Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Aberrant sumoylation signaling evoked by reactive oxygen species impairs protective function of Prdx6 by destabilization and repression of its transcription

Loss of the cytoprotective protein peroxiredoxin 6 (Prdx6) in cells that are aging or under oxidative stress is known to be linked to the pathobiology of many age‐related diseases. However, the mechanism by which Prdx6 activity goes awry is largely unknown. Using Prdx6‐deficient (Prdx6−/−) cells as a model for aging or redox active cells, human/mouse lens epithelial cells (LECs) facing oxidative stress and aging lenses, we found a significant increase in the levels of small ubiquitin‐like modifier (Sumo)1 conjugates. These cells displayed increased levels of Sumo1 and reduced the expression of Prdx6. Specifically, we observed that Prdx6 is a target for aberrant sumoylation signaling, and that Sumo1 modification reduces its cellular abundance. LECs overexpressing Sumo1 showed reduced expression and activity of Prdx6 and its transactivator specificity protein 1 (Sp1), mRNA and protein with increased levels of reactive oxygen species; those cells were vulnerable to oxidative stress‐induced cell death. A significant reduction in Prdx6, Sp1 protein and mRNA expression was observed in redox active Prdx6−/− cells and in aging lenses/LECs. The reduction was correlated with increased expression of Sumo1 and enrichment of the inactive form (dimeric) of Sumo‐specific protease (Senp)1. Experiments with Sumo1‐fused Prdx6 and Prdx6 promoter‐linked to chloramphenicol acetyltransferase reporter gene constructs indicated that Sumo1 dysregulated Prdx6 activity by reducing its abundance and attenuating its transcription; in contrast, the delivery of Senp1 or Prdx6 reversed the process. The data show that reactive oxygen species‐evoked aberrant sumoylation signaling affects Prdx6 activity by reducing Prdx6 abundance, as well as transcription. The findings of the present study may provide a foundation for a strategy to repair deleterious oxidative signaling generated by a reduced activity of Prdx6.
Transcapillary transport of D- and L-glucose in isolated skeletal muscle.

The study was performed to clarify whether D-glucose traverses muscle capillary walls faster than L-glucose. The transcapillary transport of D-glucose was slightly faster than that of L-glucose in experiments at 37° C. The difference in transport rate persisted when the experiments were carried out at 4° C. This indicates that the faster transport of D-glucose is not due to facilitated transport involving enzymatic steps. It is proposed that the ground matrix of the interendothelial cleft (and of the extravascular space) gives the D-form of glucose a slight diffusional advantage over the L-form. A pore effect cannot be completely ruled out.
Raw Camera Image Demosaicing using Finite Impulse Response Filtering on Commodity GPU Hardware using CUDA

In this paper, we investigate demosaicing of raw camera images on parallel architectures using CUDA. To generate high-quality results, we use the method of Malvar et al., which incorporates the gradient for edgesensing demosaicing. The method can be implemented as a collection of finite impulse response filters, which can easily be mapped to a parallel architecture. We investigated different trade-offs between memory operations and processor occupation to acquire maximum performance, and found a clear difference in optimization principles between different GPU architecture designs. We show that trade-offs are still important and not straightforward when using systems with massive fast processors and slower memory.
Effect of seed weight, light regime and substratum microsite on germination and seedling growth of Quercus semiserrata Roxb.

Seeds of Quercus semiserrata Roxb. vary widely in weight, and can be classified into small ( 8 g) classes. Heavy seeds contain greater reserves of protein, carbohydrate, lipid and energy than intermediate-weight and small seeds. Seed weight has a strong effect on germination. Heavy seeds germinate early and show better germination than small seeds both under laboratory as well as greenhouse conditions. Further, the seedlings from heavy seeds survive better and yield greater dry mass than those from small seeds. Of the four substratum microsites tested (above moss layer, above litter, under litter and above soil surface), maximum germination occurred on moss. The position under litter produced significantly better results than above litter, but did not vary in comparison to soil surface. Of the three light regimes tested (90%, 52% and 28% of full light), 52% light resulted in maximum germination, seedling survival and dry mass production. However, the results between 90% and 28% light did not vary significantly. An interaction of seed weight, microsite and light appears to lay optimal conditions for seed germination and early seedling growth.
Consumers' heterogeneous preferences for corporate social responsibility in the food industry

This study reveals the consumer side of corporate social responsibility (CSR) in the food industry, exploring awareness, preferences and willingness to pay for CSR of a representative sample of Italian households. The results clearly indicate that Italian consumers reveal a high level of awareness within clear, though heterogeneous, preferences for CSR initiatives. Five consumers' groups were identified: ‘environmentalists’, ‘pro‐socials’, ‘collectivists’, ‘animal friends’ and ‘selfish health centered’. Furthermore, the study reveals consumers' willingness to pay a premium price to reward food companies addressing their concerns and expectations in terms of CSR. Findings offer insights for business managers on how to promote CSR, developing communication and information strategies focusing on specific needs and personal relevance within a group of consumers.
Analysis of the FoodNet case-control study of sporadic Salmonella serotype Enteritidis infections using persons infected with other Salmonella serotypes as the comparison group

SUMMARY Use of well persons as the comparison group for laboratory-confirmed cases of sporadic salmonellosis may introduce ascertainment bias into case-control studies. Data from the 1996–1997 FoodNet case-control study of laboratory-confirmed Salmonella serogroups B and D infection were used to estimate the effect of specific behaviours and foods on infection with Salmonella serotype Enteritidis (SE). Persons with laboratory-confirmed Salmonella of other serotypes acted as the comparison group. The analysis included 173 SE cases and 268 non-SE controls. SE was associated with international travel, consumption of chicken prepared outside the home, and consumption of undercooked eggs prepared outside the home in the 5 days prior to diarrhoea onset. SE phage type 4 was associated with international travel and consumption of undercooked eggs prepared outside the home. The use of ill controls can be a useful tool in identifying risk factors for sporadic cases of Salmonella.
Fluctuations of the low frequency noise of MOS transistors and their modeling in analog and RF-circuits

We present a statistical evaluation of the low frequency noise behavior of MOSFETs. Amplitude and frequency of the 1/f-noise of small area devices show fluctuations by more than an order of magnitude. The noise fluctuations are particularly high for analog operating conditions. They are explained by considering the statistical effects of trap number and efficiency. A bias and area dependent worst case description of the noise behavior is given which can easily be included into standard circuit simulation models (e.g. BSIM3).
Transmission probability analysis of energy harvesting enabled 802.11 protocol

With the rapid increasement of wireless mobile devices, the problem of energy consumption has been gradually exposed to set back the development of future wireless communication. Under this condition, the data and energy integrated communication network (DEIN) has been emerging as a new technique to help wireless devices to collect the energy from the ambient radio-frequency (RF) signal and hence increase the lifetime of network nodes. Compared with the classic energy harvesting, the dedicated wireless energy transfer by RF signals is more controllable and hence has a better prospect in the future wireless communication. However, due to the big power path loss of RF signal, the long-distance energy transfer is infeasible on the current. As a result, we will study the energy transfer in a realistic indoor WLAN scenario, where a carrier sense multiple access with collision avoidance(CSMA/CA) based medium-access-control(MAC) layer model of DEINs is proposed by extending the function of the family of 802.11 protocol. Relying on the Markov chain based modelling, steady probabilities of different communication states of access points(APs) and several user stations(STAs) are derived for both, which can help us obtain an optimization of system performance in the later works.
Predicting future cryptocurrency investment trends by conjoint analysis

Purpose- Trade goods have been used as exchange mediums since the first humans. A thousand years ago currency was invented, and it became the dominant exchange medium in today’s world. The history of money did not end with the invention of fiat currency, such as US Dollar or Euro. Cryptocurrency is the new development. It is not a trade good, nor a fiat money. “It is a new, experimental kind of money. ” In this study our purpose is to analyze the factors influencing investors’ decision making on investment in cryptocurrencies by using conjoint analysis. Studies suggest that some attributes of cryptocurrencies affect decisions of investors. In this study, the attributes at different levels related to investors’ expectations on cryptocurrencies are examined. Methodology- In this study, conjoint analysis has been conducted. Conjoint method is a statistical analysis method and by using this method researchers determine the value of the attributes of a product or a feature for its consumers. Conjoint analysis is a method for analyzing preferences of customers; it is a useful tool for predicting and determining responses of customers to new product features and totally new products. In this case customers are investors and the new product is cryptocurrencies. Conjoint analysis has several types, choice based conjoint analysis is one of them and it is the preferred method for most of the researchers. Findings- Data collected for the study has been analyzed by using Marketing Engineering for Excel software. The findings of the study indicate that profitability, bookkeeping and security are the most important attributes which influence expectations of investors in cryptocurrencies. Five attributes with five levels each are chosen. It is predicted that these attributes are the most important indicators of investor behavior. According to research findings, most important attribute for investors is profitability. This study confirms that the majority of investors have high profit expectation from crypto currencies. But study results also include some unexpected findings. Anonymity is not one of the main concerns for investors and almost equal number of investors prefers very high and very low level of bookkeeping. Conclusion- The conjoint analysis gives a clear view on what investors expect from cryptocurrencies. The results show the attributes to improve when developing a cryptocurrency.
Local Perspectives on Actions

Giving an account of agents acting in the world—sensing, planning, communicating, doing—requires a coordinated account of, at least, three different kinds of action: ontic, epistemic, and communicative, which focus, respectively, on fact, knowledge and communication. In this note we are concerned primarily with ontic actions. The motivating example is the STRIPS approach to the frame problem, where actions are restricted to change only speciﬁed ﬂuents. We present an algebraic setting for ontic actions modeled as relations describing controlled state change. We start from a standard model that encodes STRIPS updates to address the frame problem in logical terms. This model is a system , in the sense of Resende and Baltag. We describe a structure that introduces a notion of local perspective or experiment. This provides a novel treatment of causal relations (which are closely related to integrity constraints and domain axioms in the AI-planning literature). Weshow how this local structure arises naturally from the semantic structure of the set of possible states, and suggest that it may also help in modeling agents with different perspectives.
Myocardial bridges and ischemic heart disease.

The clinical, electrocardiographs and angiocardiographic data are reported of 37 patients with myocardial bridges, in the absence of coronary atherosclerosis. An intramyocardial course of the left anterior descending coronary artery was present in all cases: myocardial bridges on the posterior descending and first diagonal branch were associated in one patient. The clinical presentation was that of ischemic heart disease in all cases, with stable angina in nine, unstable angina in 19, the intermediate syndrome in five, and a history or evidence of previous myocardial infarction in four. In 20 cases, left ventricular wall motion appeared to be abnormal on the antero-lateral or apical profile. One patient died suddenly the day following hospital discharge; of 27 patients followed over a 3–36 month interval, only four (15%) were free of symptoms on medical treatment. The frequent association of myocardial bridges with a clinical picture of ischemic heart disease which is sometimes severe, is emphasized together with the disappointing results of medical treatment.
Customers' Satisfaction and Service Quality of Spa Centers in Greece

The purpose of the present study was to investigate the impact of service quality on customers' satisfaction in SPA centers in Greece. 207 customers attending ten Spa centers in Greece volunteered to participate in this study. Measurements included the use of the SERVQUAL instrument (Parasuraman, Zeithaml, & Berry, 1988) to measure perceptions of service quality. Factor Analysis was used to identify the predictive variables of customers’ satisfaction. Results indicated from the five dimensions and twenty two items of SERVQUAL model, willingness to help the customer (responsiveness), management support in problem solving situations (assurance), food and beverages (tangibles), feel secure from danger (assurance), employees' commitment to the comfort of their customers (empathy) and honest and empathic treatment of customers (empathy)were the most predictive variables of Spa centers customers’ satisfaction. In conclusion, the information provided by this research can be used when designing marketing strategies to improve customers' satisfaction in Spa market and industry in Greece.
An efficient lgorithm to improve feature extraction and classification of knee joint sound

Vibroarthrographic (VAG) signals, generated during the active flexion and extension of the leg, represent acoustic signals caused by joint vibration and can be used as useful indicators of the roughness, softening, breakdown, or the state of lubrication of the articular cartilage surface. This paper describes an efficient algorithm in order to improve the classification accuracy of the features obtained from the time-frequency distribution (TFD) of normal and abnormal VAG signals. VAG signals were correctly segmented by the dynamic time warping and the noise within the TFD of the segmented VAG signals was diminished by the singular value decomposition method. The classification of the knees as normal or abnormal was evaluated using a back-propagation neural network (BPNN). 1408 VAG segments (normal 1031, abnormal 377) were used for evaluating our devised algorithm by a BPNN and, consequently, the mean accuracy was 91.4±1.7%. This algorithm could help to enhance the performance of the feature extraction and classification of VAG signal.
Downregulation of miR‐7 upregulates Cullin 5 (CUL5) to facilitate G1/S transition in human hepatocellular carcinoma cells

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small, non‐coding RNAs that participate in the regulation of gene expression. In this study, we demonstrate that miR‐7 was downregulated in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) tissues compared to adjacent non‐tumor tissue. Over‐expression of miR‐7 in QGY‐7703 and HepG2 cell lines inhibited colony formation and induced G1/S phase arrest, whereas knockdown of miR‐7 produced the opposite phenotype. A tumor suppressor gene, CUL5, was identified as a direct target of miR‐7, and CUL‐5 is upregulated upon the binding of miR‐7 to its 3′UTR. Furthermore, suppression of CUL5 also suppressed cell colony formation and induced cell cycle arrest. Ectopic expression of CUL5 abrogated the effects of miR‐7 inhibition on QGY‐7703 and HepG2 cell lines. These results indicate that miR‐7 suppresses colony formation and causes cell cycle arrest via upregulation of CUL5, and it may function as a tumor suppressor in HCC. © 2013 IUBMB Life, 65(12):1026–1034, 2013
Transport by the (Na+, K+) ATPase: Modulation by differentiation inducers and inhibition of protein synthesis in the MDCK kidney epithelial cell line

MDCK kidney epithelial cell cultures exposed to the differentiation inducer hexamethylene bisacetamid (HMBA) for 24 hours exhibited a 50% decrease in transport activity per (Na+, K+)‐ATPase molecule (turnover number) but an unchanged number of pump sites (Kennedy and Lever, 1984). Inhibition of protein synthesis by either 10 μM cycloheximide or 2 μM emetine blocked the inhibitory effects of HMBA on Na+/K+ pump efficiency assessed by measurements of [3H]‐ouabain binding to intact cells, (Na+, K+) ATPase activity of detergent‐activated cell extracts, and ouabain‐sensitive Rb+ uptake. In the absence of inducer treatment, inhibition of protein synthesis increased Na+/K+ pump turnover number by twofold while maintaining Na+/K+ pump activity per cell at a constant level. Intracellular Na+ levels were decreased after cycloheximide treatment; therefore, pump stimulation was not due to substrate effects. Furthermore, cycloheximide effects of Rb+ uptake could be dissociated from effects on tight junctions. These observations suggest that the transport activity of the (Na+, K+) ATPase is tightly regulated by factors dependent on protein synthesis.
PREDICTING FINANCIAL STATEMENTS CORPORATE FRAUD: BENEISH M-SCORE MODEL

This research aims to detect fraudulent financial statements the financial statements of XYZ, PT in the period 2010-2013. This research is a qualitative descriptive research. Data collection techniques used are observation and documentation. Data analysis techniques used are data reduction, data presentation and conclusion with Beniesh M-Score Model. The results showed that the financial statements in the period 2010-2013 as a whole that Beniesh M-Score XYZ, PT reached -3.94 in 2010, 0.70 in 2011, -3.32 in 2012 and -2.38 in 2013, the overall Beniesh M-Score reached above -2.22 except in 2011. Beniesh M-Score Model indicates that the management has performed the practice of manipulating numbers on the financial statements conducted continuously in the period of 2010, 2012 and 2013. The authors suggest the regulation (tax office) and public accounting firms, namely that the regulators do a review/inspection directly on the company's assets that has been recorded in the financial statements and the external auditor who has been appointed to conduct an examination of the financial statements to be more independent and do detection of financial statements using ratio analysis. Keywords: Detection, Fraudulent Financial Statements, Beneish M-Score Model, Practice of Manipulation Number
Rabs, Rips, FIPs, and Endocytic Membrane Traffic

Rab GTPases, proteins belonging to the Ras-like small GTP-binding protein superfamily, have emerged as master regulators of cellular membrane transport. Rab11 GTPase, a member of the Rab protein family, plays a role in regulating various cellular functions, including plasma membrane recycling, phagocytosis, and cytokinesis. Rab11 acts by forming mutually exclusive complexes with Rab11-family binding proteins, known as FIPs. Rab11-FIP complexes serve a role of “targeting complexes” by recruiting various membrane traffic factors to cellular membranes. Recent studies have identified several Rab11-FIP complex-binding proteins that regulate distinct membrane traffic pathways.
Maximizing predictive mode probability in fast handovers for mobile IP

Mobility management across multi technology wireless networks is an important feature for ubiquitous access. In such heterogeneous environment, service providers have to deal with service continuity especially for real time applications like voice over IP. In order to achieve this goal, the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) proposed fast handovers for IPv6 (FMIPv6) to reduce handover delay for real-time applications. FMIPv6 operates in two modes: predictive mode and reactive mode. FMIPv6 handover is achieved seamlessly when the predictive mode is used. The failure of the predictive mode degrades the handover performance and disrupts the perceived quality. In this paper, we propose an enhanced FMIPv6 that maximizes the predictive mode probability by forwarding the acknowledgment of the fast binding update to the new location of the mobile node. Moreover, the solution is based on the use of media independent handover services in both mobile node and network in order to achieve a successful predictive handover. A new state machine is defined for the mobile node to answer the requirements of the new enhancement. The impact of the proposed improvement is investigated through an analytical study.
Extracellular proteases increase tolerance of Bacillus subtilis to nafcillin

Mutants of Bacillus subtilis capable of secreting high amounts of protease were highly tolerant to the lethal and lytic effects of nafcillin. Protease-deficient mutants were more susceptible. However, when subtilisin was added to exogenously to a protease-deficient strain, the organism assumed the characteristics of nafcillin tolerance. Similarly, when phenylmethylsulfonyl fluoride, a serine protease inhibitor, was added to the tolerant strains, they became susceptible to nafcillin-induced lysis. The effects of nafcillin on B. subtilis were studied with both viability determinations and assay of cellular lysis. The minimum inhibitory concentrations of nafcillin tended to be higher for the protease hyperproducing strains, but these values could be reduced by the protease inhibitor. No loss of antibiotic activity was observed when nafcillin was incubated with either subtilisin or trypsin. Furthermore, protease and autolysin from B. subtilis were not modified by nafcillin. The results showed that extracellular proteases could render B. subtilis relatively tolerant to the killing and lytic effects of a cell wall antibiotic. The proteases were probably acting on the autolysins of the organism, thereby increasing tolerance to nafcillin.
kV-Class GaN-on-Si HEMTs Enabling 99% Efficiency Converter at 800 V and 100 kHz

kV-class GaN high electron mobility transistors built on low-cost Si substrate have been developed with proven switching performance. These devices show a blocking voltage >1200 V, low on-resistance <;0.19 Ω, and high switching speed >200 V/ns. A 3-kW 400 V:800 V hard-switched boost converter based on the GaN transistor achieves 99% efficiency at 100 kHz, well exceeding that of other competing semiconductors.