Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Incremental Routing Algorithms For Dynamic Transportation Networks

Over the last decade, the rapidly growing population of mobile data terminals, integrating GIS and GPS, has given rise to a new type of real-time spatiotemporal service called Location-Based Service (LBS). Routing is an important function of LBS and Geographic Information Systems for Transportation (GIST). It is used in many land-based transportation applications, such as the Intelligent Vehicles Navigation System (IVNS). There are two common types of queries for navigation service. The first query deals with finding an optimal route from the current location to the desired destination. The other query allows users to locate the closest facility of a certain category, such as the nearest hotel, hospital or gas station, without knowing the destination in advance. In this case, the best destination and an associated optimal route need to be found based on network distance. The challenge lies in the fact that traffic condition always changes such that the optimal route has to be recomputed from time to time in order to adapt to the dynamic environment. Since both traffic condition and the current positions of mobile users change over time, existing shortest path algorithms are either incapable of solving this problem, or are too complicated and time consuming. To address the above challenge, two incremental shortest path algorithms have been proposed to efficiently deal with the two types of queries. For the first query type, an incremental A* algorithm is designed to adaptively derive the optimal path to the desired destination by making use of previous search results. For the second query type, a shortest path based dynamic network Voronoi diagram is devised to implement a service area for each facility. The corresponding shortest path is derived and maintained dynamically using the incremental approach. The experimental results demonstrate that the proposed incremental search approach considerably outperforms the traditional method which recomputes the shortest path from scratch each time without utilization of the previous search results.
The paramyxovirus polymerase complex as a target for next-generation anti-paramyxovirus therapeutics

The paramyxovirus family includes major human and animal pathogens, including measles virus, mumps virus, and human respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), as well as the emerging zoonotic Hendra and Nipah viruses. In the U.S., RSV is the leading cause of infant hospitalizations due to viral infectious disease. Despite their clinical significance, effective drugs for the improved management of paramyxovirus disease are lacking. The development of novel anti-paramyxovirus therapeutics is therefore urgently needed. Paramyxoviruses contain RNA genomes of negative polarity, necessitating a virus-encoded RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp) complex for replication and transcription. Since an equivalent enzymatic activity is absent in host cells, the RdRp complex represents an attractive druggable target, although structure-guided drug development campaigns are hampered by the lack of high-resolution RdRp crystal structures. Here, we review the current structural and functional insight into the paramyxovirus polymerase complex in conjunction with an evaluation of the mechanism of activity and developmental status of available experimental RdRp inhibitors. Our assessment spotlights the importance of the RdRp complex as a premier target for therapeutic intervention and examines how high-resolution insight into the organization of the complex will pave the path toward the structure-guided design and optimization of much-needed next-generation paramyxovirus RdRp blockers.
Atrial Fibrillation Atrial Fibrillation Current Knowledge and Future Directions in Epidemiology and Genomics

A trial fibrillation (AF) is of public health importance and profoundly increases morbidity, mortality, and health-related expenditures. Morbidities include the increased risks of cardiovascular outcomes such as heart failure and stroke and the deleterious effects on quality of life (QOL), functional status, and cognition. The clinical epidemiology of AF, its risk factors, and its outcomes have been investigated extensively. Genetic advances over the last decade have facilitated the identification of mutations and common polymorphisms associated with AF. Metabolomics, proteomics, and other “omics” technologies have only recently been applied to the study of AF, and have not yet been systemat-ically investigated. Systems biology approaches, although still in their infancy, offer the promise of providing novel insights into pathways influencing AF risk. In the present review, we address the current state of the epidemiology and genomics of AF. We seek to emphasize how epidemiology and omic advances will contribute to a systems biology approach that will help to unravel the pathogenesis, risk stratification, and novel targets for AF therapies. Our purpose is to articulate questions and challenges that hinge on integrating novel scientific advances in the epidemiology and genomics of AF. As a reference, we have provided a glossary in the online-only Data Supplement. Published transcriptomic and proteomic investigations morbidité, Les conséquences en termes de morbidité comprennent l’augmentation du risque de troubles cardiovasculaires tels que l’insuffisance cardiaque ou l’accident vasculaire cérébral (AVC) et les effets délétères exercés sur la qualité de vie (QdV), la capacité fonctionnelle et les fonctions cognitives. Tant l’épidémiologie clinique de la FA que ses facteurs de risque et ses complications ont fait l’objet d’études approfondies. Les progrès accomplis dans le domaine de la génétique au cours des dix années écoulées ont permis d’identifier les mutations et les polymorphismes courants qui constituent le substrat des FA. Ce n’est que tout récemment que la métabolomique, la protéomique et les autres sciences «omiques » ont commencé à être appliquées à l’étude de la FA et les potentialités qu’elles offrent n’ont encore l’objet d’une étude systématique.
B cell clonality in gastric lymphoid tissues of patients with Sjögren's syndrome.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the prevalence of mucosa associated lymphoid tissue (MALT) in the stomach and of a possible antigen driven proliferation, in patients with Sjögren's syndrome (SS). METHODS: Twenty one patients with primary SS and 80 dyspeptic controls underwent upper endoscopy. Lymphoid tissue and Helicobacter pylori were assessed by histopathological analysis. Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) or human herpes virus-6 (HHV-6) genome were studied by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) DNA amplification. Two PCR VDJ procedures were used to detect immunoglobulin heavy chain (IgH) gene rearrangement. RESULTS: Organised MALT was found in 33.3% of the patients, compared with 21.5% of the controls (NS). H pylori infection was seen in 71% of patients and 63% of controls. Genomic EBV or HHV-6 was found in a minor portion of SS gastric tissues. B cell expansion was detected in nine of the 21 patients. Infectious agents in the stomach might have contributed to B cell clonality only in 55.5% of the cases. No strict relationship was found between lymphoid follicles and clonality. CONCLUSION: Lymphoid accumulation in the gastric mucosa is common in Sjögren's syndrome, but full evidence for an antigen driven B cell expansion could not be demonstrated. Only a portion of those with clonal B cell expansion had evidence of an infectious agent. Other unknown infectious agents or factors related to the underlying disease (autoantigen) and its tissue environment may have a further role as possible causes of B clonal expansion in the gastric mucosa.
Potential Risks of Phthalate Esters: Acquisition of Endocrine-disrupting Activity during Environmental and Metabolic Processing

Phthalate esters (PEs) are plasticizers used in many plastic products, food packaging materials, and medical bags. The widespread use of PEs has led to ubiquitous environmental contamination and human-exposure. Several epidemiological studies have indicated that exposure to PEs, especially during the prenatal period, induces adverse effects, including developmental and behavioral abnormalities, suggesting that PEs are endocrine-disrupters. Although the endocrine-disrupting effect of PEs is thought to be estrogen receptor (ER)-mediated, the ER-binding affinity of PEs is quite low, indicating that other mechanisms should be considered. In this review, we demonstrate that alkyl chain length and hydroxylation of PEs have a significant impact on binding to ERs and peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors. In addition, we discuss recent results from our laboratory that suggest additional risks may arise from environmental and metabolic processing of PEs through microbial transformation, microsomal metabolism, and sunlight exposure.
Beyond the Hijab: Female Muslims and Physical Activity

Researchers have identified significantly low participation rates of Muslim women in international and recreational sport, citing reasons ranging from alleged discriminatory Islamic doctrine to incompatibility with Islamic beliefs. However, there are several examples of Muslim women participating in international competitions and recreational activities on their own terms, leading one to believe that perhaps the Western physical activity cultures are different from Islamic physical activity cultures. In this paper, I examine the physical activity experiences of Muslim women who were born in or immigrated to Canada. There are three areas where physical activity within an Islamic framework differs from that of a Western sport ideology. They were: a flexible and modest dress code, sex segregation, and controlled access to their physical activity space. When such needs were not met by the physical education system or existing recreational facilities, subjects compromised their beliefs, participated with their.
On Modular Pluggable Analyses Using Set Interfaces

We present a technique that enables the focused application of multiple analyses to different modules in the same program. Our re- search has two goals: 1) to address the scalability limitations of precise analyses by focusing the analysis on only those parts of the program that are relevant to the properties that the analysis is designed to verify, and 2) to enable the application of specialized analyses that verify proper- ties of specific classes of data structures to programs that simultaneously manipulate several different kinds of data structures. In our approach, each module encapsulates a data structure and uses membership in abstract sets to characterize how objects participate in its data structure. Each analysis verifies that the implementation of the module 1) preserves important internal data structure representation invariants and 2) conforms to a specification that uses formulas in a set algebra to characterize the effects of operations on the data structure. The analyses use the common set abstraction to 1) characterize how objects participate in multiple data structures and to 2) enable the inter- analysis communication required to verify properties that depend on multiple modules analyzed by different analyses. We characterize the key soundness property that an analysis plugin must satisfy to successfully participate in our system and present several anal- ysis plugins that satisfy this property: a flag plugin that analyzes modules in which abstract set membership is determined by a flag field in each object, and a graph types plugin that analyzes modules in which abstract set membership is determined by reachability properties of objects stored in tree-like data structures.
Large-scale diversification without genetic isolation in nematode symbionts of figs

A polyphenism discovered to consist of five discrete morphotypes shows that extreme diversification is possible within single species. Diversification is commonly understood to be the divergence of phenotypes accompanying that of lineages. In contrast, alternative phenotypes arising from a single genotype are almost exclusively limited to dimorphism in nature. We report a remarkable case of macroevolutionary-scale diversification without genetic divergence. Upon colonizing the island-like microecosystem of individual figs, symbiotic nematodes of the genus Pristionchus accumulated a polyphenism with up to five discrete adult morphotypes per species. By integrating laboratory and field experiments with extensive genotyping of individuals, including the analysis of 49 genomes from a single species, we show that rapid filling of potential ecological niches is possible without diversifying selection on genotypes. This uncoupling of morphological diversification and speciation in fig-associated nematodes has resulted from a remarkable expansion of discontinuous developmental plasticity.
Effect of acetic acid on xylose fermentation to xylitol by Candida guilliermondii

The effect of acetic acid concentration on xylose fermentation to xylitol by Candida guilliermondii FTI 20037 was evaluated in semisynthetic medium containing different concentrations of the acid. Increasing acetic acid concentration up to 1.0 g/1 favored xylitol yield and productivity, with maximum values of 0.82 g/g and 0.57 g/. h1, respectively. The presence of acetic acid reduced cell production at all concentration. Furthermore, acetic acid was assimilated by the yeast together with the sugars and was depleted from the medium at concentrations of less than 3.0 g/1. The ability of this yeast to assimilate acetic acid suggests that these cells act as agents of medium detoxification. This behavior may lead to a viable microbiological process of xylitol production by C. guilliermondii FTI 20037 using xylose‐rich lignocel‐lulosic hydrolysates in which acetic acid is commonly present, causing inhibition of fermentative activity.
Principles of chromosomal organization: lessons from yeast

The spatial organization of genes and chromosomes plays an important role in the regulation of several DNA processes. However, the principles and forces underlying this nonrandom organization are mostly unknown. Despite its small dimension, and thanks to new imaging and biochemical techniques, studies of the budding yeast nucleus have led to significant insights into chromosome arrangement and dynamics. The dynamic organization of the yeast genome during interphase argues for both the physical properties of the chromatin fiber and specific molecular interactions as drivers of nuclear order.
Surgical management of cervical disc disease: from no fusion to fusion and back again.

Early surgical treatment of the cervical spine for neural decompression used the posterior approach to perform cervical laminectomies for trauma and degenerative disease (44, 60, 88). Scoville et al. (72) and Frykholm (31) refined the posterior cervical approach for degenerative disc disease and introduced the laminoforaminotomy technique. About 20 years later, a number of surgeons introduced anterior cervical discectomy with fusion (ACDF) for degenerative disc disease. Robinson et al. (67), Dereymaeker and Mulier (25), and Baily and Badgley (8) recommended fusion of the involved segment without decompression of the spinal canal from dorsal osteophytes. After immobilization of the degenerated segment, resorption of dorsal osteophytes was documented (67). In 1958, Cloward (20) first introduced the concept of ACD without fusion and direct surgical decompression of dorsal osteophytes. About the same time, the concept of ACD without fusion was successfully applied (43).
Mineralization and Detoxification of the Carcinogenic Azo Dye Congo Red and Real Textile Effluent by a Polyurethane Foam Immobilized Microbial Consortium in an Upflow Column Bioreactor

A microbial consortium that is able to grow in wheat bran (WB) medium and decolorize the carcinogenic azo dye Congo red (CR) was developed. The microbial consortium was immobilized on polyurethane foam (PUF). Batch studies with the PUF-immobilized microbial consortium showed complete removal of CR dye (100 mg·L−1) within 12 h at pH 7.5 and temperature 30 ± 0.2 °C under microaerophilic conditions. Additionally, 92% American Dye Manufactureing Institute (ADMI) removal for real textile effluent (RTE, 50%) was also observed within 20 h under the same conditions. An upflow column reactor containing PUF-immobilized microbial consortium achieved 99% CR dye (100 mg·L−1) and 92% ADMI removal of RTE (50%) at 35 and 20 mL·h−l flow rates, respectively. Consequent reduction in TOC (83 and 79%), COD (85 and 83%) and BOD (79 and 78%) of CR dye and RTE were also observed, which suggested mineralization. The decolorization process was traced to be enzymatic as treated samples showed significant induction of oxidoreductive enzymes. The proposed biodegradation pathway of the dye revealed the formation of lower molecular weight compounds. Toxicity studies with a plant bioassay and acute tests indicated that the PUF-immobilized microbial consortium favors detoxification of the dye and textile effluents.
XBP-1 Regulates a Subset of Endoplasmic Reticulum Resident Chaperone Genes in the Unfolded Protein Response

ABSTRACT The mammalian unfolded protein response (UPR) protects the cell against the stress of misfolded proteins in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER). We have investigated here the contribution of the UPR transcription factors XBP-1, ATF6α, and ATF6β to UPR target gene expression. Gene profiling of cell lines lacking these factors yielded several XBP-1-dependent UPR target genes, all of which appear to act in the ER. These included the DnaJ/Hsp40-like genes, p58IPK, ERdj4, and HEDJ, as well as EDEM, protein disulfide isomerase-P5, and ribosome-associated membrane protein 4 (RAMP4), whereas expression of BiP was only modestly dependent on XBP-1. Surprisingly, given previous reports that enforced expression of ATF6α induced a subset of UPR target genes, cells deficient in ATF6α, ATF6β, or both had minimal defects in upregulating UPR target genes by gene profiling analysis, suggesting the presence of compensatory mechanism(s) for ATF6 in the UPR. Since cells lacking both XBP-1 and ATF6α had significantly impaired induction of select UPR target genes and ERSE reporter activation, XBP-1 and ATF6α may serve partially redundant functions. No UPR target genes that required ATF6β were identified, nor, in contrast to XBP-1 and ATF6α, did the activity of the UPRE or ERSE promoters require ATF6β, suggesting a minor role for it during the UPR. Collectively, these results suggest that the IRE1/XBP-1 pathway is required for efficient protein folding, maturation, and degradation in the ER and imply the existence of subsets of UPR target genes as defined by their dependence on XBP-1. Further, our observations suggest the existence of additional, as-yet-unknown, key regulators of the UPR.
Cortical Hyperexcitability: A New Biomarker in Generalized Epilepsy Syndromes

Commentary One of the cardinal biomarkers in clinical epilepsy is the interictal epileptiform discharge (IED). The presence of interictal spikes is generally taken to indicate cortical hyperexcitability, but their sporadic appearance means that long periods of EEG recording may be necessary to ascertain spike frequency, and there is little experimental control over their measurement. Noninvasive, repeatable methods of actively probing cortical excitability, then, are potentially valuable tools both in science and in the clinic. In research, they allow us to explore underlying brain physiology in patients with various forms of epilepsy in a quantifiable, robust manner. In practice, such measures could help us to prognosticate seizure-recurrence risk in those who have had a single event or who are considering antiepileptic drug (AED) withdrawal, for example. These clinical circumstances are ones in which routine EEGs are frequently obtained to search for interictal spikes, but their utility is less than ideal, and the result is often interpreted merely in binary form, with discharges either present or absent. In recent years, the use of transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) to determine cortical excitability as measured by motor-evoked potential (MEP) response to single-pulse and paired-pulse stimulation has gained prominence in clinical neurophysiology as a research tool in those with epilepsy and other neurologic conditions (1). In particular, multiple publications have reported differences in TMS-evoked MEP measures between epilepsy patients and healthy controls and have suggested changes in these measures depending on epilepsy type, AED usage, and degree of seizure control (2–5). The article by Badawy et al. continues a pioneering line of work from these investigators that has established some of these principles. In this article, they report on a study of 137 patients with genetic (idiopathic) generalized epilepsy syndromes and 20 healthy controls. The epilepsy patients comprised those with juvenile myoclonic epilepsy (JME), juvenile absence epilepsy (JAE), and generalized epilepsy with tonic– clonic seizures only (GE-TCS) and were classified as drug naïve– new onset, refractory, or seizure-free. TMS over the vertex was used to determine motor threshold and to obtain measurements of intracortical inhibition and facilitation through the use of paired-pulse stimuli separated by varying interstimulus intervals. The results demonstrate that new-onset JME patients in the drug-naïve state had a lower mean motor threshold than both healthy controls and drug-naïve patients with the other forms of generalized epilepsy. Patients with JME on AEDs (either well controlled or not) did not have a significantly differPatterns of Cortical Hyperexcitability in Adolescent/Adult-Onset Generalized Epilepsies.
Improvement of Quantum Dot-Sensitized Solar Cells based on Cds and CdSe Quantum Dots

We fabricated Quantum Dot-Sensitized Solar Cells (QDSSCs) using CdS and CdSe Quantum Dots (QDs) onto mesoporous titanium oxide (TiO2). The CdS and CdSe QDs used as light absorbing materials are prepared over mesoporous TiO2 electrode by Successive Ionic Layer Adsorption and Reaction (SILAR) process. The growth of the QDs was monitored by UV-visible absorption spectroscopy and the increase of absorption increasing the SILAR cycle numbers was verified. We prepared TiO2/CdS/CdSe solar cells to introduce a cascade of QD band gaps to facilitate the dissociation of photo-generated excitons in CdSe QDs. We changed platinum counter electrode to gold counter electrode to have the better stability and conductivity with polysulfide electrolyte. Also titanium(IV) isopropoxide (TIP) layer was introduced under mesoporous TiO2 film as a blocking layer for improving the performance of the cell, especially, photocurrent and open-circuit voltage.
Low frequency electromagnetic field reduction techniques for the On-Line Electric Vehicle (OLEV)

In this paper, we introduce the On-line Electric Vehicle (OLEV) system and its non-contact power transfer mechanism and propose some techniques for the reduction of electromagnetic fields (EMFs) from the power line and the vehicle itself. By applying a metallic plate shield, horizontal/vertical shield, and connecting wire for loop cancellation, the low frequency EMFs have been significantly reduced. Simulation and measurement results for application to vehicles currently in service are also given.