Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Offline Handwritten Devanagari Vowels Recognition using KNN Classifier

discussion in the paper is regarding to the recognition of handwritten Devanagari vowels by means of a classifier named as K-NN (K- Nearest Neighbour). Before applying classifier, feature extortion is accomplished for extracting the feature points (FP) i.e. also known as division points (DP). In this paper the feature extortion is perform through recursive sub division technique, which is first time implemented on Devanagari vowels. K-NN classifier is functioned for the learning and the testing phases, through which the recognition go ahead to the high performances in terms of recognition rate, pre-processing and classification speed. Authors tested the described approach using the ISI (Indian Statistical Institute), Kolkata"s handwritten Devanagari vowels database containing 9191 samples, which is divided into 1:3 as testing and training samples respectively. In the recognition process using K-NN classifier 88 vowels are total wrongly identified out of 2281vowels. The recognition rate comes out to be 96.14%.
Network Information Science

A framework integrating information theory and network science is proposed, giving rise to a potentially new area of network information science. By incorporating and integrating concepts such as complexity, coding, topological projections and network dynamics, the proposed network-based framework paves the way not only to extending traditional information science, but also to modeling, characterizing and analyzing a broad class of real-world problems, from language communication to DNA coding. Basically, an original network is supposed to be transmitted, with our without compaction, through a time-series obtained by sampling its topology by some network dynamics, such as random walks. We show that the degree of compression is ultimately related to the ability to predict the frequency of symbols based on the topology of the original network and the adopted dynamics. The potential of the proposed approach is illustrated with respect to the efficiency of transmitting topologies of several network models by using a variety of random walks. Several interesting results are obtained, including the behavior of the BA model oscillating between high and low performance depending on the considered dynamics, and the distinct performances obtained for two analogous geographical models.
Survival and severity in dominant cerebellar ataxias

Inherited spinocerebellar ataxias (SCAs) are known to be genetically and clinically heterogeneous. Whether severity and survival are variable, however, is not known. We, therefore, studied survival and severity in 446 cases and 509 relatives with known mutations. Survival was 68 years [95% CI: 65–70] in 223 patients with polyglutamine expansions versus 80 years [73–84] in 23 with other mutations (P < 0.0001). Disability was also more severe in the former: at age 60, 30% were wheelchair users versus 3% with other SCAs (P < 0.001). This has implications for genetic counseling and the design of therapeutic trials.
Towards understanding the molecular basis of bacterial DNA segregation

Bacteria ensure the fidelity of genetic inheritance by the coordinated control of chromosome segregation and cell division. Here, we review the molecules and mechanisms that govern the correct subcellular positioning and rapid separation of newly replicated chromosomes and plasmids towards the cell poles and, significantly, the emergence of mitotic-like machineries capable of segregating plasmid DNA. We further describe surprising similarities between proteins involved in DNA partitioning (ParA/ParB) and control of cell division (MinD/MinE), suggesting a mechanism for intracellular positioning common to the two processes. Finally, we discuss the role that the bacterial cytoskeleton plays in DNA partitioning and the missing link between prokaryotes and eukaryotes that is bacterial mechano-chemical motor proteins.
Differential Expression of MicroRNAs in Adipose Tissue after Long-Term High-Fat Diet-Induced Obesity in Mice

Obesity is a major health concern worldwide which is associated with increased risk of chronic diseases such as metabolic syndrome, cardiovascular disease and cancer. The elucidation of the molecular mechanisms involved in adipogenesis and obesogenesis is of essential importance as it could lead to the identification of novel biomarkers and therapeutic targets for the development of anti-obesity drugs. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) have been shown to play regulatory roles in several biological processes. They have become a growing research field and consist of promising pharmaceutical targets in various fields such as cancer, metabolism, etc. The present study investigated the possible implication of miRNAs in adipose tissue during the development of obesity using as a model the C57BLJ6 mice fed a high-fat diet. C57BLJ6 wild type male mice were fed either a standard (SD) or a high-fat diet (HFD) for 5 months. Total RNA was prepared from white adipose tissue and was used for microRNA profiling and qPCR. Twenty-two of the most differentially expressed miRNAs, as identified by the microRNA profiling were validated using qPCR. The results of the present study confirmed previous results. The up-regulation of mmu-miR-222 and the down-regulation of mmu-miR-200b, mmu-miR-200c, mmu-miR-204, mmu-miR-30a*, mmu-miR-193, mmu-miR-378 and mmu-miR-30e* after HFD feeding has also been previously reported. On the other hand, we show for the first time the up-regulation of mmu-miR-342-3p, mmu-miR-142-3p, mmu-miR-142-5p, mmu-miR-21, mmu-miR-146a, mmu-miR-146b, mmu-miR-379 and the down-regulation of mmu-miR-122, mmu-miR-133b, mmu-miR-1, mmu-miR-30a*, mmu-miR-192 and mmu-miR-203 during the development of obesity. However, future studies are warranted in order to understand the exact role that miRNAs play in adipogenesis and obesity.
Collagen I–mediated up-regulation of N-cadherin requires cooperative signals from integrins and discoidin domain receptor 1

Tumor cells undergo epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) to convert from a benign to a malignant phenotype. Our recent focus has been signaling pathways that promote EMT in response to collagen. We have shown that human pancreatic cancer cells respond to collagen by up-regulating N-cadherin, which promotes tumor growth, invasion, and metastasis. Initial characterization showed that knocking down c-Jun NH2-terminal kinase prevented N-cadherin up-regulation and limited tumor growth and invasion in a mouse model for pancreatic cancer. The current study was designed to understand the pathway from collagen to N-cadherin up-regulation. Initiation of the signal requires two collagen receptors, α2β1 integrin and discoidin domain receptor (DDR) 1. Each receptor propagates signals through separate pathways that converge to up-regulate N-cadherin. Focal adhesion kinase (FAK)–related protein tyrosine kinase (Pyk2) is downstream of DDR1, whereas FAK is downstream of α2β1 integrin. Both receptor complexes rely on the p130 Crk-associated substrate scaffold. Interestingly, Rap1, but not Rho family guanosine triphosphatases, is required for the response to collagen I.
An Efficient Task Scheduling of Multiprocessor using Genetic Algorithm based on Task Height

Static task scheduling in multiprocessor frameworks is one of the well-defined NP hard problem. Due to optimal utilization of processors and in addition investing less time, the scheduling of tasks in multiprocessor frameworks is of extraordinary significance. To solve NP hard problem using traditional strategies takes reasonable measures of time. Over the time, various heuristic procedures were presented for comprehending it. Therefore, heuristic methods such as genetic algorithms are appropriate methods for task scheduling in multiprocessor system. In this paper, a new GA for static task scheduling in multiprocessor systems has been presented whose priority of tasks’ execution is based on the height of task in graph and other mentioned parameters and then scheduling is performed. This proposed method is simulated and then compared with basic genetic algorithm.
Hybrid social media network

Analysis and recommendation of multimedia information can be greatly improved if we know the interactions between the content, user, and concept, which can be easily observed from the social media networks. However, there are many heterogeneous entities and relations in such networks, making it difficult to fully represent and exploit the diverse array of information. In this paper, we develop a hybrid social media network, through which the heterogeneous entities and relations are seamlessly integrated and a joint inference procedure across the heterogeneous entities and relations can be developed. The network can be used to generate personalized information recommendation in response to specific targets of interests, e.g., personalized multimedia albums, target advertisement and friend/topic recommendation. In the proposed network, each node denotes an entity and the multiple edges between nodes characterize the diverse relations between the entities (e.g., friends, similar contents, related concepts, favorites, tags, etc). Given a query from a user indicating his/her information needs, a propagation over the hybrid social media network is employed to infer the utility scores of all the entities in the network while learning the edge selection function to activate only a sparse subset of relevant edges, such that the query information can be best propagated along the activated paths. Driven by the intuition that much redundancy exists among the diverse relations, we have developed a robust optimization framework based on several sparsity principles. We show significant performance gains of the proposed method over the state of the art in multimedia retrieval and recommendation using data crawled from social media sites. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first model supporting not only aggregation but also judicious selection of heterogeneous relations in the social media networks.
Factors Influencing Use of Hearing Protection Among Farmers: A Test of the Pender Health Promotion Model

BackgroundMost farmers are exposed to potentially hazardous noise levels through many of their work activities, such as operating tractors, grain dryers, and chain saws. Rates of noise-induced hearing loss in this group are high. Although this condition is preventable through the use of hearing protection, rates of protective device use are low. Understanding factors influencing the use of hearing protection devices will provide direction for programs to increase their use and decrease risk of noise-induced hearing loss. ObjectivesA study was designed using the Pender Health Promotion Model to identify factors affecting farmers’ use of hearing protection devices. MethodModel testing was conducted with a convenience sample of 139 farmers. Prior to model testing, existing instruments designed to measure concepts from the Health Promotion Model were modified for use with farmers through interviews, validity testing with an expert panel, and reliability testing with first a small (n = 36) then a second larger (n = 139) convenience sample of farmers. Instruments measuring cognitive and affective factors related to hearing protection device use were administered to farmers at a regional farm show in the Midwest. ResultsA logistic regression analysis identified interpersonal support, barriers, and situational influences as statistically significant predictors of this health behavior, correctly predicting 78% of the cases. Results of model testing were consistent with results of previous studies of Health Promotion Model variables with other worker groups’ use of hearing protection. ConclusionsInformation from this study can be used to design and evaluate interventions to promote hearing protection device use among farmers and reduce the level of noise-induced hearing loss in this high-risk and underserved worker group.
Effects of growth curve parameters on cow efficiency.

Weight-age data from 50 Retinta beef cows from 8 to 97 mo of age located in southwestern Spain were fitted to von Bertalanffy, Brody, and Richards functions to determine the relationship between growth curve parameters and cow efficiency. Only cows having at least 31 weights were included in the analysis. Von Bertalanffy, Brody, and Richards functions were fitted to weights of each cow. Relevant parameters of the three functions are A and K, associated with the asymptotic mature weight and rate of maturing, respectively. Criteria for comparisons among the three functions were computing difficulty, goodness of fit, and lack of bias of A. Productivity indicators were number of calves weaned during the first five calving seasons (NC), average birth weight (BWT), average weaning weight (WW), and average weaning weight per cow per year (WWY). The von Bertalanffy function was selected as the most appropriate. Least squares means for A and K were 650 +/- 8.17 kg and . 038 +/- . 001 mo-1, respectively. The values of NC, BWT, WW, and WWY were 4.0 +/- . 11 calves, 38.2 +/- . 4 kg, 218 +/- 5 kg, and 172 +/- 5 kg, respectively. Regression analysis for A indicated a decrease in NC when mature weight increased (P less than .05). There was a nonsignificant trend for heavier cows (higher A) to have calves with heavier BWT or WW. The value of WWY increased (P less than .05) with increased maturing rate (K) of cows. No significant associations were found between K and BWT or WW. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Electromagnetic absorbance properties of a textile material coated using filtered arc-physical vapor deposition method

We explore the structure of a textile absorber in terms of its electromagnetic and absorption properties in the microwave region. Its absorption characteristics are similar to those reported for various metamaterial-based absorbers, exhibiting absorption as high as 98% at resonance. In addition, the angular behavior of the absorption properties of the sample reveal incident angle independency, which is the other added value of the study. Also, the suggested textile absorber has a simple configuration, which introduces flexibility to adjust its material properties and easily tune its structure to suit other frequencies. The proposed textile absorber and its variations have myriad potential applications in radar technology, long distance radio telecommunication, and so on. Although in its current state the proposed structure provides almost perfect absorption covering a wide range of microwave C-Band, the developing technology will soon allow manufacturing textiles that can manipulate lights, leading to the design of invisibility cloak and other science fiction devices besides finding important application areas in medical science.
Fenofibrate and LDL metabolic heterogeneity in hypercholesterolemia.

Metabolic heterogeneity in low density lipoprotein (LDL) may be detected by examination of the daily urinary excretion rate of radioactivity after injection of trace-labeled lipoprotein. Two distinct pools are observed within LDL. The first (pool A) is cleared rapidly from the plasma, whereas the second (pool B) is catabolized more slowly. In the present study we examined LDL metabolism in seven hypercholesterolemic subjects (six women and one man) before and during fenofibrate therapy. Comparison with normocholesterolemic individuals showed that the pretreatment high LDL levels in the hypercholesterolemic subjects resulted from an accumulation of apoprotein-LDL (apo-LDL) mass in pool B (2,077 +/- 174 mg versus 787 +/- 70 mg in normal subjects, p < 0.002). Pool A apo-LDL was present at normal levels (approximately 1,000 mg), although its fractional catabolic rate was reduced (0.39 +/- 0.06 versus 0.61 +/- 0.03 pool/day in normal subjects, p < 0.01). Fenofibrate therapy (100 mg t.i.d. for 8 weeks) produced substantial reductions in plasma cholesterol (29%; p < 0.001), triglycerides (36%; p < 0.001), and LDL cholesterol (30%; p < 0.001). The latter was associated with a 30% decrease in circulating apo-LDL mass (2,312 +/- 200 mg versus 3,279 +/- 264 mg before treatment, p < 0.005). This resulted from a combination of two effects. First, although overall LDL apoprotein B production did not change, there was a shift from pool B to pool A. Pool A input was 400 +/- 74 mg/day pretreatment versus 706 +/- 62 mg/day on fenofibrate; pool B input was 422 +/- 35 mg/day pretreatment versus 258 +/- 41 mg/day on the drug. At the same time, catabolism of pool A rose from 0.39 +/- 0.06 to 0.66 +/- 0.08 pool/day (p < 0.05). We hypothesize that the shift from pool B to pool A resulted from a drug-induced decrease in the particle size of very low density lipoprotein made by the liver, which in turn favored the formation of more rapidly catabolized LDL. Overall, the rate of apo-LDL degradation by the receptor route (as detected using a combination of native and 1,2-cyclohexanedione-modified LDL tracers) rose 43% on the drug, whereas the amount cleared by the receptor-independent pathway did not change. Fenofibrate, therefore, appears not only to promote LDL catabolism via the receptor-mediated pathway but also, by lowering plasma triglyceride levels, inhibits the formation of slowly metabolized, potentially atherogenic LDL particles.
Responses in small hand muscles from magnetic stimulation of the human brain.

1. The magnetic field generated by a brief current in a 9 cm diameter flat circular coil varies rapidly with time and when applied over the human scalp it is capable of exciting motor structures subserving the small hand muscles. With a peak magnetic field at the centre of the coil of 0.9‐1.6 Tesla, single scalp stimuli produced twitches in the right abductor digiti minimi (a.d.m.), first dorsal interosseous (f.d.i.) and adductor pollicis muscles. Compound muscle action potentials (c.m.a.p.s) and single motor units from these muscles were recorded. 2. The twitch force and corresponding c.m.a.p. were greatly enhanced by voluntary background contraction of the muscle and depended on the direction and intensity of the magnetic field. Response amplitude was maximal with the stimulating coil centred near the vertex but precise coil position was not critical. 3. When the orthodromic volley set up in the peripheral nerve by magnetic stimulation of the brain collided with a maximal antidromic volley set up by stimulation at the wrist, remaining electromyographic (e.m.g.) activity gave evidence of multiple firing of some spinal motoneurones, provided that the muscle exerted a slight voluntary background contraction and the stimulus intensity was above threshold for relaxed muscle. 4. When the muscle changed from total relaxation to a slightly contracted state the onset latency of the c.m.a.p. was shortened by about 3 ms without further change when the background contraction increased. In slightly contracted muscle, c.m.a.p. onset latency was little affected over a wide range of stimulus intensities and was unaffected by the position of the stimulating coil within an area of 6 X 6 cm over the vertex. 5. Single motor units, recorded with needle electrodes in the a.d.m. or f.d. i. muscle, could be caused to discharge at a constant latency by threshold brain stimuli. Different single motor units had latencies varying from 22.4 to 32.1 ms. The same motor unit was activated from different coil positions up to 7 cm apart. These motor units had the lowest thresholds for voluntary activation. Stronger stimuli caused the same motor unit to discharge 1.5 ms earlier. 6. The threshold for excitation of pathways to the a.d.m. muscle was reduced by voluntary contraction of the contralateral a.d.m. and by contraction of the ipsilateral f.d. i. muscles. Using these procedures, the c.m.a.p. of totally relaxed a.d.m. muscle showed a more than 2‐fold amplitude increase, a shortening of onset latency to a similar degree as with contraction of the muscle itself, and single motor units in the a.d.m. muscle discharged 1.5 ms earlier. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)
Secure memristor-based main memory

Non-volatile memory devices such as phase change memories and memristors are promising alternatives to SRAM and DRAM main memories as they provide higher density and improved energy efficiency. However, non-volatile main memories (NVMM) introduce security vulnerabilities. Sensitive data such as passwords and keys residing in the NVMM will persist and can be probed after power down. We propose sneak-path encryption (SPE), for memristor-based NVMM. SPE exploits the physical parameters, multi-level cell (MLC) capability and the sneak paths in cross-bar memories to encrypt the data stored in memristor-based NVMM. We investigate three attacks on NVMMs and show the resilience of SPE against them. We use a cycle accurate simulator to evaluate the security and performance impact of SPE based NVMM. SPE can secure the NVMM with a latency of 16 cycles and ~1.5% performance overhead.
OntoSearch: A Full-Text Search Engine for the Semantic Web

OntoSearch, a full-text search engine that exploits ontological knowledge for document retrieval, is presented in this paper. Different from other ontology based search engines, OntoSearch does not require a user to specify the associated concepts of his/her queries. Domain ontology in OntoSearch is in the form of a semantic network. Given a keyword based query, OntoSearch infers the related concepts through a spreading activation process in the domain ontology. To provide personalized information access, we further develop algorithms to learn and exploit user ontology model based on a customized view of the domain ontology. The proposed system has been applied to the domain of searching scientific publications in the ACM Digital Library. The experimental results support the efficacy of the OntoSearch system by using domain ontology and user ontology for enhanced search performance.
Stem Cells and Regenerative Medicine: Myth or Reality of the 21th Century

Since the 1960s and the therapeutic use of hematopoietic stem cells of bone marrow origin, there has been an increasing interest in the study of undifferentiated progenitors that have the ability to proliferate and differentiate into various tissues. Stem cells (SC) with different potency can be isolated and characterised. Despite the promise of embryonic stem cells, in many cases, adult or even fetal stem cells provide a more interesting approach for clinical applications. It is undeniable that mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) from bone marrow, adipose tissue, or Wharton's Jelly are of potential interest for clinical applications in regenerative medicine because they are easily available without ethical problems for their uses. During the last 10 years, these multipotent cells have generated considerable interest and have particularly been shown to escape to allogeneic immune response and be capable of immunomodulatory activity. These properties may be of a great interest for regenerative medicine. Different clinical applications are under study (cardiac insufficiency, atherosclerosis, stroke, bone and cartilage deterioration, diabetes, urology, liver, ophthalmology, and organ's reconstruction). This review focuses mainly on tissue and organ regeneration using SC and in particular MSC.