Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Fault diagnosis of gearbox based on matching pursuit

Matching pursuit is effective in matching the characteristic structure of signals and extracting the time-frequency features directly. It is employed to analyze the vibration signals of a gearbox under healthy and faulty statuses. Based on a compound dictionary, the periodic impulses characterizing the vibration of localized damaged gears are extracted in joint time-frequency domain, and the localized gear damage is detected and located. The analysis validates the effectiveness of matching pursuit in detecting and locating localized gear damage.
Gliotoxin Is a Virulence Factor of Aspergillus fumigatus: gliP Deletion Attenuates Virulence in Mice Immunosuppressed with Hydrocortisone

ABSTRACT Gliotoxin is an immunosuppressive mycotoxin long suspected to be a potential virulence factor of Aspergillus fumigatus. Recent studies using mutants lacking gliotoxin production, however, suggested that the mycotoxin is not important for pathogenesis of A. fumigatus in neutropenic mice resulting from treatment with cyclophosphomide and hydrocortisone. In this study, we report on the pathobiological role of gliotoxin in two different mouse strains, 129/Sv and BALB/c, that were immunosuppressed by hydrocortisone alone to avoid neutropenia. These strains of mice were infected using the isogenic set of a wild type strain (B-5233) and its mutant strain (gliPΔ) and the the glip reconstituted strain (gliPR). The gliP gene encodes a nonribosomal peptide synthase that catalyzes the first step in gliotoxin biosynthesis. The gliPΔ strain was significantly less virulent than strain B-5233 or gliPR in both mouse models. In vitro assays with culture filtrates (CFs) of B-5233, gliPΔ, and gliPR strains showed the following: (i) deletion of gliP abrogated gliotoxin production, as determined by high-performance liquid chromatography analysis; (ii) unlike the CFs from strains B-5233 and gliPR, gliPΔ CFs failed to induce proapoptotic processes in EL4 thymoma cells, as tested by Bak conformational change, mitochondrial-membrane potential disruption, superoxide production, caspase 3 activation, and phosphatidylserine translocation. Furthermore, superoxide production in human neutrophils was strongly inhibited by CFs from strain B-5233 and the gliPR strain, but not the gliPΔ strain. Our study confirms that gliotoxin is an important virulence determinant of A. fumigatus and that the type of immunosuppression regimen used is important to reveal the pathogenic potential of gliotoxin.
Perceptual experiments on enhanced and slowed down speech sentences for second language acquisition

This paper investigates the perception of speech signals that have been enhanced and slowed down selectively, with the view of improving oral comprehension for second language acquisition. Our modifications are applied on a small number of acoustic cues, i.e. bursts of unvoiced stops, unvoiced fricative noises and rapid spectral transition regions. Bursts and frication noises were amplified, and spectral transitions were amplified and slowed down. We exploit energy and spectral criteria to localize bursts and frication noises, and spectral variation function to spot rapid transitions. The perception experiment involved students who learn French as a foreign language. The subjects were asked to fill in gaps in incomplete transcriptions of 50 French sentences. The average identification rate increases from 72% up to 81% when the enhancement is applied alone, and up to 86% when the two modifications are applied simultaneously. The strengths of our approach are the robustness of acoustic cue detection and the fully automatic strategy.
Long-term mortality after screening for colorectal cancer.

BACKGROUND In randomized trials, fecal occult-blood testing reduces mortality from colorectal cancer. However, the duration of the benefit is unknown, as are the effects specific to age and sex. METHODS In the Minnesota Colon Cancer Control Study, 46,551 participants, 50 to 80 years of age, were randomly assigned to usual care (control) or to annual or biennial screening with fecal occult-blood testing. Screening was performed from 1976 through 1982 and from 1986 through 1992. We used the National Death Index to obtain updated information on the vital status of participants and to determine causes of death through 2008. RESULTS Through 30 years of follow-up, 33,020 participants (70.9%) died. A total of 732 deaths were attributed to colorectal cancer: 200 of the 11,072 deaths (1.8%) in the annual-screening group, 237 of the 11,004 deaths (2.2%) in the biennial-screening group, and 295 of the 10,944 deaths (2.7%) in the control group. Screening reduced colorectal-cancer mortality (relative risk with annual screening, 0.68; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.56 to 0.82; relative risk with biennial screening, 0.78; 95% CI, 0.65 to 0.93) through 30 years of follow-up. No reduction was observed in all-cause mortality (relative risk with annual screening, 1.00; 95% CI, 0.99 to 1.01; relative risk with biennial screening, 0.99; 95% CI, 0.98 to 1.01). The reduction in colorectal-cancer mortality was larger for men than for women in the biennial-screening group (P=0.04 for interaction). CONCLUSIONS The effect of screening with fecal occult-blood testing on colorectal-cancer mortality persists after 30 years but does not influence all-cause mortality. The sustained reduction in colorectal-cancer mortality supports the effect of polypectomy. (Funded by the Veterans Affairs Merit Review Award Program and others.).
MapReduce Implementation of Strassen's Algorithm for Matrix Multiplication

Consider the multiplication of two n×n matrices. A straight-forward sequential algorithm for computing the product takes Θ(n3) time. Strassen [20] presented an algorithm that takes Θ(n1g 7) time; lg denotes logarithm to the base 2; lg 7 is about 2.81. Now, consider the implementation of these two algorithms (straight-forward and Strassen) in the mapReduce framework. Several papers have studied mapReduce implementations of the straight-forward algorithm; this algorithm can be implemented using a constant number (typically, one or two) of mapReduce passes. In this paper, we study the mapReduce implementation of Strassen's algorithm. If we unwind the recursion, Strassen's algorithm consists of three parts, Parts I-III. Direct mapReduce implementations of the three parts take lg n, 1 and lg n passes, respectively; total number of passes is 2 lg n+1. We show that Part I can be implemented in 2 passes, with total work Θ(n1g 7), and reducer size and reducer workload o(n). We believe that Part III can also be implemented, with small reducer size and workload, in a constant number of passes; this is future work.
Etiological classification of presbycusis in Turkish population according to audiogram configuration.

OBJECTIVES This study aims to classify age related hearing loss in Turkish population according to Schuknecht audiometric configurations for presbycusis and investigate the most common etiologies. PATIENTS AND METHODS A total of 1,134 patients (568 males, 566 females; mean age 70.5±7.7 years; range 55 to 80 years) with age related hearing loss were included in the study. Audiograms of patients were classified into three categories: high frequency steeply sloping (HFSS), flat, and high frequency gently sloping (HFGS). Speech discrimination scores were evaluated and compared. RESULTS In the study population, HFSS audiogram configuration was the most frequently observed (48.5%), followed by HFGS configuration (26.9%), and flat configuration (24.5%), respectively. While HFSS audiogram configuration was statistically significantly more common in males, flat audiogram configuration was statistically significantly more common in females (p=0.0001). HFSS group mean air conduction threshold were statistically significantly higher than flat and HFGS groups (p=0.0001). No statistically significantly difference was detected in terms of speech discrimination scores between three groups (p=0.796). CONCLUSION Results of this study suggest that, in Turkish population, while sensory presbycusis is more common in males, strial presbycusis is more common in females. No difference was detected in terms of the prevalence of cochlear presbycusis in males and females (p=0.0001).
Severe Food Protein-Induced Enterocolitis Syndrome to Cow’s Milk in Infants

Cow’s milk is the most common cause of food-protein-induced enterocolitis syndrome (FPIES). The aim of this study was to examine the clinical features and treatment outcomes of infants with severe FPIES to cow’s milk. We reviewed all infants ≤12 months of age who were hospitalized and diagnosed with severe FPIES to cow’s milk between 1 January 2011 and 31 August 2014 in a tertiary Children’s Medical Center in China. Patients’ clinical features, feeding patterns, laboratory tests, and treatment outcomes were reviewed. A total of 12 infants met the inclusion criteria. All infants presented with diarrhea, edema, and hypoalbuminemia. Other main clinical manifestations included regurgitation/vomiting, skin rashes, low-grade fever, bloody and/or mucous stools, abdominal distention, and failure to thrive. They had clinical remission with resolution of diarrhea and significant increase of serum albumin after elimination of cow’s milk protein (CMP) from the diet. The majority of infants developed tolerance to the CMP challenge test after 12 months of avoidance. In conclusion, we reported the clinical experience of 12 infants with severe FPIES to cow’s milk, which resulted in malnutrition, hypoproteinemia, and failure to thrive. Prompt treatment with CMP-free formula is effective and leads to clinical remission of FPIES in infants.
Curriculum coherence model knowledge-based for electronics engineering

These initiatives are centered in R & D activities in the FESSANJOSE APPLYING Information and ICT architectures to face the digital growth of the university data. Also a Knowledge based system model to face the new methodological strategy on Higher Education in Colombia is presented: the propaedeutic cycles: first with a set of analytical and mathematical tools that allow quantification of management and curricular knowledge: FESSJ-PROP © model, which is a structural system for analyzing and structuring cohesion and consistency between these cycles. Among the purposes and scope of the linear model of consistency in curricular knowledge are the de-complexified understanding of the methodological strategy for propaedeutical cycles and college resource optimization. We illustrate its application in the area of electronic engineering to the propedeutical cycles: Technical Professional (Electronics-Maintenance) and Technology (Telecommunications). Curricular coherence matrix is an analytical tool of the large academic information as a linear mathematical structure, enabling the justification of curriculum and making sense as a whole organized and complex. Academic coherence and consistency refers to logical-cognitive relations between the parts of the architecture of an educational system. It is both an instrument of analysis as a linear mathematical structure it provides, enabling the justification of a curriculum of electronic engineering by propedeutical cycles and weaves the coherence and consistency in internal and external.
What Makes an Online Relationship Successful? Clues from Couples who Met in Cyberspace

From a larger study of 68 couples who met online, eight couples were chosen as cases representing the sample to illustrate two kinds of outcomes: "successful," continuing couples, or "unsuccessful," relationships that ended. All respondent accounts from questionnaire data, interviews, and e-mail correspondence between partners were closely examined. Four factors emerged which seemed to differentiate among the two types of relationships begun online: (1) meeting place, where they first encountered each other online; (2) obstacles, barriers to getting together overcome by the couples, such as distance and previous relationships; (3) timing, period spent writing or talking before meeting offline, and how intimate they became before meeting offline; and (4) conflict resolution, ability of the people to resolve problems in communication. People who first met in places based upon common interests, who communicated for long periods of time before meeting offline without too much intimacy, who worked through barriers to becoming closer, and who negotiated conflict well tended to stay together. Future research and analysis can further determine how the process of forming and maintaining successful relationships begun online compares to those started offline.
Presynaptic modulation by neuromedin U of sensory synaptic transmission in rat spinal dorsal horn neurones

Neuromedin U (NMU) is a brain–gut peptide first isolated from the spinal cord. Recent studies on NMU and its receptors have suggested a role of NMU in sensory transmission. Here we report on the localization of NMU in sensory neurones, and the actions of NMU in the substantia gelatinosa (SG) and the deep layer of the dorsal horn (laminae III–V) in adult rat spinal cord slices using the patch‐clamp technique. An immunohistochemical study revealed that NMU peptide was present in most of the dorsal root ganglion neurones. In the spinal cord, NMU‐immunoreactive neurones were located in the deep layer (laminae III–V), but not in the SG. However, NMU‐positive axon terminals were observed in the SG as well as the deep layer. Bath‐applied NMU (10 μm) increased the frequency, but not amplitude, of miniature excitatory postsynaptic currents (mEPSCs) in the SG and deep layer neurones by 146 ± 14% (P < 0.01, n= 17) and 174 ± 21% (P < 0.01, n= 6), respectively, without inducing any postsynaptic membrane currents recorded in tetrodotoxin. On the other hand, NMU did not affect miniature inhibitory postsynaptic currents recorded in tetrodotoxin. These findings, taken together, suggest that NMU acts on the presynaptic terminals of the primary afferent fibres working as an autocrine/paracrine neuromodulator to increase mEPSC frequency of the SG and deep layer neurones. This may account for the spinal mechanisms of the NMU‐induced hyperalgesia reported previously.
Numerical simulation of droplet-based microfluidic chip interfacing with laser desorption/ionisation mass spectrometry target substrate

Droplet-based microfluidic devices have shown great potential in biomedical applications. When proteomics bioanalysis or biomarker identification is required, off-line microfluidic chip interfacing with mass spectrometry (MS) is necessary. This reported work has focused on the use of numerical simulation of microdroplet formation and dripping for a droplet-based microfluidic-chip interfacing with off-line laser desorption/ionisation MS target substrate. Unlike most studies on the microdroplet formation at the liquid–liquid phase, this work has investigated the microdroplet formation at the liquid–gas phase at various injection flow rates and inner microchannel surface wettability to meet microfluidic-chip–MS interfacing requirements. After the microdroplet formation, subsequent microdroplet dripping analysis was performed. The effects of inner microchannel and outer orifice surface wettability are discussed.
Nestings of Matchings and Permutations and North Steps in PDSAWs

We present a simple bijective proof of the fact that matchings of [2n] with N nestings are equinumerous to partially directed self avoiding walks confined to the symmetric wedge defined by y=+-x, with n east steps and N north steps. A very similar construction connects permutations with N nestings and PDSAWs remaining below the x-axis, again with N north steps. Furthermore, both bijections transport several combinatorially meaningful parameters.
2 Potential Dependency-Causing Events

Analyzing intrusions today is an arduous, largely manual task because system administrators lack the information and tools needed to understand easily the sequence of steps that occurred in an attack. The goal of BackTracker is to identify automatically potential sequences of steps that occurred in an intrusion. Starting with a single detection point (e.g., a suspicious file), BackTracker identifies files and processes that could have affected that detection point and displays chains of events in a dependency graph. We use BackTracker to analyze several real attacks against computers that we set up as honeypots. In each case, BackTracker is able to highlight effectively the entry point used to gain access to the system and the sequence of steps from that entry point to the point at which we noticed the intrusion. The logging required to support BackTracker added 9% overhead in running time and generated 1.2 GB per day of log data for an operating-system intensive work-load.
Clonal spread of KPC-2 carbapenemase-producing Klebsiella pneumoniae strains in Greece.

OBJECTIVES KPC-possessing Klebsiella pneumoniae have been found to be widespread in several regions but are still rarely detected in Europe. We describe the characteristics of an outbreak caused by KPC producers in a tertiary care Greek hospital. METHODS During a 12 month period (October 2007-September 2008), 47 patients in Hippokration University Hospital yielded K. pneumoniae isolates that exhibited reduced susceptibility to carbapenems and were phenotypically positive for carbapenemase production but negative for metallo-beta-lactamase (MBL) production. Single patient isolates were tested by Vitek 2, Etest, agar dilution MICs, phenotypic assays and PFGE. Carbapenemase and other beta-lactamase genes were identified by PCR and sequencing. Patient records were retrospectively reviewed to access co-morbidities, antibiotic exposure prior to infection and outcome. RESULTS The 47 K. pneumoniae isolates exhibited various susceptibilities to imipenem and meropenem; all were non-susceptible to ertapenem and several other antibiotics but most were susceptible to gentamicin, colistin and tigecycline. PFGE classified the isolates into two clonal types, with the predominant type, which was closely related to that of hyperepidemic strains from the USA and Israel, comprising three subtypes. All isolates carried the bla(KPC-2) gene; 45 also carried bla(SHV-12) and 29 bla(TEM-1). Patients were hospitalized in nine different units. The median length of hospital stay prior to KPC isolation was 21 days; 38 patients (80.9%) had evidence of clinical infection due to a KPC producer and 16 (34%) had bacteraemia. The crude mortality rate was 27.7%. A beta-lactam/beta-lactamase inhibitor combination was the most frequently administered antimicrobial prior to KPC isolation (20 patients; 42.5%), whereas only nine patients (19.1%) had prior carbapenem use. CONCLUSIONS This study presents for the first time a wide intrahospital spread of KPC-producing K. pneumoniae clones in a European hospital. The KPC producers were rapidly disseminated in several units, indicating the difficulty in restraining such multidrug-resistant clones when they have been established in a hospital environment.
2 Water and Wastewater resources in arid Zone Countries

Given the current demographic trends and future growth projections, as much as 60% of the global population may suffer water scarcity by the year 2025 [9]. In addition to water scarcity, water quality deterioration is expected to intensify in resourcepoor countries in dry areas, due to human activity and climate change. It is projected that water scarce countries will have to increasingly rely on alternative water resources such as wastewater to narrow the gap between water demand and supply for agriculture [16,18,19]. There are large gaps between developing and developed countries as well as lowand high-income countries for managing wastewater generated within their boundaries. High-income countries on average treat 70% of the generated wastewater, followed by upper-middle-income countries (38%), lower-middleincome countries (28%), and low-income countries, where only 8% of the wastewater generated is treated [31]. Wastewater treatment and use and/or disposal in the arid and semi-arid regions of developed countries, such as western North America, Australia, and southern Europe, are motivated by stringent effluent discharge regulations and public preferences regarding environmental quality [13]. Treated wastewater is primarily for irrigation, given the increasing competition for water between agriculture and other sectors [31,34]. In developing countries, wastewater treatment is limited, as investments in treatment facilities have not kept pace with persistent increases in population and the consequent increases in wastewater Manzoor Qadir United Nation University Institute for Water, Environment and Health (UNU-INWEH)
CDC7 inhibition blocks pathological TDP‐43 phosphorylation and neurodegeneration

Kinase hyperactivity occurs in both neurodegenerative disease and cancer. Lesions containing hyperphosphorylated aggregated TDP‐43 characterize amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and frontotemporal lobar degeneration with TDP‐43 inclusions. Dual phosphorylation of TDP‐43 at serines 409/410 (S409/410) drives neurotoxicity in disease models; therefore, TDP‐43–specific kinases are candidate targets for intervention.
Frequency-dependent changes in the amplitude of low-frequency fluctuations in internet gaming disorder

Neuroimaging studies have revealed that the task-related functional brain activities are impaired in internet gaming disorder (IGD) subjects. However, little is known about the alternations in spontaneous brain activities about them. Recent studies have proposed that the brain activities of different frequency ranges are generated by different nervous activities and have different physiological and psychological functions. Thus, in this study, we set to explore the spontaneous brain activities in IGD subjects by measuring the fractional amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation (fALFF), to investigate band-specific changes of resting-state fALFF. We subdivided the frequency range into five bands based on literatures. Comparing to healthy controls, the IGD group showed decreased fALFF values in the cerebellum posterior lobe and increased fALFF values in superior temporal gyrus. Significant interactions between frequency bands and groups were found in the cerebellum, the anterior cingulate, the lingual gyrus, the middle temporal gyrus, and the middle frontal gyrus. Those brain regions are proved related to the executive function and decision-making. These results revealed the changed spontaneous brain activity of IGD, which contributed to understanding the underlying pathophysiology of IGD.
Factors influencing the accessibility of online social game

As increasing the usage of social network services (i.e. facebook, tweeter), online social games is being paid attention in game industry and e-business research. Social game (ie. Farmville by Zinga) is the online game using social network services. This research examined the factors influencing the accessibility and usage of social game. Influential factors of the social game accessibility are suggested as SNS utilization, game experience, technological asynchrony, network narrativity, social relationship strength. Data were collected through an online survey of 458 respondents in South Korea. As the results, SNS utilization, game experience, technological asynchrony, network narrativity, social relationship strength affected accessibility of social game, and accessibility affected the usage of social game. The implications and suggestions for further research are outlined, based on the results.