Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Alkane-degrading bacteria at the soil-litter interface: comparing isolates with T-RFLP-based community profiles.

Alkane-degrading bacteria were isolated from uncontaminated soil microcosms, which had been incubated with maize litter as natural alkane source. The isolates served to understand spatio-temporal community changes at the soil-litter interface, which had been detected using alkB as a functional marker gene for bacterial alkane degraders. To obtain a large spectrum of isolates, liquid subcultivation was combined with a matrix-assisted enrichment (Teflon membranes, litter). Elevated cell numbers of alkane degraders were detected by most probable number counting indicating enhanced alkane degradation potential in soil in response to litter treatment. Partial 16S rRNA gene sequencing of 395 isolates revealed forty different phylogenetic groups [operational taxonomic units (OTUs)] and spatio-temporal shifts in community composition. Ten OTUs comprised so far unknown alkane degraders, and five OTUs represented putative new bacterial genera. The combination of enrichment methods yielded a higher diversity of isolates than liquid subcultivation alone. Comparison of 16S rRNA gene T-RFLP profiles indicated that many alkane degraders present in the enrichments were not detectable in the DNA extracts from soil microcosms. These possibly rare specialists might represent a seed bank for the alkane degradation capacity in uncontaminated soil. This relevant ecosystem function can be fostered by the formation of the soil-litter interface.
Clean speech feature estimation based on soft spectral masking

In this paper, we ﬁrst analyze the problems of speech and noise contamination process in noise-masking point of view, and pro-pose a new approach to estimate degree of noise masking effect on clean speech distribution model based on sequential noise estimation. Sequential noise estimation is performed frame-by-frame using interacting multiple model (IMM) algorithm, so that real-time implementation is possible. After applying IMM algorithm, degree of noise masking effect named as noise masking probability(NMP) is calculated. Estimation of clean speech spectrum in noisy environments is performed by controlling the advantages of log spectrum domain and those of linear spectrum domain al-gorithm based on NMP. We have performed recognition experiments under noise conditions using the AURORA2 database which is developed for a standard reference of speech recognition performance. Simulation results show that this approach is effective when noise masking effect is dominated at low SNR.
Validation of a structured questionnaire as an instrument to measure chronic pain in dogs on the basis of effects on health-related quality of life.

OBJECTIVE To validate the use of a novel questionnaire as an instrument for measurement of chronic pain in dogs through its impact on health-related quality of life (HRQL). ANIMALS 108 dogs with chronic degenerative joint disease and 26 healthy dogs. PROCEDURES Questionnaire responses were subjected to factor analysis (FA) and questionnaire scores to discriminant analysis to evaluate construct validity. Questionnaire scores were used to explore the potential of this instrument for minimizing respondent bias and for evaluative purposes. RESULTS FA results revealed a sensible factor structure accounting for 65% of the variance in data, with factors identifiable as domains of HRQL in dogs affected by chronic pain. Further evidence for construct validity was provided when questionnaire scores were used to discriminate, on the basis of 218 questionnaires, between dogs with clinician-awarded pain scores of 0 and dogs with pain scores >or= 1 (88% discrimination, with 95% of no-pain group dogs and 87% of some-pain group dogs correctly categorized). Use of the questionnaire provided minimized respondent bias. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE Validation of the questionnaire as an instrument for discriminative and evaluative measurements of orthopedic chronic pain through its impact on HRQL in dogs was provided. Use of the questionnaire, with further testing and refinement, may support improved clinical decision making, facilitate development of evidence-based therapeutic options for chronic diseases, and help veterinarians and owners define humane end points in dogs. IMPACT FOR HUMAN MEDICINE Information gained here may provide improved measurements of clinical change in animal studies that use dogs with naturally occurring chronic pain to evaluate novel human treatment protocols.
Mejora de la productividad a través de la reducción de la variabilidad de las entradas en procesos de montaje manual

El control de las entradas y del proceso para mejorar la productividad de los sistemas industriales de fabricación son conceptos ampliamente conocidos pero llevados a la práctica con poca efectividad. Dicha falta de efectividades una fuente de variabilidad en el resultado. El caso de estudio, tomado de una fábrica de ensamble de automóviles, refleja como la identificación y control adecuado de las entradas del sistema tiene un impacto importante en la calidad del producto terminado y como se puede integrar este concepto al modelo de gestión de la fábrica.
ADA1, a novel component of the ADA/GCN5 complex, has broader effects than GCN5, ADA2, or ADA3

The ADA genes encode factors which are proposed to function as transcriptional coactivators. Here we describe the cloning, sequencing, and initial characterization of a novel ADA gene, ADA1. Similar to the previously isolated ada mutants, ada1 mutants display decreases in transcription from various reporters. Furthermore, ADA1 interacts with the other ADAs in the ADA/GCN5 complex as demonstrated by partial purification of the complex and immunoprecipitation experiments. We estimate that the complex has a molecular mass of approximately 2 MDa. Previously, it had been demonstrated that ada5 mutants displayed more severe phenotypic defects than the other ada mutants (G. A. Marcus, J. Horiuchi, N. Silverman, and L. Guarente, Mol. Cell. Biol. 16:3197-3205, 1996; S. M. Roberts and F. Winston, Mol. Cell. Biol. 16:3206-3213, 1996). ada1 mutants display defects similar to those of ada5 mutants and different from those of the other mutants with respect to promoters affected, inositol auxotrophy, and Spt- phenotypes. Thus, the ADAs can be separated into two classes, suggesting that the ADA/GCN5 complex may have two separate functions. We present a speculative model on the possible roles of the ADA/GCN5 complex.
Characteristics comparison of conventional and modular E-core stator with segmental rotor switched reluctance motors

This paper presents comparative studies between a novel modular switched reluctance machine (SRM) with modular E-core stators and segmental rotors and a conventional SRM. Owing to the particular construction, there are hybrid magnetic paths with both radial and axial magnetic paths in the modular E-core stators SRM. To evaluate the motor performance, a 3D modeling finite-element analysis (FEA) is presented to simulate its flux distribution. Comparisons of static magnetic characteristic and dynamic performance between the modular SRM and the conventional 6/4 SRM are made to emphasize and evaluate the advantages of this novel SRM. Finally, a prototype modular SRM is built and tested in the laboratory. The measured static flux linkage characteristic and dynamic operation of the MSRM are presented to verify the theoretical and simulation results.
Stimulus over-selectivity in temporal brain injury: Mindfulness as a potential intervention

Abstract Objective: The current study aimed to investigate the impact of brief mindfulness training on the performance of a sample of patients with TBI in an over-selectivity task. Participants: Twenty-four patients who had suffered TBI and reported problems with focused or sustained attention. Method: The study was a between-subjects design (mindfulness intervention vs control) with difference between number of most and least chosen stimulus selections on an over-selectivity task as the dependent measure. Results: The results of this study indicated that stimulus over-selectivity was present in a group of patients with TBI. However, the level of emergent over-selectivity was significantly reduced by a mindfulness induction when compared to a no- intervention control group. Conclusions: The findings are discussed in terms of the efficacy of mindfulness training in reducing TBI-related cognitive deficits.
A 667 year record of coseismic and interseismic Coulomb stress changes in central Italy reveals the role of fault interaction in controlling irregular earthquake recurrence intervals

Current studies of fault interaction lack sufficiently long earthquake records and measurements of fault slip rates over multiple seismic cycles to fully investigate the effects of interseismic loading and coseismic stress changes on the surrounding fault network. We model elastic interactions between 97 faults from 30 earthquakes since 1349 A.D. in central Italy to investigate the relative importance of co‐seismic stress changes versus interseismic stress accumulation for earthquake occurrence and fault interaction. This region has an exceptionally long, 667 year record of historical earthquakes and detailed constraints on the locations and slip rates of its active normal faults. Of 21 earthquakes since 1654, 20 events occurred on faults where combined coseismic and interseismic loading stresses were positive even though ~20% of all faults are in “stress shadows” at any one time. Furthermore, the Coulomb stress on the faults that experience earthquakes is statistically different from a random sequence of earthquakes in the region. We show how coseismic Coulomb stress changes can alter earthquake interevent times by ~103 years, and fault length controls the intensity of this effect. Static Coulomb stress changes cause greater interevent perturbations on shorter faults in areas characterized by lower strain (or slip) rates. The exceptional duration and number of earthquakes we model enable us to demonstrate the importance of combining long earthquake records with detailed knowledge of fault geometries, slip rates, and kinematics to understand the impact of stress changes in complex networks of active faults.
Chordoma and chondrosarcoma: Similar, but quite different, skull base tumors

Chordoma and chondrosarcoma of the skull base are frequently amalgamated because of similar anatomic location, clinical presentation, and radiologic findings. The chondroid chordoma variant has been reported to carry a better prognosis. The objective of the current study was to investigate the distinctions between these 3 entities.
Results of revision total knee arthroplasty performed for aseptic loosening.

One hundred thirty-seven revision total knee arthroplasties (TKA) performed in 117 patients with failed aseptic metal-to-plastic knees over ten years (1974-1984) were studied to determine the long-term clinical and roentgenographic results and were compared to primary TKA. The mean age was 65 years (range, 32-90 years). Fifty-three percent had rheumatoid arthritis, and 47% had osteoarthritis. The mean interval from initial to revision TKA (129 knees) was four years (range, three months to 11 years) and from the first to second revision (seven knees) was 2.4 years (range, seven months to 5.5 years). The most common reasons for failure were loosening (73%), patellar complications (13%), and instability (10%). The mean follow-up time was 5.2 years (range, two to 12 years). Function, instability, motion, and pain all improved after revision TKA, but these improvements were significantly less than those seen after primary TKA. One-third of the patients still ambulated with crutches, a walker, or not at all. While mean postoperative flexion was 100 degrees, 24% could not flex to 90 degrees. Most patients (90%) were malaligned at the time of failure and remained so after revision (78%). The increased incidence of radiolucent lines (tibial, 61%; femoral, 24%) was not related to increased failure. Complications were not increased over primary TKA. The failure rate was 5.8% at 5.2 years, or approximately 1% per year. A successful clinical result was defined as a knee with mild or no pain, mild or no instability, and flexion to at least 90 degrees. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Torsade de Pointes during Combined Treatment with Risperidone and Citalopram

Introduction & Drug-induced long QT syndrome may be associated with potentially life-threatening arrhythmias of the torsade de pointes (TDP) type. Several drugs have been demonstrated to be potentially associated with abnormal QT prolongation and TDP, particularly antiarrhythmic drugs such as quinidine, propafenone, and procainamide, some antimicrobial and antimalarial drugs like erythromycin, cotrimoxazole, chloroquine, several psychotropic agents, e.g., tricyclic antidepressants and antipsychotics [2, 3] . Factors that increase the risk for TDP include hypokalemia, hypomagnesemia, bradycardia, female gender, left ventricular hypertrophy, and heart failure. Furthermore, increased drug plasma concentrations resulting from drug interactions, renal or liver insuffi ciency leading to drug accumulation, overdosing and / or intoxication also signifi cantly increase the risk [2] . We report the case of a woman with abnormal QT prolongation and TDP induced by a combination of risperidone and citalopram.
Excitation-contraction coupling and the ultrastructure of smooth muscle.

THE recognition that contraction is initiated in smooth, as in striated, muscle by a rise in cytoplasmic Ca ++ and that the source of this Ca ++ may be intracellular (for review, Johansson and Somlyo, 1980) inevitably leads to the question of which cellular organelles are the source(s) and sink(s) of activator Ca. Some of the answers to this question that have been obtained by electron microscopy and electron probe analysis are the subject of this Brief Review. The ultrastructure of the contractile apparatus itself has been described elsewhere (A.V. Somlyo etal., 1981a; Bond and Somlyo, 1982; for review, Somlyo, 1980), and it is sufficient to note here that it consists of thick (myosin) filaments that are present both in relaxed and in contracted smooth muscle, thin (actin) filaments, and dense bodies (bound to the plasma membrane or 'free-floating* in the cytoplasm) upon which the actin filaments insert. The cell-to-cell propagation of the action potential and, therefore, the number of cells recruited into the contraction, are thought to depend on the extent of electrical cell-to-cell couplings (nexus). The ultrastructure of these structures, also known as gap junctions, and the11 possible regulation of their permeability by Ca"""" have been reviewed elsewhere (Somlyo, 1980). The molecular mechanisms which cytoplasmic free Ca ++ regulates contraction are still not by actin
Mobile Malware Classification via System Calls and Permission for GPS Exploitation

Now-a-days smartphones have been used worldwide for an effective communication which makes our life easier. Unfortunately, currently most of the cyber threats such as identity theft and mobile malwares are targeting smartphone users and based on profit gain. They spread faster among the users especially via the Android smartphones. They exploit the smartphones through many ways such as through Global Positioning System (GPS), SMS, call log, audio or image. Therefore to detect the mobile malwares, this paper presents 32 patterns of permissions and system calls for GPS exploitation by using covering algorithm. The experiment was conducted in a controlled lab environment, by using static and dynamic analyses, with 5560 of Drebin malware datasets were used as the training dataset and 500 mobile apps from Google Play Store for testing. As a result, 21 out of 500 matched with these 32 patterns. These new patterns can be used as guidance for all researchers in the same field in identifying mobile malwares and can be used as the input for a formation of a new mobile malware detection model.
Employee innovation behaviour in health care: the influence from management and colleagues.

AIM This article reports how 'important others' and position in the organizational hierarchy relate to employee innovation behaviour. Empowerment of healthcare workers to engage in innovation behaviour is desired by management in Norwegian municipalities as it is regarded as a way of getting more health care for less money. Innovation behaviour is also desired by nurses' and other healthcare workers' professional organizations of as it is regarded as a way of improving the working conditions of the healthcare worker. BACKGROUND The theoretical discussion in this paper includes corporate entrepreneurship, 'important others' and employee innovation behaviour. METHODS This article reports on a study concerning empowerment of nurses and other healthcare workers (n = 555) in Norwegian municipalities. The statistical methods used include multiple regressions. FINDINGS The study reveals that there were differences between the nurse (registered nurses), auxiliary nurses (nurse aides) and unskilled healthcare workers concerning how they perceived the opinion of the management and the opinion of the colleagues about how suitable it was to present innovation behaviour at the workplace. Moreover, the different groups of healthcare workers assign different levels of importance to this influence. CONCLUSIONS It is suggested that the findings put forward in this article may lead to an improved understanding of the dynamics behind employee innovation behaviour, and that such knowledge could improve the care provided to the patients, the cost of the care and the working conditions of nurses and other healthcare workers.
Energy and nitrogen intake, expenditure and retention at 20° in growing fowl given diets with a wide range of energy and protein contents

Heat production (HP) and the intake and retention of energy and nitrogen were measured at 20° in growing female broiler fowl given diets with metabolizable energy (ME) contents ranging from 8 to 15 MJ/kg at each of two crude protein (nitrogen × 6.25; CP) contents (130 and 210 g/kg). ME intake was partially controlled by the birds, but increased by 30% over the range of dietary ME concentration. CP intake varied directly with dietary CP:ME ratio, indicating that control of energy intake took priority and that food intake did not increase in order to enhance amino acid intake on low-CP diets. Maintenance energy requirement and fasting HP were not affected by diet. Although the HP of fed birds was significantly affected by dietary energy source, there was no evidence for regulatory diet-induced thermogenesis as energy intake increased. Total energy retention doubled on the higher-energy diets as a result of increased intake and retention efficiency in the absence of any compensation by diet-induced thermogenesis. The proportion of energy retained as fat was negatively correlated with dietary CP:ME ratio. It was concluded that the growing female broiler fowl responded to large differences in energy intake and dietary CP concentration not by changes in rate of energy dissipation as heat but by changes in the quantity of energy retained and in the partition of retained energy between body protein and body fat.
How may a customer exploit the Bonneville Power Administration's new pricing scheme?

For more than half a century, the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) has marketed electricity produced by the Federal Columbia River Power System (FCRPS) to its ‘preference’ customers in the Pacific Northwest. It has historically met the growing needs of its preference customers by augmenting the power provided by the FCRPS with market purchases and recovering its costs through its cost-based rates. The BPA, however, is preparing to implement a new pricing scheme intended to balance its historical commitment to supply its customers with low-cost power from the FCRPS with the need to signal that growing demands are met with increasingly expensive generation resources. This paper describes an opportunity that may exist for customers to exploit the scheme to obtain a larger share of low-cost federal power going forward. We show that when all customers take advantage of the opportunity, they find themselves in a form of the prisoner’s dilemma whose outcome is a lose-lose Nash equilibrium, and discuss its managerial implications.
An efficient channel estimation technique for OFDM systems with transmitter diversity

We propose an efficient channel estimation technique for orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) systems with transmitter diversity. The proposed technique estimates uniquely all channel frequency responses needed in space-time coded OFDM systems using "comb-type" training symbols. The computational complexity of the proposed technique is reduced dramatically, compared with the previous minimum mean-squared error (MMSE) technique, due to the all the processing being done in the frequency-domain. Also, several other techniques for mitigating the random noise effect and tracking channel variation are discussed to further improve the performance of the proposed approach. The performances of the proposed approach are demonstrated by computer simulation for mobile wireless channels.
Liver transplantation for patients with human immunodeficiency virus and hepatitis C virus co‐infection: update in 2013

Because of the progress of anti‐retroviral therapy (ART) for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), mortality due to opportunistic infection resulting in AIDS has been remarkably reduced. However, meanwhile, half of those patients have died of end‐stage liver cirrhosis due to hepatitis C virus (HCV) with liver cirrhosis and early occurrence of hepatocellular carcinoma. Recently, in 2013, non‐cirrhotic portal hypertension due to ART drugs or still unknown mechanisms have become problematic with early progression of the disease in this patient population. Liver transplantation (LT) could be one treatment of choice in such cases, but the indications for LT perioperative management, including both HIV and HCV treatments and immunosuppression, are still challenging. In this review, we update the literature on HIV/HCV co‐infection and LT as well as recent effort for modifying allocation system for those patients.