Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
CRISPR/Cas9-Induced Double-Strand Break Repair in Arabidopsis Nonhomologous End-Joining Mutants

Double-strand breaks (DSBs) are one of the most harmful DNA lesions. Cells utilize two main pathways for DSB repair: homologous recombination (HR) and nonhomologous end-joining (NHEJ). NHEJ can be subdivided into the KU-dependent classical NHEJ (c-NHEJ) and the more error-prone KU-independent backup-NHEJ (b-NHEJ) pathways, involving the poly (ADP-ribose) polymerases (PARPs). However, in the absence of these factors, cells still seem able to adequately maintain genome integrity, suggesting the presence of other b-NHEJ repair factors or pathways independent from KU and PARPs. The outcome of DSB repair by NHEJ pathways can be investigated by using artificial sequence-specific nucleases such as CRISPR/Cas9 to induce DSBs at a target of interest. Here, we used CRISPR/Cas9 for DSB induction at the Arabidopsis cruciferin 3 (CRU3) and protoporphyrinogen oxidase (PPO) genes. DSB repair outcomes via NHEJ were analyzed using footprint analysis in wild-type plants and plants deficient in key factors of c-NHEJ (ku80), b-NHEJ (parp1 parp2), or both (ku80 parp1 parp2). We found that larger deletions of >20 bp predominated after DSB repair in ku80 and ku80 parp1 parp2 mutants, corroborating with a role of KU in preventing DSB end resection. Deletion lengths did not significantly differ between ku80 and ku80 parp1 parp2 mutants, suggesting that a KU- and PARP-independent b-NHEJ mechanism becomes active in these mutants. Furthermore, microhomologies and templated insertions were observed at the repair junctions in the wild type and all mutants. Since these characteristics are hallmarks of polymerase θ-mediated DSB repair, we suggest a possible role for this recently discovered polymerase in DSB repair in plants.
Dynamics and a convenient control design approach for a unicycle robot

In this paper, the dynamics model and a convenient lateral posture stabilization and longitudinal motion control algorithm of a unicycle robot are presented. The unicycle robot consists of a turntable for lateral posture balance, a cylindrical robot body, and a rolling wheel for longitudinal motion control. The dynamics of the unicycle system is derived using the Lagrangian formulation. In the conventional linearized model, important motion characteristics of the unicycle robot system are ignored, which makes against the control performance. To address this problem, a gain scheduling control method is proposed based on the nonlinear model and implemented by coordination of the separated lateral posture balance control and longitudinal motion control. Through simulation studies, the effectiveness of the proposed control algorithm is verified.
methods enquiry in England Do nursing homes for older people have the support they need to provide end-of-life care ? A mixed

Nursing homes are a common site of death, but older residents receive variable quality of end-of-life care. We used a mixed methods design to identify external influences on the quality of end-of-life care in nursing homes. Two qualitative case studies were conducted and a postal survey of 180 nursing homes surrounding the case study sites. In the case studies, qualitative interviews were held with seven members of nursing home staff and 10 external staff. Problems in accessing support for end-of-life care reported in the survey included variable support by general practitioners (GPs), reluctance among GPs to prescribe appropriate medication, lack of support from other agencies, lack of out of hours support, cost of syringe drivers and lack of access to training. Most care homes were implementing a care pathway. Those that were not rated their end-of-life care as in need of improvement or as average. The case studies suggest that critical factors in improving end-of-life care in nursing homes include developing clinical leadership, developing relationships with GPs, the support of ‘key’ external advocates and leverage of additional resources by adoption of care pathway tools.
Saliency guided image-driven simplification

Image-driven simplification has been proposed as a simplification method which generates models with high visual fidelity and factors in the error from mesh appearance properties. We propose to enhance it by improving the preservation of important regions of the simplified mesh. This is done by using image saliency to obtain regional importance of the mesh. Visual inspection shows that visual quality of generated meshes are better than the previous algorithm.
The experience of exercise: Women survivors of sexual violence

Sexual violence is pervasive in the lives of women across the globe. Survivors commonly experience a range of mental health conditions following sexual trauma, rendering the development and examination of effective treatments to be critical. Preliminary research supports the use of adjunct exercise interventions for the treatment of trauma. In order to explore the impact of exercise interventions for the treatment of sexual violence, specifically, it is necessary to first come to understand survivors’ experiences of exercise. To better understand the experience of exercise among women survivors of sexual violence, a phenomenological study, informed by a feminist perspective, was conducted with survivors of sexual violence receiving services at a rape crisis center. Data analysis uncovered four themes that capture the survivors’ experience: exercising (and avoiding exercising) fosters safety, exercising is risky, past trauma restricts exercise choices, and exercising is beneficial. Survivors’ choices related to exercise were found to be conscious and deliberate and were impacted by their stage of recovery. Implications for future research and practice are discussed. THE EXPERIENCE OF EXERCISE: WOMEN SURVIVORS OF SEXUAL VIOLENCE
Anticipation of epileptic seizure in advance and localization of seizure onset zone using power spectral density

To have an accurate prediction of epileptic seizure and identification of the epileptogenic region is a difficult task. This paper utilizes scalp electroencephalogram to predict an epileptic seizure and detect an epileptogenic region. To detect epileptogenic region, the signals from five different regions of brain are taken into consideration. Forty-four non-linear features are extracted from eight frequency bands theta, θ, (4–8 Hz), alpha, α, (8–13 Hz), beta, β, (13–30 Hz), gamma1, γ1, (30–50 Hz), gamma 2, γ2 (50–70 Hz), gamma3, γ3 (70–90 Hz), gamma4, γ4 (90–110 Hz) and gamma5, γ5 (110–128 Hz). Features include eight absolute spectral powers, eight relative spectral powers and twenty eight spectral power ratios. These features have been computed for ten seizure cases using a ten minute non overlapping window. From these forty four features the spectral power ratio from gamma band [30–128 Hz] [gamma1 (30–50 Hz) / gamma 3(70–90 Hz)] shows a prominent change for all the seizure cases during pre-ictal duration. The results also show that epileptic seizure is predicted in the second segment i.e. twenty minutes before the onset of seizure. Zone2 (temporal zone in this work) shows the highest change as compared to other zones so it is identified as the epileptogenic region in this work.
Human action recognition on simple and complex background in video

In this paper, we propose a new method for human action recognition on simple and complex background. There are two approaches: (a) for homogeneous and static background, we propose a combination of HOG3D and HOF to encode the appearance and motion information of human. (b) with realistic video data (including changes of viewpoint, scale, and lighting conditions, partial occlusion of humans and objects, cluttered backgrounds), we exploit the co-occurrence between scene and actions by combining HOG3D and Opponent SIFT to encode action (how) and scene (where) information. The first combination is applied in surveillance videos or videos in which camera placement and parameters are fixed and known. The second one is applied to remained video in which background is not static and cluttered. The experimental results have shown the efficiency and effectiveness of our method.
Conceptualization and Measurement of Structurational Divergence in the Healthcare Setting

Structurational divergence (SD) is a widespread organizational problem, manifesting as recurrent cycles of unresolved conflict rooted in incompatible meaning structures. Heretofore, the program of research investigating SD has been largely qualitative and descriptive. This study developed and tested a quantitative measurement scale of SD in the nursing context. Candidate scale items were constructed from previous interview data and administered to a sample of 281 nurses. A final scale of 17 items was obtained based on expert screening and both exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses. The scale and its three subcomponents showed strong internal consistency and correlated as expected with several established measures of related concepts.
Expressive Articulation for Synthetic Music Performances

As one of the main expressive feature in music, articulation afiects a wide range of tone attributes. Based on experimental recordings we analyzed human articulation in the late Baroque style. The results are useful for both the understanding of historically informed performance practices and further progress in synthetic performance generation. This paper reports of our flndings and the implementation in a performance system. Because of its ∞exibility and universality the system allows more than Baroque articulation.
Multiple-Vector Column-Matching BIST Design Method

Extension of a BIST design algorithm is proposed in this paper. The method is based on a synthesis of a combinational block - the decoder, transforming pseudo-random code words into deterministic test patterns pre-computed by an ATPG tool. The column-matching algorithm is used to design the decoder. Using this algorithm, maximum of decoder outputs is tried to be matched with the decoder inputs, yielding the outputs be implemented as wires, thus without any logic. The newly proposed enhancement consists in a major generalization of the method. The ATPG possibility of generating more than one test vectors for one fault is exploited, yielding smaller area overhead. The complexity of the resulting BIST logic reduction is evaluated for some of the ISCAS benchmarks
Response profiles to texture border patterns in area V1

Cells in area V1 of the anesthetized macaque monkey were stimulated with large texture patterns composed of homogeneous regions of line elements (texels) with different orientations. To human observers, such patterns appear to segregate, with the percept of sharp boundaries between texture regions. Our objective was to investigate whether the boundaries are reflected in the responses of single cells in V1. We measured responses to individual texels at different distances from the texture border. For each cell, patterns of optimally or orthogonally orientated texels were adjusted so that only one texel fell into the receptive field and all other texels fell in the visually unresponsive regions outside. In 37 out of 156 neurons tested (24%), texels immediately adjacent to a texture border evoked reliably larger responses than identical texels farther away from the border. In 17 neurons (11%), responses to texels near the border were relatively reduced. Border enhancement effects were generally stronger than border attenuation effects. When tested with four different border configurations (two global orientations and two edge polarities), many cells showed reliable effects for only one or two configurations, consistent with cells encoding information about the orientation of the texture border or its location with respect to the segmented region. Across the sample, enhancement effects were similar for all texture borders. Modulation by the texture surround was predominantly suppressive; even the responses near texture borders were smaller than those to a single line. We compared these results with the results of a popout test in which the line in the receptive field was surrounded by homogeneous texture fields either orthogonal or parallel to the center line. The patterns of response modulation and the temporal onset of differential responses were similar in the two tests, suggesting that the two perceptual phenomena are mediated by similar neural mechanisms.
A comparative investigation of the robustness of unsupervised clustering techniques for rotating machine fault diagnosis with poorly-separated data

The data recorded in industry for rotating machine health monitoring are often a large number and unlabelled. It is impractical to label these data manually. Traditionally unsupervised algorithms have been applied to address this challenge. In the situation where relevant features are included or when the features are not selected properly, it could lead to poorly-separated clusters and deteriorate the clustering performance. It is of interest to investigate the performance of clustering techniques in these circumstances. This paper aims to provide a comparative study and investigation of three well-known clustering techniques, i.e. the k-means clustering algorithm, hierarchical clustering algorithm and expectation-maximisation (EM) clustering algorithm, combined with Calinski-Harabasz index, Davies-Bouldin index, Gap value index, and Silhouette index for determining the number of clusters for both well- and poorly-separated clusters. The experimental results on two real bearing datasets show that the expectation-maximisation (EM) clustering algorithm combined with the Gap value index is the most efficient and robust method to determine the optimal number of clusters in the dataset and classify the unlabelled data.
Thermal analysis model for MEMS Structures Zhoujie Mao

An analytical model that predicts thermal response of general beam like MEMS structures has been developed. This model is based on an electrothermal analysis of the structure. The model is formulated in a way that can be solved efficiently for interconnected beam-like MEMS structures. Simulation results from the model are in good agreement with experimental results.
A skeleton-based pairwise curve matching scheme for people tracking in a multi-camera environment

In this paper, we propose a pairwise curve matching scheme in a multi-camera environment to handle the mis-tracking issue caused by occlusion problem happened in a single camera. According to the skeleton/joints of a human subject analyzed from a depth camera (e.g., Kinect), based the foot points (joints) used for people tracking in a field of view, we apply homography transformation to project the foot points from different views to a virtual bird's eye view, using Kalman filter to achieve people tracking with a pairwise curve matching. The contribution of this paper is trifold: (a) the proposed pair-wise curve matching scheme can handle the occlusion problem happened in one of the cameras, (b) the complexity of the proposed scheme is low and affordable to be implemented in a realtime application, and (c) the implementation on a Kinect camera can provide satisfactory tracking results in a bright or extremely dark environment due to the skeletons/joints analyzed by the coded structured light-based infrared (IR) sensor.
AthaMap: an online resource for in silico transcription factor binding sites in the Arabidopsis thaliana genome

Gene expression is controlled mainly by the binding of transcription factors to regulatory sequences. To generate a genomic map for regulatory sequences, the Arabidopsis thaliana genome was screened for putative transcription factor binding sites. Using publicly available data from the TRANSFAC database and from publications, alignment matrices for 23 transcription factors of 13 different factor families were used with the pattern search program Patser to determine the genomic positions of more than 2.4 x 10(6) putative binding sites. Due to the dense clustering of genes and the observation that regulatory sequences are not restricted to upstream regions, the prediction of binding sites was performed for the whole genome. The genomic positions and the underlying data were imported into the newly developed AthaMap database. This data can be accessed by positional information or the Arabidopsis Genome Initiative identification number. Putative binding sites are displayed in the defined region. Data on the matrices used and on the thresholds applied in these screens are given in the database. Considering the high density of sites it will be a valuable resource for generating models on gene expression regulation. The data are available at http://www.athamap. de.
An enquiry-based and self-developmental approach to employability at the University of Birmingham

18 Joan Cartledge Development and Learning Consultant, University of Birmingham The University of Birmingham views as a fundamental element of its Learning and Teaching Strategy a commitment that students acquire the skills and attributes viewed as essential by the graduate employment sector. These skills and attributes may be developed at the University through participation in academic study and extracurricular activities. Central to the learning culture of the University is a model of enquiry-based learning (EBL). This approach views students as active participants in the learning process, encouraging them to develop a pattern of self-reflection that will continue beyond the learning environment (University of Birmingham Learning and Teaching Strategy, 2007, p. 2).
Reflections on Critical Sport History in the Museum: Opportunities and Challenges from a Local/Regional Project

As sport historians we choose to engage in public history projects and thus are faced with both opportunities and challenges. Our involvement in the Alberta Sports History Project provides an opportunity to engage in the ongoing discussion about how members of the academy can effectively move into the realm of public sport history. By involving oneself with a museum or sports hall of fame a historian must recognize that her/his own expectations for the work they produce and partnering groups will not always be congruent. In this research note, we draw on specific examples from the experiences arising from our role in envisioning, researching, and working to produce a history of Lethbridge, Alberta’s sporting past. We suggest that the importance of recognizing and embracing the inherently imperfect nature of public sport history provides historians of sport an opportunity to assist with the important work of preserving, documenting, and exhibiting our sporting past.
Can Fuzzy Multi-Criteria Decision Making Improve Strategic Planning by Balanced Scorecard?

Strategic management is momentous for organizational success and competitive advantage in an increasingly turbulent business environment. Balanced scorecard (BSC) is a framework for evaluating strategic management performance which translates strategy into action via various sets of performance measurement indicators. The main objective of this research is to develop a new fuzzy group Multi- Criteria Decision Making (MCDM) model for strategic plans selection process in the BSC. For this to happen, the current study has implemented linguistic extension of MCDM model for robust selection of strategic plans. The new linguistic reasoning for group decision making is able to aggregate subjective evaluation of the decision makers and hence create an opportunity to perform more robust strategic plans, despite of the vagueness and uncertainty of strategic plans selection process. A numerical example demonstrates possibilities for the improvement of BSC through applying the proposed model.
Effects of whole body vibration therapy on main outcome measures for chronic non-specific low back pain: a single-blind randomized controlled trial.

OBJECTIVE The aim of this study was to determine whether a 12-week course of low-frequency vibrating board therapy is a feasible therapy for non-specific chronic low back pain, and whether it improves the main outcome measures. DESIGN Randomized controlled trial. PATIENTS A total of 50 patients with non-specific low back pain were included. They were randomly assigned to either a vibrating plate via reciprocation therapy group (n = 25) or a control group (n = 25). METHODS The 12-week vibration therapy programme consisted of a total of 24 training sessions (2 times/week, with 1 day of rest between sessions). Assessments of the main outcome measures for non-specific low back pain were performed at baseline and at 12 weeks. RESULTS In the vibration therapy group there was a statistically significant improvement, of 20.37% (p = 0.031) in the Postural Stability Index (anterior-posterior); 25.15% (p = 0.013) in the Oswestry Index; 9.31% in the Roland Morris Index (p = 0.001); 8.57% (p = 0.042) in EuroQol 5D-3L; 20.29% (p = 0.002) in the Sens test; 24.13% (p = 0.006) in visual analogue scale back; and 16.58% (p = 0.008) in the Progressive Isoinertial Lifting Evaluation test. CONCLUSION A 12-week course of low-frequency vibrating board therapy is feasible and may represent a novel physical therapy for patients with non-specific low back pain.
First Complete Mitochondrial Genome Sequence from a Box Jellyfish Reveals a Highly Fragmented Linear Architecture and Insights into Telomere Evolution

Animal mitochondrial DNAs (mtDNAs) are typically single circular chromosomes, with the exception of those from medusozoan cnidarians (jellyfish and hydroids), which are linear and sometimes fragmented. Most medusozoans have linear monomeric or linear bipartite mitochondrial genomes, but preliminary data have suggested that box jellyfish (cubozoans) have mtDNAs that consist of many linear chromosomes. Here, we present the complete mtDNA sequence from the winged box jellyfish Alatina moseri (the first from a cubozoan). This genome contains unprecedented levels of fragmentation: 18 unique genes distributed over eight 2.9- to 4.6-kb linear chromosomes. The telomeres are identical within and between chromosomes, and recombination between subtelomeric sequences has led to many genes initiating or terminating with sequences from other genes (the most extreme case being 150 nt of a ribosomal RNA containing the 5′ end of nad2), providing evidence for a gene conversion–based model of telomere evolution. The silent-site nucleotide variation within the A. moseri mtDNA is among the highest observed from a eukaryotic genome and may be associated with elevated rates of recombination.
A dual-frequency, frequency tunable patch antenna based on printed superstrate layer

A patch antenna with printed superstrate layer for dual-frequency operation is presented. A metallic parasitic split-loop in meander shape is printed on the superstrate in order to produce a second resonance in terms of electromagnetic coupling resonance effect. In the design, the tunable frequency response is achieved by changing the length of the strips incorporated in the loop. Simulation results show that the double operation bands are centered at resonance frequencies 2.34 GHz and 2.45 GHz with the -10 dB bandwidths 1.2% and 0.8%. At the two resonance frequency centers, the gains 7.48 dBi and 6.25 dBi, and the radiation efficiencies 85% and 72%, are obtained, respectively. A tunable frequency range from 2.28 to 2.35 GHz for the lower frequency band is verified.