Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Demand Response From Household Customers: Experiences From a Pilot Study in Norway

This paper presents experiences from a pilot study focusing on daily demand response from households, utilizing smart metering, remote load control, pricing based on the hourly spot price combined with a time of day network tariff, and a token provided to the customers indicating peak hours. The observed demand response was 1 kWh/h for customers with standard electrical water heaters. By aggregating this response, the potential for demand response from 50% of Norwegian households can be estimated at 1000 MWh/h (4.2% of registered peak load demand in Norway). A cost-effective realization of this potential should have high focus when considering smart metering technology. From a market perspective, a potential load reduction of this size should be bid into the day ahead market. Demand response to price (the day after) will not affect the price, but might create imbalances and the need for activating balancing resources, creating additional costs.
Toward a Web-based Speech Corpus for Algerian Dialectal Arabic Varieties

The success of machine learning for automatic speech processing has raised the need for large scale datasets. However, collecting such data is often a challenging task as it implies significant investment involving time and money cost. In this paper, we devise a recipe for building largescale Speech Corpora by harnessing Web resources namely YouTube, other Social Media, Online Radio and TV. We illustrate our methodology by building KALAM’DZ, An Arabic Spoken corpus dedicated to Algerian dialectal varieties. The preliminary version of our dataset covers all major Algerian dialects. In addition, we make sure that this material takes into account numerous aspects that foster its richness. In fact, we have targeted various speech topics. Some automatic and manual annotations are provided. They gather useful information related to the speakers and sub-dialect information at the utterance level. Our corpus encompasses the 8 major Algerian Arabic sub-dialects with 4881 speakers and more than 104.4 hours segmented in utterances of at least 6 s.
Bardet–Biedl syndrome: Genetics, molecular pathophysiology, and disease management

Primary cilia play a key role in sensory perception and various signaling pathways. Any defect in them leads to group of disorders called ciliopathies, and Bardet–Biedl syndrome (BBS, OMIM 209900) is one among them. The disorder is clinically and genetically heterogeneous, with various primary and secondary clinical manifestations, and shows autosomal recessive inheritance and highly prevalent in inbred/consanguineous populations. The disease mapped to at least twenty different genes (BBS1-BBS20), follow oligogenic inheritance pattern. BBS proteins localizes to the centerosome and regulates the biogenesis and functions of the cilia. In BBS, the functioning of various systemic organs (with ciliated cells) gets deranged and results in systemic manifestations. Certain components of the disease (such as obesity, diabetes, and renal problems) when noticed earlier offer a disease management benefit to the patients. However, the awareness of the disease is comparatively low and most often noticed only after severe vision loss in patients, which is usually in the first decade of the patient's age. In the current review, we have provided the recent updates retrieved from various types of scientific literature through journals, on the genetics, its molecular relevance, and the clinical outcome in BBS. The review in nutshell would provide the basic awareness of the disease that will have an impact in disease management and counseling benefits to the patients and their families.
Axon guidance at the midline of the developing CNS

Bilaterally symmetric animals must be capable of transmitting information between the left and right sides of their body to integrate sensory input and to coordinate motor control. Thus, many neurons in the central nervous system (CNS) of a wide variety of higher organisms project so‐called commissural axons across the midline. Interestingly, these axons are never observed to re‐cross the midline. On the other hand, some neurons project axons that remain on their own (ipsilateral) side of the CNS, without ever crossing the midline. Recent studies demonstrate that specialized cells which reside at the ventral midline of the developing vertebrate spinal cord and Drosophila ventral nerve cord play critical roles in regulating the guidance of both crossing and non‐crossing axons. For example, these cells secrete positively‐acting guidance cues that attract commissural axons over long distances to the midline of the CNS. Furthermore, short‐range interactions between guidance cues present on the surfaces of midline cells, and their receptors expressed on the surfaces of pathfinding axons, allow commissural axons to cross the midline and prevent ipsilaterally projecting axons from entering the midline. Remarkably, as commissural axons cross over to the opposite side of the CNS, the molecular composition of their surfaces is dynamically altered so that they become responsive to repulsive midline guidance cues that they had previously ignored. Thus, this exquisitely controlled guidance system prevents commissural axons from crossing the midline more than once. Strikingly, many of the molecular mechanisms that control midline guidance appear to be evolutionarily conserved. Anat Rec (New Anat) 261:176–197, 2000. © 2000 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Statistical expression deconvolution from mixed tissue samples

Motivation: Global expression patterns within cells are used for purposes ranging from the identification of disease biomarkers to basic understanding of cellular processes. Unfortunately, tissue samples used in cancer studies are usually composed of multiple cell types and the non-cancerous portions can significantly affect expression profiles. This severely limits the conclusions that can be made about the specificity of gene expression in the cell-type of interest. However, statistical analysis can be used to identify differentially expressed genes that are related to the biological question being studied. Results: We propose a statistical approach to expression deconvolution from mixed tissue samples in which the proportion of each component cell type is unknown. Our method estimates the proportion of each component in a mixed tissue sample; this estimate can be used to provide estimates of gene expression from each component. We demonstrate our technique on xenograft samples from breast cancer research and publicly available experimental datasets found in the National Center for Biotechnology Information Gene Expression Omnibus repository. Availability: R code (http://www.r-project.org/) for estimating sample proportions is freely available to non-commercial users and available at http://www.med.miami.edu/medicine/x2691.xml Contact: jclarke@med.miami.edu
Best measure of ischemic penumbra: positron emission tomography.

The ischemic penumbra was defined by Astrup et al1 as brain tissue perfused at a level within the thresholds of functional impairment and morphological integrity, which has the capacity to recover if perfusion is improved. Because tolerance of tissue to ischemic damage is dependent on residual flow and duration of flow disturbance,2 the ischemic penumbra characterizes a transient condition: it exists for a short period even in the center of ischemia, and may extend to increasing time periods in the more or less hypoperfused surrounding tissue. The concept of the ischemic penumbra has been developed from animal experiments in which regional flow measurements could be clearly related to the functional/morphological state of the tissue. Its transfer to the clinical situation requires the definition of 3 critical values that usually cannot be assessed in the acute stage of ischemic stroke: (1) quantitation of flow in the core and the periphery of the territory with impaired blood supply; (2) state of the various tissue compartments within the affected area with respect to irreversibly damaged or preserved morphology; and (3) the time period the respective tissue compartments have been exposed to more or less severe hypoperfusion. As all …
The Pathology of Malignant Catarrhal Fever, With an Emphasis on Ovine Herpesvirus 2

The enigmatic pathogenesis of malignant catarrhal fever (MCF) involves dysregulated immune responses in susceptible ruminant species. Economically important outbreaks of MCF are due to 2 of the 10 viruses currently comprising the malignant catarrhal fever virus group: ovine herpesvirus 2 (OvHV-2) and alcelaphine herpesvirus 1 (AlHV-1). Attempts to develop effective vaccines for this group of viruses in the 1970s were sufficiently discouraging that they were temporarily abandoned. This review focuses on recent efforts to understand the pathogenesis of MCF, particularly the sheep-associated form of the disease, with the goal of developing rational control methods, including vaccination. The past 2 decades have seen several advances, including recognition of new members of the MCF virus group, better diagnostic assays, induction of disease by a natural route (aerosol), and clearer understanding of OvHV-2’s shedding patterns by domestic sheep. A consistent theme in experimental studies of OvHV-2 in susceptible species is that there are 2 peaks of OvHV-2 gene expression: a preclinical peak involving the respiratory tract and a second in multiple organ systems leading to clinical disease. Latent and lytic gene expression may coexist in tissues during clinical stages in symptomatic animals.
Structure of the VirB4 ATPase, alone and bound to the core complex of a type IV secretion system

Type IV secretion (T4S) systems mediate the transfer of proteins and DNA across the cell envelope of bacteria. These systems play important roles in bacterial pathogenesis and in horizontal transfer of antibiotic resistance. The VirB4 ATPase of the T4S system is essential for both the assembly of the system and substrate transfer. In this article, we present the crystal structure of the C-terminal domain of Thermoanaerobacter pseudethanolicus VirB4. This structure is strikingly similar to that of another T4S ATPase, VirD4, a protein that shares only 12% sequence identity with VirB4. The VirB4 domain purifies as a monomer, but the full-length protein is observed in a monomer-dimer equilibrium, even in the presence of nucleotides and DNAs. We also report the negative stain electron microscopy structure of the core complex of the T4S system of the Escherichia coli pKM101 plasmid, with VirB4 bound. In this structure, VirB4 is also monomeric and bound through its N-terminal domain to the core’s VirB9 protein. Remarkably, VirB4 is observed bound to the side of the complex where it is ideally placed to play its known regulatory role in substrate transfer.
Understanding Smart Growth Savings What We Know About Public Infrastructure and Service Cost Savings, And How They are Misrepresented By Critics

Land use patterns affect the costs of providing public infrastructure and services such as roads, water, sewage, garbage collection, school transport and mail delivery. Various studies show that these costs tend to increase with sprawl (dispersed development outside existing urban boundaries), and can be reduced with Smart Growth (compact, planned development within existing urban boundaries). Smart Growth can save hundreds of dollars annually per capita compared with providing comparable public services to sprawled destinations. Most current development charges, utility fees and taxes fail to accurately reflect these location-related cost differences, representing a subsidy of sprawl. More accurate pricing can result in significantly more efficient land use development patterns, providing overall benefits to consumers. This paper summarizes estimates of Smart Growth savings, and critiques a study by Cox and Utt which claims that such savings are insignificant. That study misrepresents Smart Growth and contains several critical errors.
[Insulin protects the loss of colonic interstitial cells of Cajal and acetylcholine in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus].

OBJECTIVE A deficiency of interstitial cells of Cajal (ICC) and neuronal nitric oxide synthase (nNOS) in the gastrointestinal muscle layer have been shown in both diabetic animal models and patients with diabetes mellitus (DM), but little is known about the alteration of colonic acetylcholine (Ach) expression in patients with DM, and it is remain unclear whether those changes are related to different treatments. This study examined whether the ICC density, or the expression of Ach containing nerves in the colon, was altered in patients with type 2 DM, and whether those changes were protected by insulin treatment. METHODS Paraffin embedded colonic specimens that have been fixed in 10% formalin were collected from 81 patients with colon cancer who underwent colectomy (non-DM as controls, M/F = 17/12; DM with insulin treatment, M/F = 12/12; DM with oral medication treatment, M/F = 19/9). Serial sections were stained with antibodies to c-kit and Ach using immunohistochemical method.Meanwhile, mast cells were stained with toluidine blue. The ICC number was calculated by subtraction of the number of mast cells from the number of c-kit positive cells. The number of ICC and the expression of Ach were compared among the controls and DM patients with different treatment. RESULTS C-kit positive cells, which located within the inner muscle layer and muscular plexus mainly, were expressed in control group and they were much more regular and less vacuolization than that of controls. The density of both intramuscular-ICC (ICC-IM) and myenteric ICC (ICC-MY) were much lower in patients with DM than that in the controls. Furthermore, ICC density in DM patients who underwent insulin treatment was higher than that in patients with oral medical therapy (control vs insulin vs oral medication group: ICC-MY, 60.12 vs 23.95 vs 16.49, P = 0.000; ICC-IM, 41.79 vs 33.18 vs 25.88, P = 0.000). In addition, the alteration of Ach expression in colonic enteric nerves was similar as the pattern of ICC (control vs insulin vs oral medication group: 147.50 vs 103.82 vs 86.38, P = 0.000). There was no influence of gender and age to the alteration of ICC and Ach. CONCLUSIONS The colonic ICC and Ach in DM patients is irregular, and the distribution is loose, with lots of vacuolization. The density of clonic ICC-IM and ICC-MY were lower in DM patients than that in controls accompanied with downregulation of enteric nerves Ach expression. These alterations could be protected by insulin treatment.
European standardization: mobility without borders

A very recent trend at European level is implementation of mobility 'without borders' by supporting student mobility in and beyond the European Higher Education Area and supporting processes to aid graduate employability and recruitment. This paper will outline The relevant standardization activities and initiatives, occurring at a European and national level, aiming to support the European-wide interoperability of information technologies systems, will be presented.
Criteria for the successful completion of medical dissertations – A multicenter study

Objective: In order to acquire the academic title “doctor” in Germany, it is essential to complete a dissertation. A high number of publications at German universities are based on medical dissertations. The reasons why some dissertations are successfully accomplished and why some are not completed – despite far-reaching consequences – have been barely investigated to date. Methods: 467 students in the ninth semester at five German universities participated in this study in 2003. A questionnaire (return rate 93.5%) was used, asking details about the circumstances of a current or completed dissertation (Group A), an abandoned doctoral project (Group B), or one which was never started (Group C). Results: Students in Group A referred significantly more often to their supervisor as being essential for choosing the topic of their dissertation project. Furthermore, students in Group A worked together with other students in self-organized support groups to debate methodological questions. They also discussed their project more frequently with a statistician. Students in Group C gave “interference with undergraduate studies” and “no time” as the most common reasons for not starting a dissertation. Conclusions: As the supervisor seems to play an important role for the successful completion of dissertations, universities should think about professional programs that would prepare supervisors for this educational task. Courses for doctoral candidates in scientific research methodology could also be a helpful tool toward successfully accomplishing a doctoral thesis or scientific projects in general.
A multivariate key-establishment scheme for wireless sensor networks

In this paper, we propose a novel threshold key pre-distribution scheme for wireless sensor networks using symmetric multivariate polynomials. In the proposed scheme, called multi-variate key pre-distribution scheme (MKPS), every node is assigned a unique d-tuple as its ID. The ID assignment mechanism is used to distribute shares of multivariate polynomials among nodes prior to the network deployment. After the deployment, some nodes can establish exactly (d-1) common keys. The final secret key is a symmetric combination of all these keys. We show that this feature significantly improves the security of MKPS over previous schemes. We also propose a procedure to choose a dimension d that is optimal with respect to network resiliency and network connectivity. We provide complete security and performance evaluations of MKPS. Results reveal that the proposed scheme provides robustness in design and outperforms the previous schemes in term of the network resiliency against the node capture without increasing the memory requirement.
Multi-device activity logging

In this paper we are presenting i-Log, a system which is able to collect user's personal information, generate streams of data from smartphone's integrated sensors and attached wearable devices. We decided to focus our attention on these general purpose devices as we believe they can generate truthful readings because of their easy integration with our day-life activities, while invasive dedicated logging devices can alter our normal routines. The system consists of a Mobile Application that collects sensor data from the smartphone and from additional external wearable devices through a Bluetooth connection. We designed it to be user friendly, transparent, unobtrusive and able to provide smart sensing strategies in order to preserve battery life. Moreover, i-Log has a back-end server that accepts streams of data from the application and stores them into a persistent storage system that can be queried for further real time analysis.
Past, present and future scalability of the Uintah software

The past, present and future scalability of the Uintah Software framework is considered with the intention of describing a successful approach to large scale parallelism and also considering how this approach may need to be extended for future architectures. Uintah allows the solution of large scale fluid-structure interaction problems through the use of fluid flow solvers coupled with particle-based solids methods. In addition Uintah uses a combustion solver to tackle a broad and challenging class of turbulent combustion problems. A unique feature of Uintah is that it uses an asynchronous task-based approach with automatic load balancing to solve complex problems using techniques such as adaptive mesh refinement. At present, Uintah is able to make full use of present-day massively parallel machines as the result of three phases of development over the past dozen years. These development phases have led to an adaptive scalable run-time system that is capable of independently scheduling tasks to multiple CPUs cores and GPUs on a node. In the case of solving incompressible low-mach number applications it is also necessary to use linear solvers and to consider the challenges of radiation problems. The approaches adopted to achieve present scalability are described and their extensions to possible future architectures is considered.
An analytical method for finding the maximum crosstalk in lossless-coupled transmission lines

The crosstalk in a system containing n(n>or=2) lossless microstrip transmission lines is formulated as a linear function in time. The maximum crosstalk is computed by evaluating the crosstalk at certain breakpoints in time. The technique also provides the pattern (rising or falling) of input voltages and their relative delays for which the maximum crosstalk occurs. This pattern is usually determined by the system parameters. Since the maximum crosstalk determines the faulty vs fault-free operation, the pattern found could be used for testing integrated logic circuits during the design stage. <<ETX>>
Introduction: The 11th International Circumpolar Remote Sensing Symposium

The 11th International Circumpolar Remote Sensing Symposium (ICRSS) was held at the Scott Polar Research Institute in Cambridge from 20 to 24 September 2010. The ICRSS series began in Yellowknife in 1990 and has been held biennially since then. The 2010 meeting was the sixth time it had been held in Europe and the second time in the UK, but the first time in Cambridge. 35 people attended the meeting, from 11 countries, and over 20 oral presentations were made in addition to a well-attended poster session. The majority of the oral presentations have been developed into papers and appear in this issue of Polar Record, having been subjected to the normal peer review and editorial process, and they give a fair idea of the range of topics covered at this lively meeting. Sessions at the symposium were organised around the themes of cross-platform observations, ice and snow, topography, vegetation and observations of animals. The last theme produced three fascinating presentations on the monitoring of penguins, seals and fish from spaceborne and airborne platforms. The papers in this issue address two broad areas: terrestrial ice and snow, and high-latitude vegetation (sea ice, and polar zoology, were also represented at the meeting). All of them deal to a greater or lesser extent with technological innovation in assessing, mapping and monitoring these aspects of the polar regions, and several of them focus strongly on the development of new methods, or the assessment of newly available datasets. This issue of Polar Record thus provides a limited snapshot of the ‘state of the art’ in remote sensing of polar regions. It is the result of sustained effort by the authors of the papers, and the team of anonymous reviewers. I am glad here to record my gratitude to all of them, and to the helpers at the symposium, particularly Katya Shipigina, Allen Pope and Claire Lampitt.