Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Real-World Neuroimaging Technologies

Decades of heavy investment in laboratory-based brain imaging and neuroscience have led to foundational insights into how humans sense, perceive, and interact with the external world. However, it is argued that fundamental differences between laboratory-based and naturalistic human behavior may exist. Thus, it remains unclear how well the current knowledge of human brain function translates into the highly dynamic real world. While some demonstrated successes in real-world neurotechnologies are observed, particularly in the area of brain-computer interaction technologies, innovations and developments to date are limited to a small science and technology community. We posit that advancements in realworld neuroimaging tools for use by a broad-based workforce will dramatically enhance neurotechnology applications that have the potential to radically alter human-system interactions across all aspects of everyday life. We discuss the efforts of a joint government-academic-industry team to take an integrative, interdisciplinary, and multi-aspect approach to translate current technologies into devices that are truly fieldable across a range of environments. Results from initial work, described here, show promise for dramatic advances in the field that will rapidly enhance our ability to assess brain activity in real-world scenarios.
First record of Bordetella avium in Egyptian turkey flocks

To screen Bordetella avium in Egyptian turkey flocks, tracheal swabs and nasal exudates were gathered from 21 turkey farms out of five Egyptian governorates. Bacteriological examination revealed the isolation of 2 strains. Both isolates displayed different resistance rates regarding the ten applied antibiotics. Both strains agglutinated guinea pig RBCs and adhered to the tracheal rings. Confirmatory recA gene PCR was performed. Moreover, blaTEM, tetA(A), aada1, sul1 and dfrA genes were amplified in both B. avium strains. Partial sequencing of the amplified 740 bp of recA gene revealed 100% maximum identity with German B. avium ATCC 35086 strain and with the American strain 197N.To the best of our knowledge, this is the 1st record of B. avium in Egyptian turkey flocks.
The ACE 2005 ( ACE 05 ) Evaluation Plan Evaluation of the Detection and Recognition of ACE Entities , Values , Temporal Expressions , Relations , and Events 1

The objective of the ACE program is to develop automatic content extraction technology to support the automatic processing of source language data. Possible down-stream processing includes classification, filtering, and selection based on the content of the source data, i.e., based on the meaning conveyed by the language. Thus, the ACE program is dedicated to the development of technologies that automatically infer meaning from language data.
Roles and regulation of Cln‐Cdc28 kinases at the start of the cell cycle of Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

In budding yeast G1 cells increase in cell mass until they reach a critical cell size, at which point (called Start) they enter S phase, bud and duplicate their spindle pole bodies. Activation of the Cdc28 protein kinase by G1‐specific cyclins Cln1, Cln2 or Cln3 is necessary for all three Start events. Transcriptional activation of CLN1 and CLN2 by SBF and MBF transcription factors also requires an active Cln‐Cdc28 kinase and it has therefore been proposed that the sudden accumulation of CLN1 and CLN2 transcripts during late G1 occurs via a positive feedback loop. We report that whereas Cln1 and Cln2 are required for the punctual execution of most, if not all, other Start‐related events, they are not required for the punctual activation of SBF‐ or MBF‐driven transcription. Cln3, on the other hand, is essential. By turning off cyclin B proteolysis and turning on proteolysis of the cyclin B‐Cdc28 inhibitor p40SIC1, Cln1 and Cln2 kinases activate cyclin B‐Cdc28 kinases and thereby trigger S phase. Thus the accumulation of Cln1 and Cln2 kinases which starts the yeast cell cycle is set in motion by prior activation of SBF‐ and MBF‐mediated transcription by Cln3‐Cdc28 kinase. This dissection of regulatory events during late G1 demands a rethinking of Start as a single process that causes cells to be committed to the mitotic cell cycle.
Towards Views in the Semantic Web

The Semantic Web is an extension of the current Web in which information is given well defined meaning, better enabling computers and people to work in cooperation. The technical foundation of the Semantic Web is RDF, a semi-structured data model resembling directed labelled graphs. Semantics of data are given by ontologies that are encoded using a specialized vocabulary called RDF Schema. First efforts in actually implementing Semantic Web applications with RDF show that views on RDF data can be very beneficial to gain the intended semantic interoperability allowing RDF data to be filtered and restructured. This paper carefully analyzes the situation constituted by the data model, comparing RDF Schema with well known object-oriented data models. It introduces a specialized view mechanism for ontology based RDF models.
A role for non-profit companies on rental housing markets

The Cournot-Nash equilibrium in a market where both profit and non-profit companies operate is studied. Presumably, some Nordic rental housing markets fulfil the assumptions made. It is shown that the introduction of a number of non-profit companies in the market can correct the CournotNash equilibrium into an efficient, perfect competitive equilibrium. This gives non-profit companies a potential useful role in such markets. Like profit companies, non-profit companies have to be controlled by competition authorities. Not only external market behaviour, but also the inclination by non-profit companies to seek profits should be observed as this changes the impact on the market equilibrium. JEL: R310, L130, L300
A New Mechanism for Mesoscale Legged Locomotion in Compliant Tubular Environments

We present design and experimental performance results for a novel mechanism for robotic legged locomotion at the mesoscale (from hundreds of microns to tens of centimeters). The new mechanism is compact and strikes a balance between conflicting design objectives, exhibiting high foot forces and low power consumption. It enables a small robot to traverse a compliant, slippery, tubular environment, even while climbing against gravity. This mechanism is useful for many mesoscale locomotion tasks, including endoscopic capsule robot locomotion in the gastrointestinal tract. It has enabled fabrication of the first legged endoscopic capsule robot whose mechanical components match the dimensions of commercial pill cameras (11 mm diameter by 25 mm long). A novel slot-follower mechanism driven via lead screw enables the mechanical components of the capsule robot to be as small while simultaneously generating 0.63 N average propulsive force at each leg tip. In this paper, we describe kinematic and static analyses of the lead screw and slot-follower mechanisms, optimization of design parameters, and experimental design and tuning of a gait suitable for locomotion. A series of ex vivo experiments demonstrate capsule performance and ability to traverse the intestine in a manner suitable for inspection of the colon in a time period equivalent to standard colonoscopy.
Probabilistic WCET estimation in presence of hardware for mitigating the impact of permanent faults

Fine-grained disabling and reconfiguration of hardware elements (functional units, cache blocks) will become economically necessary to recover from permanent failures, whose rate is expected to increase dramatically in the near future. This fine-grained disabling will lead to degraded performance as compared to a fault-free execution. Until recently, all static worst-case execution time (WCET) estimations methods were assuming fault-free processors, resulting in unsafe estimates in the presence of faults. The first static WCET estimation technique dealing with the presence of permanent faults in instruction caches was proposed in [1]. This study probabilistically quantified the impact of permanent faults on WCET estimates. It demonstrated that the probabilistic WCET (pWCET) estimates of tasks increase rapidly with the probability of faults as compared to fault-free WCET estimates. In this paper, we show that very simple reliability mechanisms allow mitigating the impact of faulty cache blocks on pWCETs. Two mechanisms, that make part of the cache resilient to faults are analyzed. Experiments show that the gain in pWCET for these two mechanisms are on average 48% and 40% as compared to an architecture with no reliability mechanism.
Exacerbations of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

Exacerbations of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease are of major importance in terms of their prolonged detrimental effects on patients, the acceleration in disease progression and high healthcare costs. There is still debate about how exacerbations should be defined and graded, and their mechanisms are poorly understood. The major causal agents are either bacteria or viral infections, or a combination of the two. Noninfective causes include air pollution and pulmonary embolus but, in some patients, no cause is identified. Exacerbations represent an increase in the inflammation that is present in the stable state, with increased numbers of inflammatory cells (particularly neutrophils), cytokines, chemokines and proteases in the airways, and increased concentrations of certain cytokines and C-reactive protein in the blood. There are presently no reliable biomarkers with which to predict exacerbations. Exacerbations have a long-lasting adverse influence on health status. High doses of bronchodilators are the mainstay of treatment and systemic corticosteroids have some benefit. The routine use of antibiotics remains controversial but they are of benefit with exacerbations of a bacterial origin. Noninvasive ventilation is beneficial in preventing the need for intubation and its important complications but it is not certain whether its use in stable patients prevents exacerbations. Although important advances have been made, more effective treatments are needed in the future for prevention and treatment of exacerbations.
Loughborough University Institutional Repository Making the mainstream accessible : redefining the game

Research into improving the accessibility of computer games can enable us to better understand what makes a good gaming experience for all users. We discuss work carried out in developing AudioQuake (an adaption of Quake for blind gamers); specifically the techniques used for rendering information and the nature of this work in contrast to other accessible games (both research and commercial). Based on user feedback regarding the effectiveness of the methods employed in AudioQuake, techniques for not only imparting but allowing vision-impaired users to edit 3D structures are proposed. Taking into account the progress made so far, we make the case for future research work, which could benefit many different types of users and help increase accessibility in other areas such as education. CR Categories: H.5. 2 [User Interfaces]: Auditory (non-speech) feedback, Interaction styles (e.g., commands, menus, forms, direct manipulation), Theory and methods— [H.5. 1]: Multimedia Information Systems—Artificial, augmented, and virtual realities
Moment-Based Image Normalization for Handwritten Text Recognition

In this paper, we extend the concept of moment-based normalization of images from digit recognition to the recognition of handwritten text. Image moments provide robust estimates for text characteristics such as size and position of words within an image. For handwriting recognition the normalization procedure is applied to image slices independently. Additionally, a novel moment-based algorithm for line-thickness normalization is presented. The proposed normalization methods are evaluated on the RIMES database of French handwriting and the IAM database of English handwriting. For RIMES we achieve an improvement from 16.7% word error rate to 13.4% and for IAM from 46.6% to 37.3%.
User Experience Testing : A Case Study for Mobile Devices

There are plenty of user experience evaluation methods available in the literature. However, most user experience evaluation methods measured different dimensions of user experience. Therefore, Norman’s emotional design is proposed as a common conceptual framework for user experience. User experience evaluation method should measure emotional response related to visceral, behavioural and reflective. A case study of user experience testing was carried out and result revealed that the selected mobile device scored high on usable, medium on valuable and low on likeable. Thus, a user experience testing is designed to provide holistic view of a product.
Products Transcribed from Rearranged rrn Genes of Escherichia coli Can Assemble To Form Functional Ribosomes

ABSTRACT To examine the flexibility of rRNA operons with respect to fundamental organization, transcription, processing, and assembly of ribosomes, operon variations were introduced by a plasmid into an Escherichia coli strain that has deletions of all chromosomal copies of rRNA genes. In the reconstructed operons, a Salmonella intervening sequence (IVS) from 23S helix 45 was introduced into the E. coli 23S gene at the same position. Three different constructs of the E. coli 16S gene were then placed wholly within the IVS sequence, and the 16S gene was deleted from its normal position. The resulting plasmids thus had the normal operon promoters and the leader region followed by the 5′ one-third of the 23S gene, the entire 16S gene within the IVS, the last two-thirds of the 23S gene, and the normal end of the operon. The three constructs differed in the amount of 16S leader and spacer regions they contained. Only two of the three constructs, those with redundant leader and spacer antiterminator signals, resulted in viable cultures of the rrn deletion strain. Electron micrographs of the variant operon suggest that the 23S rRNA is made in two separate parts which then must form subassemblies before assembling into a functional 50S subunit. Cells containing only the reshuffled genes were debilitated in their growth properties and ribosome contents. The fact that such out of the ordinary manipulation of rRNA sequences in E. coli is possible paves the way for detailed analysis of ribosome assembly and evolution.
Src kinase is involved in comenic acid-triggered signaling pathways in sensory neurons

OBJECTIVES: The effects of activation of the signaling cascades triggered by binding of comenic acid to the opioid-like receptor are studied. A particular attention is paid to investigation of probable involvement of the Na,K-ATPase/Src complex in signal transduction in living sensory neurons. METHODS: Signaling pathways activated by comenic acid are examined using organotypic tissue culture and patch-clamp techniques. RESULTS: Binding of comenic acid to the opioid-like receptors triggers at least two signaling cascades, one of which evokes a neurite-stimulating effect and the other modulates NaV1.8 channels in sensory neurons. Neurite-stimulating effect of comenic acid resulting from receptor-mediated activation of a pathway that involves Na,K-ATPase as the signal transducer is directly opposite at the tissue level to neurite-inhibiting effect produced by transducer-mediated activation of the Na,K-ATPase signaling function by nanomolar (endogenous) concentrations of ouabain. This stimulating effect is blocked by PP2, a selective Src kinase inhibitor. PP2 is also demonstrated to be involved in modulation of NaV1.8 channels, which is manifested in the control of the current-voltage function. CONCLUSIONS: Receptorand transducer-mediated activation of the Na,K-ATPase transducer function trigger different downstream signaling pathways converging on the cell genome, which indicates that Na,K-ATPase is the unit responsible for the signal divergence. Tangential pathways along the sensory neuron membrane which modulate NaV1.8 channels also involve activation of Na,K-ATPase as the signal transducer either by the opioid-like receptor-coupled or by the transducer-coupled mechanism. A considerable heterogeneity of Na,K-ATPase population suggests that different Na,K-ATPase isoforms participate in signaling cascades depending on the structure and/or function of nerve cells. Organotypic nerve tissue culture and patch-clamp investigations demonstrate that the Na,K-ATPase/Src complex operates in intracellular signaling pathways activated by comenic acid by the opioid-like receptor-coupled mechanism.
The role of stakeholders in Solomon's Temple: An exploratory study

This paper aims to describe the role of stakeholders in the symbolic goods market of religion. Drawing on qualitative research, and based on the salience model of stakeholders, the objective is to analyze the importance of Solomon’s Temple megachurch to the Universal Church of the Kingdom of God (UCKG) as a competitive factor in the market of religious goods and services for achieving a competitive advantage. The findings show that the respondents' perception indicates that the construction of megachurches provides a competitive advantage if the staNeholders are identifed and continuously monitored because of the attributes of power, legitimacy and urgency. The contribution of the study is a discussion on the relevance of the applicability of stakeholder theory in the symbolic goods market of religion from the perspective of network relationships with other stakeholders.
Porous WO 3-Carbon nanofiber : High-Performance and Recyclable Visible-Light Photocatalysis

Please note that technical editing may introduce minor changes to the text and/or graphics, which may alter content. The journal’s standard Terms & Conditions and the Ethical guidelines still apply. In no event shall the Royal Society of Chemistry be held responsible for any errors or omissions in this Accepted Manuscript or any consequences arising from the use of any information it contains. Accepted Manuscript Catalysis Science & Technology
Title Soymilk Improves Muscle Weakness in Young Ovariectomized FemaleMice

Estrogens play a key role in an extensive range of physiological functions in various types of tissues throughout the body in females. We previously showed that estrogen insufficiency caused muscle weakness that could be rescued by estrogen administration in a young female ovariectomized (OVX) mouse model. However, long-term estrogen replacement therapy increases risks of breast cancer and cardiovascular diseases. Soymilk contains plant-based protein and isoflavones that exert estrogen-like activity. Here we examined the effects of prolonged soymilk intake on muscle and its resident stem cells, called satellite cells, in the estrogen-insufficient model. Six-week-old C57BL/6 OVX female mice were fed with a dried soymilk-containing diet. We found that prolonged soymilk intake upregulated grip strength in OVX mice. Correspondingly, cross-sectional area of tibialis anterior muscle was significantly increased in OVX mice fed with soymilk. Furthermore, soymilk diet mitigated dysfunction of satellite cells isolated from OVX mice. Thus, these results indicated that prolonged soymilk intake is beneficial for improving muscle weakness in an estrogen-insufficient state in females.
Mapping the Unified Field: Artificial Intelligence Foundations for the Financial Instruments of Business Planning: Hybrid Data Mining and the Consciousness Model

: With the continuous development of data mining instruments we acquire increasingly accurate and deep knowledge regarding the processes and network correlations related to business planning that can be considered one of the cornerstones of the world of business. During data mining activity patterns can be derived that provide assistance in the analysis of basic correlations. By the application of data mining a consciousness model can be formulated, which evaluates and analyzes company movements, operations and decision making mechanisms. Data mining is one of the most important current paradigms of advanced business analyses and decision making instruments. (AMANIA-FADLALLA 2017). It is a multidisciplinary approach that applies various techniques in the areas of statistics, machine learning and databases. One of the special branches of data mining inspects the correlations of financial balance sheets and reports as well as their derived indicators. In the case of this method, data mining provides the identification of data patterns in an innovative and ultimately interpretable manner. (PUJARI 2001) Data mining makes it possible for organizations to identify the statistical correlations between performance indicators more easily (ITTNER-LARCKER 2001).
Bacterial infection and trachoma in the gambia: a case control study.

PURPOSE Trachoma is the leading infectious cause of blindness worldwide. Conjunctival scarring is initiated by recurrent Chlamydia trachomatis infection. However, disease progression to trichiasis occurs even in regions where chlamydial prevalence is currently low, which suggests that other factors, for example other bacterial infection, may also drive inflammation and scarring, particularly in the late stages of trachoma. This study was undertaken to investigate whether trachomatous trichiasis or conjunctival scarring are associated with increased prevalence of bacterial infection. METHODS Within a case-control study design, individuals with trichiasis or conjunctival scarring (without trichiasis) were compared with normal matched control subjects. Subjects were examined for signs of trachoma. Conjunctival swab samples were collected for bacteriologic culture and C. trachomatis PCR. RESULTS Recruited for the study were 121 trichiasis case-control pairs and 117 conjunctival scarring case-control pairs. Eyes with trichiasis were more frequently infected with bacteria (37%) than were normal control eyes (7%) (OR: 8.2; P < 0.001; 95% CI: 3.24-20.8). Bacterial infection was more common with increased trichiasis severity. In the conjunctival scarring case-control group, scarred eyes had slightly more bacterial infection (11%) than did normal control eyes (6%), although this was not significantly different (OR: 2.2; P = 0.144; 95% CI: 0.79-6.33). CONCLUSIONS Trichiasis is associated with increased risk of bacterial infection, and there may be a similar trend in eyes with conjunctival scarring. Bacterial infection of the conjunctiva is associated with inflammation, which may result in progressive scarring. Prospective studies are needed to determine the contribution of bacterial infection to disease progression. Bacterial infection probably also contributes to the development of corneal opacification.
Learning Optimal Online Advertising Portfolios with Periodic Budgets

Online advertising enables advertisers to reach customers with personalized ads. Advertisers need to determine the right targets for their ads and how much they are willing to pay to engage those targets. A large portion of online ads are priced using real-time auctions, thus advertisers need to decide which targets to bid on in these auctions. Collaborating with one of the largest ad-tech firms in the world, we develop new algorithms that help advertisers bid optimally on target portfolios while taking into account some limitations inherent to online advertising. We study this problem as a Multi-Armed Bandit (MAB) problem with periodic budgets. At the beginning of each time period, the advertiser needs to determine which portfolio of target to select to maximize the expected total revenue (revenue from clicks/conversions), while maintaining the total cost of auction payments within the advertising budget. In this paper, we formulate the problem and develop an Optimistic-Robust Learning (ORL) algorithm that uses ideas from Upper Confidence Bound (UCB) algorithms and robust optimization. We prove that the expected cumulative regret of the algorithm is bounded. Additionally, simulations on synthetic and real-world data show that the ORL algorithm reduces regret by at least 10-20% compared to benchmarks.