Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Cattle and sheep farms as reservoirs of Campylobacter

AIM This is a review of the natural Campylobacter colonization and transmission among ruminant livestock in the dairy farm environment. METHODS AND RESULTS Using cultural detection methods and enumeration techniques the distribution of Campylobacter in ruminant animals at birth, on the farm, at slaughter and in the farm environment have been examined. Colonization and shedding rates are higher among young animals while patterns of shedding in adult animals may be seasonal. Stored and land-dispersed slurries provide a reservoir for scavenging birds and flies and a source for runoff. CONCLUSIONS The dairy farm plays a significant role in the dissemination of Campylobacter subtypes that can cause disease in the human community. SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPACT OF STUDY An understanding of the role of the dairy farm in the environmental cycle of Campylobacter is required in order to devise intervention strategies.
Experimental estimation of the photons visiting probability profiles in time-resolved diffuse reflectance measurement

A time-gated intensified CCD camera was applied for time-resolved imaging of light penetrating in an optically turbid medium. Spatial distributions of light penetration probability in the plane perpendicular to the axes of the source and the detector were determined at different source positions. Furthermore, visiting probability profiles of diffuse reflectance measurement were obtained by the convolution of the light penetration distributions recorded at different source positions. Experiments were carried out on homogeneous phantoms, more realistic two-layered tissue phantoms based on the human skull filled with Intralipid–ink solution and on cadavers. It was noted that the photons visiting probability profiles depend strongly on the source–detector separation, the delay between the laser pulse and the photons collection window and the complex tissue composition of the human head.
Wireless Active Finger Rehabilitation Method Using Three-Axis Electromagnetic Manipulation

This paper presents a wireless active finger rehabilitation method controlled magnetic forces within a three-axis coil system. The three-axis coils enhanced degree of freedom in hand positioning. The developed system includes three magnets for controlling one finger within the coil, thus, providing external force to the finger without the use of a complex mechanical structure. The proposed method is simple in configuration and operates wirelessly by magnetic interaction. The system generates three magnetic forces for flexion and extension of the finger. The proposed method can be used regardless of the position of the hand in the system. The combined influence of the three magnetic forces used to generate flexion and extension of the finger was verified through experimental analysis.
Growth Oriented Digital Strategy and Long-Term Compensation of Chief Executives

With C-level executives increasingly involved in shaping digital strategies, it is important for firms to incentivize Chief Executive Officers (CEO) towards growth-oriented digital strategies. However, scant research examines how to incentivize CEOs in developing digital strategies. We propose that a key lever for incentivizing a growth-oriented digital strategy is CEO's long-term compensation. Analyzing longitudinal data of 192 U.S. firms from 2004 to 2011 collected from secondary sources, we find that CEO long-term compensation is positively related to growth-oriented IT portfolio. In contrast, CEO long-term compensation is negatively related to enterprise-oriented and functional-oriented IT portfolios. Further, CEO experience mitigates the relationship between CEO long-term compensation and growth-oriented IT portfolio. Exploratory analyses suggest that product volatility mitigates CEO long-term compensation's effect on enterprise-oriented IT portfolio. And demand volatility mitigates CEO long-term compensation's effect on enterprise-oriented IT portfolio. Theoretical and practical contributions include highlighting of role of CEO long-term compensation in digital strategy.
The synaptic function of LRRK 2

Mutations in LRRK2 (leucine-rich repeat kinase 2) are the most frequent genetic lesions so far found in familial as well as sporadic forms of PD (Parkinson’s disease), a neurodegenerative disease characterized by the dysfunction and degeneration of dopaminergic and other neuronal types. The molecular and cellular mechanisms underlying LRRK2 action remain poorly defined. Synaptic dysfunction has been increasingly recognized as an early event in the pathogenesis of major neurological disorders. Using Drosophila as a model system, we have shown that LRRK2 controls synaptic morphogenesis. Loss of dLRRK (Drosophila LRRK2) results in synaptic overgrowth at the Drosophila neuromuscular junction synapse, whereas overexpression of wild-type dLRRK, hLRRK2 (human LRRK2) or the pathogenic hLRRK2-G2019S mutant has the opposite effect. Alteration of LRRK2 activity also affects synaptic transmission in a complex manner. LRRK2 exerts its effects on synaptic morphology by interacting with distinct downstream effectors at the preand postsynaptic compartments. At the postsynapse, LRRK2 functionally interacts with 4E-BP (eukaryotic initiation factor 4E-binding protein) and the microRNA machinery, both of which negatively regulate protein synthesis. At the presynapse, LRRK2 phosphorylates and negatively regulates the microtubule-binding protein Futsch and functionally interacts with the mitochondrial transport machinery. These results implicate compartmentspecific synaptic dysfunction caused by altered protein synthesis, cytoskeletal dynamics and mitochondrial transport in LRRK2 pathogenesis and offer a new paradigm for understanding and ultimately treating
Features for link prediction in social networks: A comprehensive study

With the development of social media websites, more and more users start to show their attitudes and emotions to each other. Some of these interactions can be represented as links with sign values(positive or negative). In this paper, a unified method is proposed for link prediction and feature analysis. This paper focuses on the data from social media websites and tries to find the features that determine the sign value mostly. Based on the features extracted from the users' self statuses and from their relationships with neighbors, our method can predict the links' values with high accuracy. By analyzing the models generated over different datasets, our experiments find out the common determining features for link prediction. Based on our results, advices on how to predict links' values and get more positive links in future are given to users.
Ultralow power, high fill factor smart complementary metal oxide semiconductor image sensor with motion detection capability

Abstract. Bandwidth saving, power consumption, and fill factor improvement are known as vitally important challenges image sensor designers face in order to accomplish high-performance imaging systems. This paper presents an ultralow power, high fill factor smart complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) image sensor with motion detection capability. In this efficient methodology, the amount of redundant data processed in unimportant frames has been reduced significantly, and therefore, the proposed imaging system consumes less power compared with counterpart imagers. Furthermore, a pixel structure is introduced that outputs two consecutive frame voltages in series, with the result that the pixel size is minimized and a higher fill factor is achieved. In order to simulate the image capturing procedure, a state-of-the-art approach based on MATLAB and HSPICE software is devised, which is another important achievement of this paper. The performance of this technique is demonstrated using a 64×64 pixel sensor designed in a 0.18-μm standard CMOS technology. The sensor chip consumes 0.2 mW of power while operating at 100 fps with a fill factor of 45%.
Higher-order interpretations for higher-order complexity

We design an interpretation-based theory of higher-order functions that is well-suited for the complexity analysis of a standard higher-order functional language a la ml. We manage to express the interpretation of a given program in terms of a least fixpoint and we show that when restricted to functions bounded by higher-order polynomials, they characterize exactly classes of tractable functions known as Basic Feasible Functions at any order.
Improved mobility performance in LTE co-channel hetnets through speed differentiated enhancements

This paper analyzes the mobility performance of LTE (Long Term Evolution) co-channel heterogeneous networks (HetNet) with macro and pico cells. Improved methods for differentiating offload and mobility robustness as a function of the UE (User Equipment) mobility are proposed. The suggested solution comprises two key elements, namely enhanced UE MSE (Mobility State Estimation), as well as optimized methods such that high speed users are primarily kept at the macro layer, while the offload to pico cells for low speed users is maximized. The proposed methods are designed as UE autonomous solutions, requiring minimum assistance and signaling from the network. Extensive system level simulations are used to quantify the benefits. Results confirm that the proposed solutions offer improvements in several mobility key performance indicators such as radio link failure, number of handovers, offload to pico layer.
Towards Extending IMS LD with Services and Context Awareness - Application to a Navigation and Fishing Simulator

A few e-Learning platforms propose a solution for ubiquity and context aware adaptability. Current standards, as Learning Design (LD), require an extension to propose context awareness. Based on previous related works, we define a fully interoperable and learner (ambient) context adaptable platform, by using metamodeling based approach mixing MDD, parameterized transformations, and models composition. The scope of this paper is to extend LD metamodel as a first step. We use a concrete software engineering industrial product that was promoted by French Government.
Microbial community in a sediment-hosted CO2 lake of the southern Okinawa Trough hydrothermal system

Increasing levels of CO2 in the atmosphere are expected to cause climatic change with negative effects on the earth's ecosystems and human society. Consequently, a variety of CO2 disposal options are discussed, including injection into the deep ocean. Because the dissolution of CO2 in seawater will decrease ambient pH considerably, negative consequences for deep-water ecosystems have been predicted. Hence, ecosystems associated with natural CO2 reservoirs in the deep sea, and the dynamics of gaseous, liquid, and solid CO2 in such environments, are of great interest to science and society. We report here a biogeochemical and microbiological characterization of a microbial community inhabiting deep-sea sediments overlying a natural CO2 lake at the Yonaguni Knoll IV hydrothermal field, southern Okinawa Trough. We found high abundances (>109 cm−3) of microbial cells in sediment pavements above the CO2 lake, decreasing to strikingly low cell numbers (107 cm−3) at the liquid CO2/CO2-hydrate interface. The key groups in these sediments were as follows: (i) the anaerobic methanotrophic archaea ANME-2c and the Eel-2 group of Deltaproteobacteria and (ii) sulfur-metabolizing chemolithotrophs within the Gamma- and Epsilonproteobacteria. The detection of functional genes related to one-carbon assimilation and the presence of highly 13C-depleted archaeal and bacterial lipid biomarkers suggest that microorganisms assimilating CO2 and/or CH4 dominate the liquid CO2 and CO2-hydrate-bearing sediments. Clearly, the Yonaguni Knoll is an exceptional natural laboratory for the study of consequences of CO2 disposal as well as of natural CO2 reservoirs as potential microbial habitats on early Earth and other celestial bodies.
Automated proof-producing abstraction of C code

Before software can be formally reasoned about, it must first be represented in some form of logic. There are two approaches to carrying out this translation: the first is to generate an idealised representation of the program, convenient for reasoning about. The second, safer approach is to perform a precise, conservative translation, at the cost of burdening verification efforts with low-level implementation details. In this thesis, we present methods for bridging the gap between these two approaches. In particular, we describe algorithms for automatically abstracting low-level C code semantics into a higher level representation. These translations include simplifying program control flow, converting finite machine arithmetic into idealised integers, and translating the byte-level C memory model to a split heap model. The generated abstractions are easier to reason about than the input representations, which in turn increases the productivity of formal verification techniques. Critically, we guarantee soundness by automatically generating proofs that our abstractions are correct. Previous work carrying out such transformations has either done so using unverified translations, or required significant manual proof engineering effort. Our algorithms are implemented in a new tool named AutoCorres, built on the Isabelle/HOL interactive theorem prover. We demonstrate the effectiveness of our abstractions in a number of case studies, and show the scalability of AutoCorres by translating realworld programs consisting of tens of thousands of lines of code. While our work focuses on a subset of the C programming language, we believe most of our algorithms are also applicable to other imperative languages, such as Java or C#.
Cell Lineages in Hepatic Development and Molecular Mechanisms of Cell-Cell Interactions Underlying Hepatoblast Differentiation into Mature Hepatocytes and Biliary Epithelial Cells

The endodermal epithelium in the mammalian liver consists of hepatocytes and biliary epithelial cells. Both cell types originate from hepatoblasts, which may be hepatic stem cells in fetal stages. When hepatoblasts are located around the portal veins, they give rise to biliary epithelial cells under an inductive action by portal connective tissues. Nonperiportal hepatoblasts differentiate into mature hepatocytes. Recent studies on naturally mutated or genetically engineered animals have highlighted several new aspects of the hepatoblast differentiation. Mosaic analysis using random inactivation of either paternal or maternal X-chromosome carrying a spf ash mutation in the heterozygous females has demonstrated that hepatoblasts may be bipotential for their differentiation potency into hepatocytes and biliary epithelial cells. This idea is strongly supported by the observation that hepatoblasts in C/EBP�-knockout mouse livers abundantly develop pseudoglandular structures, which resemble precursor structures for intrahepatic bile ducts (pearl-like structures or ductal plates). The data
Preparation, characterisation and anti‐tumour activity of Ganoderma lucidum polysaccharide nanoparticles

Objectives The aim was to prepare novel Ganoderma lucidum polysaccharide nanoparticles and to evaluate the physicochemical properties and anti‐tumour activity in in‐vitro cytotoxicity studies using HepG2, HeLa and A549 cancer cell lines, and growth promotion effects on mouse spleen cells.
Developmental expression and 5S rRNA-binding activity of Xenopus laevis ribosomal protein L5

Ribosomal protein L5 binds specifically to 5S rRNA to form a complex that is a precursor to 60S subunit assembly in vivo. Analyses in yeast cells, mammalian cells, and Xenopus embryos have shown that the accumulation of L5 is not coordinated with the expression of other ribosomal proteins. In this study, the primary structure and developmental expression of Xenopus ribosomal protein L5 were examined to determine the basis for its distinct regulation. These analyses showed that L5 expression could either coincide with 5S rRNA synthesis and ribosome assembly or be controlled independently of these events at different stages of Xenopus development. L5 synthesis during oogenesis was uncoupled from the accumulation of 5S rRNa but coincided with subunit assembly. In early embryos, the inefficient translation of L5 mRNA resulted in the accumulation of a stable L5-5S rRNA complex before ribosome assembly at later stages of development. Additional results demonstrated that L5 protein synthesized in vitro bound specifically to 5S rRNA.
Notas acerca de la dieta de Ectatomma ruidum (Roger 1861) (Hymenoptera: Formicidae: Ectatomminae) en un jardín venezolano

Resumen: Reportamos un listado de recursos alimentarios usados por Ectatomma ruidum en un jardin del Instituto Nacional de Investigaciones Agricolas (INIA), Maracay, Venezuela. Realizamos 20 sesiones de observacion de 15 minutos, distribuidas de manera aleatoria, durante nueve dias continuos. Recolectamos e identificamos a nivel de familia los alimentos de E. ruidum mientras eran acarreados por obreras hacia el nido. Obtuvimos un total de 32 recursos alimentarios, constituidos por 16 insectos adultos, seis inmaduros y tres acaros, entre otros. Nuestros resultados apoyan lo descrito por otros autores, que consideran a E. ruidum como una especie depredadora generalista, y pensamos que la composicion de su dieta puede variar en relacion al ambiente y la disponibilidad de recursos, exhibiendo preferencia hacia insectos adultos de los ordenes Coleoptera e Hymenoptera. Palabras clave: Hymenoptera, Formicidae, Ectatomma ruidum, hormigas depredadoras, rubros alimenticios, Venezuela. Notes about the diet of Ectatomma ruidum Roger, 1861 (Hymenoptera: Formicidae: Ectatomminae) in a Venezuelan garden
Modular Tri-Port High-Power Converter for SRM Based Plug-in Hybrid Electrical Trucks

Plug-in hybrid electrical trucks (PHETs) are a kind of emerging transport solution to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Switched reluctance motors (SRMs) are one of the popular choices for PHETs applications due to characteristics of rear-earth free, high starting torque, wide-speed range, and good fault tolerance. Usually, more than two converters are needed to achieve flexible energy conversion among multiple electrical energy components on board, i.e., generator, battery bank, and motor. High-power converters should be used to drive the trucks that occupy the limited on-board space. Furthermore, an extra converter is also needed to achieve ac grid connecting charging. All these converters make the on-board power electronics converter complicated. In this paper, a modular tri-port high-power converter for SRM based PHETs is proposed to combine the multiple electrical energy components into one converter. The modular tri-port high-power converter can not only support flexible energy flow, but also support parallel and series winding connections according to different conditions. Furthermore, ac grid connecting nodes are also developed in the drive, which allows the proposed converter to work as a grid connecting charger without extra facilities. The simulation and experiments are employed to verify the feasibility of the proposed converter and corresponding control strategies.
Curing of the 2 mu DNA plasmid from Saccharomyces cerevisiae

The 2 mu DNA plasmid is often eliminated from yeast cells when they are transformed with the 2 mu DNA-LEU2-pMB9 composite plasmid pJDB219. Since pJDB219 is subsequently lost with high frequency, derivatives lacking all 2 mu DNA can be prepared from any strain.
Bias of Phenotype Similarity Scores between Diseases

Since diseases might be related with each other, systematically assessing their relationships could provide us novel insight into their mechanisms. One of the most important methods to study diseases' relationships is to calculate their phenotype similarity scores based on the text and clinical synopsis parts of their records in the OMIM database. However, as demonstrated in this paper, the similarity score between two diseases is highly dependent on the numbers of medical terms in the records describing the diseases (termed as record size). Because the descriptions of some diseases tend to be more detailed due to research biases, the similarity scores between these diseases tend to be larger. Thus, applications based on this phenotype similarity measure are problematic. In this paper, we also discuss some reasonable approaches to study the relationships between diseases, which may avoid the biased applications of disease similarity scores.
Assessment of the merits of CMOS technology scaling for analog circuit design

Key device parameters such as drain current, transconductance, current factor, capacitance, etc. are linked to typical analog circuit level performance criteria, as a function of the CMOS technology node. Subsequently, speed and power implications for an analog-to-digital converter building block are estimated. Significant power efficiency improvements are predicted as a result of scaling to deep sub-micron technology nodes.
Neuroprotection of Grafted Neurons with a GDNF/Caspase Inhibitor Cocktail

Transplantation of fetal ventral mesencephalic (VM) tissue shows great promise as an experimental therapy for patients with Parkinson's disease. However, cell survival in brain tissue grafts is poor, with survival rates of only 5-15%. We have utilized a combination of the caspase inhibitor bocaspartyl (OMe)-fluoromethylketone (BOC-ASP-CH2F) and glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF) to enhance survival of grafted dopamine neurons. The VM tissue was dissected from embryonic day 13-15 rat fetuses, incubated in different doses of BOC-ASP-CH2F and GDNF, and transplanted to the anterior chamber of the eye of adult rats. Growth of the tissue was assessed through the translucent cornea. Doses of 50 and 100 micromolar of the general caspase inhibitor appeared to have detrimental effects on mesencephalic tissue, while 20 micromolar had beneficial effects on overall transplant growth. A combination of the caspase inhibitor and GDNF appeared to have more prominent effects on cell survival as well as dopaminergic fiber density than either agent by itself. The transplants doubled in size when they were treated with a combination of BOC-ASP-CH2F and GDNF, and cell death markers were significantly reduced at both 48 h and 4-6 days postgrafting. This is, to our knowledge, the first combined approach using apoptotic blockers with trophic factors, and demonstrates a viable strategy for protection of developing neurons, since several different aspects of graft function may be addressed simultaneously.