Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Organoselenium Coating on Cellulose Inhibits the Formation of Biofilms by Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Staphylococcus aureus

ABSTRACT Among the most difficult bacterial infections encountered in treating patients are wound infections, which may occur in burn victims, patients with traumatic wounds, necrotic lesions in people with diabetes, and patients with surgical wounds. Within a wound, infecting bacteria frequently develop biofilms. Many current wound dressings are impregnated with antimicrobial agents, such as silver or antibiotics. Diffusion of the agent(s) from the dressing may damage or destroy nearby healthy tissue as well as compromise the effectiveness of the dressing. In contrast, the antimicrobial agent selenium can be covalently attached to the surfaces of a dressing, prolonging its effectiveness. We examined the effectiveness of an organoselenium coating on cellulose discs in inhibiting Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Staphylococcus aureus biofilm formation. Colony biofilm assays revealed that cellulose discs coated with organoselenium completely inhibited P. aeruginosa and S. aureus biofilm formation. Scanning electron microscopy of the cellulose discs confirmed these results. Additionally, the coating on the cellulose discs was stable and effective after a week of incubation in phosphate-buffered saline. These results demonstrate that 0.2% selenium in a coating on cellulose discs effectively inhibits bacterial attachment and biofilm formation and that, unlike other antimicrobial agents, longer periods of exposure to an aqueous environment do not compromise the effectiveness of the coating.
A Coupled Structural-Magnetic Strain and Stress Model for Magnetostrictive Transducers

This paper addresses the modeling of strains and forces generated by magnetostrictive transducers in response to applied magnetic fields. The magnetostrictive effect is modeled by considering both the rotation of magnetic moments in response to the field and the elastic vibrations in the transducer. The former is modeled with the Jiles-Atherton model of ferromagnetic hysteresis in combination with a quartic magnetostriction law. The latter is modeled through force balancing which yields a PDE system with magnetostrictive inputs and boundary conditions given by the specific transducer design. The solution to this system provides both rod displacements and forces. The calculated forces are used to quantify the magnetomechanical effect in the transducer core, i.e., the stress-induced magnetization changes. This is done by considering a “law of approach” to the anhysteretic magnetization. The resulting model provides a representation of the bidirectional coupling between the magnetic and elastic states. It is demonstrated that the model accurately characterizes the magnetic hysteresis in the material, as well as the strains and forces output by the transducer under conditions typical of engineering applications.
Fuzzy interpolation and extrapolation using shift ratio and overall weight measurement based on areas of fuzzy sets

Conventional fuzzy reasoning methods requires compact fuzzy rule base to infer a result, but due to incomplete data or lack of expertise knowledge, compact rule bases are not always available. Fuzzy interpolation methods have been widely researched to reasonably allow the interpolation a fuzzy result using the nearest available rules. Chang et al. [24] proposed a novel interpolation method which employs the weighted average on the area of the fuzzy set. However, the interpolated observation does not fully represent the actual observation that is given. In our proposed extension to this method, a different weight computation and a shift technique are included to ensure that the normal point of the observation and the normal point of the interpolated observation are mapped together. This weight computation and shift technique has also enabled the capability of extrapolation to be performed implicitly.
Multi-Objective Optimization Techniques for VLSI Placements

Floorplanning is a vital phase in the physical design process of very large scale integrated (VLSI) circuit. The main objective of floorplanning is to minimize chip area. In recent years, the integration density of VLSI is increasing and the size is becoming very small. Therefore, many factors such as the increase in the temperature of the chip and complexity of circuit design are should be solved. The increased temperature causes the quality degradation and reliability deterioration of a chip. The primary objective function for floorplanning is to minimize the total area of a chip. In this paper, we propose a multi-objective function considering temperature aware and dispersion of the module to minimize the chip area using the simulated annealing (SA). As a floorplan representation, we use single-sequence because it is simple and effective. The hotspot tool is used to obtain the temperature in the chip region by using the power density of each module and the dispersion of the module is used to consider the distances of each module from the center of the chip. The simulation results show that this multi-objective function can adjust the relationship between chip area and chip temperature to achieve required design.
Reasoning in corporate memory systems: a case study of group competencies

Organisations with significant intellectual capital must create an environment that facilitates better reuse and deployment of existing corporate knowledge in decision-making processes. Advances in information technologies and telecommunications and emerging trends in knowledge management and organisational memories, are enhancing the ability of people to communicate and co-ordinate among business processes. In order to categorise and classify such organisational knowledge for future reuse, appropriate tools must be developed. The practical result of this research work is the design and implementation of a group memory system to manage heterogeneous and distributed knowledge embedded in business process activities. The emphasis of this paper will be on the representation and reasoning upon organisational processes in order to provide an integrated enterprise vision to allow an efficient management of corporate competencies. The proposed group memory was designed using an ontology-based model of a domain specific business process and related individual and group competence elements. Examples to illustrate the application of such group memory system in a real organisational setting are provided. The theoretical support for this research involves aspects of knowledge management, knowledge modelling, organisational memories, and ontologies. The emphasis of this research work relies in the design and development of reasoning facilities in corporate memory systems. The corporate competencies are analysed at the individual and group level within the organisation. The group memory system (GMS) is interpreted as an instantiation of a corporate memory system where a specific organisational group and their business processes are being investigated.
Normal Factor Graphs and Holographic Transformations

This paper stands at the intersection of two distinct lines of research. One line is “holographic algorithms,” a powerful approach introduced by Valiant for solving various counting problems in computer science; the other is “normal factor graphs,” an elegant framework proposed by Forney for representing codes defined on graphs. We introduce the notion of holographic transformations for normal factor graphs, and establish a very general theorem, called the generalized Holant theorem, which relates a normal factor graph to its holographic transformation. We show that the generalized Holant theorem on the one hand underlies the principle of holographic algorithms, and on the other hand reduces to a general duality theorem for normal factor graphs, a special case of which was first proved by Forney. In the course of our development, we formalize a new semantics for normal factor graphs, which highlights various linear algebraic properties that potentially enable the use of normal factor graphs as a linear algebraic tool.
Isolation and biological characterization of chicken amnion epithelial cells

Amniotic epithelial cells (AECs) express Oct4, Nanog and Sox-2, which are necessary for maintaining the undifferentiated state of pluripotent stem cells. AECs additionally express CK19, which is a specific marker of epithelial cells, both in vivo and in vitro. In this research, we investigated the biological characteristics and potential for cell therapy of AECs from 6-day-old chicken embryos. We induced the AECs to differentiate into pancreatic islet-like cells (endoderm), adipocytes and osteoblasts (mesoderm) and neural-like cells (ectoderm), and used immunofluorescence and RT-PCR to detect the expression of AECs specific markers. To assess the differentiation capacity of AECs, passage 3 cells were induced to differentiate into adipocytes, osteoblasts, pancreatic islet-like cells and neural-like cells. The AEC markers, Oct-4, Nanog, Sox-2 and CK19, were all positively expressed. Cloning efficiency decreased with increasing passage number. Passage 3 AECs were successfully induced to differentiate into pancreatic islet-like cells, osteoblasts, adipocytes, and neural-like cells. These results suggested that AECs isolated from chicken embryos exhibited the characteristics of the multipotent stem cells. AECs may therefore be ideal candidates for cellular transplantation therapy and tissue engineering.
Computerized Data Reduction and Analysis in Positron Annihilation Coincidence Doppler Broadening Spectroscopy

Positron annihilation spectroscopy is a sensitive probe for studying the electronic structure of defects in solids. The high-momentum part of the Doppler-broadened spectra can be used to distinguish different elements at the annihilation site. This can be achieved by using a twodetector coincidence system, which reduces the peak to background ratio dramatically. The coincident events have to be extracted from a two-dimensional spectrum that is recorded by two high-purity germanium detectors. For this purpose the computer program MePASto was developed, which allows an automated data reduction from such Doppler-coincidence spectra, supplemented by a post-processing unit for data analysis. Additionally a case study of the identification of defect sites in an intermetallic compound is presented.
CYP3A Activity and Expression in Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease

Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is the leading cause of liver disease in the Western world, given its association with obesity, type 2 diabetes, and dyslipidemia. Medications are widely used in NAFLD to manage comorbid conditions, and there is significant interest in developing new drug therapies to treat the disease. Despite this, little is known about the effects of NAFLD on drug metabolism. We examined the activity and expression of the major drug-metabolizing enzyme subfamily, CYP3A, in subjects with NAFLD as well as in mouse and cellular models. CYP3A activity was determined in healthy volunteers and subjects with biopsy-proven NAFLD by oral midazolam phenotyping and measurement of plasma 4β-hydroxycholesterol, an endogenous metabolic biomarker. CYP3A4 transcriptional activity, metabolic activity, and expression were also assessed in a mouse and cellular model of NAFLD. Subjects with nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) had 2.4-fold higher plasma midazolam levels compared with controls. Plasma 4β-hydroxycholesterol was 51% and 37% lower than controls in subjects with simple steatosis and NASH, respectively. Fibrosis was associated with 57% lower plasma 4β-hydroxycholesterol levels than controls. Furthermore, hepatic CYP3A4 mRNA expression in NASH was 69% lower than control livers. CYP3A4 gene luciferase activity in the livers of NAFLD mice was 38% lower than that of controls. Lipid-loaded Huh7 human hepatoma cells had a 38% reduction in CYP3A4 activity and 80% lower CYP3A4 mRNA expression compared with the control. CYP3A activity is reduced in human NAFLD in addition to mouse and in vitro cell models of the disease.
Relationships among weight, sex, deprivation, time of eating, eating patterns, taste, and eating behavior /

3. When a map, drawing or chart, etc., was part of the material being photographed the photographer followed a definite method in "sectioning" the material. It is customary to begin photoing at the upper left hand corner of a large sheet and to continue photoing from left to right in equal sections with a small overlap. If necessary, sectioning is continued again — beginning below the first row and continuing on until complete.
Queue Management Strategies to Improve TCP Fairness in IEEE 802.11 Wireless LANs

Wireless Local Area Networks (WLANs) based on the IEEE 802.11 technology have become increasingly popular and ubiquitous. The 802.11 standard allows each station in a WLAN equal opportunity to access the wireless channel, which can result in unfair sharing of network bandwidth between upstream and downstream TCP flows at an AP. In this paper, we propose two different queue management techniques to alleviate the unfairness problem, with one based on Selective Packet Marking (SPM), and the other based on Least Attained Service (LAS) scheduling. We evaluate these proposed solutions using the ns-2 network simulator. The simulation results show that, compared to a conventional DropTail queue mechanism for NewReno TCP sources, the proposed solutions improve the fairness index by 20-40%, while achieving comparable aggregate throughput.
Composition and Structure of Microbial Communities from Stromatolites of Hamelin Pool in Shark Bay, Western Australia

ABSTRACT Stromatolites, organosedimentary structures formed by microbial activity, are found throughout the geological record and are important markers of biological history. More conspicuous in the past, stromatolites occur today in a few shallow marine environments, including Hamelin Pool in Shark Bay, Western Australia. Hamelin Pool stromatolites often have been considered contemporary analogs to ancient stromatolites, yet little is known about the microbial communities that build them. We used DNA-based molecular phylogenetic methods that do not require cultivation to study the microbial diversity of an irregular stromatolite and of the surface and interior of a domal stromatolite. To identify the constituents of the stromatolite communities, small subunit rRNA genes were amplified by PCR from community genomic DNA with universal primers, cloned, sequenced, and compared to known rRNA genes. The communities were highly diverse and novel. The average sequence identity of Hamelin Pool sequences compared to the >200,000 known rRNA sequences was only ∼92%. Clone libraries were ∼90% bacterial and ∼10% archaeal, and eucaryotic rRNA genes were not detected in the libraries. The most abundant sequences were representative of novel proteobacteria (∼28%), planctomycetes (∼17%), and actinobacteria (∼14%). Sequences representative of cyanobacteria, long considered to dominate these communities, comprised <5% of clones. Approximately 10% of the sequences were most closely related to those of α-proteobacterial anoxygenic phototrophs. These results provide a framework for understanding the kinds of organisms that build contemporary stromatolites, their ecology, and their relevance to stromatolites preserved in the geological record.
Inactivation of Francisella tularensis Schu S4 in a Biological Safety Cabinet Using Hydrogen Peroxide Fumigation

This study evaluated the inactivation of Francisella tularensis Schu S4 on various materials (acrylic, glass, polyamide, polyethylene, polypropylene, silicone rubber, and stainless steel) using hydrogen peroxide fumigation of a Class III Biological Safety Cabinet (BSC III). A suspension of F. tularensis Schu S4 (7 × 107 CFU) was dried on seven different types of test surfaces and exposed to vaporous hydrogen peroxide (VHP) fumigation for a contact time of two hours. Qualitative growth assessment showed that VHP exposure inactivated F. tularensis on all replicates of the seven test materials up to four days post-exposure. The effectiveness of VHP fumigation on the growth of biological indicators (Bacillus subtilis or Geobacillus stearothermophilus) and spore strips (Bacillus atrophaeus) was evaluated in parallel as a qualitative assessment of decontamination. At one and four days post-exposure, decontaminated biological indicators and spore strips exhibited no growth, while the non-decontaminated samples displayed growth. This study provides information for using VHP fumigation as an alternative approach for the decontamination of virulent F. tularensis when the current accepted method of 10% household bleach followed by 70% alcohol may not be practical for decontamination of a BSC III.
Non-Parametric Document Clustering by Ensemble Methods

Los sesgos de los algoritmos individuales para clustering no parametrico de documentos pueden conducir a soluciones no optimas. Los metodos de consenso podrian compensar esta limitacion, pero no han sido probados sobre colecciones de documentos. Este articulo presenta una comparacion de estrategias para clustering no parametrico de documentos por consenso. / The biases of individual algorithms for non-parametric document clustering can lead to non-optimal solutions. Ensemble clustering methods may overcome this limitation, but have not been applied to document collections. This paper presents a comparison of strategies for non-parametric document ensemble clustering.
Direct Expansion of Human Allospecific FoxP3+CD4+ Regulatory T Cells with Allogeneic B Cells for Therapeutic Application

Compelling evidence from animal studies has demonstrated that allospecific FoxP3+CD4+ regulatory T (Treg) cells expanded ex vivo can be used as effective therapeutic tools in the treatment of allograft rejection and graft-vs-host disease. Despite the promising results from animal studies, there remain major barriers to developing Treg cell-based immunotherapy in humans. Currently, no effective approach has been established for selective expansion of human allospecific Treg cells ex vivo. Additionally, the very low frequency of Treg cells present in human peripheral blood could pose a formidable challenge to obtaining a sufficient number of Treg cells from a single donor for ex vivo expansion for therapeutic utilization. Extending our recent finding that mouse B cells preferentially induce expansion of alloreactive Treg cells, we report herein that human Treg cells can be expanded ex vivo with allogeneic B cells. The expanded Treg cells express very high levels of FoxP3, maintain anergic phenotype, and are potent suppressors capable of inhibiting the alloproliferation of third-party responder T cells at very low Treg-to-T effector cell ratio in an alloantigen-specific manner. The alloantigen specificity demonstrated by B cell-expanded Treg cells is not determined by the HLA haplotypes of the Treg cells, but it is induced and determined by the haplotype of the B cells used to expand them. Our findings represent a significant advance in the development of Treg cell-based immunotherapy in humans and raise the possibility of using third-party Treg cells for therapeutic applications.
Child Vulnerability and HIV / AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa : What We Know and What Can Be Done

Among the many devastating consequences of the AIDS epidemic in sub-Saharan Africa, the rapidly growing orphan population demands particular attention. Today, over 12 million children in the region have been orphaned by AIDS, a population that is increasing by the minute as HIVpositive parents become ill and die from AIDS (UNAIDS/UNICEF/USAID 2004). Millions more children are living with chronically ill parents, and about three million are themselves infected with the virus. Estimates differ, but some organizations predict a tripling of orphan numbers in the next five years.
La innovació dels instituts: un debat en xarxa

EnglishThe network of innovative secondary schools affiliated with the Institute of Education Sciences (ICE) of the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB) was created in 2007 with the aim of providing a space for inter-cooperative reflection and discussion. Since the discussion of globalized methodologies was still set within a theoretical framework at that time, the will of the pedagogical leaders of the four educational projects was to pool their thoughts on this subject, sharing objectives and resources, unifying efforts and capabilities, and associating actions. Overall, for each of the network’s participant secondary schools, this meant another way of educating, based on the self-education of a stable group of schools with a will for innovation as well as a possibility of coordinating innovation, experimentation and training. Ten years later, from the Montgros Secondary School, we look back on our history, our identifying features and the work carried out, providing a detailed view of the evolution of the educational project of one the schools which has formed part of the network from the very beginning.Keywords: Networking, innovation, globalization of knowledge, cooperation, social inclusion, personalized learning. catalaLa Xarxa d’Instituts Innovadors associats a l’ICE de la UAB neix l’any 2007 amb la voluntat de trobar un espai de reflexio i debat cooperatiu intercentres. En aquell moment parlar de metodologies globalitzades era encara un marc teoric, i la voluntat dels liders pedagogics dels quatre projectes educatius era la de pensar, conjuntament, compartint objectius i recursos, unificant capacitats i esforcos, i relacionant les accions. Globalment, per a cada un dels instituts que ha participat de la Xarxa, ha representat una altra manera de fer formacio, basada en l’autoformacio d’un grup estable de centres educatius amb voluntat innovadora i alhora una possibilitat de triangular la innovacio, l’experimentacio i la formacio. Deu anys despres repassem la historia, els trets identificatius i la tasca realitzada i detallem l’evolucio del projecte educatiu d’un dels instituts que n’han format part des de l’inici: l’Institut Montgros.Paraules clau: Treball en xarxa, innovacio, globalitzacio de coneixements, cooperacio, inclusio, personalitzacio.
Improved self-organization with an alternative inhibition gradient in CALMMap networks

Phaf et al. (2001, Connection Science, 13 (4): 293-321) described a self-organizing variant of the CALM modular neural network model (Murre et al., 1992, Neural Networks, 5: 55-82), which has been coined CALMMap. The self-organization mechanism is driven by a specific inhibition gradient formula. The disadvantage of this formula is that it introduces new parameters and is not optimally adjusted to the size of a module. This research note provides an alternative to this inhibition gradient formula, with the benefit that it performs autonomously. In other words, no extra parameters are introduced and the strength of inhibition adapts to the size of a module. Simulations are described to show the effectiveness of the alternative inhibition gradient function.