Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Comparative Analysis of two Component Signal Transduction Systems of the Lactobacillus Acidophilus Group

The Lactobacillus acidophilus group is a phylogenetically distinct group of closely related lactobacilli. Members of this group are considered to have probiotic properties and occupy different environmental niches. Bacteria generally sense and respond to environmental changes through two component systems (TCSs) which consist of a histidine protein kinase (HPK) and its cognate response regulator (RR). With the use of in silico techniques, the five completely sequenced L. acidophilus group genomes were scanned in order to predict TCSs. Five to nine putative TCSs encoding genes were detected in individual genomes of the L. acidophilus group. The L. acidophilus group HPKs and RRs were classified into subfamilies using the Grebe and Stock classification method. Putative TCSs were analyzed with respect to conserved domains to predict biological functions. Putative biological functions were predicted for the L. acidophilus group HPKs and RRs by comparing them with those of other microorganisms. Some of TCSs were putatively involved in a wide variety of functions which are related with probiotic ability, including tolerance to acid and bile, production of antimicrobial peptides, resistibility to the glycopeptide antibiotic vancomycin, and oxidative condition.
Anatomical Liver Resections Guided by 3-Dimensional Parenchymal Staining Using Fusion Indocyanine Green Fluorescence Imaging.

OBJECTIVE To investigate the feasibility and efficacy of anatomical liver resection (ALR) guided by fused images comprising a macroscopic view and indocyanine green fluorescence imaging (fusion IGFI). BACKGROUND ALR is established in treating hepatocellular carcinoma or other malignancies to achieve curability and functional preservation. However, the conventional demarcation technique (CDT) marks only the organ surface and sometimes fails to execute a completely valid demarcation. METHODS Twenty-four consecutive ALRs for focal liver malignancy were studied using fusion IGFI. Indocyanine green was administered systemically after selective inflow clamping in 12 patients or by portal puncture and direct injection in 12 patients, and we compared demarcation findings between fusion IGFI and CDT. The strength of contrast between target and nontarget areas was quantitatively calculated as contrast index and compared between IGFI and CDT according to injection technique or state of the liver surface. RESULTS Fusion IGFI achieved valid demarcation in 23 of 24 patients (95.8%), whereas CDT achieved valid demarcation in only 10 patients (41.7%) (P < 0.0001). The contrast index of fusion IGFI was 0.81 (0.18-2.51), which was significantly higher than that of CDT at 0.12 (0.01-0.42) (P < 0.0001), and the same result was obtained regardless of the injection method or liver surface state used. ALR was conducted referring to 3-dimensional staining of target parenchyma, with no related perioperative adverse events. CONCLUSIONS Fusion IGFI is a safe imaging technique for ALR that attained valid 3-dimensional parenchymal demarcation with better feasibility and clearer demarcation than CDT.
Dust Motions Driven by MHD Turbulence

We discuss the relative grain motions due to MHD turbulence in interstellar medium. It has been known for decades that turbulent drag is an efficient way to induce grain relative motions. However, earlier treatments disregarded magnetic field and used Kolmogorov turbulence. Unlike hydro turbulence, MHD turbulence is anisotropic on small scales. Moreover, compressible modes are important for MHD and magnetic perturbations can directly interact with grains. We provide calculations of grain relative motion for realistic interstellar turbulence driving that is consistent with the velocity dispersions observed in diffuse gas and for realistic grain charging. We account for the turbulence cutoff arising from abmipolar drag. Our results on grain shattering are consistent with the customary accepted cutoff size. We obtain grain velocities for turbulence with parameters consistent with those in HI and dark clouds. These velocities are smaller than those in earlier papers, where MHD effects were disregarded. Finally, we consider grain velocities arising from photoelectric emission, radiation pressure and the thrust due to molecular hydrogen formation. These are lower than relative velocities induced by turbulence. We conclude that turbulence should prevent these mechanisms from segregating grains by size.
Restricting the vertical and horizontal extent of the Field-of-View: Effects on manoeuvring performance

It is known that Field-of-view restrictions affect distance estimation, postural equilibrium, and the ability to control heading. These are all important factors when manoeuvring on foot through complex structured environments. Although considerable research has been devoted to the horizontal angular extent of the Field-of-View (FoV), rather less attention has been paid to the vertical angle. The present study investigated the effects of both vertical and horizontal FoV restriction on manoeuvring performance and head movement while traversing an obstacle course consisting of three different types of obstacles. A restriction of both the horizontal and vertical angle of the visual field resulted in increased time needed to traverse the course. In addition, the extent of head movement during traversal was affected by vertical, but not horizontal viewing restriction. Furthermore, it was investigated if performance could be improved by altering the orientation of the visual field instead of its dimensions. The results do not indicate this. The findings of this study can be used to formulate requirements for the selection and development of field-of-view limiting devices, such as head-mounted displays and night-vision goggles.
The Revolving Door: Patient Needs and Network Turnover during Mental Health Treatment

Abstract Purpose While much research examines the consequences of deinstitutionalization for caregivers, few studies address support mobilization strategies used by patients themselves. We examine the relationship between mental health patients’ needs, their activation of network ties for health discussion, and network dynamics during the course of treatment. We hypothesize that patients strategically activate their network ties for support that matches their needs. Linking activation to network dynamics, we also propose that patients with greater needs exhaust their supportive relationships and experience more network turnover. Methodology/approach We draw on a dataset of new mental health patients (N=173) and their associated network members (N=4,144) observed over three years. Random-intercept regression models test the relationship between patients’ needs and (1) network tie activation for health discussion and (2) network turnover. Findings Although the overall level of need does not predict network tie activation, mental health patients are more likely to activate network ties who provide support that matches their expressed needs for discussion, emotional, and financial support (although not instrumental or informational support). In addition, patients with elevated needs experience increased network turnover. Strategic activation and its unintended consequence together suggest a revolving door of support for patients in crisis. Practical implications In the post-deinstitutionalization era, patients’ informal social safety nets must compensate for needs that are left unmet by deficits in the formal treatment system. We find that patients seek out network members who are well-equipped to help them cope with the onset of illness. At the same time, network activation may lead to instability as high-need patients churn through supportive relationships. Future research should examine the consequences of tie activation and support needs for network dynamics in different treatment contexts.
The Characters of Adolescent Self-consciousness and its Relationship with Social Adaptive Behavior

439 students were investigated about their social adaptive behavior and self-consciousness.The relationship between social adaptive behavior and self-consciousness were explored.The results showed:(1) The adolescents' self-consciousness were at the upper-middle level in general.There was a significant difference in different grades,nor in genders. (2) Self-consciousness was a good predictor of adolescent adaptive behaviors,which could account for 13.50%-39.40% of variance in self-reported social well-adaptive behaviors and for 5.90%-14.90% of variance in self-reported social maladaptive behaviors. (3)Self-motion and morality appraisement were the strongest and steadiest predictors of well-adaptive behaviors and learning adaptive behavior. (4)In different grades,anxiety was the strongest and steadiest predictors of neurosis behavior;self-continence was the strongest and steadiest predictor of social maladaptive behavior.In the different gender samples,self-motion was the strongest and steadiest predictor of independence and economy.
Query Answering over Disjunctive Datalog with Existential Quantifiers

The paper discusses the impact of adding existential quantifi- cation in the head of positive disjunctive Datalog rules. After introducing syntax and semantics of the resulting language, we provide a notion of instantiation, which has been proven to be adequate for query answering purposes. Although on the one hand this new formalism is attractive for knowledge management, especially in domains where ontology-based rea- soning is needed, on the other hand the presence of existential quantifiers does not preserve decidability of the typical reasoning tasks even if dis- junction is forbidden. Therefore, we consider many decidable fragments of the language that naturally extend analogous classes defined in the non-disjunctive case, and we give a complete picture of the complexity of answering conjunctive queries in this setting.
Power Consumption And Improvement Of Qos In Vehicular ...

Due to the unprecedented growth in bandwidth requirement, the increasing number of access points (APs) deployed within a macrocell for services such as video conferencing, video gaming, and data off-loading leads to significantly higher energy consumption. This advancement in mobile networks has forced researchers to explore various methods of energy saving, although with little emphasis on motorway vehicular networks where mobility is also an important aspect. Energy saving in these networks is extremely challenging due to the dynamic nature of the environment in which they operate. To analyse such a network, we first develop a performance model for a medium access control (MAC) protocol, namely, the modified version of packet reservation multiple access (MPRMA) with wireless channel impairments in a motorway vehicular environment. The M-PRMA protocol provides communication links (time slots) between an AP and the vehicles in range. The time slots of the M-PRMA protocol are modelled as servers where each outage of the channel is represented as a server on queue-lengthindependent vacation. Then, each AP, in a hierarchical micro–macro topology, is modelled as a single-server queue where the AP takes queue-length-dependent vacations (switches to sleep mode) to save energy during its inactivity period, although at the expense of degraded quality of service (QoS). To address this, a number of sleep strategies for the AP are studied. Finally, both of these proposed models (M-PRMA with channel impairments and AP with sleep cycles) are analysed and verified through simulations. The performance results reveal that the introduction of sleep strategies at an AP can save up to 80% transmission energy during off-peak hours and 66% on average during the day in a motorway vehicular environment while supporting endto-end QoS for video and audio conferencing applications.
Leadership: A critical text.

THIS BOOK is intended, more than anything else, to raise questions and stimulate thought. It is not a quick, easy read, and provides no neat frameworks or slogans on how to be a great leader. As author Simon Western comments in the last chapter: 'There is no final word on leadership, no "golden bullet". '
The IL-15-Based ALT-803 Complex Enhances FcγRIIIa-Triggered NK Cell Responses and In Vivo Clearance of B Cell Lymphomas

Purpose: Anti-CD20 monoclonal antibodies (mAb) are an important immunotherapy for B-cell lymphoma, and provide evidence that the immune system may be harnessed as an effective lymphoma treatment approach. ALT-803 is a superagonist IL-15 mutant and IL-15Rα–Fc fusion complex that activates the IL-15 receptor constitutively expressed on natural killer (NK) cells. We hypothesized that ALT-803 would enhance anti–CD20 mAb-directed NK-cell responses and antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity (ADCC). Experimental Design: We tested this hypothesis by adding ALT-803 immunostimulation to anti-CD20 mAb triggering of NK cells in vitro and in vivo. Cell lines and primary human lymphoma cells were utilized as targets for primary human NK cells. Two complementary in vivo mouse models were used, which included human NK-cell xenografts in NOD/SCID-γc−/− mice. Results: We demonstrate that short-term ALT-803 stimulation significantly increased degranulation, IFNγ production, and ADCC by human NK cells against B-cell lymphoma cell lines or primary follicular lymphoma cells. ALT-803 augmented cytotoxicity and the expression of granzyme B and perforin, providing one potential mechanism for this enhanced functionality. Moreover, in two distinct in vivo B-cell lymphoma models, the addition of ALT-803 to anti-CD20 mAb therapy resulted in significantly reduced tumor cell burden and increased survival. Long-term ALT-803 stimulation of human NK cells induced proliferation and NK-cell subset changes with preserved ADCC. Conclusions: ALT-803 represents a novel immunostimulatory drug that enhances NK-cell antilymphoma responses in vitro and in vivo, thereby supporting the clinical investigation of ALT-803 plus anti-CD20 mAbs in patients with indolent B-cell lymphoma. Clin Cancer Res; 22(3); 596–608. ©2015 AACR.
Obesity, hypertension, and insulin resistance.

This article summarizes material presented at the meeting of the American Society of Hypertension (ASH) in New York, New York, May, 2002, as well as presentations at the American Diabetes Association (ADA) Annual Meeting in San Francisco, California, June, 2002. At a symposium addressing the relationships between obesity, hypertension, and cardiovascular disease at the ASH, Roger Unger (Dallas, TX) discussed lipotoxicity and the metabolic syndrome. He pointed out that over that past 50 years there has been a great change in the food environment, so that the “mechanism for preloading calories, storing them for when a famine occurred,” has led to “hypertrophy and hyperplasia of those adipocytes […]. Famines were eliminated and replaced by a never-ending stream of high-quantity, high-fat, high-carbohydrate foods at the same time that physical exertion dropped to an all-time low. ” This has led to a progressive increase in obesity, particularly over the past two decades. “As long as the excess fat remains in the adipocyte,” he stated, “health is not deleteriously affected,” but an “increase in ectopic deposition of lipids” causes the insulin-resistant state, with insulin resistance per se characterized by Unger as “not the proximal cause of the syndrome. ” Unger examined monogenic disorders of lack of leptin action to understand “the mechanism of the disorder. ” These syndromes, which lead to components of the metabolic syndrome, suggest that leptin resistance or deficiency may be a more central cause than insulin resistance. The normal actions of leptin can be seen in animal models of obesity, with overfeeding leading to hyperleptinemia, which may cause fat to deposit primarily in the adipocyte. Normal islets, as an example, “fill up with triglycerides” when incubated with fatty acids, but this can be prevented by administration of leptin. When leptin action is insufficient, as seen in the fatty/fatty ( fa/fa ) rat with loss-of-function …
Secondary School Students' Perceptions of School Spaces: What They Like and Dislike

This study aimed to identify secondary school students` perceptions of school spaces by researching their place preferences and the reasons for them. For the purpose, we analyzed students` written statements regarding places they like and dislike at school, which were collected from 836 middle and 1,100 high school students enrolled at 4 middle and 4 high schools, respectively. Data were transcribed, encoded, and analyzed so as to be clustered to themes revealing the students` senses of places at school. The results are as follows: (1) for middle school students, the most preferred places had to do with physical activities, including playground, auditorium, gymnasium etc., whereas high school students preferred indoor places such as classrooms; (2) the reasons for like-places were categorized into three themes: functions (physical, social, learning, and everyday activities), emotions (belonging, healing, and aesthetics), and physical characteristics; (3) both middle and high school students regarded restroom as the place that they disliked most; (4) the reasons for dislike-places included physical conditions, atmosphere, person-related, subject-related, and circumstances such as the happening of violence or punishment. These may provide educators, parents, school architects and administrators with practical considerations needed for making school a better place for students at secondary schools.
Short-term CO2 abatement in the European power sector: 2005-2006

This paper provides an estimate of short-term abatement of CO2 emissions through fuel switching in the European power sector in response to the CO2 price imposed by the EU Emissions Trading Scheme (EU ETS) in 2005 and 2006. The estimate is based on the use of a highly detailed simulation model of the European power sector in which abatement is the difference between simulations of actual conditions with and without the observed CO2 price. We estimate that the cumulative abatement over this period was about 53 million metric tons. The paper also explains the complex relationship between abatement and daily, weekly, and seasonal variations in load, relative fuel prices, and the price of CO2 allowances.
A Novel ABC Optimization Algorithm for Graph Coloring Problem

In this paper, graph coloring has been done using artificial bee colony (ABC) optimization algorithm. Graph coloring deals with the challenge of coloring the nodes of any graph by least possible number of colors while ensuring on same time that two adjacent nodes does not gain same color. That least possible count of colors used denotes the chromatic number of a graph and to determine this number for any graph is an NP-complete problem hence no existing polynomial time algorithm can solve it. To find the best coloring sequence, a large search space has to be explored. Graph coloring deals with the challenge of coloring the nodes of any graph by least possible number of colors while ensuring on same time that two adjacent nodes does not gain same color and proposed a novel artificial bee colony (ABC) optimization algorithm for graph coloring. In this paper, we analyzed the proposed algorithm and compared it with three other graph coloring algorithms i.e. first fit, largest degree based ordering (LDO) and saturation degree based ordering (SDO). These results also indicate that ABC algorithm converges in a few iterations and is able to optimally allocate colors to vertices of a graph.
Does step length adjustment determine take-off accuracy and approach run velocity in long and triple jumps?

Purpose. While take-off accuracy and approach run velocity are known determinants of long and triple jump performance, the interaction of these factors with step length adjustment (SLA) is not as clear. Methods. The study involved 39 male and 31 female national-level long and triple jumpers. The Optojump Next device was used to analyse jump attempts. Three groups were identified according to maximum variability of footfall placement (HVF – high, MVF – medium, LVF – Low) as well as three groups regarding the onset of step length adjustment (ESLA – early, MSLA – mid, LSLA – late). Results. Take-off accuracy in the LVF and MVF groups was greater compared with the HVF group among females. Among males, the LVF group made significantly (p < 0.05) fewer foul attempts than the HVF group. The ESLA group achieved significantly (p < 0.05) higher velocity during the last five steps of the approach run than the LSLA group in men. Conclusions. Coaches should implement exercises targeting SLA in long and triple jump training exercises to improve performance.
Effects of EFL learner controllable factors on college students' autonomous English learning ability

This paper reports an investigation into the effects of five learner controllable factors on college students' autonomous English learning ability through a questionnaire survey. Participants are non-English major undergraduates from three universities in different cities. Twenty-five learner controllable variables are taken into consideration. Results show that nineteen variables are significantly correlated with students' autonomous learning ability, and that, among these variables, meta-cognition strategies, mastery goal orientation, compensation strategies, memory strategies and information-media motivation are positive predictors of students' autonomous learning ability, and luck-failure attribution a negative predictor.
Optimizing Smartphone Micro-usage with Smartwatch Notifications

In this paper, the influence of a smartwatch application on smartphone micro-usage, brief bursts of interaction [6], among students is investigated. Our study indicates that social applications, such as WhatsApp, SMS or e-mail are used most by students. These applications tend to generate numerous notifications, which often result in brief bursts of smartphone use, which is called micro-usage. We propose three novel ways of handling notifications on a smartwatch, in order to reduce micro-usage. The first proposal receives input through on-screen buttons, the second by tapping the edges of the device and the third by drawing gestures on the screen. An evaluation of our design shows an increase of 5% of application micro-usage and a decrease of 5% of the general smartphone micro-usage.
GPU-based direct volume rendering with advanced illumination and Deep Attenuation Shadows

This paper presents a novel framework which implements GPU-based single pass raycasting with high quality shadows and advanced illumination by using sobel gradients on-the-fly on current graphics hardware. The algorithm has changed traditional gradient and illumination process of GPU-based raycasting, which used to estimate gradient of every voxel in CPU and translate it to GPU through 3D texture. We introduce Deep Attenuation Shadows (DAS), a new technique that produces fast and high quality shadows for GPU-based single pass raycasting. DAS does not produce intermediate data structure; nor does it depend on complex geometry computations or additional textures look up. We also exploit early ray termination and terminate null ray to reduce computation cost of fragment to obtain interactive performance speed. Based on these techniques, our implementation shows a promising performance while producing images of advanced illumination and high quality shadows than traditional GPU-based raycasting.