Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Interdomain engineered disulfide bond permitting elucidation of mechanisms of inactivation of coagulation factor Va by activated protein C

Procoagulant factor Va (FVa) is inactivated via limited proteolysis at three Arg residues in the A2 domain by the anticoagulant serine protease, activated protein C (APC). Cleavage by APC at Arg306 in FVa causes dissociation of the A2 domain from the heterotrimeric A1:A2:A3 structure and complete loss of procoagulant activity. To help distinguish inactivation mechanisms involving A2 domain dissociation from inactivation mechanisms involving unfavorable changes in factor Xa (FXa) affinity, we used our FVa homology model to engineer recombinant FVa mutants containing an interdomain disulfide bond (Cys609‐Cys1691) between the A2 and A3 domains (A2‐SS‐A3 mutants) in addition to cleavage site mutations, Arg506Gln and Arg679Gln. SDS‐PAGE analysis showed that the disulfide bond in A2‐SS‐A3 mutants prevented dissociation of the A2 domain. In the absence of A2 domain dissociation from the A1:A2:A3 trimer, APC cleavage at Arg306 alone caused a sevenfold decrease in affinity for FXa, whereas APC cleavages at Arg306, Arg506, and Arg679 caused a 70‐fold decrease in affinity for FXa and a 10‐fold decrease in the kcat of the prothrombinase complex for prothrombin without any effect on the apparent Km for prothrombin. Therefore, for FVa inactivation by APC, dissociation of the A2 domain may provide only a modest final step, whereas the critical events are the cleavages at Arg506 and Arg306, which effectively inactivate FVa before A2 dissociation can take place. Nonetheless, for FVa Leiden (Gln506‐FVa) inactivation by APC, A2 domain dissociation may become mechanistically important, depending on the ambient FXa concentration.
Efficient Soft Error-Tolerant Adaptive Equalizers

Soft errors are becoming an increasingly important issue for circuit reliability. Traditional techniques to protect against soft errors, like triple modular redundancy (TMR), have a large cost in terms of area and power. This has motivated the development of specific protection techniques for various types of circuits. In this paper, techniques to protect adaptive filters are presented, which provide reasonable reliability with reduced cost and power consumption. An adaptive equalizer case study is used to discuss and evaluate the proposed techniques in terms of both protection and cost.
Immunomodulatory and growth-promoting effect of a probiotic supplemented in the feed of broiler chicks vaccinated against infectious bursal disease

This study was designed to investigate the effects of a probiotic plus an immunomodulatory product on the growth performance, immune response and net economic returns of broiler chicks vaccinated against Infectious bursal diseases virus (IBDV). A flock of 350 day-old chicks were equally and randomly distributed in seven groups, each comprising 50 birds. A mixture of microorganisms ( 1 Probiotic) or Cyclophosphamide (immune suppressor) was offered through feed supplementation to different groups. The Probiotic, consisting of Lactobacillus species, Bifidobacterium, Streptococcus salivarius and Enterococcus faecium, in addition to Aspergillus oryza and Candida pintolopessii. Compared with control treatment group, the probiotic-supplemented chicks had better feed conversion ratio (FCR) (1.938 and 1.959), with significantly heavier live body weight 2141.0±34.2 and 2120.3±33.2, respectively. Similarly, their antibody titers against IBDV were significantly higher (941 and 832) on day 35. No morbidity and mortality were observed in these groups. This study suggests that a product composed of a probiotic and cyclophosphamide enhanced the growth rate as well as the immunity against infectious bursal disease virus of broilers chicks.
Actual Return Reinforcement Learning versus Temporal Differences: Some Theoretical and Experimental Results

This paper argues that for many domains, we can expect credit-assignment methods that use actual returns to be more eeective for reinforcement learning than the more commonly used temporal diierence methods. We present analysis and empirical evidence from three sets of experiments in diierent domains to support this claim. A new algorithm we call C-Trace, a variant of the P-Trace RL algorithm is introduced, and some possible advantages of using algorithms of this type are discussed.
The effect of the performance of work on total energy output and metabolism during muscular contraction

1. The production of heat (h) and work (w) and the changes in phosphocreatine (PCr) and ATP have been measured on tetanized isolated frog muscles (unpoisoned and in oxygen at 0° C) during shortening at constant velocity and during isometric contraction (both without relaxation). The former type of contraction was designed to maximize the fraction w/(h + w); the latter to minimize it.
Data-Driven Corpus Callosum Parcellation Method Through Diffusion Tensor Imaging

The corpus callosum (CC) is a set of neural fibers in the cerebral cortex, responsible for facilitating inter-hemispheric communication. The CC structural characteristics appear as an essential element for studying healthy subjects and patients diagnosed with neurodegenerative diseases. Due to its size, the CC is usually divided into smaller regions, also known as parcellation. Since there are no visible landmarks inside the structure indicating its division, CC parcellation is a challenging task and methods proposed in the literature are geometric or atlas-based. This paper proposed an automatic data-driven CC parcellation method, based on diffusion data extracted from diffusion tensor imaging that uses the Watershed transform. Experiments compared parcellation results of the proposed method with results of three other parcellation methods on a data set containing 150 images. Quantitative comparison using the Dice coefficient showed that the CC parcels given by the proposed method has a mean overlap higher than 0,9 for some parcels and lower than 0,6 for other parcels. Poor overlap results were confirmed by the statistically significant differences obtained for diffusion metrics values in each parcel, when using different parcellation methods. The proposed method was also validated by using the CC tractography and was the only study that proposed a non-geometric approach for the CC parcellation, based only on the diffusion data of each subject analyzed.
Weakly Universally Consistent Forecasting of Stationary and Ergodic Time Series

Static forecasting of stationary and ergodic time series is considered, i.e., inference of the conditional expectation of the response variable at time zero given the infinite past. It is shown that the mean squared error of a combination of suitably defined localized least squares estimates converges to zero for all distributions where the response variable is square integrable.
Attitude towards internet banking: a study of influential factors in Malaysia

This research investigates the impact of personalisation, task familiarity, accessibility, security/trust and resistance to change on the attitude towards Internet Banking (IB) by Malaysia bank customers using the Technology-Acceptance Model (TAM). The study hypothesises that these factors have indirect effect on the attitude towards IB through perceived usefulness and perceived ease-of-use. A total of 200 respondents were surveyed and the results showed that usefulness and ease-of-use perceptions have impacts on the attitude towards IB adoption. Moreover, they had indirect impact on attitude.
Remodeling of the atherosclerotic arterial wall: a determinant of luminal narrowing in human coronary arteries

Background The type of remodeling of the human femoral artery (enlargement or shrinkage) is related to the percentage luminal stenosis.Objective To assess how local changes in vessel size, together with plaque load, determine luminal narrowing in atherosclerotic human coronary arteries.Methods We obtained 576 segments of 28 coronary arteries from 10 patients who had died from noncardiac causes. The lumen area and area circumscribed by the internal elastic lamina (IEL) area, a measure of local vessel size in each histologic cross-section were measured, and the mean lumen diameter and mean IEL diameter were calculated. To correct for arterial tapering, expected reference diameter values were calculated at the same location using linear regression of all data points along the artery. The IEL diameter and lumen diameter were expressed as percentages of the calculated IEL diameter and lumen diameter at the same location (percentage lumen diameter stenosis and relative IEL diameter, respectively). Results We found a negative relation between the relative IEL diameter and the percentage lumen diameter stenosis. On average, a narrower than expected lumen diameter was accompanied by a smaller than expected IEL diameter. A larger than expected lumen diameter was accompanied by a larger than expected IEL diameter. This relation was found for the left anterior descending, circumflex, and right coronary arteries (y = −0.60x + 105.33, r = 0.48; y = −0.45x + 100.69, r = 0.84; and y = −0.39x + 101.84, r = 0.61, respectively, all P<0.05). Conclusions Local luminal narrowing was correlated with a decrease in vessel size. Local remodeling of the artery is one of the determinants of luminal narrowing in the atherosclerotic human coronary artery.
Vitamin D and Inflammatory Cytokines in Healthy and Preeclamptic Pregnancies

Preeclampsia is a pregnancy disease characterized by hypertension and proteinuria. Among several disorders, the imbalance of inflammatory cytokines and the alteration of vitamin D metabolism have been reported in preeclampsia. The effects of calcitriol upon inflammatory cytokines has been demonstrated. In healthy pregnant women there is a shift toward a Th2 cytokine profile, which is necessary for an adequate pregnancy outcome. As compared with normal pregnancy, high pro-inflammatory and low anti-inflammatory cytokine levels have been observed in preeclamptic women. Preeclampsia has been associated with low calcitriol levels and vitamin D deficiency is correlated with a higher risk of the development of this disease. It has been demonstrated that placenta is a source as well as the target of calcitriol and cytokines and placental dysfunction has been associated with preeclampsia. Therefore, the present manuscript includes a review about serum calcitriol levels in non-pregnant, pregnant, and preeclamptic women as well as a review on the fetoplacental vitamin D metabolism in healthy and preeclamptic pregnancies. In addition, circulating and fetoplacental inflammatory cytokines in healthy and preeclamptic pregnancies are reviewed. Finally, the effects of calcitriol upon placental pro-inflammatory cytokines are also explored. In conclusion, maternal and placental calcitriol levels are low in preeclampsia which may explain, at least in part, high pro-inflammatory cytokine levels in this disease.
The Cultural Number Line: A Review of Cultural and Linguistic Influences on the Development of Number Processing

Approximate processing of numerosities is a universal and preverbal skill, while exact number processing above 4 involves the use of culturally acquired number words and symbols. The authors first review core concepts of numerical cognition, including number representation in the brain and the influential view that numbers are associated with space along a “mental number line. ” Then, they discuss how cultural influences, such as reading direction, finger counting, and the transparency of the number word system, can influence the representation and processing of numbers. Spatial mapping of numbers emerges as a universal cognitive strategy. The authors trace the impact of cultural factors on the development of number skills and conclude that a cross-cultural perspective can reveal important constraints on numerical cognition.
Protein Glycation: A Firm Link to Endothelial Cell Dysfunction

The advanced glycation end products (AGEs) are a heterogeneous class of molecules, including the following main subgroups: bis(lysyl)imidazolium cross-links, hydroimidazolones, 3-deoxyglucosone derivatives, and monolysyl adducts. AGEs are increased in diabetes, renal failure, and aging. Microvascular lesions correlate with the accumulation of AGEs, as demonstrated in diabetic retinopathy or renal glomerulosclerosis. On endothelial cells, ligation of receptor for AGE (RAGE) by AGEs induces the expression of cell adhesion molecules, tissue factor, cytokines such as interleukin-6, and monocyte chemoattractant protein-1. A chief means by which AGEs via RAGE exert their effects is by generation of reactive oxygen species, at least in part via stimulation of NADPH oxidase. Diabetes-associated vascular dysfunction in vivo can be prevented by blockade of RAGE. Thus, agents that limit AGE formation, increase the catabolism of these species, or antagonize their binding to RAGE may provide new targets for vascular protection in diabetes.
Using MLP features in SRI's conversational speech recognition system

We describe the development of a speech recognition system for conversational telephone speech (CTS) that incorporates acoustic features estimated by multilayer perceptrons (MLP). The acoustic features are based on frame-level phone posterior probabilities, obtained by merging two different MLP estimators, one based on PLP-Tandem features, the other based on hidden activation TRAPs (HATs) features. This paper focuses on the challenges arising when incorporating these nonstandard features into a full-scale speech-to-text (STT) system, as used by SRI in the Fall 2004 DARPA STT evaluations. First, we developed a series of time-saving techniques for training feature MLPs on 1800 hours of speech. Second, we investigated which components of a multipass, multi-front-end recognition system are most profitably augmented with MLP features for best overall performance. The final system obtained achieved a 2% absolute (10% relative) WER reduction over a comparable baseline system that did not include Tandem/HATs MLP features.
Telomerase mutations in families with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis.

BACKGROUND Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis is progressive and often fatal; causes of familial clustering of the disease are unknown. Germ-line mutations in the genes hTERT and hTR, encoding telomerase reverse transcriptase and telomerase RNA, respectively, cause autosomal dominant dyskeratosis congenita, a rare hereditary disorder associated with premature death from aplastic anemia and pulmonary fibrosis. METHODS To test the hypothesis that familial idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis may be caused by short telomeres, we screened 73 probands from the Vanderbilt Familial Pulmonary Fibrosis Registry for mutations in hTERT and hTR. RESULTS Six probands (8%) had heterozygous mutations in hTERT or hTR; mutant telomerase resulted in short telomeres. Asymptomatic subjects with mutant telomerase also had short telomeres, suggesting that they may be at risk for the disease. We did not identify any of the classic features of dyskeratosis congenita in five of the six families. CONCLUSIONS Mutations in the genes encoding telomerase components can appear as familial idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. Our findings support the idea that pathways leading to telomere shortening are involved in the pathogenesis of this disease.
Applying Context-Based Prediction in Adversarial Watkins’ Q(λ)-Learning

This paper exhibits the transformation of Watkins’ Q(λ) learning algorithm into an adversarial Qlearning algorithm. A method called context-based prediction, borrowed from multimedia data coding, is used as opponent modeling and is incorporated in the transformed, CBQ(λ) algorithm. We tested CBQ(λ) by playing against three opponents. The first opponent had no prior knowledge and discovered policies as it played. The second opponent carried prior knowledge and used a fixed policy. The third opponent carried prior knowledge and continued to improve its prior policy as play progressed. CBQ(λ) performed well by playing tic-tac-toe against the three opponents listed previously, when given 10 seconds of simulation time.
Information-movement coupling as a hallmark of sport expertise

Expert interceptive actions are grounded in both perceptual judgment and movement control, yet research has largely focused on the role of anticipation. More recently, the emergence of ecological psychology has provided movement scientists with opportunities to develop further understanding of the processes underpinning the development of expert information-movement couplings. In this chapter we discuss key research that has enhanced our understanding of perceptual learning with specific focus on the concepts of education of attention and calibration. We conclude by discussing the practical implications of this research in the study of expertise highlighting the need for future research using sporting tasks.
Heterogeneity in the relationship between ethnicity, BMI, and fasting insulin.

OBJECTIVE To determine whether the association of BMI and fasting insulin is modified by ethnicity. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS Non-Hispanic black (black), non-Hispanic white (white), and Mexican-American men and women aged 20-80 years from the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (1988-1994) were included in this study. Linear regression models with an interaction term were used to test whether ethnicity modified the association between BMI and fasting insulin. RESULTS Fasting insulin was 19, 26, 20, and 19% higher in black women than white women with BMI levels of <22, 22-24, 25-27, and 28-30 kg/m(2), respectively. These differences between black and white women converged at BMI levels >30 kg/m(2). Mexican-American women had fasting insulin levels that were 17, 22, 20, and 16% higher than those of white women at BMI levels of 25-27, 28-30, 31-33, and >34 kg/m(2), respectively, but were not different in individuals with BMI levels <25 kg/m(2). Adjusting for established risk factors did not attenuate these associations in women. Differences in fasting insulin among men were not as apparent. CONCLUSIONS These findings suggest that the effect of obesity on insulin sensitivity is different for Americans in ethnic minorities. In black subjects, fasting insulin is higher at lean weight when compared with white and Mexican-American subjects. In Mexican-American subjects, fasting insulin is higher in overweight individuals when compared with white and black subjects. These findings are more pronounced in women than in men. This result reinforces the importance of designing prevention programs that are tailored to meet the needs of specific populations. Investigation of possible explanations for these differences seems warranted.
Child-Robot Interactions for Second Language Tutoring to Preschool Children

In this digital age social robots will increasingly be used for educational purposes, such as second language tutoring. In this perspective article, we propose a number of design features to develop a child-friendly social robot that can effectively support children in second language learning, and we discuss some technical challenges for developing these. The features we propose include choices to develop the robot such that it can act as a peer to motivate the child during second language learning and build trust at the same time, while still being more knowledgeable than the child and scaffolding that knowledge in adult-like manner. We also believe that the first impressions children have about robots are crucial for them to build trust and common ground, which would support child-robot interactions in the long term. We therefore propose a strategy to introduce the robot in a safe way to toddlers. Other features relate to the ability to adapt to individual children’s language proficiency, respond contingently, both temporally and semantically, establish joint attention, use meaningful gestures, provide effective feedback and monitor children’s learning progress. Technical challenges we observe include automatic speech recognition (ASR) for children, reliable object recognition to facilitate semantic contingency and establishing joint attention, and developing human-like gestures with a robot that does not have the same morphology humans have. We briefly discuss an experiment in which we investigate how children respond to different forms of feedback the robot can give.
The impact of linked selection on plant genomic variation

Understanding the forces that shape patterns of genetic variation across the genome is a major aim in evolutionary genetics. An emerging insight from analyses of genome-wide polymorphism and divergence data is that selection on linked sites can have an important impact on neutral genetic variation. However, in contrast to Drosophila, which exhibits a signature of recurrent hitchhiking, many plant genomes studied so far seem to mainly be affected by background selection. Moreover, many plants do not exhibit classic signatures of linked selection, such as a correlation between recombination rate and neutral diversity. In this review, I discuss the impact of genome architecture and mating system on the expected signature of linked selection in plants and review empirical evidence for linked selection, with a focus on plant model systems. Finally, I discuss the implications of linked selection for inference of demographic history in plants.
A fusion technique for medical image segmentation

This work provides a fusion approach for medical image segmentation. The fusion approach is proposed based on a Global Minimization by active contour and spatial fuzzy clustering model. The global minimization of the active contour model is based on the unification of image segmentation and image denoising tasks. The idea is to minimizing the energy level that unified way to perform image denoising and segmentation. In second stage, Spatial Fuzzy C Means Clustering (SFCM) is used to refine the final segmentation result. The experimental results show that the new proposed algorithm can provide close, smooth and accurate results based on, Energy, Mutual Information and Elapsed Time.
Simulation-based optimization of StarCraft tactical AI through evolutionary computation

The development of competent AI for real-time strategy games such as StarCraft is made difficult by the myriad of strategic and tactical reasonings which must be performed concurrently. A significant portion of StarCraft gameplay is in managing tactical conflict with opposing forces. We present a modular framework for simulating AI vs. AI conflicts through an XML specification, whereby the behavioural and tactical components for each force can be varied. Evolutionary computation can be employed on aspects of the scenario to yield superior solutions. Through evolution, a StarCraft AI tournament bot achieved a success rate of 68% against its original version. We also demonstrate the use of evolutionary computation to yield a tactical attack path to maximise enemy casualties. We believe that our framework can be used to perform automatic refinement on AI bots in StarCraft.
Desempeño cognitivo de mujeres universitarias a lo largo del ciclo menstrual

Para determinar si las fluctuaciones en los niveles de estrogeno a lo largo del ciclo menstrual influyen en el desempeno cognitivo, 13 mujeres universitarias con edades entre los 20 y 23 anos fueron evaluadas en cuatro tareas cognitivas: memoria verbal, habilidad viso-espacial, memoria a corto plazo y coordinacion viso-motora, tres veces a lo largo del ciclo menstrual. Para establecer el estado hormonal se llevaron a cabo pruebas de radioinmunoanalisis. No se encontraron diferencias significativas en el desempeno en la habilidad viso-espacial y coordinacion viso-motora. Los resultados sugieren un mejor desempeno de la memoria verbal asociado a niveles altos de estrogeno. El desempeno de la memoria a corto plazo no mostro ser sensible a las fluctuaciones de los niveles de estrogeno.