Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Extensive Metabolic Activation of the Tobacco-Specific Carcinogen 4-(Methylnitrosamino)-1-(3-Pyridyl)-1-Butanone in Smokers

4-(Methylnitrosamino)-1-(3-pyridyl)-1-butanone (NNK) is a potent lung carcinogen present in both unburned tobacco and cigarette smoke. The sum of 4-(methylnitrosamino)-1-(3-pyridyl)-1-butanol (NNAL) and its glucuronides, referred to as total NNAL, is an established urinary biomarker of human NNK uptake. Metabolic activation of NNK to DNA adducts proceeds via α-hydroxylation pathways, and 4-oxo-4-(3-pyridyl)butanoic acid (keto acid) and 4-hydroxy-4-(3-pyridyl)butanoic acid (hydroxy acid) are the principal end products of these pathways in rodents and primates. The purpose of this study was to determine NNK metabolic activation in smokers, as measured by the sum of keto acid and hydroxy acid, relative to total NNAL. To specifically identify NNK-derived keto acid and hydroxy acid, which are also formed from nicotine, we added [pyridine-D4]NNK to cigarettes that were originally low in NNK, and measured the deuterium-labeled metabolites in the urine of people who smoked these cigarettes. The total amount of [pyridine-D4]keto acid plus [pyridine-D4]hydroxy acid averaged 4.00 ± 2.49 nmol/24 h, whereas the average amount of total [pyridine-D4]NNAL was 0.511 ± 0.368 nmol/24 h. The results of this study show for the first time that NNK metabolic activation is a quantitatively significant pathway in smokers, accounting for ∼86% of total urinary excretion of NNK metabolites. The large interindividual variation in the excreted [pyridine-D4]keto acid and [pyridine-D4]hydroxy acid among 20 smokers strongly supports our hypothesis that some smokers activate NNK more extensively than others and that the ratio between biomarkers of metabolic activation and detoxification at a given dose of NNK could be a potential indicator of cancer risk. (Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2008;17(7):1764–73)
Tracking of childhood overweight into adulthood: a systematic review of the literature

Overweight and obesity in youth are important public health concerns and are of particular interest because of possible long‐term associations with adult weight status and morbidity. The aim of this study was to systematically review the literature and update evidence concerning persistence of childhood overweight. A computerized bibliographical search – restricted to studies with a prospective or retrospective longitudinal design – was conducted. Two authors independently extracted data and assessed the methodological quality of the included studies in four dimensions (i) study population and participation rate; (ii) study attrition; (iii) data collection and (iv) data analysis. Conclusions were based on a rating system of three levels of evidence. A total of 25 publications were selected for inclusion in this review. According to a methodological quality assessment, 13 studies were considered to be of high quality. The majority of these high‐quality studies were published after 2001, indicating that recently published data, in particular, provide us with reliable information. All included studies consistently report an increased risk of overweight and obese youth becoming overweight adults, suggesting that the likelihood of persistence of overweight into adulthood is moderate for overweight and obese youth. However, predictive values varied considerably. Limiting aspects with respect to generalizability and methodological issues are discussed.
Change Detection in Teletraac Models Edics: 3-comm

In this paper we propose a likelihood based ratio test to detect distributional changes in common teletraac models. These include traditional models like the Markov Modulated Poisson Process and processes exhibiting long range dependency, in particular Gaussian fractional ARIMA processes. A practical approach is also developed for the case where the parameter after the change is unknown. It is noticed that the algorithm is robust enough to detect slight perturbations of the parameter value after the change. A comprehensive set of numerical results including results for the mean detection delay is provided.
A Rare but Significant Cause of an Enlarging Neck Mass: A Case Report of Primary Thyroid Lymphoma

Primary thyroid lymphoma is a rare form of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma that typically presents as a rapidly enlarging goiter in patients with a history of autoimmune thyroid disease. We present the evaluation, pitfalls in diagnosis, and treatment of a 49-year-old woman with diffuse large B-cell primary thyroid lymphoma presenting with airway obstruction.
Pathogen-Induced Defense and Innate Immunity in Macroalgae

Animals and vascular plants are known to defend themselves facultatively against pathogens, with innate receptors mediating their resistance. Macroalgal defense against microorganisms, in contrast, has until recently been regarded mainly as constitutive. Indeed, many macroalgae appear to be chemically defended at constantly high levels, and this is possibly one of the reasons why the first evidence of pathogen-aroused resistance in a macroalga was detected only a decade ago. Here, I summarize the results of studies that indicate the existence of pathogen-activated or pathogen-induced macroalgal defense. Most indications so far come from molecular investigations, which revealed major functional similarities among the defense systems of distant macroalgal clades and the innate immune systems of vascular plants and metazoans. Homologies exist in the primary and secondary defense-activating signals, as well as in the enzymes that are involved and the cellular responses that are activated. This strongly suggests that innate immunity also exists in relatively distinct macroalgal clades. However, a macroalgal receptor still needs to be isolated and characterized, and the molecular concept of macroalgal receptor-mediated immunity needs to be complemented with an ecological perspective on pathogen-induced defense, to develop a joint neuroecological perspective on seaweed-microbe interactions.
A adaptive dual-platform deep space infrared image enhancement algorithm based on linear gray scale transformation

According to the characteristics of deep space infrared images, an image enhancement algorithm of adaptive dual-platform linear gray scale transformation is proposed. The algorithm can adaptively determine the dual-platform threshold in the process of Histogram distribution statistics, and then adjust the gray level distribution to extend dynamic range of the gray scale and enhance image contrast. It can improve the accuracy of the follow-up target detection.
Improvement in electrical performance of half-metallic Fe3O4/GaAs structures using pyrolyzed polymer film as buffer layer

In this work, the Fe3O4 magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) were synthesized by a colloidal method. TEM images reveal that Fe3O4 MNPs are spherical in shape with a narrow size distribution in the range of 6–7 nm. These MNPs were used in the fabrication of two types of n-GaAs-based structures: (i) Fe3O4/n-GaAs (reference); and (ii) Fe3O4/PPF/n-GaAs. We present that carbon-based pyrolyzed polymer films (PPFs), as a buffer layer, can control the electrical characteristics of a conventional Fe3O4/n-GaAs device. The behaviour of the apparent barrier height and ideality factor with the interfacial layer due to the presence of the interface state density is discussed. PPF raises the barrier height in a Fe3O4/PPF/n-GaAs half-metallic/insulator/semiconductor (h-MIS) device as high as 0.62 0.002 eV. Furthermore, Fe3O4/PPF interfaces exhibit unique electronic properties including high-quality interface, low series resistance (from 17.73 kΩ to 85.66 Ω) and extremely low interface state density (1.76 × 1012 eV−1 cm−2). Compared to the electrical performance for the Fe3O4/n-GaAs junction, that for the Fe3O4/PPF/n-GaAs junction was enhanced.
Protein Data Representation: A Survey

One of the critical issues in bioinformatics is the data structure used for representing the protein data; this representation is a base for the operations applied such as sequence alignment, structure alignment and motif finding. In this paper, a survey of different representations and wellknown data structures used for protein data is presented from a computer science perspective. This work presents a survey and summarizes the efforts done for protein data representation and approximation. Hence, it could be a basic reference for research that is aiming to develop applications in the field of bioinformatics.
A method for opinion mining of product reviews using association rules

When most people buy the products, they inquire about other people's opinion and refer to recommended product. Today, the result of explosive development of the Web makes it easy to consult other people's opinion information. These variety of opinion data are not only useful to customers, but also manufacturers. As a result, opinion mining research to analyze opinion data on the web has become a popular topic recently. In this paper, we proposed opinion mining method for product reviews. In our approach, we first do POS tagging on each review sentence, and we extract feature and opinion words in form of transaction data. Then we discover association rules of needed type from the transaction data, and provide information that is summarized advantages and disadvantages using PMI-IR algorithm.
CHARIOT: a domain specific language for extensible cyber-physical systems

Wider adoption, availability and ubiquity of wireless networking technologies, integrated sensors, actuators, and edge computing devices is facilitating a paradigm shift by allowing us to transition from traditional statically configured vertical silos of Cyber-Physical Systems (CPS) to next generation CPS that are more open, dynamic and extensible. Fractionated spacecraft, smart cities computing architectures, Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) clusters are all examples of extensible CPS wherein extensibility is implied by the dynamic aggregation of physical resources, affect of physical dynamics on availability of computing resources, and various multi-domain applications hosted on these systems. However, realization of extensible CPS requires resolving design-time and runtime challenges emanating from properties specific to these systems. In this paper, we first describe different properties of extensible CPS - dynamism, extensibility, remote deployment, security, heterogeneity and resilience. Then we identify different design-time challenges stemming from heterogeneity and resilience requirements. We particularly focus on software heterogeneity arising from availability of various communication middleware. We then present appropriate solutions in the context of a novel domain specific language and describe how this language and its features have evolved from our past work.
Performance analysis of wavelet transform for unspoken words

This paper aims to identify unspoken words using facial muscle activity without audible signal. A novel approach of wavelet analysis using different filter coefficients and the performance analysis of each filter coefficients along with classifiers is introduced. The technique is successfully used to classify 5 vowels, month name, weekdays and is not sensitive to the variation in speed and the speaking style of the different subjects and is used as recognition variables to recognize the unspoken words. This is an efficient technique that measures the relative muscle activity of the articulatory facial muscles and it is shown that former systems go through austere performance degradation when new words are acquainted. Using wavelet, word error rate and classification rate achieve a noteworthy success. This paper presents wavelet analysis of surface electromyogram (SEMG) of four facial muscles to decompose the signal and identify the words and classifying these words by three wavelets. Using three filter coefficients of Daubechies, Coiflets and Symlets, the unspoken word has been recognized. This represents the proportional muscle activity of the four muscles. These are classified using k-nearest neighbor, probabilistic neural network and support vector machine to identify the speech. It is urged that such applied science may be used for the user to give simple voiceless commands when conditioned for the specific user.
Learning potential-based policies from constrained motion

We present a method for learning potential-based policies from constrained motion data. In contrast to previous approaches to direct policy learning, our method can combine observations from a variety of contexts where different constraints are in force, to learn the underlying unconstrained policy in form of its potential function. This allows us to generalise and predict behaviour where novel constraints apply. As a key ingredient, we first create multiple simple local models of the potential, and align those using an efficient algorithm. We can then detect and discard unsuitable subsets of the data and learn a global model from a cleanly pre-processed training set. We demonstrate our approach on systems of varying complexity, including kinematic data from the ASIMO humanoid robot with 22 degrees of freedom.
Platypus globin genes and flanking loci suggest a new insertional model for beta-globin evolution in birds and mammals

Background: Vertebrate alpha (! )and beta (")-globin gene families exemplify the way in which genomes evolve to produce functional complexity. From tandem duplication of a single globin locus, the ! and "-globin clusters expanded, and then were separated onto different chromosomes. The previous finding of a fossil "-globin gene (#) in the marsupial ! -cluster, however, suggested that duplication of the ! -" cluster onto two chromosomes, followed by lineage-specific gene loss and duplication, produced paralogous ! and "-globin clusters in birds and mammals. Here we analyse genomic data from an egg-laying monotreme mammal, the platypus (Ornithorhynchus anatinus), to explore haemoglobin evolution at the stem of the mammalian radiation. Results: The platypus ! -globin cluster (chromosome 21) contains embryonic and adult ! globin genes, a "-like #-globin gene, and the GBY globin gene with homology to cytoglobin, arranged as 5'-$-$'-! D-! 3-! 2-! 1-#-GBY-3'. The platypus "-globin cluster (chromosome 2) contains single embryonic and adult globin genes arranged as 5'-%-"-3'. Surprisingly, all of these globin genes were expressed in some adult tissues. Comparison of flanking sequences revealed that all jawed vertebrate ! -globin clusters are flanked by MPG-C16orf35 and LUC7L, whereas all bird and mammal "-globin clusters are embedded in olfactory genes. Thus, the mammalian ! and "-globin clusters are orthologous to the bird ! and "-globin clusters respectively. Conclusion: We propose that ! and "-globin clusters evolved from an ancient MPG-C16orf35-! "-GBY-LUC7L arrangement 410 million years ago. A copy of the original " (represented by # in marsupials and monotremes) was inserted into an array of olfactory genes before the amniote radiation (>315 million years ago), then duplicated and diverged to form orthologous clusters of "globin genes with different expression profiles in different lineages. Published: 25 July 2008 BMC Biology 2008, 6:34 doi:10.1186/1741-7007-6-34 Received: 28 May 2008 Accepted: 25 July 2008 This article is available from: http://www.biomedcentral. com/1741-7007/6/34 © 2008 Patel et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. BMC Biology%2008,%6-34 0112-33444567'8$9:$;1<"=5:'831741? 700736334
Preparation of porous polylactide microspheres by emulsion-solvent evaporation based on solution induced phase separation

Porous polylactide (PLA) microspheres were fabricated by an emulsion-solvent evaporation method based on solution induced phase separation. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) observations confirmed the porous structure of the microspheres with good connectivity. The pore size was in the range of decade micrometers. Besides large cavities as similarly existed on non-porous microspheres, small pores were found on surfaces of the porous microspheres. The apparent density of the porous microspheres was much smaller than that of non-porous microspheres. Fabrication conditions such as stirring rate, good solvent/non-solvent ratio, PLA concentration and dispersant (polyvinyl alcohol, PVA) concentration had an important influence on both the particle size and size distribution and the pore size within the microspheres. A larger pore size was achieved at a slower stirring rate, lower good solvent/non-solvent ratio or lower PLA concentration due to longer coalescence time. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Structures of receptor complexes formed by hemagglutinins from the Asian Influenza pandemic of 1957

The viruses that caused the three influenza pandemics of the twentieth century in 1918, 1957, and 1968 had distinct hemagglutinin receptor binding glycoproteins that had evolved the capacity to recognize human cell receptors. We have determined the structure of the H2 hemagglutinin from the second pandemic, the “Asian Influenza” of 1957. We compare it with the 1918 “Spanish Influenza” hemagglutinin, H1, and the 1968 “Hong Kong Influenza” hemagglutinin, H3, and show that despite its close overall structural similarity to H1, and its more distant relationship to H3, the H2 receptor binding site is closely related to that of H3 hemagglutinin. By analyzing hemagglutinins of potential H2 avian precursors of the pandemic virus, we show that the human receptor can be bound by avian hemagglutinins that lack the human–specific mutations of H2 and H3 pandemic viruses, Gln-226Leu, and Gly-228Ser. We show how Gln-226 in the avian H2 receptor binding site, together with Asn-186, form hydrogen bond networks through bound water molecules to mediate binding to human receptor. We show that the human receptor adopts a very similar conformation in both human and avian hemagglutinin-receptor complexes. We also show that Leu-226 in the receptor binding site of human virus hemagglutinins creates a hydrophobic environment near the Sia-1-Gal-2 glycosidic linkage that favors binding of the human receptor and is unfavorable for avian receptor binding. We consider the significance for the development of pandemics, of the existence of avian viruses that can bind to both avian and human receptors.
Synaptic Inputs to ON Parasol Ganglion Cells in the Primate Retina

In primates, the retinal ganglion cells that project to the magnocellular layers of the lateral geniculate nucleus have distinctive responses to light, and one of these has been identified morphologically as the parasol ganglion cell. To investigate their synaptic connections, we injected parasol cells with Neurobiotin in lightly fixed baboon retinas. The five ON-center cells we analyzed by electron microscopy received ∼20% of their input from bipolar cells. The major synaptic input to parasol cells was from amacrine cells via conventional synapses and, in this respect, they resembled α ganglion cells of the cat retina. We also found the gap junctions between amacrine cells and parasol ganglion cells that had been predicted from tracer-coupling experiments. To identify the presynaptic amacrine cells, ON-center parasol cells were injected with Neurobiotin and Lucifer yellow in living macaque retinas, which were then fixed and labeled by immunofluorescence. Two kinds of amacrine cells were filled with Neurobiotin via gap junctions: a large, polyaxonal cell containing cholecystokinin and a smaller one without cholecystokinin. There were also appositions between cholecystokinin-containing amacrine cell processes and parasol cell dendrites. Cholinergic amacrine cell processes often followed parasol cell dendrites and made extensive contacts. In other mammals, the light responses of polyaxonal amacrine cells like these and cholinergic amacrine cells have been recorded, and the effects of acetylcholine and cholecystokinin on ganglion cells are known. Using this information, we developed a model of parasol cells that accounts for some properties of their light responses.
The prolamin storage proteins of cereal seeds: structure and evolution.

With the exception of rice, the major cereals falls into two groups. The temperate cereals comprise barley, wheat, rye and oats, and the tropical cereals maize, sorghum and millets. Only the prolamins of wheat, barley and maize have been studied in detail at the molecular and physicochemical levels, and we will therefore focus on these. We will, however, also draw comparisons with the prolamins of other species where appropriate.
E-tivities: the key to active online learning

References Clark, R. C. , & Mayer, R. E. (2012). Scenario-based e-learning: Evidence-based guidelines for online workforce learning. Hoboken, NJ: Pfeiffer. Moore, M. G. (2013). Handbook of distance education (3rd ed.). New York, NY: Routledge. Rosenberg, M. J. (2005). Beyond e-learning: Approaches and technologies to enhance organizational knowledge, learning and performance. Hoboken, NJ: Pfeiffer.
Defying c-Abl signaling circuits through small allosteric compounds

Many extracellular and intracellular signals promote the c-Abl tyrosine kinase activity. c-Abl in turn triggers a multitude of changes either in protein phosphorylation or in gene expression in the cell. Yet, c-Abl takes part in diverse signaling routes because of several domains linked to its catalytic core. Complex conformational changes turn on and off its kinase activity. These changes affect surface features of the c-Abl kinase and likely its capability to bind actin and/or DNA. Two specific inhibitors (ATP-competitive or allosteric compounds) regulate the c-Abl kinase through different mechanisms. NMR studies show that a c-Abl fragment (SH3–SH2-linker–SH1) adopts different conformational states upon binding to each inhibitor. This supports an unconventional use for allosteric compounds to unraveling physiological c-Abl signaling circuits.
A System-on-Chip Design of the RadioGatún Hash Function

Recent VLSI hash function designs allow incorporating features such as more complex input expansion schedules, more rounds and bigger states into these functions. As a result, these hash functions are slower and bulkier when compared with previous ones such as MD4, MD5, SHA-1, RIPEMD, etc. An architecture and VLSI implementation of a new hash function called RadioGatun, that achieves high-speed performance, is presented in this paper. Three different FPGA devices are used for the demonstration of this new hash function. In the first device, the hash function achieves throughput up to 1145 Mbps at 85 MHz; in the second device it achieves throughput 1819 Mbps at 135 MHz; in the third device, it reaches a throughput 4406 Mbps at 327 MHz for one data block for hashing. Since no other previous RadioGatun implementations exist in the literature, the comparison with previous implementations of hash families such as MD5, SHA-1, SHA-2, Whirlpool, etc. are provided.
Rod bipolar cells in the mammalian retina show protein kinase C‐like immunoreactivity

An antibody directed against protein kinase C (PKC) was applied to various mammalian retinae. In the cat, rat, rabbit, and macaque monkey we found PKC‐like immunoreactivity in bipolar cells which had the morphology of rod bipolar cells; in the rat some amacrine cells were also immunoreactive. In the outer plexiform layer, labeled dendrites were always the central elements of the rod spherule invagination, and in the inner plexiform layer only rod bipolar axons and their axon terminals were immunoreactive. The antibody against PKC thus can be used to distinguish rod bipolar cells from cone bipolar cells.