Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Chemical and botanical characterization of Chilean propolis and biological activity on cariogenic bacteria Streptococcus mutans and Streptococcus sobrinus

Propolis is a non-toxic natural substance with multiple pharmacological properties including anti-cancer, antioxidant, fungicidal, antibacterial, antiviral, and anti-inflammatory among others. The aim of this study was to determine the chemical and botanical characterization of Chilean propolis samples and to evaluate their biological activity against the cariogenic bacteria Streptococcus mutans and Streptococcus sobrinus. Twenty propolis samples were obtained from beekeeping producers from the central and southern regions of Chile. The botanical profile was determined by palynological analysis. Total phenolic contents were determined using colorimetric assays. Reverse phase HPLC and HPLC-MS were used to determine the chemical composition. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) was determined on S. mutans and S. sobrinus. All propolis samples were dominated by structures from native plant species. The characterization by HPLC/MS, evidenced the presence of quercetin, myricetin, kaempferol, rutine, pinocembrin, coumaric acid, caffeic acid and caffeic acid phenethyl ester, that have already been described in these propolis with conventional HPLC. Although all propolis samples inhibited the mutans streptococci growth, it was observed a wide spectrum of action (MIC 0.90 to 8.22 μg mL−1). Given that results it becomes increasingly evident the need of standardization procedures, where we combine both the determination of botanical and the chemical characterization of the extracts. Research conducted to date, describes a promising effectiveness of propolis in the prevention of caries and other diseases of the oral cavity, making it necessary to develop studies to identify and understand the therapeutic targets or mechanisms of molecular action of the various compounds present on them.
Intercell Interference Coordination in OFDMA Networks and in the 3GPP Long Term Evolution System

Intercell interference coordination (ICIC) in orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) networks in general and in the 3GPP Long Term Evolution system in particular has received much attention both from the academia and the standardization communities. Understanding the trade-offs associated with ICIC mechanisms is important, because it helps identify the architecture and protocol support that allows practical systems to realize potential performance gains. In this paper we review some of the recent advances in ICIC research and discuss the assumptions, advantages and limitations of some of the proposed mechanisms. We then proceed to describe the architecture and protocol support for ICIC in the 3GPP LTE system. We make the point that the 3GPP standard is formed in a flexible way such that network operators can employ the most suitable ICIC mechanism tailored to their actual deployment scenario, traffic situation and preferred performance target.
Coordinated contractions effectively expel water from the aquiferous system of a freshwater sponge

SUMMARY In response to mechanical stimuli the freshwater sponge Ephydatia muelleri (Demospongiae, Haplosclerida, Spongillidae) carries out a series of peristaltic-like contractions that is effective in expelling clumps of waste material from the aquiferous system. Rates of contraction depend on the region of tissue they are propagating through: 0.3–1 μm s–1 in the peripheral canals, 1–4 μm s–1 in central canals, and 6–122 μm s–1 in the osculum. Faster events include twitches of the entire sponge choanosome and contraction of the sheet-like apical pinacoderm that forms the outer surface of the animal. Contraction events are temporally and spatially coordinated. Constriction of the tip of the osculum leads to dilation of excurrent canals; fields of ostia in the apical pinacoderm close in unison just prior to contraction of the choanosome, apical pinacoderm and osculum. Relaxation returns the osculum, canals and the apical pinacoderm to their normal state, and three such coordinated `inflation–contraction' responses typically follow a single stimulus. Cells in the mesohyl arrest crawling as a wave of contraction passes, suggesting an extracellular signal may pass between cells. Bundles of actin filaments traverse endopinacocytes of the apical pinacoderm. Actin-dense plaques join actin bundles in adjacent pinacocytes to form continuous tracts spanning the whole sponge. The orchestrated and highly repeatable series of contractions illustrates that cellular sponges are capable of coordinated behavioural responses even in the absence of neurons and true muscle. Propagation of the events through the pinacocytes also illustrates the presence of a functional epithelium in cellular sponges. These results suggest that control over a hydrostatic skeleton evolved prior to the origin of nerves and true muscle.
AOP AND DYNAMIC COMPONENT ADAPTATION

The use of Commercial-Off-The-Shelf components in the development of software systems is supposed to result in a reduction of development costs and time by promoting reusability. On the contrary, due to the Black-Box nature they exhibit, the use of COTS products may result in a burden for developers as continuous re-adaptation may be required along the software life-cycle or even at runtime if the nature of the system demands it. In this work we consider AOP techniques and mechanisms in order to alleviate this situation, proposing an AOP-based adaptation framework design.
Malware Analysis and attribution using Genetic Information

As organizations become ever more dependent on networked operations, they are increasingly vulnerable to attack by a variety of attackers, including criminals, terrorists and nation states using cyber attacks. New malware attacks, including viruses, Trojans, and worms, are constantly and rapidly emerging threats. However, attackers often reuse code and techniques from previous attacks. Both by recognizing the reused elements from previous attacks and by detecting patterns in the types of modification and reuse observed, we can more rapidly develop defenses, make hypotheses about the source of the malware, and predict and prepare to defend against future attacks. We achieve these objectives in Malware Analysis and Attribution using Genetic Information (MAAGI) by adapting and extending concepts from biology and linguistics. First, analyzing the “genetics” of malware (i.e., reverse engineered representations of the original program) provides critical information about the program that is not available by looking only at the executable program. Second, the evolutionary process of malware (i.e., the transformation from one species of malware to another) can provide insights into the ancestry of malware, characteristics of the attacker, and where future attacks might come from and what they might look like. Third, functional linguistics is the study of the intent behind communicative acts; its application to malware characterization can support the study of the intent behind malware behaviors. To this point in the program, we developed a system that uses a range of reverse engineering techniques, including static, dynamic, behavioral, and functional analysis that clusters malware into families. We are also able to determine the malware lineage in some situations. Using behavioral and functional analysis, we are also able to identify a number of functions and purposes of malware.
Neuroanatomy of behavior

Poglavlje zapocinje uvodnim napomenama i podjelom moždane kore covjeka. Zatim se detaljnije opisuje 5 glavnih funkcionalnih tipova moždane kore: limbicni, paralimbicni, unimodalni i heteromodalni asocijacijski, idiotipski (primarni osjetni/motoricki) korteks, te uloga heteromodalnih asocijacijskih podrucja u intermedijarnom procesiranju. U drugom dijelu poglavlja opisani su ustroj, funkcija i važniji poremecaji 5 glavnih neuronskih mreža moždane kore covjeka: mreže za prepoznavanje lica i objekata s epicentrima u lateralnom temporalnom i temporopolarnom korteksu, mreže prostorne pozornosti s epicentrima u stražnjemu parijetalnom korteksu, ceonom podrucju za ocne pokrete i cingularnom girusu, mreže jezicnih sposobnosti s epicentrima u Wernickeovu i Brokinu podrucju, mreže sposobnosti pamcenja i emocija s epicentrima u entorinalno-hipokampalnom podrucju i amigdaloinom kompleksu jezgara, te mreže izvrsnih funkcija i nadzora ponasanja s epicentrima u lateralnom prefrontalnom i orbitofrontalnom korteksu. Poglavlje zavrsava zavrsnim napomenama i preporucenom literaturom.
Metrics for Describing Soft-Tissue Artefact and Its Effect on Pose, Size, and Shape of Marker Clusters

In human movement analysis based on stereophotogrammetry, bone pose is reconstructed by observing a cluster of skin markers. Each marker undergoes a displacement relative to the underlying bone that is regarded as an artefact (soft-tissue artefact, STA) since it affects accuracy in bone pose estimation. This paper proposes a set of metrics for the statistical description of the STA and its effects on cluster pose, size, and shape, with the intent of contributing to a clearer knowledge of its characteristics, and consequently of setting the bases for the development of more accurate bone pose estimators than presently available. Skin marker clusters behave as deformable bodies in motion relative to the underlying bone. Their motion can be described, based on Procrustes analysis, as the composition of four independent transformations: translation and rotation (rigid motion, RM), and change in size and shape (nonrigid motion, NRM). Statistical parameters describing the time histories of both the individual marker STA and the cluster transformations listed earlier were defined. For demonstration purposes, data collected ex vivo were used. The lower limbs of three cadavers were made to undergo movements with prevailing flexion-extension components. Femur pose was accurately measured using pin markers and the movement of twelve thigh skin markers observed relative to it. The STAs of all possible clusters of four skin markers were analysed. RM and NRM exhibited similar magnitudes and therefore impact on bone pose estimation. Thus bone pose estimators should not account for NRM only, as is normally the case, but also for RM.
Enchanced Torque Controlled Balancing through Multimodal Sensor Fusion based on an Extended Kalman Filter

Towards achieving dynamic humanoid robots that can function effectively in our unstructured environments, incorporation of some form of mechanical compliance and whole-body torque control present a very promising approach. However, one of the primary limitations affecting this approach is that of accurate, and effective state information, in particular, that of estimation of external forces that influence the body. Despite the presence of a rich suite of sensors in modern bipedal humanoid robots such as the iCub, a computationally efficient framework for real-time state estimation is still and open challenge. In this paper, we tackle a crucial subproblem of the walking and balancing challenge, that of accurate estimation of foot state and contact wrenches, in order to suitably facilitate torque-controlled balancing on compliant (soft) surfaces. Our approach, based on an Extended Kalman Filter (EKF), estimates the foot state as well as the wrenches it is subject to, in real-time. This estimation framework is then combined with the dynamic control task of torque-controlled balancing on a compliant surface introduced by a distributed tactile sensor (skin). We believe that this approach is an appropriate strategy towards enhancing the capability of torquecontrolled humanoids in coping with uneven and compliant terrains.
The Role of Non-Opioid Analgesic Techniques in the Management of Pain After Ambulatory Surgery

Summary As more extensive and painful surgical procedures(e.g., laparoscopic cholecystectomy, adrenalectomy,and nephrectomy, as well as prostatectomy, laminec-tomy, shoulder and knee reconstructions, and hyster-ectomy) are performed on an outpatient or short-staybasis, the use of multimodal perioperative analgesicregimens containing non-opioid analgesic therapieswill probably assume an increasingly important rolein facilitating the recovery process and improving pa-tient satisfaction (3). Optimizing pain management isnecessary to maximize the benefits of ambulatory sur-gery for both patients and health care providers. Ad-ditional outcome studies are needed to validate thebeneficial effects of these newer therapeutic ap-proaches with respect to important recovery variables(e.g., resumption of normal activities and return towork). Although many factors other than pain per se must be controlled to minimize postoperative morbid-ity and facilitate the recovery process after ambulatorysurgery, pain remains a major concern of all patientsundergoing surgical procedures (102). It is clear that the anesthetic technique can influencethe analgesic requirement in the early postoperative
Reconstruction of the High-Osmolarity Glycerol (HOG) Signaling Pathway from the Halophilic Fungus Wallemia ichthyophaga in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

The basidiomycetous fungus Wallemia ichthyophaga grows between 1.7 and 5.1 M NaCl and is the most halophilic eukaryote described to date. Like other fungi, W. ichthyophaga detects changes in environmental salinity mainly by the evolutionarily conserved high-osmolarity glycerol (HOG) signaling pathway. In Saccharomyces cerevisiae, the HOG pathway has been extensively studied in connection to osmotic regulation, with a valuable knock-out strain collection established. In the present study, we reconstructed the architecture of the HOG pathway of W. ichthyophaga in suitable S. cerevisiae knock-out strains, through heterologous expression of the W. ichthyophaga HOG pathway proteins. Compared to S. cerevisiae, where the Pbs2 (ScPbs2) kinase of the HOG pathway is activated via the SHO1 and SLN1 branches, the interactions between the W. ichthyophaga Pbs2 (WiPbs2) kinase and the W. ichthyophaga SHO1 branch orthologs are not conserved: as well as evidence of poor interactions between the WiSho1 Src-homology 3 (SH3) domain and the WiPbs2 proline-rich motif, the absence of a considerable part of the osmosensing apparatus in the genome of W. ichthyophaga suggests that the SHO1 branch components are not involved in HOG signaling in this halophilic fungus. In contrast, the conserved activation of WiPbs2 by the S. cerevisiae ScSsk2/ScSsk22 kinase and the sensitivity of W. ichthyophaga cells to fludioxonil, emphasize the significance of two-component (SLN1-like) signaling via Group III histidine kinase. Combined with protein modeling data, our study reveals conserved and non-conserved protein interactions in the HOG signaling pathway of W. ichthyophaga and therefore significantly improves the knowledge of hyperosmotic signal processing in this halophilic fungus.
Adaptive placement of the pseudo-boundaries improves the conditioning of the inverse problem

Meshing the heart and measurement surfaces can be time consuming, especially when dealing with complicated geometries or cardiac motion. To overcome this, a meshless method based on the method of fundamental solutions (MFS) has been adapted to non-invasive electrocardiographic imaging (ECGI). In the MFS, potentials are expressed as a summation over a discrete set of virtual point sources placed outside of the domain of interest (named ‘pseudo-boundary’). It is well-known that optimal placement of the pseudo-boundary can improve the efficacy of the MFS. Despite this, there have been no attempts to optimize their placement in the ECGI problem as far as we are aware. In the standard MFS, the sources are placed in two pseudo-boundaries constructed by inflating and deflating the heart and torso surfaces with respect to the geometric center of the heart. However, for some heart-torso geometries, this geometric center is a poor reference. We here show that adaptive placement of the pseudo-boundaries (depending on the distance between the torso electrodes and the nearest heart locations) improves the conditioning of the inverse problem, making it less sensitive to the regularization process.
The Favourite-Longshot Bias and Market Efficiency in UK Football Betting

It is shown that the individual fixed-odds betting market on UK football exhibits the same favourite-longshot bias as that found in horse-racing. The bias appears both in betting on results (home win, away win or draw) and in betting on specific scores, and there are certain trading rules which appear to be profitable. Poisson and Negative Binomial regressions are carried out to estimate the mean number of goals scored by a team in a match with given market odds for the various outcomes. Tables of odds for individual scores are derived and these appear to fit the actual outcomes far better than those of the bookmaker.
Spiking Neural P Systems with Anti-Spikes

Besides usual spikes employed in spiking neural P systems, we consider “anti-spikes", which participate in spiking and forgetting rules, but also annihilate spikes when meeting in the same neuron. This simple extension of spiking neural P systems is shown to considerably simplify the universality proofs in this area: all rules become of the form bc → b′ or bc → lambda , where b,b′ are spikes or anti-spikes. Therefore, the regular expressions which control the spiking are the simplest possi- ble, identifying only a singleton. A possible variation is not to produce anti-spikes in neurons, but to consider some “inhibitory synapses", which transform the spikes which pass along them into anti-spikes. Also in this case, universality is rather easy to obtain, with rules of the above simple forms.
Temporal Lobe Epilepsy Surgery Failures: A Review

Patients with temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) are refractory to antiepileptic drugs in about 30% of cases. Surgical treatment has been shown to be beneficial for the selected patients but fails to provide a seizure-free outcome in 20–30% of TLE patients. Several reasons have been identified to explain these surgical failures. This paper will address the five most common causes of TLE surgery failure (a) insufficient resection of epileptogenic mesial temporal structures, (b) relapse on the contralateral mesial temporal lobe, (c) lateral temporal neocortical epilepsy, (d) coexistence of mesial temporal sclerosis and a neocortical lesion (dual pathology); and (e) extratemporal lobe epilepsy mimicking TLE or temporal plus epilepsy. Persistence of epileptogenic mesial structures in the posterior temporal region and failure to distinguish mesial and lateral temporal epilepsy are possible causes of seizure persistence after TLE surgery. In cases of dual pathology, failure to identify a subtle mesial temporal sclerosis or regions of cortical microdysgenesis is a likely explanation for some surgical failures. Extratemporal epilepsy syndromes masquerading as or coexistent with TLE result in incomplete resection of the epileptogenic zone and seizure relapse after surgery. In particular, the insula may be an important cause of surgical failure in patients with TLE.
Racing based approach for Metaheuristics parameter tuning

Metaheuristics are very useful to achieve good solutions in reasonable execution times. Sometimes they even obtain optimal solutions. However, to achieve near-optimal solutions, the appropriate tuning of parameters is required. This paper presents a Racing based learning module proposal for an autonomous parameter tuning of Metaheuristics. After a literature review on Metaheuristics parameter tuning and Racing approaches, the learning module is presented. A computational study for the resolution of the Scheduling problem is also presented. Comparing the preliminary obtained results with previous published results allow to conclude about the effectiveness and efficiency of this proposal.
Hypnotic visual illusion alters color processing in the brain.

OBJECTIVE This study was designed to determine whether hypnosis can modulate color perception. Such evidence would provide insight into the nature of hypnosis and its underlying mechanisms. METHOD Eight highly hypnotizable subjects were asked to see a color pattern in color, a similar gray-scale pattern in color, the color pattern as gray scale, and the gray-scale pattern as gray scale during positron emission tomography scanning by means of [(15)O]CO(2). The classic color area in the fusiform or lingual region of the brain was first identified by analyzing the results when subjects were asked to perceive color as color versus when they were asked to perceive gray scale as gray scale. RESULTS When subjects were hypnotized, color areas of the left and right hemispheres were activated when they were asked to perceive color, whether they were actually shown the color or the gray-scale stimulus. These brain regions had decreased activation when subjects were told to see gray scale, whether they were actually shown the color or gray-scale stimuli. These results were obtained only during hypnosis in the left hemisphere, whereas blood flow changes reflected instructions to perceive color versus gray scale in the right hemisphere, whether or not subjects had been hypnotized. CONCLUSIONS Among highly hypnotizable subjects, observed changes in subjective experience achieved during hypnosis were reflected by changes in brain function similar to those that occur in perception. These findings support the claim that hypnosis is a psychological state with distinct neural correlates and is not just the result of adopting a role.
Mild Hypothermia Reduces Apoptosis of Mouse Neurons In vitro Early in the Cascade

Recent experimental work has shown that hypothermia with even small decreases in temperature is broadly neuroprotective, but the mechanism of this protection remains unclear. Although reduction of metabolism could explain protection by deep hypothermia, it does not explain the robust protection found with mild hypothermia. Several reports have suggested that ischemic apoptosis is reduced by hypothermia. The authors examined the effects of hypothermia on neuronal apoptosis using serum deprivation, a well-accepted model that induces neuronal apoptosis. Mild hypothermia (33°C) significantly reduced the number of morphologically apoptotic neurons to less than half the number seen in normothermic culture temperatures (37°C) after 48 hours. They examined the effect of hypothermia on several steps in the cascade. Caspase-3, −8, and −9 activity was significantly increased after 24 hours at 37°C, and was significantly lower in cultures deprived of serum at 33°C. Cytochrome c translocation was reduced by hypothermia. Western blot analysis failed to detect significant changes in Bax, bcl-2, or hsp-70 at early time points, whereas hypothermia significantly reduced cJun N-terminal kinase activation. The authors conclude that small decreases in temperature inhibit apoptosis very early, possibly at the level of the initiation of apoptosis, as suggested by reduced cJun N-terminal kinase activation and before the translocation of cytochrome c, with subsequent prevention of caspase activation.
PDC controller design for aircraft glide-slope trajectory tracking

Fuzzy control is used for an aircraft glide-path control, as a nonlinear dynamic system. For the construction of a model-based fuzzy controller, the characteristics of the desired landing trajectory are defined, and an equivalent Takagi-Sugeno (T-S) fuzzy flight model is obtained. Using the LQR method, state feedback gains are derived for locally linearized subsystems, and applied in a Parallel Distributed Compensation (PDC) framework, so that the desired landing trajectory could be achieved. Controller is shown to be capable of controlling the nonlinear model in present of wind as a disturbance and control strategy overcomes successfully.