Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Development of Weaning Food from Sorghum Supplemented with Legumes and Oil Seeds

Background The development of low-cost, high-protein food supplements for weaning infants from local and readily available raw materials is a constant challenge for developing countries. Objective To formulate, develop, and assess the nutritive value, acceptability, and keeping quality of sorghum-based staple dried flakes as instant weaning foods. Methods Weaning blends composed of 42% sorghum supplemented with 20% legumes, 10% oil seeds, and 28% additives (sugar, oil, skim milk powder, and vanillin) were prepared according to FAO/WHO/UNU recommendations and processed in a twin-roller drum dryer. The effects of fermentation and of the addition of malt on the nutritive value and functional properties of the blends were investigated. Results The blends were found to contain 16.6% to 19.3% protein, 68.7% to 72.7% carbohydrate, 0.9% to 1.3% fiber, and 405.8 to 413.2 kcal of energy per 100 g. The iron content of the blends ranged from 5.3 to 9.1 mg/100 g, and the calcium content ranged from 150 to 220 mg/100 g. All blends reconstituted well and formed a soft paste when stirred with hot or cold water. The water-holding capacity, wettability, and bulk density were within the ranges of corresponding values of commercial weaning foods. Sensory attributes, viscosity values, and in vitro digestibility varied among the blends, whereas lysing content improved considerably (p ≤ .05) for all blends. All blends had similar keeping quality, with no signs of spoilage or development of off-flavors or colors after 10 months of storage. Most blends remained free of aflatoxins. Conclusions Legumes and oil seeds can be effectively used in sorghum-based weaning foods as an acceptable protein and mineral supplement.
CSP joins New York City's K--12 computer science portfolio

New York City is the largest public school district in the country, with nearly 1700 schools serving 1.1 million students. Yet in 2014, only 738 students in NYC public schools took the Advanced Placement® Computer Science A (AP® CS A) exam, nearly half of them from three elite high schools. The need to expand access is great— only about 5% of the city’s students have access to a CS course. In other words, New York City represents an excellent opportunity to build a diverse, inclusive, and scalable approach to CS education [1]. The New York City Foundation for Computer Science Education (CSNYC) was founded in 2013 with the mission to provide a high-quality CS learning opportunity to every student in the NYC public schools. The foundation pursues a venture philanthropy approach—raising funds and investing in promising programs. Diverse programs and strategies contribute to an effort to build a CS education infrastructure that reaches thousands of students annually. In the 2014-15 school year, CSNYC-supported programs reached more than 100 schools and nearly 10,000 students [3]. In the 2015-16 school year, CSNYC will help promote Advanced Placement Computer Science Principles (CSP) in NYC. More than 30 schools will pilot a course in anticipation of 201617, when the exam becomes available. The arrival of CSP courses in NYC helps expand access to rigorous CS in two important ways: (1) CSP complements existing pathways from introductory CS into more advanced courses, and (2) multiple instances of CSP courses for schools to choose from help meet the needs and interests of the city’s more than 450 high schools. This article discusses the development of a sustainable platform for CS education in NYC schools, including CSNYC’s role, the importance of CSP, three versions of CSP that will be piloted in the 2015-16 school year, and the development of a CS community of practice to connect and support a growing corps of CS teachers who have been trained through various programs.
Stability Region in the Parameter Space of PI Controller for a Single-Area Load Frequency Control System With Time Delay

This letter proposes a graphical method to compute the stabilizing values of proportional-integral (PI) controller parameters for a single-area load frequency control (LFC) system with time delay. The method is based on the stability boundary locus. The stability region is displayed in controller parameter space and time-domain simulation studies are carried to verify the accuracy and effectiveness of the proposed method.
Towards Proving the Adversarial Robustness of Deep Neural Networks

Autonomous vehicles are highly complex systems, required to function reliably in a wide variety of situations. Manually crafting software controllers for these vehicles is difficult, but there has been some success in using deep neural networks generated using machine-learning. However, deep neural networks are opaque to human engineers, rendering their correctness very difficult to prove manually; and existing automated techniques, which were not designed to operate on neural networks, fail to scale to large systems. This paper focuses on proving the adversarial robustness of deep neural networks, i.e. proving that small perturbations to a correctly-classified input to the network cannot cause it to be misclassified. We describe some of our recent and ongoing work on verifying the adversarial robustness of networks, and discuss some of the open questions we have encountered and how they might be addressed.
A Class of Nonbinary LDPC Codes with Fast Encoding and Decoding Algorithms

This letter is concerned with a class of nonbinary low-density parity-check (LDPC) codes, referred to as column-scaled LDPC (CS-LDPC) codes, whose parity-check matrices have a property that each column is a scaled binary vector. The CS-LDPC codes, which include algebraically constructed nonbinary LDPC codes as subclasses, admit fast encoding and decoding algorithms. Specifically, for a code over the finite field F2p, the encoder can be implemented with p parallel binary LDPC encoders followed by a series of bijective mappers, while the decoder can be implemented with an iterative decoder in which no message permutations are required during the iterations. In addition, there exist low-complexity iterative multistage decoders that can be utilized to trade off the performance against the complexity. Simulation results show that the performance degradation caused by the iterative multistage decoding algorithms is relevant to the code structure.
Proteomic Analysis of Exosomes from Mutant KRAS Colon Cancer Cells Identifies Intercellular Transfer of Mutant KRAS*

Activating mutations in KRAS occur in 30% to 40% of colorectal cancers. How mutant KRAS alters cancer cell behavior has been studied intensively, but non-cell autonomous effects of mutant KRAS are less understood. We recently reported that exosomes isolated from mutant KRAS-expressing colon cancer cells enhanced the invasiveness of recipient cells relative to exosomes purified from wild-type KRAS-expressing cells, leading us to hypothesize mutant KRAS might affect neighboring and distant cells by regulating exosome composition and behavior. Herein, we show the results of a comprehensive proteomic analysis of exosomes from parental DLD-1 cells that contain both wild-type and G13D mutant KRAS alleles and isogenically matched derivative cell lines, DKO-1 (mutant KRAS allele only) and DKs-8 (wild-type KRAS allele only). Mutant KRAS status dramatically affects the composition of the exosome proteome. Exosomes from mutant KRAS cells contain many tumor-promoting proteins, including KRAS, EGFR, SRC family kinases, and integrins. DKs-8 cells internalize DKO-1 exosomes, and, notably, DKO-1 exosomes transfer mutant KRAS to DKs-8 cells, leading to enhanced three-dimensional growth of these wild-type KRAS-expressing non-transformed cells. These results have important implications for non-cell autonomous effects of mutant KRAS, such as field effect and tumor progression.
Patrones dietarios y riesgo de cáncer de mama: un análisis factorial de alimentos y nutrientes

Introduccion: la dieta es considerada un factor determinante en la carcinogenesis mamaria. Comparado con un analisis epidemiologico tradicional de alimentos y nutrientes aislados, el analisis factorial genera patrones de elementos asociados, utiles tambien para las comparaciones internacionales. Objetivo: explorar los factores de riesgo dietarios en cancer de mama (CM) mediante analisis factorial simultaneamente en alimentos y nutrientes. Material y metodo: realizamos un estudio caso-control en donde 442 casos de CM y 442 controles fueron pareados por edad, residencia y estatus urbano/rural. Todas las pacientes presentaban un estatus socioeconomico bajo (bajo promedio de anos de educacion e ingresos). Los controles no presentaban afecciones relacionadas con tabaquismo o alcoholismo, ni habian modificado recientemente su dieta. Un analisis factorial (componentes principales) fue realizado entre controles para alimentos y nutrientes individuales sobre datos de un cuestionario alimentario de 64 items, ya utilizado en numerosos estudios caso-control previos. Resultados: el analisis factorial hecho con alimentos retuvo los factores occidental, tradicional, frutas totales, prudente y carnes procesadas. Este analisis usando nutrientes retuvo los factores base animal, almidon/lacteos, base frutal y carotenoides. Mientras que el patron occidental mostro un riesgo significativo aumentado de CM (OR = 2,15), el patron prudente se asocio inversa y significativamente (OR = 0,67). En patrones de nutrientes el factor base animal se asocio directamente con CM, mientras que el factor carotenoides se asocio inversamente. Hubo diferencias de asociacion segun estatus menopausico. Conclusiones: el analisis factorial mostro el rol potencial de elementos dietarios a partir de alimentos y nutrientes, tanto de riesgo como protectores, en la etiologia de CM.
eparative Effects of Allogeneic Mesenchymal recursor Cells Delivered Transendocardially in xperimental Nonischemic Cardiomyopathy

ethods Mesenchymal precursor cells were prepared from ovine bone marrow by immunoselection sing the tissue nonspecific alkaline phosphatase, or STRO-3, monoclonal antibody. Fifteen sheep with nthracycline-induced NICM were assigned to catheter-based, transendocardial injections of allogeneic PC (n 7) or placebo (n 8), under electromechanical mapping guidance. Follow-up was for 8 weeks, ith end points assessed by cardiac magnetic resonance, echocardiography, and histology.
Clinical challenges posed by new biotechnology

The case of nutrigenomics If all goes as planned, the world in which we can obtain an inexpensive, easy to produce digital data version of our personal genome is not far in the future.1 The idea of possessing genetic self knowledge is intriguing. Imagine holding an optical storage disk encoded with your genome, a disk whose contents can reveal a staggering amount about your genetic identity, past, present, and future. Having genetic self knowledge is also empowering. The disk containing your personalised genomic knowledge could enable you to make informed choices and take life transforming steps to prevent or mitigate disease. If complete genome DVDs sound futuristic, it is because data collection and encoding issues stand in the way. Technical problems will undoubtedly be finessed. When they are, we will realise that beneath the initial allure of improved individual access to genetic information lies a more interesting phenomenon. We are witnessing the rapid movement of genomic science and technology into the commercial sector, fuelled by the progress being made in the elucidation of the identity, function, variants, and interaction of our 30 000 genes. Perhaps the most significant outcome of the published draft sequences2,3 of the human genome was the nearly fourfold reduction in the predicted number of human genes. Once one gene-one effect determinism was decisively overthrown, pleiotropy, polygenic effects, and gene-environment complexities suddenly became the orthodoxy in biology. Genomics, once ridiculed by Syndey Brenner as work so boring that inmates should do it, has produced very complex results. Uptake of genomics into medical genetics likewise reflects the subtlety and variety of the science under girding predictions about disease susceptibility,4,5 behavioural dispositions,6 and heterogeneous response to drugs.7 Intensive diversification is the hallmark of genomics science and technology, and tremendous opportunity exists for …
Family Firms and Financial Analyst Activity

This paper examines the relationship between ownership structure, analyst coverage, and forecast error for the entire population of non-financial companies listed on the Swiss Exchange for the period 2003-2013. The results show a negative association between concentrated ownership and analyst coverage for both family firms and firms held by a nonfamily blockholder. Furthermore, forecasts of analysts are shown to be more accurate for family firms than for other firms. These results suggest that family ownership improves the quality of the firm’s information environment. This situation can be explained by a better alignment of interests between majority and minority shareholders among family firms.
Recovering the 3D shape of a road by on-board monocular vision

Deals with a method designed to recover the 3D geometry of a road from an image sequence provided by an on-board monocular monochromatic camera. It only requires the road edges to be detected in the image. The reconstruction process is able to compute (1) the 3D coordinates of the road axis points, (2) the vehicle's position on its lane and (3) the prediction of the road edge localization in the next images of the sequence which is very helpful for the detection phase. It also computes the confidence intervals associated with the 3D parameters. The description of the method is followed by the presentation of its most significant results.
TLR2 signaling improves immunoregulation to prevent type 1 diabetes

Signaling through TLR2 promotes inflammation and modulates CD4+CD25+ Tregs. We assessed mechanistically how this molecule would alter immunoregulation in type 1 diabetes (T1D). We also asked whether TLR2 may be involved in our recent discovery that viral infection can protect from autoimmune diabetes by expanding and invigorating Tregs. Treatment of prediabetic mice with a synthetic TLR2 agonist diminished T1D and increased the number and function of CD4+CD25+ Tregs, also conferring DCs with tolerogenic properties. TLR2 ligation also promoted the expansion of Tregs upon culture with DCs and ameliorated their capacity to prevent the disease. Protection from T1D by lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus (LCMV) infection depended on TLR2. LCMV increased the frequency of CD4+CD25+ Tregs and their production of TGF‐β more significantly in WT than TLR2‐deficient mice. Furthermore, LCMV infection in vivo or LCMV‐infected DCs in vitro rendered, via TLR2, CD4+CD25+ Tregs capable of diminishing T1D. We identify novel mechanisms by which TLR2 promotes immunoregulation and controls autoimmune diabetes in naïve or infected hosts. This work should help understand T1D etiology and develop novel immune‐based therapeutic interventions.
Dopamine supersensitivity and D1/D2 synergism are unrelated to changes in striatal receptor density

Experiments were conducted to elucidate the relationships among striatal dopamine receptor density, behavioral manifestations of D1/D2 synergism (i. e., the requirement of concomitant stimulation of D1 and D2 receptors for the expression of stereotyped sniffing, licking and gnawing), and behavioral supersensitivity to dopamine agonists. The state of D1/D2 synergism was found to be independent of striatal D1 or D2 receptor density in rats as: (1) increasing striatal D1 and/or D2 receptor density (as confirmed by quantitative receptor autoradiography) by chronic treatment with SCH 23390 (0.5 mg/kg/day for 21 days) and/or haloperidol (0.5 mg/kg/day for 21 days) did not alter the normal pattern of D1/D2 synergism as determined by behavioral responsiveness to agonist stimulation of D1 or D2 receptors, and (2) 5 days of reserpine treatment (1 mg/kg/day), although not significantly changing striatal D1 or D2 receptor density, induced a breakdown in D1/D2 synergism (i. e., behavior was elicited by independent stimulation of D1 or D2 receptors).
Vaccinia Virus Uracil DNA Glycosylase Interacts with the A20 Protein to Form a Heterodimeric Processivity Factor for the Viral DNA Polymerase*

The vaccinia virus E9 protein, the catalytic subunit of the DNA polymerase holoenzyme, is inherently distributive under physiological conditions, although infected cells contain a highly processive form of the enzyme. The viral A20 protein was previously characterized as a stoichiometric component of the processivity factor, and an interaction between A20 and E9 was documented in vivo. A20 has been shown to interact with D4, the virally encoded uracil DNA glycosylase (UDG), by yeast-two hybrid and in vitro analysis. Here we confirm that UDG and A20 interact in vivo and show that temperature-sensitive viruses with lesions in the D4R gene show a profound defect in DNA synthesis at the non-permissive temperature. Moreover, cytoplasmic extracts prepared from these infections lack processive polymerase activity in vitro, implicating D4 in the assembly or activity of the processive polymerase. Upon overexpression of 3×FLAG-UDG, A20, and E9 in various combinations, we purified dimeric and trimeric UDG-A20 and UDG-A20-polymerase complexes, respectively. These complexes are stable in 750 mm NaCl and can be further purified by Mono Q chromatography. Notably, the trimeric complex displays robust processive polymerase activity, and the dimeric complex can confer processivity on purified E9. Consistent with previous reports that the catalytic activity of UDG is dispensable for virus replication in tissue culture, we find that the role of UDG role in the polymerase complex is not diminished by mutations targeting residues involved in uracil recognition or excision. Our cumulative data support the conclusion that A20 and UDG form a heterodimeric processivity factor that associates with E9 to comprise the processive polymerase holoenzyme.
Medical and surgical treatment for ocular myasthenia.

BACKGROUND Approximately 50% of people with myasthenia gravis present initially with purely ocular symptoms, so called ocular myasthenia and between 50 to 60% of these people will progress to develop generalized disease. The vast majority will do so within the first one to two years. There is controversy surrounding the appropriate management of patients with ocular myasthenia. OBJECTIVES To perform a systematic review of the literature relevant to the treatment of ocular myasthenia and to answer three specific questions. Are there any medical or surgical treatments that have an impact on the risk of progression from ocular to generalized myasthenia gravis? Are there any medical or surgical treatments that improve symptoms of diplopia or ptosis in ocular myasthenia? What is the frequency of side effects associated with treatments used in people with ocular myasthenia? SEARCH STRATEGY We searched the Cochrane Neuromuscular Disease Group Trials Register (searched December 2004), MEDLINE (1996 to 2004) and EMBASE (1980 to 2004) for randomized controlled trials as well as case-control and cohort studies. The titles and abstracts of all articles were read by both authors and the full text of all articles that were of possible relevance was reviewed in full. The references of all manuscripts included in the review were scanned to identify additional articles of relevance and experts in the field were contacted to identify additional published and unpublished data. Where necessary and possible, we contacted authors for further information. SELECTION CRITERIA To be included in the review, studies had to meet three criteria: (a) randomized (or quasi-randomized) controlled study design; (b) active treatment compared to placebo, no treatment or some other treatment; and (c) results reported separately for patients with ocular myasthenia (grade 1) as defined by the Myasthenia Gravis Foundation of America. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS We collected data regarding the risk of progression to generalized myasthenia gravis, improvement in ocular symptoms, and the frequency of treatment-related side effects. MAIN RESULTS We identified two randomized controlled trials relevant to the treatment of ocular myasthenia, only one of which reported results in terms of the pre-specified outcome measures used in this review. This study included only three participants and was of limited methodological quality. In the absence of data from randomized controlled trials, we present a review of the available observational data. AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS There are no data from randomized controlled trials on the impact of any form of treatment on the risk of progression from ocular to generalized myasthenia gravis. The available randomized controlled literature does not permit any meaningful conclusions about the efficacy of any form of treatment for ocular myasthenia. Data from several reasonably good quality observational studies suggest that corticosteroids and azathioprine may be beneficial in reducing the risk of progression to generalized myasthenia gravis.
AFT1: a mediator of iron regulated transcriptional control in Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

Using a scheme for selecting mutants of Saccharomyces cerevisiae with abnormalities of iron metabolism, we have identified a gene, AFT1, that mediates the control of iron uptake. AFT1 encodes a 78 kDa protein with a highly basic amino terminal domain and a glutamine‐rich C‐terminal domain, reminiscent of transcriptional activators. The protein also contains an amino terminal and a C‐terminal region with 10% His residues. A dominant mutant allele of this gene, termed AFT1‐1up, results in high levels of ferric reductase and ferrous iron uptake that are not repressed by exogenous iron. The increased iron uptake is associated with enhanced susceptibility to iron toxicity. These effects may be explained by the failure of iron to repress transcription of FRE1, FRE2 and FET3. FRE1 and FRE2 encode plasma membrane ferric reductases, obligatory for ferric iron assimilation, and FET3 encodes a copper‐dependent membrane‐associated oxidase required for ferrous iron uptake. Conversely, a strain with interruption of the AFT1 gene manifests low ferric reductase and ferrous iron uptake and is susceptible to iron deprivation, because of deficient expression of FRE1 and negligible expression of FRE2 and FET3. Thus, AFT1 functions to activate transcription of target genes in response to iron deprivation and thereby plays a central role in iron homeostasis.
Identification and Comparison of Fall Armyworm (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) Host Strains in Brazil, Texas, and Florida

Abstract Fall armyworm, Spodoptera frugiperda (J.E. Smith) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae), is a major economic pest throughout the Western Hemisphere. Studies of populations in the southern United States and the Caribbean demonstrated the existence of two morphologically identical but genetically distinct host strains. These races can be distinguished by using polymorphisms in the mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase I gene that define two distinct maternal lineages that correlate with strain-specific behaviors in Florida populations. Although there is evidence of different biotypes in Brazil, it has not been demonstrated that these biotypes are equivalent to the U.S. strains. Sampling from Brazil indicates that its fall armyworm populations consist of the two strain-specific haplotypes found in Florida and also display the expected biases in plant host distribution. The same genetic markers also were present in samples from Texas, a major source of migrating fall armyworm in North America. These results indicate that the biology and behaviors of Brazilian fall armyworm populations are similar to those found in North America.