Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Evolution of a New Function by Degenerative Mutation in Cephalochordate Steroid Receptors

Gene duplication is the predominant mechanism for the evolution of new genes. Major existing models of this process assume that duplicate genes are redundant; degenerative mutations in one copy can therefore accumulate close to neutrally, usually leading to loss from the genome. When gene products dimerize or interact with other molecules for their functions, however, degenerative mutations in one copy may produce repressor alleles that inhibit the function of the other and are therefore exposed to selection. Here, we describe the evolution of a duplicate repressor by simple degenerative mutations in the steroid hormone receptors (SRs), a biologically crucial vertebrate gene family. We isolated and characterized the SRs of the cephalochordate Branchiostoma floridae, which diverged from other chordates just after duplication of the ancestral SR. The B. floridae genome contains two SRs: BfER, an ortholog of the vertebrate estrogen receptors, and BfSR, an ortholog of the vertebrate receptors for androgens, progestins, and corticosteroids. BfSR is specifically activated by estrogens and recognizes estrogen response elements (EREs) in DNA; BfER does not activate transcription in response to steroid hormones but binds EREs, where it competitively represses BfSR. The two genes are partially coexpressed, particularly in ovary and testis, suggesting an ancient role in germ cell development. These results corroborate previous findings that the ancestral steroid receptor was estrogen-sensitive and indicate that, after duplication, BfSR retained the ancestral function, while BfER evolved the capacity to negatively regulate BfSR. Either of two historical mutations that occurred during BfER evolution is sufficient to generate a competitive repressor. Our findings suggest that after duplication of genes whose functions depend on specific molecular interactions, high-probability degenerative mutations can yield novel functions, which are then exposed to positive or negative selection; in either case, the probability of neofunctionalization relative to gene loss is increased compared to existing models.
Neural Entrainment and Perception

Neural oscillations are intrinsically rhythmic. With rhythmic stimulation, the endogenous neural oscillations become phase-locked to the external rhythm, resulting in oscillatory and stimulus-dependent changes in neural excitability. This phenomenon, known as neural entrainment, serves as a non-invasive method to affect brain activity that mediates rhythmic information processing, perception, attention, and other related cognitive functions. Future studies on neural entrainment will delineate the functional role of neural oscillations in perception and cognition, and may contribute to the diagnosis and intervention of cognitive disorders.
Effect of low-intensity direct current on expression of vascular endothelial growth factor and nitric oxide in diabetic foot ulcers.

This study investigated the effect of low-intensity cathodal direct current on the release of plasma vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and nitric oxide (NO) in diabetic foot ulceration. Twenty type 2 diabetic patients with foot ulceration and thirteen age-matched healthy subjects were enrolled. Patients were randomly assigned to electrical stimulation (ES) (n = 10) or sham ES (placebo, n = 10) groups. The ES group received cathodal direct current (1.48 +/– 0.98 mA) for 1 h/d,3 d/wk for 4 wk (12 sessions). Blood samples were collected for VEGF and NO measurement in the first and last treatment sessions before and after intervention. Wound surface area and skin temperature were measured at the 1st, 6th, and 12th sessions. VEGF significantly increased in the ES group compared with the placebo group after the 1st (106.61 +/– 79.50 and 40.88 +/– 26.20, respectively) and 12th sessions (109.28 +/– 67.30 and 34.79 +/– 13.20, respectively). NO level also increased significantly in the ES group compared with the placebo group after the 12th session (44.21 +/– 14.00 and 35.25 +/–11.00, respectively). The increase of skin temperature was significantly higher in the ES group than the placebo group. Application of low-intensity ES increases the expression of VEGF and NO, which may lead to improved blood flow and tissue temperature and, consequently, wound healing in diabetic foot ulceration.
The consequences of non-starch polysaccharide solubility and inclusion level on the health and performance of weaned pigs challenged with enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli

The inclusion of insoluble NSP (iNSP) in weaner pig diets has been reported to decrease post-weaning colibacillosis (PWC). Conversely, soluble NSP (sNSP) have been shown to exacerbate PWC. The present study investigated the effect of NSP solubility and inclusion level on the health and performance of newly weaned pigs challenged with enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC), using NSP sources known not to affect digesta viscosity, in a 2 × 2 × 2 factorial combination of NSP solubility (iNSP v. sNSP), inclusion level (low (L; 50 g/kg) v. high (H; 150 g/kg)) and ETEC challenge (infected v. sham). Infection had no effect on pig health, but reduced performance to a larger extent in pigs on the L diets compared with those on the H diets. The inclusion of sNSP significantly decreased the occurrence of diarrhoea (P < 0·001) and improved gut health, as indicated by a lower caecal digesta pH (P = 0·008) and increased (P = 0·002) Lactobacillus:coliform ratio, when compared with the iNSP diet on day 14 post-weaning. There was no effect of NSP solubility on ETEC shedding, digesta viscosity or pig performance. Pigs on the H diets had fewer cases of diarrhoea and shed fewer ETEC than those on the L diets. Increasing NSP inclusion significantly increased colonic Lactobacillus:coliform ratio, volatile fatty acid concentration and caecal digesta viscosity, but decreased performance. These results suggest that sNSP per se are not detrimental to pig health and that increasing the concentration of NSP in weaner diets that do not increase digesta viscosity may have a beneficial effect on gut health and protect against PWC.
Theory of ferromagnetism in (A, Mn)B semiconductors

Abstract A brief review of theory of ferromagnetism of diluted magnetic semiconductors of the form (A, Mn) B based on the double-exchange model is first given. A systematic investigation of the phenomena extending the current theory is outlined. We begin with an investigation of regions of instability of the non-magnetic towards the ferromagnetic state of a system of Mn atoms doped in an AB-type semiconductor. A self-consistent many-body theory of the ferromagnetic state is then developed, going beyond the mean-field approaches by including fluctuations of the Mn spins and the itinerant hole gas. A functional theory suitable for computation of system properties such as the Curie temperature as a function of the hole and the Mn concentrations, the spin current, etc., is formulated.
A Multimodal Approach to Assessing User Experiences with Agent Helpers

The study of agent helpers using linguistic strategies such as vague language and politeness has often come across obstacles. One of these is the quality of the agent's voice and its lack of appropriate fit for using these strategies. The first approach of this article compares human vs. synthesised voices in agents using vague language. This approach analyses the 60,000-word text corpus of participant interviews to investigate the differences of user attitudes towards the agents, their voices and their use of vague language. It discovers that while the acceptance of vague language is still met with resistance in agent instructors, using a human voice yields more positive results than the synthesised alternatives. The second approach in this article discusses the development of a novel multimodal corpus of video and text data to create multiple analyses of human-agent interaction in agent-instructed assembly tasks. The second approach analyses user spontaneous facial actions and gestures during their interaction in the tasks. It found that agents are able to elicit these facial actions and gestures and posits that further analysis of this nonverbal feedback may help to create a more adaptive agent. Finally, the approaches used in this article suggest these can contribute to furthering the understanding of what it means to interact with software agents.
A nonparametric approach to estimate volatility and correlation dynamics

We evaluate the performance of a nonparametric method based on Fourier analysis to estimate volatility and correlation as functions of time. Being based on integration rather than on differentiation, the method naturally exploits the inhomogeneous time structure of the high frequency prices and does not required any prior data manipulation. Through Monte Carlo experiments, we show that the method can effectively reconstruct the volatility trajectory of both univariate and bivariate models and it is also able to detect the temporal dependencies between two simulated diffusion processes. On the other hand, our study also emphasizes the sensitivity of the approach to some key quantities related to its numerical implementation.
On the granulosity of summative kernels

In this paper, we propose granulosity as a new index to characterize the nonspecificity of a summative kernel. This index is intended to reflect the behavior of a kernel in the usual signal processing applications. We show, in different experiments, that two kernels having the same granulosity have very similar behavior. This granulosity-based adaptation is compared to other adaptation methods. These experiments highlight the ability of the granulosity index to measure the spreading and collecting properties of a summative kernel.
CLUSTER BASED CROSS LAYER INTELLIGENT SERVICE DISCOVERY FOR MOBILE AD-HOC NETWORKS

The ability to discover services in Mobile Ad hoc Network (MANET) is a major prerequisite. Cluster based cross layer intelligent service discovery for MANET (CBISD) is cluster based architecture, caching of semantic details of services and intelligent forwarding using network layer mechanisms. The cluster based architecture using semantic knowledge provides scalability and accuracy. Also, the minimum cluster forwarding (MCF) algorithm will find the remote services. It reduces network traffic and increases bandwidth utilization. The ability to discover services in Mobile Ad hoc Network (MANET) is a major prerequisite. Cluster based cross layer intelligent service discovery for MANET (CBISD) is cluster based architecture, caching of semantic details of services and intelligent forwarding using network layer mechanisms. The cluster based architecture using semantic knowledge provides scalability and accuracy. Also, the minimum cluster forwarding (MCF) algorithm will find the remote services. It reduces network traffic and increases bandwidth utilization.
Tactile Imaging of Breast Masses First Clinical Report

Hypothesis: Tactile imaging can accurately document the palpable extent of breast masses. Design: Prospective nonrandomized interventional trial, comparing mass size estimates from preoperative physical examination, ultrasound, and tactile imaging with post-operative measurements of the resected masses. Setting: A community ambulatory surgical center and a university hospital tertiary care center. Patients: Twenty-three women undergoing surgical ex-cision of breast masses. All subjects had a single, palpable , dominant mass, 0.5 to 3 cm in diameter. Intervention: Prior to surgery, the size of each mass was estimated from tactile imaging using an array of pressure sensors that is stroked over the mass. Size was also estimated by ultrasound and physical examination. Immediately following resection of the mass, it was bisected, and the palpable extent was measured with a caliper. Main Outcome Measure: Maximum mass diameter estimates from ultrasound, physical examination, and tactile imaging, compared with the resected measurement. Results: Tactile imaging estimates were repeatable (7.5% mean SD for multiple estimates of the same mass) and show good agreement with the resected measurements. Mean absolute error was 13%, and linear regression with zero intercept had a slope of 0.94, r 2 =0.51. Physical examination and ultrasound estimates had respective mean absolute errors of 46% and 34%, regression slopes of 1.27 and 0.89, and r 2 =0.28 and 0.37. Conclusions: Tactile imaging can provide accurate and reproducible estimates of the size of breast masses. This capability can enhance cancer surveillance for patients with benign masses (eg, due to scarring or fibrocystic changes) because previous work suggests that reliable detection of a difference in mass size by physical examination requires a 40% change in diameter. In contrast, this study suggests tactile imaging requires only a 15% change (95% confidence interval). S URGEONS ARE frequently responsible for diagnosis and surveillance for breast cancer. 1,2 Practice guidelines recommend physical examination of the breasts at frequent intervals, using manual palpation to detect new masses and changes in breast texture. 3,4 Unfortunately, physical examination may be difficult in the considerable fraction of cases that present with benign breast masses. Such masses may be due to normal glandular anatomy, fibrocystic tissue , and surgical or biopsy scars. 5 These conditions make it problematic to detect new nodules or changes in existing masses that might signal malignant transformation. This is especially troublesome because it may be difficult to differentiate these conditions by mammography or ul-trasonography. 6-8 The inability to detect changes in …
BRAIDINGS OF POISSON GROUPS WITH QUASITRIANGULAR DUAL

Let g be a quasitriangular Lie bialgebra over a eld k of characteristic zero, and let g ∗ be its dual Lie bialgebra. We prove that the formal Poisson group F((g ∗ )) is a braided Hopf algebra. More generally, we prove that if ( Uh;R ) is any quasitriangular QUEA, then ( Uh ' ;Ad(R) � Uh '⊗Uh ' ) | where Uhis dened by Drinfeld | is a braided QFSHA. The rst result is then just a consequence of the existence of a quasitriangular quantization (Uh;R) of U(g) and of the fact that Uhis a quantization of F((g ∗ )).
MSP: A Novel Session Maintenance Protocol

In this paper, we propose a new session maintenance protocol called managed session protocol (MSP). It provides services such as automatic restart of transport session when down, multi-session and multi-homing. As a result, MSP offers many advantages for upper layer applications (ULP). For instance, border gateway protocol (BGP) can use MSP in order to automatic set up multiple sessions between a pair of peers. In addition, MSP can be used without re-compiling or re-linking existing binaries and without making any kernel modifications. We have verified relevant properties focused on maintenance features of MSP by using model checking techniques. In addition, we have carried out an implementation of MSP in the framework of an open source router platform so-called extensible open router platform (XORP). We present as well as both a BGP re-implementation using MSP and some performance analysis
Zoonotic Genotype of Giardia intestinalis Detected in a Ferret

Giardia intestinalis has been found in a variety of mammals, including humans, and consists of host-specific and zoonotic genotypes. There has been only 1 study of G. intestinalis infection in weasels, but the genotype of its isolate remains unclear. In this study, we report the isolation of Giardia in a ferret exhibited at a pet shop. The isolate was analyzed genetically to validate the possibility of zoonotic transmission. Giardia diagnostic fragments of the small subunit ribosomal RNA, β-giardin, and glutamate dehydrogenase genes were amplified from the ferret isolate and sequenced to reveal the phylogenetic relationships between it and other Giardia species or genotypes of G. intestinalis reported previously. The results showed that the ferret isolate represented the genetic group A-I in assemblage A, which could be a causative agent of human giardiasis.
A 180-GHz CMOS down-converter MMIC for atmospheric remote sensing applications

In this paper, we study the feasibility of using CMOS circuit blocks for designing future light weight, small in size atmospheric remote sensing receivers. A compact CMOS down-converter is designed which operates from 160 to 188 GHz and includes a sub-harmonically pumped I/Q resistive mixer, two IF amplifiers and a voltage controlled oscillator (VCO) with LO buffer. A measured down-conversion gain of +2.6 dB is achieved with a total dc power consumption of 152 mW using the nominal supply of +1.2 V. The measurement results show a 3 dB IF bandwidth from 1 to 5 GHz and the VCO tuning range is from 85 to 89 GHz. The designed CMOS MMIC down-converter including the probing pads occupies a silicon area of 0.575 mm2.
Private information retrieval in the presence of malicious failures

In the application domain of online information services such as online census information, health records and real-time stock quotes, there are at least two fundamental challenges: the protection of users' privacy and the assurance of service availability. We present a fault-tolerant scheme for private information retrieval (FT-PIR) that protects users' privacy and ensure service provision in the presence of malicious server failures. An error detection algorithm is introduced into this scheme to detect the corrupted results from servers. The analytical and experimental results show that the FT-PIR scheme can tolerate malicious server failures effectively and prevent any information of users front being leaked to attackers. This new scheme does not rely on any unproven cryptographic premise and the availability of tamperproof hardware. An implementation of the FT-PIR scheme on a distributed database system suggests just a modest level of performance overhead.
Performance analysis of producer/consumer protocols over IEEE802.11 wireless links

Thanks to recent technological advances, wireless networks are beginning to represent an interesting opportunity for factory communication systems. Among the off-the-shelves solutions for radio communications, the IEEE802.11 technology is one of the most promising. However, industrial applications typically impose severe requirements in terms of both real-time performances and dependability. We consider one of the most popular models of field-bus protocols, namely the producer-consumer, and study the possibility of implementing it on top of IEEE802.11, protocol suite. After a description of how the producer-consumer services could be mapped onto IEEE802.11, we introduce an analytical model, which enables us to evaluate two important performance indexes: the update time jitter and the mean alarm latency. The analysis is validated by means of numerical simulations.
Factorization Approach to Structured Low-Rank Approximation with Applications

We consider the problem of approximating an affinely structured matrix, for example a Hankel matrix, by a low-rank matrix with the same structure. This problem occurs in system identification, signal processing and computer algebra, among others. We impose the low-rank by modeling the approximation as a product of two factors with reduced dimension. The structure of the low-rank model is enforced by introducing a penalty term in the objective function. The proposed local optimization algorithm is able to solve the weighted structured low-rank approximation problem, as well as to deal with the cases of missing or fixed elements. In contrast to approaches based on kernel representations (in linear algebraic sense), the proposed algorithm is designed to address the case of small targeted rank. We compare it to existing approaches on numerical examples of system identification, approximate greatest common divisor problem, and symmetric tensor decomposition and demonstrate its consistently good performance.
Bird pollination in an angraecoid orchid on Reunion Island (Mascarene Archipelago, Indian Ocean).

BACKGROUND AND AIMS Although numerous angraecoid orchids in Madagascar display typical sphingophilous syndrome (i.e. white, nectariferous, long-spurred flowers, producing a strong scent at the crepuscule that is attractive to moths), three species of Angraecum in Reunion, belonging to the endemic section Hadrangis, have atypical unscented and short-spurred flowers. The aim of the study was to investigate the implication of plant-pollinator interaction on the evolution of floral morphology of these peculiar island floral forms. METHODS The flower morphology of A. striatum (one of the three section Hadrangis species) was investigated by performing a set of floral measures, and the reproductive biology was investigated by a set of hand pollination experiments. Natural pollinators were observed by means of a digital video camera. Pollinator efficiency (pollen removal and deposition) and reproductive success (fruit set) were quantified once a week in natural field conditions during the 2005 flowering season (i.e. from January to March). KEY RESULTS The orchid is self-compatible but requires a pollinator to achieve fruit set. Only one pollinator was observed, the endemic white-eye Zosterops borbonicus (Zosteropidae). These birds perched on inflorescences, and probed most fresh-looking flowers on each plant for nectar. Nectar was both abundant (averaging 7.7 microL) and dilute (averaging 9.7 % sugar in sucrose equivalents). Birds were mostly active between 0830 and 0930 h. Visits to plants were extremely short, lasting from 9 to 27 s. At the study site, 60.9 % of flowers had pollen removed, and 46.4 % had pollinia deposited on stigmas. The proportion of flowers that initiated a fruit averaged 20.6 % in natural conditions. CONCLUSIONS For the first time, a bird-pollinated orchid is described from a sub-tribe that is mainly specialized for moth pollination. This study documents a morphological shift in flowers in response to pollinator adaptations in the insular context of the Mascarene Archipelago.
Bilateral idiopathic orbital inflammation 3 years before systemic Wegener’s granulomatosis in a 7-year-old girl

Wegener’s granulomatosis (WG) is a necrotizing granulomatous vasculitis characterized by the involvement of the upper or lower airways, lungs, and kidneys, but it can affect almost any organ including the orbit. WG is rare in childhood. This case report describes a 7-year-old girl who presented bilateral idiophatic orbital inflammation and antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibodies-negative titres. Computed tomography scan and magnetic resonance imaging showed enlargement of both lacrimal glands with infiltration. Treatment with corticosteroids achieved remission of the disease. Three years later, she developed a systemic affectation with tracheal stenosis, pulmonary affectation, renal failure, and respiratory tract mucosa inflammation. Lacrimal gland biopsy showed perivascular nonspecific granulomas and ANCA titres remain negative. Treatment with corticosteroids and cyclophosphamide was done. A relapse occurred 2 years later, with complete remission with antitumor necrosis factor-alpha. No other symptoms have appeared after 9 years of follow-up. Early diagnosis and treatment is crucial to increase the survival rate in these patients.