Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Pollutant Recognition Based on Supervised Machine Learning for Indoor Air Quality Monitoring Systems

Indoor air may be polluted by various types of pollutants which may come from cleaning products, construction activities, perfumes, cigarette smoke, water-damaged building materials and outdoor pollutants. Although these gases are usually safe for humans, they could be hazardous if their amount exceeded certain limits of exposure for human health. A sophisticated indoor air quality (IAQ) monitoring system which could classify the specific type of pollutants is very helpful. This study proposes an enhanced indoor air quality monitoring system (IAQMS) which could recognize the pollutants by utilizing supervised machine learning algorithms: multilayer perceptron (MLP), K-nearest neighbour (KNN) and linear discrimination analysis (LDA). Five sources of indoor air pollutants have been tested: ambient air, combustion activity, presence of chemicals, presence of fragrances and presence of food and beverages. The results showed that the three algorithms successfully classify the five sources of indoor air pollution (IAP) with a classification rate of up to 100 percent. An MLP classifier with a model structure of 9-3-5 has been chosen to be embedded into the IAQMS. The system has also been tested with all sources of IAP presented together. The result shows that the system is able to classify when single and two mixed sources are presented together. However, when more than two sources of IAP are presented at the same period, the system will classify the sources as ‘unknown’, because the system cannot recognize the input of the new pattern.
Nuclear Factor-κB Inhibition by Parthenolide Potentiates the Efficacy of Taxol in Non–Small Cell Lung Cancer In vitro and In vivo

In this study, we have examined the molecular events induced by parthenolide, a sesquiterpene lactone, and explored possible mechanisms of resistance and sensitization of tumor cells to Taxol. We showed that parthenolide could antagonize Taxol-mediated nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB) nuclear translocation and activation and Bcl-xl up-regulation by selectively targeting I-κB kinase activity. In A549 cells, inhibition of nuclear factor-κB by parthenolide resulted in activation of the mitochondrial death pathway to promote cytochrome c release and caspase 3 and 9 activation. In contrast, Taxol alone induced apoptosis via a pathway independent of mitochondria cytochrome c cascade. In addition, depletion of Bcl-xl rescued the apoptotic response to Taxol. Moreover, treatment with parthenolide increased the efficacy of the Taxol-induced inhibition of A549 tumor xenografts in mice. This study elucidated the cellular responses induced by parthenolide that decrease the threshold of mitochodria-dependent apoptosis in the treatment of non–small cell lung cancer cells. (Mol Cancer Res 2009;7(7):1139–49)
Reduction in risk-taking behaviors among MSM in Senegal between 2004 and 2007 and prevalence of HIV and other STIs. ELIHoS Project, ANRS 12139

Abstract An epidemiological survey conducted in Senegal in 2004 among men having sex with men (MSM) revealed high HIV prevalence and a high rate of risky behaviors within this population. Consequently, several prevention campaigns targeting MSM were implemented. A second survey was carried out in 2007 to assess the impact of these measures. This paper aims to examine trends in HIV and STI prevalence and in sexual behaviors between 2004 and 2007. The two surveys were conducted in four urban sites among 440 and 501 MSM – recruited using the snowball sampling method – in 2004 and 2007, respectively. A similar methodology was applied for both surveys. This consisted of a closed-ended questionnaire concerning socio-demographic, behavioral, and biomedical information plus a clinical examination including urine and blood tests to detect STIs and HIV infection. Between 2004 and 2007, the frequency of different sexual practices reported by MSM remained stable, but condom use for each type of sexual practice rose. The percentage of men who reported consistent condom use during previous-month anal sex has increased by about 35% (p<0.01). The percentage of men who reported consistent condom use during previous-month non-commercial sex with women has increased by 14% (p<0.01). HIV prevalence remained stable from 22.4% [95% CI: 18.6–26.8] in 2004 to 21.8% [95% CI: 18.3–25.7] in 2007 (adjusted OR = 1.05, p=0.8). Gonorrhea prevalence decreased from 5.5% [95% CI: 3.6–8.3] in 2004 to 2.6% [95% CI: 1.5–4.5] in 2007 (adjusted OR=0.5, p=0.07). The prevention campaigns, STI and HIV care and support programs conducted in Senegal among MSM have been followed by a reduction of risk-taking behaviors and STI prevalence among this population. Specific targeting of this group within HIV/STI prevention programs seems to be effective in decreasing sexual infections.
Experimental pulmonary edema due to intermittent positive pressure ventilation with high inflation pressures. Protection by positive end-expiratory pressure.

We used a small animal respirator to ventilate normal, anesthetized rats with room air at peak inspiratory pressures of 14, 30, or 45 cm H2O and no added end-expiratory pressures (intermittent positive pressure breathing [IPPB] 14/0, high inspiratory positive pressure breathing [HIPPB] 30/0, HIPPB 45/0). Other rats were ventilated with the same high inspiratory pressures but with an added end-expiratory pressure of 10 cm H2O (positive end-expiratory pressure [PEEP] 30/10, PEEP 45/10). Control rats that were not ventilated and the IPPB 14/0 group showed no pathologic lung changes. The HIPPB 30/0 and PEEP 30/10 groups had perivascular edema but no alveolar edema. The HIPPB 45/0 animals had alveolar and perivascular edema, severe hypoxemia, and decreased dynamic compliance and died within one hour. In contrast, the PEEP 45/10 animals had no alveolar edema and survived. We postulate that interstitial perivascular edema develops from ventilation with high inflating pressures by mechanisms of lung interdependen.
Effect of radiotherapy on activity and concentration of serum paraoxonase-1 in breast cancer patients

Paraoxonase-1 (PON1) is an intra-cellular antioxidant enzyme found also in the circulation associated with high-density lipoproteins. The activity of this enzyme has been shown to be decreased in breast cancer (BC) patients. The aims of our study were to investigate the changes produced by radiotherapy (RT) on activity and concentration of serum PON1 in BC patients, and to evaluate the observed variations in relation to clinical and pathological characteristics of patients and tumors, and the response to treatment. We studied 200 women with BC who were scheduled to receive RT following excision of the tumor. Blood for analyses was obtained before and after the irradiation procedure. The control group was composed of 200 healthy women. Relative to control, BC patients had significantly lower serum PON1 activities pre-RT, while PON1 concentrations were at similar levels. RT was associated with a significant increase in serum PON1 activities and concentrations. We observed significant differences in serum PON1 concentrations post-RT between patients with luminal A or luminal B tumors. Serum PON1 concentration post-RT was markedly lower in BC patients with metastases. We conclude that benefit from RT accrues to the BC patients not only through its direct effect on cancer cells but also indirectly by improving the organism’s anti-oxidant defense mechanisms. In addition, our preliminary evidence suggests that the measurement of serum PON1 concentration post-RT could be an efficient prognostic biomarker, and may be used as an index of the efficacy of the RT.
Effectiveness of Dry Cow Therapy Comprising Antibiotic Treatment, Internal Teat Sealant, and α-Tocopherol Against New Intramammary Infections in Cows

Abstract The aim of this study was to evaluate the preventive effectiveness of dry cow therapy based on antibiotic, internal teat sealant, and α-tocopherol administered separately or in various combinations at drying-off The study was performed on 322 uninfected quarters of 95 cows originating from three dairy herds. The new intramammary infection rates after calving were measured to evaluate the effectiveness. The quarters were divided into six groups differing in treatment, namely: control group (group C, n = 40) and five treatment groups. Treatment groups were arranged as follows: group A (antibiotic alone, n = 81), group AS (antibiotic + sealant, n = 40), group AST (antibiotic + sealant + α-tocopherol, n = 40), group T (α-tocopherol alone, n = 40), group S (sealant alone, n = 81). New infection rate amounted to 47.5% in group C. The treatment in group AST significantly prevented from the occurrence of new intramammary infections (12.5%, P < 0.05), especially those caused by major pathogens. Antibiotic treatment alone (group A) did not prevent from new infections (34.6%, P > 0.05), although the use of the sealant alone (group S) decreased the risk of new infection (24.7%, P < 0.05). A decrease in new infection rate (25%, P < 0.05) was also observed in AS group treated with the combination of the sealant and antibiotic. α -tocopherol supplementation alone (group T) had no overall effect on new infections (35%, P > 0.05). Increased α-tocopherol level (P < 0.05) was detected after calving in the quarters from cows that received α-tocopherol injections. In conclusion, the combination of antibiotic, internal teat sealant, and α-tocopherol used in dry cow therapy showed a significantly better preventive effect against new intramammary infections, than the therapeutics administered separately.
How Robust is the Empirical Link between Business-Cycle Volatility and Long-Run Growth in OECD Countries?

It has been argued that business-cycle volatility dampens growth. This paper argues that this is no stylised fact. A review of the literature reveals that arguments in favour of no, or even a positive, impact of business-cycle volatility on growth are as convincing as the arguments pointing in the other direction. Empirical evidence using annual data for 24 OECD countries from 1960 to 2000, based on robust cross-country regressions and panel models, raises doubts about a clear negative impact of volatility on growth. Moreover, the hypothesis of Granger-non-causality of business-cycle volatility for growth cannot be rejected.
The use of punctuation patterns in machine translation

SINCE A MACHINE can easily recognize punctuation marks, it is pertinent to inquire how the pattern of punctuation marks within a sentence can be used to determine sentence structure. Such a study may result in the development of criteria which can be incorporated in a program for machine translation. While the present study deals with the analysis of English language punctuation patterns, a similar analysis can of course be made for the punctuation of any other language.
Vijay Govindarajan: innovation coach to the developed and developing world

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to present an interview by Strategy & Leadership with Professor Vijay Govindarajan, one of the world's foremost experts on innovation execution and the co‐author of The Other Side of Innovation (2010), which discusses innovating for emerging markets, building the right innovation team, innovation planning as learning, and his newest concept, emotional infrastructure.Design/methodology/approach – Govindarajan explains how companies use the “forget‐borrow‐learn” framework to drive innovation execution. They “forget” the core business success formula, “borrow” key assets from core business, and “learn” to resolve unknowns.Findings – The paper finds that to manage innovation a special plan should be created to guide disciplined experiments for quicker learning. Quicker learning leads to better decisions, and better decisions lead to better results. A special innovation initiative team should also be created: a partnership between a dedicated team (using a mix of insiders.
Warranty Scope and Reliability under Imperfect Information and Alternative Market Structures

Modern society offers consumers a wide variety of durable goods which possess complex characteristics. These characteristics are imbedded in the products and affect the flow of services provided. Safety, durability, and reliability are important examples of such characteristics. Because of the technical complexity of many modern consumer goods, these quality features display differences. Also, because of the inherent complexity of the service provided by some consumer goods, the performance of any product is difficult to assess and is partly the consequence of individual actions. As a result, evaluation of these characteristics is a costly process and in a given market situation information will be "imperfect. " There have been three types of responses to this problem. The first is to legislate minimum quality features, as the FDA has done. This paper presents an economic analysis of warranties when consumer information regarding product liability is imperfect. It deals specifically with the supply of reliability and its relationship with voluntary liability (warranty). The market system generally provides a more appropriate solution than is usually thought of. Even though some difficulties are still present, their nature is such that regulation may not be necessary and the supply of additional information may produce adverse effects. The effect of market structure on the supply of reliability and warranty is examined; it is found that a monopolist will not alter the levels of these variables compared to the competitive market solution. Finally, while a market solution does not produce unambiguous results, the preliminary empirical evidence presented suggests that market forces alone may bring optimality. * This paper is based on research conducted in association with the Center for Policy Alternatives, Massachusetts Institute of Technology under a grant from the National Science Foundation's Research Applied to National Needs (RANN) program. Additional support was provided by the Consumers and Corporate Affairs Department of the government of Canada. The opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed herein are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Center for Policy Alternatives, the National Science Foundation, or the Canadian government. We are indebted to Keith Bryant, Stewart Butler, Marshall Freimer, Jennifer Gerner, Walter Oi, John Pettengill, and an anonymous reviewer for helpful comments on an earlier draft.
Solicited Diaries as a means of involving patients in development of healthcare services

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to develop an understanding of how patients experience their health problems and how they can generate innovative ideas about health care services. The research questions that guide the present study are: how can solicited diaries be used for capturing patient ideas? What type of data is generated from solicited diaries used for generating patient ideas? And what are the potential benefits and shortcomings of using patient diaries in generating ideas for improvement of health care services? Design/methodology/approach – The paper is based on an exploratory case study using patient diaries to solicit ideas about how health care services in Sweden can be improved. From the methodological viewpoint, the diaries are used as a tool for patient co‐creation of health care services.Findings – When analyzing dairies written by patients four different types of diaries emerged from the study: brief, reporting, descriptive and reflective diaries. Furthermore, 102 ideas for improv.
Combination therapy of rat brain tumours using localized interstitial hyperthermia and intra-arterial chemotherapy

Several investigators have reported that a high concentration of drugs in a tumour can be achieved using intra-arterial (IA) chemotherapy. This treatment was highly effective, especially in brain tumours, but the actual therapeutic advantage is still unknown. There are also indications that human malignant gliomas can effectively be treated using interstitial hyperthermia. Therefore, a combined treatment of IA chemotherapy and interstitial hyperthermia should be very promising and this has been studied in a tumour model. Wistar rats with isotransplanted C 6 gliomas in the brain were treated with adriamycin (ADR, 1.0 mg/kg body weight) either infused via the carotid artery (i.a.) or via the tail vein (i.v.), with or without interstitial hyperthermia. Hyperthermia of the tumours was applied using a homemade radiofrequency antenna (RF-heating) and a heating device that maintained the tumour temperature above 40°C. Concentration of adriamycin in tumours after treatment was measured using HPLC. The effectiveness of treatment was determined by the survival time of the animals and histopathological examinations. The highest uptake of adriamycin in the rat C 6 glioma was obtained when the animals were treated with hyperthermia and i.a. ADR infusion ( p <0.01). These animals also showed significantly longer overall survival time (SF50=46 days) in comparison to the other treatments ( p < 0.05). The histological studies demonstrated a necrotic tumour; however, the surrounding normal brain tissue remained intact. Thus, a combination of IA chemotherapy with adriamycin and localized interstitial hyperthermia enhances considerably the efficacy of adriamycin and has a greater antitumour effect for malignant brain tumours. This method is suitable for clinical use, and may be a new strategy for treating gliomas not successfully treated today.
Index future trading, spot volatility and market efficiency

This paper examines the impact of the listing of index futures trading on spot market volatility, market efficiency and volatility asymmetric responses. In order to model the effects of the introduction of index futures contracts, a modified GJR-GARCH model has been applied to examine the structural change of conditional variances before and after the introduction of index futures trading in S&P500, Nikkei 225, ASX all Ordinaries, and an equally weighted international portfolio. Additionally, this study adopts the coefficient dynamic tests to examine whether the identified impacts of index futures are consistent over time in both the individual indices and the international portfolio. In the post-futures period, we found that an increase in conditional volatility and market efficiency in Japan, and an increase in the equally weighted international portfolio. In the U.S. and Australia, however, no significant structural change on conditional variance is observed. The identified increase in volatility and market efficiency in the international portfolio are consistent over time.
Analysis of Monoamines in the Cerebrospinal Fluid of Chinese Patients with Alzheimer's Disease a

We have established HPLC assay conditions that could measure the levels of 14 monoamines and their metabolites simultaneously. Monoamine levels in cerebrospinal fluids of 12 Chinese patients with Alzheimer's disease were compared with those in samples from patients with benign prostate hyperplasia. Of the 14 monoamines and metabolites, only three were found to be present in all samples. Although the levels of 5-hydroxy-3-indoleacetic acid (HIAA) and homovanillic acid (HVA) in cerebrospinal fluid of patients with Alzheimer's disease were lower, and the levels of 3-methoxy-4-hydroxyphenylglycol (MHPG) higher, as compared to control patients, no significant differences were found between these two groups.
Analysis on eating behavior of children and exploration of dining chair design

Nowadays, the requirement and market of children product is accordingly enlarging in pursuit of humanized design. How to design the product which answers for the physical and mental development of children is becoming more and more important. This paper analyzes and sums up the characteristics of eating behavior of children during early childhood as well as their cognitive characteristics by a series of methods such as in situ observation, image acquisition, detailed interviews and questionnaire survey in the point of view of developmental psychology, moreover, this paper classifies the children's dining chair and manages comparative analysis and finally brings forward the design principle of children's dining chair.
Inferring Gene Regulatory Networks Using Conditional Regulation Pattern to Guide Candidate Genes

Combining path consistency (PC) algorithms with conditional mutual information (CMI) are widely used in reconstruction of gene regulatory networks. CMI has many advantages over Pearson correlation coefficient in measuring non-linear dependence to infer gene regulatory networks. It can also discriminate the direct regulations from indirect ones. However, it is still a challenge to select the conditional genes in an optimal way, which affects the performance and computation complexity of the PC algorithm. In this study, we develop a novel conditional mutual information-based algorithm, namely RPNI (Regulation Pattern based Network Inference), to infer gene regulatory networks. For conditional gene selection, we define the co-regulation pattern, indirect-regulation pattern and mixture-regulation pattern as three candidate patterns to guide the selection of candidate genes. To demonstrate the potential of our algorithm, we apply it to gene expression data from DREAM challenge. Experimental results show that RPNI outperforms existing conditional mutual information-based methods in both accuracy and time complexity for different sizes of gene samples. Furthermore, the robustness of our algorithm is demonstrated by noisy interference analysis using different types of noise.
Cyclic Diguanylate Is a Ubiquitous Signaling Molecule in Bacteria: Insights into Biochemistry of the GGDEF Protein Domain

ABSTRACT Proteins containing GGDEF domains are encoded in the majority of sequenced bacterial genomes. In several species, these proteins have been implicated in biosynthesis of exopolysaccharides, formation of biofilms, establishment of a sessile lifestyle, surface motility, and regulation of gene expression. However, biochemical activities of only a few GGDEF domain proteins have been tested. These proteins were shown to be involved in either synthesis or hydrolysis of cyclic-bis(3′→5′) dimeric GMP (c-di-GMP) or in hydrolysis of cyclic AMP. To investigate specificity of the GGDEF domains in Bacteria, six GGDEF domain-encoding genes from randomly chosen representatives of diverse branches of the bacterial phylogenetic tree, i.e., Thermotoga, Deinococcus-Thermus, Cyanobacteria, spirochetes, and α and γ divisions of the Proteobacteria, were cloned and overexpressed. All recombinant proteins were purified and found to possess diguanylate cyclase (DGC) activity involved in c-di-GMP synthesis. The individual GGDEF domains from two proteins were overexpressed, purified, and shown to possess a low level of DGC activity. The oligomeric states of full-length proteins and individual GGDEF domains were similar. This suggests that GGDEF domains are sufficient to encode DGC activity; however, enzymatic activity is highly regulated by the adjacent sensory protein domains. It is shown that DGC activity of the GGDEF domain protein Rrp1 from Borrelia burgdorferi is strictly dependent on phosphorylation status of its input receiver domain. This study establishes that majority of GGDEF domain proteins are c-di-GMP specific, that c-di-GMP synthesis is a wide-spread phenomenon in Bacteria, and that it is highly regulated.