Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Efficient implementation of kurtosis based no reference image sharpness metric

The sharpness of an image is a function of its spectral density. Wider spectrum implies sharper image. Thus the image sharpness can be measured by measuring the shape of its spectrum. Bivariate kurtosis can be used to measure the shape and shoulder of a two dimensional probability distribution. It is known that the low frequencies correspond to the slowly changing components of an image and high frequencies correspond to faster gray level changes in the image, which gives information about the finer details such as edges. When an image is in focus, the high frequency components are maximized to define the edges sharply. Thus kurtosis, which measures the width of the shoulder of the probability distribution, corresponding to the high frequencies, can be used to measure the sharpness. This work presents efficient low complexity architecture of kurtosis based image sharpness no reference metric. The calculation of higher order moments is a computational intensive task that involves a large number of additions and multiplications. A recursive IIR filter based implementation of the moments is proposed using a cascade of single pole filters. The conducted simulation results show clearly the reduction in computation while maintaining the same accuracy.
Inhibition of initiator-promoter-induced skin tumorigenesis in female SENCAR mice fed a vitamin A-deficient diet and reappearance of tumors in mice fed a diet adequate in retinoid or beta-carotene.

Retinoids have chemopreventive activity for epithelial tumors in a variety of systems, including the two-stage tumorigenesis system of mouse skin in which only the promotion stage is inhibited. We asked whether dietary vitamin A deficiency could affect the skin tumorigenic response, prior to major changes in body weight or general health of the animals. Two regimens were tested to induce vitamin A deficiency. SENCAR mice were either (a) fed a vitamin A-deficient diet from 4 or 9 weeks of age or (b) their mothers were fed the diet from the time of birth of the experimental animals which were then weaned on the same diet. The latter regimen produced typical symptoms of vitamin A deficiency in the offspring by Weeks 12-14 and all the mice died by Week 19; the former regimen permitted sufficient accumulation of retinol and its esters to sustain life for up to 45 and 75 weeks, respectively, in the majority of mice. For our experiments, vitamin A depletion was produced by placing the mothers on the deficient diet at birth of the experimental animals. A single topical dose of 20 micrograms of 7,12-dimethylbenz(a)anthracene (DMBA) was used as the initiator at 3 weeks of age and 1 to 2 micrograms of 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate (TPA) once weekly as the tumor promoter for 10 weeks (from Week 4 through 13 of the experiment). Fifty-five % of mice (n = 40) on Purina laboratory chow (mean body weight, 31.4 g) developed skin tumors (2.58 per mouse) at 12 weeks, versus 2.5% (0.05 papillomas per mouse) of mice (n = 40) kept on the purified vitamin A-deficient diet (mean body weight, 30.3 g), a 98% decrease in tumor/mouse. Retinoic acid (RA) (1-3 micrograms/g diet) supplementation after Week 12 caused a rapid tumorigenic response in 95% of the mice by week 22. This tumor response occurred to a reduced extent in the absence of continued TPA treatment up to Week 13. Even though tumor incidence increased within 1 week of RA and 95% of the mice showed the tumorigenic response, the number of tumors per mouse was about 50% of that observed in mice maintained on standard Purina diet. This was confirmed in an experiment in which the mice were maintained for life either on Purina or on the RA (3 micrograms/g) containing purified diet, the latter being the control group for the effect of vitamin A deficiency on skin tumorigenesis. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)
Structural Analysis of DNA Interactions with Biogenic Polyamines and Cobalt(III)hexamine Studied by Fourier Transform Infrared and Capillary Electrophoresis*

Biogenic polyamines, such as putrescine, spermidine, and spermine are small organic polycations involved in numerous diverse biological processes. These compounds play an important role in nucleic acid function due to their binding to DNA and RNA. It has been shown that biogenic polyamines cause DNA condensation and aggregation similar to that of inorganic cobalt(III)hexamine cation, which has the ability to induce DNA conformational changes. However, the nature of the polyamine·DNA binding at the molecular level is not clearly established and is the subject of much controversy. In the present study the effects of spermine, spermidine, putrescine, and cobalt(III)hexamine on the solution structure of calf-thymus DNA were investigated using affinity capillary electrophoresis, Fourier transform infrared, and circular dichroism spectroscopic methods. At low polycation concentrations, putrescine binds preferentially through the minor and major grooves of double strand DNA, whereas spermine, spermidine, and cobalt(III)hexamine bind to the major groove. At high polycation concentrations, putrescine interaction with the bases is weak, whereas strong base binding occurred for spermidine in the major and minor grooves of DNA duplex. However, major groove binding is preferred by spermine and cobalt(III)hexamine cations. Electrostatic attractions between polycation and the backbone phosphate group were also observed. No major alterations of B-DNA were observed for biogenic polyamines, whereas cobalt(III)hexamine induced a partial B → A transition. DNA condensation was also observed for cobalt(III)hexamine cation, whereas organic polyamines induced duplex stabilization. The binding constants calculated for biogenic polyamines are KSpm = 2.3 × 105 m-1, KSpd = 1.4 × 105 m-1, and KPut = 1.02 × 105 m-1. Two binding constants have been found for cobalt(III)hexamine with K1 = 1.8 × 105 m-1 and K2 = 9.2 × 104 m-1. The Hill coefficients indicate a positive cooperativity binding for biogenic polyamines and a negative cooperativity for cobalt(III)hexamine.
Comparative Study of Abnormal Renal Function Tests and Liverfunction Tests in Type 1 and Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus in Iraq Jinan

This study was planned to evaluate the renal function tests and liver function tests and it carried out in Al-Yarmouk hospital,Baghdad –Iraqin patients withtype 1 and type 2 diabetes mellitus by measuring(uricacid,urea and creatinine) ,Aspartate aminotransferase (AST) andAlanineaminotransferase (ALT). Seventy five individuals of Iraqi adults (male) were divided into three groups, 25 patients with type1 diabetes mellitus ,25 patients withtype 2 diabetes mellitus and 25 normal individuals were taken as control group. Themean value of uric acid, urea and creatininewas higher significantly in patients thanin control group (P< 0.05),while the correlation(p< 0.01) between age ,creatinine in type 1 and between age and (Urea, Uric acid ,creatinine) in type 2 was positive . Our results appear a high significant levels of liver enzymes (AST and ALT) for two types of diabetes mellitus compared with control (healthy group). There were no significant differences between type 1 and type 2.
Multi‐Slice, Breathhold Imaging of the Lung with Submillisecond Echo Times

The signal from the lungs is heavily attenuated by T2 and T2* decay in standard MR images of the thorax. The authors utilized the capabilities of a prototype fast gradient system to develop a multi‐slice gradient echo sequence that can obtain images with an echo time of 0.7 ms. Images acquired in a single breath‐hold are free from respiratory motion artifacts and clearly display signal from lung parenchyma. The use of fast gradients makes short echo times possible without the use of nonstandard RF pulses and spatial encoding techniques and their associated limitations.
Epstein-Barr virus, infectious mononucleosis, and posttransplant lymphoproliferative disorders.

PTLD may be considered as an "opportunistic cancer" in which the immunodeficiency state of the host plays a key role in fostering the environment necessary for abnormal lymphoproliferation. The following discussion reflects our own current thoughts regarding events which may result in PTLD and its sequelae. Many of the individual steps have not been rigorously proved or disproved at this point in time. Following transplantation and iatrogenic immunosuppression, the host:EBV equilibrium is shifted in favor of the virus. Most seronegative patients will become infected either via the graft or through natural means; seropositive patients will begin to shed higher levels of virus and may become secondarily superinfected via the graft. There is a "grace" period of approximately one month posttransplant before increased viral shedding begins. PTLD is almost never seen during this interval. In many cases infection continues to be silent whereas in rare individuals there is an overwhelming polyclonal proliferation of infected B lymphocytes. This is the parallel of infectious mononucleosis occurring in patients with a congenital defect in virus handling (X-linked lymphoproliferative disorder). It is possible that transplant patients with this presentation also suffer a defect in virus handling. In other cases excessive iatrogenic immunosuppression may paralyze their ability to respond to the infection. With CsA and FK506 regimens, individual tumors may occur within a matter of months following transplant. The short time of incubation suggests that these are less than fully developed malignancies. It may be that local events conspire to allow outgrowth of limited numbers of B-lymphocyte clones. A cytokine environment favoring B-lymphocyte growth may be one factor and differential inhibition by the immuno-suppressive drugs of calcium-dependent and -independent B-cell stimulation may be another. In addition, there is some evidence that CsA itself may inhibit apoptosis within B cells. Since most patients do not develop PTLDs, an additional signal(s) for B-cell stimulation may be required. Indeed, it is possible that the virus may simply serve to lower the threshold for B-cell activation and/or provide a survival advantage to these cells. The ability of individual cell clones to evade a weakened immune system may set into play a Darwinian type of competition in which the most rapidly proliferating cells with the least number of antigenic targets predominate. In this regard, differences in host HLA types may determine the repertoire of viral antigens which are subject to attack. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)
Infections with blood parasites in the small British rodents Apodemus sylvaticus, Clethrionomys glareolus and Microtus agrestis

SUMMARY Three populations of small wild British rodents were studied by capture–recapture methods over a period of 3 years, a fourth group was studied for 1 year and a fifth was sampled annually for 4 years. Blood smears were taken from 3 species of rodents: the woodmouse A podemus sylvaticus, the bank vole Clethrionomys glareolus (and an island sub-species C.g. skomerensis) and the short-tailed vole Microtus agrestis. The smears were examined microscopically. Four genera of haemoparasites Babesia, Hepatozoon, Trypanosoma and Grahamella were detected. Babesia was absent from C.g. skomerensis, Hepatozoon was rarely found in A. sylvaticus and M. agrestis and Trypanosoma was rare in A. sylvaticus. More males were infected than females but the difference was only statistically significant for the infection with Hepatozoon in adult C.g. skomerensis. Infections with Babesia and Hepatozoon were more prevalent in adult animals and infections with Trypanosoma were more prevalent in younger individuals. Only in C.g. skomerensis was there a significant difference between age classes in the prevalence of infection with Grahamella – there being more adults infected. Concurrent infections were detected, Hepatozoon being the parasite most commonly involved. The prevalence of infections was found to be approximately proportional to the number of animals known to be alive, regardless of the season.
Diving bradycardia: a mechanism of defence against hypoxic damage

A feature of all air-breathing vertebrates, diving bradycardia is triggered by apnoea and accentuated by immersion of the face or whole body in cold water. Very little is known about the afferents of diving bradycardia, whereas the efferent part of the reflex circuit is constituted by the cardiac vagal fibres. Diving bradycardia is associated with vasoconstriction of selected vascular beds and a reduction in cardiac output. The diving response appears to be more pronounced in mammals than in birds. In humans, the bradycardic response to diving varies greatly from person to person; the reduction in heart rate generally ranges from 15 to 40%, but a small proportion of healthy individuals can develop bradycardia below 20 beats/min. During prolonged dives, bradycardia becomes more pronounced because of activation of the peripheral chemoreceptors by a reduction in the arterial partial pressure of oxygen (O2), responsible for slowing of heart rate. The vasoconstriction is associated with a redistribution of the blood flow, which saves O2 for the O2-sensitive organs, such as the heart and brain. The results of several investigations carried out both in animals and in humans show that the diving response has an O2-conserving effect, both during exercise and at rest, thus lengthening the time to the onset of serious hypoxic damage. The diving response can therefore be regarded as an important defence mechanism for the organism.
Estrogen Metabolism and Breast Cancer

Background: Specific pathways involved in estrogen metabolism may play a role in the etiology of breast cancer. We used data from a large population-based case–control study to assess the association of the urinary estrogen metabolites 2-hydroxyestrone (2-OHE1), 16α-hydroxyestrone (16-OHE1), and their ratio (2/16) with both invasive and in situ breast cancer. Methods: Study participants from the Long Island Breast Cancer Study Project provided a spot urine specimen and completed a comprehensive interviewer-administered questionnaire. Women who used exogenous hormones or who took tamoxifen in the 6 months before urine collection were excluded from the analysis, leaving 269 invasive cases, 158 in situ cases, and 326 controls. Unconditional logistic regression was used to obtain adjusted odds ratios (ORs) for invasive and in situ breast cancer, separately, in relation to tertiles of the individual metabolites (standardized for creatinine) and the 2/16 ratio, stratified by menopausal status. Results: The OR for invasive breast cancer was inversely associated with the 2/16 ratio among premenopausal women (OR = 0.50 for extreme tertiles; 95% confidence interval = 0.25–1.01). ORs ranged from 0.32 to 0.60 when women were stratified by whether cases had received chemotherapy within 6 months before urine collection and by estrogen receptor status. In postmenopausal women, there was a slight reduction in the odds ratio for invasive cancer with high levels of the 2/16 ratio (OR = 0.78; 95% confidence interval = 0.46–1.33). Neither the individual metabolites nor the ratio were associated with in situ breast cancer. Conclusion: These data provide support for the hypothesis that the 2/16 ratio is associated with reduced breast cancer risk. The most consistent associations were observed with invasive cancer in premenopausal women.
SMT-based consistency analysis of industrial systems requirements

As the complexity of industrial systems increases, it becomes difficult to ensure the correctness of system requirements specifications with respect to certain criteria such as consistency. Automated techniques for consistency checking of requirements, mostly by means of model checking, have been proposed in academia. However, such approaches can sometimes be costly in terms of modeling and analysis time or not applicable for certain types of properties. In this paper, we present a complementary method that relies on pattern-based formalization of requirements and automated consistency checking using the state-of-the-art SMT tool Z3. For validation, we apply our method on a set of timed computation tree logic requirements of an industrial automotive subsystem called the Fuel Level Display.
Parallel Replication across Formats in SAP HANA for Scaling Out Mixed OLTP/OLAP Workloads

Modern in-memory database systems are facing the need of efficiently supporting mixed workloads of OLTP and OLAP. A conventional approach to this requirement is to rely on ETL-style, application-driven data replication between two very different OLTP and OLAP systems, sacrificing real-time reporting on operational data. An alternative approach is to run OLTP and OLAP workloads in a single machine, which eventually limits the maximum scalability of OLAP query performance. In order to tackle this challenging problem, we propose a novel database replication architecture called Asynchronous Parallel Table Replication (ATR). ATR supports OLTP workloads in one primary machine, while it supports heavy OLAP workloads in replicas. Here, row-store formats can be used for OLTP transactions at the primary, while column-store formats are used for OLAP analytical queries at the replicas. ATR is designed to support elastic scalability of OLAP query performance while it minimizes the overhead for transaction processing at the primary and minimizes CPU consumption for replayed transactions at the replicas. ATR employs a novel optimistic lock-free parallel log replay scheme which exploits characteristics of multi-version concurrency control (MVCC) in order to enable real-time reporting by minimizing the propagation delay between the primary and replicas. Through extensive experiments with a concrete implementation available in a commercial database system, we demonstrate that ATR achieves sub-second visibility delay even for update-intensive workloads, providing scalable OLAP performance without notable overhead to the primary.
The Formal Divide: Customary Rights and the Allocation of Credit to Agriculture in Tanzania

ABSTRACT It is generally held that one mechanism to enable inclusive growth in Tanzania is enabling farmers to access credit to raise productivity and incomes. The formalisation of property rights in Tanzania is being undertaken by a multiplicity of actors at great expense to donors, individuals and the government. While there have been a variety of different justifications for allocating Certificates of Customary Rights of Occupancy (CCROs) to farmers in Tanzania, perhaps the most prominent argument is that it will enable farmers to finally overcome the divide between ‘informal’ customary rights and the formal banking sector. CCROs would provide the collateral that would induce banks to lend money to small-scale farmers. As part of a six-year investigation in Manyara, Mbeya and Dodoma regions, our research team evaluated the impact of formalisation on farmers’ access to credit. The paper will present the results while pointing to the continuing institutional and market imperfections that perpetuate the formal divide.
Do knowledge management processes mediate the relationship between TQM factors and organizational business results?

Total quality management and knowledge management have a great influence on a company's strategic competence. Companies need a total quality management practice that views knowledge as a potential source of competitive advantage. Total quality management and knowledge management are both work processes and complement each other. This study examines a combination of total quality management and knowledge management processes and their influence on organizational business results. Survey questionnaires were distributed to managers of government-linked companies. Analysis showed that knowledge management processes help to enhance the total quality management's critical factors to improve organizational business results. The findings show that a combination of total quality management and knowledge management processes create a cycle of improvement and development that leads to company excellence.
Expression of major histocompatibility antigens and nature of inflammatory cellular infiltrate in ovarian neoplasms

Expression of histocompatibility antigens and the intensity of inflammatory cellular infiltrate were evaluated in frozen tissue sections from 70 human ovarian tumors and six normal ovaries using monoclonal antibodies and an avidin‐biotin immunoperoxidase technique. In the normal human ovary, surface epithelial cells, mature granulosa cells and lutein cells reacted with anti‐HLA‐A, B, C (HLA) and beta2‐microglobulin antibodies but not with anti‐la (la‐like, HLA‐DR). Stromal cells and granulosa cells of the primordial follicles did not react with any of the antibodies. Among the neoplasms examined, all benign epithelial tumors, 86% of borderline an 81% of malignant epithelial tumors reacted with anti‐HLA and/or beta2‐microglobulin antibodies. HLA‐negative epithelial tumors were of serous or endometrioid types. Although la was not found in normal ovarian surface epithelium, the antigen could be detected in 44% of benign, and 43% of borderline and malignant epithelial ovarian tumors. Mono‐nuclear cellular infiltrate was generally scarce in ovarian tumors and consisted mainly of T cells. Malignant epithelial tumors contained significantly more T cells than did benign tumors. More T cells were observed in HLA‐positive ovarian tumors than in HLA‐negative neoplasms, but the difference did not achieve statistical significance. No correlation could be found between la expression and the intensity of T‐cell infiltrate. Significantly more T8 and Leu‐3a‐positive cells were found in the tumor stroma than amongst neoplastic cells. HNK‐I‐positive natural killer cells, OK‐MI‐positive macrophages and BI‐positive B lymphocytes were rarely encountered either in the tumor stroma or between adjacent tumor cells.
ABC1 gene expression and ApoA-I-mediated cholesterol efflux are regulated by LXR.

ATP-binding cassette transporter 1 (ABC1) mediates the active efflux of cholesterol from cells to apolipoproteins. To study the mechanisms of regulation of ABC1 gene expression, RAW 264.7 macrophages were transiently transfected with ABC1 promoter-luciferase reporter gene-fusion constructs. Transcription from a 1.64 kb fragment was induced by cholesterol loading but was not responsive to cAMP. Treatment of the cells with 9-cis retinoic acid or 20(S)-hydroxycholesterol, ligands for the nuclear receptors LXR and RXR, resulted in a marked induction of luciferase expression. The responsible control element was mapped to an imperfect direct repeat of the nuclear receptor half-site TGACCT separated by four bases (DR-4) that binds LXR/RXR heterodimers. Endogenous ABC1 gene expression in RAW cells and apolipoprotein A-I mediated cholesterol efflux were also upregulated by both receptor ligands. These findings raise the possibility that ligands that activate the LXR-RXR heterodimer may be useful for the therapeutic modulation of the ABC1 pathway.
A Tour Operator with a Global, Innovative Spirit: The Case of AlpitourWorld

this study, our research goal is to identify the organizational and operational approaches that a tour operator could adopt with the purpose of offering clients a comprehensive tourist product, increasing its competitive advantage. The research was conducted using the qualitative case study method. We selected AlpitourWorld, a leader in generalist holidays in the Italian market. AlpitourWorld may be considered as a best practice in its sector: It is based on an integrated management of the various company processes, through a divisional organizational structure. Each stage of the product creation and commercialization is controlled internally: This improves the control of the product quality as well as the level of efficiency and effectiveness of the activity carried out.