Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Characterization of the five replication factor C genes of Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Replication factor C (RFC) is a five-subunit DNA polymerase accessory protein that functions as a structure-specific, DNA-dependent ATPase. The ATPase function of RFC is activated by proliferating cell nuclear antigen. RFC was originally purified from human cells on the basis of its requirement for simian virus 40 DNA replication in vitro. A functionally homologous protein complex from Saccharomyces cerevisiae, called ScRFC, has been identified. Here we report the cloning, by either peptide sequencing or by sequence similarity to the human cDNAs, of the S. cerevisiae genes RFC1, RFC2, RFC3, RFC4, and RFC5. The amino acid sequences are highly similar to the sequences of the homologous human RFC 140-, 37-, 36-, 40-, and 38-kDa subunits, respectively, and also show amino acid sequence similarity to functionally homologous proteins from Escherichia coli and the phage T4 replication apparatus. All five subunits show conserved regions characteristic of ATP/GTP-binding proteins and also have a significant degree of similarity among each other. We have identified eight segments of conserved amino acid sequences that define a family of related proteins. Despite their high degree of sequence similarity, all five RFC genes are essential for cell proliferation in S. cerevisiae. RFC1 is identical to CDC44, a gene identified as a cell division cycle gene encoding a protein involved in DNA metabolism. CDC44/RFC1 is known to interact genetically with the gene encoding proliferating cell nuclear antigen, confirming previous biochemical evidence of their functional interaction in DNA replication.
Inverter-based low-noise amplifier topologies for ultra-wideband applications

In this paper two ultra-wideband (UWB) low noise amplifier (LNA) configurations in UMC 0. 18μm CMOS technology are presented. Both amplifiers are based on a shunt-feedback inverter-configuration with inductive peaking. In first LNA topology inductor is placed at the input node of the inverter cell. In the frequency range from 3.1 GHz - 10.6 GHz, this amplifier achieves power gain (S21) of 12.23 dB, noise figure of 5.62 dB and input/output return loss of -8 dB/-11 dB, while consuming 9.61 mA from 1.8 V supply. In second LNA peaking inductor is applied at the gate of NMOS transistor in inverter stage. With this technique the -3 dB roll-off frequency is increased from 9 GHz, obtained with previous technique, to 11.11 GHz, without additional power consumption. Achieved power gain from 3.1 GHz - 10.6 GHz is 12.64 dB, noise figure is 4.04 dB and input/output return loss is -7 dB/-10 dB. This amplifier consumes 9.48 mA from the 1.8 V supply.
Bioavailability of phyto-oestrogens

The term phyto-oestrogen encompasses isoflavone compounds, such as genistein and daidzein, found predominantly in soya products and the lignans, such as matairesinol and secoisolariciresinol, found in many fruits, cereals and in flaxseed. There is evidence that they have potential health benefits in man particularly against hormone-dependent diseases such as breast and prostate cancers and osteoporosis. This has led to intense interest in their absorption and biotransformation in man. The metabolism of isoflavones and lignans in animals and man is complex and involves both mammalian and gut microbial processes. Isoflavones are present predominantly as glucosides in most commercially available soya products; there is evidence that they are not absorbed in this form and that their bioavailability requires initial hydrolysis of the sugar moiety by intestinal β-glucosidases. After absorption, phyto-oestrogens are reconjugated predominantly to glucuronic acid and to a lesser degree to sulphuric acid. Only a small portion of the free aglycone has been detected in blood, demonstrating that the rate of conjugation is high. There is extensive further metabolism of isoflavones (to equol and O-desmethylangolensin) and lignans (to enterodiol and enterolactone) by gut bacteria. In human subjects, even those on controlled diets, there is large interindividual variation in the metabolism of isoflavones and lignans, particularly in the production of the gut bacterial metabolite equol (from daidzein). Factors influencing absorption and metabolism of phyto-oestrogens include diet and gut microflora.
Integration of Heterogeneous Ad Hoc Networks with the Internet

This paper describes a testbed realized at T-Systems in Darmstadt (Germany) that handles the integration of ad hoc networks with the Internet. The testbed contains a Mobile Gateway that connects an IPv6 based ad hoc network over a cellular network (e. g. GPRS or UMTS) with the Internet. The testbed is also able to handle multiple gateways within the same ad hoc domain. This paper describes several mobility scenarios developed within the testbed, namely inter ad hoc domain mobility, intra ad hoc domain mobility and mobility of the whole ad hoc network. The paper also discusses main issues in the development of the testbed-gateway discovery, seamless mobility and the transmission of IPv6 packets over IPv4 infrastructures.
Analysis of the combined effects of finite samples and model errors on array processing performance

The authors consider the performance of the class of signal subspace fitting algorithms for signal parameter estimation using narrowband sensor array data. The principle sources of estimation error in such applications are the finite sample effects of additive noise and imprecise models for the antenna array and spatial noise statistics. The covariance matrix of the estimation error when all of these error sources are present is found to be the sum of the individual contributions from each component separately. This simplifying fact allows for the derivation of an overall optimal subspace weighting for a particular array and noise covariance error model. In fact, the resulting algorithm yields the lowest possible asymptotic estimation error variance of any method for the model in question. <<ETX>>
Predicting anticoagulant-related bleeding in patients with venous thromboembolism: a clinically oriented review

Diagnosis of venous thromboembolism (VTE) requires prompt treatment with anticoagulants in therapeutic doses. Since these drugs are associated with the occurrence of haemorrhage, identification of patients at increased risk of major bleeding is of utmost clinical importance for defining the optimal treatment regimen and duration of anticoagulation. Current suggested prediction scores for bleeding risk in VTE patients have been derived from observational studies of moderate quality, or from patients with various indications for therapeutic anticoagulation other than VTE. To date, none of the scores have been adequately validated in cohorts that underwent dedicated monitoring and independent adjudication of bleeding complications. In addition, while the scarce available evidence has focused on patients treated with heparins and/or vitamin K antagonists, risk stratification scores for bleeding complications in VTE patients treated with non-vitamin K dependent anticoagulants have not yet been developed. This clinically oriented review covers the incidence and risk factors of anticoagulation-related bleeding in VTE patients treated with different anticoagulant drugs as well as the available bleeding-prediction scores. Further, we attempt to provide guidance for bleeding-prevention in clinical practice and speculate on developments in the near future that may fundamentally change our current thinking on VTE management. Bleeding in VTE: no validated risk-prediction scores, no effective preventive measures: are NOACs the solution? http://ow.ly/zjBzl
Resistant Hypertension: Comparing Hemodynamic Management to Specialist Care

Although resistant hypertension affects a minority of all hypertensives, this group continues to experience disproportionately high cardiovascular event rates despite newer antihypertensive agents. Hypertension represents an imbalance of hemodynamic forces within the circulation, usually characterized by elevated systemic vascular resistance. We studied the utility of serial hemodynamic parameters in the selection and titration of antihypertensive medication in resistant hypertensive patients using highly reproducible noninvasive measurements by thoracic bioimpedance. Resistant hypertension patients (n=104) were randomized to drug selection based either on serial hemodynamic (HD) measurements and a predefined algorithm or on drug selection directed by a hypertension specialist (SC) in a 3-month intensive treatment program. Blood pressure was lowered by intensified drug therapy in both treatment groups (169±3/87±2 to 139±2/72±1 mm Hg HD versus 173±3/91±2 to 147±2/79±1 mm Hg SC, P <0.01 for systolic and diastolic BP), using similar numbers and intensity of antihypertensive medications. Blood pressures were reduced further for those treated according to hemodynamic measurements, resulting in improved control rates (56% HD versus 33% SC controlled to ≤140/90 mm Hg, P <0.05) and incremental reduction in systemic vascular resistance measurements. Although the number of patients taking diuretics did not differ between groups, final diuretic dosage was higher in the hemodynamic cohort. Our results demonstrate superior blood pressure control using a treatment algorithm and serial hemodynamic measurements compared with clinical judgment alone in a randomized prospective study. Our measurements of thoracic fluid volume support occult volume expansion as a mediator of antihypertensive drug resistance and use of impedance measurements to guide advancing diuretic dose and adjustment of multidrug antihypertensive treatment.
Modeling of Utility Distribution Feeder in OpenDSS with Steady State Impact Analysis of Distributed Generation

With the deregulation of the electric power industry and the advancement of new technologies, the attention of the utilities has been drawn towards adopting Distributed Generation (DG) into their existing infrastructure. The deployment of DG brings ample technological and environmental benefits to the traditional distribution networks. The appropriate sizing and placement of DGs which generate power locally to fulfill consumer demands, helps to reduce power losses and avoid transmission and distribution system expansion. The primary objective of this thesis is to model a utility distribution feeder in OpenDSS. Studies are conducted on the data obtained from American Electric Power utility. This thesis develops models for 12.47 kV (medium voltage) distribution feeders in OpenDSS by utilizing the existing models in CYMDIST. The model conversion is achieved by a detailed one-to-one component matching approach for multi phased lines, conductors, underground cables, loads, regulators and capacitor banks. The power flow results of OpenDSS and CYMDIST are compared to derive important conclusions.The second major objective is to analyze the impacts of DG on distribution systems and two focus areas are chosen, namely: effect on voltage profiles and losses of the system and the effects on power market operation. To analyze the impacts of DG on the distribution systems, Photovoltaic (PV) system with varying penetration levels are integrated at different locations along the developed feeder model. PV systems are one of the fastest growing DG technologies, with a lot of utilities in North America expressing interest in its implementation. Many utilities either receive incentives or are mandated by green-generation portfolio regulations to install solar PV systems on their feeders. The large number of PV interconnection requests to the utilities has led to typical studies in the areas of power quality, protection and operation of distribution feeders. The high penetration of PV into the system throws up some interesting implications for the utilities. Bidirectional power flow into a distribution system, (which is designed for one way power flow) may impact system voltage profiles and losses. In this thesis, the effects of voltage unbalance and the losses of the feeder are analyzed for different PV location and penetration scenarios.Further, this thesis tries to assess the impact of DG on power market operations. In a deregulated competitive market, Generation companies (Genco) sell electricity to the Power exchange (PX) from which large customers such as distribution companies (Disco) and aggregators may purchase electricity to meet their needs through a double sided bidding system. The reliable and efficient operation of this new market structure is ensured by an independent body known as the Independent System Operator (ISO). Under such a market structure, a particular type of unit commitment, called the Price Based Unit Commitment (PBUC) is used by the Genco to determine optimal bids in order to maximize its profit. However,…
Towards Secure and Dependable Authentication and Authorization Infrastructures

We propose a resilience architecture for improving the security and dependability of authentication and authorization infrastructures, in particular the ones based on RADIUS and OpenID. This architecture employs intrusion-tolerant replication, trusted components and entrusted gateways to provide survivable services ensuring compatibility with standard protocols. The architecture was instantiated in two prototypes, one implementing RADIUS and another implementing OpenID. These prototypes were evaluated in fault-free executions, under faults, under attack, and in diverse computing environments. The results show that, beyond being more secure and dependable, our prototypes are capable of achieving the performance requirements of enterprise environments, such as IT infrastructures with more than 400k users.
On Image segmentation using Fractional Gradients-Learning Model Parameters using Approximate Marginal Inference

Estimates of image gradients play a ubiquitous role in image segmentation and classification problems since gradients directly relate to the boundaries or the edges of a scene. This paper proposes an unified approach to gradient estimation based on fractional calculus that is computationally cheap and readily applicable to any existing algorithm that relies on image gradients. We show experiments on edge detection and image segmentation on the Stanford Backgrounds Dataset where these improved local gradients outperforms state of the art, achieving a performance of 79.2% average accuracy.
Principles of psychoanalytic analysis of psychotic literary features : an illustration on the work of Pablo Palacio

The linguistic attributes of psychosis described by French psychoanalyst Jacques Lacan in his early and late theories of psychosis point to a radical, unmediated and objectified relation between subject and signifier. In his third seminar in 1955, Lacan revisited psychosis and he posited it as a subjective structure alongside neurosis and perversion. Later, in his twenty-third seminar in 1975, Lacan revisited again the notion of psychosis positing it as a Borromean knot. Apropos, he examined some of the work of Irish writer James Joyce. His writing, argued Lacan, entailed dynamics such that prevented him from having a psychotic breakdown. Joyce’s mode of jouissance via his writing provided unity to his subjective structure. This rests, following Lacan, upon Joyce’s linguistic know-how (sinthome) which provided a symbolic space for imaginary, symbolic and real to be disjointed, and thus become joint. It follows that there ought to be linguistic and literary dynamics that, under this theoretical framework, are recognisable as psychotic. This research consists of a psychoanalytic-literary analysis of four short stories and a novel by Ecuadorian writer Pablo Palacio. The objective is to determine whether the linguistic and extralinguistic attributes of psychosis described by Lacan can be said to be at play in Palacio’s works and thus answer the question of whether psychotic attributes and dynamics can be extrapolated to other bodies of fictional literature. In turn, this research questions and aims to explore the contributions of such psychoanalytic-linguistic analysis of works of literature to the theory and practice of literary analysis or critique. What does it mean to interpret literature from this perspective and does it open literary meaning otherwise? The findings of the literary analysis confirm that psychosis can be located in literary works under specific conceptual definitions of psychosis, literature, interpreting psychosis and the interpretable of the literary. The literary analysis yielded, furthermore, novel principles of characterisation of psychotic literary language that contribute to the understanding of the creative power of psychosis.
A Comparative Study on Reordering Constraints in Statistical Machine Translation

In statistical machine translation, the generation of a translation hypothesis is computationally expensive. If arbitrary word-reorderings are permitted, the search problem is NP-hard. On the other hand, if we restrict the possible word-reorderings in an appropriate way, we obtain a polynomial-time search algorithm.In this paper, we compare two different reordering constraints, namely the ITG constraints and the IBM constraints. This comparison includes a theoretical discussion on the permitted number of reorderings for each of these constraints. We show a connection between the ITG constraints and the since 1870 known Schroder numbers.We evaluate these constraints on two tasks: the Verbmobil task and the Canadian Hansards task. The evaluation consists of two parts: First, we check how many of the Viterbi alignments of the training corpus satisfy each of these constraints. Second, we restrict the search to each of these constraints and compare the resulting translation hypotheses.The experiments will show that the baseline ITG constraints are not sufficient on the Canadian Hansards task. Therefore, we present an extension to the ITG constraints. These extended ITG constraints increase the alignment coverage from about 87% to 96%.
Route 20, Autobahn 7, and Slime Mold: Approximating the Longest Roads in USA and Germany With Slime Mold on 3-D Terrains

A cellular slime mould Physarum polycephalum is a monstrously large single cell visible by an unaided eye. The slime mold explores space in parallel, is guided by gradients of chemoattractants, and propagates toward sources of nutrients along nearly shortest paths. The slime mold is a living prototype of amorphous biological computers and robotic devices capable of solving a range of tasks of graph optimization and computational geometry. When presented with a distribution of nutrients, the slime mold spans the sources of nutrients with a network of protoplasmic tubes. This protoplasmic network matches a network of major transport routes of a country when configuration of major urban areas is represented by nutrients. A transport route connecting two cities should ideally be a shortest path, and this is usually the case in computer simulations and laboratory experiments with flat substrates. What searching strategies does the slime mold adopt when exploring 3-D terrains? How are optimal and transport routes approximated by protoplasmic tubes? Do the routes built by the slime mold on 3-D terrain match real-world transport routes? To answer these questions, we conducted pioneer laboratory experiments with Nylon terrains of USA and Germany. We used the slime mold to approximate route 20, the longest road in USA, and autobahn 7, the longest national motorway in Europe. We found that slime mold builds longer transport routes on 3-D terrains, compared to flat substrates yet sufficiently approximates man-made transport routes studied. We demonstrate that nutrients placed in destination sites affect performance of slime mold, and show how the mold navigates around elevations. In cellular automaton models of the slime mold, we have shown variability of the protoplasmic routes might depends on physiological states of the slime mold. Results presented will contribute toward development of novel algorithms for sensorial fusion, information processing, and decision making, and will provide inspirations in design of bioinspired amorphous robotic devices.
Processing of emotional words in bilinguals: Testing the effects of word concreteness, task type and language status

The present study investigates whether the emotional content of words has the same effect in the different languages of bilinguals by testing the effects of word concreteness, the type of task used, and language status. Highly proficient bilinguals of Catalan and Spanish who learned Catalan and Spanish in early childhood in a bilingual immersion context, and who still live in such a context, performed an affective decision task (Experiment 1) and a lexical decision task (Experiment 2) in both Catalan and Spanish. A different set of Catalan–Spanish bilinguals, who were proficient in English and who learned English after early childhood in an instructional setting, performed a lexical decision task in both Spanish and English (Experiment 3). In both tasks administered throughout the experiments, the experimental stimuli were concrete and abstract words that varied in their emotional connotation (i.e. positive, negative and neutral words) and were presented in the two languages involved. In the affective decision task, participants decided if the words had emotional content or not, and in the lexical decision task they decided if the strings of letters were real words or not. The three experiments also included an unexpected free recall task. Results showed that the emotional content of words affected bilinguals’ performance in all three tasks. In particular, there was a disadvantage in processing for negative words in both the affective and lexical decision tasks, and an advantage for positive words in the lexical decision and free recall tasks. Importantly, language only interacted with the other variables in Experiment 3, suggesting that language status is a relevant factor in determining the extent to which emotional processing has the same characteristics in the two languages.
A pilot study of observed parenting and adjustment in adolescents with type 1 diabetes and their mothers.

OBJECTIVES The purpose of this pilot study was to determine the association of observed parenting behaviors with adjustment in adolescents with type 1 diabetes (T1D) and their mothers. METHODS Adolescents with T1D (n = 30) and their mothers provided data on psychosocial adjustment and engaged in a discussion task about diabetes stress, which was coded for parenting behavior. Clinical data (i.e., HbA1c) was obtained from adolescents' medical records. RESULTS Mothers' symptoms of anxiety and depression were related to lower levels of child-centered parenting. Higher levels of observed child-centered parenting and positive reinforcement and lower levels of maternal hostility and parental influence were related to better psychosocial adjustment in adolescents (i.e., fewer depressive symptoms, better quality of life) and better metabolic control. CONCLUSIONS Results support the use of observational data in this population and provide estimates of effect sizes between parenting variables, maternal and adolescent psychosocial adjustment, and metabolic control.
Suicidal Behaviour in Bangladesh: A Scoping Literature Review and a Proposed Public Health Prevention Model

The objectives of this review are to explore through a scoping analysis of published literature, the prevalence of suicidal ideation, attempts and suicide, and the correlates and presumed causes of such behaviours in Bangladesh, in order to develop a model of public health research and prevention. This type of review aims to contextualise existing knowledge, set it within a practice and policy context, and make recommendations for health care service delivery and evaluation. The evidence indicates an unusual pattern of completed suicide rates, those most at risk being younger women. The rate in adolescent girls is exceptionally high by international standards, and appears to reflect poverty, the low status of women, violence directed against girls and women, and forced marriages of young, teenage girls.