der Meer, P., van den Berg, M. P., Blokzijl, H. , . Hazenberg, B. P. C. (2018). Frequency of and Prognostic Significance of Cardiac Involvement at Presentation in Hereditary Transthyretin-Derived Amyloidosis and the Value of N-Terminal Pro-B-Type Natriuretic Peptide. American Journal of Cardiology, 121(1), 107-112. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.amjcard. 2017.09. 029
The Effects on Muscle Activation of Flatfoot during Gait According to the Velocity on an Ascending Slope

[Purpose] This study determined the difference between flatfeet and normal feet in humans on an ascending slope using electromyography (EMG). [Subjects] This study was conducted on 30 adults having normal feet (n=15) and flatfeet (n=15), all of whom were 21 to 30 years old. [Methods] A treadmill (AC5000M, SCIFIT,) was used to analyze kinematic features during gait. These features were analyzed at slow, normal, and fast gait velocities on an ascending slope. A surface electromyogram (TeleMyo 2400T, Noraxon Co., USA) was used to measure muscle activity changes. [Results] The activities of most muscles in the subjects with flatfeet were significantly different from the muscle activities in the subjects with normal feet at different gait velocities on an ascending slope. There were significant differences in the vastus medialis and abductor hallucis muscles. [Conclusion] Because muscle activation of the vastus medialis in relation to stability of the lower extremity has a tendency to increase with an increase in gait velocity on an ascending slope, we hypothesized that higher impact transfer to the knee joints occurs in subjects with flatfeet due to the lack of a medial longitudinal arch and that the abductor halluces muscles, which provide dynamic stability to the medial longitudinal arches, do not activate well when they are needed in subjects with flatfeet.
Improving Human Nutrition through Genomics , Proteomics and Biotechnologies Modification of Plant Lipids for Human Health : Development of Functional Land-Based Omega-3 Fatty Acids 1

We have remodeled canola seeds to accumulate the omega-3 fatty acid, stearidonic acid (SDA). In doing so, we have demonstrated the feasibility of developing a land-based source of functional omega-3 fatty acids on a large scale. Land-based omega-3 fatty acids represent a sustainable source of omega-3 fatty acids that can be produced on large acreages and delivered to consumers in a wide variety of functional foods. And unlike -linolenic acid, SDA can provide eicosapentaenoic acid equivalence at moderate intakes. Widely applied, SDA-enriched foods could become a valuable tool for delivering recommended levels of omega-3 fatty acids to large portions of the population. By obviating the need for dietary changes, SDA-enriched foods may facilitate increased compliance with recommendations for daily omega-3 intakes. J. Nutr. 133: 4271–4274, 2003.
Myocardial adenosine A 1 -receptor-mediated adenoprotection involves phospholipase C, PKC- ε , and p38 MAPK, but not HSP27

adenosine A 1 -receptor-mediated adenoprotection involves phos- pholipase C, PKC- ε , and p38 MAPK, but not HSP27. Am J Physiol Physiol H1671–H1678, 2010. via an adenosine A 1 receptor (A 1 R) is a negative feedback inhibitor of adrenergic stimulation in the heart, protecting it from toxic effects of overstimulation. Stimulation of the A 1 R results in the activation of G i protein, release of free G (cid:1)(cid:2) -subunits, and activation/translocation of PKC- ε to the receptor for activated C kinase 2 protein at the Z-line of the cardiomyocyte sarcomere. Using an anti-G (cid:1)(cid:2) peptide, we investigated the role of these subunits in the A 1 R stimulation of phospholipase C (PLC), with the premise that the resulting diacylglycerol provides for the activation of PKC- ε . Inositol 1,4,5-triphosphate release was an index of PLC activity. Chlorocyclopentyl adenosine (CCPA), an A 1 R agonist, increased inositol 1,4,5-triphosphate production by 273% in mouse heart homogenates, an effect absent in A 1 R knockout hearts and inhibited by anti-G (cid:1)(cid:2) peptide. In a second study, p38 MAPK and heat shock protein 27 (HSP27), found by others to be associated with the loss of myocardial contractile function, were postulated to play a role in the actions of A 1 R. Isoproterenol, a (cid:1) -adrenergic receptor agonist, increased the Ca 2 (cid:3) transient and sarcomere shortening magnitudes by 36 and 49%, respectively. In the rat cardiomyocyte, CCPA signiﬁcantly reduced these increases, an action blocked by the p38 MAPK inhibitor SB-203580. While CCPA signiﬁcantly increased the phosphorylation of HSP27, this action was inhibited by isoproterenol. These data indicate that the activation of PKC- ε by A 1 R results from the activation of PLC via free G (cid:1)(cid:2) subunits released upon A 1 R-induced dissociation of G i (cid:4)(cid:1)(cid:2) . Attenuation of (cid:1) -adrenergic-induced contractile function by A 1 R may involve the activation of p38 MAPK, but not HSP27.
Integrated health care systems in Asia : an urgent necessity Tat

and incorporate the Creative Commons Attribution – Non Commercial (unported, v3.0) License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/). By accessing the work you hereby accept the Terms. Non-commercial uses of the work are permitted without any further permission from Dove Medical Press Limited, provided the work is properly attributed. For permission for commercial use of this work, please see paragraphs 4.2 and 5 of our Terms (https://www.dovepress.com/terms.php). Clinical Interventions in Aging 2018:13 2527–2538 Clinical Interventions in Aging
Causal Inference for Binary Data with Interference

Joseph Rigdon: Causal Inference for Binary Data with Interference (Under the direction of Michael Hudgens) Developing methods to quantify the effects of interventions to prevent infectious diseases in the presence of interference is the overall objective of this research. Interference is present when an individual’s outcome is affected by the treatment of any other individuals under study. First, two methods are developed for constructing randomization based confidence intervals for the average effect of a treatment on a binary outcome without interference. The methods are nonparametric and require no assumptions about random sampling from a larger population. Both of the resulting 1−α confidence intervals are exact and guaranteed to have width no greater than one. In contrast, previously proposed asymptotic confidence intervals are not exact and may have width greater than one. The first approach combines Bonferroni adjusted prediction intervals for the attributable effects in the treated and untreated. The second method entails inverting a permutation test. While simulations show that the permutation based confidence intervals have smaller average width, the attributable effects based confidence intervals are more computationally feasible as sample size increases. Extensions that allow for stratifying on categorical baseline covariates are also discussed. Secondly, for a two-stage randomized experiment assuming stratified interference, methods are developed for constructing exact confidence intervals for the direct, indirect, total, and overall effect of a treatment on a binary outcome. The methods are nonparametric and require no assumptions about random sampling from a larger population. The new exact confidence intervals are compared via simulation with previously proposed exact and asymptotic confidence intervals. While the asymptotic intervals do not maintain nominal coverage for
Reducing Symmetry in a Combinatorial Design Problem

A combinatorial design problem is considered which can be modelled as a constraint satisfaction problem in several diierent ways. The models all have a large number of symmetries which cause diiculties when searching for solutions. Diierent approaches to reducing the symmetry are discussed: remodelling the problem ; adding constraints to the model at the outset; and adding constraints during search to prevent symmetric assignments being explored on backtracking. The most successful strategy for the problem of this paper employs a complex model with less inherent symmetry than the others, combined with symmetry breaking during search.
Top squark searches at the Tevatron in models of low-energy supersymmetry breaking

We study the production and decays of top squarks at the Fermilab Tevatron collider in models of low-energy supersymmetry breaking. We consider the case where the lightest standard model (SM) superpartner is a light neutralino that predominantly decays into a photon and a light gravitino. Considering the lighter top squark to be the next-to-lightest standard model superpartner, we analyze top squark signatures associated with jets, photons and missing energy, which lead to signals naturally larger than the associated SM backgrounds. We consider both 2-body and 3-body decays of the top squarks and show that the reach of the Tevatron can be significantly larger than that expected within either the standard supergravity models or models of low-energy supersymmetry breaking in which the top squark is the lightest SM superpartner. For a modest projection of the final Tevatron luminosity, L⋍4fb -1 , top squark masses of order 300 GeV are accessible at the Tevatron collider in both 2-body and 3-body decay modes. We also consider the production and decay of ten degenerate squarks that are the supersymmetric partners of the five light quarks. In this case we find that common squark masses up to 360 GeV are easily accessible at the Tevatron collider, and that the reach increases further if the gluino is light.
Accident Prevention with Predictive Instantaneous Crowdsourcing

Training machine learning algorithms to avoid traffic accidents can be challenging because the rare occurrence of such events leads to the insufficiency of training data. We introduce the idea of applying instantaneous crowdsourcing to augment autonomous vehicles with collective human cognitive capability within super-human reaction time. However, because the instantaneous crowdsourcing system must prefetch possible futures in order to generate tasks, in complex real-world problems we would need to hire implausibly many workers to support this approach. In this work, we propose that predicting dangerous futures from crowd-worker input can help resolve this problem. In a formative study to inform the design of crowd prediction workflows, we found there are two main challenges: 1) false positives, which can initiate instantaneous crowdsourcing more than necessary, and 2) handling a large number of futures with multiple candidate objects in the scene.