Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Robust remote monitoring of breathing function by using infrared thermography

An abnormal breathing rate (BR) is one of the strongest markers of physiological distress. Moreover, it plays an important role in early detection of sudden infant death syndrome, as well as in the diagnosis of respiratory disorders. However, the current measuring modalities can cause discomfort to the patient, since attachment to the patient's body is required. This paper proposes a new approach based on infrared thermography to remotely monitor BR. This method allows to (1) detect automatically the nose, (2) track the associate region of interest (ROI), and (3) extract BR. To evaluate the performance of this method, thermal recording of 5 healthy subjects were acquired. Results were compared with BR obtained by capnography. The introduced approach demonstrated an excellent performance. ROIs were precisely segmented and tracked. Furthermore, a Bland-Altman diagram showed a good agreement between estimated BR and gold standard. The mean correlation and mean absolute BR error are 0.92 ± 0.07 and 0.53 bpm, respectively. In summary, infrared thermography seems to be a great, clinically relevant alternative to attached sensors, due to its outstanding characteristics and performance.
The influence of the season on the chemical composition and the somatic cell count of bulk tank cow’s milk

The aim of our research was to establish the influence of the season on the chemical composition of bulk tank cow’s milk and the somatic cell count in it. The bulk tank cow’s milk samples were collected daily during a period of one year. When the milk was brought to the dairy in special tanks, before pouring bulk tank milk, samples were taken that we marked as «tours». Milk samples were taken in three tours from the tanks every seven days, and 144 tours were processed in total. Comparing chemical indicators of milk quality, milk fat levels were significantly higher in the winter and the autumn (P 0.05), and the highest levels were registered during the winter. Lactose level was significantly higher during the winter and the spring (P<0.05), and the NFDM (non fat dry matter) was significantly lower in the summer, in comparison to the other seasons (P<0.05). Determining the somatic cell count (SCC) in the bulk tank cow’s milk samples, we established that during the winter the somatic cell count was significantly higher in comparison to the other seasons (P<0.05). However, we did not determine significant, high or positive correlations between the chemical composition of the milk and the somatic cell count in either of the seasons. Based on the results of our research, we concluded that the season has an influence on the somatic cell count and the chemical composition of fresh cow’s milk, but not on the correlations between them.
Üniversite Öğrencilerinin Okuma Stratejileri Üstbilişsel Farkındalık Düzeyleri (İnönü Üniversitesi Örneği)

Bu arastirmada Inonu Universitesi’nde ogrenim goren ogrencilerin okuma stratejileri ustbilissel farkindalik duzeyleri belirlenmistir. Bu amac dogrultusunda, “Ogrencilerin okuma stratejileri ustbilissel farkindalik durumu ne duzeydedir? Ogrencilerin okuma stratejileri ustbilissel farkindalik durumu okuduklari fakultelere gore anlamli degisiklik gosteriyor mu? Ogrencilerin okuma stratejileri ustbilissel farkindalik durumu cinsiyete gore istatistiksel olarak anlamli degisiklik gosteriyor mu? ” sorularina cevap aranmistir. Nicel bir arastirma olan bu calismada veri toplama araci olarak Mokhtari ve Reichard (2002) tarafindan olusturulan, gecerlik ve guvenirlik calismasi ise Ozturk (2012) tarafindan yapilan “Okuma Stratejileri Ustbilissel Farkindalik Envanteri” kullanilmistir. Sonuc olarak Inonu Universitesi ogrencilerinin Okuma Stratejilerini Destekleme duzeyi ve Genel Okuma Stratejisi duzeyi orta, Problem Cozme Stratejisi duzeyi yuksek olarak gozlenmistir. Kiz ogrencilerin ustbilissel farkindalik duzeyleri erkek ogrencilerden anlamli bir sekilde yuksek bulunmustur.
Tetraspanin 6: A novel regulator of hippocampal synaptic transmission and long term plasticity

Tetraspanins (Tspan) are transmembrane proteins with important scaffold and signalling functions. Deletions of Tetraspanin 6 (Tspan6) gene, a member of the tetraspanin family, have been reported in patients with Epilepsy Female-restricted with Mental Retardation (EFMR). Interestingly, mutations in Tspan7, highly homologous to Tspan6, are associated with X-linked intellectual disability, suggesting that these two proteins are important for cognition. Considering recent evidences showing that Tspan7 plays a key role in synapse development and AMPAR trafficking, we initiated the study of Tspan6 in synaptic function using a Tspan6 knock out mouse model. Here we report that hippocampal field recordings from Tspan6 knock out mice show an enhanced basal synaptic transmission and impaired long term potentiation (LTP). A normal paired-pulse facilitation response suggests that Tspan6 affects the properties of the postsynaptic rather than the presynaptic terminal. However, no changes in spine morphology or postsynaptic markers could be detected in Tspan6 KO mice compared with wild types. In addition, Tspan6 KO mice show normal locomotor behaviour and no defects in hippocampus-dependent memory tests.
SAT Competition 2016: Recent Developments

We give an overview of SAT Competition 2016, the 2016 edition of thefamous competition for Boolean satisfiability (SAT) solvers with over 20 years of history. A key aim is to point out ``what's hot'' in SAT competitions in 2016, i.e., new developments in thecompetition series, including new competition tracks and new solver techniquesimplemented in some of the award-winning solvers.
Myocardial extracellular volume fraction quantified by cardiovascular magnetic resonance is increased in diabetes and associated with mortality and incident heart failure admission.

AIMS Diabetes may promote myocardial extracellular matrix (ECM) expansion that increases vulnerability. We hypothesized that: (i) type 2 diabetes would be associated with quantitative cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) measures of myocardial ECM expansion, i.e. extracellular volume fraction (ECV); (ii) medications blocking the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system (RAAS) would be associated with lower ECV; and (iii) ECV in diabetic individuals would be associated with mortality and/or incident hospitalization for heart failure. METHODS AND RESULTS We enrolled 1176 consecutive patients referred for CMR without amyloidosis and computed ECV from measures of the haematocrit and myocardial and blood T1 pre- and post-contrast. Linear regression modelled ECV; Cox regression modelled mortality and/or hospitalization for heart failure. Diabetic individuals (n = 231) had higher median ECV than those without diabetes (n = 945): 30.2% (IQR: 26.9-32.7) vs. 28.1% (IQR: 25.9-31.0), respectively, P < 0.001). Diabetes remained associated with higher ECV in models adjusting for demographics, comorbidities, and medications (P < 0.001). Renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system blockade was associated with lower ECV (P = 0.028) in multivariable linear models. Over a median of 1.3 years (IQR: 0.8-1.9), 38 diabetic individuals had events (21 incident hospitalizations for heart failure; 24 deaths), and ECV was associated with these events (HR: 1.52, 95% CI: 1.21-1.89 per 3% ECV increase) in multivariable Cox regression models. CONCLUSION Diabetes is associated with increased ECV. Extracellular volume fraction detects amelioration of ECM expansion associated with RAAS blockade, and is associated with mortality and/or incident hospitalization for heart failure in diabetic individuals. Extracellular matrix expansion may be an important intermediate phenotype in diabetic individuals that is detectable and treatable.
Reassortment between Seasonal H1N1 and Pandemic (H1N1) 2009 Influenza Viruses Is Restricted by Limited Compatibility among Polymerase Subunits

ABSTRACT Reassortment is important for influenza virus evolution and the generation of novel viruses with pandemic potential; however, the factors influencing reassortment are still poorly understood. Here, using reverse genetics and a replicon assay, we demonstrated that a mixed polymerase complex containing a pandemic (H1N1) 2009 influenza virus PB2 on a seasonal H1N1 virus background has reduced polymerase activity, leading to impaired virus viability. Adaptation of viruses containing the mixed polymerase complex resulted in compensatory mutations in PB1. Taken together, our results identify the cooperation between PB2 and PB1 as an important restricting factor for reassortment of influenza viruses.
Potential uses of sea urchin embryos for identifying toxic chemicals: Description of a bioassay incorporating cytologic, cytogenetic and embryologic endpoints

A method for evaluating pollutant genotoxicity, embryotoxicity and teratogenicity using sea urchin embryos has been developed and was tested using benzo (α) pyrene (BP). Initial results suggested that the bioassay may be a sensitive indicator of pollutant toxicity and mutagenicity since several endpoints can be simultaneously assessed. The bioassay is rapid, inexpensive and appears applicable to a variety of toxicants and delivery methods. The test is based upon the standard 48 h sea urchin development assay and incorporates cytologic–cytogenetic analysis of embryos. Following toxic exposure of gametes, fertilization success is assessed. Embryos then develop for 48 h at which time survival and teratogenesis are evaluated. A subsample of embryos is stained and dissociated into monolayers and mitotic configurations are examined using light microscopy. Embryo mitotic rates are used as an indicator of overall embryonic health. Cytotoxic effects are concomitantly evaluated. Genotoxicity is measured using two methods: (1) anaphase aberration analysis, a technique which assesses abnormalities in the chromosome configurations (such as bridges and fragments) as the groups of chromosomes move to opposite poles and (2) micronucleus formation, a procedure examining the incidence of smaller, secondary nuclei composed of whole chromosomes or chromatid fragments. These two measurements preclude the need to examine individual chromosomes for deletions and exchanges, a laborious process in most aquatic organisms which possess numerous relatively small chromosomes.
'They must be Dagaba first and any other thing second...': the colonial and post-colonial creation of ethnic identities in north-western Ghana

Abstract The article analyses the creation of new ethnic identities in a pre‐colonial acephalous, ‘non‐tribal’ setting. Presenting the case of the Dagara of north‐western Ghana, I shall discuss how ethnic categories and institutions are constructed in a complex interplay by multiple actors with different interests, namely colonial administrators, newly appointed chiefs, labour migrants and the emergent educated elite. The central argument is that ethnic ideologies construe images of a natural, immutable, primordial identity, thus conveying a sense of stability, security and self‐esteem, but behind this essentialist ‘facade’ there is always room for multiple meanings and negotiation. I will show that the attributes of a Dagara identity are continuously re‐interpreted and constitute a battleground for many issues, for instance the political competition among different sub‐groups or the relations between educated elite and their rural kin.
LEARNING CAPABILITY, ORGANIZATIONAL FACTORS AND FIRM PERFORMANCE

Swee C. Goh, Ph.D. Professor of Organizational Behavior School of Management University of Ottawa & Peter J. Ryan, Ph.D. Associate Professor School of Management University of Ottawa For presentation: Third European Conference on Organizational Knowledge, Learning and Capabilities, Athens, Greece, April 5-6, 2002.
Cytokinin treatments affect the apical-basal patterning of the Arabidopsis gynoecium and resemble the effects of polar auxin transport inhibition

The apical-basal axis of the Arabidopsis gynoecium is established early during development and is divided into four elements from the bottom to the top: the gynophore, the ovary, the style, and the stigma. Currently, it is proposed that the hormone auxin plays a critical role in the correct apical-basal patterning through a concentration gradient from the apical to the basal part of the gynoecium, as chemical inhibition of polar auxin transport through 1-N-naphtylphtalamic acid (NPA) application, severely affects the apical-basal patterning of the gynoecium. In this work, we show that the apical-basal patterning of gynoecia is also sensitive to exogenous cytokinin (benzyl amino purine, BAP) application in a similar way as to NPA. BAP and NPA treatments were performed in different mutant backgrounds where either cytokinin perception or auxin transport and perception were affected. We observed that cytokinin and auxin signaling mutants are hypersensitive to NPA treatment, and auxin transport and signaling mutants are hypersensitive to BAP treatment. BAP effects in apical-basal gynoecium patterning are very similar to the effects of NPA, therefore, it is possible that BAP affects auxin transport in the gynoecium. Indeed, not only the cytokinin-response TCS::GFP marker, but also the auxin efflux carrier PIN1 (PIN1::PIN1:GFP) were both affected in BAP-induced valveless gynoecia, suggesting that the BAP treatment producing the morphological changes has an impact on both in the response pattern to cytokinin and on auxin transport. In summary, we show that cytokinin affects proper apical-basal gynoecium patterning in Arabidopsis in a similar way to the inhibition of polar auxin transport, and that auxin and cytokinin mutants and markers suggest a relation between both hormones in this process.
A new statistical framework to assess structural alignment quality using information compression

Motivation: Progress in protein biology depends on the reliability of results from a handful of computational techniques, structural alignments being one. Recent reviews have highlighted substantial inconsistencies and differences between alignment results generated by the ever-growing stock of structural alignment programs. The lack of consensus on how the quality of structural alignments must be assessed has been identified as the main cause for the observed differences. Current methods assess structural alignment quality by constructing a scoring function that attempts to balance conflicting criteria, mainly alignment coverage and fidelity of structures under superposition. This traditional approach to measuring alignment quality, the subject of considerable literature, has failed to solve the problem. Further development along the same lines is unlikely to rectify the current deficiencies in the field. Results: This paper proposes a new statistical framework to assess structural alignment quality and significance based on lossless information compression. This is a radical departure from the traditional approach of formulating scoring functions. It links the structural alignment problem to the general class of statistical inductive inference problems, solved using the information-theoretic criterion of minimum message length. Based on this, we developed an efficient and reliable measure of structural alignment quality, I-value. The performance of I-value is demonstrated in comparison with a number of popular scoring functions, on a large collection of competing alignments. Our analysis shows that I-value provides a rigorous and reliable quantification of structural alignment quality, addressing a major gap in the field. Availability: http://lcb.infotech. monash.edu. au/I-value Contact: arun.konagurthu@monash.edu Supplementary information: Online supplementary data are available at http://lcb.infotech. monash.edu. au/I-value/suppl.html
Intergenerational 20 year trends in the prevalence of asthma and hay fever in adults: the Midspan family study surveys of parents and offspring

Abstract Objective: To estimate trends between 1972–6 and 1996 in the prevalences of asthma and hay fever in adults. Design: Two epidemiological surveys 20 years apart. Identical questions were asked about asthma, hay fever, and respiratory symptoms at each survey. Setting: Renfrew and Paisley, two towns in the west of Scotland. Subjects: 1477 married couples aged 45–64 participated in a general population survey in 1972-6; and 2338 offspring aged 30–59 participated in a 1996 survey. Prevalences were compared in 1708 parents and 1124 offspring aged 45-54. Main outcome measures: Prevalences of asthma, hay fever, and respiratory symptoms. Results: In never smokers, age and sex standardised prevalences of asthma and hay fever were 3.0% and 5.8% respectively in 1972-6, and 8.2% and 19.9% in 1996. In ever smokers, the corresponding values were 1.6% and 5.4% in 1972–6 and 5.3% and 15.5% in 1996. In both generations, the prevalence of asthma was higher in those who reported hay fever (atopic asthma). In never smokers, reports of wheeze not labelled as asthma were about 10 times more common in 1972–6 than in 1996. With a broader definition of asthma (asthma and/or wheeze), to minimise diagnostic bias, the overall prevalence of asthma changed little. However, diagnostic bias mainly affected non-atopic asthma. Atopic asthma increased more than twofold (prevalence ratio 2.52 (95% confidence interval 1.01 to 6.28)) whereas the prevalence of non-atopic asthma did not change (1.00 (0.53 to 1.90)). Conclusion: The prevalence of asthma in adults has increased more than twofold in 20 years, largely in association with trends in atopy, as measured indirectly by the prevalence of hay fever. No evidence was found for an increase in diagnostic awareness being responsible for the trend in atopic asthma, but increased awareness may account for trends in non-atopic asthma.
Models@ Run.time to Support Dynamic Adaptation

self-adaptive systems. A DAS can be conceptualized as a dynamic software product line in which vari-abilities are bound at runtime. 1 Similar to traditional SPLs, 2 the number of possible configurations of a DSPL grows combinatorially with the number of variation points and variants. In an SPL, products are derived by human decisions and are totally independent; a DSPL also must handle the migration paths between those configurations. The configurations produced by a DSPL are thus highly dependent: The system should evolve at runtime between its current configuration (source) and a new configuration (target) through a safe migration path (transition). Several stimuli trigger these transitions: context changes, user preferences, and so on. The DSPL must provide support for describing the adaptation logic. A DSPL's execution can be abstracted as a highly connected state machine, 3,4 where the states are the possible system configurations and the transitions the migration paths. Fully specifying this state machine lets the designer perform extensive simulation, validation, and testing of the system's dynamic variability before actually implementing the system. 5 Model-driven engineering (MDE) techniques then make it possible to fully generate the adaptive sys-tem's code 4 from the state machine specification. T oday's society increasingly depends on software systems deployed in large companies, banks, airports, and so on. These systems must be available 24/7 and continuously adapt to varying environmental conditions and requirements. Such dynamically adaptive systems exhibit degrees of variability that depend on user needs and runtime fluctuations in their contexts. Engineers can develop DASs by defining several variation points. Depending on the context , the system dynamically chooses suitable variants to realize those variation points. These variants may provide better quality of service (QoS), offer new services that did not make sense in the previous context, or discard some services that are no longer useful. DASs range from small embedded systems to large systems of systems and from human-driven to purely An approach for specifying and executing dynamically adaptive software systems combines model-driven and aspect-oriented techniques to help engineers tame the complexity of such systems while offering a high degree of automation and validation.
On a Portable Secure Information Protection Arrangement Using Active Control Devices

Secure information protection arrangement for enterprises either from on-sites or off-sites requires fine-grained technological solutions corresponding to user identity, assigned privileges, and environment-aware dynamic authorizations. Conventional techniques are usually lack of portability for users on the move, and leave too many security pitfalls to rectify when compatibilities with legacy systems must be maintained. We present in this paper an active portable control device whose uniqueness lies on built-in intelligence powered by a dedicated USB KEY controller and on-chip application firmware. The portable device functions standalone as a universal security key to unlock virtually all commonly used secure information storage volumes, so long as user identity, assigned privileges, and dynamic authorizations are provided accordingly. Significant improvements in effectiveness and flexibility by such an arrangement for secure information protections are demonstrated by various real world use cases described in the paper.
Capacity of reproducing kernel spaces in learning theory

The capacity of reproducing kernel Hilbert spaces (RKHS) plays an essential role in the analysis of learning theory. Covering numbers and packing numbers of balls of these reproducing kernel spaces are important measurements of this capacity. We first present lower bound estimates for the packing numbers by means of nodal functions. Then we show that if a Mercer kernel is C/sup s/ (for some s>0 being not an even integer), the RKHS associated with this kernel can be embedded into C/sup s/2/. This gives upper-bound estimates for the covering number concerning Sobolev smooth kernels.Examples and applications to V/sub /spl gamma// dimension and Tikhonov (1977) regularization are presented to illustrate the upper- and lower-bound estimates.
Genome-Wide Detection of Fitness Genes in Uropathogenic Escherichia coli during Systemic Infection

Uropathogenic Escherichia coli (UPEC) is a leading etiological agent of bacteremia in humans. Virulence mechanisms of UPEC in the context of urinary tract infections have been subjected to extensive research. However, understanding of the fitness mechanisms used by UPEC during bacteremia and systemic infection is limited. A forward genetic screen was utilized to detect transposon insertion mutants with fitness defects during colonization of mouse spleens. An inoculum comprised of 360,000 transposon mutants in the UPEC strain CFT073, cultured from the blood of a patient with pyelonephritis, was used to inoculate mice intravenously. Transposon insertion sites in the inoculum (input) and bacteria colonizing the spleen (output) were identified using high-throughput sequencing of transposon-chromosome junctions. Using frequencies of representation of each insertion mutant in the input and output samples, 242 candidate fitness genes were identified. Co-infection experiments with each of 11 defined mutants and the wild-type strain demonstrated that 82% (9 of 11) of the tested candidate fitness genes were required for optimal fitness in a mouse model of systemic infection. Genes involved in biosynthesis of poly-N-acetyl glucosamine (pgaABCD), major and minor pilin of a type IV pilus (c2394 and c2395), oligopeptide uptake periplasmic-binding protein (oppA), sensitive to antimicrobial peptides (sapABCDF), putative outer membrane receptor (yddB), zinc metallopeptidase (pqqL), a shikimate pathway gene (c1220) and autotransporter serine proteases (pic and vat) were further characterized. Here, we report the first genome-wide identification of genes that contribute to fitness in UPEC during systemic infection in a mammalian host. These fitness factors may represent targets for developing novel therapeutics against UPEC.