Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Mycoplasma hyorhinis vlp gene transcription: critical role in phase variation and expression of surface lipoproteins

Mycoplasma hyorhinis contains clustered vlp genes encoding variable lipoproteins (Vlps), the major coat proteins and surface antigens of this wall‐less prokaryotic pathogen. vlp genes are subject to discrete, high frequency mutations independently affecting the size or the expression of variant Vlp products. Change in Vlp size occurs by mutations altering the number of tandem intragenic repeats at the 3′ end of each single‐copy vlp gene. In this report, phase‐variant Vlp expression is shown to result from altered vlp gene transcription. vlpA, vlpB and vlpC transcripts were monitored in a clonal lineage selected to display various Vlp phenotypes. Each vlp gene was expressed as a distinct transcript, which was subject to drastic ON/OFF switches associated with random insertion/ deletion mutations in a homopolymeric tract of adenine residues in the promoter region of all vlp genes. Unexpectedly, the level of vlp transcripts appeared to depend on the length of the corresponding genes in the ON configuration. Higher proportional levels of shorter vlp transcripts were shown to reflect a greater abundance of short Vlp lipoproteins present in l‐[35S]‐cysteine‐labelled membrane protein preparations. The vlp cluster provides a heritable, and highly mutable, locus for the generation of surface diversity through random promoter mutations affecting the expression of genes, whose products also vary in length and abundance, by virtue of separate mutations in structural regions of the genes.
Robust stability analysis of sampled-data systems via periodically time-varying scaling

Stimulated by a general necessary and sufficient condition for robust stability of sampled-data systems derived through the Nyquist stability criterion in an operator-theoretic framework, we introduce linear periodically time-varying (LPTV) scaling to sampled-data systems in this paper. We first give a simple example demonstrating that this new scaling can lead to exact robust stability analysis. We then study some basic properties of LPTV scaling, and show that the effectiveness of such scaling is unique to sampled-data systems (and LPTV systems) in the sense that it offers no advantage over the conventional linear time-invariant (LTI) scaling when the feedback loop consists of only LTI systems. It turns out, however, that LPTV scaling is generally more effective than the conventional LTI scaling regarding robust stability analysis when there is at least one norm-bounded static uncertainty block
Majapolene A, a cytotoxic peroxide, and related sesquiterpenes from the red alga Laurencia majuscula.

Seven new sesquiterpenes, majapolenes A [1] and B [2], majapolone [3], and majapols A [4], B [5], C [6], and D [7], were isolated from a Philippine collection of Laurencia majuscula. With the exception of majapolene B [2], all compounds were isolated as inseparable diastereomeric mixtures. Structure elucidation was achieved by spectroscopic methods. Majapolene A [1], a dioxabicyclo[2.2. 2]-alkene, displayed modest activity in the NCI 60-cell line cytotoxicity screen. Majapolene A was also found as a major component of a Philippine collection of Laurencia caraibica.
Human-Machine Dialogue as a Stochastic Game

In this paper, an original framework to model human-machine spoken dialogues is proposed to deal with co-adaptation between users and Spoken Dialogue Systems in non-cooperative tasks. The conversation is modeled as a Stochastic Game: both the user and the system have their own preferences but have to come up with an agreement to solve a non-cooperative task. They are jointly trained so the Dialogue Manager learns the optimal strategy against the best possible user. Results obtained by simulation show that non-trivial strategies are learned and that this framework is suitable for dialogue modeling.
Dancing on the Lip of the Volcano: Chosen Ciphertext Attacks on Apple iMessage

Apple's iMessage is one of the most widely-deployed end-to-end encrypted messaging protocols. Despite its broad deployment, the encryption protocols used by iMessage have never been subjected to rigorous crypt-analysis. In this paper, we conduct a thorough analysis of iMessage to determine the security of the protocol against a variety of attacks. Our analysis shows that iMessage has significant vulnerabilities that can be exploited by a sophisticated attacker. In particular, we outline a novel chosen ciphertext attack on Huffman compressed data, which allows retrospective decryption of some iMessage payloads in less than 218 queries. The practical implication of these attacks is that any party who gains access to iMessage ciphertexts may potentially decrypt them remotely and after the fact. We additionally describe mitigations that will prevent these attacks on the protocol, without breaking backwards compatibility. Apple has deployed our mitigations in the latest iOS and OS X releases.
Network fabric redundancy in NCS

Fault-tolerance is becoming an increasingly crucial aspect of the design of Networked Control Systems (NCSs) in order to mitigate system downtime. However, the introduction of fault-tolerance is typically associated with significant traffic overhead. In this paper, an optimization to an Ethernet-based network fabric fault-tolerant NCS is proposed. The proposed optimization halves the amount of overhead traffic necessary for fault-tolerance while maintaining the same level of robustness. Moreover, based on the same optimization methodology, an expanded model with two in-line cells is presented and subsequently tested. The expanded two-cell model is designed to provide controller-level in addition to fabric-level fault-tolerance. Simulations using OPNET followed the traffic analysis, and proved the models to be fully reliable in the case of a single failure at a time, for both the single-cell model and the expanded two-cell network.
Japanese Encephalitis Outbreak, India, 2005

An outbreak of viral encephalitis occurred in Gorakhpur, India, from July through November 2005. The etiologic agent was confirmed to be Japanese encephalitis virus by analyzing 326 acute-phase clinical specimens for virus-specific antibodies and viral RNA and by virus isolation. Phylogenetic analysis showed that these isolates belonged to genogroup 3.
Content awareness-based color image enhancement

This paper presents a novel color image enhancement method to improve the image brightness based on retinex theory. Specifically, the proposed method employs an adaptive gamma correction on the illumination components based on pixels. We appropriately perform the brightness enhancement. Additionally, we restore the detail and color using reflectance components. Experiments demonstrate that the proposed method outperforms existing algorithm in terms of subjective assessment and processing speed. Therefore, it can be applied effectively to outdoor vision applications or digital devices including mobile cameras and camcorders with low complexity.
Remoxipride in Adolescents with Tourette's Syndrome : An Open Pilot Study

ABSTRACT Remoxipride is a dopamine antagonist with more selective affinity for the mesolimbic dopaminergic system than conventional neuroleptic agents. The possible therapeutic and adverse effects of remoxipride were investigated in 7 adolescents with Tourette's syndrome in an open-label pilot study. The design included a 3-week baseline placebo washin period, an 8-week active treatment period, and a 3-week placebo washout period. Active treatment with remoxipride was administered in the dose range of 50–250 mg daily. Remoxipride treatment improved severity of illness ratings in 6 patients and diminished tic ratings in all 7 patients. During the placebo washout period, all patients deteriorated both on the severity of illness and on the tic ratings. In a sustained attention task, a slight reduction of workpace was observed, but accuracy and stability of performance were not affected. Verbal and visual memory functioning also remained intact. Adverse effects were few and mild in severity. Treatment-emergen.
Long non-coding RNA HOTAIR promotes glioblastoma cell cycle progression in an EZH2 dependent manner

The long non-coding RNA Hox transcript antisense intergenic RNA (HOTAIR) was recently implicated in breast cancer metastasis and is predictive of poor prognosis in colorectal and pancreatic cancers. We recently discovered that HOTAIR is a cell cycle-related lncRNA in human glioma, and its expression is closely associated with glioma staging and poor prognosis. Although lysine specific demethylase 1 (LSD1) and polycomb repressive complex 2 (PRC2) have been demonstrated to be functional targets of HOTAIR, how HOTAIR regulates glioma cell cycle progression remains largely unknown. In this study, we found that EZH2 (predominant PRC2 complex component) inhibition blocked cell cycle progression in glioma cells, consistent with the effects elicited by HOTAIR siRNA. However, the inhibition of LSD1 did not affect cell cycle progression in glioma cells. These results suggest that HOTAIR might regulate cell cycle progression through EZH2. Our intracranial mice model also revealed delayed tumor growth in HOTAIR siRNA- and EZH2 inhibitor-treated groups. Moreover, in HOTAIR knock-down cell lines, the expression of the PRC2-binding domain of HOTAIR (5′ domain) but not of the LSD1-binding domain of HOTAIR (3′ domain) resulted in accelerated cell cycle progression. In conclusion, HOTAIR promotes cell cycle progression in glioma as a result of the binding of its 5′ domain to the PRC2 complex.
Characterization of Eimeria Species in Commercial Broilers by PCR Based on ITS1 Regions of rDNA

Background Coccidiosis is an intestinal disease of chickens caused by various species of protozoan parasites within the genus Eimeria. Diagnosis and genetic characterization of different species of Eimeria are central to the prevention, surveillance, and control of coccidiosis. The aim of this study was to detect different chicken Eimeria species from several areas in Khuzestan, southwest Iran. Methods From February to September 2008, PCR assay as well as parasitological examinations was applied for the identification of field isolates of Eimeria parasites around Ahvaz, center of Khuzestan, southwest Iran. Data were analyzed by the Kappa statistic test. Results Eimeria maxima, E. necatrix, E. tenella, E. acervulina and E. mitis were detected in this study. The prevalence of Eimeria spp. was 31.5% (126 of 400) and E. tenella was the most prevalent species in Khuzestan. Based on the Kappa statistical test, a good correlation between the results of PCR and traditional biometrical methods was only observed for E. maxima. Conclusion The present study is the first on the prevalence of Eimeria species in Khuzestan, based on the molecular findings. We believe that traditional methods are not sufficiently reliable for specific diagnosis of Eimeria species in chickens and PCR based amplification of DNA sequence of parasite, could resolve this problem.
Dissemination of Data Aggregation in Vehicular Ad Hoc Networks

Inquiring traffic information is an important issue in vehicular ad hoc networks. This paper proposes an aggregating data dissemination algorithm in vehicular ad hoc networks. This algorithm can offer the various degrees of traffic information when users propose inquiry for different regional ranges. The user often needs to obtain the detailed data from the small area or the summary data for the large area. The traffic information is aggregated and kept in the periphery of region. When users inquire for the small area, they can get the detailed data. If the inquire is for the large area, users can obtain the summary data. The simulation results show that our algorithm decreases more communication cost and increases more accuracy than those for the previous work. Additionally, the users can obtain the data quickly, when they only need the summary data.
Cultural differences, nonverbal regulation, and classroom interaction: Sociolinguistic interference in American Indian education

The lagging educational performance of American Indian students both reflects general problems confronting minorities in majority-run classrooms and the particular historical and sociocultural circumstances of North American Indian tribes. In recent years, attention has focused on the effects of cultural differences in communication style, especially nonverbal cues that regulate speaking, listening, and turn taking. These kinds of differences have been described as interfering with or distorting communication between students and teachers and thus obstructing the learning process. Not all commentators on Indian educational problems agree that cultural differences in communication style are of direct importance in the students' lagging scores and high drop out rates. For example, McDermott and Gospodinoff (1979) regarded such differences as secondary effects of interethnic conflict, intentionally established and maintained to preserve the boundaries between groups. Similarly, Wax, Wax, and Dumont (1964) argued that communication problems in Indian classrooms are part of a larger process of student resistance. Interpreted in this way, incommensurate systems of nonverbal communication are considered to be the effect, not cause, of cross-cultural conflict (see also, Ogbu, 1982). If true, programs aimed at reducing the discordance between the
Calcium supplements for the prevention of colorectal adenomas. Calcium Polyp Prevention Study Group.

BACKGROUND AND METHODS Laboratory, clinical, and epidemiologic evidence suggests that calcium may help prevent colorectal adenomas. We conducted a randomized, double-blind trial of the effect of supplementation with calcium carbonate on the recurrence of colorectal adenomas. We randomly assigned 930 subjects (mean age, 61 years; 72 percent men) with a recent history of colorectal adenomas to receive either calcium carbonate (3 g [1200 mg of elemental calcium] daily) or placebo, with follow-up colonoscopies one and four years after the qualifying examination. The primary end point was the proportion of subjects in whom at least one adenoma was detected after the first follow-up endoscopy but up to (and including) the second follow-up examination. Risk ratios for the recurrence of adenomas were adjusted for age, sex, lifetime number of adenomas before the study, clinical center, and length of the surveillance period. RESULTS The subjects in the calcium group had a lower risk of recurrent adenomas. Among the 913 subjects who underwent at least one study colonoscopy, the adjusted risk ratio for any recurrence of adenoma with calcium as compared with placebo was 0.85 (95 percent confidence interval, 0.74 to 0.98; P=0.03). The main analysis was based on the 832 subjects (409 in the calcium group and 423 in the placebo group) who completed both follow-up examinations. At least one adenoma was diagnosed between the first and second follow-up endoscopies in 127 subjects in the calcium group (31 percent) and 159 subjects in the placebo group (38 percent); the adjusted risk ratio was 0.81 (95 percent confidence interval, 0.67 to 0.99; P=0.04). The adjusted ratio of the average number of adenomas in the calcium group to that in the placebo group was 0.76 (95 percent confidence interval, 0.60 to 0.96; P=0.02). The effect of calcium was independent of initial dietary fat and calcium intake. CONCLUSIONS Calcium supplementation is associated with a significant - though moderate - reduction in the risk of recurrent colorectal adenomas.
Ultrasound Tissue Characterization of Vulnerable Atherosclerotic Plaque

A thrombotic occlusion of the vessel fed by ruptured coronary atherosclerotic plaque may result in unstable angina, myocardial infarction or death, whereas embolization from a plaque in carotid arteries may result in transient ischemic attack or stroke. The atherosclerotic plaque prone to such clinical events is termed high-risk or vulnerable plaque, and its identification in humans before it becomes symptomatic has been elusive to date. Ultrasonic tissue characterization of the atherosclerotic plaque is possible with different techniques—such as vascular, transesophageal, and intravascular ultrasound—on a variety of arterial segments, including carotid, aorta, and coronary districts. The image analysis can be based on visual, video-densitometric or radiofrequency methods and identifies three distinct textural patterns: hypo-echoic (corresponding to lipid- and hemorrhage-rich plaque), iso- or moderately hyper-echoic (fibrotic or fibro-fatty plaque), and markedly hyperechoic with shadowing (calcific plaque). Hypoechoic or dishomogeneous plaques, with spotty microcalcification and large plaque burden, with plaque neovascularization and surface irregularities by contrast-enhanced ultrasound, are more prone to clinical complications than hyperechoic, extensively calcified, homogeneous plaques with limited plaque burden, smooth luminal plaque surface and absence of neovascularization. Plaque ultrasound morphology is important, along with plaque geometry, in determining the atherosclerotic prognostic burden in the individual patient. New quantitative methods beyond backscatter (to include speed of sound, attenuation, strain, temperature, and high order statistics) are under development to evaluate vascular tissues. Although not yet ready for widespread clinical use, tissue characterization is listed by the American Society of Echocardiography roadmap to 2020 as one of the most promising fields of application in cardiovascular ultrasound imaging, offering unique opportunities for the early detection and treatment of atherosclerotic disease.
What Changes in Children's Drawing Procedures? Relational Complexity as a Constraint on Representational Redescription

Children's ability to modify their drawing procedures changes in their first decade. Young children make size/shape changes and end-of-sequence insertions/deletions of drawing elements. Older children also make middle-of-sequence insertions/deletions and position/orientation changes in drawing elements. Why do modifications occur in this order? We argue that older children's modifications require processing ternary relations, which according to a relational complexity theory, is beyond the working memory capacity of young children.
Adaptive authentication: Implementing random canvas fingerprinting as user attributes factor

Previously, canvas fingerprinting can be used as one of the ways to get to know the identity of cyber users. The value contained in fingerprint for each of the users is different. However, due to the development of technology, it is not valid anymore. An experiment has been conducted for canvas fingerprinting and we found out that there are no more uniqueness in canvas fingerprinting value for each of the users. To solve this problem, we introduce random browser fingerprinting technique. In this paper, we include detailed elaboration about how random browser fingerprinting works and how we implemented it in our system. In the last section of this paper, we will discuss about the advantages of having random browser fingerprinting technique in our system.
Unobtrusive Deception Detection

In response to national security needs and human deception detection limitations paired with advances in sensor and computing technology research into automated deception detection has increased in recent years. These technologies rely on psychological and communication theories of deception to interpret when behavioral and physiological cues reveal deception. Despite this ever-present need, technology for detecting deception that is available to law enforcement or border guards is very limited. Based on deception theories, liars are predicted to exhibit both strategic and nonstrategic behavior. In order to develop algorithms and technology to detect and classify deception, these behaviors and physiology must be measured remotely. These measurements can be categorized by their theorized causes when lying and include arousal, negative affect, cognitive effort, behavioral control, memory, and strategic activity. One major challenge to deception detection is accounting for the variability introduced by human interviewers. Future research should focus more on behavior over the entire interaction and fusing multiple behavioral indicators of deception.
Escherichia coli phylogenetic groups are associated with site of infection and level of antibiotic resistance in community-acquired bacteraemia: a 10 year population-based study in Denmark.

OBJECTIVES The aim of this study was to assess whether Escherichia coli phylogenetic groups were associated with the site of infection and the level of antibiotic resistance in community-acquired bacteraemia (CAB). METHODS The population-based cohort study included 1533 unique isolates of E. coli from Danish patients with CAB during a 10 year period. Triplex PCR was used to classify the phylogenetic groups, and susceptibility testing was performed by disc diffusion. Data were analysed using contingency tables and logistic regression. RESULTS Overall, 65.9% of the 1533 E. coli isolates belonged to phylogroup B2, 16.6% to D, 13.1% to A and 4.4% to B1. B2 was the most prevalent group for all sites of infection, ranging from 69.9% in cases with a urinary tract site of infection to 54.8% in cases with a hepatobiliary tract site of infection. Antibiotic resistance to one and more than three antibiotics, respectively, was most frequent in group D (11.4%/33.9%), followed by A (5.5%/26.9%), B1 (5.9%/19.1%) and B2 (6.7%/7.5%). Regression analysis, with group B2 as reference, confirmed that groups A and B1 were associated with a site of infection other than the urinary tract and that groups A and D were associated with resistance to antibiotics including ampicillin, sulphonamide, trimethoprim, gentamicin and quinolones. CONCLUSIONS Phylogenetic group B2 was predominant in E. coli CAB. This was the least resistant of the four groups. Phylogroups A and B1 were associated with sites of infection other than the urinary tract, and resistance to multiple antibiotics was most prevalent for groups A and D.
Denoising of images using designed signal dependent frames and matching pursuit

The use of frames, or over-complete dictionaries, for sparse signal representation has been given considerable attention in recent years. The major challenges are good algorithms for sparse approximations, and good methods for choosing or designing frames. We are concerned with the latter, and have developed algorithms for training frames for a class of data and a specific application. The presented application is the denoising of images with additive Gaussian noise. We present a method for training of constrained overlapping frames to be used for denoising of images. Experiments show that the proposed method improves denoising results compared to adaptive Wiener filtering and wavelet denoising.