Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Small-world behaviour in a system of mobile elements

We analyze the propagation of activity in a system of mobile automata. A number ρLd of elements move as random walkers on a lattice of dimension d, while with a small probability p they can jump to any empty site in the system. We show that this system behaves as a Dynamic Small World (DSW) and present analytic and numerical results for several quantities. Our analysis shows that the persistence time T* (equivalent to the persistence size L* of small-world networks) scales as T* ∼ (ρp)−τ, with τ = 1/(d + 1).
The antinarcoleptic drug modafinil increases glutamate release in thalamic areas and hippocampus

THE antinarcoleptic drug modafinil [(diphenyl-methyl)sulfinyl-2-acetamide; Modiodal] dose-dependently inhibits the activity of GABA neurons in the cerebral cortex and in the nucleus accumbens, as well as in sleep-related brain areas such as the medial preoptic area and the posterior hypothalamus. This study examined the effects of modafinil (30–300 mg/kg, i.p.) on dialysate glutamate and GABA levels in the ventromedial (VMT) and ventrolateral (VLT) thalamus and hippocampal formation (Hip) of the awake rat. The results show a maximal increase in glutamate release in these brain regions at the 100 mg/kg dose, associated with a lack of effect on GABA release. Thus modafinil may increase excitatory glutamatergic transmission in these regions, altering the balance between glutamate and GABA transmission.
L1 prior majorization in Bayesian image restoration

Bayesian methods rely on image priors that encapsulate prior image knowledge and avoid the ill-posedness of image restoration problems. In this paper a new prior based on the l1 norm of vertical and horizontal first order differences of image pixel values is introduced and its parameters are estimated . The results obtained from its application studied and compared with the ones provided by other methods in the literature.
Anti-Biofilm Activity: A Function of Klebsiella pneumoniae Capsular Polysaccharide

Competition and cooperation phenomena occur within highly interactive biofilm communities and several non-biocides molecules produced by microorganisms have been described as impairing biofilm formation. In this study, we investigated the anti-biofilm capacities of an ubiquitous and biofilm producing bacterium, Klebsiella pneumoniae. Cell-free supernatant from K. pneumoniae planktonic cultures showed anti-biofilm effects on most Gram positive bacteria tested but also encompassed some Gram negative bacilli. The anti-biofilm non-bactericidal activity was further investigated on Staphylococcus epidermidis, by determining the biofilm biomass, microscopic observations and agglutination measurement through a magnetic bead-mediated agglutination test. Cell-free extracts from K. pneumoniae biofilm (supernatant and acellular matrix) also showed an influence, although to a lesser extend. Chemical analyses indicated that the active molecule was a high molecular weight polysaccharide composed of five monosaccharides: galactose, glucose, rhamnose, glucuronic acid and glucosamine and the main following sugar linkage residues [→2)-α-l-Rhap-(1→]; [→4)-α-l-Rhap-(1→]; [α-d-Galp-(1→]; [→2,3)-α-d-Galp-(1→]; [→3)-β-d-Galp-(1→] and, [→4)-β-d-GlcAp-(1→]. Characterization of this molecule indicated that this component was more likely capsular polysaccharide (CPS) and precoating of abiotic surfaces with CPS extracts from different serotypes impaired the bacteria-surface interactions. Thus the CPS of Klebsiella would exhibit a pleiotropic activity during biofilm formation, both stimulating the initial adhesion and maturation steps as previously described, but also repelling potential competitors.
Dap 160 / intersectin binds and activates aPKC to regulate cell polarity and cell cycle progression

INTRODUCTION Asymmetric cell division has been proposed as a mechanism for maintaining stem cell numbers while allowing the generation of differentiated cell types (Morrison and Kimble, 2006). It is also been proposed that asymmetric cell division of a small number of tumor stem cells may be the origin of several tumor types (Morrison and Kimble, 2006). Asymmetric cell division typically involves establishment of a cell polarity axis, followed by alignment of the mitotic spindle with the polarity axis to produce daughter cells with different molecular composition. One evolutionarily conserved protein involved in both cell polarity and asymmetric cell division is atypical protein kinase C (aPKC; called PKC-3 in C. elegans and aPKCζ, λ/ι in mammals). aPKC is required for C. elegans
Bovine neonatal pancytopenia, and anaemia in lambs caused by feeding cow colostrum

I HAVE been watching with interest information about bovine neonatal pancytopenia (bleeding calf syndrome), since it resembles closely the condition of anaemia in lambs (and goat kids) caused by feeding cow colostrum as a substitute for ewe colostrum, which I researched in the late 1980s ([Winter
Fixation-image charts

We facilitate the comparative visual analysis of eye tracking data from multiple participants with a visualization that represents the temporal changes of viewing behavior. Common approaches to visually analyze eye tracking data either occlude or ignore the underlying visual stimulus, impairing the interpretation of displayed measures. We introduce fixation-image charts: a new technique to display the temporal changes of fixations in the context of the stimulus without visual overlap between participants. Fixation durations, the distance and direction of saccades between consecutive fixations, as well as the stimulus context can be interpreted in one visual representation. Our technique is not limited to static stimuli, but can be applied to dynamic stimuli as well. Using fixation metrics and the visual similarity of stimulus regions, we complement our visualization technique with an interactive filter concept that allows for the identification of interesting fixation sequences without the time-consuming annotation of areas of interest. We demonstrate how our technique can be applied to different types of stimuli to perform a range of analysis tasks. Furthermore, we discuss advantages and shortcomings derived from a preliminary user study.
Biomarkers of Suicide Risk in Psychosis

Suicide and attempted suicide are major health problems. Approximately 1400 people die from suicide every year in Sweden and ten times more attempt suicide. Patients with schizophrenia spectrum psychosis have an increased risk of suicide and suicide rates have been suggested to be as high as 10%. Important risk factors include a prior suicide attempt and depressive disorder. Low concentrations of monoamine metabolites in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) have been related to suicidal behavior in patients diagnosed with mood disorders. Few studies have investigated patients with schizophrenia spectrum psychosis and they suffer from small numbers of patients, short periods of follow-up and contradictory results. The main objective of this study was to investigate the long-term suicide risk in schizophrenia spectrum psychosis, whether concentrations of the CSF monoamine metabolites 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid (5-HIAA) and homovanillic acid (HVA) are related to suicidal behavior and to the overall mortality. The importance of other factors influencing suicide risk such as a prior suicide attempt, gender and CSF kynurenic acid (KYNA) was also investigated. Inpatients (n=385) with schizophrenia like symptoms were lumbar punctured at admittance and followed up for a median period of 26 years. Information about prior suicide attempts was retrieved from the medical records. Causes of death were obtained from the Causes of Death Register. During the follow-up period nearly equal percentages of men (6.5 %) and women (6.9 %) died by suicide. Eighteen percent of suicide attempters and 2% of the nonattempters died by suicide. The suicide risk was almost three times higher in male attempters than in females. Thus, attempted suicide and male gender were significant risk factors for suicide. There were neither any associations between CSF concentrations of 5-HIAA and HVA, or their ratio, nor between CSF KYNA concentrations and suicide or attempted suicide. CSF 5-HIAA and HVA concentrations were not a risk factor for early death from natural causes. Patients with schizophrenia spectrum psychosis have a high long-term risk of suicide. Attempted suicide was a very important risk factor for suicide in both genders, especially in males. In contrast to patients diagnosed with mood disorders, CSF 5HIAA and HVA concentrations were not associated with suicidal behavior in schizophrenia spectrum psychosis patients.
Microfluidic mixing through electrowetting-induced droplet oscillations

We used electrowetting to trigger self-excited oscillations of millimeter-sized sessile droplets of water-glycerol mixtures in a viscosity range from 1 to 65 mPa s. During the oscillations the contact angle of the droplets varied periodically between [approximate]130° and 80° with a frequency between 10 and 125 s–1, depending on the viscosity and the drop size. By initially staining drops partially with fluorescent dye, we found that the liquid within the drop is completely mixed within 100–2000 oscillation cycles for low and high viscosities, respectively. Compared to pure diffusion, droplet oscillations accelerated mixing by approximately two orders of magnitude for millimeter-sized droplets
Analysis of Clinical Record Data for Anticoagulation Management within an EHR System

Objectives: This paper reports an evaluation of the properties of a generic electronic health record information model that were actually required and used when importing an existing clinical application into a generic EHR repository. Method: A generic EHR repository and system were developed as part of the EU Projects Synapses and SynEx. A Web application to support the management of anticoagulation therapy was developed to interface to the EHR system, and deployed within a north London hospital with five years of cumulative clinical data from the previous existing anticoagulation management application. This offered the opportunity to critique those parts of the generic EHR that were actually needed to represent the legacy data. Results: The anticoagulation records from 3,226 patients were imported and represented using over 900,000 Record Components (i.e. each patient’s record contained on average 289 nodes), of which around two thirds were Element Items (i.e. value-containing leaf nodes), the remainder being container nodes (i.e. headings and sub-headings). Each node is capable of incorporating a rich set of context properties, but in reality it was found that many properties were not used at all, and some infrequently (e.g. only around 0.5% of Record Components had ever been revised). Conclusions: The process of developing generic EHR information models, arising from research and embodied within new-generation interoperability standards and specifications, has been strongly driven by requirements. These requirements have been gathered primarily by collecting use cases and examples from clinical communities, and been added to successive generations of these models. A priority setting approach has not to date been pursued - all requirements have been received and almost invariably met. This work has shown how little of the resulting model is actually needed to represent useful and usable clinical data. A wider range of such evaluations, looking at different kinds of existing clinical system, is needed to balance the theoretical requirements gathering processes, in order to result in EHR information models of an ideal level of complexity.
Triple hybrid selection/maximal-ratio combining in exponentially correlated Rayleigh fading

The average symbol error rate (SER) of triple hybrid selection/maximal-ratio combining (H-S/MRC) in exponentially correlated Rayleigh fading is obtained. The derivation is valid for different M-ary linear modulation schemes. We illustrate our methodology using M-ary phase-shift keying (MPSK) as an example
Simple Justice: The History of Brown v. Board of Education and Black America's Struggle for Equality . By Richard Kluger. [New York: Vintage Books. 1977. x, 823 and (Indexes) 21 pp. Paperback, £6.95 net.]

abdicating its responsibilities, for it keeps a tight rein on such bodies. Increasingly the device of purchasing equity shares is being used. One of the principal themes of the book is that this method is unsatisfactory because the principles of company law hinder proper public accountability. In particular, the Government feels obliged to comply with section 332 of the Companies Act 1948, although probably it is not strictly bound by it. This section imposes liability for a company's debts on anyone who is knowingly a party to the carrying on of business when there is no reasonable prospect of the creditors being paid. It can make rescue operations a risky investment for Government, and it can possibly discourage Government from discovering too much about the precise financial standing of companies to whom loans are being mooted. Again, although Government frequently attempts to exercise control over company policies by appointing directors—a form of control which may be achieved either through its shareholding or because it reserves that right as a condition of its assistance—the duty of such directors in law is to have regard to the interests of the shareholders, not the public interest. This, of course, does not mean that no realistic accountability can be achieved at all. There are other methods for monitoring and controlling expenditure. These rely principally upon the Government being supplied with adequate information by the firms concerned, which is then scrutinised by monitoring officers, specially trained for the purpose, whose job is to ensure that the Government's objectives in granting the assistance are being achieved. Miss Ganz also shows how the corporate form can inhibit Parliamentary control. For example, the accounts of companies in which the Government owns shares are not examined by the Comptroller and Auditor General, and representatives of the firms concerned are only exceptionally called before the Public Accounts Committee, though other select committees obey no such self-denying ordinance. Again, as with nationalised industries, Ministers can evade Parliamentary questions by claiming that the question raises matters which are properly the responsibility of the firm, or that an answer would involve disclosure of confidential commercial information. Miss Ganz's own reforms would include a more effective use of the Select Committee system, and the development of a policy which would recognise that the private corporate form is defective as a vehicle for public ownership. The problem is that the use of private bodies in this way, with its imprecise and often arbitrary delineation of responsibility and control, merely reflects an underlying ambivalence about what the function of public ownership is, and the extent to which state-aided firms ought to be subject to public scrutiny. Until these questions are properly explored, the haphazard system of controls revealed in this excellent book will continue. PATRICK ELIAS.
Submodular Maximization through the Lens of Linear Programming

The simplex algorithm for linear programming is based on the fact that any local optimum with respect to the polyhedral neighborhood is also a global optimum. We show that a similar result carries over to submodular maximization. In particular, every local optimum of a constrained monotone submodular maximization problem yields a $1/2$-approximation, and we also present an appropriate extension to the non-monotone setting. However, reaching a local optimum quickly is a non-trivial task. Moreover, we describe a fast and very general local search procedure that applies to a wide range of constraint families, and unifies as well as extends previous methods. In our framework, we match known approximation guarantees while disentangling and simplifying previous approaches. Moreover, despite its generality, we are able to show that our local search procedure is slightly faster than previous specialized methods. Furthermore, we resolve an open question on the relation between linear optimization and submodular maximization; namely, whether a linear optimization oracle may be enough to obtain strong approximation algorithms for submodular maximization. We show that this is not the case by providing an example of a constraint family on a ground set of size $n$ for which, if only given a linear optimization oracle, any algorithm for submodular maximization with a polynomial number of calls to the linear optimization oracle will have an approximation ratio of only $O ( \frac{1}{\sqrt{n}} \cdot \frac{\log n}{\log\log n} )$.
3-Sulfinopropionyl-coenzyme A (3SP-CoA) desulfinase from Advenella mimigardefordensis DPN7T: crystal structure and function of a desulfinase with an acyl-CoA dehydrogenase fold

3-Sulfinopropionyl-coenzyme A desulfinase (AcdDPN7) is a novel desulfinase which catalyzes sulfur abstraction in the catabolic pathway of 3,3′-dithiodipropionic acid. The crystal structures of native AcdDPN7 at 1.89 Å resolution and of native AcdDPN7 soaked with the substrate analogue succinyl-CoA at 2.30 Å resolution revealed an acyl-CoA dehydrogenase fold with Arg84 as a key residue in the desulfination reaction.
Application of the RFID technology in the European Union border control system

The paper presents the application of the RFID technology in the international system of the European Union (EU) border control. The proposed architecture consists of computerized portable units (equipped with specialized devices for data acquisition) carried by border officers and the server cloud infrastructure. Among other details of the proposed system (such as QR codes or images of people trying to enter EU), RFID information is critical for the border control procedure. It must be read from passports and confronted against local and remote data, stored in the central database The paper presents the general architecture of the proposed border control system. The structure of the application, responsible for connecting the RFID reader with the portable computer and communicating with the Internet database via the Web Services technology is presented. Introduced use cases show functionality of the system, focusing on the acquisition and analysis of the RFID information.
Metabolic Engineering of Corynebacterium glutamicum for 2-Ketoisovalerate Production

ABSTRACT 2-Ketoisovalerate is used as a therapeutic agent, and a 2-ketoisovalerate-producing organism may serve as a platform for products deriving from this 2-keto acid. We engineered the wild type of Corynebacterium glutamicum for the growth-decoupled production of 2-ketoisovalerate from glucose by deletion of the aceE gene encoding the E1p subunit of the pyruvate dehydrogenase complex, deletion of the transaminase B gene ilvE, and additional overexpression of the ilvBNCD genes, encoding the l-valine biosynthetic enzymes acetohydroxyacid synthase (AHAS), acetohydroxyacid isomeroreductase, and dihydroxyacid dehydratase. 2-Ketoisovalerate production was further improved by deletion of the pyruvate:quinone oxidoreductase gene pqo. In fed-batch fermentations at high cell densities, the newly constructed strains produced up to 188 ± 28 mM (21.8 ± 3.2 g liter−1) 2-ketoisovalerate and showed a product yield of about 0.47 ± 0.05 mol per mol (0.3 ± 0.03 g per g) of glucose and a volumetric productivity of about 4.6 ± 0.6 mM (0.53 ± 0.07 g liter−1) 2-ketoisovalerate per h in the overall production phase. In studying the influence of the three branched-chain 2-keto acids 2-ketoisovalerate, 2-ketoisocaproate, and 2-keto-3-methylvalerate on the AHAS activity, we observed a competitive inhibition of the AHAS enzyme by 2-ketoisovalerate.
Provident Routing Scheme Rely on Swarm Astuteness for MANET

Mobile Ad-Hoc Network dynamically changes its topology and also it doesn’t have proper infrastructure. So, it is necessary to provide the route stability. Already several routing methodologies are available for MANET. But those are not take the delay occurs in the network into account. As the topology of the network is dynamically changed, the route failure occurs frequently. Alternate route should be selected to route the data to its destination. The alternate route may be shortest path or it may not be. So, the concept of swarm astuteness is included in order to route the data reliably and quickly. The hill building behavior of termite inspires to find the alternate shortest path in the dynamic environment. In biological context, the termites are using pheromone to find out the path to reach the destination. Similarly, in this paper the pheromone table is maintained for each node. The MANET uses the hill building behavior of termite to discover the route dynamically which provides better packet delivery and decreases the control overhead.
FNR-Mediated Oxygen-Responsive Regulation of the nrdDG Operon of Escherichia coli

ABSTRACT Transcription of the nrdDG operon, which encodes the class III nucleotide reductase, which is only active under anaerobic conditions, was strongly induced after a shift to anaerobiosis. The induction was completely dependent on the transcriptional activator FNR and was independent of the ArcA-ArcB two-component response regulator system. The nrdD transcript start site was mapped to a position immediately downstream of two FNR binding sites. Transcription of the other two nucleotide reductase operons, nrdAB and nrdEF, did not respond to oxygen conditions in a wild-type background, but nrdAB expression was increased in the fnr mutant under anaerobic conditions.
Future Undersea Warfare Perspectives

Significant Undersea Warfare technology, including modern stealthy submarines and minisubmarines, air-independent propulsion, and advanced submarine combat systems with associated weaponry (torpedoes, mines, submerged-launch missiles), is being transferred among the nations of the world. Countering future undersea threats will become increasingly difficult, and conventional approaches to Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW) and Mine Countermeasures (MCM) will not provide adequate situational awareness, tactical control, or force protection to achieve stated Joint warfighting objectives in future contingencies. Advanced technology solutions and new operational approaches are needed in four broad capability areas: (1) distributed, deployable/offboard ASW sensor networks, (2) organic MCM capabilities for the Fleet, (3) advanced offboard undersea vehicle concepts, and (4) advanced warship self-protection measures against undersea threats. Technology and operational initiatives in these areas form the cornerstones of a future undersea warfighting vision described in this article.
A deep graph embedding network model for face recognition

In this paper, we propose a new deep learning network “GENet”, it combines the multi-layer network architecture and graph embedding framework. Firstly, we use simplest unsupervised learning PCA/LDA as first layer to generate the low-level feature. Secondly, many cascaded dimensionality reduction layers based on graph embedding framework are applied to GENet. Finally, a linear SVM classifier is used to classify dimension-reduced features. The experiments indicate that higher classification accuracy can be obtained by this algorithm on the CMU-PIE, ORL, Extended Yale B dataset.
Strategic performance empowerment model

Employee empowerment is one of the key management concepts of our time, but the empowerment concept has not yet become part of our corporate culture. In order to make it possible for managers to utilize empowerment concepts, the authors have developed a model, based on coaching, modeling and career path development in both an organizational and individual context. In the final section of the paper (Implications for Practicing Managers), the authors emphasize that implementation is not an easy task, as the manager must override traditional, authority‐based mindsets to develop a different paradigm.