Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Agrizero: an O2O adversarial framework and triangulation for agricultural forecasting

This study proposes an online to offline (O2O) learning framework, ArgiZero, based on three components: a generative adversarial network, an online auction market, and offline simulated agents (digital twins: buyers, farmers, natures, and markets). The generative time series and digital twins are massively generated in a manner of Monte Carlo but with extremely efficient algorithms. The goal of the generator is to produce time series that are statistically indistinguishable with the records from auction market. The goal of the discriminator is to develop a triangulation method based on semi-modeless assimilation to separate generated from actual time series. Most farmers believe agriculture is impossible to be planned because uncertainty, crowding, crisis, and risk cannot be foreseen and accommodated. This AgriZero framework alleviates the challenges through the techniques of Bayesian deep learning and data assimilation as well as the mega power of GPU computation. Thanks to Bayesian hierarchical estimation, which is akin to deep learning but more sophisticate and longer history. We are able to estimate human behaviour in the agents of buyers and farmers, natural disaster in the agents of natures, and price fluctuations in the agents of markets. The framework has been validated by a large amount of records in vegetable auctions of Taiwan and USA. The hierarchical Bayesian estimation and Monte Carlo Markov Chain particle filters used in hidden Markov model are appreciated during the massive construction of the most probable digital twins. The feature space mapping in wavelet time series, Bayesian deep learning in recurrent neural network, kernel induced Hamiltonian dynamics ABC, and hybrid SDE-kernel based forecasting for time series analysis embodies the particle generator in the GAN structure. We also apply time series clustering, RNN, bagging and boosting, and semi-modeless assimilation to assist the performance of the triangulated discriminator.
Distinct roles of the N-terminal and C-terminal precursor domains in the biogenesis of the Bordetella pertussis filamentous hemagglutinin

The 220-kDa Bordetella pertussis filamentous hemagglutinin (FHA) is the major exported protein found in culture supernatants. The structural gene of FHA has a coding potential for a 367-kDa protein, and the mature form constitutes the N-terminal 60% of the 367-kDa precursor. The C-terminal domain of the precursor was found to be important for the high-level secretion of full-length FHA but not of truncated analogs (80 kDa or less). The secretion of full-length and truncated FHA polypeptides requires the presence of the approximately 100-amino-acid N-terminal domain and the outer membrane protein FhaC, homologous to the N-terminal domains of the Serratia marcescens and Proteus mirabilis hemolysins and their accessory proteins, respectively. By analogy to these hemolysins, it is likely that the N-terminal domain of the FHA precursor interacts, directly or indirectly, with the accessory protein during FHA biogenesis. However, immunogenicity and antigenicity studies suggest that the N-terminal domain of FHA is masked by its C-terminal domain and therefore should not be available for its interactions with FhaC. These observations suggest a model in which the C-terminal domain of the FHA precursor may play a role as an intramolecular chaperone to prevent premature folding of the protein. Both heparin binding and hemagglutination are expressed by the N-terminal half of FHA, indicating that this domain contains important functional regions of the molecule.
Extended haplotype analysis reveals an association of TNF polymorphisms with susceptibility to systemic lupus erythematosus beyond HLA‐DR3

Objective: To study the relative contribution of tumour necrosis factor (TNF) and HLA‐DRB1 polymorphisms to the genetic susceptibility to systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) via an extended haplotype analysis. Methods: We performed an association study in 205 unrelated German Caucasian patients with SLE fulfilling the 1997 revised American College of Rheumatology (ACR) criteria. Healthy age‐, ethnically‐ and sex‐matched individuals (n = 157) served as controls. HLA‐DRB1 typing was performed by a sequence‐specific oligonucleotide hybridisation assay. Two TNF single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and two multiallelic microsatellites were analysed by mutagenically separated polymerase chain reaction (PCR) or fragment length analysis, respectively. Extended haplotypes were reconstructed with the PHASE software. Results: Alleles for all polymorphic loci studied and the most frequent haplotypes showed a significantly different distribution between SLE patients and controls. The alleles HLA‐DR2, DR3, TNFd1, TNF2, TNFB*1, and TNFa2, designated as risk alleles, and the extended haplotypes DR3‐TNFd1‐TNF2‐TNFB*1‐TNFa2 and DR2‐TNFd3‐TNF1‐TNFB*2‐TNFa11 prevailed in SLE patients. TNF risk alleles were strongly positively linked with HLA‐DR3 and negatively linked with HLA‐DR2. Thus, in HLA‐DR3 haplotypes individual effects of TNF polymorphisms could not be resolved. By contrast, HLA‐DR2 showed an association with SLE independently of TNF risk alleles, while the risk increased further when they were present. In haplotypes lacking HLA‐DR2 and DR3, the alleles TNFd1 and TNF2 contributed independently to SLE susceptibility. Conclusion: Extended haplotype analysis revealed HLA‐DR3 independent associations of TNF polymorphisms with susceptibility to SLE. Haplotypes that have been shown to be associated with different TNF‐α production capacity may prevail in different disease subgroups.
Mate selection in man: evidence, theory, and outcome.

This is a comprehensivve review of the literature on mate selection and non-random mating in man. The 5 sections discuss: 1) genetic and sociobiological aspects of non-random mating for complex traits; 2) evidence on resemblance between spouses (homogamy) on a large variety of traits such as intelligence, personality, physical characteristics, and sociocultural traits; 3) sociological and psychological theories offered to explain assortative mating (non-random, based on like and unlike characterstics; 4) implications of assortative mating for marital satisfaction or quality; and 5) a general summary which includes ideas for future research. When assortative mating for a trait is correlated with fertility, the consequences are magnified, making the trait more exteme and isolated, increasing chances for selection. Sociobiological theory holds that positive assortative mating may be the best way to duplicate one's genes and increase one's inclusive fitness while avoiding the harmful effects of inbreeding. Empirical studies have found homogamy for sociocultural characteristics is more evident than for psychological traits. Assortative mating for the latter is not random, but it is still unclear which personality variables are most highly correlated among married couples. Sociological theories can explain choice of eligibles but not mates within those eligibles, and a survey of the psychological research between the 1940s and 1980s shows a trend from pure descriptive studies of similarity and complementarity to "process theories" (Kerckhoff and Davis, 1962, and Murstein, 1976). Psychological explanations presented include psychoanalytic filter and process theories, the stimulus-vaule-role (SVR) theory, ideal mate theory, intrumental theory, and the matching hypothesis. Factors influencing marital satisfaction have yet to be reliably measured; personality research thus far has yielded inconclusive and conflicting data. Finally, factors leading to choice of marriage partners need to be studied from the point of view of multivariate profiles rather than single traits. Such studies will require sophisticated methodologies of research design and data analysis.
The rasGAP‐binding protein, Dok‐1, mediates activin signaling via serine/threonine kinase receptors

Activins, members of the transforming growth factor‐β family, are pleiotropic growth and differentiation factors. Activin A induces B‐cell apoptosis. To identify the genes responsible for activin‐induced apoptosis, we performed retrovirus‐mediated gene trap screening in a mouse B‐cell line. We identified the rasGAP‐binding protein Dok‐1 (p62) as an essential molecule that links activin receptors with Smad proteins. In B cells overexpressing Dok‐1, activin A‐induced apoptotic responses were augmented. The expression of bcl‐XL was down‐regulated by inhibition of the ras/Erk pathway. Activin stimulation triggered association of Dok‐1 with Smad3, as well as association of Smad3 with Smad4. Dok‐1 also associated with both the type I and type II activin receptors. Dok‐1 has been characterized previously as a tyrosine‐phosphorylated protein acting downstream of the protein tyrosine kinase pathway: intriguingly, activin signaling did not induce tyrosine phosphorylation of Dok‐1. These findings indicate that Dok‐1 acts as an adaptor protein that links the activin receptors with the Smads, suggesting a novel function for Dok‐1 in activin signaling leading to B‐cell apoptosis.
Interactive education system for medicine and engineering using three dimensional virtual environments

Three dimensional modeling and simulation software are becoming more widespread in many fields with the emphasis on engineering, military and medical applications. The main important features of these applications are fast prototyping, simulation of scientific and engineering problems under different conditions and interactive user interface. Therefore, an opportunity for a fast visual education course and understanding the physical and mathematical reasons lying under the problems is presented to engineers, military and scientific researches in the respective fields. The main requirements of these applications are high performance computer systems and user interfaces that feature an easier interaction. The fast developing computer architecture maintains the necessary architecture and enables the applications to improve. Considering above and the expectations of Dokuz Eylül University Faculty of Medicine, the development of a virtual environment software that will model the predefined medical processes with user interaction has been aimed. In this paper, the 1. section is reserved for basic concepts and field applications. The hardware and software infrastructure and algorithm development process we used are presented in the 2. section. The 3. section presents the completed stages and first results of our application. The final section which is the 4. section is reserved for the conclusion and future work.
Type I interferons inhibit hepatitis B virus replication and induce hepatocellular gene expression in cultured liver cells.

A hepatoblastoma cell line transfected with hepatitis B virus (HBV) DNA (Hep G2.2.15) was used to investigate the effects of interferons (IFNs) on HBV replication and hepatocellular gene expression. IFN-alpha 2b or -beta inhibited HBV replication transiently. In parallel, there was a decrease in the amount of HBV mRNA. Hepatitis B surface antigen and early antigen secretion were not influenced; however, their intracellular levels diminished during treatment. The cellular 2',5'-oligoadenylate synthetase activity was increased 9- to 18-fold during treatment of cells with IFN-gamma, -alpha, or -beta. The number of IFN-alpha and -beta receptors was down-regulated, while the number of IFN-gamma receptors remained constant. The expression of major histocompatibility complex class I antigens was stimulated by addition of IFN-alpha or -beta. These data show that both IFN-alpha and -beta can effectively inhibit HBV replication and induce a cellular IFN response in Hep G2.2. 15 cells similar to that seen in humans.
Multi-rate polar codes for solid state drives

As solid state drives (SSDs) are gradually replacing hard disk drives, error correction is critical to SSDs since NAND flash has deteriorating reliability over their life span. Existing error correction codes suffer from limited error correction capability or error floor issues. Polar codes are promising for SSDs since they are theoretically proven optimal codes and have good error floor behavior. In this paper, we first design multi-rate polar codes for SSDs, and then implement encoder and decoder that simultaneously support multiple rates in FPGA. Multi-rate polar codes provide a good tradeoff between reliability and efficiency. Finally, we use an FPGA emulation platform to evaluate the error performance of our polar codes, and examine their error floor behavior.
DroidExec: Root exploit malware recognition against wide variability via folding redundant function-relation graph

DroidExec is a novel root exploit recognition to reduce the influence of wide variability, which usually affects the Android malware detection rate, because of Android applications's various properties. In Android, a specific malware family (e.g., root exploit malware), and thus its implementation may be influenced by the campaign it is serving, and thus producing wide variability, leading its samples to appear to match a wider range of potential families. In this paper, we propose a similarity recognition named as DroidExec, reducing wide variability via folding redundant function-relation graph based on Bipartite Graph Conceptual Matching of graph edit distance. We compute the multiple square roots for each 2×2 block in the cost matrix to conceptually cripple the wide variability. In the experiments, we measure the applications's opcode structural similarity for clustering Android malware. Empirical validation shows that DroidExec can effectively filter surplus and various behaviors, which can improve the precision/recall rate from 82%/95% to 83%/97%, respectively.
Review on arsenic‐induced toxicity in male reproductive system and its amelioration

Arsenic is an environmental toxicant which causes mutagenic, teratogenic and carcinogenic defects. It is used as herbicide, fungicide and rodenticide and results in contamination of air, soil and water. Arsenic is also produced through burning of coal industries. The sludge of factories contaminates the fodder and drinking source of water of human and livestock. Arsenic binds thiol groups in tissue proteins and impairs the function of the proteins. This metal affects the mitochondrial enzymes and interrupts the production of energy. Oxidative stress and the generation of reactive oxygen species could also be a consequence of arsenic exposure. High arsenic level may suppress the sensitivity of gonadotroph cells to GnRH as well as gonadotropin secretion by elevating plasma levels of glucocorticoids. These ultimately lead to the development of gonad toxicity in animals and cause the reduction in sperm number, sperm viability and motility. Massive degeneration of germ cells and alterations in the level of LH, FSH and testosterone are also reported. The objective of this review was to find out the effects of arsenic‐induced toxicity on male reproductive system in animals and its amelioration.
Perception of emotional body language displayed by animated characters

Virtual Environments have demonstrated effectiveness for social task training such as medical training (Anolli, Vescovo, Agliati, Mantovani, & Zurloni, 2006). These types of Virtual Environments have used emotional animated characters. Even though emotions have a strong influence on human-human interactions (Gratch, Mao, & Marsella, 2006), typical system evaluation does not assess whether human and animated emotional displays are perceived similarly by observers. Moreover, the Uncanny Valley, which is a drop in believability as characters become more realistic, threatens the assumption that emotions displayed by an animated character and a human would be interpreted similarly. Thus, it is not known how appropriate the perception to a realistic emotional animated character is. This issue is especially important for social task training which require animated characters to be perceived as social and emotional partners so that trainees would be confronted with situations comparable to real life ones. Using an approach similar to the one proposed by Nass & Moon (2000) in their work on the Media Equation, this thesis investigates how emotional body language displayed by animated characters is interpreted. A psychological experiment was conducted to investigate if emotional body language would be an appropriate way for animated characters to display emotion. This was done by comparing the interpretation of emotional body language displayed by animated characters with that by real actors. The results showed that animated body language can be accurately interpreted. However, the videos of the actor were found to be more emotional, more believable and more natural than the animated characters, whilst displaying the same emotional body language. Moreover, there was a significant difference in the number of correctly interpreted negative emotions displayed. Although, there was not a difference for positive emotions. This could be due to the physical appearance of the animated character or to the loss of micro-gestures inherent to Motion Capture technology. Thus, a second comparative study was conducted to investigate the potential causes for this drop in believability and recognition. It investigated the effect of changing the level of physical realism of the animation as well as deteriorating the quality of the emotional body language itself. Whilst no effect was found regarding the deterioration of the emotional body language, the results show that the videos of the Actor were found to be more emotional, more believable and more natural than the two animated characters. These findings have strong implications for the use of Virtual Environments for social task training.
Dual Therapy Versus Monotherapy in the Endoscopic Treatment of High-Risk Bleeding Ulcers: A Meta-Analysis of Controlled Trials

BACKGROUND:There is no definite recommendation on the use of dual endoscopic therapy in patients with severe peptic ulcer bleeding. A systematic review and meta-analysis were performed to determine whether the use of two endoscopic hemostatic procedures improved patient outcomes compared with monotherapy.METHODS:A search for randomized trials comparing dual therapy (i.e., epinephrine injection plus other injection or thermal or mechanical method) versus monotherapy (injection, thermal, or mechanical alone) was performed between 1990 and 2006. Heterogeneity between studies was tested with χ2 and explained by metaregression analysis.RESULTS:Twenty studies (2,472 patients) met inclusion criteria. Compared with controls, dual endoscopic therapy reduces the risk of recurrent bleeding (OR [odds ratio] 0.59 [0.44–0.80], P = 0.0001) and the risk of emergency surgery (OR 0.66 [0.49–0.89], P = 0.03) and showed a trend toward a reduction in the risk of death (OR 0.68 [0.46–1.02], P = 0.06). Subcategory analysis showed that dual therapy was significantly superior to injection therapy alone for all the outcomes considered, but failed to demonstrate that any combination of treatments is better than either mechanical therapy alone (OR 1.04 [0.45–2.45] for rebleeding, 0.49 [0.50–4.87] for surgery, and 1.28 [0.34–4.86] for death) or thermal therapy alone (OR 0.67 [0.40–1.20] for rebleeding, 0.89 [0.45–1.76] for surgery, and 0.51 [0.24–1.10] for death). CONCLUSIONS:Dual endoscopic therapy proved significantly superior to epinephrine injection alone, but had no advantage over thermal or mechanical monotherapy in improving the outcome of patients with high-risk peptic ulcer bleeding.
Cognitive reserve and persistent post-concussion symptoms—A prospective mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) cohort study

Abstract Primary objective: Having three or more persisting (i.e. > 3 months) post-concussion symptoms (PCS) affects a significant number of patients after a mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI). A common complaint is cognitive deficits. However, several meta-analyses have found no evidence of long-term cognitive impairment in mTBI patients. The study sought to answer two questions: first, is there a difference in cognitive performance between PCS and recovered mTBI patients? Second, is lower cognitive reserve a risk factor for developing PCS? Research design: Prospective inception cohort study. Methods and procedure: One hundred and twenty-two adult patients were recruited from emergency departments within 24 hours of an mTBI. Three months post-injury, participants completed the Rivermead Post Concussion Symptoms Questionnaire and a neuropsychological assessment. A healthy control group (n = 35) were recruited. The estimate of cognitive reserve was based upon sub-test Information from Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale and international classifications of educational level and occupational skill level. Main outcome and results: mTBI patients showed reduced memory performance. Patients with lower cognitive reserve were 4.14-times more likely to suffer from PCS. Conclusions: mTBI may be linked to subtle executive memory deficits. Lower cognitive reserve appears to be a risk factor for PCS and indicates individual vulnerabilities.
A Phosphoinositide 3-Kinase-AKT-Nitric Oxide-cGMP Signaling Pathway in Stimulating Platelet Secretion and Aggregation*

Phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K) and Akt play important roles in platelet activation. However, the downstream mechanisms mediating their functions are unclear. We have recently shown that nitric-oxide (NO) synthase 3 and cGMP-dependent protein kinase stimulate platelet secretion and aggregation. Here we show that PI3K-mediated Akt activation plays an important role in agonist-stimulated platelet NO synthesis and cGMP elevation. Agonist-induced elevation of NO and cGMP was inhibited by Akt inhibitors and reduced in Akt-1 knock-out platelets. Akt-1 knock-out or Akt inhibitor-treated platelets showed reduced platelet secretion and aggregation in response to low concentrations of agonists, which can be reversed by low concentrations of 8-bromo-cGMP or sodium nitroprusside (an NO donor). Similarly, PI3K inhibitors diminished elevation of cGMP and inhibited platelet secretion and the second wave platelet aggregation, which was also partially reversed by 8-bromo-cGMP. These results indicate that the NO-cGMP pathway is an important downstream mechanism mediating PI3K and Akt signals leading to platelet secretion and aggregation. Conversely, the PI3K-Akt pathway is the major upstream mechanism responsible for activating the NO-cGMP pathway in platelets. Thus, this study delineates a novel platelet activation pathway involving sequential activation of PI3K, Akt, nitric-oxide synthase 3, sGC, and cGMP-dependent protein kinase.