Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Study of a linear coding enhanced swarm network

The present paper explores the behavior of a swarm network that relies on random linear codes to improve the content distribution to all the clients. The swarm implementation is simplified with respect to other known implementations (e.g. BitTorrent) by discarding the coordination mechanism between the peers, relying only on the linear encoding to still provide an efficient content dissemination inside the swarm. Two approaches are explored, one applies the linear coding only at the sources, while the second relies on network coding. The performances provided are assessed in several significant scenarios, by simulations in OMNET++, considering the average download time as the main metric, other metrics being also taken into consideration. The results show that the first approach is not viable, while the one based on network coding allows an efficient data dissemination inside the swarm, for various underlying network topologies. The second approach is simulated using also topologies which favor certain groups of clients due to clustering. The results show that the entire swarm network is positively influenced in such cases.
Oxygen Stress and Superoxide Dismutases

The accumulation of dioxygen in Earth's atmosphere allowed for the evolution of aerobic organisms that use O2 as the terminal electron acceptor, thus providing a higher yield of energy compared with fermentation and anaerobic respiration. For example, in aerobic metabolism, the complete breakdown of one molecule of glucose yields a total of 38 molecules of ATP, whereas the anaerobic breakdown of this same glucose molecule to ethanol and CO, yields only 8 ATPs. In its ground state, molecular O2 (dioxygen) is relatively unreactive, yet it is capable of giving rise to lethal reactive ,excited states as free radicals and derivatives. Utilization of O2 proceeds most readily via a complete stepwise, fourelectron reduction to water during which partially reduced reactive intermediates are generated (Fig. 1). The reactive species of reduced dioxygen include the superoxide radical (. 02-), hydrogen peroxide (H202), and the hydroxyl radical (. OH). These and the physiologically energized form of dioxygen, singlet oxygen ('O2), are the biologically most important O2 species. An activation energy of approximately 22 kcal/mol is required to raise molecular O2 from its ground state to its first singlet state. In higher plants, this energy is readily obtained from light quanta via such transfer molecules as Chl (Foote, 1976). A11 of these activated oxygen species are extremely reactive and cytotoxic in a11 organisms. These highly reactive species can react with unsaturated fatty acids to cause peroxidation of essential membrane lipids in the plasmalemma or intracellular organelles. Peroxidation damage of the plasmalemma leads to leakage of cellular contents, rapid desiccation, and cell death. Intracellular membrane damage can affect respiratory activity in mitochondria, cause pigment breakdown, and cause loss of carbon-fixing ability in chloroplasts. Severa1 Calvin-cycle enzymes within chloroplasts are extremely sensitive to H202, and high levels of H202 (the product of superoxide dismutation) directly inhibit C02 fixation (Kaiser, 1979). H202 has also been shown to be active with mixed function oxidases in marking severa1 types of enzymes for proteolytic degradation (Fucci et al., 1983). Superoxide and H202 can react in a "Haber-Weiss" reaction to generate the hydroxyl radical ( + OH), which is the most potent oxidant known. The hydroxyl radical indiscriminately and rapidly attacks virtually a11 macromolecules, leading to seri-
High performance motion controller design for linear piezoelectric ceramic motors

This article presents a hybrid intelligent control and repetitive control design strategy for high performance motion control of linear piezoelectric ceramic motors. To compensate for the friction and hysteresis phenomenon in the piezoelectric motors, a radial basis function based neural network controller with PID controller is first applied as performance baseline for tracking periodic motion profiles. To further improve the periodic tracking performance, a discrete time repetitive controller coming from solving a particular solution of Bezout identity is then added to the feedback control system. The resultant hybrid controller consisting of neural controller, PID controller, and repetitive controller, is useful for tracking and disturbance rejection in motion control systems. The effectiveness of the proposed control strategy was verified through comparison of several tracking experiments on a linear piezoelectric ceramic motor.
Alk5-Mediated Transforming Growth Factor β Signaling Acts Upstream of Fibroblast Growth Factor 10 To Regulate the Proliferation and Maintenance of Dental Epithelial Stem Cells

ABSTRACT Mouse incisors grow continuously throughout life. This growth is supported by the division of dental epithelial stem cells that reside in the cervical loop region. Little is known about the maintenance and regulatory mechanisms of dental epithelial stem cells. In the present study, we investigated how transforming growth factor β (TGF-β) signaling-mediated mesenchymal-epithelial cell interactions control dental epithelial stem cells. We designed two approaches using incisor organ culture and bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU) pulse-chase experiments to identify and evaluate stem cell functions. We show that the loss of the TGF-β type I receptor (Alk5) in the cranial neural crest-derived dental mesenchyme severely affects the proliferation of TA (transit-amplifying) cells and the maintenance of dental epithelial stem cells. Incisors of Wnt1-Cre; Alk5fl/fl mice lost their ability to continue to grow in vitro. The number of BrdU label-retaining cells (LRCs) was dramatically reduced in Alk5 mutant mice. Fgf10, Fgf3, and Fgf9 signals in the dental mesenchyme were downregulated in Wnt1-Cre; Alk5fl/fl incisors. Strikingly, the addition of exogenous fibroblast growth factor 10 (FGF10) into cultured incisors rescued dental epithelial stem cells in Wnt1-Cre; Alk5fl/fl mice. Therefore, we propose that Alk5 functions upstream of Fgf10 to regulate TA cell proliferation and stem cell maintenance and that this signaling mechanism is crucial for stem cell-mediated tooth regeneration.
Primary empty sella: differences and similarities between children and adults

To identify possible differences between empty sella in children and adults we studied 43 subjects (age 13.6 ±5.4 years, range 4.1–27 years) with hypothalamic‐pituitary disorders and empty sella at magnetic resonance imaging. Pituitary function, presence of non‐endocrine symptoms, perinatal history, sellar volume, pituitary height, midline or intrasellar anatomical abnormalities were evaluated. Twenty subjects had isolated growth hormone deficiency, 17 multiple pituitary hormone deficiency and 6 puberty disorders (3 precocious puberty, 2 idiopathic delayed puberty, 1 Kallmann syndrome). The group with multiple pituitary hormone deficiency had a higher percentage of subjects with complete empty sella, i.e pituitary height < 2 mm (p= 0.016), or intrasellar anatomical abnormalities (p = 0.0002) than the other groups. The subjects with puberty disorders had a mean sellar volume higher than the other groups (p < 0.05). Apart from pituitary dysfunction, symptoms of the empty sella syndrome were infrequent (9.3% of cases) in our subjects. The age of our subjects, the frequent association between empty sella and pituitary dwarfism and the non‐enlarged sellae suggest a different aetiology, perhaps congenital, for empty sella in our subjects. As in adults, empty sella may be associated with both pituitary hypo‐ and hyperfunction.
Addition of fuzzy quantities: Disjunction-conjunction approach

This paper is subjected to the problem of algebraical operations over fuzzy quantities with rational values. The concept of the fuzzy quantity was introduced in [3] and [4] and applied e.g. in [5] and [6]. It represents one of possible models of uncertainty connected with rational numerical data. The elementary properties of the addition of fuzzy quantities were shown in [3] and further developed in [8]. It is also shown there that such conception of addition leads to some unconsistency with the usual notion of fuzzy sets. Another definition of the addition of fuzzy quantities, avoiding the mentioned discrepancies, is suggested and investigated below. It is shown there that the main properties of the addition of fuzzy quantities are analogous for both concepts of the operation. Namely, the fundamental group properties can be guaranteed only up to an equivalence relation.
Is the disruption of an N‐myristoyltransferase (NMT2) associated with hypoplastic testes?

Fabiola Quintero-Rivera, Natalia T. Leach, Albert de la Chapelle, James F. Gusella, Cynthia C. Morton, and David J. Harris* Massachusetts General Hospital, Center for Human Genetic Research, Boston, Massachusetts Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Departments of Obstetrics, Gynecology, Reproductive Biology and Pathology, Boston, Massachusetts Human Cancer Genetics Program, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio Division of Genetics, Children’s Hospital Boston, Boston, Massachusetts Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts The David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, Department of Pathology, Los Angeles, California
TAC 2009 Update Summarization Task of WUST

The TAC 2009 update summarization task is to generate not more than 100-words fluent summaries for the given document sets of newswire articles. The newswire articles are relevance to the same event topic, stated by title and narrative If we take the background information of the topic into consideration according to the topic statement, it will help to understand the content of the news articles document set comprehensively and accurately. In our system, we introduce the Wikipedia article, related to the topic, to provide such background information. The experiment results show that it can make encouraging improvement comparing to the run not taking Wikipedia article into consideration.
Presence of RD149 Deletions in M. tuberculosis Central Asian Strain1 Isolates Affect Growth and TNFα Induction in THP-1 Monocytes

Central Asian Strain 1 (CAS1) is the prevalent Mycobacterium tuberculosis genogroup in South Asia. CAS1 strains carry deletions in RD149 and RD152 regions. Significance of these deletions is as yet unknown. We compared CAS1 strains with RD149 and concurrent RD149-RD152 deletions with CAS1 strains without deletions and with the laboratory reference strain, M. tuberculosis H37Rv for growth and for induction of TNFα, IL6, CCL2 and IL10 in THP-1 cells. Growth of CAS1 strains with deletions was slower in broth (RD149; p = 0.024 and RD149-RD152; p = 0.025) than that of strains without deletions. CAS1 strains with RD149 deletion strains further showed reduced intracellular growth (p = 0.013) in THP-1 cells as compared with strains without deletions, and also as compared with H37Rv (p = 0.007) and with CAS1 RD149-RD152 deletion strains (p = 0.029). All CAS1 strains induced higher levels of TNFα and IL10 secretion in THP-1 cells than H37Rv. Additionally, CAS1 strains with RD149 deletions induced more TNFα secretion than those without deletions (p = 0.013). CAS1 RD149 deletion strains from extrapulmonary sources showed more rapid growth and induced lower levels of TNFα and IL6 secretion in THP-1 cells than isolates from pulmonary sources. This data suggests that presence of RD149 reduces growth and increases the induction of TNFα in host cells by CAS1 strains. Differences observed for extrapulmonary strains may indicate an adaptation which increases potential for dissemination and tropism outside the lung. Overall, we hypothesise that RD149 deletions generate genetic diversity within strains and impact interactions of CAS1 strains with host cells with important clinical consequences.
Chronic administration of taurine to aged rats improves the electrical and contractile properties of skeletal muscle fibers.

A reduction of resting chloride conductance (GCl) and a decrease of the voltage threshold for contraction are observed during aging in rat skeletal muscle. The above alterations are also observed in muscle of adult rat after taurine depletion. As lower levels of taurine were found by others in aged rats compared to young rats, we tested the hypothesis that a depletion of taurine may contribute to the alteration of the electrical and contractile properties we found in skeletal muscle during aging. This was accomplished by evaluating the potential benefit of a pharmacological treatment with the amino acid. To this aim 25-mo-old Wistar rats were chronically treated (2-3 mo) with taurine (1 g/kg p.o. daily) and the effects of such a treatment were evaluated in vitro on the passive and active membrane electrical properties of extensor digitorum longus muscle fibers by means of current-clamp intracellular microelectrode technique. Excitation-contraction coupling was also evaluated by measuring the voltage threshold for contraction with the intracellular microelectrode "point" voltage clamp method. In parallel muscle and blood taurine contents were determined by high-performance liquid chromatography. Taurine supplementation significantly raised taurine content in muscle toward that found in adult rats. Supplementation also significantly increased GCl vs. the adult value, in parallel the excitability characteristics (threshold current and latency) related to this parameter were ameliorated. The increase of GCl induced by taurine was accompanied by a restoration of the pharmacological sensitivity to the R(+) enantiomer of 2-(p-chlorophenoxy) propionic acid, a specific chloride channel ligand. In parallel also the protein kinase C-mediated modulation of the channel was restored; in fact the potency of 4-beta-phorbol 12, 13-dibutyrate in reducing GCl was lower in taurine-treated muscles vs. untreated aged, being rather similar to that observed in adult. The treatment also improved the mechanical threshold for contraction of striated fibers which in aged rats is shifted toward more negative potentials, moving it toward the adult values. Our results suggest that the reduction of taurine content could play a role in the alteration of electrical and contractile properties observed during aging. These findings may indicate a potential application of taurine in ensuring normal muscle function in the elderly.
La perception de l'utilité de l'information volontaire dans les rapports annuels par les analystes financiers tunisiens

The voluntary information disclosed in the annual reports seems to become more important. In the setting of this exploratory research, we study, through an investigation by questionnaire, the perception of the utility of the voluntary information in the annual reports by the Tunisian financial analysts. Results of this investigation demonstrate that the financial analysts discern that the politics of voluntary disclosure in the annual reports is minimalist. Results show, also, the interest that carries these analysts to nonfinancial and budgetary indicators and the utility of the management report to their decision making.
Allowing multi-hops in cellular networks: an economic analysis

Extending the coverage of cellular networks in an ad hoc fashion appears as a promising solution for the future. This paper considers the economic aspects of such an hybrid network, especially focusing on incentives: what subscription discount should be granted to users who accept to transfer traffic with respect to users who refuse it? Does offering such an option improve the net benefit of a wireless Internet access provider? Based on models for user preferences, we establish that allowing multi-hops in cellular networks can actually be profitable to the provider, especially in densed regions, since it permits to install fewer access points to cover a region, and that economy in terms of installation and maintenance costs exceeds the eventual loss in revenue due to fee discounts.
Temporal and Spatiotemporal Models for Ambulance Demand

Ambulance demand estimation at fine time and location scales is critical for fleet management and dynamic deployment. Large-scale datasets in this setting typically exhibit complex temporal dynamics and sparsity at high resolutions. We describe two new methods to address these challenges, and provide temporal and spatio-temporal ambulance demand estimations for Toronto, Canada. First, we forecast bi-hourly call arrival rates using an integer-valued time series model with a dynamic latent factor structure. We incorporate covariate information as constraints on the factor loadings; we also smooth the factor levels and loadings using splines. Next, we adapt finite Gaussian mixture models to estimate the spatial distribution of ambulance demand over two-hour intervals. The mixture component distributions are assumed common across all time periods while the mixture weights evolve over time. This promotes efficient learning of the spatial structure, and provides a flexible framework for incorporating covariate information to model temporal dynamics. Temporal seasonalities are captured by constraining the mixture weights; location-specific temporal dynamics are integrated by applying conditionally autoregressive priors to the mixture weights. Both methods demonstrate significant advantages over the current industry practice.
Inconsistency in translation lookaside buffer

A multiprocessor which shares the memory among processors and uses multiples translation lookaside buffers (TLBs) can face various problems. One such problem is the problem of inconsistency which may occur when the page table entry (PTE) is updated because of the multiple copies of same page table entry in various TLBs. Commonly, the inconsistency problem exists in virtually tagged caches, which keep page table entry information, like reference bit, dirty bit and protection bit, in every cache line. This paper describes the problem of translation lookaside buffer inconsistency in multiprocessors with shared memory. First of all problem statement is given. Then paper presents the argument that inconsistency problem exist even when in cache address translation removes a separate translation lookaside buffer. Later, the TLB inconsistency classification and causes of inconsistency because of operating system operations are discussed.
Supplemental material to : Genome sequence of the pattern forming Paenibacillus vortex bacterium reveals potential for thriving in complex environments

1.1 Complex modular organization When grown on semi-solid surfaces, P. vortex organize its colonies by generating rotating modules (termed vortices), each consisting of many cells, which are used as building blocks for the colony as a whole [1-17] as is illustrated in Figure S1. Each vortex is composed of many cells that swarm collectively around their common center at about 10 micron/sec (see Movie S1). The vortices vary in size from tens to millions of bacteria, according to their location in the colony. The cells in the vortex replicate, and the vortex expands in size and moves outward as a unit, leaving behind a trail of motile but usually non-replicating cells – the vortex branch. The dynamics of the vortices is quite complicated and includes attraction, repulsion, merging and splitting of vortices. Yet, from this complex, seemingly chaotic dynamics, a colony with complex but non-arbitrary organization emerges. The bacteria in each vortex also have high length variability. Transmission electron microscope (TEM) observations revealed that the elongated cells have several chromosomes.
The localization of Amyloid beta in mice brain

1) Introduction Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most common cause of dementia worldwide and a chronic, progressive neurodegenerative disorder. AD is characterized by early memory loss, followed by the gradual decline of other cognitive functions; impairment in visuospatial skills, complex cognition, language, emotion and personality (jurgen et al,. 2008). Although AD was first described in 1906 and since then extensive researches have done, the exact cause of AD remains unclear and there's no cure and even effective treatment yet (Akiyama et al,. 2000). More than 20 million people worldwide are suffered from AD (Brookmeyer et al., 2007). Furthermore, because of the increasing life expectancy of human population, the number of AD patients is predicted to double throughout the world on average every 5 to 6 years (Ziengler-Graham et al,. 2008). AD patients need care of nursing homes or institution and therefore the social and economic costs for AD patients are enormous. Furthermore, AD is one of the main causes of reduced life quality (Wimo et al,. 2007). As a result, understanding AD aetiology and developing effective treatment for AD is critical problem for human beings. As one of instruments to solve this problem, there are gene-targeted and transgenic mice. Although no mouse model can recapitulate AD pathology completely, this technology is invaluable to model various aspects of AD neuropathology (Wong et al,. 2002). As a hallmark lesion of AD, beta-amyloid plaques and neurofibrillary tangles (NFT) are suggested. Amyloid-beta plaques contain the polypeptide amyloid-beta which is derived from amyloid precursor protein (APP). While neurofibrillary tangle is consist of hyperphosphorylated aggregates of the microtubule-associated protein 2002) suggests the accumulation of amyloid-beta is the primary influence driving AD pathology and it is supposed that the accumulation of amyloid-beta results from an imbalance between amyloid-beta production and amyloid-beta clearance. However, the
A Genetic Risk Score Is Associated With Incident Cardiovascular Disease and Coronary Artery Calcium: The Framingham Heart Study

Background— Limited data exist regarding the use of a genetic risk score (GRS) for predicting risk of incident cardiovascular disease (CVD) in US-based samples. Methods and Results— By using findings from recent genome-wide association studies, we constructed GRSs composed of 13 genetic variants associated with myocardial infarction or other manifestations of coronary heart disease (CHD) and 102 genetic variants associated with CHD or its major risk factors. We also updated the 13 single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) GRSs with 16 SNPs recently discovered by genome-wide association studies. We estimated the association, discrimination, and risk reclassification of each GRS for incident cardiovascular events and prevalent coronary artery calcium (CAC). In analyses adjusted for age, sex, CVD risk factors, and parental history of CVD, the 13 SNP GRSs were significantly associated with incident hard CHD (hazard ratio, 1.07; 95% CI, 1.00–1.15; P=0.04), CVD (hazard ratio per allele, 1.05; 95% CI, 1.01–1.09; P=0.03), and high CAC (defined as >75th age- and sex-specific percentile; odds ratio per allele, 1.18; 95% CI, 1.11–1.26; P=3.4×10−7). The GRS did not improve discrimination for incident CHD or CVD but led to modest improvements in risk reclassification. However, significant improvements in discrimination and risk reclassification were observed for the prediction of high CAC. The addition of 16 newly discovered SNPs to the 13 SNP GRSs did not significantly modify these results. Conclusions— A GRS composed of 13 SNPs associated with coronary disease is an independent predictor of cardiovascular events and of high CAC, modestly improves risk reclassification for incident CHD, and significantly improves discrimination for high CAC. The addition of recently discovered SNPs did not significantly improve the performance of this GRS.