Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Factors in the causation and incidence of ovarian cancer.

This paper presents an overview of the present knowledge about etiologic factors in the development of ovarian cancer. It is divided into 3 main headings: 1) epidemiologic observations about human ovarian cancer; 2) studies on spontaneous animal ovarian tumors that gave rise to an interesting field in comparative oncology; and 3) studies on experimental ovarian tumors. Factors which have been related to the causation and incidence of human ovarian cancer are: 1) racial and geographical incidence; 2) socioeconomic factors; 3) genetic factors; 4) age; 5) menstrual characteristics; 6) marital status and parity; 7) relationship to intersex states; 8) laterality; 9) endometriosis; 10) previous hysterectomy; 11) previous oophorectomy; 12) relationship to other neoplasms; 13) thyroid disease; 14) mumps; 15) x-irradiation; 16) asbestosis; and 18) incessant ovulation. A review of literature on ovarian tumors in animals showed that animals have a much lesser incidence than humans and thus was attributed to the infrequency of tumors arising from the ovarian surface epithelium which in humans comprise the great majority of ovarian tumors. On the other hand the prevalence of ovarian cancer among egg-laying domestic fowls is attributed to the frequency of adenocarcinoma. Such data may be helpful in determining the etiology of certain types of ovarian cancer. Experimental ovarian tumors have been induced in animals by x-irradiation; ovarian grafting; ligature of blood vessels; partial castration; and progestrational steroids. The implications of these experiments in human problems are briefly discussed as are the need for more studies in the field of epidemiology of human ovarian cancer.
Revisiting the Importance of the Direct Effects of School Leadership on Student Achievement: The Implications for School Improvement Policy

Much is left to be known regarding the impact of school principals on student achievement. This is because much of the research on school leadership focuses not on actual student outcomes but rather on other peripheral results of principal practices. In the research that has been done in this area, significant relationships have been identified between selected school leadership practices and student learning, indicating that evidence existed for certain principal behaviors to produce a direct relationship with student achievement. Further, although these relationships typically account for a small proportion of the total student achievement variability, they are of sufficient magnitude to be of interest and additional investigation. Actions taken to better understand and improve the impact of principals on the achievement of students in their schools have the potential for widespread benefit, as individual improvements in principal practice can impact thousands of students. It is in this light that potential direct effects of principal practices should be revisited.
An Adaptive Algebraic Multigrid Algorithm for Low-Rank Canonical Tensor Decomposition

A new algorithm based on algebraic multigrid is presented for computing the rank-$R$ canonical decomposition of a tensor for small $R$. Standard alternating least squares (ALS) is used as the relaxation method. Transfer operators and coarse-level tensors are constructed in an adaptive setup phase that combines multiplicative correction and bootstrap algebraic multigrid. An accurate solution is computed by an additive solve phase based on the full approximation scheme. Numerical tests show that for certain test problems our multilevel method significantly outperforms standalone ALS when a high level of accuracy is required.
ProRule: a new database containing functional and structural information on PROSITE profiles

MOTIVATION Increase the discriminatory power of PROSITE profiles to facilitate function determination and provide biologically relevant information about domains detected by profiles for the annotation of proteins. SUMMARY We have created a new database, ProRule, which contains additional information about PROSITE profiles. ProRule contains notably the position of structurally and/or functionally critical amino acids, as well as the condition they must fulfill to play their biological role. These supplementary data should help function determination and annotation of the UniProt Swiss-Prot knowledgebase. ProRule also contains information about the domain detected by the profile in the Swiss-Prot line format. Hence, ProRule can be used to make Swiss-Prot annotation more homogeneous and consistent. The format of ProRule can be extended to provide information about combination of domains. AVAILABILITY ProRule can be accessed through ScanProsite at http://www.expasy. org/tools/scanprosite. A file containing the rules will be made available under the PROSITE copyright conditions on our ftp site (ftp://www.expasy.org/databases/prosite/) by the next PROSITE release.
Evolutionary rescue by beneficial mutations in environments that change in space and time

A factor that may limit the ability of many populations to adapt to changing conditions is the rate at which beneficial mutations can become established. We study the probability that mutations become established in changing environments by extending the classic theory for branching processes. When environments change in time, under quite general conditions, the establishment probability is approximately twice the ‘effective selection coefficient’, whose value is an average that gives most weight to a mutant's fitness in the generations immediately after it appears. When fitness varies along a gradient in a continuous habitat, increased dispersal generally decreases the chance a mutation establishes because mutations move out of areas where they are most adapted. When there is a patch of favourable habitat that moves in time, there is a maximum speed of movement above which mutations cannot become established, regardless of when and where they first appear. This critical speed limit, which is proportional to the mutation's maximum selective advantage, represents an absolute constraint on the potential of locally adapted mutations to contribute to evolutionary rescue.
The PP6 Phosphatase Regulates ABI5 Phosphorylation and Abscisic Acid Signaling in Arabidopsis[C][W]

This study shows that two catalytic subunits of Arabidopsis protein phosphatase 6 (i.e., FyPP1 and FyPP3) negatively regulate abscisic acid responses through direct interaction with and dephosphorylation of ABI5, which subsequently regulates ABI5 stability and activity, seed germination, and postgermination seedling growth in Arabidopsis. The basic Leucine zipper transcription factor ABSCISIC ACID INSENSITIVE5 (ABI5) is a key regulator of abscisic acid (ABA)–mediated seed germination and postgermination seedling growth. While a family of SUCROSE NONFERMENTING1-related protein kinase2s (SnRK2s) is responsible for ABA-induced phosphorylation and stabilization of ABI5, the phosphatase(s) responsible for dephosphorylating ABI5 is still unknown. Here, we demonstrate that mutations in FyPP1 (for Phytochrome-associated serine/threonine protein phosphatase1) and FyPP3, two homologous genes encoding the catalytic subunits of Ser/Thr PROTEIN PHOSPHATASE6 (PP6), cause an ABA hypersensitive phenotype in Arabidopsis thaliana, including ABA-mediated inhibition of seed germination and seedling growth. Conversely, overexpression of FyPP causes reduced sensitivity to ABA. The ABA hypersensitive phenotype of FyPP loss-of-function mutants is ABI5 dependent, and the amount of phosphorylated and total ABI5 proteins inversely correlates with the levels of FyPP proteins. Moreover, FyPP proteins physically interact with ABI5 in vitro and in vivo, and the strength of the interaction depends on the ABI5 phosphorylation status. In vitro phosphorylation assays show that FyPP proteins directly dephosphorylate ABI5. Furthermore, genetic and biochemical assays show that FyPP proteins act antagonistically with SnRK2 kinases to regulate ABI5 phosphorylation and ABA responses. Thus, Arabidopsis PP6 phosphatase regulates ABA signaling through dephosphorylation and destabilization of ABI5.
Origin-Oriented Elemental Profile of Fine Ambient Particulate Matter in Central European Suburban Conditions

Twenty-four-hour samples of fine ambient particulate matter (PM2.5; particles with aerodynamic diameters ≤2.5 µm) were collected in a suburban (quasi-rural) area in Racibórz (Poland) between 1 January 2011 and 26 December 2012. The samples were analyzed for the contents of 28 elements. Sources of PM2.5 were identified and the contribution of each source to the PM2.5 concentration was assessed using an enrichment factor (EF) analysis, a principal component analysis (PCA), and multi-linear regression analysis (MLRA). In the cold season (January–March and October–December 2011–2012), the mean ambient concentration of PM2.5 in Racibórz was 48.7 ± 39.4 µg·m−3, which was much higher than at other suburban or rural sites in Europe. Additionally the ambient concentrations of some toxic PM2.5-bound elements were also high, i.e., the mean ambient concentrations of PM2.5-bound As, Cd, and Pb were 11.3 ± 11.5, 5.2 ± 2.5, and 34.0 ± 34.2 ng·m−3, respectively. In the warm season (April–September 2011–2012), the PM2.5 and PM2.5-bound element concentrations in Racibórz were comparable to the concentrations noted at other suburban (or rural) sites in Europe. Our findings suggest that elemental composition and concentrations of PM2.5 in Racibórz are mainly influenced by anthropogenic emissions, i.e., the energy production based on coal and biomass combustion, traffic, and industry.
Developmental plasticity in linear genetic programming

Biological organisms exhibit numerous types of plasticity, where they respond both developmentally and behaviorally to environmental factors. In some organisms, for example, environmental conditions can lead to the developmental expression of genes that would otherwise remain dormant, leading to significant phenotypic variation and allowing selection to act on these otherwise "invisible" genes. In contrast to biological plasticity, the vast majority of evolutionary computation systems, including genetic programming, are rigid and can only adapt to very limited external changes. In this paper we extend the N-gram GP system, a recently introduced estimation of distribution algorithm for program evolution, using Incremental Fitness-based Development (IFD), a novel technique which allows for developmental plasticity in the generation of linear-GP style programs. Tests with a large set of problems show that the new system outperforms the original N-gram GP system and is competitive with standard GP. Analysis of the evolved programs indicates that IFD allows for the generation of more complex programs than standard N-gram GP, with the generated programs often containing several separate sequences of instructions that are reused multiple times, often with variations.
Study on Harmful Emissions of Diesel Engine with Non-Thermal Plasma Assisted Catalyst Technology

An active catalyst of Ag/&#947;-Al2O3 was prepared by impregnation method. The main components of the catalyst were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD). A non-thermal plasma (NTP) reactor was designed based upon dielectric barrier discharge and the non-thermal plasma assisted catalyst (NPAC) system was established. The bench test was carried out and the reduction of diesel engine harmful emissions with NPAC had been investigated. Results showed that the particulate matter was reduced effectively and the maximum of soot removal efficiency was around 62%. The NOx emission was decreased remarkably by NPAC system.
Innate Immune Genes Including a Mucin-Like Gene, mul-1, Induced by Ionizing Radiation in Caenorhabditis elegans

The effect of radiation on the intestine has been studied for more than one hundred years. It remains unclear, however, whether this organ uses specific defensive mechanisms against ionizing radiation. The infection with Pseudomonas aeruginosa (PA14) in Caenorhabditis elegans induces up-regulation of innate immune response genes. Here, we found that exposure to ionizing radiation also induces certain innate immune response genes such as F49F1.6 (termed mul-1), clec-4, clec-67, lys-1 and lys-2 in the intestine. Moreover, pre-treatment with ionizing radiation before seeding on PA14 lawn plate significantly increased survival rate in the nematode. We also studied transcription pathway of the mul-1 in response to ionizing radiation. Induction of mul-1 gene was highly dependent on the ELT-2 transcription factor and p38 MAPK. Moreover, the insulin/IGF-1 signal pathway works to enhance induction of this gene. The mul-1 gene showed a different induction pattern from the DNA damage response gene, ced-13, which implies that the expression of this gene might be triggered as an indirect effect of radiation. Silencing of the mul-1 gene led to growth retardation after treatment with ionizing radiation. We describe the cross-tolerance between the response to radiation exposure and the innate immune system.
Potential biotechnological application of microalgae: a critical review

Abstract Microalgae are diverse microorganisms inhabiting a wide range of habitats with only a small fraction being cultivated for human use. Recently, interest in microalgal research has increased in the quest for alternative renewable fuels due to possible depletion of fossil fuels in the near future. However, costly downstream processing has hampered the commercialization of biofuels derived from microalgae. Several value added products of industrial, pharmaceutical and agricultural relevance could be simultaneously derived from microalgae during bioenergy production. Despite these value-added products having the potential to offset the high cost of downstream processing of renewable fuels, their production has not been explored in-depth. This review presents a critical overview of the current state of biotechnological applications of microalgae for human benefit and highlights possible areas for further research and development.
Storage SLA Guarantee with Novel SSD I/O Scheduler in Virtualized Data Centers

Service level agreements (SLAs) for storage performance in virtualized systems are difficult to guarantee, because different consolidated virtual machines have their own performance requirements. Moreover, hard disk drives (HDDs) in virtualized systems are being replaced by solid-state drives (SSDs). SSDs have higher throughput and lower latency than HDDs; however, they pose new challenges in terms of SLAs. In this paper, we determine that existing I/O schedulers working with SSDs fail to guarantee SLAs among virtualmachines, and do not effectively utilize the high performance of SSDs. To address this issue, we propose the opportunistic I/O scheduler (OIOS), a novel I/O scheduler for SSDs. OIOS guarantees SLAs and fully utilizes the high performance of SSDs. To support realistic SLAs, OIOS provides diverse SLA support functions, including reservations, limitations, and proportional sharing. In addition, OIOS accepts SLAs that are specified in four measurement types: bandwidth, I/Os per second (IOPS), latency, and utilization. Experimental results show that OIOS increases the aggregated bandwidth of VMs by 80 percent compared to mClock, while achieving a similar level of fairness. In addition, we evaluate the proposed scheduler with realistic benchmarks, such as Filebench and the Yahoo CloudServing Benchmark. OIOS successfully guarantees the requirements of diverse SLAs with different metrics.
Eye Fixations Predict Reading Comprehension: The Relationships between Reading Skill, Reading Speed, and Visual Inspection

This experiment addressed the question of whether reading comprehension and speed could be predicted by eye fixations. From a sample of university students who completed tests of reading comprehension and vocabulary, we selected a group of highly skilled readers and a group of less skilled readers. These two groups then read sentences as their eye movements were monitored, with fixation locations and durations recorded. A discriminant function analysis showed that fixation duration was a successful predictor of reading comprehension, but that the number of fixations, regressive fixations, reading speed, and vocabulary were not reliable predictors. A multiple regression analysis revealed that reading speed was predicted by the number of fixations, the average fixation duration, and the duration of the final fixation upon the sentence, but there was no relationship with reading ability. Highly skilled readers are those who can extract information efficiently, but are not necessarily those who have fast overall reading rates.
Security Aspects of Piecewise Hashing in Computer Forensics

Although hash functions are a well-known method in computer science to map arbitrary large data to bit strings of a fixed length, their use in computer forensics is currently very limited. As of today, in a pre-step process hash values of files are generated and stored in a database, typically a cryptographic hash function like MD5 or SHA-1 is used. Later the investigator computes hash values of files, which he finds on a storage medium, and performs look ups in his database. This approach has several drawbacks, which have been sketched in the community, and some alternative approaches have been proposed. The most popular one is due to Jesse Kornblum, who transferred ideas from spam detection to computer forensics in order to identify similar files. However, his proposal lacks a thorough security analysis. It is therefore one aim of the paper at hand to present some possible attack vectors of an active adversary to bypass Kornblum's approach. Furthermore, we present a pseudo random number generator being both more efficient and more random compared to Kornblum's pseudo random number generator.
Mitochondrial and nuclear DNA sequence variability among populations of rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss)

Mitochondrial and nuclear DNA variability was examined to assess population genetic structure and phylogeographic relationships in rainbow trout. Single‐strand conformation polymorphisms and restriction site differences within 1055 bp of the mitochondrial D‐loop region and 1566 bp of nuclear DNA in six single‐copy nuclear DNA regions identified 31 mitochondrial genotypes and 50 nuclear alleles. Gene trees were constructed by sequencing each variant allele or mitochondrial genotype identified. Examination of 30 populations in 10 native rainbow trout groups using an analysis of molecular variance (AMOVA) indicated that 65% of mitochondrial variability and 35% of nuclear variability was explained by differences among the 10 groups. Phylogenetic patterns evident in mitochondrial and nuclear DNA were not always concordant. Differences in the evolutionary patterns detected by mitochondrial and nuclear DNA may reflect the differential impact of past introgression events on variability in the two genomes.
A scalable, clustered SMT processor for digital signal processing

A scalable, distributed, processor architecture is presented that emphasizes on high performance computing for digital signal processing applications by combining high frequency design techniques with a very high degree of parallel processing on a chip. The architecture is based on a superscalar processor model with a modified Tomasulo scheme [1], that was extended to eliminate all central control structures for the data flow and to support simultaneous instruction issue from multiple independent threads (SMT). Consequent application of fine clustering reduces the cycle-time for wire-sensitive building blocks of the processor like the register file or the instruction scheduler and leads to a distributed architecture model, where independent thread processing units, ALUs, registers files and memories are distributed across the chip and communicate with each other by special networks. The performance of the architecture is scalable with both the number of function units and the number of thread units without having any impact on the processors cycle-time.
Control of advanced and refractory acute myelogenous leukaemia with sirolimus‐based non‐myeloablative allogeneic stem cell transplantation

Non‐myeloablative conditioning has extended the use of allogeneic haematopoietic transplant to many previously ineligible patients. We added the immunosuppressive and antitumour agent sirolimus (rapamycin) to an established transplant regimen of fludarabine 25 mg/m2 days −7 through −3 and cyclophosphamide 1000 mg/m2 days −7 and −6, with tacrolimus and methotrexate immunoprophyllaxis. A total of 23 patients with acute myelogenous leukaemia (AML) were treated, with a median age of 59 years (range: 28–72) at transplant. Only seven patients in total were in complete remission prior to transplantation. Nine patients were in chemotherapy‐refractory progression and seven were primarily refractory to induction therapy. Six patients received matched sibling, 11 unrelated donor, 1–5/6 matched and five haploidentical (haplo – three of six or four of six matched) transplants. The haplo‐recipients also received antithymocyte globulin, all patients engrafted. Only two, both recipients of haploidentical cells, have died from transplant‐related causes. Twelve of 23 patients survived at 198–1162‐d post‐transplant (median 578). Four of 12 survivors relapsed at 83, 88, 243 and 508 d and three were in remission after chemotherapy and donor lymphocyte infusion. Although follow up is short, this data suggests that non‐myeloablative haematopoietic cell transplantation with sirolimus (rapamycin)‐based immunosuppression may provide disease control over several years in some patients with advanced and poor prognosis AML.
Incorporating wireless technology into virtual organizations supporting the work of healthcare teams

This study investigates how a virtual organization can be built in a distributed computing environment which includes wireless technology to support the work of a multi-disciplinary healthcare team collaborating to provide patient care in the cancer domain. It focuses on identifying the functionality required at the wireless device interface to provide the information from distributed resources needed by different members of the healthcare team to fulfil their role in a patient's care at the point of care. It presents the concept of virtual organization in a clinical environment supporting multi-disciplinary care teams whose members are collaborating to treat a patient more effectively by providing and storing relevant data from a variety of medical records/data resources available in a distributed computing environment to the virtual organization. An analysis of the healthcare teams at the Velindre Cancer Hospital, NHS Trust has identified the functionality and information required by different members of the care team at the point of care. This information will be used in the next stage of the project to inform the creation of a prototype virtual organization which will be used to evaluate this approach to supporting the work of healthcare teams. The paper concentrates on the role of wireless devices in the virtual organization particularly their use at the point of care