Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Cellular and humoral immune responses in guinea pigs and rabbits to chemically defined synthetic peptides

Two peptides shown previously (Biochemistry 1971. 10: 1763) to constitute the two major antigenic determinants of performic acid‐oxidized ferredoxin (O‐Fd) from Clostridium pasteurianum were studied in terms of their immunological properties. These peptides, designated the “N” (the NH2‐terminal heptapeptide of O‐Fd) and the “C” (the COOH‐terminal pentapeptide of O‐Fd) haptens, were synthesized and linked together in various ways to obtain peptides of a comparable length. The following peptides were prepared and used in this study: N‐10‐C, containing the N and C haptens linked by ten glycine residues, N‐8‐N, containing two N haptens linked by eight glycine residues and C‐mal‐10, constituting a symmetrical molecule with two C haptens each with a free COOH‐terminal and bridged by a malonic acid and ten glycine residues. All of these peptides were immunogenic in that they elicited both immediate and delayed skin reactions in immunized guinea pigs and stimulated increased uptake of [3H]thymidine in lymphocytes from appropriately sensitized animals. The peptides N‐10‐C and N‐8‐N also elicited the production of circulating antibodies in immunized rabbits. No antibodies to C‐mal‐10‐C were detected by the methods used here. Lymphocytes taken from guinea pigs sensitized to N‐10‐C were stimulated when they were cultured in the presence of either a conjugate of poly‐D‐glutamic acid and the C hapten (ratio of 1:22) or poly‐D‐glutamic and the N hapten (ratio of 1:18), indicating that the response was directed to the haptenic groups alone and not to the bridge structure. Lymphocytes from animals sensitized with C‐mal‐10‐C were not stimulated by N‐10‐C and appeared to require the presence of at least two C haptens per molecule before cell transformation could be elicited. On the other hand, lymphocytes from animals sensitized to N‐8‐N were stimulated with N‐10‐C, but not with the N hapten alone, indicating that while only one haptenic group was essential for stimulation, it had to be presented to reactive cells in a form other than as the free hapten. The implications of the results are discussed.
Quantitative evaluation for the wakefulness state using complexity-based decision threshold value in EEG signals

Fully awake state of the subjects tends to be an early drowsy state as a result from the prolonged time of electroencephalography (EEG) measurements. Such situations can complicate the interpretation of EEG signals and hence, the wakefulness of the subject should be considered in the inspection. Thus, in the present study, a new index for quantitative evaluation of the wakefulness (whether either early drowsy or fully awake) state of subjects by using a complexity-based decision threshold value was developed. The proposed index was based on approximate entropy (ApEn) to quantify the complexity metric, but with new parameter values by using a new systematic approach. This index was evaluated using occipital-alpha rhythm during eye closure for 45 healthy adult subjects for each one of two groups: fully awake and drowsy groups. Our index could show more superiority than other conventional spectral-based indices used for evaluating the wakefulness state of subjects including relative delta sub band power (R.δ), relative theta sub band power (R.θ), power ratio between theta and alpha (Pθ/α), and between theta and beta (Pθ/β) over occipital lobe. Our index is superior than R. δ, R. θ, Pθ/α and Pθ/β with 10%, 5.5%, 8.9% and 24.4% respectively.
Illumination invariant face recognition in logarithm Discrete Cosine Transform domain

Face is considered to be one of the biometrics in automatic person identification. For face recognition system to be practical, it should be robust to variations in illumination, pose and expression as humans recognize faces irrespective of all these variations. In this paper, we present an illumination invariant face recognition method in the logarithm Discrete Cosine Transform domain. We use an existing illumination normalization technique in the logarithm DCT domain. The main contribution in this paper is that we apply the Principal Component Analysis (PCA) algorithm for feature extraction in the DCT domain. By this, we skip the inverse DCT step and reduce the computational cost. Experimental results on the Yale B database show that we obtain the same results exactly as applying PCA in the spatial domain with the advantage of the reduced computational cost.
Science and the Diffusion of Knowledge

Scientists, social scientists and politicians frequently credit basic science with stimulating technological innovation, and with it economic growth. To support this idea, researchers have shown that patents based on university research receive more citations - a measure of patent importance - than those developed outside of academia. That research and much of the rhetoric it supports implicitly assumes that the application of scientific methods enables the invention of higher quality technologies. Nevertheless, another possibility exists. The norm of "communism" and the related practice of publication may speed the diffusion of information developed in the scientific community. By examining patent data, this paper seeks to determine to what extent do quality differences versus communication explain the citation premium accorded to university and science-based patents. The analyses suggest that heightened communication explains a substantial amount of the difference, a result with important implications for both future research and public policy.
Metric Learning for Invariant Feature Generation in Reinforcement Learning

The success of reinforcement learning in real-world problems depends on careful selection of features to represent the state. Proper feature selection results in the increased ability to approximate the value function and in quicker learning, as only relevant information is emphasized. It is desirable to generate such features automatically, as this would otherwise be a trial and error process requiring a human expert. We propose a method to automatically map states to feature vectors, which are not only sufficiently descriptive of the environment, but are invariant to information not relevant to the agent’s goal. The mapping is based on the principle that if the Q-values for two states under the same action are similar, then the states themselves should be similar. This similarity is realized in a space defined by a metric computed using an information-theoretic approach to metric learning. Our method works in conjunction with a Q-learning algorithm of choice and is suitable for large and continuous state spaces. We test our algorithm on a non-sequential decision task in which the state is an image. While the problem is in fact linear, our method greatly outperforms linear Q-learning.
Impurities Segregation to Grain Boundary Carbide Interfaces and Grain Boundaries and the Mechanism of Elevated Temperature Intergranular Cracking in Heat-resistant Steel

It is shown that the time to elevated temperature intergranular failure in a heat-resistant steel is expressed by t=t0σ−n exp(Q/RT) where n is the stress exponent, Q the activation enthalpy, and t0 the proportional constant. It is also shown that the segregation concentration of impurities is markedly higher in the dimples of grain boundary area than at the smooth grain boundaries and so the dimples observed usually at reheat or stress relief cracked surfaces are not the micro-ductile fracture areas but the carbide/matrix interfaces at the grain boundaries. Finally, it is shown that the elevated temperature intergranular cracking results from the smooth grain boundary cracking following the cracking of the carbide/matrix interfaces at the grain boundaries.
What exactly is viral marketing

An attachment for a tennis racket characterized by a pair of resilient retaining members releasably positioned on the frame of the racket and arranged to receive a tennis ball resting on a court or other surface, and to raise such with upward movement of the racket for subsequent removal and use. With the ready grasping of a tennis ball, the tennis racket attachment eliminates, or at least minimizes, the countless bending and stooping formerly required for tennis ball retrieval during the course of a tennis game.
A flexible micro fuel cell fabricated using a hybrid fabrication technique

Micro he1 cells are currently being investigated as replacement for both primary and secondary batteries. While many technological challenges remain in micro he1 cell research, the key issue for all micro he1 cells is the volume of the system. While significant advances have been made in reducing the number and size of required components, the cell itself is difficult to miniaturize. Many researchers have attempted to apply different variants of micro fabrication techniques to the fabrication of micro fuel cells. We have elected to pursue an unusual inside-out architecture, where the membrane is used as a substrate, and thick and thn film depositions are used to create the active layers of the cell itself By using a combination of analytical and h t e element analysis techniques, we were able to derive practical values for critical parameters including: the hydraulic hameter; electrode length; gas diffusion layer conductivity and porosity; and operating temperature of the he1 cell with respect to the environment. These values were used to create a new he1 cell fabrication technique and architecture, which used a hybrid fabrication technique where the tool and die were fabricated using micro fabrication techniques, but the cell itself was fabricated using traditional manufacturing techniques. To successfdly fabricate these designs, a new stable supported membrane, and a particle based castable diffusion layer were required. These new materials had unusual mechanical properties, as well as their desired electrochemical properties. Testing the cell we found performance significantly lower than predicted. We traced the performance shortfall to a lower than required cathode GDL conductivity and porosity. Significant advances in GDL material design will be required to maximize the potential of the cell architecture.
Enabling Efficient and Reliable Transition from Replication to Erasure Coding for Clustered File Systems

To balance performance and storage efficiency, modern clustered file systems often first store data with replication, followed by encoding the replicated data with erasure coding. We argue that the commonly used random replication does not take into account erasure coding in its design, thereby raising both performance and availability issues in the subsequent encoding operation. We propose encoding-aware replication, which carefully places the replicas so as to (i) eliminate cross-rack downloads of data blocks during the encoding operation, (ii) preserve availability without data relocation after the encoding operation, and (iii) maintain load balancing across replicas as in random replication before the encoding operation. We conduct extensive HDFS-based testbed experiments and discrete-event simulations, and demonstrate the performance gains of encoding-aware replication over random replication.
Specificity versus detectable polymorphism in host–parasite genetics

Detectable polymorphism of host resistance and parasite host range is a poor guide to the specificity of a host-parasite interaction. I analyse a simple haploid model to support this claim. The model assumes that the true specificity is ‘matching-allele’, in which each of n host alleles causes resistance to only one of n different parasite alleles. The detectable polymorphism in samples from a matching-allele system would lead one to infer the gene-for-gene specificity commonly observed in plant-pathogen interactions. Gene-for-gene and matching-allele specificity require very different fitness assumptions to explain observed patterns of polymorphism. Yet models for each type of specificity can easily be constructed that fit the available data. In addition, the currently favoured 'elicitor-receptor’ model for the biochemistry of plant–pathogen recognition agrees equally well with gene-for-gene or matching-allele specificity. I do not claim that the simple matching-allele specificity is the correct model for plant-pathogen genetics. My point is that one cannot reconstruct both specificity and population history from patterns of resistance among host-parasite pairs in a sample. I draw two conclusions: first, inferred specificity and polymorphism are only useful when compared with a family of theoretical models; and secondly, biochemical models of specificity must be tested by their population genetic consequences.
Proteomic Analysis Identified DJ-1 as a Cisplatin Resistant Marker in Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer

The aim of study is to identify cisplatin-resistance associated biomarkers for non-small cell lung cancers (NSCLC). We use two-dimensional electrophoresis (2-DE) combined with MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry to compare the proteome between lung cancer cell line A549 and its cisplatin-resistant subline A549/DDP. Nine cisplatin resistance-related proteins were identified, and DJ-1, one of the differently expressed proteins, was selected for further validation and evaluation. Immunohistochemical results demonstrated that high expression level of DJ-1 was associated with cisplatin resistance and a predictor for poor prognosis in 67 locally advanced NSCLC patients. Furthermore, in vitro results showed that silencing DJ-1 increased the proliferation inhibitory effect of cisplatin to A549/DDP cells. In conclusion, DJ-1 might play an important role in the resistibility to cisplatin, and it could also act as a novel candidate biomarker for predicting the response of NSCLC patients to cisplatin-based chemotherapy.
Creating agile supply networks in the fashion industry: A pilot study of the European textile and clothing industry

Abstract Despite the rapid downfall in the European textile and clothing industry, strategic management research within the sector has been fairly limited. European textile manufacturers have had to work hard to sustain profitability and respond to large-scale imports from low labour rate sources of production. For the European industry to survive, further research is needed to support manufacturers, distributors and retailers in creating strategies for the global textile supply chain to be managed efficiently and effectively. This paper introduces agile merchandising as a new value adding strategy for the European clothing and textile manufacturing industry. Developed from existing theory and a case study involving 11 European textile manufacturers, the concept of creating strategic agile supply networks in the textile fashion industry has been investigated. The results suggest that by incorporating the cooperative advantages of European manufacturers into the sourcing process, retailers would be better able to respond to the volatile and unpredictable nature of fashion garment demand.
Validating the Draw-A-Man Test as a personal neglect test.

OBJECTIVES The purpose of this study was to determine the reliability and validity of a Draw-A-Man Test in measuring personal neglect in patients with right brain stroke. METHOD Draw-A-Man Test was administered to 51 persons with right cerebrovascular accident (CVA) and 110 age-matched persons without brain insult. A categorical classification was developed based on the man drawn in the test. Participants who showed homogeneous bilateral representation of body parts were considered to not have personal neglect, whereas those who showed unilateral body parts were considered to have personal neglect. The completed tests were used to blindly categorize the persons with and without personal neglect according to the above definition by two raters for calculating interrater reliability. The Klein-Bell ADL (Activities of Daily Living) Scale was also administered to the participants with right CVA to validate the Draw-A-Man Test. RESULTS This dichotomy--bilateral representation versus unilateral representation--showed a high percentage of agreement between two raters. Rater A classified all 110 "normal" participants as being without personal neglect and classified 13 of the 51 participants with stroke as having personal neglect. Participants demonstrating personal neglect showed significantly poorer ADL performance than did those without personal neglect. ADL performance was also found to be significantly related to somatosensation, motor status of the impaired limbs, and muscle strength of the sound limbs. However, even after controlling the effect of these variables by partial correlation, personal neglect was still highly related to ADL performance. CONCLUSION The Draw-A-Man Test is a reliable and valid tool for discriminating clients with personal neglect from those without.
Cost-effective decap selection for beyond die power integrity

In designing reliable power distribution networks (PDN) for power integrity (PI), it is essential to stabilize voltage supply to devices on chip. We usually employ decoupling capacitor (decap) to suppress the noise generated by the switching of devices. There have been numerous prior works on how to select/insert decaps in chip, package, or board to maintain PI, however optimal decap selection is usually not applicable due to design budget and manufacturability. Moreover, design cost is seldom touched or mentioned. In this research, we propose an efficient methodology “PDC-PSO” to automatically optimizing the selection of available decaps. This algorithm not only takes advantage of particle swarm optimization (PSO) to stochastically search the design space, but takes the most effective range of decaps into consideration to outperform the basic PSO. We apply this to three real package designs and the results show that, compared to the original decap selection by rules of thumb, our approach could shorten the design period and we have better combination of decaps at the same or lower cost. In addition, our methodology can also consider package-board co-design in optimizing different operation frequencies.
Opinion Mining: Issues and Challenges (A survey)

mining is crucial for both individuals and companies. Individuals may want to see the opinion of other customers about a product to analyze it before buying it. Companies want to analyze the feedback of customers about their products to make future decisions. So, analyzing customer"s opinion and their response is important. Mining is used on product reviews that are available on different blogs, web forums, and product review sites to evaluate opinions of customers. By doing so, new customers are able to find views of others about a product and can decide which product to buy by the help of opinion of customers already using the product. In addition comparison of same feature of products by different vendors is done. In this way companies can focus on improving the features of their product that are not popular among customers. This leads to overcome the requirements of marketing intelligence and product benchmarking in the production industry. In this paper we do a survey of papers and will summarize the issues and challenges of opinion mining that affect the results of opinion mining.
Porous Nickel–Iron Oxide as a Highly Efficient Electrocatalyst for Oxygen Evolution Reaction

A porous Ni–Fe oxide with improved crystallinity has been prepared as a highly efficient electrocatalytic water oxidation catalyst. It has a small overpotential, a low Tafel slope, and an outstanding stability. The remarkably improved electrocatalytic performance is due to the porous structure, high extent homogeneous iron incorporation, ameliorative crystallinity, and the low mass transfer resistance.
Living tissue mechanisms and concepts as models for biomedical microsystems and devices

Microtechnologies offer the new possibility of designing and building sensors and actuators in dimensional scale close to that of living tissues or even to single cells. The world of microtechnology between micrometers (or less) and millimeters, is governed by laws which differ from those valid for human size. Superficial tension, boundary layers, electrostatic effects, surface state, diffusion capillary forces. are preponderant for this size, whereas they are weak or negligible at macroscopic scale. Living tissues have been using "micro" and "nano" technologies for several hundred million years. They are models for the design of sensors, actuators, structures, organizations and concepts. One has to study this field, keeping in mind that nature does not give one "blue prints" "ready to copy".
Homogeneous Superpixels from Markov Random Walks

This paper presents a novel algorithm to generate homogeneous superpixels from Markov random walks. We exploit Markov clustering (MCL) as the methodology, a generic graph clustering method based on stochastic flow circulation. In particular, we introduce a graph pruning strategy called compact pruning in order to capture intrinsic local image structure. The resulting superpixels are homogeneous, i.e. uniform in size and compact in shape. The original MCL algorithm does not scale well to a graph of an image due to the square computation of the Markov matrix which is necessary for circulating the flow. The proposed pruning scheme has the advantages of faster computation, smaller memory footprint, and straightforward parallel implementation. Through comparisons with other recent techniques, we show that the proposed algorithm achieves state-ofthe-art performance. key words: superpixels, Markov clustering, compact pruning, sparse matrix computation
Extraction of optical properties and prediction of light distribution in rat brain tissue

Abstract. Predicting the distribution of light inside any turbid media, such as biological tissue, requires detailed information about the optical properties of the medium, including the absorption and scattering coefficients and the anisotropy factor. Particularly, in biophotonic applications where photons directly interact with the tissue, this information translates to system design optimization, precision in light delivery, and minimization of unintended consequences, such as phototoxicity or photobleaching. In recent years, optogenetics has opened up a new area in deep brain stimulation with light and the method is widely adapted by researchers for the study of the brain circuitries and the dynamics of neurological disorders. A key factor for a successful optogenetic stimulation is delivering an adequate amount of light to the targeted brain objects. The adequate amount of light needed to stimulate each brain object is identified by the tissue optical properties as well as the type of opsin expressed in the tissue, wavelength of the light, and the physical dimensions of the targeted area. Therefore, to implement a precise light delivery system for optogenetics, detailed information about the optical properties of the brain tissue and a mathematical model that incorporates all determining factors is needed to find a good estimation of light distribution in the brain. In general, three measurements are required to obtain the optical properties of any tissue, namely diffuse transmitted light, diffuse reflected light, and transmitted ballistic beam. In this report, these parameters were measured in vitro using intact rat brain slices of 500 μm thickness via a two-integrating spheres optical setup. Then, an inverse adding doubling method was used to extract the optical properties of the tissue from the collected data. These experiments were repeated to cover the whole brain tissue with high spatial resolution for the three different cuts (transverse, sagittal, and coronal) and three different wavelengths (405, 532, and 635 nm) in the visible range of the spectrum. A three-dimensional atlas of the rat brain optical properties was constructed based on the experimental measurements. This database was linked to a Monte Carlo toolbox to simulate light distribution in the tissue for different light source configurations.