Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Design and Evaluation of Primaquine-Artemisinin Hybrids as a Multistage Antimalarial Strategy

ABSTRACT It is widely accepted that the struggle against malaria depends on the development of new strategies to fight infection. The “magic bullet” thought to be necessary to reach eradication should not only provide treatment for all Plasmodium spp. that infect human red blood cells but should also eliminate the replicative and dormant liver forms of the parasite. Moreover, these goals should ideally be achieved by using different mechanisms of action so as to avoid the development of resistance. To that end, two hybrid molecules with covalently linked primaquine and artemisinin moieties were synthesized, and their effectiveness against the liver and blood stages of infection was compared in vitro and in vivo with those of the parent compounds. Both hybrids displayed enhanced in vitro activities, relative to those of the parent compounds, against Plasmodium berghei liver stages. Both compounds were about as potent as artemisinin against cultured Plasmodium falciparum (50% inhibitory concentration [IC50], ∼10 nM). When used to treat a murine P. berghei infection, one of the molecules displayed better efficacy than an equimolar mixture of the parent pharmacophores, leading to improved cure and survival rates. These results reveal a novel approach to the design and evaluation of antimalarials based on the covalent combination of molecules acting on different stages of the parasite life cycle.
The Emerging MVC Standard for 3D Video Services

Multiview video has gained a wide interest recently. The huge amount of data needed to be processed by multiview applications is a heavy burden for both transmission and decoding. The joint video team has recently devoted part of its effort to extend the widely deployed H.264/AVC standard to handle multiview video coding (MVC). The MVC extension of H.264/AVC includes a number of new techniques for improved coding efficiency, reduced decoding complexity, and new functionalities for multiview operations. MVC takes advantage of some of the interfaces and transport mechanisms introduced for the scalable video coding (SVC) extension of H.264/AVC, but the system level integration of MVC is conceptually more challenging as the decoder output may contain more than one view and can consist of any combination of the views with any temporal level. The generation of all the output views also requires careful consideration and control of the available decoder resources. In this paper, multiview applications and solutions to support generic multiview as well as 3D services are introduced. The proposed solutions, which have been adopted to the draft MVC specification, cover a wide range of requirements for 3D video related to interface, transport of the MVC bitstreams, and MVC decoder resource management. The features that have been introduced in MVC to support these solutions include marking of reference pictures, supporting for efficient view switching, structuring of the bitstream, signalling of view scalability supplemental enhancement information (SEI) and parallel decoding SEI.
Learning in Later Years in the Lifelong Learning Trajectory

ABSTRACT An examination of learning in later life in the context of lifelong learning shows that it is a phase on its own and not simply an extension of adult learning, particularly in the 21st century. It exhibits characteristics unlike earlier phases and has benefits that are more aligned with later life. The changes to the growing share of this demographic in the population has implications for the provision of learning opportunities. The life stage changes that are evolving are shown compared to previous generations. The needs and benefits of late life learning are described in contrast to adult learning and the adaptations for successful lifelong learning are listed based on life span theories and current research.
Nitric Oxide Stimulates cGMP Production and Mimics Synaptic Responses in Metacerebral Neurons of Aplysia

Nitric oxide (NO) acts as a neurotransmitter and neuromodulator in the nervous systems of many vertebrates and invertebrates. We investigated the mechanism of NO action at an identified synapse between a mechanoafferent neuron, C2, and the serotonergic metacerebral cell (MCC) in the cerebral ganglion of the mollusc Aplysia californica. Stimulation of C2 produces a decreasing conductance, very slow EPSP in the MCC. C2 is thought to use histamine and NO as cotransmitters at this synapse, because both agents mimic the membrane responses. Now we provide evidence that treatment with NO donors stimulates soluble guanylyl cyclase (sGC) in the MCC, and as a result cGMP increases. S-Nitrosocysteine (SNC, an NO donor) and 8-bromo-cGMP (8-Br-cGMP) both induced the membrane depolarization and increase in input resistance that are characteristic of the very slow EPSP. Two inhibitors of sGC, 6-anilino-5,8-quinolinequinone (LY83583) and 1H-[1,2,4]oxadiazolo[4,3-a]quinoxaline-1-one (ODQ), suppressed both the very slow EPSP and the membrane responses to SNC but not the histamine membrane responses. NO-induced cGMP production was determined in the MCC using cGMP immunocytochemistry (cGMP-IR). In the presence of 3-isobutyl-1-methylxanthine (IBMX), 10 μm SNC was sufficient to induce cGMP-IR, and the staining intensity increased as the SNC dose was increased. This cGMP-IR was suppressed by ODQ in a dose-dependent manner and completely blocked by 10 μmODQ. Histamine did not induce cGMP-IR. The results suggest that NO stimulates sGC-dependent cGMP synthesis in the MCC and that cGMP mediates the membrane responses. The cotransmitter histamine induces essentially the same membrane responses but seems to use a separate and distinct second messenger pathway.
Relationship between Social Capital and religious beliefs among elementary school students

The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between social capital and religious beliefs among elementary school students in the first educational district in the city of Bandar Abbas in the academic years 2014-15. The study statistical population consisted of all elementary school students in Bandar Abbas. The sample size was calculated based on the Cochran formula as 384 people who were selected by random stratified sampling method. Bandar Abbas was divided into two districts of 1 and 2 in order to choose the sample which was selected randomly from each district. The required information was collected through the field study and actually through direct reference to students. The questionnaires of social capital of Delaviz (2005) and religious beliefs of George (1998) were the information gathering tools. Information collected in the study was analyzed by multivariate regression analysis. Results showed that social capital dimensions explain 75.6% of students’ religious beliefs in the statistical confidence level of 99%. Accordingly, the dimensions of social capital are an appropriate indicator to reinforce students' religious beliefs.
Broadband AlGaN/GaN high power amplifiers, robust LNAs, and power switches in L-Band

GaN-based HEMT's have demonstrated better power-frequency performances than other devices using smaller band gap semiconductor materials. Studies have already been realized to evaluate the impact of GaN-based devices at the system level. In this paper, we present the design and the realization of broadband power amplifiers, low noise amplifiers and power switches for future generation of TR-RX modules. These functions are based on the AlGaN/GaN HEMT technology developed at Alcatel-Thales III-V Lab.
Cellular mechanisms associated with the lack of chronic thermotolerance expression in HeLa S3 cells.

Chronic thermotolerance is an operational definition for that resistance to cell killing by heat which develops during a protracted exposure at temperatures generally in the range of 41.5-42.5 degrees C which is usually observed as a reduction in the slope of the survival curve. While Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells are generally more sensitive to high-temperature heat shock than HeLa cells, studies of cells maintained in suspension culture at 41.5 degrees C demonstrated CHO cells to be more resistant to cell killing at this temperature than HeLa cells, due to the expression of chronic thermotolerance in the hamster cell line and the corresponding lack of chronic thermotolerance expression in the HeLa cell line. Experiments were conducted in the two cell lines while heating under identical conditions, in order to detect any cell line-specific changes in heat-induced perturbation of cell cycle progression and the expression of chronic thermotolerance. Our results showed that CHO cells exhibited a G1 block which lasted throughout the course of the 32-h heating period. HeLa cells, however, failed to accumulate in G1, progressing instead into S phase where spontaneous premature chromosome condensation and nuclear fragmentation were observed. This accumulation of cells with condensed chromatin possessing S-phase DNA content exhibited a linear, one-to-one functional relationship with the fraction of dead cells. Previous studies (M.A. Mackey and W.C. Dewey, Int. J. Hyperthermia, 5:405-415, 1989) demonstrated that synchronized S-phase CHO cells heated at 41.5 degrees C and 42 degrees C were unable to express chronic thermotolerance. Therefore, we hypothesize that progression of cells out of G1 phase into S and G2-M phases leads to lethal processes that prevent the expression of chronic thermotolerance in the HeLa cell line. This hypothesis is strengthened by the observed correlation between the accumulation of "mitotic-like" cells and decreased survival, suggesting that the G1 block observed in CHO cells is causally connected with the expression of chronic thermotolerance.
Overexpression of Kinase Suppressor of Ras Upregulates the High-Molecular-Weight Tropomyosin Isoforms in ras-Transformed NIH 3T3 Fibroblasts

ABSTRACT The down-regulation of the high-molecular-weight isoforms of tropomyosin (TM) is considered to be an essential event in cellular transformation. In ras-transformed fibroblasts, the suppression of TM is dependent on the activity of the Raf-1 kinase; however, the requirement for other downstream effectors of Ras, such as MEK and ERK, is less clear. In this study, we have utilized the mitogen-activated protein kinase scaffolding protein Kinase Suppressor of Ras (KSR) to further investigate the regulation of TM and to clarify the importance of MEK/ERK signaling in this process. Here, we report that overexpression of wild-type KSR1 in ras-transformed fibroblasts restores TM expression and induces cell flattening and stress fiber formation. Moreover, we find that the transcriptional activity of a TM-α promoter is decreased in ras-transformed cells and that the restoration of TM by KSR1 coincides with increased transcription from this promoter. Although ERK activity was suppressed in cells overexpressing KSR1, ERK inhibition alone was insufficient to upregulate TM expression. The KSR1-mediated effects on stress fiber formation and TM transcription required the activity of the ROCK kinase, because these effects could be suppressed by the ROCK inhibitor, Y27632. Overexpression of KSR1 did not directly regulate ROCK activity, but did permit the recoupling of ROCK to the actin polymerization machinery. Finally, all of the KSR1-induced effects were mediated by the C-terminal domain of KSR1 and were dependent on the KSR-MEK interaction.
Mobile robot controlled by voice

All of the state-of-the-art systems are statistical data-driven systems that rely on training to model our ignorance about speech which result in enormous memory and processor consumption. Those solutions can not be easily integrated in embedded systems like e.g. as interface for human-robotic interaction. In this paper, an isolated word recognition system has been developed for communication with mobile robot. Presented algorithm is based on phoneme recognition by identifying characteristics of each phoneme which means that it's not based on statistical ASR (not based on HMM-hidden Markov model or ANN-artificial neural network). Final goal of this project is developing a speaker and language independent phoneme recognition platform for use in embedded systems with low power and memory consumption.
SENSORLESS SPEED CONTROL OF BRUSHLESS DC MOTOR WITH FUZZY BASED ESTIMATION

This paper describes a simple way to control the Brush Less DC Motor (BLDCM) for electrical applications. To control this machine it is generally required to measure the speed and position of rotor by using the sensor because the inverter phases, acting at any time, must be commutated depending on the rotor position. The position sensors make the motor system more complicated and mechanically unreliable. A method for the estimation of the speed and rotor position of a BLDCM is presented in this work. Fuzzy based Back EMF observer is employed to estimate the speed by using measurements of the stator line voltage and line current. Most existing sensorless methods of the BLDC motor have low performance at transients or low speed range and occasionally require an additional circuit. To overcome this problem, the estimation of a back-EMF is carried out by fuzzy logic techniques to improve the performance of the system. This method proposes back-EMF observer based on fuzzy function approximation and the system state equation of the BLDC motor. The fuzzy logic technique is used to estimate the speed of the BLDC motor under variable and fixed condition of the back-EMF. Finally, the speed is controlled by using Proportional-Integral (PI) Controller with the help of fuzzy based estimation of the speed and rotor position. Here, fuzzy based estimation of speed and rotor position which is also verified with the sensor, feeds input to the PI controller which does really well for good performance.
The bilingual advantage in the auditory domain

Research on bilingualism has often produced evidence for a bilingual advantage in interference control using visual paradigms such as the Simon Task (e.g., Bialystok, Craik, Klein, & Viswanathan, 2004) or the Attention Network Test (ANT; Costa, Hernandez, & Sebastian-Galles, 2008). Surprisingly, given that bilingual speakers must disentangle auditory messages, there is a dearth of work examining a bilingual advantage in the auditory modality. The aim of this chapter is to evaluate the most relevant literature in this field and to address future directions for this line of enquiry within developmental psychology, educational psychology, and cognitive neuroscience.
Qualitative Spatio-Temporal Representation and Reasoning for robotic applications

This paper discusses the methodology of Qualitative Spatio-Temporal Representation and Reasoning (QSTRR) for robotic applications. The goal is to develop reasoning mechanism that will allow modelling the environment and performing spatiotemporal decisions. A new approach is related to environment modelling based on robot’s perception, therefore new concepts (spatial entities) are obtained automatically, and then used in reasoning. This paper presents the results of the three experiments. Each experiment focuses on different robotic applications, such as mobile spatial assistive intelligence for spatial design, spatial design used for robotic arm integration with the environment and supervision of a teleoperated robot. Each of the experiments is considered as the proof of concept of the proposed methodology. Thus, it can be efficiently used for developing sophisticated robotic application where human-robot interaction and integration are considered as an important goal.
A molecular mechanism of mitotic centrosome assembly in Drosophila

Centrosomes comprise a pair of centrioles surrounded by pericentriolar material (PCM). The PCM expands dramatically as cells enter mitosis, but it is unclear how this occurs. In this study, we show that the centriole protein Asl initiates the recruitment of DSpd-2 and Cnn to mother centrioles; both proteins then assemble into co-dependent scaffold-like structures that spread outwards from the mother centriole and recruit most, if not all, other PCM components. In the absence of either DSpd-2 or Cnn, mitotic PCM assembly is diminished; in the absence of both proteins, it appears to be abolished. We show that DSpd-2 helps incorporate Cnn into the PCM and that Cnn then helps maintain DSpd-2 within the PCM, creating a positive feedback loop that promotes robust PCM expansion around the mother centriole during mitosis. These observations suggest a surprisingly simple mechanism of mitotic PCM assembly in flies. DOI: http://dx.doi. org/10.7554/eLife.03399. 001
Interleukin‐1 in the genesis and progression of and risk for development of neuronal degeneration in Alzheimer’s disease

Interleukin‐1 (IL‐1), a key molecule in systemic immune responses in health and disease, has analogous roles in the brain where it may contribute to neuronal degeneration. Numerous findings suggest that this is the case. For example, IL‐1 overexpression in the brain of Alzheimer patients relates directly to the development and progression of the cardinal neuropathological changes of Alzheimer’s disease, i.e., the genesis and accumulation of β‐amyloid (Aβ) plaques and the formation and accumulation of neurofibrillary tangles in neurons, both of which contribute to neuronal dysfunction and demise. Several genetic studies show that inheritance of a specific IL‐1A gene polymorphism increases risk for development of Alzheimer’s disease by as much as sixfold. Moreover, this increased risk is associated with earlier age of onset of the disease. Homozygosity for this polymorphism in combination with another in the IL‐1B gene further increases risk.
Methodology for mismatch reduction in time-interleaved ADCs

This paper presents a methodology to minimize mismatch errors in time-interleaved analog-to-digital converters (ADC) by means of averaging multiple channels. A simple algorithm improving both spurious free dynamic range (SFDR) and signal-to-noise and distortion ratio (SINAD) is demonstrated. The presented technique provides robustness against inaccurately identified mismatch errors and does not require computationally expensive post-processing of the signal.
Affordability and the Return on Investment of College Completion: Unique Challenges and Opportunities for Adult Learners

Abstract It is increasingly understood that in order to be successful in today's economy a postsecondary degree is needed (National College Access Network, 2012). Approximately 65% of jobs in 2020 will require some form of postsecondary education (Carnevale, Smith, & Strohl, 2013), and of the 30 fastest growing occupations, more than half require postsecondary education (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2013). There is good reason to focus on adult students: The United States will not meet projected workforce needs without educating more of its adult population. Data also show that the average earnings of young adults with a bachelor's degree are twice as high as that of workers with only a high school diploma, and adults with solely a high school diploma are just over twice as likely to be unemployed than their college-educated peers. These statistics point to the need for some form of education after high school, yet many adult learners are still choosing not to enroll or complete a degree, a trend that requires closer examination. In this article we review the current context in which adult learners are situated and discuss recommendations for research and practice.
Tracking a person with 3-D motion by integrating optical flow and depth

This paper describes a method of tracking a person with 3D translation and rotation by integrating optical flow and depth. The target region is first extracted based on the probability of each pixel belonging to the target person. The target state (3D position, posture, motion) is estimated based on the shape and the position of the target region in addition to optical flow and depth. Multiple target states are maintained when the image measurements give rise to ambiguities about the target state. Experimental results with real image sequences show the effectiveness of our method.
Are Early Somatic Embryos of the Norway Spruce (Picea abies (L.) Karst.) Organised?

Background Somatic embryogenesis in conifer species has great potential for the forestry industry. Hence, a number of methods have been developed for their efficient and rapid propagation through somatic embryogenesis. Although information is available regarding the previous process-mediated generation of embryogenic cells to form somatic embryos, there is a dearth of information in the literature on the detailed structure of these clusters. Methodology/Principal Findings The main aim of this study was to provide a more detailed structure of the embryogenic tissue clusters obtained through the in vitro propagation of the Norway spruce (Picea abies (L.) Karst. ). We primarily focused on the growth of early somatic embryos (ESEs). The data on ESE growth suggested that there may be clear distinctions between their inner and outer regions. Therefore, we selected ESEs collected on the 56th day after sub-cultivation to dissect the homogeneity of the ESE clusters. Two colourimetric assays (acetocarmine and fluorescein diacetate/propidium iodide staining) and one metabolic assay based on the use of 2,3,5-triphenyltetrazolium chloride uncovered large differences in the metabolic activity inside the cluster. Next, we performed nuclear magnetic resonance measurements. The ESE cluster seemed to be compactly aggregated during the first four weeks of cultivation; thereafter, the difference between the 1H nuclei concentration in the inner and outer clusters was more evident. There were clear differences in the visual appearance of embryos from the outer and inner regions. Finally, a cluster was divided into six parts (three each from the inner and the outer regions of the embryo) to determine their growth and viability. The innermost embryos (centripetally towards the cluster centre) could grow after sub-cultivation but exhibited the slowest rate and required the longest time to reach the common growth rate. To confirm our hypothesis on the organisation of the ESE cluster, we investigated the effect of cluster orientation on the cultivation medium and the influence of the change of the cluster’s three-dimensional orientation on its development. Maintaining the same position when transferring ESEs into new cultivation medium seemed to be necessary because changes in the orientation significantly affected ESE growth. Conclusions and Significance This work illustrated the possible inner organisation of ESEs. The outer layer of ESEs is formed by individual somatic embryos with high metabolic activity (and with high demands for nutrients, oxygen and water), while an embryonal group is directed outside of the ESE cluster. Somatic embryos with depressed metabolic activity were localised in the inner regions, where these embryonic tissues probably have a very important transport function.
Development of an Electroencephalography Data Acquisition System for Clinical Research Into Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation Evoked Potentials

We have developed a module to be inserted in-line between electroencephalography (EEG) electrodes and any standard EEG headbox that will prevent amplifier saturation during transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS). By preventing amplifier saturation TMS evoked potentials (EPs) seen in the millisecond range immediately following TMS can be collected accurately. The new system uses a pre-proven EEG instrumentation concept, sample-and-hold circuitry (Ilmoniemi, 1997), to keep standard EEG front-end amplifiers stable during TMS pulses.