Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Distinct mechanisms controlling rough and smooth endoplasmic reticulum contacts with mitochondria

ABSTRACT Gp78 (also known as AMFR), an endoplasmic-reticulum (ER)-associated protein degradation (ERAD) E3 ubiquitin ligase, localizes to mitochondria-associated ER and targets the mitofusin (Mfn1 and Mfn2) mitochondrial fusion proteins for degradation. Gp78 is also the cell surface receptor for autocrine motility factor (AMF), which prevents Gp78-dependent mitofusin degradation. Gp78 ubiquitin ligase activity promotes ER–mitochondria association and ER–mitochondria Ca2+ coupling, processes that are reversed by AMF. Electron microscopy of HT-1080 fibrosarcoma cancer cells identified both smooth ER (SER; ∼8 nm) and wider (∼50–60 nm) rough ER (RER)–mitochondria contacts. Both short hairpin RNA (shRNA)-mediated knockdown of Gp78 (shGp78) and AMF treatment selectively reduced the extent of RER–mitochondria contacts without impacting on SER–mitochondria contacts. Concomitant small interfering RNA (siRNA)-mediated knockdown of Mfn1 increased SER–mitochondria contacts in both control and shGp78 cells, whereas knockdown of Mfn2 increased RER–mitochondria contacts selectively in shGp78 HT-1080 cells. The mitofusins therefore inhibit ER–mitochondria interaction. Regulation of close SER–mitochondria contacts by Mfn1 and of RER–mitochondria contacts by AMF-sensitive Gp78-mediated degradation of Mfn2 define new mechanisms that regulate ER–mitochondria interactions. Summary: AMF and its Gp78 receptor regulate RER–mitochondria contacts, and Mfn1 and Mfn2 inhibit SER and RER–mitochondria contacts, respectively, defining new mechanisms of ER–mitochondria interaction.
Acute Migraine: Which Triptan?

INTRODUCTION Primary headache disorders are the most frequent reason for referral to neurologists worldwide, and most of these patients have migraine (Menken 1996; Sempere et al. 2002; Rajput et al. 1988). Migraine is a common and frequently incapacitating headache disorder characterized by episodic attacks of moderate-to-severe headache, along with various combinations of neurological, gastrointestinal and autonomic symptoms (Goadsby et al. 2002). The one-year prevalence of migraine is 11% in the United States and Western Europe (6% for males and 15–18% for females) and one quarter of migraine patients experience one or more attacks per week (Goadsby et al. 2002; Hamelsky et al. 2001). A recent report by the World Health Organization ranks migraine as one of the most disabling chronic conditions and equates a day with severe migraine to the disability associated with a day with quadriplegia, psychosis or dementia (Menken et al. 2000). The aggregate impact of migraine
The Right to Reparation in International Law for Victims of Armed Conflict

In this evaluation of the international legal standing of the right to reparation and its practical implementation at the national level, Christine Evans outlines state responsibility and examines the jurisprudence of the International Court of Justice, the Articles on State Responsibility of the International Law Commission and the convergence of norms in different branches of international law, notably human rights law, humanitarian law and international criminal law. Case studies of countries in which the United Nations has played a significant role in peace negotiations and post-conflict processes allow her to analyse to what extent transitional justice measures have promoted state responsibility for reparations, interacted with human rights mechanisms and prompted subsequent elaboration of domestic legislation and reparations policies. In conclusion, she argues for an emerging customary right for individuals to receive reparations for serious violations of human rights and a corresponding responsibility of states.
Comparison Between Reinforcement Learning Methods with Different Goal Selections in Multi-Agent Cooperation

This study discusses important factors for zero communication, multi-agent cooperation by comparing different modified reinforcement learning methods. The two learning methods used for comparison were assigned different goal selections for multi-agent cooperation tasks. The first method is called Profit Minimizing Reinforcement Learning (PMRL); it forces agents to learn how to reach the farthest goal, and then the agent closest to the goal is directed to the goal. The second method is called Yielding Action Reinforcement Learning (YARL); it forces agents to learn through a Q-learning process, and if the agents have a conflict, the agent that is closest to the goal learns to reach the next closest goal. To compare the two methods, we designed experiments by adjusting the following maze factors: (1) the location of the start point and goal; (2) the number of agents; and (3) the size of maze. The intensive simulations performed on the maze problem for the agent cooperation task revealed that the two methods successfully enabled the agents to exhibit cooperative behavior, even if the size of the maze and the number of agents change. The PMRL mechanism always enables the agents to learn cooperative behavior, whereas the YARL mechanism makes the agents learn cooperative behavior over a small number of learning iterations. In zero communication, multi-agent cooperation, it is important that only agents that have a conflict cooperate with each other.
LLC resonant DC-DC converter for grid-connected PV system

Resonant DC-DC converters have been used widely as efficient alternatives for traditional DC-DC converters that suffer from the problems of high switching losses and low power density. Resonant converters implement soft switching mechanisms like zero current switching (ZCS) and zero voltage switching (ZVS) which allows for high frequency operation together with minimum switching losses. A resonant DC-DC converter is proposed for grid connected double stage photovoltaic (PV) system. A LLC resonant converter is applied to boost the PV array terminal voltage and carry out maximum power point tracking (MPPT). The incremental conductance concept is applied using a PI controller for maximum power extraction from the PV array. A neutral point clamped three level voltage source inverter (VSI) is used to interface the PV system with the grid. The VSI controller performs two tasks; regulating the voltage of the DC bus and synchronizing injected currents with grid voltages to realize a unity power factor. A simulation study executed in MATLAB/SIMULINK environment is presented to verify the dynamic response of the proposed system to different kinds of disturbance in solar irradiance.
The Role of Neuroscience Information in Choosing a Personality Test: Not as Seductive as Expected

There is a large number of different personality tests used by practitioners for selection purposes, many of which are promoted by commercial test publishers and do not measure the Big Five. The present study examined one particular promotion factor used by at least one successful personality test: the influence of a link between the brain and personality on the decision for or against a personality test. This factor was chosen as past research has demonstrated the seductive appeal of neuroscience information on judgments in other areas. Three samples consisting of human resource practitioners, business management students, and psychology students rated two versions of a fictitious personality test, one with neuroscience information and one without. Contrary to our expectations, the personality test with neuroscience information was rated more negatively than the same test without this information. Human resource practitioners in particular reacted negatively, whereas psychology students were not influenced by our manipulation.
Neurobehavioral Assessment of Mood and Affect in Patients with Neurological Disorders

Patients with neurological disorders are particularly susceptible to a variety of affective and mood disorders. Unfortunately, several factors confound the analysis of the individual case. These factors include the fact that neurological deficits may limit the capacity of the individual to communicate mood and feelings. In some cases, the deficits might mimic affective disorders. In this article we will review the traditional presentation of affective disorders in the normal patient. We offer a discussion of specific aspects of the neurobehavioral assessment that might confound the analysis of the individual case. The confounding factors include frontal lobe deficits, aspects of impairments in language, and memory disorders. We also direct attention to motor system deficits and other problems such as sleep disorders that might contribute to a better diagnosis of affective and mood disorders. Finally, we summarize this information and present a general approach for the analysis of the individual.
Imputation-Enhanced Prediction of Septic Shock in ICU Patients

Sepsis and septic shock are potentially fatal complications that frequently occur in intensive care unit patients. The ability to predict which patients are at risk for sepsis and septic shock is therefore crucial to limiting the eects of these complications. Potential indications for sepsis risk are scattered in a wide range of clinical measurements, including high-temporal resolution physiological waveforms, Xrays and gene expression levels, etc., leading to a non-trivial prediction problem. Thus previous works on sepsis prediction have used very small, carefully curated datasets, with limited applicability. Recently however, a large, rich ICU dataset called MIMIC-II has been made publicly available, providing opportunity for more extensive modeling of this problem. However, such a large dataset inevitably comes with a substantial higher amount of missing data. In this paper, we investigate how dierent imputation methods can overcome the handicap of missing information while leveraging such a large dataset. Our results show that imputation approaches in conjunction with predictive modeling lead to a decent boost in accuracy of sepsis risk prediction and a huge improvement in prediction of septic shock, even when one is restricted to only using non-invasive measurements. Our models can be applied to any ICU patient and lead to a generalized approach for predicting sepsis related complications.
Crowdsourcing City Government: Using Tournaments to Improve Inspection Accuracy

Can open tournaments improve the quality of city services? The proliferation of big data makes it possible to use predictive analytics to better target services like hygiene inspections, but city governments rarely have the in-house talent needed for developing prediction algorithms. Cities could hire consultants, but a cheaper alternative is to crowdsource competence by making data public and offering a reward for the best algorithm. This paper provides a simple model suggesting that open tournaments dominate consulting contracts when cities have a reasonable tolerance for risk and when there is enough labor with low opportunity costs of time. We also illustrate how tournaments can be successful, by reporting on a Boston-based restaurant hygiene prediction tournament that we helped coordinate. The Boston tournament yielded algorithms—at low cost—that proved reasonably accurate when tested “out-of-sample” on hygiene inspections occurring after the algorithms were submitted. We draw upon our experience in working with Boston to provide practical suggestions for governments and other organizations seeking to run prediction tournaments in the future.
Finite frequency fault detection observer design for 2-D continuous-discrete systems in Roesser model

This paper is concerned with the problem of fault detection (FD) observer design in finite frequency domain for two-dimensional (2-D) continuous-discrete systems described by Roesser model. Two finite frequency performance indexes are introduced to measure the fault sensitivity and the disturbance robustness. On the base of the generalized Kalman-Yakubovich-Popov (KYP) lemma in 2-D continuous-discrete case, sufficient conditions ensuring simultaneously stability and finite frequency performance are derived in terms of linear matrix inequalities (LMIs). Simulation results are given to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed method.
Digital Comprehensive Summaries of Uppsala Dissertations from the Faculty of Medicine 1262 Towards Improved Diagnostics and Monitoring in Childhood Asthma Methodological and Clinical Aspects of Exhaled NO and Forced Oscillation Technique

Heijkenskjöld Rentzhog, C. 2016. Towards Improved Diagnostics and Monitoring in Childhood Asthma. Methodological and Clinical Aspects of Exhaled NO and Forced Oscillation Technique. Digital Comprehensive Summaries of Uppsala Dissertations from the Faculty of Medicine 1262. 79 pp. Uppsala: Acta Universitatis Upsaliensis. ISBN 978-91-554-9710-1. Background: Asthma is a heterogeneous disease. Diagnosis relies on symptom evaluation and lung function tests using spirometry. Symptoms can be vague. Spirometry is effort-dependent and does not reliably evaluate small airways. Allergic asthma in preschool children is not easily separated from episodic wheeze. Exhaled NO (FeNO) is a marker of allergic Th2-cytokine-driven airway inflammation. However, FeNO is not feasible in preschoolers with current devices and algorithms. Alveolar NO is an estimate of small airway involvement. Forced oscillometry (FOT) is an effortindependent lung function test assessing both large and small airways. Aims: To study clinical and methodological aspects of FeNO, alveolar NO and lung function indices by FOT. Methods: Asthmatic children and young adults and healthy controls, were included in the studies. FeNO at 50 mL/s was performed in all studies (in study III with an adapted singlebreath method with age-adjusted exhalation times). FeNO at multiple exhalation flow rates were performed in studies I, II and IV to calculate alveolar NO, as was spirometry. FOT indices were assessed in study IV. Results: The exhalation time needed to reach steady-state NO was < 4 s in subjects aged 3-4 years, and was related to subject height. FeNO was higher in ICS-naïve asthmatic children than in controls. ICS-naïve asthmatic preschool children had FeNO < 20 ppb. The oral contribution to FeNO was similar in asthmatic and healthy youths. Multiple flow rates and modelling of alveolar NO were feasible in children aged 10-18 years. Alveolar NO correlated to asthma characteristics, though not when axial diffusion correction was applied. FOT resistance measures were associated with asthma diagnosis, and small airway FOT measures were associated with asthma control, in adolescents. Conclusion: An adapted FeNO method is feasible from 4 years, and exhalation time is related to child height. Our findings emphasise the need to refine clinical cut-offs for FeNO in younger children. FOT variables discriminate between asthmatics and controls, much like spirometry. The information provided by FOT is additive to that from spirometry. Further studies of exhaled NO dynamics and FOT indices of small airways are warranted to evaluate new treatment options and possibly improve asthma control.
A Low-Power All-Digital on-Chip CMOS Oscillator for a Wireless Sensor Node

This paper presents an all-digital low-power oscillator for reference clocks in wireless body area network (WBAN) applications. The proposed on-chip complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) oscillator provides low-frequency clock signals with low power consumption, high delay resolution, and low circuit complexity. The cascade-stage structure of the proposed design simultaneously achieves high resolution and a wide frequency range. The proposed hysteresis delay cell further reduces the power consumption and hardware costs by 92.4% and 70.4%, respectively, relative to conventional designs. The proposed design is implemented in a standard performance 0.18 μm CMOS process. The measured operational frequency ranged from 7 to 155 MHz, and the power consumption was improved to 79.6 μW (@7 MHz) with a 4.6 ps resolution. The proposed design can be implemented in an all-digital manner, which is highly desirable for system-level integration.
Expression of raf oncogenes activates the PEA1 transcription factor motif

PEA1 (AP1) motif transcription enhancer activity was stimulated by v-raf and more efficiently by activated c-raf-1 or A-raf than by their normal counterparts, in agreement with a role for PEA1 in transformation by raf. Mutations in the ATP-binding site of v-raf prevented activation, suggesting that phosphorylation is somehow required.
Mitigating the antenna orientation effect on indoor Wi-Fi positioning of mobile phones

Due to the limitation of GPS in indoor environment and the rapid growth of Wi-Fi hotspots and mobile devices, indoor Wi-Fi-based positioning has been attracting growing interest. In this paper, we implement a practical and convenient indoor positioning system based on the fingerprint method and Kalman filter on Android mobile devices. This paper not only discusses the positioning algorithms, but also addresses various challenges in practical application, such as the effect of antenna orientation and signal fluctuation. Specifically, an improved mapping algorithm based on k-nearest neighbors (K-NN) is introduced to tackle the orientation effect, and an orientation-based fingerprint database is established through studying the received signal strength patterns in different directions to handle the large fluctuation caused by orientation change. Finally, our experimental result indicates that the proposed indoor positioning system can achieve up to 1.2 meters accuracy in 90 percent of time, which is sufficient for supporting various navigation and infotainment services in large-scale indoor environments (e.g., shopping malls).
Experimental investigation of multiphase transformer fed induction motor

The production of multiphase system was a challenging task in earlier days, multiphase means more than three phases and very much popular now a days due to eminent features compared to conventional three-phase counter parts. In order to obtain the multiphase machine, it requires same phase input with respect to the no. of phases at the output. This paper mainly focuses on five phases because even after failure of one phase, the performance does not degrade much. Therefore, to attain a five phase supply a multiphase transformer connection is proposed. The induction motor is (five phase) fed by the output of the proposed transformer connection scheme. The performance of the motor is analyzed by an experimental investigation through experiment set up and MATLABR@, the simulation results are presented in the form of computer traces and high traded performance of the machine are discussed, under balanced as well as unbalanced supply conditions.
A Linux implementation and analysis of the eXplicit Control Protocol (XCP)

The eXplicit Control Protocol (XCP) was released as an RFC draft on October 17, 2004. In this paper we have looked into the theory behind the development of XCP. In addition, we created a working Linux implementation of XCP as part of our investigation of the protocol. This paper also discusses the performance results we got by using our implementation of XCP, and compares them to TCP and other papers regarding XCP. The XCP protocol has been developed as a new way to improve the congestion control, bandwidth utilization and congestion avoidance algorithm in TCP. In contrast to most other enhancements of the TCP protocol, XCP does not try to be backward compatible with existing TCP implementations. XCP introduces a new layer in the TCP/IP stack, which is used to add an XCP header in front of the regular TCP packet. The main difference between TCP and XCP is that an XCP stream allows routers to explicit set how much bandwidth to allow in the XCP packets passing through them. By using explicit feedback from the network, XCP promises to prevent queue buildup in routers and packet drops caused by congestion. XCP allows the use of more aggressive algorithms, than in use by TCP, in order to quickly distribute any available bandwidth amongst XCP-enabled TCP-flows. Our Linux implementation was based on the original XCP RFC draft. We implemented XCP as a separate protocol, situated between TCP and IP in the Linux kernel. Our goal was to create an implementation of XCP that would run without the need to change the existing TCP or IP code. By creating the XCP protocol as a Linux kernel module, we managed to achieve this goal. However, the very nature of XCP made implementing it as a separate protocol difficult, as the XCP protocol needed intimate knowledge of various TCP concepts; such as the congestion window and TCP-flows. Simulations have shown XCP to be able to prevent queue buildup in routers, while at the same time maximizing throughput. Our tests managed to confirm these results, showing that XCP can be superior to TCP in some environments. However, our tests also show that XCP is vulnerable to a number of common scenarios, where it fails to work as intended. Scenarios such as half-duplex links, bursty applications and incorrect router setup make the XCP routers return invalid feedback back to the XCP hosts. Incorrect feedback from the …
A linguistically-motivated speaker recognition front-end through session variability compensated cepstral trajectories in phone units

In this paper a new linguistically-motivated front-end is presented showing major performance improvements from the use of session variability compensated cepstral trajectories in phone units. Extending our recent work on temporal contours in linguistic units (TCLU), we have combined the potential of those unit-dependent trajectories with the ability of feature domain factor analysis techniques to compensate session variability effects, which has resulted in consistent and discriminant phone-dependent trajectories across different recording sessions. Evaluating with NIST SRE04 English-only 1s1s task, we report EERs as low as 5.40% from the trajectories in a single phone, with 29 different phones producing each of them EERs smaller than 10%, and additionally showing an excellent calibration performance per unit. The combination of different units shows significant complementarity reporting EERs as 1.63% (100×DCF=0.732) from a simple sum fusion of 23 best phones, or 0.68% (100×DCF=0.304) when fusing them through logistic regression.
Managing DNA polymerases: Coordinating DNA replication, DNA repair, and DNA recombination

Two important and timely questions with respect to DNA replication, DNA recombination, and DNA repair are: (i) what controls which DNA polymerase gains access to a particular primer-terminus, and (ii) what determines whether a DNA polymerase hands off its DNA substrate to either a different DNA polymerase or to a different protein(s) for the completion of the specific biological process? These questions have taken on added importance in light of the fact that the number of known template-dependent DNA polymerases in both eukaryotes and in prokaryotes has grown tremendously in the past two years. Most notably, the current list now includes a completely new family of enzymes that are capable of replicating imperfect DNA templates. This UmuC-DinB-Rad30-Rev1 superfamily of DNA polymerases has members in all three kingdoms of life. Members of this family have recently received a great deal of attention due to the roles they play in translesion DNA synthesis (TLS), the potentially mutagenic replication over DNA lesions that act as potent blocks to continued replication catalyzed by replicative DNA polymerases. Here, we have attempted to summarize our current understanding of the regulation of action of DNA polymerases with respect to their roles in DNA replication, TLS, DNA repair, DNA recombination, and cell cycle progression. In particular, we discuss these issues in the context of the Gram-negative bacterium, Escherichia coli, that contains a DNA polymerase (Pol V) known to participate in most, if not all, of these processes.