Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Impact of Fluctuating Goals on Adaptability of Evolvable VNF Placement Method

Software Defined Network (SDN) and Network Function Virtualization (NFV) are effective techniques to deal with dynamically changing network environments. Furthermore, the combination of SDN and NFV permits telecommunication service providers to offer sequences of virtualized network functions to their users through Service Function Chaining (SFC). In the context of SFC, the Virtual Network Function (VNF) placement problem, i.e., determining where the virtual functions should be located in the network, needs to be solved dynamically whenever new function chains are requested. In our previous work, we proposed an evolutionary method for dynamic VNF placement problems named Evolvable VNF Placement (EvoVNFP). This current paper aims at evaluating EvoVNFP in greater detail to clarify the influence of the parameter settings on the performance of EvoVNFP. Results from computer simulations show that appropriate settings of sub-goal period lengths and number of mutations help improve the adaptability and convergence speed of EvoVNFP.
Natural Language to Database Interface

Information is playing an essential role and one of the foremost sources of information is databases. Almost all IT application are storing and retrieve or extracting information from databases. To retrieve the information one has to be use the Structured Query Language (SQL) for relational database systems. The idea of using Natural Language instead of SQL has prompted the development of new type of processing called Natural language Interface to Database. The natural language interface takes natural language questions as input and gives textual response in the form of data present in the relational database so that informal or non-technical user are not essential to have knowledge of SQL language structures and format hence any user can interact with the databases.
Effects of Vitamin E Addition to Chicken Semen on Sperm Quality During in Vitro Storage of Semen

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the probable effects of the vitamin E addition in different levels to the extender of chicken semen on spermatozoa quality during storage of semen at 4°C for 0, 3, 6, 10 and 24 hours. Eight young Ross broiler breeder strain 308 roosters were used in this experiment. The collected semen from all roosters was mixed together and diluted with modified a Ringer’s solution. The diluted pooled semen was divided into 5 treatments (T). T1 was a control group without any vitamin E addition. For T2 to T5 groups 0.5 %, 1 %, 2 % and 3 % vitamin E (w/v), were added respectively. Treatments were evaluated for sperm motility, sperm viability and probable morphological defects after 0, 3, 6, 10 and 24 hours of incubation at 4°C. The evaluations of spermatozoa immediately after semen collection, were revealed no significant differences among values of treatment groups, whereas after incubating the treatments for different spans of time, the sperm progressive motility and viability rates for groups supplemented with vitamin E were significantly (P < 0.05) higher than that of the control group. In addition, morphological defect rates of chicken spermatozoa in the groups supplemented with different levels of vitamin E were significantly (P < 0.05) lower than that in control group. According to the results of this study we conclude that, the most excellent level of vitamin E for supplementation to the extended semen of chicken in order to improve the sperm motility and viability plus to reduce the morphological defect rates of the spermatozoa up to 24 hours storage time at 4°C is 2 % (w/v).
Production of Infectious Genotype 1b Virus Particles in Cell Culture and Impairment by Replication Enhancing Mutations

With the advent of subgenomic hepatitis C virus (HCV) replicons, studies of the intracellular steps of the viral replication cycle became possible. These RNAs are capable of self-amplification in cultured human hepatoma cells, but save for the genotype 2a isolate JFH-1, efficient replication of these HCV RNAs requires replication enhancing mutations (REMs), previously also called cell culture adaptive mutations. These mutations cluster primarily in the central region of non-structural protein 5A (NS5A), but may also reside in the NS3 helicase domain or at a distinct position in NS4B. Most efficient replication has been achieved by combining REMs residing in NS3 with distinct REMs located in NS4B or NS5A. However, in spite of efficient replication of HCV genomes containing such mutations, they do not support production of infectious virus particles. By using the genotype 1b isolate Con1, in this study we show that REMs interfere with HCV assembly. Strongest impairment of virus formation was found with REMs located in the NS3 helicase (E1202G and T1280I) as well as NS5A (S2204R), whereas a highly adaptive REM in NS4B still allowed virus production although relative levels of core release were also reduced. We also show that cells transfected with the Con1 wild type genome or the genome containing the REM in NS4B release HCV particles that are infectious both in cell culture and in vivo. Our data provide an explanation for the in vitro and in vivo attenuation of cell culture adapted HCV genomes and may open new avenues for the development of fully competent culture systems covering the therapeutically most relevant HCV genotypes.
Dynamic Tardos Traitor Tracing Schemes

We construct binary dynamic traitor tracing schemes, where the number of watermark bits needed to trace and disconnect any coalition of pirates is quadratic in the number of pirates, and logarithmic in the total number of users and the error probability. Our results improve upon results of Tassa, and our schemes have several other advantages, such as being able to generate all codewords in advance, a simple accusation method, and flexibility when the feedback from the pirate network is delayed.
Stochastic activation of a DNA damage response causes cell-to-cell mutation rate variation

To have or have not determines DNA repair Cells presumably try to protect DNA from damage at all costs. But Uphof et al. show that they do not, because the cost is too high. Single-molecule and single-cell measurements show that the DNA repair enzyme Ada, which also regulates its own expression, was present in such low amounts in E. coli that stochastic variation led to some cells having none of the protein at all. Such cells undergo increased mutagenesis, which could be beneficial in circumstances in which increased genetic heterogeneity is required for adaptation. The expression of large amounts of such a DNA-altering protein was also toxic. Science, this issue p. 1094 Nongenetic heterogeneity can lead to genetic variation. Cells rely on the precise action of proteins that detect and repair DNA damage. However, gene expression noise causes fluctuations in protein abundances that may compromise repair. For the Ada protein in Escherichia coli, which induces its own expression upon repairing DNA alkylation damage, we found that undamaged cells on average produce one Ada molecule per generation. Because production is stochastic, many cells have no Ada molecules and cannot induce the damage response until the first expression event occurs, which sometimes delays the response for generations. This creates a subpopulation of cells with increased mutation rates. Nongenetic variation in protein abundances thus leads to genetic heterogeneity in the population. Our results further suggest that cells balance reliable repair against toxic side effects of abundant DNA repair proteins.
Credibilistic conditional value at risk under fuzzy environment

Conditional value at risk (CVaR) is a widely used risk assessment technique. This paper proposes a new CVaR called credibilistic CVaR, which extend the tradition CVaR to fuzzy environment. The theoretical properties of credibilistic CVaR are given in this paper. Finally, trianguilar, trapezoidal and normal fuzzy variables are used to illustrate the applicability and feasibility of credibilistic CVaR.
A Method of 2-D DOA Estimation Based on Modified MUSIC Algorithm

In this paper, a method of being modified 2-D DOA estimation is presented. By reconstructing covariance matrix of the received array data, the correlativity of the incident signals is recreased, and mis-division between signal subspace and noise subspace is controlled, therefore the number of estimated signals would be equal to the number of actual incident signals. This method has good performance not only for DOA estimation of the correlation signals, but for DOA estimation of the non-correlation signals. In addition the computational complexity will not increase obviously. The simulation tests verify the validity of the presented algorithm.
A novel method of adaptive GOP structure base on coding efficiency and complexity joint model

In this paper, we focus on the models that the coding time and efficiency affected by GOPsize, and then find that large GOPsize will usually bring the more coding time and less coding efficiency, and vice verse. We analyze the reason which resulting in the above circumstances and propose two models: coding efficiency and time. Their maximum errors are less than 5% and 2.7%, respectively. In practice, the coding system is expected to reduce coding time while improve coding efficiency as possible. Base on the two models, we further propose a joint function of choose GOPsize adaptively to achieve the optimal tradeoff between coding time and efficiency. We improve the joint function to make it adapt to different system requirements by changing its parameters.
Detecting Theft of Java Applications via a Static Birthmark Based on Weighted Stack Patterns

A software birthmark means the inherent characteristics of a program that can be used to identify the program. A comparison of such birthmarks facilitates the detection of software theft. In this paper, we propose a static Java birthmark based on a set of stack patterns, which reflect the characteristic of Java applications. A stack pattern denotes a sequence of bytecodes that share their operands through the operand stack. A weight scheme is used to balance the influence of each bytecode in a comparison of the birthmarks. We evaluate the proposed birthmark with respect to two properties required for a birthmark: credibility and resilience. The empirical results show that the proposed birthmark is highly credible and resilient to program transformation. We also compare the proposed birthmark with existing birthmarks, such as that of Tamada et al. and the k-gram birthmark. The experimental results show that the proposed birthmark is more stable than the birthmarks in terms of resilience to program transformation. Thus, the proposed birthmark can provide more reliable evidence of software theft when the software is modified by someone other than author.
A mesenchyme‐free culture system to elucidate the mechanism of otic vesicle morphogenesis

The vertebrate inner ear has been extensively studied as a model system of morphogenesis and differentiation. The interactions between epithelium and surrounding mesenchyme have not previously been studied directly, because an appropriate experimental system had not been established. Here we describe a mesenchyme‐free culture system of E11.5 mouse otic vesicle which retains the ability for (1) formation of the cochlear loop, (2) emigration of ganglion cells from the epithelium and (3) invagination of semicircular canal epithelium. E10.5 otic vesicle was maintained using the same method, but morphogenesis was less successful. Culture of the E11.5 cochlear region alone resulted in regeneration of a structure with semicircular canal character from the cut end, indicating that region‐specific cell fate within the otic vesicle is not irreversibly determined at this stage. Co‐culturing otic vesicle with cochleovestibular ganglion (CVG) resulted in enhanced looping or ectopic diverticulum formation of the cochlear region, suggesting that the CVG provides a morphogenetic signal for cochlear looping. Cochlear looping was specifically blocked by inhibiting actin polymerization by cytochalasin D, while morphogenesis of the semicircular canal region remained intact. Hyaluronidase treatment inhibited semicircular canal morphogenesis, resulting in a cystic form of the otic vesicle. These data validate this culture system as a tool for elucidating the mechanism of morphogenesis of the otic vesicle.
Holographic Projection Using Converging Spherical Wave Illumination

A holographic projection system using converging spherical wave illumination has been presented. The system takes into account the combination of Fresnel holographic projection and Fourier holographic projection. The effect of pixelated spatial light modulator is analyzed. By adding the quadratic phase of diffractive lens to the phase of the generated hologram, the separation of image plane from Fourier plane is achieved. Meanwhile, the zero-order beam and high diffraction orders can be filtered out by higher pass filter and aperture placed in the Fourier plane. A holographic projection system based on liquid crystal on silicon is set up. Experimental results show that not only Fresnel holographic projection but also Fourier holographic projection can be achieved without zero order beam and higher diffraction orders in this universal system.
A Study on Pragmatic Failures in Nonverbal Communication in Intercultural Communicative Context

In the intercultural communication, people often ignore the nonverbal behavior when they talk to others. With the raid progress of modern traffic and tools of communication, people’s contacts have become increasingly frequent with different regions and countries. The research on pragmatic failures in nonverbal communication allows people to understand its nature and eliminate some unnecessary misunderstanding. This paper aims at finding out the root causes about pragmatic failures in nonverbal communication in the intercultural communication, and providing several sensible recommendations.
Induced transcription and stability of CELF2 mRNA drives widespread alternative splicing during T-cell signaling

Significance Alternative splicing is a key mechanism for gene regulation that is regulated in response to developmental and antigen signaling in T cells. However, the extent and mechanisms of regulated splicing, particularly during T-cell development, have not been well characterized. Here we demonstrate that expression of the RNA binding protein CELF2 (CUGBP, Elav-like family member 2) is increased in response to T-cell signaling through the combined regulation of transcription and mRNA stability. This increase in CELF2 expression drives widespread changes in mRNA splicing in cultured T cells and correlates with changes in mRNA splicing during T-cell development. These results provide unprecedented insight into the regulation of splicing during thymic development, and reveal an important biologic role of CELF2 in human T cells. Studies in several cell types have highlighted dramatic and diverse changes in mRNA processing that occur upon cellular stimulation. However, the mechanisms and pathways that lead to regulated changes in mRNA processing remain poorly understood. Here we demonstrate that expression of the splicing factor CELF2 (CUGBP, Elav-like family member 2) is regulated in response to T-cell signaling through combined increases in transcription and mRNA stability. Transcriptional induction occurs within 6 h of stimulation and is dependent on activation of NF-κB. Subsequently, there is an increase in the stability of the CELF2 mRNA that correlates with a change in CELF2 3′UTR length and contributes to the total signal-induced enhancement of CELF2 expression. Importantly, we uncover dozens of splicing events in cultured T cells whose changes upon stimulation are dependent on CELF2 expression, and provide evidence that CELF2 controls a similar proportion of splicing events during human thymic T-cell development. Taken together, these findings expand the physiologic impact of CELF2 beyond that previously documented in developing neuronal and muscle cells to T-cell development and function, identify unappreciated instances of alternative splicing in the human thymus, and uncover novel mechanisms for CELF2 regulation that may broadly impact CELF2 expression across diverse cell types.
The impact of hypertext on processes of reading and writing

introduction and conclusion and then skimming over the headings and looking at diagrams and tables. Depending on their purpose, they may content themselves with an overview constructed from skimming for the main points of each paragraph, or only read sections relevant to their goal. The point is that hypertext makes the situation much worse. Readers of printed texts can scan the page or thumb through the text to see how much is there, to see whether anything further down the page looks important or useful, or to see how much elaboration the writer considers it worthwhile to include. This is a lot harder to do in hypertext because readers must consciously choose to look at something (i.e., by clicking a button), because new information may displace other information on the screen, and because making such a choice may make it harder to get back to where the reader started. ix OField dependence/independenceO are widely used but little understood characterizations of Ocognitive styleO that are based on a personOs strategies of visual perception, and that purportedly reflect the manner in which he or she attempts to solve problems. OField independentO people are characterized as more individualistic, more self-motivating, and less dependent on external cues than Ofield dependentO learners. For a review and critique of field
Software Project Predictability and Control 1. Introduct Ion

Software project predictability and control is critical to. the Air-Force for two main reasons: 1. Software projects are inherently difficult to predict and control. 2. Software is necessarily on the critical path in many Air Force system acquisitions. Thus, any software project slippages are directly translated into slippages in operational readiness for many Air Force weapon 3 systems and C I systems. The second section of this chapter discusses the nature of the' software predicta-bi lity and control problem: what is it about software projects which makes them difficult to predict and control? The third section discusses a number of techniques for improving software predictability and control which the Study Group found being applied successfully in some parts of the Air Force, including the use of prototyping, incremental development, design-to-cost, competitive analysis and design contracts, and software development capability /capacity reviews. However, the Study Group found that these and other proven software risk management techniques are not being used in many Air Force system acquisitions. The Study Group concluded that a significant improvement in software project predictability and control would be effected by thorough application of these techniques, and that the most effective ways to get them used would be to establish and ensure the application of two further Air Force policies: 1. A policy on software risk management; 2. A policy on software oversight management. Section 4 of this chapter presents and discusses the proposed policy on software risk management, presented as an additional chapter in the relevant Air Force regulation: AFR 800-14, Vol. II, "Acquisition and Support Procedures for Computer Resources in Systems. II Section 5 presents the corresponding recommended policy on software oversight management.
Noncanonical MicroRNA (miRNA) Biogenesis Gives Rise to Retroviral Mimics of Lymphoproliferative and Immunosuppressive Host miRNAs

ABSTRACT MicroRNAs (miRNAs) play regulatory roles in diverse processes in both eukaryotic hosts and their viruses, yet fundamental questions remain about which viruses code for miRNAs and the functions that they serve. Simian foamy viruses (SFVs) of Old World monkeys and apes can zoonotically infect humans and, by ill-defined mechanisms, take up lifelong infections in their hosts. Here, we report that SFVs encode multiple miRNAs via a noncanonical mode of biogenesis. The primary SFV miRNA transcripts (pri-miRNAs) are transcribed by RNA polymerase III (RNAP III) and take multiple forms, including some that are cleaved by Drosha. However, these miRNAs are generated in a context-dependent fashion, as longer RNAP II transcripts spanning this region are resistant to Drosha cleavage. This suggests that the virus may avoid any fitness penalty that could be associated with viral genome/transcript cleavage. Two SFV miRNAs share sequence similarity and functionality with notable host miRNAs, the lymphoproliferative miRNA miR-155 and the innate immunity suppressor miR-132. These results have important implications regarding foamy virus biology, viral miRNAs, and the development of retroviral-based vectors. IMPORTANCE Fundamental questions remain about which viruses encode miRNAs and their associated functions. Currently, few natural viruses with RNA genomes have been reported to encode miRNAs. Simian foamy viruses are retroviruses that are prevalent in nonhuman host populations, and some can zoonotically infect humans who hunt primates or work as animal caretakers. We identify a cluster of miRNAs encoded by SFV. Characterization of these miRNAs reveals evolutionarily conserved, unconventional mechanisms to generate small RNAs. Several SFV miRNAs share sequence similarity and functionality with host miRNAs, including the oncogenic miRNA miR-155 and innate immunity suppressor miR-132. Strikingly, unrelated herpesviruses also tap into one or both of these same regulatory pathways, implying relevance to a broad range of viruses. These findings provide new insights with respect to foamy virus biology and vectorology. Fundamental questions remain about which viruses encode miRNAs and their associated functions. Currently, few natural viruses with RNA genomes have been reported to encode miRNAs. Simian foamy viruses are retroviruses that are prevalent in nonhuman host populations, and some can zoonotically infect humans who hunt primates or work as animal caretakers. We identify a cluster of miRNAs encoded by SFV. Characterization of these miRNAs reveals evolutionarily conserved, unconventional mechanisms to generate small RNAs. Several SFV miRNAs share sequence similarity and functionality with host miRNAs, including the oncogenic miRNA miR-155 and innate immunity suppressor miR-132. Strikingly, unrelated herpesviruses also tap into one or both of these same regulatory pathways, implying relevance to a broad range of viruses. These findings provide new insights with respect to foamy virus biology and vectorology.
Four key signaling pathways mediating chemotaxis in Dictyostelium discoideum

Chemotaxis is the ability of cells to move in the direction of an external gradient of signaling molecules. Cells are guided by actin-filled protrusions in the front, whereas myosin filaments retract the rear of the cell. Previous work demonstrated that chemotaxis of unpolarized amoeboid Dictyostelium discoideum cells is mediated by two parallel pathways, phosphoinositide-3-kinase (PI3K) and phospholipase A2 (PLA2). Here, we show that polarized cells exhibit very good chemotaxis with inhibited PI3K and PLA2 activity. Using genetic screens, we demonstrate that this activity is mediated by a soluble guanylyl cyclase, providing two signals. The protein localizes to the leading edge where it interacts with actin filaments, whereas the cyclic guanosine monophosphate product induces myosin filaments in the rear of the cell. We conclude that chemotaxis is mediated by multiple signaling pathways regulating protrusions at the front and rear of the cell. Cells that express only rear activity are polarized but do not exhibit chemotaxis, whereas cells with only front signaling are unpolarized but undergo chemotaxis.