Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Effects of Different Ionic Liquid Coatings and the Length of Alkyl Chain on Antimicrobial and Cytotoxic Properties of Silver Nanoparticles

Introduction: The antibacterial efficacy and toxicity of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) depends on their physicochemical properties including size, shape, surface charge and surface coatings. The Objectives of this study were: i) To synthesize and characterize positively charged AgNPs coated by different ionic-liquids with different alkyl chain lengths, ii) To evaluate the antimicrobial activity of these nanoparticles against Enterococcus faecalis compared to sodium hypochlorite (NaOCl) and chlorhexidine (CHX), iii) To compare the cytocompatibility of these solutions against L929 mouse fibroblasts. Methods and Materials: AgNPs with positive surface charges capped by two different ionic liquids [imidazolium (Im) and pyridinium (Py)] with two alkyl chain lengths (C12 and C18) were synthesized. Im and Py were also tested as control groups. The characterization revealed synthesis of spherical NPs in the size range of 6.7-18.5 nm with a surface charge ranging from +25 to +58 mV. To standardize the comparisons, the surface charge to radius ratio of each nanoparticle was calculated. The minimum inhibitory concentrations (MIC) of the AgNP solutions, NaOCl and CHX were determined against E. faecalis by a microdilution test. An MTT-based cytotoxicity assay evaluated the cytotoxicity of the solutions in different concentrations on L929 fibroblasts. One-way and two-way ANOVA were used for statistical analysis. Results: All tested AgNPs reached MIC90 in significantly lower concentrations compared to CHX and NaOCl. C12 Py-coated AgNPs had the lowest MIC90 value. CHX and NaOCl were more toxic on fibroblasts than all tested AgNPs. Im-coated AgNPs had better compatibility with fibroblasts than Py-coated particles; and C12 Im AgNPs had the best biocompatibility. Variations in alkyl chain length had no effects on the biocompatibility of AgNPs. Conclusion: Py improved the antibacterial efficacy of AgNPs compared to Im; however, it had a negative effect on cytocompatibility. Alkyl chain length had no effects on AgNPs’ bioactivity.
Detection of Causality between Process Variables Based on Industrial Alarm Data Using Transfer Entropy

In modern industrial processes, it is easier and less expensive to configure alarms by software settings rather than by wiring, which causes the rapid growth of the number of alarms. Moreover, because there exist complex interactions, in particular the causal relationship among different parts in the process, a fault may propagate along propagation pathways once an abnormal situation occurs, which brings great difficulty to operators to identify its root cause immediately and to take proper actions correctly. Therefore, causality detection becomes a very important problem in the context of multivariate alarm analysis and design. Transfer entropy has become an effective and widely-used method to detect causality between different continuous process variables in both linear and nonlinear situations in recent years. However, such conventional methods to detect causality based on transfer entropy are computationally costly. Alternatively, using binary alarm series can be more computational-friendly and more direct because alarm data analysis is straightforward for alarm management in practice. The methodology and implementation issues are discussed in this paper. Illustrated by several case studies, including both numerical cases and simulated industrial cases, the proposed method is demonstrated to be suitable for industrial situations contaminated by noise.
Modal dynamics of proteins in water

We studied a dynamical model for the motion of the large scales of proteins in water. The model was obtained by projecting the (averaged) Newton equations onto some set of harmonic modes. We compared the statistics of the so‐obtained trajectories with those obtained by standard techniques, and concluded that our dynamical model is able to fairly reproduce the average properties of the large‐scale motion of the protein, and at the same time allow time steps one order of magnitude larger than the standard ones. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Comput Chem 21: 1274–1282, 2000
SHIMMER (1.0): a novel mathematical model for microbial and biogeochemical dynamics in glacier forefield ecosystems

Abstract. SHIMMER (Soil biogeocHemIcal Model for Microbial Ecosystem Response) is a new numerical modelling framework designed to simulate microbial dynamics and biogeochemical cycling during initial ecosystem development in glacier forefield soils. However, it is also transferable to other extreme ecosystem types (such as desert soils or the surface of glaciers). The rationale for model development arises from decades of empirical observations in glacier forefields, and enables a quantitative and process focussed approach. Here, we provide a detailed description of SHIMMER, test its performance in two case study forefields: the Damma Glacier (Switzerland) and the Athabasca Glacier (Canada) and analyse sensitivity to identify the most sensitive and unconstrained model parameters. Results show that the accumulation of microbial biomass is highly dependent on variation in microbial growth and death rate constants, Q10 values, the active fraction of microbial biomass and the reactivity of organic matter. The model correctly predicts the rapid accumulation of microbial biomass observed during the initial stages of succession in the forefields of both the case study systems. Primary production is responsible for the initial build-up of labile substrate that subsequently supports heterotrophic growth. However, allochthonous contributions of organic matter, and nitrogen fixation, are important in sustaining this productivity. The development and application of SHIMMER also highlights aspects of these systems that require further empirical research: quantifying nutrient budgets and biogeochemical rates, exploring seasonality and microbial growth and cell death. This will lead to increased understanding of how glacier forefields contribute to global biogeochemical cycling and climate under future ice retreat.
Kernel Temporal Differences for Neural Decoding

We study the feasibility and capability of the kernel temporal difference (KTD)(λ) algorithm for neural decoding. KTD(λ) is an online, kernel-based learning algorithm, which has been introduced to estimate value functions in reinforcement learning. This algorithm combines kernel-based representations with the temporal difference approach to learning. One of our key observations is that by using strictly positive definite kernels, algorithm's convergence can be guaranteed for policy evaluation. The algorithm's nonlinear functional approximation capabilities are shown in both simulations of policy evaluation and neural decoding problems (policy improvement). KTD can handle high-dimensional neural states containing spatial-temporal information at a reasonable computational complexity allowing real-time applications. When the algorithm seeks a proper mapping between a monkey's neural states and desired positions of a computer cursor or a robot arm, in both open-loop and closed-loop experiments, it can effectively learn the neural state to action mapping. Finally, a visualization of the coadaptation process between the decoder and the subject shows the algorithm's capabilities in reinforcement learning brain machine interfaces.
Rethinking Religious Gender Differences: The Case of Elite Women

Decades of research has suggested that women are much more religious than men. Yet our survey of 107 women and 362 men who are alumni of the White House Fellows program finds that elite women are less likely than elite men to report religion as being important to their lives. When focusing on the fellows who are women, we find that obtaining a graduate degree from a top university, being highly committed to one’s work, and being recognized for success are all associated with a lower likelihood of rating religion as important. We elucidate some of these findings with analyses of indepth interviews. We suggest that aspiring women may not benefit from religion the same way men do and that religion often fails to provide similar levels of support for elite women as for elite men. We conclude by arguing for finer-grained measures of professional accomplishment and social standing to better understand gender differences in religion.
Funzioni esecutive in interazione con dispositivi di narrazione multilineare per una formazione generativa evidence based

La promozione degli apprendimenti in partecipazione e cooperazione con gli altri, la pianificazione da concretizzare attraverso azioni organizzate, il far scaturire dal problem setting narrativo un processo dinamico, prospettico e costruttivo, in cui l’alunno viene sostenuto dal formatore e dalla struttura narrativa che guida, sono in grado di sollecitare la scoperta di percorsi possibili, sostenendo il carico cognitivo implicato in processi complessi, quali le funzioni neuropsicologiche di tipo esecutivo (Hughes, 2011; Zoccolotti, 2010). Il modello qui presentato puo permettere l’attivazione di processi di apprendimento multiplo, infatti, pur inquadrato nel paradigma socio-culturale costruzionista, implica anche strategie afferenti a modelli istruzionali, cognitivi e metacognitivi dell’apprendimento, offrendo una palestra articolata per uno sviluppo di abilita cognitive e sociali, in una prospettiva formativa generativa evidence based.
Latent Spatio-temporal Models for Action Localization and Recognition in Nursing Home Surveillance Video

This paper presents an application of vision-based monitoring of long-term care facility residents. We develop an algorithm to detect events of interest, particularly falls by elderly residents. The algorithm uses a max-margin latent variable approach with spatiotemporal locations of the person in the video as latent variables. The recently developed Action Bank descriptor is utilized as a rich feature representation for each frame. Empirical results demonstrate the effectiveness of this method.
Symbols of Love: Consumption, Transnational Migration and the Family in San Salvador, El Salvador

Middle-class families in San Salvador negotiate two diverging strategies for ensuring familial well-being. This study reveals tensions and contradictions stemming from: (1) the emer gence of a sophisticated and meaning-laden consumption system, and (2) transnational migration as an institutionalized household economic strategy in El Salvador. Due to structural constraints on wage earning, many Salvadorans must prioritize either material needs and wants (i.e., migrating and remitting) or a spatially unified family (i.e., not migrating). Both have the potential to foster well being and contentment: the first due to the multiple and complex "functions" of consumables, the second due to the proximity of family members. In San Salvador, to engage in the consumption system is to access the benefits and promises of that system, includ ing well-being, pleasure, happiness, and love. The meanings and symbols inherent in consumption systems as they unfold under neoliberal development and modernization present challenges and tensions for Salvadorans.
Self-Determination and Goal Aspirations: African American and Latino Males’ Perceptions of Their Persistence in Community College Basic and Transfer-Level Writing Courses

ABSTRACT This Grounded Theory study utilized Self-determination Theory to analyze the interview results of 18 community college African American and Latino males. The goal was to learn what helped participants to succeed and persist in developmental and transfer-level writing courses despite the obstacles that they faced. Three major themes emerged: (a) Male students of color continued to take and complete English courses because they were determined to achieve their academic goals; (b) they sought assistance and guidance from their English professors, from the writing lab attached to the basic skills course and from the writing tutoring staff; and (c) when they felt overwhelmed and considered dropping their English classes, their determination to achieve their goals and the assistance they received from faculty and other writing staff ultimately kept them from doing so. Therefore, first, community colleges should encourage students’ ability to be autonomous. Second, they can help students develop a sense of relatedness by providing a better sense of belonging. Third, institutions should develop strong faculty networks within the college to increase student motivation and self-determination by providing mentoring opportunities. Finally, institutions should consider utilizing faculty and other institutional agents to help students by providing information regarding various student support services that may help address issues students may be encountering.
Mond -- Weir Type Duality in Nonsmooth Nondifferentiable Fractional Programming

We have defined some kinds of generalized convex function in paper [1]. which generalize some of the present convex functions. In the framework of these new concepts, a Mond-Weir type dual for a class of fractional programming problem is considered. Appropriate duality results are formulated. The results obtained not only provide a measurement of sensitivity for given problems to perturbations, but also can be apply to the questions occur in resource allocation, stock cutting problem in paper industry, agricultural planning and portfolio selection etc.
Genome-wide transcriptome analysis of the plant pathogen Xanthomonas identifies sRNAs with putative virulence functions

The Gram-negative plant-pathogenic bacterium Xanthomonas campestris pv. vesicatoria (Xcv) is an important model to elucidate the mechanisms involved in the interaction with the host. To gain insight into the transcriptome of the Xcv strain 85–10, we took a differential RNA sequencing (dRNA-seq) approach. Using a novel method to automatically generate comprehensive transcription start site (TSS) maps we report 1421 putative TSSs in the Xcv genome. Genes in Xcv exhibit a poorly conserved −10 promoter element and no consensus Shine-Dalgarno sequence. Moreover, 14% of all mRNAs are leaderless and 13% of them have unusually long 5′-UTRs. Northern blot analyses confirmed 16 intergenic small RNAs and seven cis-encoded antisense RNAs in Xcv. Expression of eight intergenic transcripts was controlled by HrpG and HrpX, key regulators of the Xcv type III secretion system. More detailed characterization identified sX12 as a small RNA that controls virulence of Xcv by affecting the interaction of the pathogen and its host plants. The transcriptional landscape of Xcv is unexpectedly complex, featuring abundant antisense transcripts, alternative TSSs and clade-specific small RNAs.
Trustworthy People-Centric Sensing: Privacy, security and user incentives road-map

The broad capabilities of widespread mobile devices have paved the way for People-Centric Sensing (PCS). This emerging paradigm enables direct user involvement in possibly large-scale and diverse data collection and sharing. Unavoidably, this raises significant privacy concerns, as participants may inadvertently reveal a great deal of sensitive information. However, ensuring user privacy, e.g., by anonymizing data they contribute, may cloak faulty (possibly malicious) actions. Thus, PCS systems must not only be privacy-preserving but also accountable and reliable. As an increasing number of applications (e.g., assistive healthcare and public safety systems) can significantly benefit from people-centric sensing, it becomes imperative to meet these seemingly contradicting requirements. In this work, we discuss security, user privacy and incentivization for this sensing paradigm, exploring how to address all aspects of this multifaceted problem. We critically survey the security and privacy properties of state-of-the-art research efforts in the area. Based on our findings, we posit open issues and challenges, and discuss possible ways to address them, so that security and privacy do not hinder the deployment of PCS systems.
Morphological remarks regarding the structure of conduction system in the right ventricle.

BACKGROUND The knowledge of conduction system morphology has a vital significance in cardiology and cardiac surgery - it enables to interpret pathologies and choose treatment. This has been confirmed by numerous accounts, both in the context of e.g. atrial fibrillation ablations as well as treating septum defects. Due to diversity and changeability of conduction system structure and their clinical implications, its thorough analyses seem to bear special importance. AIM To examine the structure of selected elements of conduction system present in the right ventricle (RV). METHODS Elements of conduction system present in RV of 6 foetuses (from 12 to 32 weeks of foetus age), 6 children (from 1 day to 7-year-old) and 10 adults (from 37 to 79-year-old) were histologically examined. Cross sections of 10 moderator bands and 10 anterior papillary muscles of adult human hearts were made. Specimens including membranous and muscular parts of the septum along with diverging moderator band were taken from a group of foetus, child and adult hearts. Cuttings of 10 micron width were stained with Masson's method in Goldner's modification. On the basis of the sections of membranous and muscular parts of the septum, the continuities of the elements of the conduction system were analysed. RESULTS It was observed that in most cases the right branch of His' bundle locates itself deep in the muscular tissue of the septum irrespective of age; it is clearly separate along its whole run and gradually penetrates the muscular tissue with its fibers. Hardly ever does the right branch of His' bundle locate itself on the surface, subendocardially, with a minimum penetration into the muscular tissue. Moreover, in most cases, elements of conduction system are present in moderator band. The main tissue constituting its stroma is above all muscular tissue and to a lesser extent, connective tissue. In addition to this, fat tissue in variable proportion was also observed. In cross sections of the moderator band a distinctively circumscribed stripe of fibers of the conduction system was found. However, one could also observe samples in which its identification was not possible. CONCLUSIONS The right branch of His bundle within the muscular part of the septum in most cases is located intramuscularly irrespective of age. The results of analyses prove a relatively constant character of the presence of the conduction system within the moderator band.
Effects of endurance and high intensity training on ICAM-1 and VCAM-1 levels and arterial pressure in obese and normal weight adolescents

ABSTRACT Objectives: Obesity prevalence has increased in Iranian adolescents in recent years. However, few studies have examined the impact of intervention programs on this health issue. The main objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of 8-week endurance training (ET) and high intensity interval training (HIIT) on intercellular adhesion molecule-1(ICAM-1) and vascular adhesion molecule-1(VCAM-1) levels among obese and normal-weight male adolescents. Methods: Thirty obese and 30 normal-weight subjects were assigned to the ET, HIIT, or control group for eight weeks. Before and after the intervention, ICAM-1, VCAM-1, body weight, BMI, VO2max, and blood pressures were measured. SPSS (Version 21) was used for data analysis, and the significance level was set at p < 0.05. Results: Mixed design ANOVAs indicated that the obese participants had significantly (p < 0.05) lower ICAM-1 levels in the ET (from 509 ± 61 ng/ml to 387 ± 43 ng/ml) and HIIT (from 517 ± 72 ng/ml to 374 ± 50 ng/ml), but their VCAM-1 level was significantly (p < 0.05) reduced only after the HIIT (from 1689 ± 119 ng/ml to 1282 ± 63 ng/ml). Similarly, normal weight participants significantly (p < 0.05) lowered their ICAM-1 levels in the ET (from 296 ± 18 ng/ml to 216 ± 14 ng/ml) and HIIT (from 289 ± 22 ng/ml to 202 ± 12 ng/ml), but their VCAM-1 level was significantly (p < 0.05) reduced only after the HIIT (from 895 ± 50 ng/ml to 673 ± 142 ng/ml). Systolic blood pressure and diastolic blood pressures of all the participants were significantly (p < 0.01) decreased at the conclusion of the ET and HIIT. Conclusion: While both the ET and HIIT were useful in lowering the SBP and DBP of the participants, HIIT was more effective than ET in reducing ICAM-1 and VCAM-1 content in normal and obese adolescents.
Inferring Human Behavior using Mobile and Wearable Devices

Mobile, wearable, and ambient sensing is making possible the inference of activities and behavioral patterns of individuals and populations. This data-driven approach to discovery can help determine how these behaviors affect our health, as well as to assist in interventions aimed at promoting the adoption of healthier habits. I describe recent progress in this area, as well as some of the open issues that need to be addressed, and which provide opportunities for future research. These issues include the development and deployment of sensing platforms; identifying activities and behaviors that are relevant to healthcare and that can be inferred with sufficient precision using existing sensors; creating and curating large datasets and associated analysis methods from which strong evidence can be derived; and envisioning novel application scenarios that make use of the behaviors monitored. Several examples are provided to illustrate recent advances and open issues, including the use of pervasive videogames to assess frailty; using wearable devices to detect anxiety in caregivers of people who suffer from dementia; and using crowdsourcing to monitor and modify eating behaviors. Finally, I propose a new frontier in mobile sensing for healthcare, namely, inferring how individuals perceive themselves with respect to others in order to change these perceptions and improve their wellbeing.
Ischemic Preconditioning Mediates Neuroprotection against Ischemia in Mouse Hippocampal CA1 Neurons by Inducing Autophagy

The hippocampal CA1 region is sensitive to hypoxic and ischemic injury but can be protected by ischemic preconditioning (IPC). However, the mechanism through which IPC protects hippocampal CA1 neurons is still under investigation. Additionally, the role of autophagy in determining the fate of hippocampal neurons is unclear. Here, we examined whether IPC induced autophagy to alleviate hippocampal CA1 neuronal death in vitro and in vivo with oxygen glucose deprivation (OGD) and bilateral carotid artery occlusion (BCCAO) models. Survival of hippocampal neurons increased from 51.5% ± 6.3% in the non-IPC group (55 min of OGD) to 77.3% ± 7.9% in the IPC group (15 min of OGD, followed by 55 min of OGD 24 h later). The number of hippocampal CA1 layer neurons increased from 182 ± 26 cells/mm2 in the non-IPC group (20 min of BCCAO) to 278 ± 55 cells/mm2 in the IPC group (1 min × 3 BCCAO, followed by 20 min of BCCAO 24 h later). Akt phosphorylation and microtubule-associated protein light chain 3 (LC3)-II/LC3-I expression were increased in the preconditioning group. Moreover, the protective effects of IPC were abolished only by inhibiting the activity of autophagy, but not by blocking the activation of Akt in vitro. Using in vivo experiments, we found that LC3 expression was upregulated, accompanied by an increase in neuronal survival in hippocampal CA1 neurons in the preconditioning group. The neuroprotective effects of IPC on hippocampal CA1 neurons were completely inhibited by treatment with 3-MA. In contrast, hippocampal CA3 neurons did not show changes in autophagic activity or beneficial effects of IPC. These data suggested that IPC may attenuate ischemic injury in hippocampal CA1 neurons through induction of Akt-independent autophagy.