Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Mechanisms of carcinogenesis by crystalline silica in relation to oxygen radicals.

The carcinogenic effects of crystalline silica in rat lungs were extensively demonstrated by many experimental long-term studies, showing a marked predominance for adenocarcinomas originating from alveolar type II cells and associated with areas of pulmonary fibrosis (silicosis). In contrast with its effects in rats, silica did not induce alveolar type II hyperplasia and lung tumors in mice and hamsters, pointing to a critical role for host factors. Using these animal models, we are investigating the role of cytokines and other cellular mediators on the proliferation of alveolar type II cells. Immunohistochemical localization of TGF-beta 1 precursor in alveolar type II cells adjacent to silicotic granulomas was shown to occur in rats, but not in mice, and hamsters, suggesting a pathogenetic role for this regulatory growth factor. Recent investigations in our laboratory on the biologic mechanisms of crystalline silica included determination of anionic sites on crystalline silica surfaces by binding of the cationic dye Janus Green B; binding of crystalline silica to DNA, demonstrated by infrared spectrometry; production of oxygen radicals by crystalline silica in aqueous media; induction of DNA strand breakage and base oxidation in vitro and its potentiation by superoxide dismutase and by hydrogen peroxide; and induction by crystalline silica of neoplastic transformation and chromosomal damage in cells in culture. On the basis of these in vitro studies, we propose that DNA binding to crystalline silica surfaces may be important in silica carcinogenesis by anchoring DNA close to sites of oxygen radical production on the silica surface, so that the oxygen radicals are produced within a few A from their target DNA nucleotides. ImagesFigure 3. AFigure 3. B
Asymmetric Common Value Auctions with Applications to Auctions with Resale

We study a model of common value auctions in which bidders’ private information are independently and asymmetrically distributed. We provide two sufficient conditions under which a first-price auction generates higher revenue than a second-price auction (for a selected equilibrium). A necessary condition is given for this revenue-ranking result to hold in general. We illustrate that in a first-price auction, the seller may benefit from the asymmetry of the bidder information, unlike in the case of private value auctions (as in Cantillon 2007). We further establish a strategic equivalence between our model of common value auctions and an independent and private value (IPV) auction model with resale, when the resale mechanism satisfies a sure-trade property and the common value is the sure-trade price. Using this strategic equivalence and the revenue-ranking result for the common value auctions, we provide an alternative proof of the revenue-ranking result of Hafalir and Krishna (2007) in the IPV auctions with resale. The revenue ranking holds when the offer-maker is fixed or is contingent on the auction outcome. We illustrate that the opposite revenue-ranking may arise (i) when one of the distribution functions does not satisfy the regularity property, or (ii) when the resale mechanism involves repeated offers and delay costs, or (iii) when the Coase Conjecture holds as in Gul, Sonnenschein, and Wilson (1986) and Ausubel and Deneckere (1992). ∗We would like to thank Priyodorshi Banerjee, Jeremy Bulow, Isa Hafalir, Rene Kirkegaard, Vijay Krishna, Bernard Lebrun, Joel Sobel, Simon Wilkie, Charles Zhang, and the participants at the Santa Barbara conference on auctions with resale, April 2007, for many helpful comments. Please contact Harrison Cheng at hacheng@usc.edu and Guofu Tan at guofutan@usc.edu for further suggestions.
Changing Homeland Security: Teaching the Core

Abstract : Homeland security is in a pre-paradigm phase as a professional discipline. There are at least four dozen ways colleges, universities, agencies, and textbook publishers have conceptualized homeland security education. A review of the principal themes presented by those entities identified over fifty topics that come under the rubric of "Homeland Security". We do not have sufficient information about all the potential audiences for homeland security courses to say with certainty which subjects should be addressed in this field. However, we do know a lot about what is involved in homeland security. The "discipline" of homeland security is actively working to identify core ideas with which anyone who wishes to speak intelligently about homeland security has to be conversant. This article describes how the Naval Postgraduate School's Center for Homeland Defense and Security selected particular elements within the uncertainty that is homeland security, constructed a teaching narrative around those elements, and used that understanding to fashion our continuously evolving homeland security curriculum and our Introduction to Homeland Security course.
Physiology of Human Photosensitivity Hardware-dependent Triggering Mechanisms

Human epileptic photosensitivity has been studied in several ways, with (a) visual stimulation that resembles the stimulation normally responsible for seizures, such as that from televisions or videogames, both of which typically use cathode ray tubes in which the display is created in a flickering pattern. Such stimulation is often rendered yet more epileptogenic by programmes with content that also involves flashing or patterned material; (b) elementary visual stimuli that enable inferences to be drawn concerning the physiological trigger mechanisms. The typographic distribution of epileptiform EEG activity in response to such stimuli has complemented this approach, leading to the inference that the trigger is cortical and requires sychronised mass action of neurons; and (c) stimuli that avoid paroxysmal EEG activity and permit an investigation of the subepileptic response to visual stimuli, using the evoked potential. This has revealed abnormalities in the cortical mechanisms that control the response to strong visual stimulation.
Semantic and phonological codes interact in single word production.

The relationship between semantic-syntactic and phonological levels in speaking was investigated using a picture naming procedure with simultaneously presented visual or auditory distractor words. Previous results with auditory distractors have been used to support the independent stage model (e.g., H. Schriefers, A. S. Meyer, & W. J. M. Levelt, 1990), whereas results with visual distractors have been used to support an interactive view (e.g., P.A. Starreveld & W. La Heij, 1996b). Experiment 1 demonstrated that with auditory distractors, semantic effects preceded phonological effects, whereas the reverse pattern held for visual distractors. Experiment 2 indicated that the results for visual distractors followed the auditory pattern when distractor presentation time was limited. Experiment 3 demonstrated an interaction between phonological and semantic relatedness of distractors for auditory presentation, supporting an interactive account of lexical access in speaking.
Effects of transcranial direct current stimulation on risky decision making are mediated by ‘hot’ and ‘cold’ decisions, personality, and hemisphere

Previous results point towards a lateralization of dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) function in risky decision making. While the right hemisphere seems involved in inhibitory cognitive control of affective impulses, the left DLPFC is crucial in the deliberative processing of information relevant for the decision. However, a lack of empirical evidence precludes definitive conclusions. The aim of our study was to determine whether anodal transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) over the right DLPFC with cathodal tDCS over the lDLPFC (anodal right/cathodal left) or vice versa (anodal left/cathodal right) differentially modulates risk‐taking in a task [the Columbia Card Task (CCT)] specifically engaging affect‐charged (Hot CCT) vs. deliberative (Cold CCT) decision making. The facilitating effect of the anodal stimulation on neuronal activity was emphasized by the use of a small anode and a big cathode. To investigate the role of individual differences in risk‐taking, participants were either smokers or non‐smokers. Anodal left/cathodal right stimulation decreased risk‐taking in the ‘cold’ cognition version of the task, in both groups, probably by modulating deliberative processing. In the ‘hot’ version, anodal right/cathodal left stimulation led to opposite effects in smokers and non‐smokers, which might be explained by the engagement of the same inhibitory control mechanism: in smokers, improved controllability of risk‐seeking impulsivity led to more conservative decisions, while inhibition of risk‐aversion in non‐smokers resulted in riskier choices. These results provide evidence for a hemispheric asymmetry and personality‐dependent tDCS effects in risky decision making, and may be important for clinical research on addiction and depression.
Horizontal class fragmentation in distributed object based systems

Many researchers have demonstrated the importance of entity fragmentation in distributed re-lational database design. Database design will be essential in the \next-generation" engineering design environment that exploits object-oriented technologies. Fragmentation enhances application performance by reducing the amount of irrelevant data accessed and the amount of data transferred unnecessarily between distributed sites. Algorithms for eeecting horizontal and vertical fragmentation of relations exist, but fragmentation techniques for class objects in a distributed object based system have not appeared in the literature. This paper rst presents a taxonomy of the fragmentation problem in a distributed object based system capable of supporting systems engineering applications. Detailed horizontal fragmentation algorithms are then presented for one of these class models using a top{down approach where the entity of fragmentation is the class object. The algorithms described incorporate the inherent features of the object model including both inheritance and class composition hierarchies.
'There ain't no black in the Union Jack' : the cultural politics of race and nation

Gilroy demonstrates the enormous complexity of racial politics in England today. Exploring the relationships among race, class, and nation as they have evolved over the past twenty years, he highlights racist attitudes that transcend the left-right political divide. He challenges current sociological approaches to racism as well as the ethnocentric bias of British cultural studies. "Gilroy demonstrates effectively that cultural traditions are not static, but develop, grow and indeed mutate, as they influence and are influenced by the other changing traditions around them. "--David Edgar, "Listener Review of Books. " "A fascinating analysis of the discourses that have accompanied black settlement in Britain. An important addition to the stock of critical works on race and culture. "--David Okuefuna, "Chicago Tribune"
Towards Holistic Traceability Solution: From Systematic Literature Review to Proposed Traceability Model

The purpose of traceability is to ensure persistent alignment of product knowledge between stakeholders, artifacts, and traceability objects. On the other hand, process knowledge is equally important to ensure a systematic software development process with accurate specification and verifiable quality attributes. Previous studies lacks in presenting a consolidated view from product and process knowledge perspectives. This study has taken a systematic literature review approach to evaluate sixty one previously published papers on traceability in leading journals and conferences. Based on the findings, the authors propose to extend the definition of an existing traceability meta-model to combine both product and process knowledge perspectives. The scope of this paper is to define the extension of the traceability meta-model without violating any of its statements. This study aims to contribute by taking steps towards defining a holistic model of traceability that will provide practical guidelines to IT practitioners in general and to process engineers in particular.
Integration of appetitive and aversive reinforcers and the neuromodulation of reward seeking and pain avoidance

Mario for making the workplace a bit lively and for the lunch time. Thanks to Kathrin Ohl for teaching the stereotaxic surgery and help with the histology. Thanks to Lydia Löw for ordering animals and taking care of them. Thanks to Karin Schmidt and Beate Traore for taking care of the administrative procedures. Thanks to Jason Shumake for getting me to finish many of the projects. I learned a lot from him and he stimulated my curiosity to learn more about brain systems and learning. Also, I thank him for explaining statistics to me very patiently. Thanks to the anatomists Dr. Jürgen Goldschmidt and Dr. Eike Budinger for clarifying my questions. Also, I thank Clemens Ladewig and Waltraud Ladewig for their affection towards my family in Magdeburg. I am eternally grateful to those who taught me years ago and set me on this path; in particular, to Prof. Thanks to those others in the lab who made it such a fun place to be. Thanks to my parents for giving a good education and all other family members for their encouragement in tough times. Thanks to my newborn baby Antonella, she was born one month before my defense. Her face encourages me to face all the challenges. Finally, thanks to Anjoe for her love, affection and everything.
Brain functional connectivity of male patients in remission after the first episode of schizophrenia

Objectives: Abnormal task‐related activation and connectivity is present in schizophrenia. The aim of this study was the analysis of functional networks in schizophrenia patients in remission after the first episode. Experimental design: Twenty‐nine male patients in remission after the first episode of schizophrenia and 22 healthy controls underwent examination by functional magnetic resonance during verbal fluency tasks (VFT). The functional connectivity of brain networks was analyzed using independent component analysis. Results: The patients showed lower activation of the salience network during VFT. They also showed lower deactivation of the default mode network (DMN) during VFT processing. Spectral analysis of the component time courses showed decreased power in slow frequencies of signal fluctuations in the salience and DMNs and increased power in higher frequencies in the left frontoparietal cortex reflecting higher fluctuations of the network activity. Moreover, there was decreased similarity of component time courses in schizophrenia—the patients had smaller negative correlation between VFT activated and deactivated networks, and smaller positive correlations between DMN subcomponents. Conclusions: There is still an abnormal functional connectivity of several brain networks in remission after the first episode of schizophrenia. The effect of different treatment modalities on brain connectivity, together with temporal dynamics of this functional abnormality should be the objective of further studies to assess its potential as a marker of disease stabilization. Hum Brain Mapp, 2013. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Multigrid Methods for Anisotropic Edge Refinement

A finite element method with optimal convergence on nonsmooth three dimensional domains requires anisotropic mesh refinement towards the edges. Multigrid methods for anisotropic tensor product meshes are available and are based either on line (or plane) smoothers or on semicoarsening strategies. In this paper we suggest and analyze a new multigrid scheme combining semicoarsening and line smoothers to obtain a solver of optimal algorithmic complexity for anisotropic meshes along edges.
Acoustic Analysis and Non Linear Dynamics Applied to Voice Pathology Detection: A Review

A complete review of scientific studies and relevant patents oriented to voice pathology detection is presented in order to provide a good and quick reference for readers who want to understand how the field of automatic detection of voice disorders has evolved. Referenced works are divided into three groups, one focused on classical Acoustic Analysis of Voice (AAV), second on Non Linear Dynamics (NLD) and third on different and relevant patents presented in the development of systems for the automatic evaluation of pathological voices. The first group comprises not only typical acoustics but also noise measures and Cepstral analysis. In terms of NLD, both complexity measures and different versions of the entropies have been included, as well as other features. The patents referenced here have been presented from 2003 to 2011 in the patents offices located in United States, Europe and Asia. Diagnosis techniques based on Acoustic Analysis of Voice (AAV) and Non Linear Dynamics (NLD), are non- invasive in nature and appropriately assess different pathologies in the vocal tract. This paper intends to present a general review of the non-invasive techniques based on AAV and NLD that have been used for the diagnosis of different pathologies such as dysphonia, polyps, nodules, unilateral laryngeal paralysis, hypernasality, among others. This review is focused on building a useful tool for both those just beginning their work in voice pathology detection and for those who have experience in the field and are looking for some previous material in this area. Each reference mentioned in this paper has been analyzed in detail, outlining the objectives, fundamental concepts applied in the study, the database used for the experiments, and the most relevant results. Likewise, to make reading more straightforward for the reader, the references have been presented as far as possible, in chronological order.
Re-Creating Ourselves: African Women & Critical Transformations

Reports of Africa's demise, according to Molara Ogundipe-Leslie in Re-Creating Ourselves: African Women and Critical Transformations, are at once grave and greatly exaggerated. The author's healthy skepticism is rooted equally in an intimate and even understanding of the problems and possibilities of contemporary African life and the refusal to make short shrift of the latter even in the face of uni-
Mean Reversion of the Fiscal Conduct in 24 Developing Countries

In this paper, we examine the mean reverting behaviour of fiscal deficit by analysing the fiscal position of 24 developing countries. Using annual data over the period 1970-2003 and the series-specific panel unit root test developed by Breuer et al. (Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Vol. 64 (2002), pp. 527-546), we found the budget process for most developing countries fails to satisfy the strong-form sustainability condition. Further investigation shows the budget process for a majority of the countries is on a sustainable path (weak form) when a one-time, structural break is allowed in the model. Therefore, our empirical results suggest that the budget process in most of the sample countries is in accordance with the intertemporal budget constraint. Copyright © 2010 The Authors. Journal compilation © 2010 Blackwell Publishing Ltd and The University of Manchester.
Violence against civilians 1900-87: A four-part analysis using av new dataset to test the relationship between the severity of democide and type of government

The study of violence against civilians with its over 200 million dead in the 20th century is understudied if viewed in terms of the death toll compared to the studies of inter-state and civil war. R.J. Rummel’s extensive data collection of democide in the period 1900-87, has unfortunately lain dormant, mostly untouched by other researchers since its publication in 1997. This thesis has made use of this dataset, and converted it into time-series format in order to facilitate multivariate analyses. Instead of focusing on one type of violence against civilians, the thesis splits it into four different analyses on democide; one for democide performed by regimes against its own population; one for democide in a foreign state; one performed by non-state groups; and one category with the total for all of the other three. This division proves fruitful, as the three types of democides yield different results. The analyses show that autocracies are most violent when it comes to regime democide, with no difference between democracies and semi-democracies. Analyses on foreign democide, however, show that democracies are the least violent type of government, with no clear difference between autocracies and semi-democracies. Non-state democide, on the other hand, shows no clear difference between the three types of government. The role of economic development is also an interesting finding. While less-developed countries are more violent when it comes to regime democide, the exact opposite is found on foreign democide.
Essays in the History of International Trade Theory

Featuring eight essays written between 1938 and 1992, the volume includes essays on aspects of trade theory in nineteenth century Britain. These papers contradict the customary view that trade theory in this period was essentially static in character and reveal that many early theorists had a lively interest in the dynamic aspects of the field, such as the influence of technological change on international specialization and the influence of foreign trade and investment on growth. The volume also includes papers examining the foreign trade theories of Adam Smith and Jacob Viner, as well as work on the international trade theories of French economists from the 18th century Physiocrats to those working in the latter nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
Chronic Morphine Treatment Inhibits Opioid Receptor Desensitization and Internalization

Chronic opioid receptor (OR) activation by morphine causes distinct cellular adaptations responsible for the development of tolerance. The present study examines the effect of chronic morphine exposure on the ability of high-efficacy agonists to mediate δ-OR (DOR) and μ-OR (MOR) uncoupling and internalization, two regulatory mechanisms contributing to rapid desensitization of OR function. Chronic morphine treatment (1 μm; 72 hr) of DOR carrying neuroblastoma x glioma (NG108-15) hybrid cells, a prototypical model system frequently used to study cellular aspects of opioid tolerance, completely blocked the capacity of [d-Ala2,d-Leu5]enkephalin (DADLE) and etorphine to desensitize opioid-stimulated [35S]GTPγS binding and to mediate DOR internalization. Similar findings were obtained on stably DOR- and MOR-transfected human embryonic kidney (HEK) 293 cells. Chronic morphine treatment also heterologously impaired agonist regulation of non-opioid G-protein-coupled receptors, such as the m4-muscarinic acetylcholine receptor and the brain-type cannabinoid receptor. As a possible underlying mechanism, we found that chronic morphine treatment completely blocked agonist-induced redistribution of β-arrestin1 in both NG108-15 and stably MOR-transfected HEK293 cells. Moreover, attenuation of β-arrestin1 function appears to depend on persistent stimulation of MAP kinase activity during the course of chronic morphine treatment, because coincubation of the cells together with the MAP kinase blocker PD98059 fully restored β-arrestin1 translocation and receptor internalization. These results demonstrate that chronic morphine treatment produces adaptational changes at the β-arrestin1 level, which in turn attenuates agonist-mediated desensitization and internalization of G-protein-coupled receptors.