Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Altered phenotype of dextran sulfate sodium colitis in interferon regulatory factor‐1 knock‐out mice

Background and Aims: Interferon regulatory factor‐1 (IRF‐1) is a transcription factor with antiviral, proinflammatory and tumor suppressor properties. We examined the role of IRF‐1 in dextran sulfate sodium colitis, a murine model of inflammatory bowel disease, to determine if absence of the gene would protect against colitis.
Impedance modeling of the intracortical microelectrode for a reliable design of a brain activity recording system

The possibility to use an electrical model empirically tuned with the probe impedance detected by in vivo measurements for intracortical signal monitoring is here described. The proposed model allows to make a reliable pre-amplification stage design that can follow the changes in the probe impedance after its implant for a long term recording. Here simulation results are compared with in vivo measurements and the possibility to adapt empirically the model looks promising and gives space for further investigations.
Parallelized Random Walk algorithm for background substitution on a multi-core embedded platform

Random Walk (RW) is a popular algorithm and can be applied to many applications in computer vision. In this paper, a fast algorithm is proposed to solve the large linear system in RW based on adapting the Gauss-Seidel method on a multi-core embedded system. Two tables, TYPE and INDEX, are introduced to fast locate the required data for the close-form solution. The computational overhead, along with the memory requirement, to solve the linear system can be reduced greatly, thus making the RW algorithm feasible to many applications on an embedded system. In addition, the proposed fast method is parallelized for a heterogeneous multi-core embedded platform to make the most use of the benefits of the system architecture. Experimental results show that the computational overhead can be significantly reduced by the proposed algorithm.
A Low-Complexity Hardware Implementation of Compressed Sensing-Based Channel Estimation for ISDB-T System

Compressed sensing (CS) is one of the hottest research topics in the sparse signal reconstruction problem. But CS implementation has a drawback of high computational complexity due to calculation between large size of matrices. In this paper, we will propose a low-complexity CS hardware realization for channel estimation in the integrated services digital broadcasting-terrestrial (ISDB-T) system using several optimization methods to reduce the implementation complexity of CS usage. Since the ISDB-T is based on orthogonal frequency division and multiplexing system, the measurement matrix of CS computation is a truncated discrete Fourier transform (DFT) matrix. We can exploit the symmetrical property of this DFT matrix to significantly reduce its multiplication complexity and random access memory usage. To achieve fast reconstruction period, this paper also provides a hardware architecture for the proposed method and its realization in field programmable gate array. The simulation results show that the proposed methods can achieve lower complexity CS-based channel estimation with almost the identical system performance with the conventional method. Moreover, the realized hardware can achieve the fastest execution time compare to that of other existing methods.
Weak and Dynamic Controllability of Temporal Problems with Disjunctions and Uncertainty

The Temporal Constraint Satisfaction Problem with Uncertainty (TCSPU) and its disjunctive generalization, the Disjunctive Temporal Problem with Uncertainty (DTPU), are quantitative models for temporal reasoning that account simultaneously for disjunctive constraints and for events not under the control of the executing agent. Such a problem is Weakly Controllable if in each possible scenario the agent can find a decision for that scenario that satisfies all the constraints; further, a problem is Dynamically Controllable if the agent can build a consistent decision online, as the scenario is incrementally revealed. We first consider Weak Controllability. We present two sound and complete algorithms for checking Weak Controllability of DTPUs. The first algorithm needs to examine only a limited number of scenarios, but operates only on a restricted class of problems. The second algorithm is fully general, but is more expensive in terms of space. We then consider Dynamic Controllability. We present a complete algorithm for testing this property for TCSPUs. Complexity results are presented for all three algorithms.
An efficient scheme of bulk traffic statistics collection for software-defined networks

Along with the widespread development of Internet and mobile applications, the demand for more flexible and dynamic networking services increases. It becomes a new challenge for many carriers to deploy a variety of new services by effective provisioning of network resources. Software-Defined Networking (SDN) is a novel approach to make networks reconfigurable and extensible such that new services can be deployed with existing network devices. By decoupling the controller plane from the data plane in network devices, SDN brings networks programmability of the data plane and centralization of the controller plane. Conventional Operations Support Systems (OSSs) were developed to manage networks in a standard fashion with Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) or proprietary protocols. SDN provides a new framework in managing SDN-enabled devices. A new issue for carriers is how SDN-enabled networks and devices can be monitored and controlled by current OSSs. This paper focuses on performance management and aims to develop an efficient scheme to collect traffic statistics data via the SDN controller plane. Similar to Bulkstat, an SNMP-based mechanism for periodic collection and transfer of MIB objects, the proposed scheme for bulk traffic statistics collection is developed in the controller plane and provides a northbound interface for upper network management applications. Instead of using SNMP and MIBs, the scheme is implemented by periodically gathering statistics information of flow tables from SDN-enabled switches via the OpenFlow protocol.
RHEUMATIC FEVER IN WESTERN FIJI: THE FEMALE PREPONDERANCE

In western Fiji, 70% of the Indian patients suffering from rheumatic fever and acute tonsillitis are female. Although other respiratory infections affect the sexes equally, ail these diseases tended to affect the girls at later ages than the boys. Evidence from India and Natal shows that genetic factors per se are not of importance. Evidence is presented which relates these findings to the cloistered upbringing of many of the Indian girls. The more sheltered a girl's childhood, the greater appears to be her risk of developing rheumatic fever, and the later its onset.
Analysis of Anomalies on a Virtualized Network Testbed

To clarify useful parameters for avoiding unstable conditions in network experiments on a virtualized testbed, we used PlanetLab as the virtualized testbed and measured network throughput using a combination of probe and data transfers. Although PlanetLab has been widely used as a testbed for overlay networks, distributed systems, and network measurement, it is provided as a virtualized environment to users. A set of these environments on different nodes is called as ‘slice’, and multiple slices run simultaneously on each node. We found that network throughput was occasionally decreased even though the network condition was stable. The cause of the throughput decrease was an unintended large packet spacing. The unintended large packet spacing is an anomaly. Although the cause of the anomaly is known to be unstable CPU scheduling latency, no clear conditions for anomaly avoidance had previously been given. We investigated throughput measurement with resource monitoring to clarify anomaly avoidance conditions. When the CPUs at a node are shared by many slices, slices are frequently scheduled off the CPUs, and the anomaly occurs. If network throughput is decreased by the anomaly, the measurement results should be discarded.
Whose Nickname is This? Recognizing Politicians from Their Aliases

Using aliases to refer to public figures is one way to make fun of people, to express sarcasm, or even to sidestep legal issues when expressing opinions on social media. However, linking an alias back to the real name is difficult, as it entails phonemic, graphemic, and semantic challenges. In this paper, we propose a phonemic-based approach and inject semantic information to align aliases with politicians’ Chinese formal names. The proposed approach creates an HMM model for each name to model its phonemes and takes into account document-level pairwise mutual information to capture the semantic relations to the alias. In this work we also introduce two new datasets consisting of 167 phonemic pairs and 279 mixed pairs of aliases and formal names. Experimental results show that the proposed approach models both phonemic and semantic information and outperforms previous work on both the phonemic and mixed datasets with the best top-1 accuracies of 0.78 and 0.59 respectively.
Power Scaling of Single-Frequency Hybrid Brillouin/Ytterbium Fiber Lasers

A coupled-wave rate-equation model, including multiple-order stimulated Brillouin scattering (SBS), is used to study power scaling of hybrid Brillouin/ytterbium fiber lasers. To validate the model, a single-frequency, Brillouin/ytterbium fiber laser was built with a laser output of 40 mW and an optical signal-to-noise ratio greater than 50 dB. The numerical model simulation agrees with the measurements in both fully and partially injection locked regimes. To scale up the laser's output power, a dual-clad architecture is proposed. In this new configuration, the active Yb-doped fiber provides the nonlinear SBS gain as well as the gain resulting from the excited Yb ions. Numerical modeling including three Stokes orders shows that over 5 W of single-frequency laser output can be achieved with a side-mode suppression ratio (SMSR) of greater than 80 dB. Beyond this power, multi-order SBS affects the laser efficiency and SMSR.
The selfing syndrome: a model for studying the genetic and evolutionary basis of morphological adaptation in plants.

BACKGROUND In angiosperm evolution, autogamously selfing lineages have been derived from outbreeding ancestors multiple times, and this transition is regarded as one of the most common evolutionary tendencies in flowering plants. In most cases, it is accompanied by a characteristic set of morphological and functional changes to the flowers, together termed the selfing syndrome. Two major areas that have changed during evolution of the selfing syndrome are sex allocation to male vs. female function and flower morphology, in particular flower (mainly petal) size and the distance between anthers and stigma. SCOPE A rich body of theoretical, taxonomic, ecological and genetic studies have addressed the evolutionary modification of these two trait complexes during or after the transition to selfing. Here, we review our current knowledge about the genetics and evolution of the selfing syndrome. CONCLUSIONS We argue that because of its frequent parallel evolution, the selfing syndrome represents an ideal model for addressing basic questions about morphological evolution and adaptation in flowering plants, but that realizing this potential will require the molecular identification of more of the causal genes underlying relevant trait variation.
Patterns of Evolutionary Conservation of Microsatellites (SSRs) Suggest a Faster Rate of Genome Evolution in Hymenoptera Than in Diptera

Microsatellites, or simple sequence repeats (SSRs), are common and widespread DNA elements in genomes of many organisms. However, their dynamics in genome evolution is unclear, whereby they are thought to evolve neutrally. More available genome sequences along with dated phylogenies allowed for studying the evolution of these repetitive DNA elements along evolutionary time scales. This could be used to compare rates of genome evolution. We show that SSRs in insects can be retained for several hundred million years. Different types of microsatellites seem to be retained longer than others. By comparing Dipteran with Hymenopteran species, we found very similar patterns of SSR loss during their evolution, but both taxa differ profoundly in the rate. Relative to divergence time, Diptera lost SSRs twice as fast as Hymenoptera. The loss of SSRs on the Drosophila melanogaster X-chromosome was higher than on the other chromosomes. However, accounting for generation time, the Diptera show an 8.5-fold slower rate of SSR loss than the Hymenoptera, which, in contrast to previous studies, suggests a faster genome evolution in the latter. This shows that generation time differences can have a profound effect. A faster genome evolution in these insects could be facilitated by several factors very different to Diptera, which is discussed in light of our results on the haplodiploid D. melanogaster X-chromosome. Furthermore, large numbers of SSRs can be found to be in synteny and thus could be exploited as a tool to investigate genome structure and evolution.
Physical and Functional Ability Recovery Patterns and Quality of Life after Immediate Autologous Latissimus Dorsi Breast Reconstruction: A 1-Year Prospective Observational Study

Background: The authors evaluated arm and shoulder function and quality of life prospectively after breast reconstruction with the latissimus dorsi flap. Methods: Muscle strength was checked by manual muscle test and range of motion preoperatively and then at five postoperative time points: week 2, week 6, month 3, month 6, and month 12. Functional disability and quality of life were also measured by the Disabilities of the Arm, Shoulder and Hand questionnaire and the 36-Item Short-Form Health Survey. The assessments were performed preoperatively and then at three postoperative time-points (i.e., months 3, 6, and 12). Statistical analysis was performed by repeated-measures analysis of variance. Results: Thirty-one patients were included for analysis. All manual muscle test and range-of-motion scale scores at postoperative week 2 decreased significantly compared with preoperative scores. After postoperative month 3, scores for both manual muscle test and range of motion nearly recovered to preoperative status. However, functional disability, according to the Disabilities of the Arm, Shoulder and Hand instrument, was increased considerably after latissimus dorsi flap surgery, and a substantial amount of disability remained 1 year postoperatively. The mental component of the 36-Item Short-Form Health Survey improved consistently for 1 year postoperatively, whereas the physical component decreased significantly until the sixth month postoperatively and was still lower than the preoperative score at postoperative month 12. Conclusions: One year after latissimus dorsi flap surgery, shoulder strength and range of motion returned to baseline. However, functional disability and deteriorated physical aspects of quality of life persisted.
Text-Independent Speaker Recognition using Emotional Features and Generalized Gamma Distribution

this article, a novel methodology of text independent speaker recognition associated with emotional features is proposed. MFCC and LPC features are considered for speaker voice feature extraction. The speaker data is classified using generalized gamma distribution. The experiment is conducted on the emotional speech data base, containing 50 speakers with 5 different emotions namely happy, angry, sad, boredom and neutral. This approach is very much useful in costumer care and call centre applications. The accuracy of the developed model is presented using Confusion matrix. The results show that there is a great influence of the emotion state, while identifying the speaker.
Global Reorganization of Replication Domains During Embryonic Stem Cell Differentiation

DNA replication in mammals is regulated via the coordinate firing of clusters of replicons that duplicate megabase-sized chromosome segments at specific times during S-phase. Cytogenetic studies show that these "replicon clusters" coalesce as subchromosomal units that persist through multiple cell generations, but the molecular boundaries of such units have remained elusive. Moreover, the extent to which changes in replication timing occur during differentiation and their relationship to transcription changes has not been rigorously investigated. We have constructed high-resolution replication-timing profiles in mouse embryonic stem cells (mESCs) before and after differentiation to neural precursor cells. We demonstrate that chromosomes can be segmented into multimegabase domains of coordinate replication, which we call "replication domains," separated by transition regions whose replication kinetics are consistent with large originless segments. The molecular boundaries of replication domains are remarkably well conserved between distantly related ESC lines and induced pluripotent stem cells. Unexpectedly, ESC differentiation was accompanied by the consolidation of smaller differentially replicating domains into larger coordinately replicated units whose replication time was more aligned to isochore GC content and the density of LINE-1 transposable elements, but not gene density. Replication-timing changes were coordinated with transcription changes for weak promoters more than strong promoters, and were accompanied by rearrangements in subnuclear position. We conclude that replication profiles are cell-type specific, and changes in these profiles reveal chromosome segments that undergo large changes in organization during differentiation. Moreover, smaller replication domains and a higher density of timing transition regions that interrupt isochore replication timing define a novel characteristic of the pluripotent state.
Adaptation to stroke using a model of successful aging

ABSTRACT The process of adaptation to the physical and psychosocial consequences after stroke is a major challenge for many individuals affected. The aim of this study was to examine if stroke patients within 1 month of admission (n = 153) and followed up at 1 year (n = 107) engage in selection, optimization, and compensation (SOC) adaptive strategies and the relationship of these strategies with functional ability, health-related quality of life (HRQOL) and depression 1 year later. Adaptive strategies were measured using a 15-item SOC questionnaire. Internal and external resources were assessed including recovery locus of control, stroke severity, and socio-demographics. Outcome measures were the Stroke Specific Quality of Life Questionnaire (SS-QoL), the Nottingham Extended Activities of Daily Living Scale and the Depression Subscale of the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale. Findings indicated that stroke patients engaged in the use of SOC strategies but the use of these strategies were not predictive of HRQOL, functional ability or depression 1 year after stroke. The use of SOC strategies were not age specific and were consistent over time, with the exception of the compensation subscale. Results indicate that SOC strategies may potentially be used in response to loss regulation after stroke and that an individual's initial HRQOL functional ability, levels of depression and socio-economic status that are important factors in determining outcome 1 year after stroke. A stroke-specific measure of SOC may be warranted in order to detect significant differences in determining outcomes for a stroke population.
Electron shuttling to ferrihydrite selects for fermentative rather than Fe3+—reducing biomass in xylose—fed batch reactors derived from three different inoculum sources

Reports suggest that ferric iron and electron shuttling molecules will select for Fe3+—reducer dominated microbial biomass. We investigated the influence of the redox mediators anthraquinone‐2,6‐disulfonate (AQDS) and riboflavin using xylose as the sole fermentation substrate, with or without ferric iron. Electron shuttling to insoluble ferrihydrite enhanced solventogenesis, acidogenesis, hydrogen production, and xylose consumption, relative to the cells plus xylose controls in fermentations inoculated with woodland marsh sediment, wetwood disease, or raw septic liquid, over multiple transfers in 15‐day batch fermentations. 16S rRNA gene based community analyses indicated that ferrihydrite alone, and AQDS/riboflavin plus ferrihydrite, immediately shifted native heterogeneous communities to those predominantly belonging to the Clostdridiales, rather than stimulating Fe3+ respiring populations. Data were similar irrespective of the inoculum source, suggesting that Fe3+ and/or electron shuttling compounds select for rapid proliferation of fermentative genera when fermentable substrates are present, and increases the extent of xylose consumption and solvent production.
Development, validation and high‐throughput analysis of sequence markers in nonmodel species

DNA sequences derived from multiple regions of the nuclear genome are essential for historical inferences in the fields of phylogeography and phylogenetics. The appropriate markers should be single‐copy, variable, easy to amplify from multiple samples and easy to sequence using high‐throughput technologies. This may be difficult to achieve for species lacking sequenced genomes and particularly challenging for species possessing large genomes, which consist mostly of repetitive sequences. Here, we present a cost‐effective, broadly applicable framework for designing, validating and high‐throughput sequencing of multiple markers in nonmodel species without sequenced genomes. We demonstrate its utility in two closely related species of newts, representatives of urodeles, a vertebrate group characterized by large genomes. We show that over 80 markers, c. 600 bp each, developed mainly from 3′ untranslated transcript regions (3′UTR) may be effectively multiplexed and sequenced. Data are further processed using standard, freely available bioinformatic tools, producing phase‐resolved sequences. The approach does not require barcoded PCR primers, and the cost of library preparation is independent of the number of markers investigated. We hope that this approach will be of broad interest for researchers working at the interface of population genetics and phylogenetics, exploring deep intraspecific genetic structure, species boundaries and phylogeographies of closely related species.
Number of larval instars and sex-specific plasticity in the development of the small heath butterfly, Coenonympha pamphilus (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae)

The number of larval moults, larval head capsule width and pupal weight were investigated in both direct-developing and diapausing individuals of a South-West European population of Coenonympha pamphilus. The frequency distributions of head widths of successive larval instars overlapped, partly due to variation in the number of larval moults. The larvae that entered diapause went through five instars, instead of the four reported from this species. The evidence indicates that the five instar developmental pathway represents a plastic response rather than an example of compensatory growth. This alternative growth pattern was expressed in response to short photoperiods in parallel with, or as a consequence of, larval diapause. On average, the larvae with five instars had larger heads than their normal siblings. This resulted in comparatively heavier male pupae, while the opposite trend occurred in females. It is concluded that the variation in the number of larval instars is a plastic response to diapause when temperatures remain mild and that it might have an adaptive value in areas with mild winter climates. The sexually dimorphic expression in the larval growth patterns, in terms of pupal weight, may well imply different patterns of allocation of larval resources to adult structures, although sex-dependent differences in investment into purely larval structures cannot be discounted.