Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Determination of bisphenol A concentrations in human biological fluids reveals significant early prenatal exposure.

BACKGROUND There is broad human exposure to bisphenol A (BPA), an estrogenic endocrine-disrupting chemical widely used for the production of plastic products. BPA is reported to affect preimplantation embryos or fetuses and alter their postnatal development at doses typically found in the environment. We measured contamination of BPA in various kinds of human biological fluids by a novel enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. METHODS Blood samples were obtained from healthy premenopausal women, women with early and full-term pregnancy, and umbilical cord at full-term delivery. Ovarian follicular fluids obtained during IVF procedures and amniotic fluids obtained at mid-term and full-term pregnancy were also subject to BPA measurements. RESULTS BPA was present in serum and follicular fluid at approximately 1-2 ng/ml, as well as in fetal serum and full-term amniotic fluid, confirming passage through the placenta. Surprisingly, an approximately 5-fold higher concentration, 8.3 +/- 8.7 ng/ml, was revealed in amniotic fluid at 15-18 weeks gestation, compared with other fluids. CONCLUSION These results suggest accumulation of BPA in early fetuses and significant exposure during the prenatal period, which must be considered in evaluating the potential for human exposure to endocrine-disrupting chemicals.
Demonstration of Cooperative Resource Allocation in an OpenFlow-Controlled Multi-Domain and Multinational SD-EON Testbed ( Invited Paper )

The combination of Elastic Optical Networks (EONs) and Software-Defined Networking (SDN) leads to SDEONs, which bring a new opportunity for enhancing programmability and flexibility of optical networks with more freedom for network operators to customize their infrastructure dynamically. In this paper, we investigate how to apply the multi-domain scenario to SD-EONs. We design the functionalities in the control plane to facilitate multi-domain tasks, and propose an Inter-Domain Protocol (IDP) to enable OpenFlow controllers in different SD-EON domains to operate cooperatively for mult idomain Routing and Spectrum Assignment (RSA). The proposed system is implemented and experimentally demonstrated in a multinational SD-EON control plane testbed that consists o f two geographically-distributed domains located in China and USA, respectively. Experimental results indicate that the proposed system performs well for resource allocation across multip le SDEON domains.
An Abductive Framework for Datalog± Ontologies

Ontologies are a fundamental component of the Semantic Web since they provide a formal and machine manipulable model of a domain. Description Logics (DLs) are often the languages of choice for modeling ontologies. Great effort has been spent in identifying decidable or even tractable fragments of DLs. Conversely, for knowledge representation and reasoning, integration with rules and rule-based reasoning is crucial in the so-called Semantic Web stack vision. Datalog± is an extension of Datalog which can be used for representing lightweight ontologies, and is able to express the DL-Lite family of ontology languages, with tractable query answering under certain language restrictions. In this work, we show that Abductive Logic Programming (ALP) is also a suitable framework for representing Datalog± ontologies, supporting query answering through an abductive proof procedure, and smoothly achieving the integration of ontologies and rulebased reasoning. In particular, we consider an Abductive Logic Programming framework named SCIFF and derived from the IFF abductive framework, able to deal with existentially (and universally) quantified variables in rule heads, and Constraint Logic Programming constraints. Forward and backward reasoning is naturally supported in the ALP framework. We show that the SCIFF language smoothly supports the integration of rules, expressed in a Logic Programming language, with Datalog± ontologies, mapped into SCIFF (forward) integrity constraints.
Tools for Arabic Natural Language Processing: a case study in qalqalah prosody

In this paper, we focus on the prosodic effect of qalqalah or “vibration” applied to a subset of Arabic consonants under certain constraints during correct Qur’anic recitation or taÇ§wīd, using our Boundary-Annotated Quran dataset of 77430 words (Brierley et al 2012; Sawalha et al 2014). These qalqalah events are rule-governed and are signified orthographically in the Arabic script. Hence they can be given abstract definition in the form of regular expressions and thus located and collected automatically. High frequency qalqalah content words are also found to be statistically significant discriminators or keywords when comparing Meccan and Medinan chapters in the Qur’an using a state-of-the-art Visual Analytics toolkit: Semantic Pathways. Thus we hypothesise that qalqalah prosody is one way of highlighting salient items in the text. Finally, we implement Arabic transcription technology (Brierley et al under review; Sawalha et al forthcoming) to create a qalqalah pronunciation guide where each word is transcribed phonetically in IPA and mapped to its chapter-verse ID. This is funded research under the EPSRC “Working Together” theme.
Security Analysis for IEEE802.11

The paper analyzes the security of IEEE 802.11. Based on the discussion of IEEE 802.11 security requirement, the three security technologies-SSID (Service Set Identifier), MAC(Media Access Control), WEP(Wired Equivalent Privacy) in WLAN standard IEEE802.11 are introduced, especially the encrypting algorithm and the integrity check algorithm in WEP. The security flaws caused by RC4 algorithm, key management, initialization vector Space, CRC algorithm and authentication mechanism in WEP are analyzed mainly in this paper. At the end of the paper, some advices and strategies to these flaws are given.
Comparative Evaluation of Link-Based Approaches for Candidate Ranking in Link-to-Wikipedia Systems

In recent years, the task of automatically linking pieces of text (anchors) mentioned in a document to Wikipedia articles that represent the meaning of these anchors has received extensive research attention. Typically, link-to-Wikipedia systems try to find a set of Wikipedia articles that are candidates to represent the meaning of the anchor and, later, rank these candidates to select the most appropriate one. In this ranking process the systems rely on context information obtained from the document where the anchor is mentioned and/or from Wikipedia. In this paper we center our attention in the use of Wikipedia links as context information. In particular, we offer a review of several candidate ranking approaches in the state-of-the-art that rely on Wikipedia link information. In addition, we provide a comparative empirical evaluation of the different approaches on five different corpora: the TAC 2010 corpus and four corpora built from actual Wikipedia articles and news items.
Comparison of Pulse Active Ratio Similarity Measurement

Distance measurement is a quantitative tool to measure similarity or dissimilarity between two objects. A correct selection of distance measurement will enhance the performance of a biometric authentication system. In this paper, various types of distance measurement methods such as Euclidean distance, City block distance, Chebyshevdistance, Minkowskidistance, Sorensen distance, Cosine distance and Mahalanobis distance are evaluated to determine the best similarity measure to be used with the novel pulse active ratio (PAR) feature extraction method. The results are obtained based on comparing 486 electrocardiography (ECG)signals which provide a total of 42,149 ECG comparisons. The comparisons show that the similarity measurement based on Sorensen distance gives the best matching algorithm to increase the performance of the PAR ECG biometric approach.
A New Model for Temperature Jump at a Fluid-Solid Interface

The problem presented involves the development of a new analytical model for the general fluid-solid temperature jump. To the best of our knowledge, there are no analytical models that provide the accurate predictions of the temperature jump for both gas and liquid systems. In this paper, a unified model for the fluid-solid temperature jump has been developed based on our adsorption model of the interfacial interactions. Results obtained from this model are validated with available results from the literature.
A delta operator approach to discrete-time H ∞ control

To increase the performance of digitally implemented control laws, it is desirable to directly synthesize the digital control law. Hence, this paper considers the direct synthesis of discrete-time, H ∞ control laws. Previously, two approaches have been proposed to this problem. The most common method uses the bilinear transformation to convert the discrete-time problem into an equivalent continuous-time problem, allowing the controller to be synthesized with software developed for continuous-time systems. This method is often effective but requires unnecessary steps and is not applicable in all circumstances. The second approach is to synthesize the discrete-time, H ∞ control law by solving discrete-time, H ∞ Riccati equations. Due to numerical ill-conditioning, this approach can fail at sufficiently high sample rates. This numerical ill-conditioning can be eliminated by representing the discrete-time system and H ∞ controller using the delta operator. Hence, the H ∞ design equations for direct synthesis .
A Unified Framework for Data Visualization and Coclustering

We propose a new theoretical framework for data visualization. This framework is based on iterative procedure looking up an appropriate approximation of the data matrix Â by using two stochastic similarity matrices from the set of rows and the set of columns. This process converges to a steady state where the approximated data Â is composed of g similar rows and l similar columns. Reordering A according to the first left and right singular vectors involves an optimal data reorganization revealing homogeneous block clusters. Furthermore, we show that our approach is related to a Markov chain model, to the double k-means with g × l block clusters and to a spectral coclustering. Numerical experiments on simulated and real data sets show the interest of our approach.
Neural dual particle filter and its application in speech enhancement

Traditional speech enhancement techniques are commonly spectral methods, which frequently result in audible distortion of the signal. In this paper, a neural network based time-domain method called dual particle filter (dual PF) is proposed for speech enhancement, which consists of two PFs run concurrently. At each time-step, two PFs estimate both the state and model from only noisy observations respectively. We apply this method on the speech enhancement in the presence of both white (stationary and nonstationary) and colored noise. The experiments show that the approach performs significantly better than the traditional techniques on the reduction of white noise, and performs well in the presence of stationary colored as well.
Impact of preterm birth on maternal well-being and women's perceptions of their baby: a population-based survey

Background Approximately 15 million babies were born preterm worldwide in 2010 and in England in 2014 there were 52 249 preterm births. Preterm babies are at increased risk of poor outcomes and this can put enormous strain on the family. Objective This study aimed to test the hypothesis that giving birth preterm affects maternal health, mood and well-being, and alters women's feelings and perceptions about their baby. Methods Data collected in a population-based survey of maternity care in England in 2014 were used. Women were randomly selected and asked about their pregnancy, birth and postnatal experience when their babies were about 3 months of age. Descriptive statistics were produced, and logistic regression used to estimate ORs, adjusted for key confounders. Main outcome measures—Women's self-reported postnatal health, Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale, women's perceptions of their baby. Results 4578 women returned completed questionnaires. Of these, 42 (0.9%) had babies born before 32 weeks' gestation and 243 (5.5%) at 32–36 weeks. Comparing the three gestational age groups, no statistically significant differences in rates of depressive symptoms measured on the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale were found. However, using a health problems checklist, anxiety, fatigue and flash-backs were more common in mothers of preterm babies. Overall, mothers of preterm babies had less early contact with their baby, more postnatal health problems, substantially less positive feelings towards their baby and made less use of the support options available. Conclusions Women with preterm births are at increased risk of ill-health and negative feelings about their baby in the early months after birth. They make less use of postnatal services and support than other women and this may be an area where the use of specialist services would be appropriate.
Distinguishing Body Lice from Head Lice by Multiplex Real-Time PCR Analysis of the Phum_PHUM540560 Gene

Background Body louse or head louse? Once removed from their environment, body and head lice are indistinguishable. Neither the morphological criteria used since the mid-18th century nor the various genetic studies conducted since the advent of molecular biology tools have allowed body lice and head lice to be differentiated. In this work, using a portion of the Phum_PHUM540560 gene from the body louse, we aimed to develop a multiplex real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay to differentiate between body and head lice in a single reaction. Materials and Methods A total of 142 human lice were collected from mono-infested hosts from 13 countries on five continents. We first identified the louse clade using a cytochrome b (CYTB) PCR sequence alignment. We then aligned a fragment of the Phum_PHUM540560 gene amplified from head and body lice to design-specific TaqMan© FAM- and VIC-labeled probes. Results All the analyzed lice were Clade A lice. A total of 22 polymorphisms between the body and head lice were characterized. The multiplex real-time PCR analysis enabled the body and head lice to be distinguished in two hours. This method is simple, with 100% specificity and sensitivity. Conclusions We confirmed that the Phum_PHUM540560 gene is a useful genetic marker for the study of lice.
Epidemiological assessment of diet: a comparison of a 7-day diary with a food frequency questionnaire using urinary markers of nitrogen, potassium and sodium.

BACKGROUND Validation studies of dietary instruments developed for epidemiological studies have typically used some form of diet record as the standard for comparison. Recent work suggests that comparison with diet record may overestimate the ability of the epidemiological instrument to measure habitual dietary intake, due to lack of independence of the measurement errors. The degree of regression dilution in estimating diet-disease association may therefore have been correspondingly underestimated. Use of biochemical measures of intake may mitigate the problem. In this paper, we report on the use of urinary measures of intakes of nitrogen, potassium and sodium to compare the performance of a semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) and a 7-day diet diary (7DD) to estimate average intake of these nutrients over one year. METHODS In all, 179 individuals were asked to complete an FFQ and a 7DD on two occasions separated by approximately 12 months. The individuals were also asked to provide 24-hour urine samples on six occasions over a 6-9-month period, covering the time at which the record FFQ and 7DD were completed. The urine was assayed for nitrogen, potassium and sodium. The protocol was completed by 123 individuals. The data from these individuals were analysed to estimate the covariance structure of the measurement errors of the FFQ, the 7DD and a single 24-hour urine measurement, and to estimate the degree of regression dilution associated with the FFQ and 7DD. RESULTS The results demonstrated that: (1) the error variances for each of the three nutrients was more than twice as great with the FFQ than the 7DD; (2) there was substantial correlation (0.46-0.58) between the error of both the FFQ and the 7DD completed on different occasions; (3) there was moderate correlation (0.24- 0.29) between the error in the FFQ and the error in the 7DD for each nutrient; (4) the correlation between errors in different nutrients was higher for the FFQ (0.77-0.80) than for the 7DD (0.52-0.70). CONCLUSIONS The regression dilution with the FFQ is considerably greater than with the 7DD and also, for the nutrients considered, greater than would be inferred if validation studies were based solely on record or diary type instruments.
Motion vision is independent of color in Drosophila

Whether motion vision uses color contrast is a controversial issue that has been investigated in several species, from insects to humans. We used Drosophila to answer this question, monitoring the optomotor response to moving color stimuli in WT and genetic variants. In the fly eye, a motion channel (outer photoreceptors R1–R6) and a color channel (inner photoreceptors R7 and R8) have been distinguished. With moving bars of alternating colors and high color contrast, a brightness ratio of the two colors can be found, at which the optomotor response is largely missing (point of equiluminance). Under these conditions, mutant flies lacking functional rhodopsin in R1–R6 cells do not respond at all. Furthermore, genetically eliminating the function of photoreceptors R7 and R8 neither alters the strength of the optomotor response nor shifts the point of equiluminance. We conclude that the color channel (R7/R8) does not contribute to motion detection as monitored by the optomotor response.
Intellectual Property Protection in Additive Layer Manufacturing: Requirements for Secure Outsourcing

Additive Layer Manufacturing (ALM) is a new technology to produce 3D objects adding layer by layer. Agencies and companies like NASA, ESA, and SpaceX are exploring a broad range of application areas of ALM, which includes printing of device components, replacement parts, houses, and even food. They expect that this technology will greatly reduce production costs, manufacturing time, and necessary storage space. The broad variety of application areas and the high grade of computerization of this manufacturing process will inevitably make ALM an attractive target of various attacks. This research examines the problem of Intellectual Property (IP) protection in the case of outsourcing the ALM manufacturing process. We discuss the existing process and introduce a new model for the outsourcing of ALM-based production. For the proposed outsourcing model, focusing on IP protection, we present a risk assessment, specify requirements addressing mitigation of the identified risks, and outline approaches to implement the specified requirements. The fulfillment of the specified requirements will enable secure outsourcing of ALM production.
Dispossession: The Performative in the Political

Preface vii 1 Aporetic dispossession, or the trouble with dispossession 1 2 The logic of dispossession and the matter of the human (after the critique of metaphysics of substance) 10 3 A caveat about the "primacy of economy" 38 4 Sexual dispossessions 44 5 (Trans)possessions, or bodies beyond themselves 55 6 The sociality of self-poietics: Talking back to the violence of recognition 64 7 Recognition and survival, or surviving recognition 75 8 Relationality as self-dispossession 92 9 Uncounted bodies, incalculable performativity 97 10 Responsiveness as responsibility 104 11 Ex-propriating the performative 126 12 Dispossessed languages, or singularities named and renamed 131 13 The political promise of the performative 140 14 The governmentality of "crisis" and its resistances 149 15 Enacting another vulnerability: On owing and owning 158 16 Trans-border affective foreclosures and state racism 164 17 Public grievability and the politics of memorialization 173 18 The political affects of plural performativity 176 19 Conundrums of solidarity 184 20 The university, the humanities, and the book bloc 188 21 Spaces of appearance, politics of exposure 193 Notes 198 Index 205
VOICE COMMAND CONTROL FOR MOBILE ROBOTS

Digital signal processing techniques and today’s co mputing capabilities allow the computers to “understand” human speech. This paper describes the EllaVoice application, which is the user-dependant, isolated voice command recognition tool. It was created in MATLAB, based on dynamic programming and it could serve for the purpose of mobile robots control. The paper deals w ith the application of selected techniques like cross-words reference template crea tion or endpoints detection.
Plasmodium falciparum Cyclic Amine Resistance Locus (PfCARL), a Resistance Mechanism for Two Distinct Compound Classes

MMV007564 is a novel antimalarial benzimidazolyl piperidine chemotype identified in cellular screens. To identify the genetic determinant of MMV007564 resistance, parasites were cultured in the presence of the compound to generate resistant lines. Whole genome sequencing revealed distinct mutations in the gene named Plasmodium falciparum cyclic amine resistance locus (pfcarl), encoding a conserved protein of unknown function. Mutations in pfcarl are strongly associated with resistance to a structurally unrelated class of compounds, the imidazolopiperazines, including KAF156, currently in clinical trials. Our data demonstrate that pfcarl mutations confer resistance to two distinct compound classes, benzimidazolyl piperidines and imidazolopiperazines. However, MMV007564 and the imidazolopiperazines, KAF156 and GNF179, have different timings of action in the asexual blood stage and different potencies against the liver and sexual blood stages. These data suggest that pfcarl is a multidrug-resistance gene rather than a common target for benzimidazolyl piperidines and imidazolopiperazines.
Importance of histological tumor response assessment in predicting the outcome in patients with colorectal liver metastases treated with neo-adjuvant chemotherapy followed by liver surgery.

BACKGROUND The purpose of the study was to characterize histological response to chemotherapy of hepatic colorectal metastases (HCRM), evaluate efficacy of different chemotherapies on histological response, and determine whether tumor regression grading (TRG) of HCRM predicts clinical outcome. PATIENTS AND METHODS TRG was evaluated on 525 HCRM surgically resected from 181 patients, 112 pretreated with chemotherapy. Disease-free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS) were correlated to TRG. RESULTS Tumor regression was characterized by fibrosis overgrowing on tumor cells, decreased necrosis, and tumor glands (if present) at the periphery of HCRM. With irinotecan/5-fluorouracil (5-FU), major (MjHR), partial (PHR), and no (NHR) histological tumor regression were observed in 17%, 13%, and 70% of patients, respectively. With oxaliplatin/5-FU, MjHR, PHR, and NHR were observed in 37%, 45%, and 18% of patients, respectively. Five patients, treated with oxaliplatin, had complete response in all their metastases. MjHR was associated with an improved 3-year DFS compared with PHR or NHR. MjHR and PHR were associated with an improved 5-year OS compared with NHR. CONCLUSION Histological tumor regression of HCRM to chemotherapy corresponds to fibrosis overgrowth and not to increase of necrosis. TRG should be considered when evaluating efficacy of chemotherapy for HCRM. Histological tumor regression was most common among oxaliplatin-treated patients and associated with better clinical outcome.