Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Acute and chronic arsenic toxicity

Arsenic toxicity is a global health problem affecting many millions of people. Contamination is caused by arsenic from natural geological sources leaching into aquifers, contaminating drinking water and may also occur from mining and other industrial processes. Arsenic is present as a contaminant in many traditional remedies. Arsenic trioxide is now used to treat acute promyelocytic leukaemia. Absorption occurs predominantly from ingestion from the small intestine, though minimal absorption occurs from skin contact and inhalation. Arsenic exerts its toxicity by inactivating up to 200 enzymes, especially those involved in cellular energy pathways and DNA synthesis and repair. Acute arsenic poisoning is associated initially with nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, and severe diarrhoea. Encephalopathy and peripheral neuropathy are reported. Chronic arsenic toxicity results in multisystem disease. Arsenic is a well documented human carcinogen affecting numerous organs. There are no evidence based treatment regimens to treat chronic arsenic poisoning but antioxidants have been advocated, though benefit is not proven. The focus of management is to reduce arsenic ingestion from drinking water and there is increasing emphasis on using alternative supplies of water.
Adaptive behaviour pattern based botnet detection using traffic analysis and flow interavals

Botnets have become a rampant platform for malicious attacks, which poses a significant threat to internet security. The recent botnets have begun using common protocols such as TCP/HTTP which makes it even harder to distinguish their communication patterns. A botnet is a group of cooperated computers which are remotely controlled by hackers to launch various network attacks, such as DDoS attack, junk mail, click fraud, individuality theft and information phishing. The recent botnets have begun using common protocols such as TCP/HTTP which makes it even harder to distinguish their communication patterns. Most of the TCP/HTTP bot transportations are founded on TCP connections. Of all current threats to cyber security, botnets are at the topmost of the list. In importance, attention in this problem is increasing rapidly among the research community and the number of journals on the question has grown up exponentially in recent years. Signature based detection is not suitable for bot which are variant in nature just like TCP/HTTP bots, So behavior based technique is more suitable for TCP/HTTP botnet detection. In this work PSO and SVM model is used to differentiate legitimate user and TCP/HTTP bot.
BECN1 is involved in the initiation of mitophagy

The autophagy protein BECN1/Beclin 1 is known to play a central role in autophagosome formation and maturation. The results presented here demonstrate that BECN1 interacts with the Parkinson disease-related protein PARK2. This interaction does not require PARK2 translocation to mitochondria and occurs mostly in cytosol. However, our results suggest that BECN1 is involved in PARK2 translocation to mitochondria because loss of BECN1 inhibits CCCP- or PINK1 overexpression-induced PARK2 translocation. Our results also demonstrate that the observed PARK2-BECN1 interaction is functionally important. Measurements of the level of MFN2 (mitofusin 2), a PARK2 substrate, demonstrate that depletion of BECN1 prevents PARK2 translocation-induced MFN2 ubiquitination and loss. BECN1 depletion also rescues the MFN2 loss-induced suppression of mitochondrial fusion. In sum, our results demonstrate that BECN1 interacts with PARK2 and regulates PARK2 translocation to mitochondria as well as PARK2-induced mitophagy prior to autophagosome formation.
A Prospective and Randomized Study, “SVEA,” Comparing Effects of Three Methods for Delayed Breast Reconstruction on Quality of Life, Patient‐Defined Problem Areas of Life, and Cosmetic Result

During the last 30 years, many methods for delayed breast reconstruction have been described. There is a lack of prospective randomized trials comparing reconstruction methods. The present study (SVEA), conducted 1995 to 1996, describes the impacts of three methods: the lateral thoracodorsal flap, the latissimus dorsi flap, and the pedicled transverse rectus abdominis muscle flap (TRAM), on important areas of life, patients' perception of cosmetic result, and quality of life. Questionnaires were completed before randomization and at 6 and 12 months postoperatively. The preoperative questionnaire concerned the impact of breast loss and expectations on reconstruction. Follow‐up questionnaires dealt with satisfaction with cosmetic result and impact on important areas of life. A health‐related quality‐of‐life questionnaire (SF‐36) was completed at all points of assessment. A total of 75 of 87 randomized patients underwent breast reconstruction: 16 patients with the lateral thoracodorsal flap, 30 with the latissimus dorsi flap, and 29 with the TRAM flap. The majority were very satisfied with the cosmetic result. Most women reported improvements in important areas of life, and quality of life in terms of “social functioning” and “mental health” increased significantly after the reconstruction. The latissimus dorsi flap and TRAM flap scored significantly higher as compared with the lateral thoracodorsal flap for similarity with the contralateral breast and reduced problems in social situations. No differences between irradiated and nonirradiated patients were found. All methods were considered to produce good cosmetic results and improvements in patient‐defined problem areas of life and quality of life. No negative effects were recorded. Thus, irrespective of method, breast reconstruction is a valuable tool for the mastectomized woman to cope with problems in everyday life. (Plast. Reconstr. Surg. 105: 66, 2000.)
Zero-Shot Event Detection by Multimodal Distributional Semantic Embedding of Videos

We propose a new zero-shot Event-Detection method by Multi-modal Distributional Semantic embedding of videos. Our model embeds object and action concepts as well as other available modalities from videos into a distributional semantic space. To our knowledge, this is the first Zero-Shot event detection model that is built on top of distributional semantics and extends it in the following directions: (a) semantic embedding of multimodal information in videos (with focus on the visual modalities), (b) semantic embedding of concepts definitions, and (c) retrieve videos by free text event query (e.g., "changing a vehicle tire") based on their content. We first embed the video into the multi-modal semantic space and then measure the similarity between videos with the event query in free text form. We validated our method on the large TRECVID MED (Multimedia Event Detection) challenge. Using only the event title as a query, our method outperformed the state-the-art that uses big descriptions from 12.6\% to 13.5\% with MAP metric and from 0.73 to 0.83 with ROC-AUC metric. It is also an order of magnitude faster.
Singing as Resilience: The Missing Link in Education?

Abstract Music, particularly singing, has been used as an engaging and effective teaching and learning tool for thousands of years. The introduction of standardised testing and implementation of the national curriculum have seen the education focus narrow on literacy and numeracy. Rather than education putting children first, it seems that we are in now in competition with other schools, states, and countries to determine which is 'the best'. This has seen the study of music, seen as non-essential, marginalised. This appears to be a global phenomenon. Behaviour problems in schools continue to increase, results for standardised test results are not improving, but the education focus continues to narrow. This paper discusses the unique role of singing on the development of resilience, which is an umbrella term that describes the ability to successfully navigate life events. Music fills a unique role in development and needs to stand on equal terms with literacy and numeracy for optimal academic and personal development.
Expressions of second occurrence focus in German

In a production study on read German, we investigate the tonal, durational and articulatory parameters used in the marking of three different focus structures. Special attention is paid to target words in Second Occurrence Focus (SOF). Such words are both focussed and contextually given. Prominence in SOF items is compared to prominence in items which are focussed and new (First Occurrence Focus, FOF) and those which are in the Background. Results confirm previous findings that SOF is not marked by a pitch accent. However, we observe gradient but systematic adjustments of acoustic and articulatory parameters (word durations and temporal and spacial modifications of opening and closing gestures) leading to an increase in prominence from Background through SOF to FOF. The extent to which single speakers employ different strategies varies. Phonologically, we propose an analysis of SOF prominences as phrase accents.
Modal optimization of AVR for synchronous generator using the finite gradient

Traditional power systems consist of few centralized power plants, passive grid and uncontrollable passive loads. It is expected that deep penetration of modern trends like distributed generation, SmartGrids and microgrids will lead to a plenty highly automated power units. Each of them should be equipped with effective controllers. Like many years before PID controllers remain relevant and popular despite many others technologies, because they are based on well proven, reliable and clear practice. But PID controllers should be well tuned in order to keep stability of the unit and the entire grid. Existing methods usually assume that the control parameters are chosen at first, then the controlled unit is tested on applicability and stability. Classical methods (D-decomposition et al.) are quite effective for only one or two tunable parameters. The method proposed in this paper is based on the optimization concept of modal design. We consider Hurwitz function (control system relative stability), which is determined by the rightmost pole location and depends on the parameters of the controller. Its minimization using finite gradient method represents a complicated optimization problem. Number of the rightmost poles defines dimension of the manifold. When several poles is almost on the same vertical, we are approaching the zerodimensional manifold: points of global or local extrema. The described method is suitable to various problems of parametric optimization. The authors previously tested it in the control of various plants such as multilink mathematical and inverted pendulums. In the article it is used to optimize PDD2 controller for the linear model of a synchronous generator; similarly it can be used for optimization of PID controllers and other structure ones.
The Civic Mission of Schools.

In 2002, a distinguished group of the nation’s most respected educational scholars and practitioners gathered in Washington, D.C. to discuss the fact that increasing numbers of Americans are disengaging from civic and political activity. Representing diverse political views, disciplines, and approaches, these educators shared a common vision of a richer, more comprehensive approach to civic education in the United States. The Civic Mission of Schools is a powerful statement of that vision. To expedite their vision, participants set about to identify goals, approaches, and recommendations to support civic-engagement principles. Adopting the premise that the overall goal of civic education should be to help young people gain and apply citizenship skills, knowledge, and attitudes, The Civic Mission of Schools also found that competent and responsible citizens: • Are informed and thoughtful. They appreciate history and American democratic processes, understand community issues, think critically, understand diverse perspectives, and more. • Participate in their communities. • Act politically. They have the skills, knowledge, and commitment to address social issues, speak in public, influence public policy, and more. • Have moral and civic virtues. They are concerned for the rights and welfare of others, are socially responsible, strike a balance between self-interest and the common good, and more. The Civic Mission of Schools also recognizes that civic engagement can be especially difficult for young people who lack resources and are often discouraged from participating. Thus an essential goal of civic engagement is to provide skills, knowledge, and encouragement for all students. The civic-education programs featured in Profiles (See pages 4–11) are intended to provide educators with living examples of the six Promising Approaches recommended by The Civic Mission of Schools.
Caspases Mediate Processing of the Capsid Precursor and Cell Release of Human Astroviruses

ABSTRACT In this work we have shown that astrovirus infection induces apoptosis of Caco-2 cells, since fragmentation of cellular DNA, cleavage of cellular proteins which are substrate of activated caspases, and a change in the mitochondrial transmembrane potential occur upon virus infection. The human astrovirus Yuc8 polyprotein capsid precursor VP90 is initially processed to yield VP70, and we have shown that this processing is trypsin independent and occurs intracellularly through four cleavages at its carboxy-terminal region. We further showed that VP90-VP70 processing is mediated by caspases, since it was blocked by the pancaspase inhibitor benzyloxycarbonyl-Val-Ala-Asp fluoromethylketone (z-VAD-fmk), and it was promoted by the apoptosis inducer TNF-related apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL). Although the cell-associated virus produced in the presence of these compounds was not affected, the release of infectious virus to the cell supernatant was drastically reduced in the presence of z-VAD-fmk and increased by TRAIL, indicating that VP90-VP70 cleavage is important for the virus particles to be released from the cell. This is the first report that describes the induction and utilization of caspase activity by a virus to promote processing of the capsid precursor and dissemination of the viral particles.
Exact optimal and adaptive inference in regression models under heteroskedasticity and non-normality of unknown forms

In this paper, we derive simple point-optimal sign-based tests in the context of linear and nonlinear regression models with fixed regressors. These tests are exact, distribution-free, robust against heteroskedasticity of unknown form, and they may be inverted to obtain confidence regions for the vector of unknown parameters. Since the point-optimal sign tests depend on the alternative hypothesis, we propose an adaptive approach based on split-sample techniques in order to choose an alternative such that the power of point-optimal sign tests is close to the power envelope. The simulation results show that when using approximately 10% of sample to estimate the alternative and the rest to calculate the test statistic, the power of point-optimal sign test is typically close to the power envelope. We present a Monte Carlo study to assess the performance of the proposed “quasi”-point-optimal sign test by comparing its size and power to those of some common tests which are supposed to be robust against heteroskedasticity. The results show that our procedures are superior.
Surgical versus conservative treatment for lumbar disc herniation: a prospective cohort study

Objectives Evidence comparing the effectiveness of surgical and conservative treatment of symptomatic lumbar disc herniation is controversial. We sought to compare short-term and long-term effectiveness of surgical and conservative treatment in sciatica symptom severity and quality of life in patients with lumbar disc herniation in a routine clinical setting. Methods A prospective cohort study of a routine clinical practice registry consisting of 370 patients. Outcome measures were the North American Spine Society questionnaire and the 36-Item Short-Form Health Survey to assess patient-reported back pain, physical function, neurogenic symptoms and quality of life. Primary outcomes were back pain at 6 and 12 weeks. Standard open discectomy was assessed versus conservative interventions at 6, 12, 52 and 104 weeks. We filled in missing outcome variable values with multiple imputation, accounted for repeated measures within patients with mixed-effects models and adjusted baseline group differences in relevant prognostic indicators by inverse probability of treatment weighting. Results Surgical treatment patients reported less back pain at 6 weeks than those receiving conservative therapy (−0.97; 95% CI −1.89 to −0.09), were more likely to report ≥50% decrease in back pain symptoms from baseline to 6 weeks (48% vs 17%, risk difference: 0.34; 95% CI 0.16 to 0.47) and reported less physical function disability at 52 weeks (−3.7; 95% CI −7.4 to −0.1). The other assessments showed minimal between-group differences with CIs, including the null effect. Conclusions Compared with conservative therapy, surgical treatment provided faster relief from back pain symptoms in patients with lumbar disc herniation, but did not show a benefit over conservative treatment in midterm and long-term follow-up.
Cultural Organization: Fragments of a Theory,

Abstract : Although organizations are often said to have cultures, it is perhaps more accurate to conceive of organizations as collections of subcultures. This paper first proposes an abstract model of organizational subculture defined in terms of structural constraints of time and space, an interactional matrix, collective understandings, a transformation of socially shared into individually held knowledge and belief. The model is given particularistic substance by drawing on data from a number of organizations and occupations. Finally, social mechanisms likely to spawn organizational subcultures are outlined. (Author)
Acoustics, perception, and production of legato articulation on a digital piano.

This study investigated the perception and production of legato ("connected") articulation in repeatedly ascending and descending tone sequences on a digital piano (Roland RD-250s). Initial measurements of the synthetic tones revealed substantial decay times following key release. High tones decayed faster than low tones, as they did prior to key release, and long tones decayed sooner than short tones because of their more extensive prerelease decay. Musically trained subjects (including pianists) were asked to adjust the key overlap times (KOTs) of successive piano tones so that they sounded optimally, minimally, or maximally legato. The results supported two predictions based on the acoustic measurements: KOTs for successive tones judged to be optimally or maximally legato were greater for high than for low tones, and greater for long than for short tones, so that auditory overlap presumably remained more nearly constant. For minimal legato adjustments the effect of tone duration was reversed, however. Adjusted KOTs were also longer for relatively consonant tones (three semitones separation) than for dissonant tones (one semitone separation). Subsequently, KOTs were measured in skilled pianists' legato productions of tone sequences similar to those in the perceptual experiment. KOTs clearly increased with tone duration, an effect that was probably motoric in origin. There was no effect of tone height, suggesting that the pianists did not immediately adjust to differences in acoustic overlap. KOTs were slightly shorter for dissonant than for consonant tones. They also varied with position in the ascending-descending tone sequences, indicating that the pianists exerted strategic control over KOT as a continuous expressive dimension. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Projections of Alzheimer's disease in the United States and the public health impact of delaying disease onset.

OBJECTIVES The goal of this study was to project the future prevalence and incidence of Alzheimer's disease in the United States and the potential impact of interventions to delay disease onset. METHODS The numbers of individuals in the United States with Alzheimer's disease and the numbers of newly diagnosed cases that can be expected over the next 50 years were estimated from a model that used age-specific incidence rates summarized from several epidemiological studies, US mortality rates, and US Bureau of the Census projections. RESULTS in 1997, the prevalence of Alzheimer's disease in the United States was 2.32 million (range: 1.09 to 4.58 million); of these individuals, 68% were female. It is projected that the prevalence will nearly quadruple in the next 50 years, by which time approximately 1 in 45 Americans will be afflicted with the disease. Currently, the annual number of new incident cases in 360,000. If interventions could delay onset of the disease by 2 years, after 50 years there would be nearly 2 million fewer cases than projected; if onset could be delayed by 1 year, there would be nearly 800,000 fewer prevalent cases. CONCLUSIONS As the US population ages, Alzheimer's disease will become an enormous public health problem. interventions that could delay disease onset even modestly would have a major public health impact.
Extended Adaptive Pixel Pair Matching

Steganography is a method of hiding secret messages into a cover-media such that an unintended observer will not be aware of the existence of the hidden messages. The carrier of steganography can be various kinds of digital media such as image, audio, and video, etc. Digital images are widely transmitted over the Internet; therefore, they often serve as a carrier for covert communication. A good data-hiding method should be capable of evading visual and statistical detection while providing an adjustable payload. In [1], authors proposed Adaptive Pixel Pair Matching (APPM). The basic idea of Pixel Pair Matching (PPM) is to use the values of pixel pair as a reference coordinate, and search a coordinate in the neighborhood set of this pixel pair according to a given message digit. The pixel pair is then replaced by the searched coordinate to conceal the digit. APPM allows users to select digits in any notational system for data embedding, and thus achieves a better image quality. APPM not only resolves the low-payload problem in EMD, but also offers smaller MSE compared with OPAP and DE. Moreover, because APPM produces no artifacts in stego images and the steganalysis results are similar to those of the cover images, it offers a secure communication under adjustable embedding capacity. This paper proposes an extension to APPM, for high definition color images. EAPPM provides high data capacity without compromising on performance and security of APPM.