Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Some exactly solvable models of urn process theory

We establish a fundamental isomorphism between discrete-time balanced urn processes and certain ordinary differential systems, which are nonlinear, autonomous, and of a simple monomial form. As a consequence, all balanced urn processes with balls of two colours are proved to be analytically solvable in finite terms. The corresponding generating functions are expressed in terms of certain Abelian integrals over curves of the Fermat type (which are also hypergeometric functions), together with their inverses. A consequence is the unification of the analyses of many classical models, including those related to the coupon collector's problem, particle transfer (the Ehrenfest model), Friedman's "adverse campaign'' and Polya's contagion model, as well as the OK Corral model (a basic case of Lanchester's theory of conflicts). In each case, it is possible to quantify very precisely the probable composition of the urn at any discrete instant. We study here in detail "semi-sacrificial'' urns, for which the following are obtained: a Gaussian limiting distribution with speed of convergence estimates as well as a characterization of the large and extreme large deviation regimes. We also work out explicitly the case of $2$-dimensional triangular models, where local limit laws of the stable type are obtained. A few models of dimension three or greater, e.g., "autistic'' (generalized Polya), cyclic chambers (generalized Ehrenfest), generalized coupon-collector, and triangular urns, are also shown to be exactly solvable.
American ginseng supplementation attenuates creatine kinase level induced by submaximal exercise in human beings.

AIM To investigate whether American ginseng (AG, Panax quinquefolium) supplementation was able to improve endurance exercise performance. METHODS Thirteen physically active male college students were divided into two groups (AG or placebo) and received supplementation for 4 wk, before the exhaustive running exercise. Treadmill speed was increased to a pace equivalent to 80% VO2max of the subject. A 4-wk washout period followed before the subjects crossed over and received the alternate supplement for the next 4 wk. They then completed a second exhaustive running exercise. The physiological variables that were examined included time to exhaustion and oxygen pulse. Moreover, the plasma creatine kinase (CK) and lactate were measured prior to the exercise, at 15 and 30 min during exercise, immediately after exercise, and 20, 40, 60, and 120 min after exercise. RESULTS The major finding of this investigation was that the production plasma CK during the exercise significantly decreased for group AG than for group P. Secondary physiological finding was that 80% VO2max running was not improved over a 4-wk AG supplementation regimen. CONCLUSION Supplementation with AG for 4 wk prior to an exhaustive aerobic treadmill running reduced the leakage of CK during exercise, but did not enhance aerobic work capacity. The reduction of plasma CK may be due to the fact that AG is effective for the decrease of skeletal muscle cell membrane damage, induced by exercise during the high-intensity treadmill run.
Lactobacillus Salivarius REN Inhibits Rat Oral Cancer Induced by 4-Nitroquioline 1-Oxide

Despite significant advances in cancer therapy, cancer-related mobility and mortality are still rising. Alternative strategies such as cancer prevention thus become essential. Probiotics represent an emerging option for cancer prevention, but studies are limited to colon cancers. The efficiency of probiotics in the prevention of other cancers and the correlative mechanism remains to be explored. A novel probiotics Lactobacillus salivarius REN (L. salivarius REN) was isolated from centenarians at Bama of China, which showed highly potent antigenotoxicity in an initial assay. 4-nitroquioline 1-oxide (4NQO)-induced oral cancer model was introduced to study the anticancer activity of L. salivarius REN in vivo. The results indicated that oral administration of probiotic L. salivarius REN or its secretions could effectively suppress 4NQO-induced oral carcinogenesis in the initial and postinitial stage, and the inhibition was in a dose-dependent manner. A significant decrease of neoplasm incidence (65%–0%) was detected in rats fed with the high dose of L. salivarius REN [5 × 1010 CFU/kg body weight (bw)/d]. In vivo evidences indicated that the probiotics inhibited 4NQO-induced oral cancer by protecting DNA against oxidative damage and downregulating COX-2 expression. L. salivarius REN treatment significantly decreased the expression of proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) and induced apoptosis in a dose-dependent manner. Our findings suggest that probiotics may act as potential agents for oral cancer prevention. This is the first report showing the inhibitory effect of the probiotics on oral carcinogenesis. Cancer Prev Res; 6(7); 686–94. ©2013 AACR.
On the design of optimisers for surface reconstruction

In many industrial applications the need for an efficient and high-quality reconstruction of free-form surfaces does exist. Surface Reconstruction - the generation of CAD models from physical objects - has become an independent area of research. The supplementary modification and the automated manufacturing of workpieces represent typical fields of application. Small tolerances in the desired properties result in a very high number of scan points needed. Thus, modern approaches have to be capable of processing, analysing and modelling these amounts of data.There are several studies that use evolutionary algorithms (EA) for surface reconstruction tasks. Until now, these studies only describe the general ability of EA to successfully optimise surfaces. Aspects like runtime as well as comparability to other optimisation techniques have not been considered. Since these aspects are of great importance for integration in applicable software tools, in this paper the ability of a state-of-the-art multi-objective EA to be successfully integrated in surface reconstruction software is analysed. Major drawbacks are disclosed and necessary add-on modules are presented.
Output feedback stabilization of multi-dimensional Kirchhoff equation with general corrupted boundary observation by active disturbance rejection control

In this paper, the boundary output feedback stabilization of a multi-dimensional Kirchhoff plate equation with boundary control is considered. The boundary measurement is suffered from external disturbance that depends both on time and spatial variables. The active disturbance rejection control (ADRC) approach is adopted for the first time on the corrupted output feedback stabilization for systems described by multi-dimensional partial differential equations (PDEs). An output feedback disturbance estimator is designed to estimate the disturbance, based on an infinite number of ordinary differential equations obtained from the original multi-dimensional system by infinitely many time dependent test functions. The disturbance is canceled in the disturbance estimator based feedback loop. All subsystems in the closed-loop are shown to be asymptotically stable. In particular, the system with constant disturbance in observation is shown to be exponentially stable with rejecting the disturbance in finite time. The numerical simulations are presented for illustration.
Enzyme capture assay for rapid identification of Escherichia coli in blood cultures

An enzyme capture assay (ECA) for rapid identification of Escherichia coli in blood cultures by using beta-D-glucuronidase as a marker was developed. Microdilution plates coated with antiglucuronidase were used to capture this enzyme from the cell lysates of blood cultures which showed growth of gram-negative bacteria. The assay, using 4-methylumbelliferyl-beta-D-glucuronide as a fluorogenic substrate, had a detection limit of 0.1 ng/ml (3 x 10(-13) M) for the enzyme; this was approximately equal to a cell concentration of 10(6) CFU of E. coli per ml. Among 212 blood cultures showing growth of gram-negative bacteria, 77 specimens were found to contain E. coli by conventional culture procedures and 73 samples were positive by ECA. Among the 135 blood cultures from which E. coli was not isolated, ECA gave one false-positive (Salmonella enteritidis) reaction. Thus, the sensitivity and specificity for the identification of E. coli in blood cultures by ECA were 94.8% (73/77) and 99.3% (134/135), respectively. From the finding of positive growth in the culture bottle, the assay can be completed within 4 h. In view of the high rate of isolation of E. coli from bacteremic patients, the test can be performed in parallel with conventional culture protocols; this may shorten the identification time for E. coli, and proper antimicrobial treatments may be started 24 h earlier than when results of conventional identification systems are used.
Some Observations On Open Source Software Development On Software Engineering Perspectives

Several argument has been made that open source software development process some times also referred as free and open source software development (FOSSD) violates the traditional software engineering principles and researches advocates to rethink and re-evaluate the studies and concepts of software engineering. The aim of this paper is to investigate the software development process models of Open source software on the software engineering perspectives. In this paper a discussion on some of development models of OSS and their comparison with the traditional development models is made and the software engineering practices followed in open source development environment is also been discussed. Principle difference and similarities of these development models with the conventional models are also discussed. The ultimate goal is to understand how open source software development processes are similar to or different from software engineering processes and to bring better understanding to the development process of Open Source Software.
Generalized Transduction of Small Yersinia enterocolitica Plasmids

ABSTRACT To study phage-mediated gene transfer in Yersinia, the ability of Yersinia phages to transduce naturally occurring plasmids was investigated. The transduction experiments were performed with a temperate phage isolated from a pathogenic Yersinia enterocolitica strain and phage mixtures isolated from sewage. Small plasmids (4.3 and 5.8 kb) were transduced at a frequency of 10−5 to 10−7/PFU. However, we could not detect the transduction of any indigenous virulence plasmid (ca. 72 kb) in pathogenic Yersinia strains. Transductants obtained by infection with the temperate phage were lysogenic and harbored the phage genome in their chromosomes.
Quantum-limited linewidth of a bad-cavity laser.

We show experimentally that the quantum-limited linewidth of a laser can be smaller than the conventional Schawlow-Townes limit when the gain bandwidth is smaller than the cavity loss rate. Data obtained for a HeNe 3.39 \ensuremath{\mu}m laser confirm the theoretical result derived for the linewidth of a homogeneously broadened laser in the bad-cavity limit. We show how this result can be understood in terms of the group refractive index.
A Selective Dynamic Compiler for Embedded Java Virtual Machine Targeting ARM Processors

This work presents a new selective dynamic compilation technique targeting ARM 16/32-bit embedded system processors. This compiler is built inside the J2ME/CLDC (Java 2 Micro Edition for Connected Limited Device Configuration) platform. The primary objective of our work is to come up with an efficient, lightweight and low-footprint accelerated Java virtual machine ready to be executed on embedded machines. This is achieved by implementing a selective ARM dynamic compiler called Armed E-Bunny into Sun’s Kilobyte Virtual Machine (KVM). We first present the Java platform, Java 2 Micro Edition (J2ME) for embedded systems and Java virtual machine components. Then, we discuss the different acceleration techniques for Java virtual machine and we detail the principle of dynamic compilation. After that we illustrate the architecture, design, implementation and experimental results of our selective dynamic compiler Armed E-Bunny. The modified KVM is ported on a handheld PDA and is tested using standard J2ME benchmarks. The experimental results on its performance demonstrate that a speedup of 360% over the last version of Sun’s KVM is accomplished with a footprint overhead that does not exceed 119 kilobytes.
Distributed generation system with hybrid inverter interfaces for unbalanced loads

Applications of 4-leg inverter are found not only in active and unbalanced load compensators but also as an interface for transferring power generated by renewable energy sources in distributed generation system and microgrids. However existing distributed generation systems commonly use 3-leg inverters. In this paper, the possibility of using a 4-leg inverter interface along with the existing units with 3-leg inverter is explored. This forms the distributed generation system with hybrid inverter interfaces and is studied in detail in presence of unbalanced loads. Analysis of a hybrid system is presented in respect of sequence component analysis of terminal voltages. It is shown that if the expected unbalanced loads are fed from the 4-leg inverter side, the performance of the system is improved in respect of negative and zero sequence components in terminal voltages.
Multistage Gene Normalization and SVM-Based Ranking for Protein Interactor Extraction in Full-Text Articles

The interactor normalization task (INT) is to identify genes that play the interactor role in protein-protein interactions (PPIs), to map these genes to unique IDs, and to rank them according to their normalized confidence. INT has two subtasks: gene normalization (GN) and interactor ranking. The main difficulties of INT GN are identifying genes across species and using full papers instead of abstracts. To tackle these problems, we developed a multistage GN algorithm and a ranking method, which exploit information in different parts of a paper. Our system achieved a promising AUC of 0.43471. Using the multistage GN algorithm, we have been able to improve system performance (AUC) by 1.719 percent compared to a one-stage GN algorithm. Our experimental results also show that with full text, versus abstract only, INT AUC performance was 22.6 percent higher.
Justification for a public dental service: Finnish, Norwegian and Swedish experiences

Aim: The aim of this survey was to study the rationale for maintaining a public dental service (PDS) in Finland, Norway and Sweden, and to confirm its current responsibilities, resources, leadership, incentives used and desired changes. Methods: Postal questionnaires were sent to the chief dental managers in the PDS in Finland (n=30), Norway (n=27) and Sweden (n=26). Data were analysed using statistical software. Chi-square tests were used to compare differences in distribution between groups and Spearman’s correlation analysis to study relationships between variables. The statistical significance level was set at 5%. Results: The response rate was 76.6%. All but two respondents were in favour of maintaining the PDS because of its responsibility for populations, ability to increase equity in access, and its beneficial influence on private practice. Most Swedish respondents (70.4%) were satisfied with the financial resources allocated to the PDS compared with only 22-23% of the Norwegian and Finnish respondents (P<0.001). In spite of this, the majority of the respondents felt that their opportunities to lead were good. Good salary with bonuses together with good work environment and the possibility of further education and skill development were the most usual incentives used in the PDS. A shortage of dentists and difficulties in recruiting them, especially in rural and remote areas, had become a big problem in all three countries. Conclusions: Overall, the Nordic chief dental managers who responded to this survey supported the continuing provision of oral health care by PDS. They felt that the professional staff of the PDS should be financially rewarded for productivity through an individualised incentive scheme and that more clinical work should be shared between the members of the dental team.
An Efficient Technique for Calculating Exact Nearest-Neighbor Classification Accuracy

We present a technique for calculating exact nearest-neigh bor classification accuracy. This is equivalent to averaging the results o f an exponential number of trials (all test/train splits), yet it can be p rformed very efficiently. The technique is applied to each of four common c lassification experiment types. Complexity analysis and empirical r esults demonstrate the superiority of this algorithm over the customary approach of estimating accuracy by averaging several randomized test/tr ain splits. This algorithm offers significant practical benefits to research e s in terms of vastly reduced computation time.
Pharmacogenetics of plasma efavirenz exposure after treatment discontinuation: an Adult AIDS Clinical Trials Group Study.

BACKGROUND Efavirenz has a long plasma half-life and a low genetic barrier to resistance. Simultaneously stopping treatment with all agents in efavirenz-containing regimens may result in functional efavirenz monotherapy that selects for drug-resistant human immunodeficiency virus type 1. Lower plasma efavirenz clearance is associated with a cytochrome P450 2B6 gene (CYP2B6) polymorphism (516G-->T) that is more frequent among African American individuals than among European American individuals. METHODS We characterized relationships between this polymorphism and predicted plasma efavirenz concentration-time profiles after discontinuation of therapy with use of data obtained from subjects receiving therapy. Pharmacokinetic parameters were estimated using population-based methods. Concentrations after discontinuation of therapy were predicted from subject-specific estimates. RESULTS. Median estimated efavirenz half-lives were 23, 27, and 48 h for patients with CYP2B6 position 516 GG (78 patients), GT (60), and TT (14) genotypes, respectively (P<.001). After therapy was stopped, plasma efavirenz concentrations in patients with GG, GT, and TT genotypes were predicted to exceed 46.7 ng/mL (the estimated protein-adjusted 95% inhibitory concentration for wild-type virus) for a median of 5.8 days (interquartile range [IQR], 4.4-8.3 days), 7.0 days (IQR, 5.0-8.0 days), and 14 days (IQR, 11.1-21.2 days), respectively (P<.001). Plasma efavirenz levels were predicted to exceed 46.7 ng/mL for >21 days in 5% of subjects with GG genotype, 5% of subjects with GT genotype, and 29% of subjects with TT genotype. CONCLUSIONS The CYP2B6 position 516 TT genotype or a prolonged measured elimination half-life may predict increased risk of developing drug resistance among patients who discontinue efavirenz-containing regimens. This has implications for strategies to safely discontinue antiretroviral regimens while avoiding the emergence of drug resistance.
Processing Syntactic Relations in Language and Music: An Event-Related Potential Study

In order to test the language-specificity of a known neural correlate of syntactic processing the P600 event-related brain potential (ERP) component, this study directly compared ERPs elicited by syntactic incongruities in language and music. Using principles of phrase structure for language and principles of harmony and key-relatedness for music, sequences were constructed in which an element was either congruous, moderately incongruous, or highly incongruous with the preceding structural context. A within-subjects design using 15 musically educated adults revealed that linguistic and musical structural incongruities elicited positivities that were statistically indistinguishable in a specified latency range. In contrast, a music-specific ERP component was observed that showed antero-temporal right-hemisphere lateralization. The results argue against the language-specificity of the P600 and suggest that language and music can be studied in parallel to address questions of neural specificity in cognitive processing.
On secure asymmetric multilevel diversity coding systems

Whether superposition (source separation) Is optimal for the asymmetric multilevel diversity coding systems (AMDCS) with perfect secrecy is answered in this paper by studying a non-trivial example. Threshold perfect secrecy is added to the AMDCS model. The eavesdropper may have access to any one but not more than one subset of the channels but can get nothing about the sources, as long as the size of the subset is not above the security level. The secure AMDCS (S-AMDCS) with five sources, four encoders and security level two is solved and it is shown that linear codes are optimal for this instance. However, in contrast with the secure symmetric multilevel diversity coding systems (S-SMDCS), superposition is shown to be not optimal for S-AMDCS in general from this counterexample.
Morphological and physiological survival of goldfish Mauthner axons isolated from their somata by spinal cord crush

Axon segments isolated from their somata degenerate within days or months depending on species and neuronal type. To better understand the time course of morphological and physiological changes associated with degeneration of axon segments of vertebrate central neurons, we have studied the goldfish Mauthner axon (M‐axon) when it has been separated from its soma by spinal cord crush.
Ventricular Tachycardia After In Vivo DC Shock Ablation in Dogs: Electrophysiologic and Histologic Correlation

BackgroundDC shock catheter ablation for the treatment of ventricular tachycardia (VT) may induce VT episodes that disappear within days. Methods and ResultsA 30-J cathodal shock was delivered to the endocardial left ventricular wall in 15 closed-chest dogs. All dogs had VT during the first day after ablation. Eleven of these dogs were studied on the first day. Extensive epicardial and endocardial activation mapping in vivo, in Langendorff-perfused hearts, and in tissue blocks in a tissue bath localized the site of origin of VT to subendocardial Purkinje fibers in a border zone surrounding the central necrotic ablation lesion. Intracellular recording showed that this zone consisted of a subendocardial superficial layer (SSL) of cells with abnormal characteristics, a resting membrane potential (RMP) of −58 ± 11 mV (mean ± SD), and an action potential amplitude (APA) of 61 ± 20 mV. In addition, the steepness of phase 0 of the action potential was markedly reduced. In three dogs abnormal automaticity was found in a very small area. Immediately below the SSL, cells were normal with an RMP of −78 ± 5 mV and an APA of 107 ± 8 mV. Histology confirmed a thin SSL with edematous and necrotic cells, hemorrhage, and infiltration. The other four dogs were studied at 1 week after ablation when VT was absent. Microelectrode impalement in the SSL was either impossible or showed nearly normal action potential characteristics. Histological examination showed a markedly thickened fibrotic subendocardial layer at places where impalement was impossible. Normal subendocardium was found in other areas of the border zone. ConclusionsOur results indicate that VT after DC shock ablation originates from cells with abnormal automaticity in the superficial subendocardial border zone around the central ablation lesion. Within 1 week edematous and necrotic cells in this border zone are replaced by a fibrotic layer, and this transition is associated with the disappearance of VT. (Circulation 1991;84:267–278)