Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Automating Overlay Networks Management

This paper proposes a context-aware policy-based architecture that automates the management of overlay networks. The objective of this architecture is to form a policy layer above the overlay layer. The policy layer consists of a set of overlay policy enforcement points and an overlay policy decision point that cooperate to dynamically adapt the behavior of the overlay network to the preferences of the user, the network and the service providers. With this contribution to overlay networks, policies are generated dynamically at run time from the available context information and enforced on the fly. This paper describes our novel architecture, its advantages, and the simulation results that varify its effectiveness.
Research on Application of Improved Text Cluster Algorithm in Intelligent QA System

With rapid development of Internet information, It is quite an important project for data mining that how to classify these large amounts of texts. In this paper, we propose an improved text classify cluster algorithm, while calculating similarity, we synthetically consider the relationship between keywords and eigenvector representation on base of term frequency statistics, thereby it lessens sensitivity of input sequence and frequency, and effectively raises similarity accuracy of small text and simple sentence as well as preciseness and recall rate of text cluster result.
A self-perpetuating repressive state of a viral replication protein blocks superinfection by the same virus

Diverse animal and plant viruses block the re-infection of host cells by the same or highly similar viruses through superinfection exclusion (SIE), a widely observed, yet poorly understood phenomenon. Here we demonstrate that SIE of turnip crinkle virus (TCV) is exclusively determined by p28, one of the two replication proteins encoded by this virus. p28 expressed from a TCV replicon exerts strong SIE to a different TCV replicon. Transiently expressed p28, delivered simultaneously with, or ahead of, a TCV replicon, largely recapitulates this repressive activity. Interestingly, p28-mediated SIE is dramatically enhanced by C-terminally fused epitope tags or fluorescent proteins, but weakened by N-terminal modifications, and it inversely correlates with the ability of p28 to complement the replication of a p28-defective TCV replicon. Strikingly, p28 in SIE-positive cells forms large, mobile punctate inclusions that trans-aggregate a non-coalescing, SIE-defective, yet replication-competent p28 mutant. These results support a model postulating that TCV SIE is caused by the formation of multimeric p28 complexes capable of intercepting fresh p28 monomers translated from superinfector genomes, thereby abolishing superinfector replication. This model could prove to be applicable to other RNA viruses, and offer novel targets for antiviral therapy.
Changes in exposure of adult non-smokers to secondhand smoke after implementation of smoke-free legislation in Scotland: national cross sectional survey

Objective To measure change in adult non-smokers' exposure to secondhand smoke in public and private places after smoke-free legislation was implemented in Scotland. Design Repeat cross sectional survey. Setting Scotland. Participants Scottish adults, aged 18 to 74 years, recruited and interviewed in their homes. Intervention Comprehensive smoke-free legislation that prohibits smoking in virtually all enclosed public places and workplaces, including bars, restaurants, and cafes. Outcome measures Salivary cotinine, self reported exposure to smoke in public and private places, and self reported smoking restriction in homes and in cars. Results Overall, geometric mean cotinine concentrations in adult non-smokers fell by 39% (95% confidence interval 29% to 47%), from 0.43 ng/ml at baseline to 0.26 ng/ml after legislation (P<0.001). In non-smokers from non-smoking households, geometric mean cotinine concentrations fell by 49% (40% to 56%), from 0.35 ng/ml to 0.18 ng/ml (P<0.001). The 16% fall in cotinine concentrations in non-smokers from smoking households was not statistically significant. Reduction in exposure to secondhand smoke was associated with a reduction after legislation in reported exposure to secondhand smoke in public places (pubs, other workplaces, and public transport) but not in homes and cars. We found no evidence of displacement of smoking from public places into the home. Conclusions Implementation of Scotland's smoke-free legislation has been accompanied within one year by a large reduction in exposure to secondhand smoke, which has been greatest in non-smokers living in non-smoking households. Non-smokers living in smoking households continue to have high levels of exposure to secondhand smoke.
Role of Glutathione in the Hypoxie Cell Cytotoxicity of Misonidazole1

Misonidazole (MIS) is a hypoxic cell radiosensitizer currently undergoing Phase III clinical trials in the treatment of cancer by radiation. It is also a cytotoxic agent with specificity toward hypoxic cells, and consequently has a tumoricidal effect in laboratory animals. This tumoricidal effect has not been clini cally applicable, in part because the initial resistance to the cytotoxic action of MIS (the nonexponential portion, or shoul der, of the semilogarithmic plot of the surviving fraction of the cell population versus the time of exposure to MIS, referred to hereafter as the shoulder of the survival curve) for cells treated with MIS under hypoxic conditions is too large to be overcome at clinically tolerable doses of MIS. We report here that pre treatment of Chinese hamster ovary cells in vitro with diethylmaleate to deplete Âintracellular glutathione results in a sub stantial decrease in the shoulder of the survival curve for MIStreated hypoxic cells. Restoration of glutathione results in restoration of the shoulder of the survival curve and a slight extension beyond that seen with control cells. These results demonstrate that glutathione protects against the cytotoxic effect of MIS. However, glutathione depletion does not signif icantly affect the rate of binding of MIS metabolites to cellular macromolecules, indicating that the cytotoxicity of MIS is not simply a reflection of massive binding of MIS metabolites to cellular constituents. We propose that the cytotoxicity of MIS toward hypoxic cells is a result of hydrogen abstraction from target molecules by free radicals formed in the reduction of the nitro group.
The R & D process in the US and Japan : Major findings from the RIETI-Georgia Tech inventor survey 1 Summary

This paper analyzes and compares the objective, the nature and the performance of R&D projects in the US and Japan, based on the first large scale systematic survey of inventors, focusing on the R&D projects yielding triadic patents. Major findings are the following. First, the projects for enhancing the existing business line of a firm account for a large share of R&D projects in both countries, confirming the view that the R&D investment is significantly conditioned by the existing complementary asset of a firm. In both countries, the inventions from R&D for existing business have the highest in-house utilization rate but use least the scientific and technical literature for their conceptions, while the reverse is the case for the inventions from R&D for new technology base (or for cultivating seeds). R&D projects for enhancing the technology base are much more common in the US. This difference can be partly accounted for by US inventors being more likely to have a PhD, but not by the differences in the structure of finance. US government financial support is relatively more targeted to projects for existing business and US venture capital provides support mainly projects for creating new business (6% of them), but not for more upstream projects. Only about 20-30% of the projects are for process innovation in both countries, providing direct evidence for the earlier findings that were based on US patent information. Product innovation generates process patents more often in Japan than in the US (25% vs. 10%), while product innovation projects are relatively more numerous in Japan. In both countries a significant share of inventions (more than 20%) were not the result of an R&D project, and a substantial proportion of such inventions are valued among the top 10% of patents, suggesting that R&D expenditure significantly underestimates inventive activities. A US invention is more often an unexpected by-product of an R&D project (11%) than in Japan (3.4%). The two countries have surprisingly similar distributions of R&D projects in man month and the average team size. In both countries, smaller firms tend to have relatively more high-value patents. In the US, inventors from very small firms (with less than 100 employees) and universities jointly account for more than one quarter of the top 10% inventions, even though they account for only 14% of all inventions. Man-months expended for an invention has a significant correlation with the performance of the R&D projects for existing business, less so for new business and not at all for those enhancing the technology base,
Aqueous Extract of Shi-Liu-Wei-Liu-Qi-Yin Induces G2/M Phase Arrest and Apoptosis in Human Bladder Carcinoma Cells via Fas and Mitochondrial Pathway

Shi-Liu-Wei-Liu-Qi-Yin (SLWLQY) was traditionally used to treat cancers. However, scientific evidence of the anticancer effects still remains undefined. In this study, we aimed to clarify the possible mechanisms of SLWLQY in treating cancer. We evaluated the effects of SLWLQY on apoptosis-related experiments inducing in TSGH-8301 cells by (i) 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-zyl)-2,5-diphenylterazolium bromide (MTT) for cytotoxicity; (ii) cell-cycle analysis and (iii) western blot analysis of the G2/M-phase and apoptosis regulatory proteins. Human bladder carcinoma TSGH-8301 cells were transplanted into BALB/c nude mice as a tumor model for evaluating the antitumor effect of SLWLQY. Treatment of SLWLQY resulted in the G2/M phase arrest and apoptotic death in a dose-dependent manner, accompanied by a decrease in cyclin-dependent kinases (cdc2) and cyclins (cyclin B1). SLWLQY stimulated increases in the protein expression of Fas and FasL, and induced the cleavage of caspase-3, caspase-9 and caspase-8. The ratio of Bax/Bcl2 was increased by SLWLQY treatment. SLWLQY markedly reduced tumor size in TSGH-8301 cells-xenografted tumor tissues. In the tissue specimen, SLWLQY up-regulated the expression of Fas, FasL and Bax proteins, and down-regulated Bcl2 as well as in in vitro assay. Our results showed that SLWLQY reduced tumor growth, caused cell-cycle arrest and apoptosis in TSGH-8301 cells via the Fas and mitochondrial pathway.
Deep neural network for face recognition based on sparse autoencoder

Face recognition is a very important research topic in computer vision because of its many potential applications. In this paper, we investigated a face recognition method based on deep neural network. The sparse coding neural network and the softmax classifiers were used in this paper to build and train the deep hierarchical network after the face image preprocessing. The method is evaluated on the ORL, Yale, Yale-B and PERET face database, respectively. The experimental results show that the deep learning method can abstractly express the original data with efficiency and accuracy, and achieve a good performance in the conditions of illumination, expression, posture and low resolution.
Residual Structure of Streptococcus mutans Biofilm following Complete Disinfection Favors Secondary Bacterial Adhesion and Biofilm Re-Development

Chemical disinfection of oral biofilms often leaves biofilm structures intact. This study aimed to examine whether the residual structure promotes secondary bacterial adhesion. Streptococcus mutans biofilms generated on resin-composite disks in a rotating disc reactor were disinfected completely with 70% isopropyl alcohol, and were again cultured in the same reactor after resupplying with the same bacterial solution. Specimens were subjected to fluorescence confocal laser scanning microscopy, viable cell counts and PCR-Invader assay in order to observe and quantify secondarily adhered cells. Fluorescence microscopic analysis, particularly after longitudinal cryosectioning, demonstrated stratified patterns of viable cells on the disinfected biofilm structure. Viable cell counts of test specimens were significantly higher than those of controls, and increased according to the amount of residual structure and culture period. Linear regression analysis exhibited a high correlation between viable and total cell counts. It was concluded that disinfected biofilm structures favored secondary bacterial adhesion.
Using Gaussian Processes to Monitor Diabetes Development

This paper uses Gaussian process techniques to model time series data of HbA1c level, a common measure to monitor or screen diabetes. The HbA1c level estimates how well blood sugar is under control. To facilitate the control of diabetes, we develop a patient-level model to individually predict the development of the disease for each patient. Gaussian processes represent a successful machine learning technique known for their flexible modeling abilities and high predictive performances. This approach allows multi-dimensional inputs and assigns a confidence score to the predictions, accounting for temporal uncertainty of time series data. The purpose of this paper is to discuss the use of the Gaussian process technique, previously unseen in diabetes research, to monitor the development of the disease.
Analyzing &amp; Enhancing energy Efficient Communication Protocol for Wireless Micro-sensor Networks

The paper presents an analysis of energy efficient routing protocols with direct communication protocol. A comparison of these protocols is made analyzing energy consumption at each node and explaining system lifetime after certain rounds. The paper also proposes a novel energy conscious cluster head selection algorithm for making system more reliable and efficient. Simulation shows that our proposed algorithm enhances the system reliability and accuracy.
Structural Analysis of Asunaprevir Resistance in HCV NS3/4A Protease

Asunaprevir (ASV), an isoquinoline-based competitive inhibitor targeting the hepatitis C virus (HCV) NS3/4A protease, is very potent in vivo. However, the potency is significantly compromised by the drug resistance mutations R155K and D168A. In this study three crystal structures of ASV and an analogue were determined to analyze the structural basis of drug resistance susceptibility. These structures revealed that ASV makes extensive contacts with Arg155 outside the substrate envelope. Arg155 in turn is stabilized by Asp168, and thus when either residue is mutated, the enzyme’s interaction with ASV’s P2* isoquinoline is disrupted. Adding a P1–P3 macrocycle to ASV enhances the inhibitor’s resistance barrier, likely due to poising the inhibitor to its bound conformation. Macrocyclic inhibitors with P2* extension moieties avoiding interaction with the protease S2 residues including Arg155 must be chosen for future design of more robust protease inhibitors.
Therapeutic hypothermia and neurological outcome after cardiac arrest.

INTRODUCTION/AIM The most important clinically relevant cause of global cerebral ischemia is cardiac arrest. Clinical studies showed a marked neuroprotective effect of mild hypothermia in resuscitation. The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of mild hypothermia on neurological outcome and survival of the patients in coma, after cardiac arrest and return of spontaneous circulation. METHODS The prospective study was conducted on consecutive comatose patients admitted to our clinic after cardiac arrest and return of spontaneous circulation, between February 2005 and May 2009. The patients were divided into two groups: the patients treated with mild hypothermia and the patients treated conservatively. The intravascular in combination with external method of cooling or only external cooling was used during the first 24 hours, after which spontaneous rewarming started. The endpoints were survival rate and neurological outcome. The neurological outcome was observed with Cerebral Performance Category Scale (CPC). Follow-up was 30 days. RESULTS The study was conducted on 82 patients: 45 patients (age 57.93 +/- 14.08 years, 77.8% male) were treated with hypothermia, and 37 patients (age 62.00 +/- 9.60 years, 67.6% male) were treated conservatively. In the group treated with therapeutic hypothermia protocol, 21 (46.7%) patients had full neurological restitution (CPC 1), 3 (6.7%) patients had good neurologic outcome (CPC 2), 1 (2.2%) patient remained in coma and 20 (44.4%) patients finally died (CPC 5). In the normothermic group 7 (18.9%) patients had full neurological restitution (CPC 1), and 30 (81.1%) patients remained in coma and finally died (CPC 5). Between the two therapeutic groups there was statistically significant difference in frequencies of different neurologic outcome (p = 0.006), specially between the patients with CPC 1 and CPC 5 outcome (p = 0.003). In the group treated with mild hypothermia 23 (51.1%) patients survived, and in the normothermic group 30 (81.1%) patients died, while in the group of survived patients 23 (76.7%) were treated with mild hypothermia (p = 0.003). CONCLUSION Mild therapeutic hypothermia applied after cardiac arrest improved neurological outcome and reduced mortality in the studied group of comatose survivors.
Numerical and Structural Genomic Aberrations Are Reliably Detectable in Tissue Microarrays of Formalin-Fixed Paraffin-Embedded Tumor Samples by Fluorescence In-Situ Hybridization

Few data are available regarding the reliability of fluorescence in-situ hybridization (FISH), especially for chromosomal deletions, in high-throughput settings using tissue microarrays (TMAs). We performed a comprehensive FISH study for the detection of chromosomal translocations and deletions in formalin-fixed and paraffin-embedded (FFPE) tumor specimens arranged in TMA format. We analyzed 46 B-cell lymphoma (B-NHL) specimens with known karyotypes for translocations of IGH-, BCL2-, BCL6- and MYC-genes. Locus-specific DNA probes were used for the detection of deletions in chromosome bands 6q21 and 9p21 in 62 follicular lymphomas (FL) and six malignant mesothelioma (MM) samples, respectively. To test for aberrant signals generated by truncation of nuclei following sectioning of FFPE tissue samples, cell line dilutions with 9p21-deletions were embedded into paraffin blocks. The overall TMA hybridization efficiency was 94%. FISH results regarding translocations matched karyotyping data in 93%. As for chromosomal deletions, sectioning artefacts occurred in 17% to 25% of cells, suggesting that the proportion of cells showing deletions should exceed 25% to be reliably detectable. In conclusion, FISH represents a robust tool for the detection of structural as well as numerical aberrations in FFPE tissue samples in a TMA-based high-throughput setting, when rigorous cut-off values and appropriate controls are maintained, and, of note, was superior to quantitative PCR approaches.
Environmental education in the Maldives: The implementation of inquiry-based learning at the primary level

The Maldives islands are predominantly coastal entities, and our environment is among the most vulnerable in the world. For this reason the government of Maldives remains strongly committed to advancing Environmental Education (EE). This study reports on the implementation of inquiry-based approaches in the teaching and learning of Environmental Studies (ES) at primary schools in the Maldives. It also explores what teachers and students in primary ES classrooms do and whether this is what the ES curriculum recommends they should. A review of literature indicates that a pronounced discrepancy exists between the problem solving and action-oriented goals associated with the contemporary philosophy of EE and the education that takes place in schools in many countries. While much of previous research has revealed the benefits of using inquiry-based instructional strategies over traditional methods. From the literature, key indicators of inquiry based instruction emerged which served as a conceptual framework for this study. A case study approach utilising a qualitative method was chosen for this study which enabled me to gather detailed information from teachers as well as students from three different schools, by adopting semi-structured interviews, and observations as the main data gathering tools. The results of this study suggest that teachers use a variety of strategies in teaching ES at the primary level. However due to a number of reasons teachers are not able to implement the syllabus quite as the curriculum developers intended. Interviews and classroom observations revealed that education about the environment was the prevailing approach that teachers practiced in the primary schools in Maldives, which is a teaching procedure concerned mainly with the transmission of knowledge. Even though the findings of this research are specific to this particular research context, it allowed me to draw useful recommendations in this research for other primary schools in the Maldives. The recommendations from this study suggests that the government should allocate sufficient resources to support the practice of inquiry-based learning. This study also recommends that training teachers, especially through modelling of inquiry instruction, is vital for effective implementation of inquiry based-learning for a positive influence on students’ learning and teachers’ pedagogy. To expand our understanding of inquiry-based practices in the primary schools in the Maldives further research should be conducted utilizing both quantitative and qualitative research methodologies which would involve schools from all the 20 atolls of Maldives.
Earned Income Tax Credits and Labor Supply: New Evidence from a British Natural Experiment

With many countries considering the adoption of a system of earned income tax credits, it is useful to analyze how different types of credits affect labor supply and earnings. This paper focuses on a 1999 reform to the UK tax credit system, which increased the value of the credit and reduced the phaseout rate. Using panel data, with individual fixed effects, I compare eligibles and inéligibles within five groups: all individuals; those whose demographic characteristics predict that they will have low earnings; single women; women in couples; and men in couples. Over a 15-month period, boosting the credit appears to have raised the labor participation rates, hours, and earnings of those who were eligible to receive it.
RH WAVELET BASES TO APPROXIMATE SOLUTION OF NONLINEAR VOLTERRA-FREDHOLM-HAMMERSTEIN INTEGRAL EQUATIONS WITH ERROR ANALYSIS

In this paper, we present a method for calculated the numerical approximation of nonlinear Fredholm Volterra Hammerstein integral equation, which uses the properties of rationalized Haar wavelets. The main tool for error analysis is the Banach fixed point theorem. An upper bound for the error was obtained and the order of convergence is analyzed. An algorithm is presented to compute and illustrate the solutions for some numerical examples.