Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Increasing Risk Awareness and Facilitating Safe Sexual Activity Among Older Adults in Senior Housing

The prevalence of HIV in older adults is rising. This increase can be attributed to inconsistent condom use, low perceived disease susceptibility, and a sexual health knowledge gap found in older adults. Yet, little to no health promotion for older adults focuses on sex education. This study sought to determine the feasibility of a group-based educational program in senior housing settings and consider the utility of a self-efficacy based group education program on knowledge of disease risk and preventive techniques among older adults living in senior housing.
The effect of vasopressin 1b receptor (V1bR) blockade on HPA axis activity in rats exposed to acute heat stress

SUMMARY Thermal stressors such as low and high ambient temperature elicit an abundance of neuroendocrine responses including activation of the hypothalamo-pituitary–adrenal (HPA) axis and arginine vasopressin (AVP) release. The exposure to heat is a particularly interesting model for studying AVP action because this kind of stressor represents not only an unpleasant experience but also a threat to osmotic homeostasis. As AVP has long been recognized as a hormone involved in the modulation of HPA axis activity, the aim of this study was to elucidate the role of AVP in acutely heat-exposed rats using Nelivaptan, a selective vasopressin 1b receptor (V1bR) antagonist. Rats were exposed to high ambient temperature (38°C) for 60 min. The circulating hormones were determined by ELISA or chemiluminescence, and intrapituitary adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) and V1bR level were determined by western blot. The results obtained show that V1bR blockade negatively affected the increase in blood ACTH caused by heat exposure. This treatment alone, or in combination with Nelivaptan, decreased intrapituitary V1bR levels while circulating AVP concentration was increased under the same conditions. Furthermore, a strong correlation was observed between blood ACTH and corticosterone concentration. In conclusion, our results directly confirm the positive role of AVP in the regulation of ACTH secretion from the pituitary in animals exposed to heat. Moreover, the results suggest that AVP from the general circulation influences pituitary V1bR.
Corrosion detection in reinforced concrete roadways and bridges via embedded fiber optic sensors

The problems associated with the application of chloride-based deicing agents to roadways and specifically bridges include chemical pollution and accelerated corrosion of strength members (especially the rebar) within the structure. In many instances, local ordnances are attempting to force state agencies to reduce, if not eliminate, the use of these chlorides (typically at the cost of increased driving hazards). With respect to the corrosion aspects of chloride application, cracks that occur in the roadway/bridge pavement allow water to seep into the pavement carrying the chloride to the rebar with the resultant increase in corrosion. In tandem with these efforts has been the continuing use of embedded fiber optic sensors for identification of faults or cracks within a highway structure - i.e., structural health monitoring. In this paper, we present multiple-parameter sensing fiber optic sensors which may be embedded into roadway and bridge structures to provide an internal measurement and assessment of its health. Such issues are paramount in determining if remedial or preventative maintenance should be performed on such structures. Laboratory results, comparisons with conventional sensing methods as well as a review of real-world issues in highway sensing are presented.
Behavioral detection of intra-cortical microstimulation in the primary and secondary auditory cortex of cats

Although neural responses to sound stimuli have been thoroughly investigated in various areas of the auditory cortex, the results electrophysiological recordings cannot establish a causal link between neural activation and brain function. Electrical microstimulation, which can selectively perturb neural activity in specific parts of the nervous system, is an important tool for exploring the organization and function of brain circuitry. To date, the studies describing the behavioral effects of electrical stimulation have largely been conducted in the primary auditory cortex. In this study, to investigate the potential differences in the effects of electrical stimulation on different cortical areas, we measured the behavioral performance of cats in detecting intra-cortical microstimulation (ICMS) delivered in the primary and secondary auditory fields (A1 and A2, respectively). After being trained to perform a Go/No-Go task cued by sounds, we found that cats could also learn to perform the task cued by ICMS; furthermore, the detection of the ICMS was similarly sensitive in A1 and A2. Presenting wideband noise together with ICMS substantially decreased the performance of cats in detecting ICMS in A1 and A2, consistent with a noise masking effect on the sensation elicited by the ICMS. In contrast, presenting ICMS with pure-tones in the spectral receptive field of the electrode-implanted cortical site reduced ICMS detection performance in A1 but not A2. Therefore, activation of A1 and A2 neurons may produce different qualities of sensation. Overall, our study revealed that ICMS-induced neural activity could be easily integrated into an animal’s behavioral decision process and had an implication for the development of cortical auditory prosthetics.
Feature weighing for efficient clustering

In cluster analysis, current algorithms assume that all features in the data contribute uniformly in assigning samples to clusters. This assumption can lead to poor clustering results, due to the existence of noisy and less important features. Feature weighting overcomes this issue by assigning different weights to features based on some notion of importance. According to feature weighting, more important features are assigned higher weights and less important features lower weight. When weights are applied to the data, the normal feature space becomes a transformed feature space. This paper proposes that the degree of transformation is as important as the weights themselves to find better clustering outcomes. A fixed feature weighting technique is used where the magnitude of weights is increased or decreased based on Cauchy sequence. The proposed methodology is tested on simulated and real world datasets using k-means and hierarchical clustering algorithms, and results are compared against clustering without weights.
Cloning and expression of a rat liver phenobarbital-inducible UDP-glucuronosyltransferase (2B12) with specificity for monoterpenoid alcohols.

A full-length cDNA, HBPA2, that encodes for a new rat hepatic UDP-glucuronosyltransferase protein, designated UGT2B12, was isolated from a rat liver cDNA library. The isolated clone contains a 1590-nucleotide open reading frame flanked by 2 and 252 base pairs of 5' and 3' noncoding sequences, respectively. Human embryonic kidney 293 cells transfected with UGT2B12 expressed a protein with a subunit molecular mass of 53 kDa. The expressed protein catalyzed the glucuronidation of monoterpenoid alcohols, such as (-)-borneol, (+)-menthol, and (-)-nopol. In addition, a number of simple phenolic compounds, such as hydroxybiphenyls, 7-hydroxylated coumarins, p-nitrophenol, and food-derived substances (e.g., naringenin and eugenol), were also substrates for the expressed enzyme. Northern blot analysis showed that treatment of rats with phenobarbital increased hepatic mRNA levels for UGT2B12 approximately twofold. In addition to liver, Northern blot analysis demonstrated that UGT2B12 mRNA is present in kidney and testis.
On the complexity of optimal routing and content caching in heterogeneous networks

We investigate the problem of optimal request routing and content caching in a heterogeneous network supporting in-network content caching with the goal of minimizing average content access delay. Here, content can either be accessed directly from a back-end server (where content resides permanently) or be obtained from one of multiple in-network caches. To access a piece of content, a user must decide whether to route its request to a cache or to the back-end server. Additionally, caches must decide which content to cache. We investigate the problem complexity of two problem formulations, where the direct path to the back-end server is modeled as i) a congestion-sensitive or ii) a congestion-insensitive path, reflecting whether or not the delay of the uncached path to the back-end server depends on the user request load, respectively. We show that the problem is NP-complete in both cases. We prove that under the congestion-insensitive model the problem can be solved optimally in polynomial time if each piece of content is requested by only one user, or when there are at most two caches in the network. We also identify a structural property of the user-cache graph that potentially makes the problem NP-complete. For the congestion-sensitive model, we prove that the problem remains NP-complete even if there is only one cache in the network and each content is requested by only one user. We show that approximate solutions can be found for both models within a (1 - 1/e) factor of the optimal solution, and demonstrate a greedy algorithm that is found to be within 1% of optimal for small problem sizes. Through trace-driven simulations we evaluate the performance of our greedy algorithms, which show up to a 50% reduction in average delay over solutions based on LRU content caching.
Expression of Monocarboxylate Transporters 1, 2, and 4 in Human Tumours and Their Association with CD147 and CD44

Monocarboxylate transporters (MCTs) are important cellular pH regulators in cancer cells; however, the value of MCT expression in cancer is still poorly understood. In the present study, we analysed MCT1, MCT2, and MCT4 protein expression in breast, colon, lung, and ovary neoplasms, as well as CD147 and CD44. MCT expression frequency was high and heterogeneous among the different tumours. Comparing with normal tissues, there was an increase in MCT1 and MCT4 expressions in breast carcinoma and a decrease in MCT4 plasma membrane expression in lung cancer. There were associations between CD147 and MCT1 expressions in ovarian cancer as well as between CD147 and MCT4 in both breast and lung cancers. CD44 was only associated with MCT1 plasma membrane expression in lung cancer. An important number of MCT1 positive cases are negative for both chaperones, suggesting that MCT plasma membrane expression in tumours may depend on a yet nonidentified regulatory protein.
Enhanced Conversion Rate of l‐Phenylalanine by Coupling Reactions of Aminotransferases and Phosphoenolpyruvate Carboxykinase in Escherichiacoli K‐12

In Escherichia coli, aspartate aminotransferase (encoded by aspC) and aromatic amino acid aminotransferase (encoded by tyrB) share overlapping substrate specificity in the syntheses of aromatic amino acids. Through the transamination reactions catalyzed by AspC or TyrB, l‐phenylalanine (l‐Phe) can be produced from phenylpyruvate with aspartic acid as the amino donor. To modulate and enhance the production levels of proteins, both aspC and tyrB were subcloned into a runaway‐replication vector. As a result, the specific activities of AspC and TyrB obtained showed 65‐fold and 50‐fold increases, respectively, compared with the wild‐type level. Employing resting cells of AspC‐ and TyrB‐overproducing E. coli K‐12 strains for l‐Phe productions resulted in molar conversion yields of 70% and 55%, respectively. With an additional introduction of phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase (encoded by pck) into the transamination reactions, the conversion yields were improved to 93% from 70% and to 75% from 55% in a relatively short time. These results account for more than an 8‐fold increase in productivity, as compared to the previous report (Calton et al., 1985 ). In addition, a four‐run reuse of the recombinant cells for l‐Phe production gave a total yield of 91 g/L with a 93% conversion.
A comparison of internal self-repair with resin injection in repair of concrete

A comparison is made between the two modes of repair of internal cracks in concrete: resin injection, which is done manually after cracking, and self-repair in which the adhesive for repair is already present in the matrix at the time the cracking occurs. The purpose of the project was to study the effect of various adhesives used for self-repair on the repair of concrete considering factors such as stress transfer capability, varying crack width, and damping. Different release modes and a similar range of adhesives with varying modulus of elasticity were used in the experiments. The purpose for varying the modulus of elasticity was to investigate the penetration ability of the adhesives. It is known that an adhesive's relative stiffness is directly related to its modulus of elasticity, and consequently, its ability to repair cracks is influenced by this factor. Finally, a comparison was made with studies undertaken by others on resin injection repair regarding stress, strain, and modulus of elasticity. Self-repair adhesives with higher modulus of elasticity (stiffer adhesives) transferred stresses well across the crack width allowing the crack to sustain as much, if not more, as the original loading as measured by specimen strength. The adhesives with lower modulus of elasticity (more flexible adhesives) also transferred the stresses.
Pareto-optimal dictionaries for signatures

We present an effective method to optimize over the parameters of an image patch descriptor to obtain one that is computationally more efficient while maintaining a high recognition rate. We formulate the optimization problem in a multi-objective manner, which balances two conflicting goals while removing the need for traditional weighting coefficients. To this end we introduce the Pareto efficiency criterion, which helps finding solutions that increase one objective without decreasing the other. Despite the vast size of the search space, we show how a state-of-the-art Genetic Algorithm can be tailored to find good solutions. Not only does the resulting descriptor perform better than state-of-the-art ones, but our approach is of broader significance as optimization problems with balanced goals are often encountered in Computer Vision.
Small Group Behavior Experiments in the Coven Project

The Collaborative Virtual Environments (Coven) project, a four-year European project launched in October 1995, designs and explores collaborative virtual environment (CVE) technology. It aims to investigate the feasibility of scalable CVE worlds through developing CVE systems and demonstrating prototype applications in a virtual travel rehearsal scenario. Our experiments in collaborative virtual environments investigated group behavior issues such as relationships between emergent leadership and computational resources, and the sense of presence and copresence among participants.
Transcriptional Induction of Cholesterol 7α-Hydroxylase by Dexamethasone in L35 Hepatoma Cells Requires Sulfhydryl Reducing Agents*

It is known that hepatic levels of reduced glutathione correlate with the activity of the liver-specific enzyme cholesterol-7α-hydroxylase. We examined the possibility that sulfhydryl reducing agents activate transcription of cholesterol 7α-hydroxylase. Adding dithiothreitol (DTT, 1 mM) and dexamethasone to L35 hepatoma cells increased the content of 7α-hydroxylase mRNA 3-fold above the levels observed with dexamethasone alone. Without dexamethasone, DTT had no affect. The addition of reduced glutathione to L35 cells demonstrated a similar potentiation of expression dependent on dexamethasone. Nuclear run-on assays showed that in the presence of both dexamethasone and DTT, the transcription of the 7α-hydroxylase gene was clearly increased. In contrast, by itself, dexamethasone did not cause a detectable increase in the transcription of the 7α-hydroxylase gene. Dexamethasone and DTT did not affect the transcription of β-actin, suggesting a selective induction of the 7α-hydroxylase gene. DTT reversed repression of 7α-hydroxylase expression by insulin but not the repression by phorbol ester. Our data show for the first time that the sulfhydryl redox potential of the hepatocyte (i.e. level of reduced glutathione) has a marked influence on the transcription and expression of the liver-specific gene 7α-hydroxylase.
A Simple and Fast Kinetic Assay for the Determination of Fructan Exohydrolase Activity in Perennial Ryegrass (Lolium perenne L.)

Despite the fact that fructans are the main constituent of water-soluble carbohydrates in forage grasses and cereal crops of temperate climates, little knowledge is available on the regulation of the enzymes involved in fructan metabolism. The analysis of enzyme activities involved in this process has been hampered by the low affinity of the fructan enzymes for sucrose and fructans used as fructosyl donor. Further, the analysis of fructan composition and enzyme activities is restricted to specialized labs with access to suited HPLC equipment and appropriate fructan standards. The degradation of fructan polymers with high degree of polymerization (DP) by fructan exohydrolases (FEHs) to fructosyloligomers is important to liberate energy in the form of fructan, but also under conditions where the generation of low DP polymers is required. Based on published protocols employing enzyme coupled endpoint reactions in single cuvettes, we developed a simple and fast kinetic 1-FEH assay. This assay can be performed in multi-well plate format using plate readers to determine the activity of 1-FEH against 1-kestotriose, resulting in a significant time reduction. Kinetic assays allow an optimal and more precise determination of enzyme activities compared to endpoint assays, and enable to check the quality of any reaction with respect to linearity of the assay. The enzyme coupled kinetic 1-FEH assay was validated in a case study showing the expected increase in 1-FEH activity during cold treatment. This assay is cost effective and could be performed by any lab with access to a plate reader suited for kinetic measurements and readings at 340 nm, and is highly suited to assess temporal changes and relative differences in 1-FEH activities. Thus, this enzyme coupled kinetic 1-FEH assay is of high importance both to the field of basic fructan research and plant breeding.
Experimental Design Optimization Of A Reverse Osmosis Membrane For Olive Mill Wastewater Purification After Advanced Oxidation

Although membranes are a mature technology, many aspects are still in development. The main handicap is membrane fouling, investigated by a plethora of researchers in the last years to convince investors to implement membranes as substitutes of a range of unit operations at industrial scale. In the field of wastewater treatments, this is especially problematic, given the low economic value of the product, that is, treated water. The management of the effluents generated by olive oil industries represents an ever-increasing problem still unresolved. Within this framework, the prediction of the performance of a selected membrane is mandatory for its operation when implemented in a treatment process at industrial scale. The core of the present work was the modelling and optimization of a reverse osmosis (RO) membrane operation for the purification of a tertiarytreated olive mill wastewater stream (OMW2TT). Statistical multifactorial analysis was employed to examined the variables including the operating pressure (PTM), tangential velocity (vt) and operating temperature (T). Upon the optimized parameters, namely ambient temperature (24 o C), moderate operating pressure (31.5) and turbulent flow (4 m s -1 ), the standards to reuse the purified effluent for irrigation, discharge to sewers or even reused in the production process were ensured.
Receptor-mediated Endocytosis Involves Tyrosine Phosphorylation of Cortactin*

Efficient internalization of cell surface receptors requires actin polymerization mediated by Arp2/3 complex and cortactin, a prominent substrate of the protein-tyrosine kinase Src. However, the significance of cortactin tyrosine phosphorylation in endocytosis is unknown. We found that overexpression of a cortactin mutant deficient in tyrosine phosphorylation decreased transferrin uptake. Suppression of cortactin expression by RNA interference also reduced transferrin internalization. Such inhibition was effectively rescued by overexpressing wild-type cortactin but not a cortactin mutant deficient in tyrosine phosphorylation or a mutant with deletion of the Src homology 3 domain. Likewise, purified phosphorylation-null cortactin failed to restore the formation of clathrin-coated vesicles in a cortactin-depleted cell extract. In vitro analysis revealed that Src-mediated phosphorylation enhanced the association of cortactin with dynamin-2 in a tyrosine phosphorylation-dependent manner. Quantitative analysis demonstrated that Src enhances the affinity of cortactin for dynamin-2 by more than 3-fold. On the other hand, Src-treated dynamin-2 had no effect on its interaction with cortactin. These data indicate that Src kinase is implicated in clathrin-mediated endocytosis by phosphorylation of cortactin.
An Efficient Incremental Clustering based Summarization Technique for Web Page Classification

Currently the World Wide Web is the largest source of information. There are numerous self-acting classification advances that have been suggested. In this suggested work an effective incremental clustering approach to evolve a better incremental clustering based summarization method for world wide World Wide Web classification which can facilitate to better coordinate the accessible data on WWW. The incremental clustering founded summarization technique permits dynamic tracking of the ever expanding allotment of information, put on the World Wide Web every day. This is the useful procedure for dynamic contents. In this the clustering of web document is a key method for finding out a more contextual and noiseless knowledge for world wide world wide web utilizes. C4.5 is one of the most classic classification algorithms on data excavation, when it is utilized in mass computed results, the effectiveness is very low. In this paper, the direct of C4.5 is advanced by the use of L’Hospital direct, which simplifies the assessment process and advances the effectiveness of decision making algorithm. The aim of this work to apply the algorithms in a very time and space effective kind and throughput and answer time for the application will be encouraged as the presentation measures. The aspires is to implement these algorithms and graphically compared the complexities and efficiencies of the classification algorithms.
A frequency estimation algorithm for ADPLL designs with two-cycle lock-in time

This paper presents a frequency-estimation algorithm for the ADPLL designs instead of traditional binary frequency-search algorithm. With the proposed ADPLL architecture and synchronization process, the lock time can be optimized to two cycles. As the reference clock varies or frequency multiplication switches, lock time holds in two reference clock cycles. An implementation of proposed ADPLL design is realized in UMC 0.18 mum 1P6M CMOS technology with core area of 520times530 mum2. The PLL has the frequency range of 140 MHz to 1030 MHz with 22ps DCO resolution
Viewing Low Contrast, High Dynamic Range Images with MUSCLE

This paper describes a novel method for enhancing an image for display when it has faint detail, high dynamic range or uneven illumination. The method processes grey-scale images by extracting local detail at several scales, equalising the contrast for each scale then averaging the results. It is extended to colour images through the use of an appropriate colour space. Problems caused by quantisation, noise, compression artefacts and coloured haze are considered and treated. The results are widely applicable to surveillance, medical and consumer digital camera imagery.