Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Effect of HBV Genotype C on the Development of HCC Differs Between Wild-Type Viruses and Those With BCP Double Mutations (T1762A1764)

Background: Association of hepatitis B virus (HBV) genotype C with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) development remains controversial. HBV basal core promoter (BCP) double mutations (T1762A1764) are very strong confounding factors of genotypes B and C in HCC development. Objectives: To investigate the association of HBV genotype C with HCC development after controlling for BCP double mutations. Materials and methods: Four hundred and two serum samples from patients with HCC, liver cirrhosis (LC) and chronic hepatitis (CH) and also from asymptomatic HBsAg carriers were analyzed. Results: Genotypes B (31.1%), C (62.8%), and I (6.1%) were detected. With the severity of liver disease the prevalence of genotype B decreased, but genotype C increased. No trend was found for genotype I. The prevalence of BCP double mutations in genotypes C and I viruses was significantly higher than genotype B. BCP double mutations are risk factors for CH, LC and HCC. Genotype C was not identified as a particular risk factor for HCC prior to the stratification analysis but after that genotype C viruses with BCP double mutations were found to be a particular risk factor for HCC (P = 0.008, OR = 17.19 [95% CI: 2.10 - 140.41]), but those with the wild-type BCP were not. In the interaction analysis, genotype C and BCP double mutations were found to have a synergistic effect on HCC development (P < 0.0001, OR = 52.56 [95% CI: 11.49-240.52]). Conclusions: The effect of HBV genotype C on the development of HCC differs between wild-type viruses and those with BCP double mutations, suggesting that not all individuals infected with genotype C HBV are at increased risk of HCC.
Financial Openness and Business Cycle Volatility

This paper discusses whether the integration of international financial markets affects business cycle fluctuations. In the framework of a new open economy macro-model, we show that the link between financial openness and business cycle volatility depends on the nature of the underlying shock. Empirical evidence supports this conclusion. Our results also show that the link between business cycle volatility and financial openness has not been stable over time.
How Ongoing Fluctuations in Human Visual Cortex Predict Perceptual Awareness: Baseline Shift versus Decision Bias

Visual perception fluctuates across repeated presentations of the same near-threshold stimulus. These perceptual fluctuations have often been attributed to baseline shifts—i.e., ongoing modulations of neuronal activity in visual areas—driven by top-down attention. Using magnetoencephalography, we directly tested whether ongoing attentional modulations could fully account for the perceptual impact of prestimulus activity on a subsequent seen–unseen decision. We found that prestimulus gamma-band fluctuations in lateral occipital areas (LO) predicted visual awareness, but did not reflect the focus of spatial attention. Moreover, these prestimulus signals influenced the decision outcome independently from the strength of the following visual response, suggesting that baseline shifts alone could not explain their perceptual impact. Using a straightforward decision-making model based on the accumulation of sensory evidence over time, we show that prestimulus gamma-band fluctuations in LO behave as a decision bias at stimulus onset, irrespectively of subsequent stimulus processing. In contrast, spatial attention suppressed prestimulus alpha-band signals in the same region, and produced a sustained baseline shift that also predicted the outcome of the seen–unseen decision. Together, our results indicate that prestimulus fluctuations in visual areas can influence the conscious detection of an upcoming stimulus via two distinct mechanisms: an attention-driven baseline shift in the alpha range, and a decision bias in the gamma range.
Zinc, a regulator of islet function and glucose homeostasis

It is well known that zinc is required in pancreatic β‐cells in the process of insulin biosynthesis and the maturation of insulin secretory granules. In fact, the zinc level in pancreatic islets is amongst the highest in the body and reduction in its levels in the pancreas has been associated with diabetes. High concentrations of zinc can also be toxic because of enhanced oxidative damage. The link between zinc, diabetes and islet dysfunction has recently been reiterated by genomewide association studies that identified an islet cell membrane zinc transporter, SLC30A8 (ZnT8), as one of the risk loci for type 2 diabetes. Here we explore the importance of both zinc and ZnT8 to islet biology and whole body glucose homeostasis.
Bone Grafting

Definition For the treatment of non-union, or to secure arthrodesis of a damaged joint, the orthopaedic surgeon often uses a bone graft. The word 'graft' is derived from the term used by gardeners when they graft the stem of one plant onto the root of another, for instance cultivated rose buds onto the roots of wild ramblers, or the scions of fruit trees on more vigorous but primitive root stocks. Such procedures have been practised for at least 2,000 years; the word graft literally means something which is incised, because the root stock is cut with a knife and the graft inserted into the cleft. In point of fact, the analogy between a horticultural and a surgical graft is a poor one as in plants the cells of the root stock hardly penetrate the tissue of the graft. The graft so to speak leads an independent. existence, nourished by the sap derived from the root stock.
Microtubule actin crosslinking factor 1b: a novel plakin that localizes to the Golgi complex

MACF1 (microtubule actin crosslinking factor), also called ACF7 (actin crosslinking family 7) is a cytoskeletal linker protein that can associate with both actin filaments and microtubules. We have identified a novel alternatively spliced isoform of MACF1. We named this isoform MACF1b and renamed the original isoform MACF1a. MACF1b is identical to MACF1a, except that it has a region containing plakin (or plectin) repeats in the middle of the molecule. MACF1b is ubiquitously expressed in adult tissues with especially high levels in the lung. We studied the subcellular localization of MACF1b proteins in mammalian cell lines. In two lung cell lines, MACF1b was chiefly localized to the Golgi complex. Upon treatments that disrupt the Golgi complex, MACF1b redistributed into the cytosol, but remained co-localized with the dispersed Golgi ministacks. MACF1b proteins can be detected in the enriched Golgi fraction by western blotting. The domain of MACF1b that targets it to the Golgi was found at the N-terminal part of the region that contains the plakin repeats. Reducing the level of MACF1 proteins by small-interfering RNA resulted in the dispersal of the Golgi complex.
Formation of blue compact dwarf galaxies from merging and interacting gas-rich dwarfs

We present the results of numerical simulations which show the formation of blue compact dwarf (BCD) galaxies from merging between very gas-rich dwarfs with extended H i gas discs. We show that dwarf–dwarf merging can trigger central starbursts and form massive compact cores dominated by young stellar populations. We also show that the pre-existing old stellar components in merger precursor dwarfs can become diffuse low surface brightness components after merging. The compact cores dominated by younger stellar populations and embedded in more diffusely distributed older ones can be morphologically classified as BCDs. Since new stars can be formed from gas transferred from the outer part of the extended gas discs of merger precursors, new stars can be very metal-poor ([Fe/H] < −1). Owing to very high gaseous pressure exceeding 105 kB (where kB is the Boltzmann constant) during merging, compact star clusters can be formed in forming BCDs. The BCDs formed from merging can still have extended H i gas discs surrounding their blue compact cores. We discuss whether tidal interaction of gas-rich dwarfs without merging can also form BCDs.
The superposition of periodic cell arrival streams in an ATM multiplexer

The authors consider the queue arising in a multiservice network using ATM (asynchronous transfer mode) when a superposition of periodic streams of constant-length cells is multiplexed on a high-speed link. An exact closed formula is derived for the queue length distribution in the case where all streams have the same period, and tight upper and lower bounds are obtained on this distribution when the periods are different. Numerical results confirm that the use of a Poisson approximation (i.e. the M/D/1 queue) can lead to a significant overestimation of buffer requirements, particularly in the case of heavy loads. Buffer requirements for a mixture of different period streams can be accurately estimated from the upper bound on the queue length distribution. For given load, requirements increase with the number of long-period (i.e. low-bit rate) sources. The results are deduced from a novel characterization of the single-server constant service time queue, which should be useful in other applications. >
I Wish I were a Tiger... Domestic Violence Research with Children Who Have Witnessed Domestic Violence

This paper presents the results of a study conducted at a domestic violence safehouse for an undergraduate Honors Thesis. Twenty-three children ages 4-16 from African American and immigrant communities were interviewed while residing at a safehouse for victims of domestic violence regarding their beliefs and attitudes about perceptions of self, conflict resolution skills, and feelings of anger and coping strategies. The study found a strong relation between length of stay & positive coping strategies. Age & gender were also related to conflict resolution skills. Qualitative data provided interesting & potentially important insights into children’s internal experiences of being witnesses of domestic violence. The study did not support past research in terms of child witnesses exhibiting low self-esteem, poor conflict strategies, and high rates of aggression. This study concludes that more research needs to be conducted on protective factors and resiliency to the effects of domestic violence to explain this study’s results. INDEX WORDS: Domestic violence, Children, Conflict resolution, Coping skills, Selfperception
Programmed cell death induced by high levels of cytokinin in Arabidopsis cultured cells is mediated by the cytokinin receptor CRE1/AHK4

High levels of cytokinins (CKs) induce programmed cell death (PCD) both in animals and plant cells. High levels of the CK benzylaminopurine (BA) induce PCD in cultured cells of Arabidopsis thaliana by accelerating a senescence process characterized by DNA laddering and expression of a specific senescence marker. In this report, the question has been addressed whether members of the small family of Arabidopsis CK receptors (AHK2, AHK3, CRE1/AHK4) are required for BA-induced PCD. In this respect, suspension cell cultures were produced from selected receptor mutants. Cell growth and proliferation of all receptor mutant and wild-type cell cultures were similar, showing that the CK receptors are not required for these processes in cultured cells. The analysis of CK metabolites instead revealed differences between wild-type and receptor mutant lines, and indicated that all three receptors are redundantly involved in the regulation of the steady-state levels of isopentenyladenine- and trans-zeatin-type CKs. By contrast, the levels of cis-zeatin-type CKs were controlled mainly by AHK2 and AHK3. To study the role of CK receptors in the BA-induced PCD pathway, cultured cells were analysed for their behaviour in the presence of high levels of BA. The results show that CRE1/AHK4, the strongest expressed CK receptor gene of this family in cultured cells, is required for PCD, thus linking this process to the known CK signalling pathway.
The mythologizing of psychoanalytic history: deception and self-deception in Freud's accounts of the seduction theory episode

Following in the footsteps of the pioneering articles by Frank Cioffi in the early 1970s, several scholars in recent years have scrutinized Freud's writings pertaining to the seduction theory and to his clinical procedures in the mid- 1890s and concluded that he had no adequate grounds for his contention that he had uncovered 'sexual scenes' from infancy. They have also shown that even a cursory examination of Freud's original papers reveals that they are not consistent with his later accounts of the episode. This article goes beyond indicating the manifest discrepancies between the later reports and the original papers, and analyses the retrospective accounts in considerable detail, with the aim of illuminating the means by which Freud succeeded in obscuring what actually happened with his patients in the period in question, and the reasons for his doing so.
Topsoil characteristics of three contrasting New Zealand soils under four long‐term land uses

Abstract Marton (Argillic Perched‐gley Pallic, Typic Endoaqualf), Ohakune (Typic Orthic Allophanic, Typic Hapludand), and Westmere (Mottled Mafic Melanic, Mollic Hapludalf) soils with differing structural vulnerability were compared at matched sites under different land uses. Topsoil samples (0–10 cm) from indigenous forest (>50 yr), permanent pasture (>50 yr), pine plantation (>20 yr), or arable cropping (>13 yr) sites were characterised using a range of 17 chemical, physical, and biological properties. Land‐use effects masked overall differences in the physical and chemical properties of the soils, despite their differing mineralogy. However, the biological properties of respiration, microbial C, and mineralisable N were generally significantly lower under arable cropping and pine plantations compared with pastures and indigenous forest. Within each soil type, land use caused significant but varying effects on soil properties. There was considerable decline in the physical condition of the Ohakune topsoil under arable cropping despite the very low vulnerability rating. The findings suggest that the degradative pressures caused by cropping for carrots on Ohakune soil were considerably greater than those of cereal cropping on Marton and Westmere soils. Deteriorating soil physical structure is likely to be the main limitation to continued arable cropping on Marton and Ohakune soils.
Duopography: using back-of-device multi-touch input to manipulate spatial data on mobile tangible interactive topography

In this short paper we present the design of Duopography1, a dual-surface mobile tangible interface for spatial representation and manipulation of topography. The 3D physical topographic front of Duopography acts as a tangible interface, enabling sketching directly on the 3D terrain, as well as visual augmentation of the topography. At the same time, Duopography's flat back-of-device supports gestures that are hard to perform on the irregular front, allowing common interaction techniques such as panning and pinching. We contribute a prototype and the results of a preliminary evaluation of a dual-surface topography interface combining 3D printed front and a flat back-of-device.
A perceptual-mnemonic role for the perirhinal cortex in age-associated cogntive decline

Perirhinal cortical-dependent behavior and single-unit neuron activity in this brain region were compared between normal aged and young rats. Three different variants of the spontaneous object recognition task were used in these experiments, and the results confirmed previous reports that aged animals are impaired at stimulus recognition. The novel contribution of the present experiments was the identification that the behavioral deficit in the aged rats was due to the old animals treating novel objects as familiar, rather than to forgetting the previously experienced stimuli. This pattern of results in the old animals mirror data obtained from rats with perirhinal cortical lesions and promotes a hypothesis that this area of the brain serves a perceptual-mnemonic function. Additionally, multiple single-unit recordings were obtained from perirhinal cortical cells while young and aged rats traversed a track that contained several objects. Perirhinal neurons exhibited selective increases in their firing rates at object locations. We have called these areas of higher perirhinal cortical cell activity ‘object fields’. While both young and old rats expressed object fields, a lower proportion of perirhinal neurons showed this type of activity in the aged compared to the young rats. Although familiar and novel objects were placed on the track as part of a systematic design, there was no effect of novelty on the overall firing rates of perirhinal cortical neurons or the proportion of cells expressing object fields under these experimental conditions. These data suggest that the physiological correlate of stimulus recognition is not decrements in perirhinal cortical activity when a stimulus goes from novel to familiar. A final important observation made during these studies in young rats was that place fields in the middle hippocampal CA1 subregion are affected by placing objects in the track. Because this same manipulation increases perirhinal cortical activity, it could indicate that age-related changes in the perirhinal cortex might alter the function of other closely associated structures.
INTER- AND INTRAOCULAR TRANSFER OF COLOUR DISCRIMINATIONS WITH MANDIBULATION AS AN OPERANT IN THE HEAD-FIXED PIGEON

Lower mandible abduction of pigeons was instrumentally conditioned with water as reinforcer. The subjects were restrained and their head was held fixed. The response was sensed with a piezoelectric transducer. High rates of responding could be obtained using variable ratio reinforcement schedules. Differential stimulus con­ trol with coloured lights presented in the frontal and lateral field of view was demonstrated. Interocular transfer of these visual discriminations was good when the stimuli were presented frontally and poor when they were presented laterally. Intraocular discrimination transfer, where the stimuli were shifted from a frontal to a lateral position and vice-versa within the field of view of the same eye, was poor. No evidence of a functional hemispheric lateralization was found. The method is considered useful for studies demanding precise stimulus positioning and requiring acute access to central nervous structures while learning is in progress.
Individual and cooperative tasks performed by autonomous MAV Teams driven by embodied neural network controllers

The work presented here focuses on the use of embodied neural network controllers for MAV (Micro-unmanned Aerial Vehicles) teams. The computer model we have built aims to demonstrate how autonomous controllers for groups of flying robots can be successfully developed through simulations based on multi-agent systems and evolutionary robotics methodologies. We first introduce the field of autonomous flying robots, reviewing the most relevant contributes on this research field and highlighting the elements of novelty contained in our approach. We then describe the simulation model we have elaborated and the results obtained in different experimental scenarios. In all experiments, MAV teams made by four agents have to navigate autonomously through an unknown environment, reach a certain target and finally neutralize it through a self-detonation. The different setups comprise an environment with various obstacles (skyscrapers) and a fixed target, one with a moving target, and one where the target (fixed or moving) needs to be attacked cooperatively in order to be neutralized. The results obtained show how the evolved controllers are able to perform the various tasks with an accuracy level between 72% and 94% when the target has to be approached individually. The performance slightly decreases only when the target is both able to move and can only be neutralized through a coordinated operation. The paper ends with a discussion on the possible applications of autonomous MAV teams to real life scenarios.
Relationship Between Passion and Motivation for Gaming in Players of Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games

Passion represents one of the factors involved in online video gaming. However, it remains unclear how passion affects the way gamers are involved in massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPGs). The objective of the present study was to analyze the relationships between passions and motivations for online game playing. A total of 410 MMORPG players completed an online questionnaire including motives for gaming and the Passion Scale. Results indicated that passionate gamers were interested in relating with others through the game and exhibited a high degree of interest in discovery of the game, gaining leadership and prestige but little interest in escape from reality. However, some differences were observed with respect to the role of the two types of passion in the different types of motivation. Specifically, harmonious passion (HP) predicted higher levels of exploration, socialization, and achievement, in that order, while obsessive passion (OP) predicted higher levels of dissociation, achievement, and socialization. The present findings suggest that HP and OP predict different ways of engaging in MMORPGs and confirm that passion is a useful construct to help understand different motivational patterns demonstrated by MMORPG players.
The Influence of Malnutrition and Micronutrient Status on Anemic Risk in Children under 3 Years Old in Poor Areas in China

Background Malnutrition and anemia affect large numbers of young children living in poor areas of China. Multi-micronutrient deficiencies may be related to the prevalence of anemia in different populations, and identifying the risk factors that render children susceptible to anemia is the first step in combating anemia effectively. Methods In this cross-sectional study, a total of 1370 children under 3 years old were selected based on probability proportional to size sampling principles from poor counties of China. Basic characteristics data were collected by questionnaire; then anthropometrics and hemoglobin were measured in the field and anemia prevalence evaluated. Venous blood was drawn from children aged 12–35 months (N = 553) to evaluate micronutrient status. Logistic regression was used to identify the risk factors for children’s anemia. Results Among children aged 0–35 months, the prevalence of stunting, low body weight and wasting was 17.5%, 8.6% and 5.1%, respectively, and 25.6% of the children were affected by anemia, with more anemic infants and younger children than older children (P <0.01). There were 26.5%, 12.8%, 14.1% and 20.0% of the children aged 12–35 months affected by iron deficiency, vitamin D deficiency, folic acid deficiency and vitamin B12 deficiency, respectively. For children aged 0–11 months who were breastfed, the mothers’ anemic status was the only factor associated with the child’s anemia (OR = 2.6; 95% CI: 1.2–5.4, P < 0.05). For children aged 12–35 months, multivariate logistic regression indicated that anemia was significantly associated with iron and vitamin B12 deficiency (OR = 5.3; 95% CI: 1.9–14.5, P < 0.01) and monotonous diet (OR = 2.3; 95% CI: 1.1–4.7, P < 0.05) after adjusting for age and gender. Conclusion The prevalence of anemia was higher in children under 2 years old and requires urgent intervention. An effective intervention strategy should include iron and vitamin B12 supplements, improving dietary diversity and controlling breastfeeding mothers' anemia.
Security of Y-00 and similar quantum cryptographic protocols

Abstract : It is claimed in Phys. Lett. A by T. Nishioka et al. [327 (2004) 28-32] that the security of Y-00 is equivalent to that of a classical stream cipher. In this paper it is shown that the claim is false in either the use of Y-00 for direct encryption or key generation, in all the parameter ranges it is supposed to operate including those of the experiments reported thus far. The security of Y-00 type protocols is clarified.