Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Plasmid-mediated resistance to tetracyclines among Neisseria gonorrhoeae strains isolated in Poland between 2012 and 2013

Introduction One of two main mechanisms of resistance in tetracycline-resistant Neisseria gonorrhoeae (TRNG) is associated with the presence of TetM protein responsible for actively blocking of the tetracycline target site in the 30S ribosomal subunit. This mechanism is encoded by conjugative plasmids. The second mechanism is chromosomal in nature and due to mutations in specific genes. Aim To determine the incidence and type of tetM determinants in TRNG strains isolated from patients presenting with gonorrhea infection to the Dermatology and Venereology Clinic in Warsaw in 2012–2013. Material and methods Tetracycline and doxycycline susceptibility was determined by E-Tests. The presence and type of the tetM gene were determined by polymerase chain reaction. Results Tetracycline resistance was detected in 50.8% of the evaluated strains. The TRNG strains containing the tetM plasmid constituted 13.8% of all the evaluated strains. Dutch type tetM constituted 12.3% and American type tetM 1.5% of all the evaluated strains. In the remaining TRNG strains, resistance to tetracyclines was presumably chromosome-encoded. The minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) of tetracycline ranged from 0.25 to 32.0 mg/l, MIC50 = 2.0 mg/l, MIC90 = 32.0 mg/l. The MIC of doxycycline ranged from 0.25 to 32.0 mg/l, MIC50 = 4.0 mg/l, MIC90 = 16.0 mg/l. Conclusions Unlike most of European countries, in 2012–2013 in Poland, the Dutch type tetM was found to be much more common than the American type. Minimal inhibitory concentration values of tetracycline and doxycycline were similar, with doxycycline exhibiting a somewhat lower effectiveness in vitro than tetracycline towards chromosome-mediated tetracycline resistant strains of N. gonorrhoeae.
Damage-associated molecular pattern activated Toll-like receptor 4 signalling modulates blood pressure in L-NAME-induced hypertension.

AIMS Recent publications have shed new light on the role of the adaptive and innate immune system in the pathogenesis of hypertension. However, there are limited data whether receptors of the innate immune system may influence blood pressure. Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4), a pattern recognition receptor, is a key component of the innate immune system, which is activated by exogenous and endogenous ligands. Hypertension is associated with end-organ damage and thus might lead to the release of damage-associated molecular patterns (DAMPs), which are endogenous activators of TLR4 receptors. The present study aimed to elucidate whether TLR4 signalling is able to modulate vascular contractility in an experimental model of hypertension thus contributing to blood pressure regulation. METHODS AND RESULTS NG-nitro-l-arginine methyl ester (l-NAME)-induced hypertension was blunted in TLR4(-/-) when compared with wild-type mice. Treatment with l-NAME was associated with a release of DAMPs, leading to reactive oxygen species production of smooth muscle cells in a TLR4-dependent manner. As oxidative stress leads to an impaired function of the NO-sGC-cyclic GMP (cGMP) pathway, we were able to demonstrate that TLR4(-/-) was protected from sGC inactivation. Consequently, arterial contractility was reduced in TLR4(-/-). CONCLUSIONS Cell damage-associated TLR4 signalling might act as a direct mediator of vascular contractility providing a molecular link between inflammation and hypertension.
Local Computation with Gaussian Potentials

Gaussian or multivariate normal distributions are very popular and important probability models. Gaussian potentials[5] are multivariate normal density functions. Such a distribution is often given as a product of conditional Gaussian densities , which are more general than Gaussian potentials. These are related to Gaussian hints[11] andGaussian belief functions [9, 10]. Gaussian potentials, which form acancellativesemigroup, can be embedded into a valuation algebra of pairs. In this separative extension , marginalization may be defined only partially. Gaussian potentials form a cancellative semigroup, so families of conditional Gaussian distributions are in the separative extension of Gaussian potentials. Since combination of Gaussian potentials is matrix additition of concentration matrices, division is substraction of concentration matrices, which leads to a new representation of a pair of two concentration matrices by a symmetric matrix, and to a valuation of symmetric Gaussian potentials . With this extension valuation algebra, local computation can be performed on join trees. Construction sequences cover factorizations of Gaussian potentials into conditional Gaussian potentials.
Green deployment strategy of different generation mobile networks based on spectrum analysis

Mobile devices have become an essential part of our daily life. Different types of cellular networks exist for providing service to the mobile users. GSM is the first mobile communication system which raises the popularity of mobile services. After GSM, other kinds of wireless communication systems come into the scenario such as WCDMA, LTE etc. Each of these systems has their own pros and cons. In this paper we have performed a comparative signal analysis between these popular networks considering noise effect, bandwidth, and power using vector signal generator to draw a conclusion on their effective deployment in different scenarios. The power transmission by the base stations in an area covered by GSM, WCDMA and LTE network based on user density is determined and compared with the same using only GSM network. Simulation results present that using proposed deployment scenario 10.22-17.5% reduction in power transmission is achieved and hence it is referred as a green network.
Dysfunctional voltage-gated K+ channels in pulmonary artery smooth muscle cells of patients with primary pulmonary hypertension.

BACKGROUND Primary pulmonary hypertension (PPH) is a rare disease of unknown cause. Although PPH and secondary pulmonary hypertension (SPH) share many clinical and pathological characteristics, their origins may be disparate. In pulmonary artery smooth muscle cells (PASMCs), the activity of voltage-gated K+ (KV) channels governs membrane potential (Em) and regulates cytosolic free Ca2+ concentration ([Ca2+]cyt). A rise in [Ca2+]cyt is a trigger of vasoconstriction and a stimulus of smooth muscle proliferation. METHODS AND RESULTS Fluorescence microscopy and patch clamp techniques were used to measure [Ca2+]cyt, Em, and KV currents in PASMCs. Mean pulmonary arterial pressures were comparable (46+/-4 and 53+/-4 mm Hg; P=0.30) in SPH and PPH patients. However, PPH-PASMCs had a higher resting [Ca2+]cyt than cells from patients with SPH and nonpulmonary hypertension disease. Consistently, PPH-PASMCs had a more depolarized Em than SPH-PASMCs. Furthermore, KV currents were significantly diminished in PPH-PASMCs. Because of the dysfunctional KV channels, the response of [Ca2+]cyt to the KV channel blocker 4-aminopyridine was significantly attenuated in PPH-PASMCs, whereas the response to 60 mmol/L K+ was comparable to that in SPH-PASMCs. CONCLUSIONS These results indicate that KV channel function in PPH-PASMCs is inhibited compared with SPH-PASMCs. The resulting membrane depolarization and increase in [Ca2+]cyt lead to pulmonary vasoconstriction and PASMC proliferation. Our data suggest that defects in PASMC KV channels in PPH patients may be a unique mechanism involved in initiating and maintaining pulmonary vasoconstriction and appear to play a role in the pathogenesis of PPH.
Examination of Calcium Silicate Cements with Low-Viscosity Methyl Cellulose or Hydroxypropyl Cellulose Additive

The purpose of this study was to improve the operability of calcium silicate cements (CSCs) such as mineral trioxide aggregate (MTA) cement. The flow, working time, and setting time of CSCs with different compositions containing low-viscosity methyl cellulose (MC) or hydroxypropyl cellulose (HPC) additive were examined according to ISO 6876-2012; calcium ion release analysis was also conducted. MTA and low-heat Portland cement (LPC) including 20% fine particle zirconium oxide (ZO group), LPC including zirconium oxide and 2 wt% low-viscosity MC (MC group), and HPC (HPC group) were tested. MC and HPC groups exhibited significantly higher flow values and setting times than other groups (p < 0.05). Additionally, flow values of these groups were higher than the ISO 6876-2012 reference values; furthermore, working times were over 10 min. Calcium ion release was retarded with ZO, MC, and HPC groups compared with MTA. The concentration of calcium ions was decreased by the addition of the MC or HPC group compared with the ZO group. When low-viscosity MC or HPC was added, the composition of CSCs changed, thus fulfilling the requirements for use as root canal sealer. Calcium ion release by CSCs was affected by changing the CSC composition via the addition of MC or HPC.
A flexible modeling framework for coupled matrix and tensor factorizations

Joint analysis of data from multiple sources has proved useful in many disciplines including metabolomics and social network analysis. However, data fusion remains a challenging task in need of data mining tools that can capture the underlying structures from multi-relational and heterogeneous data sources. In order to address this challenge, data fusion has been formulated as a coupled matrix and tensor factorization (CMTF) problem. Coupled factorization problems have commonly been solved using alternating methods and, recently, unconstrained all-at-once optimization algorithms. In this paper, unlike previous studies, in order to have a flexible modeling framework, we use a general-purpose optimization solver that solves for all factor matrices simultaneously and is capable of handling additional linear/nonlinear constraints with a nonlinear objective function. We formulate CMTF as a constrained optimization problem and develop accurate models more robust to overfactoring. The effectiveness of the proposed modeling/algorithmic framework is demonstrated on simulated and real data.
An explicit fourth-order orthogonal curvilinear staggered-grid FDTD method for Maxwell's equations

The explicit fourth-order staggered finite-difference time-domain scheme, previously proposed for a Cartesian grid, is extended to Maxwell's equations in an orthogonal curvilinear coordinate system and applied to electromagnetic wave problems. A simple technique is also presented for generating orthogonal curvilinear grids that conform to the material boundaries and interfaces of the problem. Numerical experiments are presented to illustrate the efficiency and accuracy of the method.
Neuroticism and Cardiovascular Disease Mortality: Socioeconomic Status Modifies the Risk in Women (UK Health and Lifestyle Survey)

Objective The association between personality traits and mortality might differ as a function of socioeconomic status (SES). Our aim was to evaluate the all-cause, cardiovascular disease (CVD), and cancer mortality risk associated with neuroticism or extraversion and their interactions with SES in a representative sample of the UK adult population. Methods A total of 5450 participants (2505 men) from the Health and Lifestyle Survey completed the Eysenck Personality Inventory at baseline and were monitored for vital status over 25 years. SES was defined as a latent variable comprising occupational social class, educational attainment, and income. Results A significant neuroticism-by-SES-by-sex interaction (p = .04) for CVD mortality revealed a neuroticism-by-SES interaction specific to women. Compared to women with average SES, those with both high neuroticism and low SES were at an increased risk for CVD mortality (hazard ratio = 2.02, 95% confidence interval = 1.45–2.80), whereas those with high neuroticism and high SES combined were at a decreased risk for CVD mortality (hazard ratio = 0.61, 95% confidence interval = 0.38–0.97, p for interaction = 0.003). The interaction term was not explained by health behaviors (10% attenuation) and physiological variables (11% attenuation). This interaction was not observed for all-cause and cancer mortality risks or among men for CVD mortality. Conclusions High neuroticism is a risk factor for cardiovascular mortality in women with low SES, whereas in women with higher SES, it is protective. Further research is needed to replicate this finding and identify the mechanisms behind the modifying effect of SES on neuroticism. Abbreviations HALS = Health and Lifestyle Survey CVD = cardiovascular disease EPI = Eysenck Personality Inventory SES = socioeconomic status SD = standard deviation BMI = body mass index FEV1 = forced expiratory volume in 1 second MLR = maximum likelihood with robust standard errors HR = hazard ratio
Dynamic Materialization of Query Views for Data Warehouse Workloads

A materialized view, or Materialized Query Table (MQT), is an auxiliary table with precomputed data that can be used to significantly improve the performance of a database query. Previous research efforts have focused on finding the best candidate MQT set, with a common static heuristic being to greedily pre-materialize the MQTs prior to executing the workload. While this approach is sound when the size of the MQT set on disk is small, it will not be able to pre-materialize all MQTs and indexes when faced with real-world disk limits and view maintenance costs, and thus a static heuristic will fail to exploit the potentially large benefits of those MQTs not selected for materialization. In this paper we present an automated, dynamic MQT management scheme that materializes views and creates indexes in an on-demand fashion as a workload executes and manages them with an LRU cache. In order to maximize the benefit of executing queries with MQTs, the scheme makes an adaptive tradeoff between the MQT materializations, the base table accesses, and the benefit of MQT hits in the cache. To find the workload permutation that produces the overall highest net benefit, we use a genetic algorithm to search the N! solution space, and to avoid materializing seldom-used MQTs, we prune the set of MQT candidates. We ran our dynamic management on a TPC-H workload and found that our scheme produces higher benefit across a variety of scenarios; we demonstrate over 60% improvement in MQT benefit under harsh conditions when the size of available MQTs with indexes is larger than the cache.
A Privacy Oriented Extension of Attribute Exchange in Shibboleth

In frameworks for Web services like SAML, liberty or Shibboleth, a user can get authentication by asking one's IdP (identity provider) to issue a security assertion by which one can get access to services at an SP (service provider). If the SP additionally requests some attributes of one's, the user is forced to reveal the immediate values of them. There are cases where users must present detailed privacy information which SPs don't actually require to authorize them. We focus on Shibboleth and propose an extension of the attribute exchange protocol between an IdP and an SP in Shibboleth. While in the conventional framework of Shibboleth attributes are exchanged in immediate value, in our extension an SP requests an IdP to test whether user's attributes are satisfied some conditions, then the IdP returns either "true", "false" or "unanswerable" to the SP. We specify a language to describe the conditions as a query at the SP. We also extend an attribute authority at the IdP to evaluate the conditions presented from the SP
A Primitive Polynomial to Define the Finite Field Modules for High-Throughput Interpolator to Encode and Decode Of Non Binary Cyclic Codes

: This paper represents The algebraic soft-decoding (ASD) of Reed–Solomon (RS) codes provides significant coding gain over hard-decision decoding with polynomial complexity. The low-complexity chase (LCC) algorithm is proposed for reducing the complexity of interpolation, which interpolates over 2^n test vectors, being attractive for VLSI implementation. The interpolation is simplified in LCC decoding by restricting the multiplicity to m=1 and replacing the factorization step with Chien’s search and Forney’s algorithm. In this paper, high-throughput interpolator architecture for soft-decision decoding of Reed–Solomon (RS) codes based on low-complexity chase (LCC) decoding is presented. We have formulated a modified form of the Nielson’s interpolation algorithm, using some typical features of LCC decoding. The proposed algorithm works with a different scheduling, takes care of the limited growth of the polynomials, and shares the common interpolation points, for reducing the latency of interpolation. Based on the proposed modified Nielson’s algorithm we have derived low-latency architecture to reduce the overall latency of the whole LCC decoder. An efficiency is low, in terms of area-delay product, has been achieved by an LCC decoder, by using the proposed interpolator architecture, over the best of the previously reported architectures for an RS(255,239) code with eight test vectors.
People Summarization by Combining Named Entity Recognition and Relation Extraction

The two most important tasks in entity information summarization from the Web are named entity recognition and relation extraction. Little work has been done toward an integrated statistical model for understanding both named entities and their relationships. Most of the previous works on relation extraction assume the named entities are pre-given. The drawbacks of these sequential models are that the results of relation extraction cannot be used to guide the named entity recognition, which have been proven useful. This paper proposed a novel integrate framework called EntSum, which enables bidirectional integration of named entity recognition and relation extraction using iterative optimization. Experiments on a one million large real Web data set show that EntSum achieves much better performance on both tasks than sequential methods.
THE IMPORTANCE OF MOSQUITO BEHAVIOURAL ADAPTATIONS TO MALARIA CONTROL IN AFRICA

Over the past decade the use of long‐lasting insecticidal nets (LLINs), in combination with improved drug therapies, indoor residual spraying (IRS), and better health infrastructure, has helped reduce malaria in many African countries for the first time in a generation. However, insecticide resistance in the vector is an evolving threat to these gains. We review emerging and historical data on behavioral resistance in response to LLINs and IRS. Overall the current literature suggests behavioral and species changes may be emerging, but the data are sparse and, at times unconvincing. However, preliminary modeling has demonstrated that behavioral resistance could have significant impacts on the effectiveness of malaria control. We propose seven recommendations to improve understanding of resistance in malaria vectors. Determining the public health impact of physiological and behavioral insecticide resistance is an urgent priority if we are to maintain the significant gains made in reducing malaria morbidity and mortality.
Distance and Velocity Assisted Handoff Decision Algorithm in Heterogeneous Networks

In this paper, we present a new distance and velocity assisted handoff decision algorithm (DVAH). By sampling the received power from base station (BS) continually and with the beforehand downloaded base station coverage radius and some propagation parameters, the mobile terminal (MT) can estimate the distance and the leaving velocity from surrounding BSs. By the assistance of the estimated distance and leaving velocity to all the concerned BSs, MT decides the best objective BS and the best moment to trigger a vertical handoff. The simulation results demonstrate the excellent performance of DVAH compared with the traditional power-based decision algorithms in strict checkout conditions. In addition, this handoff decision algorithm is completely implemented by MT alone, no needing any assistance from BS, and can be adopted by horizontal handoff also.
Applications of Statistical Machine Translation Approaches to Spoken Language Understanding

In this paper, we investigate two statistical methods for spoken language understanding based on statistical machine translation. The first approach employs the source-channel paradigm, whereas the other uses the maximum entropy framework. Starting with an annotated corpus, we describe the problem of natural language understanding as a translation from a source sentence to a formal language target sentence. We analyze the quality of different alignment models and feature functions and show that the direct maximum entropy approach outperforms the source channel-based method. Furthermore, we investigate how both methods perform if the input sentences contain speech recognition errors. Finally, we investigate a new approach to combine speech recognition and spoken language understanding. For this purpose, we employ minimum error rate training which directly optimizes the final evaluation criterion. By combining all knowledge sources in a log-linear way, we show that we can decrease both the word error rate and the slot error rate. Experiments were carried out on two German inhouse corpora for spoken dialogue systems.
Distinguishing Maps

The distinguishing number of a group A acting faithfully on a set X, denoted D(A,X), is the least number of colors needed to color the elements of X so that no nonidentity element of A preserves the coloring. Given a map M (an embedding of a graph in a closed surface) with vertex set V and without loops or multiples edges, let D(M) = D(Aut(M), V ), where Aut(M) is the automorphism group of M ; if M is orientable, define D+(M) similarly, using only orientation-preserving automorphisms. It is immediate that D(M) ≤ 4 and D+(M) ≤ 3. We use Russell and Sundaram’s Motion Lemma to show that there are only finitely many maps M with D(M) > 2. We show that if a group A of automorphisms of a graph G fixes no edges, then D(A,V ) = 2, with five exceptions. That result is used to find the four maps with D+(M) = 3. We also consider the distinguishing chromatic number χD(M), where adjacent vertices get different colors. We show χD(M) ≤ χ(M) + 3 with equality in only finitely many cases, where χ(M) is the chromatic number of the graph underlying M . We also show that χD(M) ≤ 6 for planar maps, answering a question of Collins and Trenk. Finally, we discuss the implications for general group actions and give numerous problems for further study.