Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Reducing the level of pesticide residues in foods: World Health Organization

Dear Editor, Pesticides are the chemical products that are employed across the globe to protect crops from being destroyed by different pests. [1,2] In today’s world, more than 1000 pesticides are available in the market, and each one of them has varied properties and toxic consequences. [1] The toxicity generally manifests after it goes beyond the safe level of exposure and can present in both acute and chronic forms, including the development of malignancy and negative effects on the fertility status of the exposed individual. [1,3] Further, people who are directly exposed to pesticides (farmers or others in neighboring areas) are more at risk, while the general population gets exposed to the residues through food and water. [1]
An O ( n log n ) Heuristic for the Euclidean Traveling Salesman Problem

In this paper we present a fast approach for solving large scale Traveling Salesman Problems (TSPs). The heuristic is based on Delaunay Triangulation and its runtime is therefore bounded by O(n log n). The algorithm starts by construction the convex hull and successively replaces one edge with two new edges of the triangulation, thus inserting a new city. The decision which edge to remove is based on edge ranks. Finally the tour is subject to a node insertion improvement heuristic. By extensive case studies it will be shown that only highly optimized 2/3-Opt heuristics are superior to this approach in both running time and tour lengths for very large TSP instances.
The undesirable effects of neuromuscular blocking drugs

Neuromuscular blocking drugs are designed to bind to the nicotinic receptor at the neuromuscular junction. However, they also interact with other acetylcholine receptors in the body. Binding to these receptors causes adverse effects that vary with the specificity for the cholinergic receptor in question. Moreover, all neuromuscular blocking drugs may cause hypersensitivity reactions. Often the symptoms are mild and self‐limiting but massive histamine release can cause systematic reactions with circulatory and respiratory symptoms and signs. At the end of anaesthesia, no residual effect of a neuromuscular blocking drug should be present. However, the huge variability in response to neuromuscular blocking drugs makes it impossible to predict which patient will suffer postoperative residual curarization. This article discusses the undesirable effects of the currently available neuromuscular blocking drugs including the definitions, diagnosis and causes of hypersensitivity reactions and postoperative residual curarisation.
COMBINING KNOWLEDGE BASES CONSISTING OF FIRST‐ORDER THEORIES

Consider the construction of an expert system by encoding the knowledge of different experts. Suppose the knowledge provided by each expert is encoded into a knowledge base. Then the process of combining the knowledge of these different experts is an important and nontrivial problem. We study this problem here when the expert systems are considered to be first‐order theories. We present techniques for resolving inconsistencies in such knowledge bases. We also provide algorithms for implementing these techniques.
Characterization of the Substrate Specificity of PhlD, a Type III Polyketide Synthase from Pseudomonas fluorescens*

PhlD, a type III polyketide synthase from Pseudomonas fluorescens, catalyzes the synthesis of phloroglucinol from three molecules of malonyl-CoA. Kinetic analysis by direct measurement of the appearance of the CoASH product (kcat = 24 ± 4 min-1 and Km = 13 ± 1 μm) gave a kcat value more than an order of magnitude higher than that of any other known type III polyketide synthase. PhlD exhibits broad substrate specificity, accepting C4-C12 aliphatic acyl-CoAs and phenylacetyl-CoA as the starters to form C6-polyoxoalkylated α-pyrones from sequential condensation with malonyl-CoA. Interestingly, when primed with long chain acyl-CoAs, PhlD catalyzed extra polyketide elongation to form up to heptaketide products. A homology structural model of PhlD showed the presence of a buried tunnel extending out from the active site to assist the binding of long chain acyl-CoAs. To probe the structural basis for the unusual ability of PhlD to accept long chain acyl-CoAs, both site-directed mutagenesis and saturation mutagenesis were carried out on key residues lining the tunnel. Three mutations, M21I, H24V, and L59M, were found to significantly reduce the reactivity of PhlD with lauroyl-CoA while still retaining its physiological activity to synthesize phloroglucinol. Our homology modeling and mutational studies indicated that even subtle changes in the tunnel volume could affect the ability of PhlD to accept long chain acyl-CoAs. This suggested novel strategies for combinatorial biosynthesis of unnatural pharmaceutically important polyketides.
Factorized Asymptotic Bayesian Inference for Mixture Modeling

This paper proposes a novel Bayesian approximation inference method for mixture modeling. Our key idea is to factorize marginal log-likelihood using a variational distribution over latent variables. An asymptotic approximation, a factorized information criterion (FIC), is obtained by applying the Laplace method to each of the factorized components. In order to evaluate FIC, we propose factorized asymptotic Bayesian inference (FAB), which maximizes an asymptotically-consistent lower bound of FIC. FIC and FAB have several desirable properties: 1) asymptotic consistency with the marginal log-likelihood, 2) automatic component selection on the basis of an intrinsic shrinkage mechanism, and 3) parameter identifiability in mixture modeling. Experimental results show that FAB outperforms state-of-the-art VB methods.
Role of Minerals in Reproductive Health of Dairy Cattle: A Review

For maintaining a good livestock enterprise and have steady income, it is essential to have animals with good reproductive status. In dairy animals, majority of factors like nutrient intake, physiological status, manage mental and climatic conditions affect fertility of the animal. In India the main factor affecting the reproduction is nutrition status that too minerals. So to have a good return from the livestock balanced feeding of the animals must be done. Proper feeding of minerals with respect to the various stages of life cycle must be done to improve the reproductive efficiency.
Real-time quantitative sonoelastography in an ultrasound research system

Quantitative sonoelastography is an alternative technology for ultrasound imaging that helps radiologist to diagnose malignant tumors with no risk of radiation-induced cancer (i.e. mammography). However, due to the high computational complexity found in the current algorithms, implementation of real-time systems that could benefit examination procedures has not been yet reported. Additionally, elasticity maps depicted from current estimators feature artifacts of high estimation variance that could mislead the technician into the presence of stiffer masses, generating false positive diagnosis. In this thesis, a GPU-based elastography system was designed and implemented on a research ultrasound equipment, displaying quantitative elasticity in real-time at 2 FPS with an improvement computational time factor of 26. Validation of the system accuracy was conducted on gelatin-based tissue mimicking phantoms, where low bias of elasticity values were reported (4.7%) at low excitation frequencies. Additionally, a new elasticity estimator based on quantitative sonoelastography was developed. A linear problem was modeled from the acquired sonolastography data along the lateral dimension and a regularization method was implemented. The resulting elasticity images presented low bias (1.48%), enhanced CNR and reduced lateral artifacts when evaluating the algorithm’s performance in a breast calibrated phantom and comparing it with other estimators found in the literature. These two contribution benefit the implementation and development of further elastography techniques that could provide enhanced quality of elasticity images and thus, improved accuracy of diagnosis.
The institutional design, politics, and effects of a bioregional approach: observations and lessons from 11 case studies of river basin organizations

One of the prescriptions for adaptive comanagement of social-ecological systems is to follow a bioregional approach. In water resources management, experience has been gained with a bioregional approach by the foundation of river basin organizations (RBOs). Here, we summarize the results of a research project involving 27 colleagues who have undertaken an analysis of the global discussion on RBOs and the foundation of RBOs in Canada, USA, Great Britain, Germany, Portugal, South Africa, Ukraine, Afghanistan, Mongolia, Thailand, and Australia. Drawing on Ostrom’s institutional analysis and development framework, we first present a fine-grained analysis of the institutional architecture of these RBOs, which enables us to distinguish between autonomous, coordinating, partnership, and agency type RBOs. Second, we unravel the main controversies over this architecture by focusing on the key actors involved in either promoting or hindering RBO formation, globally and at the national level. Third, we summarize how the performance of RBOs can be evaluated in terms of coordination, accountability, legitimacy, and environmental effectiveness. Finally, we discuss the relationship between institutional design and performance. The main findings are: (1) the foundation of RBOs is not a neutral process but rather a highly political one, (2) the foundation of RBOs creates complex accountability relationships, and (3) institutional interplay, the capacity to generate financial resources, and a minimum degree of institutional stability are crucial to the successes of RBOs in realizing coordination and environmental effectiveness.
Gene expression analysis reveals matrilysin as a key regulator of pulmonary fibrosis in mice and humans

Pulmonary fibrosis is a progressive and largely untreatable group of disorders that affects up to 100,000 people on any given day in the United States. To elucidate the molecular mechanisms that lead to end-stage human pulmonary fibrosis we analyzed samples from patients with histologically proven pulmonary fibrosis (usual interstitial pneumonia) by using oligonucleotide microarrays. Gene expression patterns clearly distinguished normal from fibrotic lungs. Many of the genes that were significantly increased in fibrotic lungs encoded proteins associated with extracellular matrix formation and degradation and proteins expressed in smooth muscle. Using a combined set of scoring systems we determined that matrilysin (matrix metalloproteinase 7), a metalloprotease not previously associated with pulmonary fibrosis, was the most informative increased gene in our data set. Immunohistochemisry demonstrated increased expression of matrilysin protein in fibrotic lungs. Furthermore, matrilysin knockout mice were dramatically protected from pulmonary fibrosis in response to intratracheal bleomycin. Our results identify matrilysin as a mediator of pulmonary fibrosis and a potential therapeutic target. They also illustrate the power of global gene expression analysis of human tissue samples to identify molecular pathways involved in clinical disease.
Spatial normalization of 3D brain images using deformable models.

PURPOSE The spatial normalization and registration of tomographic images from different subjects is a major problem in several medical imaging areas, including functional image analysis, morphometrics, and computer-aided neurosurgery. The focus of this article is the development of a computerized methodology for the spatial normalization of 3D images. METHOD We propose a technique that is based on geometric deformable models. In particular, we first describe a deformable surface algorithm that finds a mathematical representation of the outer cortical surface. Based on this representation, a procedure for obtaining a map between corresponding regions of the outer cortex in two different images is established. This map is subsequently used to derive a 3D elastic warping transformation, which brings two images into register. RESULTS The performance of our algorithm is demonstrated on several datasets. In particular, we first test our deformable surface algorithm on MR images. We then register MR images to atlas images. In our third experiment, we apply a procedure for matching distinct cortical features identified through the curvature map of the outer cortex. Finally, we apply our technique to images from elderly individuals with substantial ventricular enlargement, and we show a good registration in the ventricular area and the surrounding brain structures. CONCLUSION We present a highly automated methodology for spatial normalization of images, using deformable models. Applications of our methodology include stereotactic normalization of functional and structural images, morphological analysis of the brain, and computer-aided neurosurgery.
Misclassification of Hospital Volume With Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results—Medicare Data

Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER)— Medicare data are frequently used for studying relationships between volume and outcomes after cancer surgery; however, because patients often cross SEER boundaries for treatment, SEER-Medicare data may misclassify hospital volume. Thus, we measured the agreement of hospital volume as determined by SEER-Medicare and 100% national Medicare data and determined the extent to which misclassification alters the apparent relationship between volume and operative mortality. This is a retrospective cohort study of SEER-Medicare patients undergoing a major cancer surgery for colon, lung, bladder, and esophageal cancers between 1994 and 1999. Hospital procedure volumes were assessed with both SEER-Medicare and 100% national Medicare data and sorted into terciles. Logistic regression models were fit using generalized estimating equations to assess associations between mortality and volume, as determined from each data source. Compared with 100% Medicare data, SEER-Medicare data misclassified 13% (colectomy) to 36% (esophagectomy) of patients; however, fewer than 3% of patients were misclassified by more than 1 volume stratum. For cystectomy, the apparent association between volume and mortality was relatively weak and not statistically significant based on SEER-Medicare data (adjusted odds ratio, low vs high volume 1.41, 95% confidence interval, 0.89-2.23), but stronger and significant when volume was obtained from 100% Medicare data (odds ratio, 1.82; 95% confidence interval, 1.17 to 2.84). For the other 3 procedures, apparent volume/outcome relationships were similar when volume was assessed from the 2 data sources. Hospital volumes are frequently misclassified with SEER-Medicare data. Such misclassification generally biases volume/outcome associations toward the null, but this effect seems to be small for many procedures. Investigators should be cognizant of this bias and exercise caution when interpreting these relationships when using SEER-Medicare data alone.
Sequential Beamforming for Multiuser MIMO With Full-Duplex Training

Multiple transmitting antennas can considerably increase the downlink spectral efficiency by beamforming to multiple users at the same time. However, multiuser beamforming requires channel state information (CSI) at the transmitter, which leads to training overhead and reduces overall achievable spectral efficiency. In this paper, we propose and analyze a sequential beamforming strategy that utilizes full-duplex base station to implement downlink data transmission concurrently with CSI acquisition via in-band closed or open loop training. Our results demonstrate that full-duplex capability can improve the spectral efficiency of uni-directional traffic, by leveraging it to reduce the control overhead of CSI estimation. In moderate SNR regimes, we analytically derive tight approximations for the optimal training duration and characterize the associated respective spectral efficiency. We further characterize the enhanced multiplexing gain performance in the high SNR regime. In both regimes, the performance of the proposed full-duplex strategy is compared with the half-duplex counterpart to quantify spectral efficiency improvement. With experimental data and 3-D channel model from 3GPP, in a 1.4 MHz 8 × 8 system LTE system with the block length of 500 symbols, the proposed strategy attains a spectral efficiency improvement of 130% and 8% with closed and open loop training, respectively.
Extract of Nippostrongylus brasiliensisStimulates Polyclonal Type-2 Immunoglobulin Response by Inducing De Novo Class Switch

ABSTRACT Infection with the nematode parasite Nippostrongylus brasiliensis induces a pronounced type-2 T-cell response that is associated with marked polyclonal immunoglobulin E (IgE) and IgG1 production in mice. To examine the differential roles of the infection and products produced by nematodes, we investigated a soluble extract of N. brasiliensis for the ability to mediate this type-2 response. We found that the extract induced a marked increase in IgE and IgG1 levels, similar to that induced by the infection. The extract did not affect the level of IgG2a in serum, showing that the effect was specific to IgE and IgG1 (type-2-associated immunoglobulin) rather than inducing a nonspecific increase in all immunoglobulin isotypes. This response was also associated with increased interleukin-4 production in vitro. These results confirm that the extract, like infection, is a strong inducer of polyclonal type-2 responses and a reliable model for investigating the regulation of nematode-induced responses. The extract induced the production of IgG1 when added to in vitro cultures of lipopolysaccharide-stimulated B cells. This provides evidence for the induction of class switch. It did not induce upregulation of IgG1 in naive (unstimulated) B cells or expand B cells in in vitro cultures. Analysis of DNA from the spleens of mice treated with the extract by digestion-circularization PCR demonstrated a marked increase in the occurrence of γ1 switch region gene recombination in the cells in vivo. These results provide strong evidence that soluble worm products are able to mediate the marked polyclonal γ1/ɛ response and that infection is not required to mediate this response. Furthermore, these data provide evidence that the soluble nematode extract induces this effect by causing de novo class switch of B cells and not by an expansion of IgG1 B cells or an increase in antibody production by IgG1 plasma cells.
Shape-changing interfaces: a review of the design space and open research questions

Shape change is increasingly used in physical user interfaces, both as input and output. Yet, the progress made and the key research questions for shape-changing interfaces are rarely analyzed systematically. We review a sample of existing work on shape-changing interfaces to address these shortcomings. We identify eight types of shape that are transformed in various ways to serve both functional and hedonic design purposes. Interaction with shape-changing interfaces is simple and rarely merges input and output. Three questions are discussed based on the review: (a) which design purposes may shape-changing interfaces be used for, (b) which parts of the design space are not well understood, and (c) why studying user experience with shape-changing interfaces is important.
Scalable and precise automated analysis of administrative temporal role-based access control

Extensions of Role-Based Access Control (RBAC) policies taking into account contextual information (such as time and space) are increasingly being adopted in real-world applications. Their administration is complex since they must satisfy rapidly evolving needs. For this reason, automated techniques to identify unsafe sequences of administrative actions (i.e. actions generating policies by which a user can acquire permissions that may compromise some security goals) are fundamental tools in the administrator's tool-kit. In this paper, we propose a precise and scalable automated analysis technique for the safety of administrative temporal RBAC policies. Our approach is to translate safety problems for this kind of policy to (decidable) reachability problems of a certain class of symbolic transition systems. The correctness of the translation allows us to design a precise analysis technique for the safety of administrative RBAC policies with a finite but unknown number of users. For scalability, we present a heuristics that allows us to reduce the set of administrative actions without losing the precision of the analysis. An extensive experimental analysis confirms the scalability and precision of the approach also in comparison with a recent analysis technique developed for the same class of temporal RBAC policies.
Gender Asymmetries in Reality and Fiction: The Bechdel Test of Social Media

The subjective nature of gender inequality motivates the analysis and comparison of data from real and fictional human interaction. We present a computational extension of the Bechdel test: A popular tool to assess if a movie contains a male gender bias, by looking for two female characters who discuss about something besides a man. We provide the tools to quantify Bechdel scores for both genders, and we measure them in movie scripts and large datasets of dialogues between users of MySpace and Twitter. Comparing movies and users of social media, we find that movies and Twitter conversations have a consistent male bias, which does not appear when analyzing MySpace. Furthermore, the narrative of Twitter is closer to the movies that do not pass the Bechdel test than to those that pass it. We link the properties of movies and the users that share trailers of those movies. Our analysis reveals some particularities of movies that pass the Bechdel test: Their trailers are less popular, female users are more likely to share them than male users, and users that share them tend to interact less with male users. Based on our datasets, we define gender independence measurements to analyze the gender biases of a society, as manifested through digital traces of online behavior. Using the profile information of Twitter users, we find larger gender independence for urban users in comparison to rural ones. Additionally, the asymmetry between genders is larger for parents and lower for students. Gender asymmetry varies across US states, increasing with higher average income and latitude. This points to the relation between gender inequality and social, economical, and cultural factors of a society, and how gender roles exist in both fictional narratives and public online dialogues.
Representation of a CPM Modulator through a Finite-State Sequential Machine

The well known decomposition of a CPM signal into PAM waveforms represents the linear part of a CPM modulator. The paper deals with the non-linear part, not fully developed in the literature. It is shown that this part can be represented by a finite-state synchronous sequential machine (SM). In such a way the CPM modulator can be implemented by a SM followed by bank of interpolating filters. Three different architectures are obtained using three PAM decompositions. This architecture can also be used to represent multi-h CPM. Finally, examples of application are developed.