Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A Novel Porcine Circovirus Distantly Related to Known Circoviruses Is Associated with Porcine Dermatitis and Nephropathy Syndrome and Reproductive Failure

ABSTRACT Porcine circovirus-associated disease (PCVAD) is clinically manifested by postweaning multisystemic wasting syndrome (PMWS), respiratory and enteric disease, reproductive failure, and porcine dermatitis and nephropathy syndrome (PDNS). Porcine circovirus 2 (PCV2) is an essential component of PCVAD, although an etiologic role in PDNS is not well established. Here, a novel circovirus, designated porcine circovirus 3 (PCV3), was identified in sows that died acutely with PDNS-like clinical signs. The capsid and replicase proteins of PCV3 are only 37% and 55% identical to PCV2 and bat circoviruses, respectively. Aborted fetuses from sows with PDNS contained high levels of PCV3 (7.57 × 107 genome copies/ml), and no other viruses were detected by PCR and metagenomic sequencing. Immunohistochemistry (IHC) analysis of sow tissue samples identified PCV3 antigen in skin, kidney, lung, and lymph node samples localized in typical PDNS lesions, including necrotizing vasculitis, glomerulonephritis, granulomatous lymphadenitis, and bronchointerstitial pneumonia. Further study of archived PDNS tissue samples that were negative for PCV2 by IHC analysis identified 45 of 48 that were PCV3 positive by quantitative PCR (qPCR), with 60% of a subset also testing positive for PCV3 by IHC analysis. Analysis by qPCR of 271 porcine respiratory disease diagnostic submission samples identified 34 PCV3-positive cases (12.5%), and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay detection of anti-PCV3 capsid antibodies in serum samples found that 46 (55%) of 83 samples tested were positive. These results suggest that PCV3 commonly circulates within U.S. swine and may play an etiologic role in reproductive failure and PDNS. Because of the high economic impact of PCV2, this novel circovirus warrants further studies to elucidate its significance and role in PCVAD. IMPORTANCE While porcine circovirus 2 (PCV2) was first identified in sporadic cases of postweaning multisystemic wasting syndrome in Canada in the early 1990s, an epidemic of severe systemic disease due to PCV2 spread worldwide in the ensuing decade. Despite being effectively controlled by commercial vaccines, PCV2 remains one of the most economically significant viruses of swine. Here, a novel porcine circovirus (PCV3) that is distantly related to known circoviruses was identified in sows with porcine dermatitis and nephropathy syndrome (PDNS) and reproductive failure. PCV2, which has previously been associated with these clinical presentations, was not identified. High levels of PCV3 nucleic acid were observed in aborted fetuses by quantitative PCR, and PCV3 antigen was localized in histologic lesions typical of PDNS in sows by immunohistochemistry (IHC) analysis. PCV3 was also identified in archival PDNS diagnostic samples that previously tested negative for PCV2 by IHC analysis. The emergence of PCV3 warrants further investigation.
Single Point Interface for Data Analysis in Wireless Sensor Networks

Today, across a wide variety of areas, huge datasets are being collected and accumulated at a very high pace. The datasets addressed by individual applications are very often heterogeneous and geographically distributed, and are used by the communities of 2users, which are often large and also geographically scattered. Major challenges are involved in the efficient and reliable storage, fast processing, cleaning and extracting descriptive and predictive knowledge from this great mass of data. In this paper, we describe architecture of single point interface for data analysis meant for different applications of wireless sensor networks. This architecture will help the user extract the exact data required and view the output that is actually needed by him/her. The paper is divided into five sections, section I introduces wireless sensor network, section II lists various applications of WSN, section III contains the sample data set of different applications, section IV gives the proposed solution for performing data analysis and proposed architecture followed by conclusion in section V. General Terms Interface, Architecture.
Comparison of the disinfectant effects of Nanosil D2 and Korsolex extra solutions on thermoset acrylic resin contaminated with Streptococcus mutans and Bacillus subtilis

This study was conducted to compare the disinfectant effects of Nanosil D2 and Korsolex extra on thermoset acrylic resin contaminated with Streptococcus mutans and Bacillus subtilis. In this experimental study, 90 acrylic samples were made and sterilized. Two samples were cultured as a sterilization control in brain–heart infusion (BHI) and the rest of samples were divided into two groups. Samples of one group were placed in a bacterial suspension of S. mutans and the samples of another group were placed in a suspension containing B. subtilis. Each group was divided into two subgroups for immersion in Nanosil or Korsolex extra solutions. Seven samples were selected from each group at each of 30 min, 1 h, and 2 h and transferred to the BHI test tube, and their turbidity was evaluated after 24 h. SPSS 17 software was used to analyze the data, and the significance level of test was considered P < 0.05. At 1 h, Bacillus level of Nanosil D2 was significantly lower than that of Korsolex extra, and at all ½, 1, and 2 h, the level of Streptococcus in Nanosil D2 solution was significantly lower than that of Korsolex extra (P < 0.05). Bacillus and Streptococcus levels showed significant reduction in both solutions over time. The disinfecting power of Nanosil D2 is more than that of Korsolex extra.
Computer Generated Caricature: A Survey

Caricature is a pictorial representation of a person or subject in summarizing way by exaggerating the most distinctive features and simplifies the common features in order to make that subject different from others and at the same time, preserve the likeness of the subject. Computer Generated Caricature is developed in order to assist the user in producing caricature automatically or semi-automatically. It is derived from the rapid advance in computer graphics and computer vision and introduced as a part of computer graphics’ non-photo realistic rendering technologies as well. Recently, Computer Generated Caricature becomes particularly interesting research topic due to the advantageous features of privacy, security, simplification, amusement and their explosive emergent real-world application such as in magazine, digital entertainment, Internet and mobile application. On the basis of the previous facts, this paper surveys the uses of caricature in variety of applications, theories and rules in the art of drawing caricature, how these theories are simulated in the development of caricature generation system and the current research trend in this field. Computer generated caricature can be divided into two main categories based on their input data type: human centered approach and image processing approach. Next, process of generating caricature from input photo is explained briefly. It also reported the state of the art techniques in generating caricature by classifying it into four approaches: interactive, regularity-based, learning-based and predefined database of caricature illustration. Lastly, this paper will discuss relevant issues, problems and several promising direction of future research.
Performance of Hybrid Message-Passing and Shared-Memory Parallelism for Discrete Element Modeling

The current trend in HPC hardware is towards clusters of shared-memory (SMP) compute nodes. For applications developers the major question is how best to program these SMP clusters. To address this we study an algorithm from Discrete Element Modeling, parallelised using both the message-passing and shared-memory models simultaneously ("hybrid" parallelisation). The natural load-balancing methods are different in the two parallel models, the shared-memory method being in principle more efficient for very load-imbalanced problems. It is therefore possible that hybrid parallelism will be beneficial on SMP clusters. We benchmark MPI and OpenMP implementations of the algorithm on MPP, SMP and cluster architectures, and evaluate the effectiveness of hybrid parallelism. Although we observe cases where OpenMP is more efficient than MPI on a single SMP node, we conclude that our current OpenMP implementation is not yet efficient enough for hybrid parallelism to outperform pure message-passing on an SMP cluster.
On Improved Degree Lower Bounds for Polynomial Approximation

A polynomial P in F[X_1,. ,X_n] is said to epsilon-approximate a boolean function F:{0,1}^n -> {0,1} under distribution D over {0,1}^n if for a random x chosen according to distribution D, the probability that P(x) is not equal to F(x) is at most epsilon. Smolensky (1987) showed that for any constant distinct primes p and q, any polynomial P in F_p[x_1,. ,x_n] that (1/2q - Omega(1))-approximates the boolean function MOD_q:{0,1}^n->{0,1} -- which accepts its input iff the number of ones is non-zero modulo q -- under the uniform distribution must have degree Omega(n^{1/2}). We consider the problem of finding an explicit function f:{0,1}^n->{0,1} that has no epsilon-approximating polynomial of degree less than n^{1/2 + Omega(1)} under *some distribution*, for some constant epsilon>0. We show a number of negative results in this direction: specifically, we show that many interesting classes of functions including symmetric functions and linear threshold functions do have approximating polynomials of degree O(n^{1/2+o(1)}) under every distribution. This demonstrates the power of this model of computation. The above results, in turn, provide further motivation for this lower bound question. Using the upper bounds obtained above, we show that finding such a function f would have applications to: lower bounds for AC^0 o F where F is the class of symmetric and threshold gates; stronger lower bounds for 1-round compression by ACC^0[p] circuits; improved correlation lower bounds against low degree polynomials; and (under further conditions) showing that the Inner Product (over F_2) function does not have small AC^0 o MOD_2 circuits.
Association of obstructive sleep apnea with microvascular endothelial dysfunction and subclinical coronary artery disease in a community-based population

Studies have reported an association between obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) and cardiovascular disease (CVD) morbidity and mortality. Proposed mechanisms include endothelial dysfunction and atherosclerosis. We aimed to investigate the associations of OSA with endothelial dysfunction and subclinical atherosclerotic coronary artery disease (CAD), and assess the impact of race on these associations. We used data from the Heart Strategies Concentrating on Risk Evaluation (Heart SCORE) study, a community-based prospective cohort with approximately equal representation of black and white participants. OSA severity was measured in 765 individuals using the apnea-hypopnea index (AHI). Endothelial dysfunction was measured using the Endo-PAT device, expressed as Framingham reactive hyperemia index (F_RHI). Coronary artery calcium (CAC), a marker of subclinical CAD, was quantified by electron beam computed tomography. There were 498 (65%) female participants, 282 (37%) black individuals, and 204 (26%) participants with moderate/severe OSA (AHI ≥15). In univariate models, moderate/severe OSA was associated with lower F_RHI and higher CAC, as well as several traditional CVD risk factors including older age, male sex, hypertension, diabetes, higher body mass index, and lower high-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels. In a multivariable model, individuals with moderate/severe OSA had 10% lower F_RHI and 35% higher CAC, which did not reach statistical significance (p=0.08 for both comparisons). There was no significant interaction of race on the association of OSA with F_RHI or CAC (p-value >0.1 for all comparisons). In a community-based cohort comprised of black and white participants, moderate/severe OSA was modestly associated with endothelial dysfunction and subclinical atherosclerotic CAD. These associations did not vary by race.
Identification of cis-acting repressive sequences within the negative regulatory element of human immunodeficiency virus type 1

The negative regulatory element of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 is a 260-nucleotide-long sequence that decreases the rate of RNA transcription initiation specified by the long terminal repeat. This region has the potential to bind several cellular transcription factors. Here it is shown that sequences which recognize the NFAT-1 and USF cellular transcription factors contribute to this negative regulatory effect. The sequences within the negative regulatory element which resemble the AP-1 site and the URS do not negatively regulate human immunodeficiency virus long terminal repeat transcription initiation.
PRIMAL AND DUAL BOUNDS FOR THE PRIZE-COLLECTING STEINER PROBLEM IN GRAPHS

Given an undirected graph G with associated edge costs and vertex penalties, a Prize Collecting Steiner (PCS) tree is either an isolated vertex of G or else any tree of that graph. The weight of a PCS tree equals the sum of its edge costs plus the sum of the penalties for the vertices of G not spanned by the tree. The Prize Collecting Steiner Problem in Graphs (PCSPG) is to find a PCS tree of lowest weight. In this paper, we introduce Lagrangian Non Delayed Relax and Cut (NDRC) and Linear Programming based algorithms to generate primal and dual bounds to PCSPG. The algorithms incorporate ingredients such as a new PCSPG reduction test, an effective Local Search procedure and a modification in the NDRC framework which allowed additional reductions in duality gaps to be attained. The Lagrangian heuristic suggested here appears to dominate PCSPG heuristics and metaheuristics in the literature. The proposed Branch-and-Cut algorithm, however, despite the sharp PCSPG lower bounds it generates, does not appear competitive with the best exact solution algorithm in the literature.
Modular specification of frame properties in JML

We present a modular specification technique for frame properties. The technique uses modifies clauses and abstract fields with declared dependencies. Modularity is guaranteed by a programming model that enforces data abstraction by preventing representation and argument exposure, a semantics of modifies clauses that uses a notion of ‘relevant location’, and by modularity rules for dependencies. For concreteness, we adapt this technique to the Java Modeling Language, JML. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Toeholds and Takeovers Jeremy Bulow

Part ownership of a takeover target can help a bidder win a takeover auction, often at a low price. A bidder with a “toehold” bids aggressively in a standard ascending auction because its offers are both bids for the remaining shares and asks for its own holdings. While the direct effect of a toehold on a bidder’s strategy may be small, the indirect effect is large in a common value auction. When a firm bids more aggressively, its competitors face an increased winner’s curse and must bid more conservatively. This allows the toeholder to bid more aggressively still, and so on. One implication is that a controlling minority shareholder may be immune to outside offers. The board of a target may increase the expected sale price by allowing a second bidder to buy a toehold on favorable terms, or by running a sealed bid auction.
Demonstration of  $V_{\pi}$ Reduction in Electrooptic Modulators Using Modulation Instability

Reduction in the operating voltage of electrooptic modulators is needed, in order to remove the bottleneck in the flow of data between electronics and optical interconnects. We report an experimental demonstration of a tenfold reduction in an electrooptic modulator's half-wave voltage up to 50 GHz. This was achieved by employing optical sideband-only amplification.
Family history and oral health: findings from the Dunedin Study.

CONTEXT The effects of the oral health status of one generation on that of the next within families are unclear. OBJECTIVES To determine whether parental oral health history is a risk factor for oral disease. METHODS Oral examination and interview data were collected during the age-32 assessments in the Dunedin Study. Parental data were also collected on this occasion. The sample was divided into two familial-risk groups for caries/tooth loss (high risk and low risk) based on parents' self-reported history of tooth loss at the age-32 assessment interview. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Probands' dental caries and tooth loss status at age 32, together with lifelong dental caries trajectory (age 5-32). RESULTS Caries/tooth loss risk analysis was conducted for 640 proband-parent groups. Reference groups were the low-familial-risk groups. After controlling for confounding factors (sex, episodic use of dental services, socio-economic status and plaque trajectory), the prevalence ratio (PR) for having lost 1+ teeth by age 32 for the high-familial-risk group was 1.41 [95% confidence interval (CI) 1.05, 1.88] and the rate ratio for DMFS at age 32 was 1.41 (95% CI 1.24, 1.60). In the high-familial-risk group, the PR of following a high caries trajectory was 2.05 (95% CI 1.37, 3.06). Associations were strongest when information was available about both parents' oral health. Nonetheless, when information was available for one parent only, associations were significant for some outcomes. CONCLUSIONS People with poor oral health tend to have parents with poor oral health. Family/parental history of oral health is a valid representation of the intricacies of the shared genetic and environmental factors that contribute to an individual's oral health status. Associations are strongest when data from both parents can be obtained.
Long-lasting forms of synaptic potentiation in the mammalian hippocampus.

I n t r o d u c t i o n Memory storage in the mammalian brain is commonly divided into at least two distinct temporal phases: short-term memory, lasting minutes to hours, and long-term memory, which can persist for days, weeks, or even years (for review, see Polster et al. 1991). Whereas short-term memory requires only covalent modifications of pre existing proteins, long-term memory requires the synthesis of new mRNA and protein (Davis and Squire 1984; Castellucci et al. 1989; Tully et al. 1994). The idea that memory storage in the brain results from activity-dependent changes in synaptic strength was elaborated by Hebb (1949), who proposed that synapses linking two cells could be strengthened if both cells were active simultaneously. The first such Hebbian synapses to be found in the mammalian brain were the connections made by entorhinal perforant path fibers onto dentate granule cells in the hippocampus (Bliss and Lomo 1973). Brief, high-frequency stimulation of this excitatory pathway elicited a long-lasting enhancement of synaptic transmission. This effect, now known as long-term potentiation (LTP), can last for 8 -10 hr in hippocampal slices, and for several days and even weeks in intact animals. LTP has now been shown in all three major monosynaptic excitatory pathways within the hippocampus ( the perforant pathway, mossy fiber pathway, and Schaffer collateral pathway) (Bliss and Collingridge 1993). Hippocampal LTP has a number of properties that make it an attractive model for memory storage. These include associativity, synapse specificity, cooperativity, and persistence (see Bliss and Collingridge 1993 for a more complete description). In this review, we will focus on the long-term maintenance (late phase) of LTP and its underlying mechanisms. We will try to illustrate how pharmacological and molecular biological approaches, some with genetically modified animals, have elucidated some of the mechanisms that contribute to long-term changes in synaptic strength. Most of the experiments that we will discuss use the hippocampal slice preparation, and they focus on synaptic changes occurring over hours. Thus, these changes pertain primarily to the initial phase of the cellular changes that contribute to long-term memory storage. Other, still longer term changes in synaptic strength that may occur over days or weeks can be studied in the intact animal, but these will not be discussed here.
Spatiotemporal Convergence of Semantic Processing in Reading and Speech Perception

Retrieval of word meaning from the semantic system and its integration with context are often assumed to be shared by spoken and written words. How is modality-independent semantic processing manifested in the brain, spatially and temporally? Time-sensitive neuroimaging allows tracking of neural activation sequences. Use of semantically related versus unrelated word pairs or sentences ending with a semantically highly or less plausible word, in separate studies of the auditory and visual modality, has associated lexical-semantic analysis with sustained activation at ∼200–800 ms. Magnetoencephalography (MEG) studies have further identified the superior temporal cortex as a main locus of the semantic effect. Nevertheless, a direct comparison of the spatiotemporal neural correlates of visual and auditory word comprehension in the same brain is lacking. We used MEG to compare lexical-semantic analysis in the visual and auditory domain in the same individuals, and contrasted it with phonological analysis that, according to models of language perception, should occur at a different time with respect to semantic analysis in reading and speech perception. The stimuli were lists of four words that were either semantically or phonologically related, or with the final word unrelated to the preceding context. Superior temporal activation reflecting semantic processing occurred similarly in the two modalities, left-lateralized at 300–450 ms and thereafter bilaterally, generated in close-by areas. Effect of phonology preceded the semantic effect in speech perception but not in reading. The present data indicate involvement of the middle superior temporal cortex in semantic processing from ∼300 ms onwards, regardless of input modality.
The Interplay of Visual Attention and Saccade Planning in Active Vision

Gain adaptation of saccadic eye movements is the process whereby the size of the saccade is gradually modified if the target is consistently and surreptitiously displaced during the saccade. Because one attends to the saccade target before each saccade, we asked whether covert shifts of exogenous attention might themselves be adaptable. We did this by presenting a peripheral cue and then displacing it by 3 deg after an interval equal to the average time required for attention to shift from a central to a peripheral cue. This interval, as well as the location at which attention landed, was determined by a modification of the line-motion illusion, in which a line appears to shoot from a previously cued location. We found that this adaptation paradigm produced consistent gradual reductions (for back-steps) or increases (for forward-steps) in the magnitude of the shifts of attention. Like saccadic adaptation, adaptation of shifts of attention could be manipulated independently for rightward and leftward shifts. Furthermore, the backward adaptation paradigm also decreased the magnitude of subsequent saccades, even though no saccades had been made during the attentional adaptation. This argues that saccades are targeted to the locus of attention, and when this locus is systematically shifted, so too are subsequent saccades. In conclusion, the adaptability of shifts of attention suggests that attentional shifts, like saccades, are recalibrated using a spatial error signal. Crown Copyright 2002 Published by Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.