Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Single- and double-strand photocleavage of DNA by YO, YOYO and TOTO.

Photocleavage of dsDNA by the fluorescent DNA stains oxazole yellow (YO), its dimer YOYO) and the dimer TOTO of thiazole orange (TO) has been investigated as a function of binding ratio. On visible illumination, both YO and YOYO cause single-strand cleavage, with an efficiency that varies with the dye/DNA binding ratio in a manner which can be rationalized in terms of free dye being an inefficient photocleavage reagent and externally bound dye being more efficient than intercalated dye. Moreover, the photocleavage mechanism changes with binding mode. Photocleavage by externally bound dye is, at least partly, oxygen dependent with scavenger studies implicating singlet oxygen as the activated oxygen intermediate. Photocleavage by intercalated dye is essentially oxygen-independent but can be inhibited by moderate concentrations of beta- mercaptoethanol--direct attack on the phosphoribose backbone is a possible mechanism. TOTO causes single-strand cleavage approximately five times less efficiently than YOYO. No direct double-strand breaks (dsb) are detected with YO or YOYO, but in both cases single-strand breaks (ssb) are observed to accumulate to eventually produce double-strand cleavage. With intercalated YO the accumulation occurs in a manner consistent with random generation of strand lesions, while with bisintercalated YOYO the yield of double-strand cleavage (per ssb) is 5-fold higher. A contributing factor is the slow dissociation of the bis-intercalated dimer, which allows for repeated strand-attack at the same binding site, but the observation that the dsb/ssb yield is considerably lower for externally bound than for bis-intercalated YOYO at low dye/DNA ratios indicates that the binding geometry and/or the cleavage mechanism are also important for the high dsb-efficiency. In fact, double-strand cleavage yields with bis-intercalated YOYO are higher than those predicted by simple models, implying a greater than statistical probability for a second cleavage event to occur adjacent to the first (i.e. to be induced by the same YOYO molecule). With TOTO the efficiency of the ssb-accumulation is comparable to that observed with YOYO.
Resolving Uncontrollable Conditional Temporal Problems Using Continuous Relaxations

Uncertainty is commonly encountered in temporal scheduling and planning problems, and can often lead to over-constrained situations. Previous relaxation algorithms for over-constrained temporal problems only work with requirement constraints, whose outcomes can be controlled by the agents. When applied to uncontrollable durations, these algorithms may only satisfy a subset of the random outcomes and hence their relaxations may fail during execution. In this paper, we present a new relaxation algorithm, Conflict-Directed Relaxation with Uncertainty (CDRU), which generates relaxations that restore the controllability of conditional temporal problems with uncontrollable durations. CDRU extends the Best-first Conflict-Directed Relaxation (BCDR) algorithm to uncontrollable temporal problems. It generalizes the conflict-learning process to extract conflicts from strong and dynamic controllability checking algorithms, and resolves the conflicts by both relaxing constraints and tightening uncontrollable durations. Empirical test results on a range of trip scheduling problems show that CDRU is efficient in resolving large scale uncontrollable problems: computing strongly controllable relaxations takes the same order of magnitude in time compared to consistent relaxations that do not account for uncontrollable durations. While computing dynamically controllable relaxations takes two orders of magnitude more time, it provides significant improvements in solution quality when compared to strongly controllable relaxations.
Le rôle et le profil des leaders d’opinion pour la diffusion de l’Internet

Les turbulences du marché de l’Internet amènent les managers marketing à rechercher de nouveaux repères pour comprendre et anticiper son développement . Cet article met en évidence le rôle joué par les leaders d’opinion, identifie et qualifie le profil de ce segment, avant de montrer comment atteindre cette cible dans un plan média .
Protective Effect of Sitagliptin and Rosuvastatin Combination on Vascular Endothelial Dysfunction in Type-2 Diabetes

The present investigation aimed to evaluate the protective effects of sitagliptin, glimepiride, rosuvastatin and their combinations on oxidative stress and endothelial dysfunction in the aortic tissues in fructose-fed type-2 diabetic rats. Sitagliptin (20 mg/kg, p.o.), glimepiride (2 mg/kg, p.o.), rosuvastatin (5 mg/kg, p.o.) and their combinations were administered for 6 w after induction of diabetes by fructose (66%, w/v solution, p.o. for 8 w) in wistar rats. The effects were examined on body weight, serum glucose, triglyceride, cholesterol, blood pressure, heart rate, nitric oxide and antioxidant defensive enzymes. After completion of treatment schedule, the blood pressure was determined by invasive method and vascular reactivity was tested with adrenaline, noradrenaline and phenylephrine. Endothelial dysfunction was determined by acetylcholine and sodium nitroprusside-induced vasorelaxation studies on isolated rat aortas. Long term treatments significantly decreased body weight gain, serum glucose, triglyceride and cholesterol levels; normalize the heart rate, and blood pressure in fructose fed rats. The treatments significantly improved vascular reactivity to catecholamines with reduction in elevated blood pressure in type-2 diabetic rats. The significant improvement in the relaxant response to acetylcholine and sodium nitroprusside was obtained on isolated aortas. All the treatments were effective in restoring defensive antioxidant enzymes. Sitagliptin and rosuvastatin were able to reverse endothelial dysfunction in type-2 diabetes, but better ameliorating potential was found when used in combination.
Performance evaluation of a compression algorithm for wireless sensor networks in monitoring applications

Wireless sensor network (WSN) is an emerging technology that targets multiple applications in the different environments. Its infrastructure is composed of a large number of sensor nodes with a limited physical capacity and low cost. The energy consumption must be as optimized as possible in order to extend its lifetime. The use of data compression techniques can be an advantage in the WSN context, once these techniques eliminate transmission of redundant information and consequently can be adopted to minimize the consumption of energy in the sensor nodes. WSN for monitoring applications can benefit from this technique as it may maximize the lifetime of batteries. The main motivation of this paper is to investigate the performance of a data compression algorithm for WSN in the context of monitoring applications. To validate the proposal, simulation experiments have been performed using the Network Simulator (NS-2) tool.
An exploratory study of student satisfaction of the Rowan University Recreation Center

Joseph J. Dougherty III AN EXPLORATORY STUDY OF STUDENT SATISFACTION OF THE ROWAN UNIVERSITY RECREATION CENTER Dr. Thomas Monahan Master of Arts in Higher Education The purpose of the study is to explore the extent of student satisfaction with the Rowan University Recreation Center. A convenience sample of 151 students who frequented the recreation center was used to determine students' perceptions of the facility on a number of factors. The study showed that the recreation center rated higher than all other comparable student services both in importance to the student and satisfaction with the service provided. The recreation center was also very successful in terms of getting students involved, much more so than any other campus group or activity. The results showed that the recreation center was very important to those who use it, and they were also very satisfied and very involved leading to high rates of student satisfaction.
TANGIBLE DATA SCANNING SONIFICATION MODEL

In this paper we develop a sonification model following the Modelbased Sonification approach that allows to scan high-dimensional data distributions by means of a physical object in the hand of the user. In the sonification model, the user is immersed in a 3D space of invisible but acoustically active objects which can be excited by him. Tangible computing allows to identify the excitation object (e.g. a geometric surface) with a physical object used as controller, and thus creates a strong metaphor for understanding and relating feedback sounds in response to the user’s own activity, position and orientation. We explain the technique and our current implementation in detail and give examples at hand of synthetic and real-world data sets.
Examining the role of familiarity, information sources, length of stay and satisfaction to the image perception model

This study examines the effect of familiarity on information sources and the length of stay in a destination, and how these concepts, in turn, affect the image perception model. Data was collected from 603 structured personal interviews carried out in Barcelona (Spain) and structural equation modelling methodology was used to test the hypotheses. Results show that tourists familiar with Barcelona are less likely to consult tourist information. The paper also presents evidence to suggest that the length of stay is the same whether tourists are familiar with the destination or not. Furthermore, we argue that tourist satisfaction is influenced by both cognitive and affective evaluations and that information sources partially influence cognitive evaluations, affective evaluations length of stay and satisfaction. Until now literature has only indicated a tentative relationship between length of stay and destination image, however the outcomes of this study prove that the length of stay in a destination alters its tourism image.
Choline and Selective Antagonists Identify Two Subtypes of Nicotinic Acetylcholine Receptors that Modulate GABA Release from CA1 Interneurons in Rat Hippocampal Slices

Neuronal nicotinic receptors (nAChR) are known to control transmitter release in the CNS. Thus, this study was aimed at exploring the diversity and localization of nAChRs present in CA1 interneurons in rat hippocampal slices. The use of a U-tube as the agonist delivery system was critical for the reliable detection of nicotinic responses induced by brief exposure of the neurons to ACh or to the α7 nAChR-selective agonist choline. The present study demonstrated that CA1 interneurons, in addition to expressing functional α7 nAChRs, also express functional α4β2-like nAChRs and that activation of both receptors facilitates an action potential-dependent release of GABA. Depending on the experimental condition, one of the following nicotinic responses was recorded from the interneurons by means of the patch-clamp technique: a nicotinic whole-cell current, depolarization accompanied by action potentials, or GABA-mediated postsynaptic currents (PSCs). Responses mediated by α7 nAChRs were short-lasting, whereas those mediated by α4β2 nAChRs were long-lasting. Thus, phasic or tonic inhibition of CA1 interneurons may be achieved by selective activation of α7 or α4β2 nAChRs, respectively. It can also be suggested that synaptic levels of choline generated by hydrolysis of ACh in vivo may be sufficient to control the activity of the α7 nAChRs. The finding that methyllycaconitine and dihydro-β-erythroidine (antagonists of α7 and α4β2 nAChRs, respectively) increased the frequency and amplitude of GABAergic PSCs suggests that there is an intrinsic cholinergic activity that sustains a basal level of nAChR activity in these interneurons.
Anomalous Subvarieties—Structure Theorems and Applications

When a fixed algebraic variety in a multiplicative group variety is intersected with the union of all algebraic subgroups of fixed dimension, a key role is played by what we call the anomalous subvarieties. These arise when the algebraic variety meets translates of subgroups in sets larger than expected. We prove a Structure Theorem for the anomalous subvarieties, and we give some applications, emphasizing in particular the case of codimension two. We also state some related conjectures about the boundedness of absolute height on such intersections as well as their finiteness.
Cluster software tools : beauty is in simplicity

Beowulf cluster has created a lot of impact by delivering an excellent prize/performance and scalable computing systems to high performance computing community. Nevertheless, the widespread use of beowulf clusters has not happened as fast as it should be. One of the major problem is that the software tools on beowulf system is still in a very primitive state. Therefore, it is difficult for a small research group consisting mainly of non-computer scientists to build and maintain the cluster for their use. In this paper, many factors that contribute to the problem has been identified especially the unnescessary complexity that were built into the software. Some of the solutions to this problem have been proposed.
Two modified Otsu image segmentation methods based on Lognormal and Gamma distribution models

Otsu's method of image segmentation is one of the best methods for threshold selection. With Otsu's method an optimum threshold is found by maximizing the between-class variance; Otsu algorithm is based on the gray-level histogram which is estimated by a sum of Gaussian distributions. In some type of images, image data does not best fit in a Gaussian distribution model. The objective of this study is to develop and compare two modified versions of Otsu method, one is based on Lognormal distribution (Otsu-Lognormal), while the other is based on Gamma distribution (Otsu-Gamma); the maximum between-cluster variance is modified based on each model. The two proposed methods were applied on several images and promising experimental results were obtained. Evaluation of the resulting segmented images shows that both Otsu-Gamma method and Otsu-Lognormal yield better estimation of the optimal threshold than does the original Otsu method with Gaussian distribution (Otsu).
Glucocorticoids and renal Na+ transport: implications for hypertension and salt sensitivity

The clinical manifestations of glucocorticoid excess include central obesity, hyperglycaemia, dyslipidaemia, electrolyte abnormalities and hypertension. A century on from Cushing's original case study, these cardinal features are prevalent in industrialized nations. Hypertension is the major modifiable risk factor for cardiovascular and renal disease and reflects underlying abnormalities of Na+ homeostasis. Aldosterone is a master regulator of renal Na+ transport but here we argue that glucocorticoids are also influential, particularly during moderate excess. The hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal axis can affect renal Na+ homeostasis on multiple levels, systemically by increasing mineralocorticoid synthesis and locally by actions on both the mineralocorticoid and glucocorticoid receptors, both of which are expressed in the kidney. The kidney also expresses both of the 11β‐hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase (11βHSD) enzymes. The intrarenal generation of active glucocorticoid by 11βHSD1 stimulates Na+ reabsorption; failure to downregulate the enzyme during adaption to high dietary salt causes salt‐sensitive hypertension. The deactivation of glucocorticoid by 11βHSD2 underpins the regulatory dominance for Na+ transport of mineralocorticoids and defines the ‘aldosterone‐sensitive distal nephron’. In summary, glucocorticoids can stimulate renal transport processes conventionally attributed to the renin–angiotensin–aldosterone system. Importantly, Na+ and volume homeostasis do not exert negative feedback on the hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal axis. These actions are therefore clinically relevant and may contribute to the pathogenesis of hypertension in conditions associated with elevated glucocorticoid levels, such as the metabolic syndrome and chronic stress.
Near field and far field characteristics of a typical base station antenna array with variation in radome material permittivity

The radiation characteristics of a base station antenna system consisting of a dipole array backed by a ground plane is investigated by changing the dielectric parameters of the radome enclosure. The changes in directive gain, return loss and HPBW is observed and the radiated electric field strength is measured in the reactive near field and the radiating near field region of the antenna-radome system by taking teflon, polyvinyl chloride and fibre glass as the radome materials.
Keeping Your Threads Untangled: An Intelligent System for Semi-automatically Organising Corporate Messages by Content

This paper describes an approach, based on a system, called Threads, which is already in commercial use, to automatically synchronise sets of digital messages (e.g. e-mail and digitised phone calls) with particular projects, in which context the messages were created. Based on the authors' experience that it is generally easier to browse projects of interest than to search masses of messages, authorised users can extract information from far more messages, far quicker than they might otherwise do by trying to guess suitable search terms. The novelty described in this paper is a method for organising such messages automatically and intelligently according to statistics relating to less common words (called "keywords") which they contain. Initial experiments using this method are described, using both e-mail data from the parent company, and on the publicly available ENRON dataset of e-mails and phone calls. These preliminary results are interesting, but suggest the method as currently implemented is only suitable for semi-automatic classification, but not yet for fully automated allocations to projects.
Processing additional information in a multiple criteria decision context in the presence of information imperfections

Processing information is a central activity in any decisional situation. Moreover, decisional situations, including multicriterion ones, are usually confronted with various sources and kinds of uncertainty (French, 1995). A more general denomination, “the information imperfections” has been used to qualify these “uncertainties” (Bouchon-Meunier, 1995). It encompasses all kinds of uncertainty, imprecision, ambiguity, etc. In such a context, seeking additional information to reduce these imperfections appears as a natural preoccupation. The question is then: How to process the additional information in order to improve the existing one? In the stochastic monocriterion context handled by the statistical decision analysis, the Bayesian approach has been used in order to integrate additional information to prior information and to obtain posterior information. This approach will be here adapted to the multicriterion context with various kinds of information imperfections and to various decisional problematics. A first adaptation to the multicriterion context has been achieved by Azondékon and Martel (1999) in the stochastic attributes/criteria case and for the ranking problematic.
A bayesian belief network cost estimation model that incorporates cultural and project leadership factors

In this study an analysis is performed in order to explore whether and how culture and leadership factors have an impact on the accuracy of software effort and cost estimation. A survey on software development projects within government departments in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) was undertaken. A Bayesian Belief Network (BBN) cost estimation model incorporating organizational and intercultural factors was developed and evaluated. The results indicated that the inclusion of such data into explanatory estimation models such as BBNs could provide useful information and increase the accuracy of final estimates.
Etude et Modélisation des Comportements Sociaux d'Apprenants à Distance, à Travers l'Analyse des Traits du Visage

Dans un contexte presentiel, un acte de communication comprend des expressions orales et emotionnelles. A partir de l’observation, du diagnostic et de l’identification de l’etat emotionnel d’un individu, son interlocuteur pourra entreprendre des actions qui influenceraient la qualite de la communication. A cet egard, nous pensons ameliorer la maniere dont les individus percoivent leurs echanges en proposant d’enrichir la CEMO (communication ecrite mediatisee par ordinateur) par des emotions ressenties par les collaborateurs. Pour ce faire, nous proposons d’integrer un systeme de reconnaissance, en temps reel, des emotions (joie, peur, surprise, colere, degout, tristesse, neutralite) a la plateforme pedagogique “Moodle” pour les extraire a partir de l’analyse des expressions faciales de l’apprenant a distance lors des activites collaboratives
Address norms in Jordanian Arabic: A sociolinguistic perspective

Partant du postulat que le choix des termes d'adresse est socialement determine et structure, l'A. propose une etude sociolinguistique des formes d'adresse en arabe jordanien. A travers une analyse descriptive de ces termes en relation avec leur contexte social d'utilisation et certains facteurs sociologiques (distance sociale, âge, statut socio-economique.), il met en lumiere l'usage strategique des normes d'adresse (repartis entre pronoms, noms, nom evoquant une relation de parente, titres, et noms relatifs au metier) et les facteurs linguistiques et extralinguistiques qui en determinent le choix.
Chemometric Classification of Herb – Orthosiphon stamineus According to Its Geographical Origin Using Virtual Chemical Sensor Based Upon Fast GC

Abstract : An analytical method using Electronic Nose ( E-nose ) instrument for analysis of volatile organic compound from Orthosiphon stamineus raw samples have been developed. This instrument is a new chemical sensor based on Fast Gas Chromatography and Surface Acoustics Wave (SAW) detector. Chromatographic fingerprint obtained from the headspace analysis of O. stamineus samples were used as a guideline for optimum selection of an array of sensor. Qualitative analysis was carried out based on the responses of each sensor array in order to distinguish the geographical origin of the cultivated sample. The results of the analysis showed variances of volatile chemical compound of the samples even though it is from the same species. However, similarities of main components from all five samples were observed. Usage of pattern recognition chemometric approaches such as Principal Component Analysis (PCA), Linear Discriminant Analysis (LDA) and Cluster Analysis (CA) for processing
Review of physiological criteria for functioning of unprotected hands in the cold

Koude betekent meestal een verlies aan handvaardigheid. In dit review artikel worden limiet waarden voor lichaams-, spier-, zenuw- en gewrichtstemperaturen aangedragen die een minimum verlies aan handvaardigheid te zien geven.
A calibrated pathfinding model for signal integrity analysis on interposer

A calibrated pathfinding on silicon interposer is presented for exploring the impact of interconnect geometries on signal integrity. ABCD matrix-based model and single bit method are used for the pathfinding by estimating the worst-case eye opening. Experiment-based eye-diagrams using measured S-parameters on the fabricated silicon interposer are compared with the pathfinding showing 6% max difference. The pathfinding utilizes to optimize design parameters with 99% reduce of simulation time. It also extends for the optimization of parameters in multi interconnects considering mutual effects as well as crosstalk.