Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
LISA (Localhost Information Service Agent)

Grid computing has gained an increasing importance in the last years, especially in the academic environments, offering the possibility to rapidly solve complex scientific problems. The monitoring of the Grid jobs has a vital importance for analyzing the system's performance, for providing the users an appropriate feed-back, and for obtaining historical data which may be used for performance prediction. Several monitoring systems have been developed, with different strategies to collect and store the information. We shall present here a solution based on MonALISA, a distributed service for monitoring, control and global optimization of complex systems, and LISA, a component application of MonALISA which can help in optimizing other applications by means of monitoring services. The advantages of this system are, among others, flexibility, dynamic configuration, high communication performance.
Impact of drug transporter pharmacogenomics on pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic variability – considerations for drug development

Introduction: Drug transporter proteins are expressed on the cell membrane, regulating substrate exposure in systemic circulation and/or peripheral tissues. Genetic polymorphism of drug transporter genes encoding these proteins could alter the functional activity and/or protein expression, having effects on absorption, distribution, metabolism and excretion (ADME), efficacy and adverse effects. Areas covered: The authors provide the reader with an overview of the pharmacogenetics (PGx) of 12 membrane transporters. The clinical literature is summarized as to the quantitative significance on pharmacokinetics (PK) and implications on pharmacodynamics (PD) and adverse effects, due to transporter influence on intracellular drug concentrations. Expert opinion: Unlike polymorphisms for cytochrome P450s (CYPs) resulting in large magnitude of PK variation, genetic mutations for membrane transporters are typically less than threefold alteration in systemic PK for drugs with a few exceptions. However, substantially greater changes in intracellular drug levels may result. We are aware of 1880 exome variants in 12 of the best-studied transporters to date, and nearly 40% of these change the amino acid. However, the functional consequences of most of these variants remain to be determined, and have only been empirically evaluated for a handful. To the extent that genetic polymorphisms impact ADME, it is a variable that will contribute to ethnic differences due to substantial frequency differences for the known variants.
The Establishment of GABAergic and Glutamatergic Synapses on CA1 Pyramidal Neurons is Sequential and Correlates with the Development of the Apical Dendrite

We have performed a morphofunctional analysis of CA1 pyramidal neurons at birth to examine the sequence of formation of GABAergic and glutamatergic postsynaptic currents (PSCs) and to determine their relation to the dendritic arborization of pyramidal neurons. We report that at birth pyramidal neurons are heterogeneous. Three stages of development can be identified: (1) the majority of the neurons (80%) have small somata, an anlage of apical dendrite, and neither spontaneous nor evoked PSCs; (2) 10% of the neurons have a small apical dendrite restricted to the stratum radiatum and PSCs mediated only by GABAA receptors; and (3) 10% of the neurons have an apical dendrite that reaches the stratum lacunosum moleculare and PSCs mediated both by GABAA and glutamate receptors. These three groups of pyramidal neurons can be differentiated by their capacitance (Cm = 17.9 ± 0.8; 30.2 ± 1.6; 43.2 ± 3.0 pF, respectively). At birth, the synaptic markers synapsin-1 and synaptophysin labeling are present in dendritic layers but not in the stratum pyramidale, suggesting that GABAergic peridendritic synapses are established before perisomatic ones. The present observations demonstrate that GABAergic and glutamatergic synapses are established sequentially with GABAergic synapses being established first most likely on the apical dendrites of the principal neurons. We propose that different sets of conditions are required for the establishment of functional GABA and glutamate synapses, the latter necessitating more developed neurons that have apical dendrites that reach the lacunosum moleculare region.
Adverse Health Effects of Chronic Exposure to Low-Level Cadmium in Foodstuffs and Cigarette Smoke

Cadmium is a cumulative nephrotoxicant that is absorbed into the body from dietary sources and cigarette smoking. The levels of Cd in organs such as liver and kidney cortex increase with age because of the lack of an active biochemical process for its elimination coupled with renal reabsorption. Recent research has provided evidence linking Cd-related kidney dysfunction and decreases in bone mineral density in nonoccupationally exposed populations who showed no signs of nutritional deficiency. This challenges the previous view that the concurrent kidney and bone damage seen in Japanese itai-itai disease patients was the result of Cd toxicity in combination with nutritional deficiencies, notably, of zinc and calcium. Further, such Cd-linked bone and kidney toxicities were observed in people whose dietary Cd intakes were well within the provisional tolerable weekly intake (PTWI) set by the Joint Food and Agriculture Organization/World Health Organization Expert Committee on Food Additives of 1 μg/kg body weight/day or 70 μg/day. This evidence points to the much-needed revision of the current PTWI for Cd. Also, evidence for the carcinogenic risk of chronic Cd exposure is accumulating and Cd effects on reproductive outcomes have begun to emerge.
A ribosome profiling study of mRNA cleavage by the endonuclease RelE

Implicated in persistence and stress response pathways in bacteria, RelE shuts down protein synthesis by cleaving mRNA within the ribosomal A site. Structural and biochemical studies have shown that RelE cuts with some sequence specificity, which we further characterize here, and that it shows no activity outside the context of the ribosome. We obtained a global view of the effect of RelE on translation by ribosome profiling, observing that ribosomes accumulate on the 5′-end of genes through dynamic cycles of mRNA cleavage, ribosome rescue and initiation. Moreover, the addition of purified RelE to cell lysates shows promise as a method for generating ribosome footprints. In bacteria, profiling studies have suffered from relatively low resolution and have yielded no information on reading frame due to problems inherent to MNase digestion, the method used to degrade unprotected regions of mRNA. In contrast, we find that RelE yields precise 3′-ends that for the first time reveal reading frame in bacteria. Given that RelE has been shown to function in all three domains of life, RelE has potential to improve reading frame and shed light on A-site occupancy in ribosome profiling experiments more broadly.
Distributed learning in hierarchical networks

In this article, we propose distributed learning based approaches to study the evolution of a decentralized hierarchical system, an illustration of which is the smart grid. Smart grid management requires the control of non-renewable energy production and the integration of renewable energies which might be highly unpredictable. Indeed, their production levels rely on uncontrolable factors such as sunshine, wind strength, etc. First, we derive optimal control strategies on the non-renewable energy productions and compare competitive learning algorithms to forecast the energy needs of the end users. Second, we introduce an online learning algorithm based on regret minimization enabling the agents to forecast the production of renewable energies. Additionally, we define organizations of the market promoting collaborative learning which generate higher performance for the whole smart grid than full competition.
Rheological characterization and modeling of Laponite gels with application to snug-like locomotion

Using various concentrations of Laponite, results were obtained on an AR1 000 rheometer through various testing methods: stress sweep, creep tests, and large amplitude oscillatory shear tests, defined as LAOS. Concentrations of 1%, 2%, 2.5%, 3%, and 4% wt. of Laponite and distilled water solutions were tested. Laponite gels over 1% wt. concentrations were characterized as yield stress materials, as determined by stress sweep, creep test, and LAOS tests. The stress sweeps determined the yield stress, and the creep tests verified the results with a range of creep tests over and below the yield stress discovered in the stress sweep tests. The LAOS tests mapped a specific "fingerprint" of how the Laponite gel behaved on a Lissajous figure of stress and strain. These LAOS results are then fit with an evolution of deformation model in Matlab over various oscillation stresses. The results show that slug slime emulation is possible by altering the Laponite gel's properties with polymers to result in a slug slime equivalent for use in studying slug locomotion. Thesis Supervisor: Gareth H. McKinley Title: Professor of Mechanical Engineering
Word Sense Disambiguation using WSD specific WordNet of polysemy words

This paper presents a new model of WordNet that is used to disambiguate the correct sense of polysemy word based on the clue words. The related words for each sense of a polysemy word as well as single sense word are referred to as the clue words. The conventional WordNet organises nouns, verbs, adjectives and adverbs together into sets of synonyms called synsets each expressing a different concept. In contrast to the structure of WordNet, we developed a new model of WordNet that organizes the different senses of polysemy words as well as the single sense words based on the clue words. These clue words for each sense of a polysemy word as well as for single sense word are used to disambiguate the correct meaning of the polysemy word in the given context using knowledge-based Word Sense Disambiguation (WSD) algorithms. The clue word can be a noun, verb, adjective or adverb.
Market Penetration of Alternative Power train Concepts in Heavy Commercial Vehicles : A System Dynamics Approach

Diffusion of alternative powertrain concepts in heavy commercial vehicles will start in the upcoming years after electrification and natural gas engines have already been introduced for passenger cars. Numerous quantitative forecasting and technology diffusion models exist for passenger cars but cannot be transferred unchanged to heavy commercial vehicles. A system dynamics model for the diffusion of alternative powertrain concepts in heavy commercial vehicles is developed by adaptation of existing simulation models for passenger cars. The structural validity is assured by changing the structure and parameterization based on stakeholder interviews, secondary studies, and theoretical foundations. The results reveal the significance of a satisfying refueling infrastructure for alternative fuel trucks and the transitional market potential of hybrid electric trucks. The discussion of the system dynamics model emphasizes the analysis of customer demand as an essential field for future research of alternative powertrain diffusion in heavy commercial vehicles.
k-Isohedral Monotiles with Arbitrarily Large k

T he interplay between local constraints and global structure of mathematical and physical systems is both subtle and important. The macroscopic physical properties of a system depend heavily on its global symmetries, but these are often difficult to predict given only information about local interactions between the components. A rich history of work on tilings of the Euclidean plane and higher dimensional or non-Euclidean spaces has brought to light numerous examples of finite sets of tiles with rules governing local configurations that lead to surprising global structures. Perhaps the most famous now is the set of two tiles discovered by Penrose that can be used to cover the plane with no overlap but only in a pattern whose symmetries are incompatible with any crystallographic space group. [1, 2] The Penrose tiles " improved " on previous examples due to Berger [3] and others (reviewed by Grün-baum and Shephard [4]) showing that larger sets of square tiles with colored edges (or several types of bumps and complementary nicks) could force the construction of a non-periodic pattern. The discovery of a set of only two tiles that could fill space but only in a non-periodic way raised a host of interesting questions. The Penrose tilings have elegant geometric and algebraic properties [1, 5, 6]. One successful line of research has been the discovery of tile sets that have the Penrose properties but different point group symmetries in two [7, 8, 9] and three dimensions [7, 10] or in hyperbolic space [11]. In all of these cases, the rules one must follow to construct a tiling are strictly local. Any configuration in which adjacent tiles fit together to leave no holes is allowed. There is no explicit constraint on the relative positions of tiles that do not touch each other. Another question, which has proven more difficult, is the quest for a single tile (rather than a set of two) that forces a non-periodic, space-filling tiling of the plane. It may be fruitful to view this as a limiting case of the following more general problem. Any tiling can be classified according to its isohedral number k, defined as the size of the largest set of tiles for which no two can be brought into coincidence by a global symmetry (any reflection, rotation , translation, or any combination of these) that leaves the entire tiling invariant. A set of tiles for which the …
Visna of sheep; a slow, demyelinating infection.

VISNA, a slow demyelinating infection of the central nervous system of sheep was described in an earlier publication (Sigurdsson, Palsson, and Grimsson, 1957). This disease begins with pleocytosis in the cerebro-spinal fluid (c.s.f.) from 1 to 3 months after intracerebral inoculation of active material and develops extremely slowly. The pleocytosis may persist for a few weeks or as long as 2 years or more. A considerable proportion of sheep so affected later develop progressive paralysis which may appear as late as 1 or 2 years after the inoculation and leads to death. In other cases pleocytosis in the c.s. f. regresses and the animal recovers without ever showing external signs of the infection. The characteristic lesion in the brain and spinal cord is in the white matter and in many cases its nature and extent is reminiscent of the lesions seen in the human demyelinating diseases. Studies on Visna have continued and the methods employed are the same as described by Sigurdsson, Pa6lsson, and Grimsson (1957) unless otherwise stated.
On the Role of Artificial Noise in Training and Data Transmission for Secret Communications

This paper considers the joint design of training and data transmission in physical-layer secret communications, and examines the role of artificial noise (AN) in both of these phases. In particular, AN in the training phase is used to prevent the eavesdropper from obtaining accurate channel state information (CSI), whereas AN in the data transmission phase can be used to mask the transmission of confidential messages. By considering AN-assisted training and secrecy beamforming, we first derive bounds on the achievable secrecy rate and utilize them to obtain approximate secrecy rate expressions that are asymptotically tight at high SNR. By maximizing these expressions, power allocation policies between signal and AN in both training and data transmission phases are then proposed for conventional and AN-assisted training-based schemes, respectively. We show that the optimal AN power at high SNR should be non-vanishing with respect to the total power, and that AN usage can be more effective in the training phase than in the data transmission phase when the coherence time is large. However, at low SNR, we show that AN cannot be effectively utilized due to the lack of accurate CSI, and thus, one can often do better without. Numerical results are presented to verify our theoretical claims.
Surfactant free rapid synthesis of hydroxyapatite nanorods by a microwave irradiation method for the treatment of bone infection

Mesoporous nanocrystalline hydroxyapatite (nHAp) rods of size 40–75 nm long and 25 nm wide (resembling bone mineral) were synthesized under microwave irradiation without using any surfactants or modifiers. The surface area and average pore size of the nHAp were found to be 32 m2 g − 1 and 4 nm, respectively. Rifampicin (RIF) and ciprofloxacin (CPF) loaded nHAp displayed an initial burst followed by controlled release (zero order kinetics). Combination of CPF and RIF loaded nHAp showed enhanced bacterial growth inhibition against Staphylococcus aureus (S aureus), Staphylococcus epidermidis (S epidermidis) and Escherichia coli (E coli) compared to individual agent loaded nHAp and pure nHAp. In addition, decreased bacterial adhesion (90%) was observed on the surface of CPF plus RIF loaded nHAp. The biocompatibility test toward MG63 cells infected with micro-organisms showed better cell viability and alkaline phosphatase activity (ALP) for the combination of CPF and RIF loaded nHAp. The influence on cell viability of infected MG63 cells was attributed to the simultaneous and controlled release of CPF and RIF from nHAp, which prevented the emergence of subpopulations that were resistant to each other. Hence, apart from the issue of the rapid synthesis of nHAp without surfactants or modifiers, the simultaneous and controlled release of dual drugs from nHAp would be a simple, non-toxic and cost-effective method to treat bone infections.
Real time fixed order robust H∞ orientation control for 3-DOF helicopter

Helicopter dynamics are generally non linear, unstable with interaxis coupling as well. Moreover, disturbance and parametric uncertainties make traditional control structure, as PID controller, usually not effective to stabilize this system. This paper focuses on modelling and real time robust control of 3-DOF Helicopter. This study presents an improved H∞ controller for this aerial vehicle. The model of 3-DOF Helicopter is developed as a differential equations and in order to reduce the complexity of the standard H∞ structure, a fixed order control design is proposed. Simulation and experimental results are given to demonstrate the consistency of the suggested control, through a comparative study with a classical PID and standard H∞ controllers. Simulation and experimental results in the presence of the noise disturbance prove the effectiveness of the proposed control strategy.
Soluble Flt-1 Gene Delivery in Acute Myeloid Leukemic Cells Mediating a Nonviral Gene Carrier

Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) is a potent angiogenic factor involved in angiogenesis-mediated progression of acute myeloid leukemia (AML). Studies have reported the role of soluble form of fms-like tyrosine kinase (sFlT-1) delivery as an antitumor agent by inhibiting VEGF. This study investigates the outcome of delivery of a VEGF165 antagonist, soluble vascular endothelial growth factor receptor, namely sFLT-1, mediating lipofectamine 2000 in acute myeloid leukemic cells. A recombinant plasmid expressing sFLT-1 was constructed and transfected into the K562 and HL60 cells using lipofectamine 2000 transfection reagent. sFLT-1 expression/secretion in pVAX-sFLT-1 transfected cells was verified by RT-PCR and western blot. MTS assay was carried out to evaluate the effect of sFLT-1 on human umbilical vein endothelial cells and K562 and HL60 cells in vitro. Treatment with pVAX-sFLT-1 showed no association between sFLT-1 and proliferation of infected K562 and HL60 cells, while it demonstrated a significant inhibitory impact on the proliferation of HUVECs. The results of the current study imply that the combination of nonviral gene carrier and sFLT-1 possesses the potential to provide efficient tool for the antiangiogenic gene therapy of AML.
Reference model and object oriented approach for business process design and workflow management

This paper introduces an object oriented approach to business process modeling. The approach integrates decisions on organisational design with information systems development. Based on the understanding of business processes as a customer-supplier relationship a general process model is introduced which summarizes fundamental characteristics of business processes. These characteristics are the ground for an object oriented approach which extends the OO modeling-technique OMT with features for business process modeling. An example illustrates the principal approach, the main modeling steps and the methodical support. It is based on an outside (macro) and an inside (micro) view on business processes.
Fully untegrated EKG shirt based on embroidered electrical interconnections with conductive yarn and miniaturized flexible electronics

A T-shirt has been developed that measures an EKG signal. This work is different to other research in the field as it focuses more on advanced interconnection and integration technologies for electronics in textiles rather than on the EKG shirt as functionality. It is the first application using an interconnection technology based on embroidery of conductive yarn that has been developed recently and published in T. Linz et al. (2005)
Empirical studies of predicate-based software testing

We report the results of three empirical studies of fault detection and stability performance of the predicate-based BOR (Boolean Operator) testing strategy. BOR testing is used to develop test cases based on formal software specification, or based on the implementation code. We evaluated the BOR strategy with respect to some other strategies by using Boolean expressions and actual software. We applied it to software specification cause-effect graphs of a safety-related real-time control system, and to a set of N-version programs. We found that BOR testing is very effective at detecting faults in predicates, and that BOR-based approach has consistently better fault detection performance than branch testing, thorough (but informal) functional testing, simple state-based testing, and random testing. Our results indicate that BOR test selection strategy is practical and effective for detection of faulty predicates and is suitable for generation of safety-sensitive test-cases. <<ETX>>
Renin-Angiotensin System - Considerations for Hypertension and Kidney

The kidneys play a fundamental role in the long-term control of arterial pressure by regulating sodium balance and extracellular fluid volume. The renin-angiotensin system (RAS) is at the center of the regulation of hypertension and progressive renal injury. It has gradually become clear that not only systemic RAS, but also intrarenal RAS has specific effects in the pathogenesis and progression of hypertension and renal damage. All of the RAS components are exhibited in the kidney and intrarenal angiotensin II (Ang II) is formed by multiple mechanisms. The demonstration of much enhanced levels of Ang II within specific renal compartments points out selective local regulation of Ang II in the kidney, showing that intrarenal Ang II levels are regulated in a way different from circulating Ang II. The importance of the RAS in involving proper nephrogenesis is also well known, and suppression of the RAS during fetal development may play a key role in mediating the structural and physiological changes observed in models of fetal programming of hypertension.