Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Amino acid fluxes to and from seawater in axenic veliger larvae of the bivalve (Crassostrea gigas)

Rates of uptake of dissolved amino acids were determined for axenic veliger larvae of the bivalve Crassostrea gigas (70 km shell length). Analyses of net fluxes from seawater of amino acids by high-performance liquid chromatography showed a net uptake of all acidic, basic, and neutral amino acids tested. From a substrate concentration of 100 n M each, valine had the hlghest rate of uptake at 70 fmol larva-' h-', and arginine the lowest at 4 fmol larva-' h-' The influx of alanine, arginine, glutamic acid and leucine (measured radiochemically) reflected the net flux (measured by chromatography). However, there was a net efflux of taurine (0.58 pm01 larva-' h-') even though isotope experiments revealed an influx of 0.32 pm01 larva-' h-' Efflux of taurine was also observed for nonaxenic veligers. Axenic veligers had a K, (substrate concentration at half J,,,) of 11.4 pM and a J,,, (maximum transport capacity) of 4.6 pm01 larva-' h-' for alanine; for leucine, the corresponding values were 7.1 pM and 2.2 pm01 larva-' h-' At substrate concentrations near the K, values (on the order of 10 l t M ) , C gigas larvae could account for 100 % of their oxidative needs by the uptake of amino acids from seawater In most marine environments, such high concentrations are limited to seawater near the sediment. Thus, the overall contribution of dissolved amino acids will depend on the substrate concentration encountered by the larvae in nature.
Cold tolerance of Colorado potato beetle (Leptinotarsa decemlineata Say) adults and eggs

The cold tolerance of different seasonal groups (pre-diapause, diapauses and post-diapause) of Colorado potato beetle (Leptinotarsa decemlineata Say) was assessed by exposing them either to a constant temperature of –3°C for 48 to 624 h, or to –3, −4, −5, −6 or −7 °C for a constant 24 h. Cold survival was affected by the length of exposure, by the temperature rates and by seasonality. The least cold-tolerant were pre-diapause beetles in August with a mean lethal temperature (Ltemp50) of −4.4°C for 24 h exposure and with a lethal time (Ltime50) of 106.8 h at −3°C. Cold tolerance was significantly higher in the diapause group in January and in the post-diapause group in March; it did not differ significantly between these groups of beetle for 24 h exposure, the lethal temperature being −5.8°C for both groups. Seasonality had a greater influence on survival of these groups after longer exposure to constant mild sub-zero temperature (−3°C); in diapause group, all the beetles survived 624 h exposure, but in post-diapause group the survival limit decreased to 216 h and lethal time was 153.9 h. Colorado potato beetle eggs tolerated 24 h exposure to sub-zero temperatures from −3°C to −5°C or longer exposure at −3°C for 72 h without a reduction in hatchability. The mean lethal time for 50% mortality of eggs was 76.5 h and mean lethal temperature was −5.8°C. Thus, we conclude that night frosts common in northern regions do not damage Colorado potato beetle adults or eggs to the extent that might threaten the survival of the population.
The specification and design of an interactive virtual environment for use in teacher training

In this paper, we examine the rationale behind the specification and design of an interactive, virtual environment, optimized for particular task-based learning activities and the dissemination of information. The software we describe represents a typical British primary school, for use in training Information and Communications Technology (ICT)co-ordinators at primary level. By documenting our ongoing evaluation of both this resource and the technologies used in its implementation, we provide a detailed description of the production process of a prototype piece of software. This highlights the importance of pedagogy, new technologies and project management, and should be of particular interest to multimedia designers and academics preparing to develop innovative learning applications.
The Whale Optimization Algorithm and Its Implementation in MATLAB

1 Abstract — Optimization is an important tool in making decisions and in analysing physical systems. In mathematical terms, an optimization problem is the problem of finding the best solution from among the set of all feasible solutions. The paper discusses the Whale Optimization Algorithm (WOA), and its applications in different fields. The algorithm is tested using MATLAB because of its unique and powerful features. The benchmark functions used in WOA algorithm are grouped as: unimodal (F1-F7), multimodal (F8-F13), and fixed-dimension multimodal (F14-F23). Out of these benchmark functions, we show the experimental results for F7, F11, and F19 for different number of iterations. The search space and objective space for the selected function are drawn, and finally, the best solution as well as the best optimal value of the objective function found by WOA is presented. The algorithmic results demonstrate that the WOA performs better than the state-of-the-art meta-heuristic and conventional algorithms.
- 1-Asymmetric Mantle Dynamics in the MELT Region of the East Pacific Rise

The MELT Experiment found a surprising degree of asymmetry in the mantle beneath the fast-spreading, southern East Pacific Rise [1-6]. Pressure-release melting of the upwelling mantle produces magma that migrates to the surface to form a layer of new crust at the spreading center about 6 km thick [7]. Seismic and electromagnetic measurements demonstrated that the distribution of this melt in the mantle is asymmetric [2, 3, 6]; at depths of several tens of kilometers, melt is more abundant beneath the Pacific plate to the west of the axis than beneath the Nazca plate to the east. MELT investigators attributed the asymmetry in melt and geophysical properties to several possible factors: asymmetric flow passively driven by coupling to the faster moving Pacific plate; interactions between the spreading center and hotspots of the south Pacific; an off-axis center of dynamic upwelling; and/or anomalous melting of an embedded compositional heterogeneity [1-4, 6]. Here we demonstrate that passive flow driven by asymmetric plate motion alone is not a sufficient explanation of the anomalies. Asthenospheric flow from hotspots in the Pacific superswell region back to the migrating ridge axis in conjunction with the asymmetric plate motion can create many of the observed anomalies.
STIFFNESS ANALYSIS OF TWO COMPLIANT PIVOTS USED IN SERIES ELASTIC ACTUATORS

A compliant pivot used in series elastic actuators (SEAs) can be of great practical use for saving structure space. The analysis of load-deflection behavior for such pivots can provide an analytical mechanical design method. In this paper, two pivots are proposed for the corresponding implementation. Based on the Awtar accurate approximations, the two annulus compliant pivots are further simplified to linear stiffness behavior for the SEAs applications. Specifically, an annulus compliant pivot based on parallel leaf-springs is firstly analyzed. After that, we focus on a special kind of annulus compliant pivot whose degree of constraint (DOC) was released. Finally, the accuracy characteristics of the models are identified by comparing with the results obtained by nonlinear finite element analysis.
Multichannel quantum interference in the predissociation of Cs2: Observation of q‐reversal in a complex resonance

State‐specific photofragment yield spectrum is obtained in the 580 nm system of Cs2 by monitoring Cs (6 2P3/2). Strongly asymmetric line shapes are observed and interpreted as being due to resonances. We observed a gradual sign change of the Fano line shape parameter, which is called ‘‘q‐reversal’’, for the first time in predissociation. Some of other lines show complex line shapes that cannot be fitted by a usual Beutler–Fano profile. These complex line shapes may be attributed to the interfering resonances.
Potential Pathways Involved in Elaidic Acid Induced Atherosclerosis in Human Umbilical Vein Endothelial Cells

Researches have demonstrated that trans-fatty acids are related to the progression of atherosclerosis, but the underlying mechanism is not clear till now. In the presented study, two-dimensional electrophoresis based proteomics was used to discover the role of elaidic acid in atherosclerosis. In human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC), twenty-two and twenty-three differentially expressed proteins were identified in low (50 μmol/L) and high (400 μmol/L) concentration elaidic acid simulated groups, respectively, comparing with the control group. The expressions of some selected proteins (PSME3, XRCC5, GSTP1, and GSTO1) were validated by qRT-PCR analysis. Western blotting analysis further confirmed that elaidic acid downregulated the expression of PSME3 and XRCC5. Moreover, P53, the downstream protein of PSME3, was further investigated. Results demonstrated that a variety of proteins, many of which were related to oxidative stress, apoptosis, and DNA damage, were involved in the elaidic acid induced atherosclerosis. Furthermore, P53 was demonstrated to regulate the atherosclerosis through cell cycle arrest and apoptosis pathway.
PML-SLAM: a solution for localization in large-scale urban environments

Localization is considered a key factor for autonomous cars. In this paper, we present a complete Simultaneous Localization And Mapping (SLAM) solution. This algorithm is based on probabilistic maximum likelihood framework using grid maps (the map is simply presented as a grid of occupancy probabilities). The solution mainly solve three renowned localization problems (1. localization in unknown environment, 2. localization in a pre-mapped environment and 3. recovering the localization of the vehicle). Memory issues caused by the open size of outdoor environment are solved using an optimized management strategy that we propose. This strategy allows us to navigate smoothly while saving and loading probabilities-grid submaps into/from a hard-disc in a transparent way. We present the results of our solution using our own experimental dataset as well as the KITTI dataset.
Simulation of atmospheric organic aerosol using its volatility–oxygen-content distribution during the PEGASOS 2012 campaign

Abstract. A lot of effort has been made to understand and constrain the atmospheric aging of the organic aerosol (OA). Different parameterizations of the organic aerosol formation and evolution in the two-dimensional volatility basis set (2D-VBS) framework are evaluated using ground and airborne measurements collected in the 2012 Pan-European Gas AeroSOls-climate interaction Study (PEGASOS) field campaign in the Po Valley (Italy). A number of chemical aging schemes are examined, taking into account various functionalization and fragmentation pathways for biogenic and anthropogenic OA components. Model predictions and measurements, both at the ground and aloft, indicate a relatively oxidized OA with little average diurnal variation. Total OA concentration and O : C ratios are reproduced within experimental error by a number of chemical aging schemes. Anthropogenic secondary OA (SOA) is predicted to contribute 15–25 % of the total OA, while SOA from intermediate volatility compound oxidation contributes another 20–35 %. Biogenic SOA (bSOA) contributions varied from 15 to 45 % depending on the modeling scheme. Primary OA contributed around 5 % for all schemes and was comparable to the hydrocarbon-like OA (HOA) concentrations derived from the positive matrix factorization of the aerosol mass spectrometer (PMF-AMS) ground measurements. The average OA and O : C diurnal variation and their vertical profiles showed a surprisingly modest sensitivity to the assumed vaporization enthalpy for all aging schemes. This can be explained by the interplay between the partitioning of the semi-volatile compounds and their gas-phase chemical aging reactions.
Optimizing a Fraud Detection Process

Fraud in telecommunications services or financial transactions is a major problem as it impacts from 1% to 3% of the revenues. This is in most cases a customer specific behavior that companies need to detect in order to minimize it. Detecting specific types of behavior as soon as it happens is critical, and to that purpose companies deploy sophisticated detection systems. The biggest challenge to fraud detection systems is accurately predict in near real time that a customer is a fraudster or that is service is being used in fraudulent way. As this may happen to any customer at any time it is mandatory to monitor the entire customer base – sometimes several million customers making several transactions per day. Optimizing the detection process is therefore critical. To model and analyze the problem Finite State Automata and Markov Chains were used. To solve the optimization problem Dynamic Programming and Stochastic Hill Climber algorithms were chosen.
Systematic Analysis of Gene Expression Alteration and Co-Expression Network of Eukaryotic Initiation Factor 4A-3 in Cancer

Purpose: Eukaryotic initiation factor 4A-3 (EIF4A3) is an RNA-binding protein (RBP) that is a core component of the exon junction complex (EJC). It has been identified as an important player in post-transcriptional regulation processes. Recently, investigations have focused on EIF4A3 dysfunction in carcinogenesis. The present study aims to determine whether EIF4A3 can serve as a prognostic marker and potential regulatory mechanism in human cancers. Materials and methods: EIF4A3 expression in various cancers was assessed using Oncomine. The Correlation between EIF4A3 expression and patient survival was evaluated using PrognoScan. EIF4A3 mutations in various cancers were investigated using cBioPortal. EIF4A3 co-expression networks in various cancers were established using Coexpedia. Finally, we analyzed potential functional roles of EIF4A3 using Gene Ontology and pathway enrichment analyses by FunRich V3. Results: EIF4A3 was overexpressed in common malignancies at the transcription levels. High incidences of the breast, lung, and urinary cancers were closely related to the prognostic index for survival. The most prevalent mutation in EIF4A3 was E59K/Q. The tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α)/nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB) signaling pathway was affected by these mutations. Co-expression networks showed that EIF4A3 regulates apoptosis and cell cycle via several cancer-related signal pathways, and promotes tumor cell migration, invasion and drug resistance. Conclusion: Our results suggest the potential role for EIF4A3 to serve as a diagnostic marker or therapeutic target for certain types of cancers.
Early-Life Stress and Adult Inflammation

The origins of modern psychology are deeply rooted in the notion that stressful early-life experiences negatively impact people’s mental health. Emerging work in the field of health psychology suggests that early-life stress also impacts physical well-being. Indeed, those who experienced severe early-life stress as children are more at risk for cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, and cancer compared with those who did not have those early-life experiences. Recent work in the field of psychoneuroimmunology suggests that inflammation may be one mechanism underlying these associations. In this article, we provide a brief overview of the literature on early-life stress and inflammation and how psychological, autonomic, neuroendocrine, and epigenetic responses to the early environment lead to potentiated inflammation in adulthood. We conclude by highlighting the need for health-promotion and disease-prevention programs that are designed to reduce the frequency and severity of early-life stress.
Decentralized Demand Response for Temperature-Constrained Appliances

We study the demand-response potential from large numbers of appliances which have to maintain some temperature within a fixed range through the ON/OFF functioning of a temperature modifier. Based on a mathematical model, we propose methods to coordinate appliances to offer a global energy demand reduction over an imposed duration while still satisfying the appliances’ temperature constraints, and with limited communication overhead. The maximum power reduction that can be attained is expressed mathematically, as a function of the appliances’ specificities and the reduction duration asked by the grid.
MAC address based Sensor Network Authentication : Survey

As the interest in the Internet has increased, various security technologies suitable for the Internet have been researched. Especially, in the device sensor network area, the use of low-end devices has been increased and diversified due to the nature of things Internet. However, it is difficult to apply security technologies such as current authentication technology to low-power and low-power devices, and security threats have also increased. Therefore, the internal authentication protocol on the sensor network communication of the Internet of things is being studied. In this paper, we propose an improved authentication protocol for sensor networks in object internet environment by analyzing the vulnerability of authentication protocol based on secure and lightweight protocol.
DAG SCHEDULING ALGORITHMS FOR ENTITY-LEVEL SIMULATIONS

The continuing deployment of high-performance network technology enables the development of computing platforms that aggregate widely distribute hardware resources. The vision for such a Computational Gridpromises computational platforms of unprecedented power for scientific applications. However, application developers need to rethink implementation paradigms in order to realize this potential. In this paper, we identify a class of increasingly important applications, entity-level simulations , which currently cannot use largescale computing platforms effectively. We will show how careful application-aware scheduling can enable such applications to utilize large distributed heterogeneous platforms. Our initial approach is to exploit the structure of entity-level applications and leverage existing Directed Acyclic Graph (DAG) scheduling techniques. We validate our approach by simulating a realistic application scenario on several synthetic platforms, including a representative Computational Grid testbed.
End-to-end data security for IoT : from a cloud of encryptions to encryption in the cloud

This paper surveys the symmetric primitives suitable for the unusually strong versatility requirements of end-to-end encryption in the context of IoT. For example, on the objects side, criteria such as lightweightness as well as efficient software-based amenability to resist side channels or fault attacks must be considered. At the other end of the spectrum, on the cloud side, the same crypto primitives must be able to efficiently reach the very high performances required to handle large numbers of objects on higher-end processors. Cherry on the cake, it would also be desirable for the primitives that are deployed in today’s IoT infrastructures to interface as seamlessly and as efficiently as possible with the future encrypted-domain services which will be built on top of emerging crypto primitives such as homomorphic encryption or multiparty computation. Based on recent works on both the implementation security as well as the homomorphic execution of some lightweight IVbased stream ciphers, this paper argues that it may be possible to have the cake, the cherry and the cream on top of it.
Perturbation of Lipid and Protein Structure by General Anesthetics: How Little Is Too Little?

population (e.g., to very young patients, where, in fact, the predicted risk can be exaggerated using our model). However, the scope of our current investigation did not include pediatric cases. The increase in the incidence of PONV among pediatric patients and the decrease in the incidence of PONV with increasing adult age means that the association is not linear if we combine pediatric and adult patients. It does not mean that a bimodal distribution exists between PONV and age, in which there should be two peaks in the distribution. There is one peak (i.e., one mode) in late childhood, with a lower incidence of PONV in early childhood and adulthood. We have developed and validated a mathematical model to calculate the risk of PONV among ambulatory surgical patients. We believe that this model will predict patients’ risk of PONV and promote efforts to reduce the incidence of PONV.
The Carryover Effect Does Not Influence Football Results

In a round robin tournament, it is often believed that each team has an effect on its opponent, which carries over to the next game of that opponent. Indeed, if team A plays against team B, and subsequently against team C, A’s performance against C may have been affected by B, and we say that team C receives a carryover effect from B. For instance, if team B is a very strong team, then team A could be exhausted and discouraged after this game, which could benefit its next opponent, team C. Clearly, any schedule will lead to carryover effects. In practice, the perceived influence of carryover effects has been used as an argument when producing a schedule. In this work, we develop an approach to measure whether carryover effects have an influence on the outcome of football matches. The authors apply this method on the highest division in Belgium, using data from over 30 seasons, amounting over 10,000 matches. In our data set, we find no evidence to support the claim that carryover effects affect the results, which has major implications for the sporting community with respect to generating fixtures.
POST-OPERATIVE PAIN IN PATIENTS UNDERGOING PERCUTANEOUS NEPHROLITHOTOMY : A RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED TRIAL

OBJECTIVES: To see the effect of bupivacaine infiltration of nephrostomy tract in reducing the postoperative pain and analgesic requirements in patients undergoing percutaneous nephrolithotomy. METHODOLOGY: This randomized controlled study was conducted at institute of kidney diseases Hayatabad Medical Complex, Peshawar, Pakistan, from June 1, 2011 to May 31, 2012. Total 66 patients (33 patients in each group) were included in the study through consecutive non-probability sampling technique and were randomly divided into group A (bupivacaine, 33 patients) and group B (placebo, 33 patients). RESULTS: Mean age was 32.2+2.7 & 31.09+2.6 years in group A & B respectively. The mean duration of the procedure was 70.66±7.41 & 72.12±. 65 minutes for group A & B respectively. The overall average pain score for group A was 4.15±1.48 on visual analogue scale, while that for group B was 6.06±1.02 (p < 0.05). The average pain score for female patient was 4.07, (range 2-7) & 6.13 (range 4-8) in group A & B respectively. The average pain score for male patient was 4.12 (range 2-7) & 6.0 (range 4-7) in group A & B respectively. The effect of age on pain perception was not significant in this study as we included only adult patients (≥14 years of age) and mixed response was observed in both groups patients of different age groups. CONCLUSION: Preoperative bupivacaine infiltration of the nephrostomy tract is safe and an effective way of reducing the postoperative pain and analgesic requirements avoiding the adverse effects of the opioids or non-opioids analgesics.