Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Trypanosoma cruzi Vitamin C Dependent Peroxidase Confers Protection against Oxidative Stress but Is Not a Determinant of Virulence

Background The neglected parasitic infection Chagas disease is rapidly becoming a globalised public health issue due to migration. There are only two anti-parasitic drugs available to treat this disease, benznidazole and nifurtimox. Thus it is important to identify and validate new drug targets in Trypanosoma cruzi, the causative agent. T. cruzi expresses an ER-localised ascorbate-dependent peroxidase (TcAPx). This parasite-specific enzyme has attracted interest from the perspective of targeted chemotherapy. Methodology/Principal Findings To assess the importance of TcAPx in protecting T. cruzi from oxidative stress and to determine if it is essential for virulence, we generated null mutants by targeted gene disruption. Loss of activity was associated with increased sensitivity to exogenous hydrogen peroxide, but had no effect on susceptibility to the front-line Chagas disease drug benznidazole. This suggests that increased oxidative stress in the ER does not play a significant role in its mechanism of action. Homozygous knockouts could proceed through the entire life-cycle in vitro, although they exhibited a significant decrease in their ability to infect mammalian cells. To investigate virulence, we exploited a highly sensitive bioluminescence imaging system which allows parasites to be monitored in real-time in the chronic stage of murine infections. This showed that depletion of enzyme activity had no effect on T. cruzi replication, dissemination or tissue tropism in vivo. Conclusions/Significance TcAPx is not essential for parasite viability within the mammalian host, does not have a significant role in establishment or maintenance of chronic infections, and should therefore not be considered a priority for drug design.
Design of a flexure-based gripper used in optical fiber handling

In optical fiber handling, a major requirement for the handling tools is to avoid introducing flaws on the cladding surface or excessive stress in the core. Conventional tools built with bearing-based mechanisms are difficult to meet the requirements because they cannot precisely control their motion and the gripping force due to backlash and Coulomb friction in their joints. The flexure-based tools however, due to absence of Coulomb friction and backlash in their motion, can provide a solution to the challenges. This paper presents a design method for a flexure-based gripper used in fiber handling. A prototype of the gripper developed by means of the method is described as well.
A novel approach for path planning, area explore and area retrieval of an autonomous robot using the low-cost infrared sensors

This paper presents a set of novel techniques along with the algorithms that are proposed to analyze various physical characteristics of arena autonomously by a robot. The proposed methodology and algorithms identify such characteristics on the basis of sensing intense and sudden change in physical characteristics of the area which it being explored. The ultimate function of these novel techniques is to efficiently explore the arena and successfully reconstruct it after completing whole exploration process. It would provide not only be a cost-effective solution for the problem of traversing the arena of large dimensions but also would be a swift and uncomplicated method to do so. With the major objective of proposing an inexpensive solution to the problem, the proposed methodology is designed to work with low-cost infrared sensors in performing all the necessary and inter-related tasks of path planning, area explore and area retrieval. The proposed methodology was implemented in an arena containing rapidly changing physical characteristics with the target of traversing whole arena and finally providing the output based on how accurately changes detected to give an inferential analysis of whole arena. In the process, we also came with a novel approach to plan the path with low cost infrared sensors instead of using high cost long range cameras. The methodology was able to give 82% percent correct results with respect to the parameters set for the manual testing.
Modelling genetic reorganization in the mouse spinal cord affecting left–right coordination during locomotion

• EphA4, Netrin‐1 and DCC are axon guidance molecules involved in mid‐line crossing of axons of commissural and other spinal interneurons. Absence of these molecules in mice lead to specific locomotor pattern transformations. • We use a computational model of the bilateral spinal neural networks to simulate the genetically induced transformations in EphA4, Netrin‐1 and DCC mutant mice. • The model closely reproduces the changes in the locomotor patterns in these mutants, including transformations from the normal left–right alternating pattern to a synchronized hopping pattern in EphA4 and Netrin‐1 mutants, uncoordinated left–right activity in the DCC mutant, and re‐establishment of the alternating patterns in EphA4 and DCC mutant cords by augmentation of inhibitory interactions. • The model suggests mechanistic explanations for the locomotor transformations and provides insights into the organization of the locomotor network in the spinal cord.
Relativistic Stars with Poloidal and Toroidal Magnetic Fields and Meridional Flow

We investigate stationary axisymmetric configurations of magnetized stars in the framework of general relativistic ideal magnetohydrodynamics. Our relativistic stellar model incorporates a toroidal magnetic field and meridional flow in addition to a poloidal magnetic field for the first time. The magnetic field and meridional flow are treated as perturbations, but no other approximation is made. We find that the stellar shape can be prolate rather than oblate when a toroidal field exists. We also find that, for fixed baryonic mass and total magnetic helicity, the more spherical the star is, the lower the energy it has. Further, we find two new types of the frame-dragging effect that differ from the standard one in a rotating star or Kerr geometry. They may violate the reflection symmetry about the equatorial plane.
New speech enhancement techniques for low bit rate speech coding

In this paper we present novel solutions for pre-processing noisy speech prior to low bit rate speech coding. We strive especially to improve the estimation of spectral parameters and to reduce the additional algorithmic delay caused by the enhancement pre-processor. While the former is achieved using a new adaptive limiting algorithm for the a priori signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) estimate, the latter makes use of a novel overlap/add scheme. Our enhancement techniques were evaluated in conjunction with the 2400 bps mixed excitation linear prediction (MELP) coder by means of formal and informal listening tests.
The Snake and Ladder Game: Generating Metaphor and Meaning in the Information Systems Classroom

Lakoff and Johnson (2003) argue that our conceptual system is fundamentally metaphoric. Metaphors are devices for seeing something in terms of something else. They bring out the “thisness” of that or the “thatness” of this (Burke, 1945). Because they are really about thought and not language, metaphors are not limited to the realms of linguistic studies or language classrooms. They have been, and continue to be, used extensively in the information systems (IS) field. Some examples of such metaphors are WORKSPACE IS A DESKTOP in interaction design (Saffer, 2005), COMPANIES ARE LIVING ORGANISMS and FORWARD MOVEMENT in e-commerce (Ahmad et al., 2017) and HIERARCHY OF NEEDS in organizational studies. However, studies dedicated to an understanding of metaphor usage in IS research, practice, and teaching seem to be sparse. The IS classroom will benefit from metaphoric thinking practices, especially in clarifying and further developing ideas and in fostering critical thinking skills. Such thinking practices can also spur creativity. It is well-known that some of the most important scientific, philosophical, and technical insights were first achieved in poetic or imaginative forms well before they surfaced as a new empirical discovery, conceptual principle, or useful invention (Pollio, 1986). Thus, analogies of the solar system to develop a model of the atom, evolution theory based on a living tree, swimmers advised to “press against the water for leverage,” or discovering “magic bullets” are real life examples. In the software engineering classroom, common metaphors that we use include that of BUILDING ENGINEERING to conceptualize architecture, design patterns, and agility (McConnell, 2004) and the WATERFALL and the SPIRAL to conceptualize the development process. This author (and perhaps others) has used the SNAKE AND LADDER metaphor to teach risk management in software development and has found it to be a very effective and engaging device. The proposed research aims to understand the practice of metaphoric thinking in the IS classroom through interviewing IS faculty, developing and analyzing a corpus of usage of metaphors in IS textbooks, and documenting related best practices. Moving further along, the research would involve controlled classroom experiments directed toward understanding how metaphoric thinking is useful in developing critical thinking and design thinking skills in IS students.
Tackling Real-Time Signal Processing Applications on Shared Memory Multicore Architectures Using XPU

General-purpose shared memory multicore architectures are becoming widely available. They are likely to stand as attractive alternatives to more specialized processing architectures such as FPGA and DSP-based platforms to perform real-time digital signal processing. In this paper, we show how we can ease parallelism expression on shared memory multicore architecture through the XPU high-level programming model and we describe a parallel implementation of radar signal processing application. This study case shows how we can improve programmer productivity through easing parallel programming without sacrificing performances.
Gender Roles and Internalized Sexual Stigma in Gay and Lesbian Persons: A Quadratic Relation

ABSTRACT Purpose: No previous research has deeply investigated the association between gay men and lesbians’ adherence to gender roles and their internalized sexual stigma. This study suggests a potential non-linear correlation between these factors. Methods: Seventy-five gay men and 70 lesbians responded to self-report questionnaires. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses were conducted to investigate linear, quadratic, and exponential models and to determine which model best explained the correlation. Results: The quadratic model best explained the correlation, showing no gender differences. Conclusion: Adherence to gender roles constitutes a relevant factor in predicting internalized sexual stigma.
A Study of Teaching Evaluation in Adult Higher Education Based on Decision Tree

Teaching evaluation is an effective measure to improve the teaching quality, promote teachers' teaching level, and achieve the scientific and systematic management for faculty. In this paper, we present a model of teaching evaluation in adult higher education based on decision tree, aiming to mine the valuable knowledge from the data of teachers' evaluation and archives in teaching quality evaluation system. Firstly, we analyze the shortcomings of the ID3 algorithm and make some corresponding improvement. Secondly, we introduce the procedure of the model including the specific ways. Lastly, we carry on a case study by the presented model to demonstrate the feasibility of the model. The results show that the proposed method is feasible and can help teaching management personnel for scientific decision-making and improving teaching quality.
The new sporting Cold War: implications of the Russian doping allegations for international relations and sport

Abstract This article examines current state of the new sporting cold war in the world of sports. It provides an examination of the 2014–2018 Russian doping scandal. Political and ideological prerequisites that triggered this scandal are considered, and based on obtained observations, an analysis of possible scenarios in the development of events is made as are recommendations for future progress in ending this unnecessary neo-cold war.
Applying New Research Criteria for Diagnosis of Early Alzheimer's Disease: Sex and Intelligence Matter

Alzheimer's disease (AD) can be diagnosed according to new research criteria proposed recently (Dubois et al., 2007). Diagnosis is made on grounds of episodic memory deficits and one pathological biomarker: cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) or structural/functional imaging. Goal was to investigate the dependence of episodic memory function on material (verbal, visuospatial), gender and premorbid intellectual ability (IQ). The new research criteria of AD were applied retrospectively using data of 68 patients (Mini-Mental-Status Examination, MMSE ≥ 22) from a university memory clinic. Women with lower IQ performed worse on visuospatial episodic memory than women with higher IQ and men with the same IQ. Thus, women with lower IQ appear to be particularly vulnerable to visuospatial episodic memory deficits despite similar CSF tau values indicating a similar activity of the neurodegenerative process. Gender, premorbid IQ, and visuospatial material need to be considered in the assessment of episodic memory breakdown applying the newly proposed research criteria for the diagnosis of AD.
Downregulation of miR-221 Inhibits Cell Migration and Invasion through Targeting Methyl-CpG Binding Domain Protein 2 in Human Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma Cells

Oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC), the most frequent of all oral cancers, is a type of highly malignant tumors with a high capacity to invade locally and form distant metastases. An increasing number of studies have shown that microRNAs (miRNAs) play an important role in regulating cancer metastasis and invasion. In the present study, we detected the expression of miR-221 in two highly metastatic OSCC cell lines and two OSCC cell lines that are less metastatic using quantitative real-time PCR analysis (qRT-PCR). The qRT-PCR results indicate that miR-221 is upregulated in highly metastatic OSCC cell lines. Then, miR-221 expression was knocked down by transfection with miR-221 inhibitor, and UM1 cell migration and invasion were assessed using transwell migration and invasion assays. The results indicate that inhibition of miR-221 suppressed migration and invasion of UM1 cells. Furthermore, methyl-CpG binding domain protein 2 (MBD2) was identified as a direct target gene of miR-221. Additionally, MBD2 silencing could partly reverse the effect of miR-221 on cell migration and invasion. In conclusion, downregulation of miR-221 inhibits cell migration and invasion at least partially through targeting MBD2 in the human OSCC cell line UM1.
TRPA1 Is a Component of the Nociceptive Response to CO2

In humans, high concentrations of CO2, as found in carbonated beverages, evoke a mixture of sensations that include a stinging or pungent quality. The stinging sensation is thought to originate with the activation of nociceptors, which innervate the respiratory, nasal, and oral epithelia. The molecular basis for this sensation is unknown. Here we show that CO2 specifically activates a subpopulation of trigeminal neurons that express TRPA1, a mustard oil- and cinnamaldehyde-sensitive channel, and that these responses are dependent on a functional TRPA1 gene. TRPA1 is sufficient to mediate responses to CO2 as TRPA1 channels expressed in HEK-293 cells, but not TRPV1 channels, were activated by bath-applied CO2. CO2 can diffuse into cells and produce intracellular acidification, which could gate TRPA1 channels. Consistent with this mechanism, TRPA1 channels in excised patches were activated in a dose-dependent manner by intracellular protons. We conclude that TRPA1, by sensing intracellular acidification, constitutes an important component of the nociceptive response to CO2.
Analysis of Depth Map Resampling Filters for Depth-based 3 D Video Coding

Depth map images are characterized by large homogeneous areas and strong edges. It has been observed that efficient compression of the depth map is achieved by applying a down-sampling operation prior to encoding. However, since high resolution depth maps are also needed for depth-based 3D coding tools, such as view synthesis prediction, an upsampling method that is able to recover the loss of information is needed within this coding framework. In this paper, we analyze the impact of depth resampling on view synthesis quality and its interaction with other 3D coding tools, and propose an optimized combination of downand up-sampling techniques for overall coding performance improvement. View synthesis with the resampled depth maps show the efficiency of our approach. Conference on Telecommunications (Conftele) This work may not be copied or reproduced in whole or in part for any commercial purpose. Permission to copy in whole or in part without payment of fee is granted for nonprofit educational and research purposes provided that all such whole or partial copies include the following: a notice that such copying is by permission of Mitsubishi Electric Research Laboratories, Inc.; an acknowledgment of the authors and individual contributions to the work; and all applicable portions of the copyright notice. Copying, reproduction, or republishing for any other purpose shall require a license with payment of fee to Mitsubishi Electric Research Laboratories, Inc. All rights reserved. Copyright c ©Mitsubishi Electric Research Laboratories, Inc., 2013 201 Broadway, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139
Improved decision directed approach for speech enhancement using an adaptive time segmentation

Short-time Fourier transform (STFT) methods are often used to overcome the degradation of speech signals affected by noise. STFT-gain functions are usually expressed as a function of the a priori SNR, say ξ, and good techniques to estimate ξ are of vital importance for the quality of enhanced speech. Often, ξ is estimated using the so-called decision directed approach (DD). However, the DD approach builds on a number of approximations, where certain expected values of signal related quantities are approximated by instantaneous estimates. In this paper we present a method to improve these approximations by combining the DD approach with an adaptive time segmentation. Objective and subjective experiments show that the proposed method leads to significant improvements compared to the conventional DD approach. Furthermore, simulation experiments confirm a decreased amount of non-stationary residual noise.
Effect of vibrotactile cues for guiding simultaneous procedural motion of two joints on upper limbs

Simultaneous motion control of multiple joints has many potential applications such as Tai Chi, Yoga etc. The capability of vibrotactile cues to assist this kind of motor task has not been well explored. In this paper, we studied the effect of vibrotactile cues for guiding procedural motion of two joints on human's upper limbs. By mounting eight vibrotactile motors on two arms, we performed two experiments to measure human's perception and motor performance in response to the vibrotactile commands. In the first experiment, we measured perceptual performance of correctly identifying the location of two active vibrotactile cues. The difference between sustained, pulsed and hybrid vibration conditions was compared. To explore the possible reasons leading to the wrong perception results, the correct rate was ranked among different combinations of cues. In the second experiment, the correct rate of procedural motion control of two joints was measured, while vibrotactile cues were used as guidance signals to produce the motion command. The results showed that average correct rate of two cues localization on upper limbs was as high as 98%, while the average correct rate of procedural motion control of two joints was only 86%. Further analysis revealed that low correct rate of procedural motion control was caused by the unnatural motion pattern, i.e. two joints on a same arm and rotate in opposite directions.
Stock ownership and corporate performance in Japan: Corporate governance by institutional investors

Faced with an aging population and a low fertility rate, Japan finds it increasingly essential to shift diminishing national savings into productive investment in order to preserve the dynamism of its economy. Stock investment by institutional investors is important for corporate financing, and shareholder involvement in governance influences corporate growth. Using panel data for Japan's listed companies and foreign investors' votes on shareholder proposals, this paper demonstrates: (1) an increase in stock ownership by foreign investors' had a positive effect on productivity growth, but it has not recently improved other corporate performance indices, and (2) foreign investors' strong attitudes towards voting had a positive effect on productivity growth. This paper concludes that external stakeholders' active, qualitative involvement in corporate governance and their quantitative involvement by increasing stock ownership are key to improving corporate growth.
A Study of Undergraduate Perception and Behavior Toward On-Campus Composting

Composting among college students can promote a healthy environment and encourage the appropriate disposal method for generated organic wastes. The purpose of this study was to observe composting behaviors and attitudes among students and foster an increase in knowledge of suitable composting behavior in on-campus apartments. Waste management issues are quickly becoming a key societal concern. As a result, there has been extensive literature surrounding the benefits of, and factors leading to, pro-environmental behaviors. What specific factors lead an individual, institution, or community to begin composting? In analyzing research on related topics, we can investigate drivers that are transferable to increase composting participation. Through survey analysis and implementation of an on-campus composting program this study found that undergraduate students living in the on-campus apartments at University of Maine’s undergraduate have positive feelings and attitudes towards composting and sustained interest in practicing environmentally conscious behaviors. The positive perception of composting that students expressed can be expanded into change within the university community.