Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A knowledge discovery cycle for monitoring mobile cyber-physical systems

Mobile cyber-physical systems (MCPSs) such as motor vehicles, railed vehicles, aircraft, or spacecraft are commonly used in our life today. These systems are locationindependent and embedded in a physical environment which is usually harsh and uncertain. MCPSs are equipped with a wide range of sensors that continuously produce sensor data streams. It is mandatory to process these data streams in an appropriate manner in order to satisfy different monitoring objectives, and it is anticipated that the complexity of MCPSs will continue to increase in the future. For instance, this includes the system description and the amount of data that must be processed. Accordingly, it is necessary to monitor these systems in order to provide reliability and to avoid critical damage. Monitoring is usually a semi-automatic process while human experts are responsible for consequent decisions. Thus, appropriate monitoring approaches are required to both provide a reasonably precise monitoring process and to reduce the complexity of the monitoring process itself. The contribution of the present thesis is threefold. First, a knowledge discovery cycle (KDC) has been developed, which aims to combine the research areas of knowledge discovery in databases and knowledge discovery from data streams to monitor MCPSs. The KDC is a cyclic process chain comprising an online subcycle and an offline subcycle. Second, a new data stream anomaly detection algorithm has been developed. Since it is necessary to identify a large number of system states automatically during operation, data stream anomaly detection becomes a key task for monitoring MCPSs. Third, the KDC and the anomaly detection algorithm have been prototypically implemented and a case study has been performed in a real world scenario relating to the ISS Colombus module.
The use of stimulated granulocyte transfusions to prevent recurrence of past severe infections after allogeneic stem cell transplantation

Summary. The predictable neutropenia that follows allogeneic stem cell transplantation (ASCT) may be associated with recurrence of previous life‐threatening infection. We describe nine patients with either previous invasive aspergillosis (IA) or considered to be at high risk of developing IA who underwent ASCT with prophylactic granulocyte transfusions. The study group, when compared with a control group, had a significant reduction in the incidence and duration of fevers (P < 0·05) and maximum C‐reactive protein (P < 0·05). There were significantly fewer days of neutropenia (P < 0·05). There was also radiological improvement of pulmonary infiltrates in four out of seven assessable patients. No serious toxicity was encountered in donors or recipients. We conclude that prophylactic granulocyte donations can be given safely, and that they significantly reduce the number of days of neutropenia. Further investigation is warranted to determine whether granulocyte donations can prevent the recurrence of IA in patients at risk of fungal infection.
Correlation and Immunolocalization of Substance P Nerve Fibers and Activated Immune Cells in Human Chronic Gastritis

Neuropeptides are able to modulate cytokine production by macrophages in response to various stimulators and have a major role in inflammation of different organs. Mammalian poly (ADP‐ribose) polymerase (PARP) and nuclear factor kappa B (NF‐κB) both have been suggested to play a crucial role in inflammatory disorders. Unregulated increase of tumor necrosis factor‐α (TNF‐α) may also be pathogenic in inflammatory diseases. The aim of this study was to investigate the correlation between the number of Substance P (SP) containing nerve fibers and activated immune cells using immunohisto‐, immunocytochemical (EM) and confocal laser microscopic methods. To investigate expression and activation of immune cells gastric biopsy samples from patients with chronic gastritis were used. The number of SP containing nerve fibers and activated immune cells increased significantly in gastritis. Using monoclonal p65 antibody, activated NF‐κB was found in inflamed mucosa but was absent in uninflamed mucosa. Immunobinding for the activated form of p65 of NF‐κB was found in 22% of macrophages and 45% of lymphocytes. The number of immune cells showing IR for NF‐κB, PARP and TNF‐α correlated with the increasing number of SP containing fibres. Confocal laser microscopy was used to confirm the colocalization of SP in TNF‐α and NFκB positive lymphocytes and mast cells in inflamed mucosa. Immunoelectronmicroscopic investigation confirmed that these cells belong to lymphocytes, mast cells and macrophages. Conclusions: The increase of SP in nerve fibers and in activated immune cells further activate the production of other proinflammatory mediators (e.g. TNF‐α) and therefore generate the chronic inflammation. Anat Rec, 291:1140–1148, 2008. © 2008 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Call center performance evaluation using big data analytics

Quality monitoring for the call centers can be described as the process of listening to the recorded calls in order to measure the performance of a customer service representative or agent. The main challenge of quality monitoring is that managers have no time to listen all the records and therefore only a few of the stored calls are randomly selected. This results in inaccurate performance measurements, since most of call records can not be listened. This paper presents a distributed call monitoring system for assessing all recorded calls using several quality criteria. In the proposed system, we analyze large amount of call records using popular Hadoop MapReduce framework and utilize text similarity algorithms such as Cosine and n-gram. We also integrated slang word lists to our monitoring system. Empirical call records are used to demonstrate the performance of proposed call monitoring system.
Detection of Genetically Modified Soya, Maize, and Rice in Vegetarian and Healthy Food Products in Serbia

Zdjelar G. , Nikolic Z. , Vasiljevic I. , Bajic B. , Jovicic D. , Ignjatov M. , Milosevic D. (2013): Detection of genetically modified soya, maize, and rice in vegetarian and healthy food products in Serbia. Czech J. Food Sci., 31: 43–48. The presence of genetic modifications was analysed in a total of 100 samples of non-labelled vegetarian and healthy food products. The basic raw materials in the samples tested comprised maize , soya, and/or rice. The screening of all samples was performed using the primers for CaMV35S promoter. The p ositive samples from this initial screening were further subjected to the analysis of specific transgenic material to determine the type of GMO present with subsequent quantification. Roundup Ready soya was found in eight samples, but its content was below the limit of 0.9%. None of the analysed samples of food products contained GM maize and GM rice. Considering that the investigated samples were imported mainly from EU countries, it can be concluded that the control of GMOs is carried out systematically and in
A Bayesian approach to joint analysis of longitudinal measurements and competing risks failure time data

In this paper, we develop a Bayesian method for joint analysis of longitudinal measurements and competing risks failure time data. The model allows one to analyze the longitudinal outcome with nonignorable missing data induced by multiple types of events, to analyze survival data with dependent censoring for the key event, and to draw inferences on multiple endpoints simultaneously. Compared with the likelihood approach, the Bayesian method has several advantages. It is computationally more tractable for high‐dimensional random effects. It is also convenient to draw inference. Moreover, it provides a means to incorporate prior information that may help to improve estimation accuracy. An illustration is given using a clinical trial data of scleroderma lung disease. The performance of our method is evaluated by simulation studies. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Computational protocol for predicting the binding affinities of zinc containing metalloprotein–ligand complexes

Zinc is one of the most important metal ions found in proteins performing specific functions associated with life processes. Coordination geometry of the zinc ion in the active site of the metalloprotein–ligand complexes poses a challenge in determining ligand binding affinities accurately in structure‐based drug design. We report here an all atom force field based computational protocol for estimating rapidly the binding affinities of zinc containing metalloprotein–ligand complexes, considering electrostatics, van der Waals, hydrophobicity, and loss in conformational entropy of protein side chains upon ligand binding along with a nonbonded approach to model the interactions of the zinc ion with all the other atoms of the complex. We examined the sensitivity of the binding affinity predictions to the choice of Lennard‐Jones parameters, partial atomic charges, and dielectric treatments adopted for system preparation and scoring. The highest correlation obtained was R2 = 0.77 (r = 0.88) for the predicted binding affinity against the experiment on a heterogenous dataset of 90 zinc containing metalloprotein–ligand complexes consisting of five unique protein targets. Model validation and parameter analysis studies underscore the robustness and predictive ability of the scoring function. The high correlation obtained suggests the potential applicability of the methodology in designing novel ligands for zinc–metalloproteins. The scoring function has been web enabled for free access at www.scfbio‐iitd.res.in/software/drugdesign/bapplz.jsp as BAPPL‐Z server (Binding Affinity Prediction of Protein–Ligand complexes containing Zinc metal ions). Proteins 2007. © 2007 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Mat-core: a decoupled matrix core extension for general-purpose processors

This paper proposes new processor architecture to exploit the increasingly number of transistors per integrated circuit and improve the performance of many applications on general-purpose processors. The proposed processor (called Mat-Core) is based on the use of multi-level ISA to explicitly communicate data parallelism to processor in a compact way instead of the dynamic extraction using complex hardware or the static extraction using sophisticated compiler techniques. Scalar-scalar (level-O), scalar-vector (level-l), vector-vector (level-l), vector-matrix (level-2), and matrix-matrix (level-3) instruction sets are used as a multi-level interface between hardware and software. Mat-Core extends a general-purpose scalar processor (for executing scalar instructions) with a matrix unit (for executing vector/matrix instructions). To tolerate the memory latency, the extended matrix unit is decoupled into two components: address generation and data computation. The data computation unit is organized in parallel lanes; each lane contains a pipeline of each functional unit and a slice of the matrix register file. On parallel lanes, the Mat-Core processor can effectively process not only vector but also matrix data. This paper explains the execution of vector/matrix instructions on the parallel lanes of Mat-Core. Moreover, the performances of element-wise vector-vector addition, vector-matrix multiplication, and matrix-matrix multiplication are estimated on the decoupled Mat-Core processor. The increasingly budget of transistors can be exploiting to scale the Mat-core processor by providing more cores in a physical package. On a Multi-Mat-Core processor, performance would be improved by parallel processing threads of codes using multi-threading techniques.
LMI-based fuzzy control for a class of time-delay discrete fuzzy bilinear system

This paper presents robust fuzzy controllers for a class of T-S time-delay discrete fuzzy bilinear systems (DFBSs) with disturbance which ensures the robust asymptotic stability of the closed-loop system and guarantees an H∞ norm bound constraint on disturbance attenuation. Firstly, we proposed a H∞ fuzzy controller to stabilize the T-S DFBS with disturbance. Secondly, based on the Schur complement and some variable transformation, the stability conditions of the overall fuzzy control system are formulated by linear matrix inequalities (LMIs). Finally, the validity and applicability of the proposed schemes are demonstrated by simulations.
The cleavable carboxyl-terminus of the small coat protein of cowpea mosaic virus is involved in RNA encapsidation.

The site of cleavage of the small coat protein of cowpea mosaic virus has been precisely mapped and the proteolysis has been shown to result in the loss of 24 amino acids from the carboxyl-terminus of the protein. A series of premature termination and deletion mutants was constructed to investigate the role or roles of these carboxyl-terminal amino acids in the viral replication cycle. Mutants containing premature termination codons at or downstream of the cleavage site were viable but reverted to wild-type after a single passage through cowpea plants, indicating that the carboxyl-terminal amino acids are important. Mutants with the equivalent deletions were genetically stable and shown to be debilitated with respect to virus accumulation. The specific infectivity of preparations of a deletion mutant (DM4) lacking all 24 amino acids was 6-fold less than that of a wild-type preparation. This was shown to be a result of DM4 preparations containing a much increased percentage (73%) of empty (RNA-free) particles, a finding that implicates the cleavable carboxyl-terminal residues in the packaging of the virion RNAs.
A supervised approach to detect protein complex by combining biological and topological properties

Protein biochemical functions are revealed in the form of protein complexes from the Protein-Protein Interaction (PPI) network. In this paper, we propose a supervised based algorithm by combining biological and topological properties to detect protein complexes in PPI networks, in which protein amino acid background frequency is introduced as biological properties and become a new block of the features. In comparison with other established methods, the evaluation results indicate that the applied method can achieve comparable performances and match more meaningful real complexes. We also demonstrate that the use of protein amino acid background frequency and the SVM based method can efficiently improve the performance.
Research and implementation on the mobile intelligent controller for consumer electronics

This paper described the mobile intelligent controller providing an automatic home service based on a user's preference at a smart home. We presented the system architecture and the class diagram of mobile intelligent controller for consumer electronics. Also, we implemented ECG sensor, environment sensor and consumer electronics device driver for experiment. We applied different importance of contexts according to characteristics of consumer electronics. And we tested the performance of mobile intelligent controller for consumer electronics services. The testing result shows that the mobile intelligent controller predicts the service of consumer electronics effectively.
Adaptive control of triangular systems with nonlinear parameterization

The paper deals with adaptive control of uncertain nonlinear triangular systems whose uncertainty is characterized by nonlinear parameterization of unknown constant vectors. Robust adaptive control techniques are incorporated in the backstepping control design with flat zones to tackle the nonlinear parameterization together with a novel smooth projection algorithm for parameter estimation. The proposed algorithm guarantees the global boundedness of all the variables and the convergence of the tracking error to any prespecified small limit.
The brokerage work of school technology coordinators

This study investigated the problems of inefficiency that school technology coordinators (STCs) face in ICT integration instruction by examining their social networks of knowledge sharing. The authors conducted an ego-centric network survey of school technology coordinators' knowledge sharing to explore their brokerages work in exchanging knowledge with colleagues from different positions. The findings revealed that STCs rarely acquired the municipal help of ICT integration instruction. The dissemination of ICT integration instruction practices lacked brokerage pathways. STCs in exemplary schools of ICT-integration instruction had more opportunities to liaise with STCs of other schools regarding ICT practices relative to similar opportunities regarding ICT-integration instruction. STCs are "representatives" who can put technician staffs of their respective schools in touch with STCs of other schools through technology knowledge exchange. This study provides quantitative evidence from social network analysis to answer why STCs have not received the necessary support for them to be effective. Strategies are needed to encourage STCs in exemplary schools to share knowledge to STCs of other schools. Educational administrators should increase or create the institutional supports for practices of ICT integration instruction.
6DoF SLAM aided GNSS/INS Navigation in GNSS Denied and Unknown Environments

This paper presents the results of augmenting 6DoF Simultaneous Localisation and Mapping (SLAM) with GNSS/INS navigation system. SLAM algorithm is a feature based terrain aided navigation system that has the capability for online map building, and simultaneously utilising the generated map to constrain the errors in the on-board Inertial Navigation System (INS). In this paper, indirect SLAM is developed based on error analysis and then is integrated to GNSS/INS fusion filter. If GNSS information is available, the system performs feature- based mapping using the GNSS/INS solution. If GNSS is not available, the previously and/or newly generated map is now used to estimate the INS errors. Simulation results will be presented which shows that the system can provide reliable and accurate navigation solutions in GNSS denied environments for an extended period of time.
Effect of Vaccine Use in the Evolution of Mexican Lineage H5N2 Avian Influenza Virus

ABSTRACT An outbreak of avian influenza (AI) caused by a low-pathogenic H5N2 type A influenza virus began in Mexico in 1993 and several highly pathogenic strains of the virus emerged in 1994-1995. The highly pathogenic virus has not been reported since 1996, but the low-pathogenic virus remains endemic in Mexico and has spread to two adjacent countries, Guatemala and El Salvador. Measures implemented to control the outbreak and eradicate the virus in Mexico have included a widespread vaccination program in effect since 1995. Because this is the first case of long-term use of AI vaccines in poultry, the Mexican lineage virus presented us with a unique opportunity to examine the evolution of type A influenza virus circulating in poultry populations where there was elevated herd immunity due to maternal and active immunity. We analyzed the coding sequence of the HA1 subunit and the NS gene of 52 Mexican lineage viruses that were isolated between 1993 and 2002. Phylogenetic analysis indicated the presence of multiple sublineages of Mexican lineage isolates at the time vaccine was introduced. Further, most of the viruses isolated after the introduction of vaccine belonged to sublineages separate from the vaccine's sublineage. Serologic analysis using hemagglutination inhibition and virus neutralization tests showed major antigenic differences among isolates belonging to the different sublineages. Vaccine protection studies further confirmed the in vitro serologic results indicating that commercial vaccine was not able to prevent virus shedding when chickens were challenged with antigenically different isolates. These findings indicate that multilineage antigenic drift, which has not been observed in AI virus, is occurring in the Mexican lineage AI viruses and the persistence of the virus in the field is likely aided by its large antigenic difference from the vaccine strain.
Input devices for virtual surgical simulations: A comparative study

Surgical simulations are becoming the defacto standard for training surgeons for Minimally Invasive Surgery (MIS). Input devices determine how a user will experience the functionality of a simulator. Therefore it is very important to determine which input devices are suitable for the kind of operation that is being performed in a simulator. It is important to perform a user study of these input devices in order to determine their effects on the performance of the software and its usability. In this research we perform a usability study on the different input devices available and study the effect of these input devices on the learning curve of a commercial simulator. We perform our experiments using a mouse, a joystick without force feedback, joystick with force feedback, the PHANTOM Omni device and a custom device designed by our research lab. Using these devices we perform several exercises and study the effect of using these input controls on the learnability of a popular commercial simulator used for training surgeons.
Synthesis and Characterization of Fluorinated β‐Ketoiminate Zinc Precursors and Their Utility in the AP‐MOCVD Growth of ZnO:F

A novel family of zinc bis beta-ketoiminate complexes 2b-2h have been synthesized by reaction of the isolated free ligands (1a-h) with dimethylzinc. The isolated zinc complexes were characterized by elemental analysis, NMR spectroscopy, and in the case of 2b-d and 2f-h, the molecular structures of the complexes were determined by single crystal X-ray diffraction which reveals the compounds to be pseudo-octahedral 6-coordinate, monomeric homoleptic complexes in the solid state. TG analysis showed complexes 2b-f all to have residual masses at 400 °C of 10% or less, well below the value for ZnO and thus indicative of volatility. Of these systems 2b [Zn{MeC(O)CHC(NCH2CH2OMe)CF3}2] has been investigated for its utility in the AP-MOCVD growth of F –doped ZnO (ZnO:F) in the absence of additional oxidant at 400 °C on glass and silicon substrates.
Cross-layer analysis of wireless TCP/ARQ systems over correlated channels

We provide the cross-layer analysis of wireless TCP systems. The effect of error correlation on the behavior of link retransmission strategy and the end-to-end throughput of TCP layer are investigated. Based on the cross-layer analysis, a refinement of link layer protocol is proposed by consciously utilizing the information of channel correlations, which leads to the performance improvement of wireless TCP systems.
AKAP12 in astrocytes induces barrier functions in human endothelial cells through protein kinase Cζ

Interactions between astrocytes and blood vessels are essential for the formation and maintenance of the blood–neural barrier (BNB). Astrocyte‐derived A‐kinase anchor protein 12 (AKAP12) influences BNB formation, but the mechanism of regulation of BNB functions by AKAP12 is not fully understood. We have defined a new pathway of barriergenesis in human retina microvascular endothelial cells (HRMECs) involving astrocytic AKAP12. Treatment of HRMECs with conditioned media from AKAP12‐overexpressing astrocytes reduced phosphorylation of protein kinase Cζ (PKCζ), decreased the levels of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) mRNA and protein, and increased thrombospondin‐1 (TSP‐1) levels, which led to antiangiogenesis and barriergenesis. Transfection of a small interference RNA targeting PKCζ decreased VEGF levels and increased TSP‐1 levels in HRMECs. Rho is a putative downstream signal of PKCζ, and inhibition of Rho kinase with a specific inhibitor, Y27632, decreased VEGF levels and increased TSP‐1 levels. We therefore suggest that AKAP12 in astrocytes differentially regulates the expression of VEGF and TSP‐1 via the inhibition of PKCζ phosphorylation and Rho kinase activity in HRMECs.