Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Effects of temperature on the establishment of non-native biocontrol agents: the predictive power of laboratory data.

The European Union (EU) and its constituent governments are committed to increasing the success of biocontrol in Europe, and are currently seeking a pan-European balanced regulatory system to aid this objective. The concept of ‘balance’ recognizes that (a) the complexity of any licensing system must be proportionate to risk, (b) industrial producers of biocontrol agents have limited RandD budgets, but (c) there can be no compromise on environmental safety. Whilst there is common agreement between agencies responsible for environmental protection, regulators and industrial producers, about the ecological information required to assess the establishment potential of non-native species, the research methods by which such data can be generated (if not available in the literature), have not been fully developed or tested. The inappropriate use of ‘climate matching’ between native and introduced ranges as a ‘proxy’ for cold tolerance and overwintering ability is one example of this problem. Most predatory insects and mites used in glasshouse biocontrol in the UK originate from tropical and semi-tropical climates. For this reason, the licensing system for the introduction of non-native species has operated under the assumption that winter would act as a natural barrier to the establishment of such species outside of glasshouse environments. This view has been challenged by the establishment in the wild of the predatory mite Neoseiulus californicus (McGregor) (Acari: Phytoseiidae) and the discovery of the predatory mirid Macrolophus caliginosus Wagner (Hemiptera: Miridae) outside of glasshouses in winter. Whilst the impact of these species on native ecosystems is unknown, their establishment is considered undesirable. This paper describes a series of experiments used to determine a range of thermal characteristics (developmental threshold, day-degree requirement per generation, supercooling point, lethal times and temperatures, field survival) of five non-native biocontrol agents. A strong correlative relationship was found between the time at which 50% of populations die in the laboratory at 5°C (LTime50) and duration of winter survival in the field. The comparative data provide a retrospective ecophysiological explanation for the establishment of N. californicus and occurrence of M. caliginosus outside of glasshouses, and also indicate that Delphastus catalinae (Gordon) (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae), Eretmocerus eremicus (Rose and Zolnerowich) (Hymenoptera: Aphelinidae) and Typhlodromips montdorensis (Schicha) (Acari: Phytoseiidae) would not survive outdoors in the UK under current climatic condi-
Diagnosis, prevalence, and screening of familial dilated cardiomyopathy

Introduction: Dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) is the most common cardiomyopathy and occurs often in families. As an inherited disease, understanding the significance of diagnostic procedures and genetic screening within families is of utmost importance. Areas covered: Genetic studies have shown that in 30 – 40% of familial DCM (FDC) cases a causative genetic mutation can be identified. Successful genetic analysis is highly dependent on close examination of patient and family history, and clinical guidelines exist recommending genetic testing to aid in the evaluation of family members at risk of developing FDC. Clinical genetic testing offers a resource for families to identify the etiology of their disease and in some cases may provide clinical prognostic insight. Expert opinion: As an inherited disease, future FCD studies will focus on elucidating the remaining 60 – 70% of genetic causes in inherited cases and the pathogenic mechanisms leading to the phenotype. Specifically, a focus on regulatory regions, copy number variation, genetic and environmental modifiers and functional confirmatory investigations will be essential.
Effects of the MAPK pathway and the expression of CAR in a murine model of viral myocarditis

The pathogenesis of viral myocarditis (VMC) is not fully understood. This study aimed to examine the relationship between coxsackie-adenovirus receptor (CAR) and the p38 mitogen activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathway mechanisms in a mouse model. Three groups of mice were established: 5 mice in a control group injected with saline, 15 in the model group injected with coxsackie virus B3 (CVB) and 15 in the intervention group injected with CVB3 but treated with the p38 MAPK inhibitor SB203580. Mice were sacrificed at days 1, 5, 10, 15 and 30 and cardiac tissues were isolated to perform the tests. Quantitative PCR and western blot analysis showed CAR mRNA and protein expression levels were highest in the model group at all time-points (P<0.05). The expression levels of p38 MAPK protein by western blot analysis at days 1, 5 and 10 were obviously higher in the model group (P>0.05). H&E staining used to observe myocardial pathological changes showed the inflammatory infiltration was also higher in the model group at all the time-points (P<0.05). Our results show a direct relationship between CAR and p38 MAPK levels, and since the p38 MAPK inhibitor treatment resulted in reduced levels of CAR as well as lower inflammatory infiltration, it is possible that the signaling pathway may mediate CAR expression during the pathogenesis of VMC.
Low-contention data structures

We consider the problem of minimizing contention in static dictionary data structures, where the contention on each cell is measured by the expected number of probes to that cell given an input that is chosen from a distribution that is not known to the query algorithm (but that may be known when the data structure is built). When all positive queries are equally probable, and similarly all negative queries are equally probable, we show that it is possible to construct a data structure using linear space s, a constant number of queries, and with contention O(1/s) on each cell, corresponding to a nearly-flat load distribution. All of these quantities are asymptotically optimal. For arbitrary query distributions, the lack of knowledge of the query distribution by the query algorithm prevents perfect load leveling in this case: we present a lower bound, based on VC-dimension, that shows that for a wide range of data structure problems, achieving contention even within a polylogarithmic factor of optimal requires a cell-probe complexity of Ω(log log n).
Theoretical Application of Irreversible (Nonequilibrium) Thermodynamic Principles to Enhance Solute Fluxes across Nanofabricated Hemodialysis Membranes

Objective. Nanotechnology has the potential to improve hemodialysis membrane technology. Thus, a major objective is to understand how to enhance toxic solute fluxes across these membranes. The aim of this concept building study is to review the application of irreversible thermodynamic (IT) to solute fluxes. Methods. We expanded the application of the Nernst-Planck equation to include the Kedem-Katchalsky equation, pH, membrane thickness, pore size, and electric potential as variables. Results. (1) Reducing the membrane's thickness from 25 μ m to 25 nm increased the flux of creatinine, β 2-microglobulin, and tumor necrosis factor- α (TNF- α ) by a thousand times but prevented completely albumin flux, (2) applying an electric potential of 50–400 mV across the membrane enhanced the flux of the respective molecules by 71.167 × 10−3, 38.7905 × 10−8, and 0.595 × 10−13 mol/s, and (3) changing the pH from 7.35 to 7.42 altered the fluxes minimally. Conclusions. The results supported an argument to investigate the application of IT to study forces of fluxes across membranes. Reducing the membrane's thickness—together with the application of an electrical potential—qualities achievable by nanotechnology, can enhance the removal of uremic toxins by many folds. However, changing the pH at a specific membrane thickness does not affect the flux significantly.
Study on urea inactivation of Japanese encephalitis virus.

Effect of concentrated urea on JE virus was studied with a special view upon the structure of the virion. Urea concentration less than 2M acted reversibly to destroy the particles at 24 C in a wide range of pH between 7.2 and 10.0. At concentrations of urea higher than 3 M up to 8 M, the particles were disrupted irreversibly with a rapid loss of both infectivity and hemagglutinating activity. As for the action mechanism of 1 M urea on JE virus, it was demonstrated that the first rapid inactivation was completed within 10 minutes, then followed by the second step of slow inactivation. The latter was sensitive to increase of temperature in urea inactivation. Since the second step was diminished when 0.1 M 2-ME was added in the reaction mixture, this reaction might be a reversible one through free exchanging of the hydrogen bonds. Namely, 2-ME blocks free -SH groups which are functioning reversibly for reassociation. However, in the presence of 5 mM cystine-cysteine mixture, this inactivation was reversed apparently and the particle reassociation was proved by centrifugal analysis in sucrose gradient column. When 5 mM cystine-cysteine mixture was contained in a sucrose column, HA activity was recovered in the band of virion by possible reassociation of the smaller particles. From these results, we may conclude, as to the action of 1 M urea on JE virus, that the effect is partly reversible in denaturation of proteins and its structure.
A Study of Library Databases by Translating Those SQL Queries Into Relational Algebra and Generating Query Trees

Even in this World Wide Web era where there is unrestricted access to a lot of articles and books at a mouse’s click, the role of an organized library is immense. It is vital to have effective software to manage various functions in a library and the fundamental for effective software is the underlying database access and the queries used. And hence library databases become our use-case for this study. This paper starts off with considering a basic ER model of a typical library relational database. We would also list all the basic use–cases in a library management system. The next part of the paper deals with the sql queries used for performing certain functions in a library database management system. Along with the queries, we would generate reports for some of the use cases. The final section of the paper forms the crux of this library database study, wherein we would dwell on the concepts of query processing and query optimization in the relational database domain. We would analyze the above mentioned queries, by translating the query into a relational algebra expression and generating a query tree for the same. By converting algebra, we look at optimizing the query, and by generating a query tree, we would come up a cheapest cost plan.
Performance and computational complexity optimization in configurable hybrid video coding system

In this paper, a configurable coding scheme is proposed and analyzed with respect to computational complexity and distortion (C-D). The major coding modules are analyzed in terms of computational C-D in the H.263 video coding framework. Based on the analyzed data, operational C-D curves are obtained through an exhaustive search, and the Lagrangian multiplier method. The proposed scheme satisfies the given computational constraint independently of the changing properties of the input video sequence. A technique to adaptively control the optimal encoding mode is also proposed. The performance of the proposed technique is compared with a fixed scheme where parameters are determined by off-line processing. Experimental results demonstrate that the adaptive approach leads to computation reductions of up to 19%, which are obtained with test video sequences and compared to the fixed, while the peak signal-to-noise ratio degradations of the reconstructed video are less than 0.05 dB.
miR-1 Exacerbates Cardiac Ischemia-Reperfusion Injury in Mouse Models

Recent studies have revealed the critical role of microRNAs (miRNAs) in regulating cardiac injury. Among them, the cardiac enriched microRNA-1(miR-1) has been extensively investigated and proven to be detrimental to cardiac myocytes. However, solid in vivo evidence for the role of miR-1 in cardiac injury is still missing and the potential therapeutic advantages of systemic knockdown of miR-1 expression remained unexplored. In this study, miR-1 transgenic (miR-1 Tg) mice and locked nucleic acid modified oligonucleotide against miR-1 (LNA-antimiR-1) were used to explore the effects of miR-1 on cardiac ischemia/reperfusion injury (30 min ischemia followed by 24 h reperfusion). The cardiac miR-1 level was significantly increased in miR-1 Tg mice, and suppressed in LNA-antimiR-1 treated mice. When subjected to ischemia/reperfusion injury, miR-1 overexpression exacerbated cardiac injury, manifested by increased LDH, CK levels, caspase-3 expression, apoptosis and cardiac infarct area. On the contrary, LNA-antimiR-1 treatment significantly attenuated cardiac ischemia/reperfusion injury. The expression of PKCε and HSP60 was significantly repressed by miR-1 and enhanced by miR-1 knockdown, which may be a molecular mechanism for the role miR-1 in cardiac injury. Moreover, luciferase assay confirmed the direct regulation of miR-1 on protein kinase C epsilon (PKCε) and heat shock protein 60 (HSP60). In summary, this study demonstrated that miR-1 is a causal factor for cardiac injury and systemic LNA-antimiR-1 therapy is effective in ameliorating the problem.
Cross-layer design of wireless networking for Parallel Loading of Access Points (PLAP)

This paper processes a new cross-layer framework design for Parallel Download and Upload (PDU). This technique has been called as Parallel Loading of Access Points (PLAP). We have shown here our PLAP for Access Point (AP) and integrate Ad-hoc Procedure with AP to support the parallel download or upload applications. The results show that the proposed PLAP mechanism is faster and efficient for service setup and maintenance.
Synchronization of Diffusively-Connected Nonlinear Systems: Results Based on Contractions with Respect to General Norms

Contraction theory provides an elegant way to analyze the behavior of certain nonlinear dynamical systems. In this paper, we discuss the application of contraction to synchronization of diffusively interconnected components described by nonlinear differential equations. We provide estimates of convergence of the difference in states between components, in the cases of line, complete, and star graphs, and Cartesian products of such graphs. We base our approach on contraction theory, using matrix measures derived from norms that are not induced by inner products. Such norms are the most appropriate in many applications, but proofs cannot rely upon Lyapunov-like linear matrix inequalities, and different techniques, such as the use of the Perron-Frobenious Theorem in the cases of L1 or L∞ norms, must be introduced.
Les dynamiques d'un système d'innovation à travers le prisme des diffusions spatiales. Le cas de l'anacarde au Sud-Ouest du Burkina Faso

Le systeme d’innovation est un concept cle pour l’analyse des changements socio-techniques qui renvoie a une structure et a des fonctions qui contribuent a developper et a diffuser l’innovation. Cet article propose une approche originale d’analyse d’un systeme d’innovation au travers des processus de diffusion spatiale d’un produit agricole : l’anacarde (noix de cajou). Les formes et les vitesses de propagation des vergers d’anacardiers sont analysees et mises au regard de la structure et des fonctions du systeme d’innovation. Les resultats montrent que la mesure du processus de diffusion spatiale permet de reveler les types de reseaux, la force des liens entre les acteurs et d’identifier les dysfonctionnements du systeme.
Genetics of adeno-associated virus: isolation and preliminary characterization of adeno-associated virus type 2 mutants

We constructed insertion and deletion mutants with mutations within the adeno-associated virus (AAV) sequences of the infectious recombinant plasmid pSM620. Studies of these mutants revealed at least three AAV phenotypes. Mutants with mutations between 11 and 42 map units were partially or completely defective for rescue and replication of the AAV sequences from the recombinant plasmids (rep mutants). The mutants could be complemented by mutants with replication-positive phenotypes. The protein(s) that is affected in rep mutants has not been identified, but the existence of the rep mutants proves that at least one AAV-coded protein is required for viral DNA replication. Also, the fact that one of the rep mutant mutations maps within the AAV intron suggests that the intron sequences code for part of a functional AAV protein. Mutants with mutations between 63 and 91 map units synthesized normal amounts of AAV duplex DNA but could not generate single-stranded virion DNA (cap mutants). The cap phenotype could be complemented by rep mutants and is probably due to a defect in the major AAV capsid protein, VP3. This suggests that a preformed capsid or precursor is required for the accumulation of single-stranded AAV progeny DNA. Mutants with mutations between 48 and 55 map units synthesized normal amounts of AAV single-stranded and duplex DNA but produced substantially lower yields of infectious virus particles than wild-type AAV (lip mutants). The lip phenotype is probably due to a defect in the minor capsid protein, VPI, and suggests the existence of an additional (as yet undiscovered) AAV mRNA. Evidence is also presented for recombination between mutant AAV genomes during lytic growth.
Portuguese-English Word Alignment: some Experiments

In this paper we describe some studies of Portuguese-English word alignment, focusing on (i) measuring the importance of the coupling between dictionaries and corpus; (ii) assessing the relevance of using syntactic information (POS and lemma) or just word forms, and (iii) taking into account the direction of translation. We first provide some motivation for the studies, as well as insist in separating type from token anlignment. We then briefly describe the resources employed: the EuroParl and COMPARA corpora, and the alignment tools, NATools, introducing some measures to evaluate the two kinds of dictionaries obtained. We then present the results of several experiments, comparing sizes, overlap, translation fertility and alignment density of the several bilingual resources built. We also describe preliminary data as far as quality of the resulting dictionaries or alignment results is concerned.
HIV/AIDS and securitization theory 1

This article uses an analysis of the securitization of HIV/AIDS as a basis for proposing three contributions to securitization theory. Beginning with an examination of some of the key debates which have taken place between the Copenhagen School and its critics, the article goes on to argue that the process of securitizing HIV/AIDS was in fact significantly more complex than has been generally recognized and, crucially, that a more nuanced reading of this case highlights a number of issues that are not well captured by the existing securitization theory literature. The first is that securitization can be a multi-level process, with distinct securitizing actors and audiences at each level. The second is that securitization can best be understood as a continuum rather than a binary condition, and that different members of an audience may place an issue at varying points along this spectrum. The third contribution we seek to make is an intervention in the debate over the role of empirical evidence in securitization, suggesting that claims about ‘empirical reality’ form a crucial part of securitizing speech acts, but that where doubts subsequently arise over the evidence for this ‘reality’, securitization can be undermined, a dynamic that we show in practice in the HIV/AIDS case.
Design and implementation of an intrusion detection system for wireless sensor networks

As a relatively recent and emerging technology, wireless sensor networks (WSNs) are beginning to be deployed frequently in a wide variety of environments ranging from military and emergency environments to natural and embedded environments. For example, a security system may be deployed using WSNs as outlined in M. Turon, J. Suh (Apr. 2005), and P. Dutta. , et al., (Apr. 2005). Furthermore, WSNs are of particular interest to adversaries due to their frequent deployments in open and unprotected environments. Preventive mechanisms can sometimes be applied to protect WSNs from an assortment of attacks. However, in many cases, a more sophisticated methodology needs to be applied for situations in which intrusions or attacks cannot necessarily be anticipated in advance. In such instances, an intrusion detection system is warranted. For WSNs, one of the primary concerns deals with availability of the network and individual nodes. Denial of service (DoS) attacks are a particularly great threat to WSNs. The effects of a DoS attack are described extensively in A.D. Wood and J.A. Stankovic (Oct. 2002),and http://www.tinyos. net. WSNs are particularly vulnerable to failure under such attacks because of their limited energy, processing capacity, and storage. An effective DoS attack merely has to deplete the resources of the nodes to render them unavailable. In this paper we design and implement a preliminary intrusion detection system (IDS) for WSNs that addresses the security concern of DoS attacks and fits the demands and restrictions of WSNs.
Effect of Ozone on Baghouse Filter Used on Smoke Cleaning for Power Station Boiler

The complex of ESP and baghouse become popular for removing dust from coal-boiler smoke at power station in China. High voltage in ESP may generate ozone which will exert negative effect on PPS filter. So the lifetime of filter in baghouse will be shortened. In the paper, some systematic experiments are designed to find the effect of ozone concentration and contacting time on PPS filter. The experiment data and SEM images show that the filter break strength and brittleness are degraded, and some fibers are broken. The oxidation process is analyzed by chemical reaction also.
Effects of inattention and hyperactivity/impulsivity symptoms on development of nicotine dependence from mid adolescence to young adulthood.

OBJECTIVE The relationship of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and smoking is well documented. However, it is unclear whether ADHD symptoms relate to nicotine dependence (ND) symptoms from adolescence to young adulthood. We sought to assess the relationship of ADHD Hyperactivity-Impulsivity (H/I) and Inattention (I) symptoms with ND symptoms in a community sample from adolescence to young adulthood (ages 18-21). METHODS Participants were adolescents (n = 672) smoking at least one whole cigarette in their lifetime. Participants are members of a prospective cohort study (ages 14-22) evaluating the bio-behavioral predictors of smoking. Data were analyzed with a two-piece latent growth curve model. RESULTS ADHD-I symptoms were associated with ND symptoms acceleration in adolescence, but slowing acceleration in young adulthood, whereas ADHD-H/I symptoms were associated with ND symptoms acceleration in young adulthood. CONCLUSIONS The results suggest the relationship of ADHD and ND symptoms may differ by symptom type, and the developmental period assessed.