Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Effective Bandwidth Utilisation in Multihoming Networks

In order to bridge the speed disparity at the LAN-WAN interface, enterprises install a number of policy-based devices to enforce administrative policies over the WAN access. The conventional techniques of bandwidth management concentrate only on the outgoing traffic from the local network, since that is the only traffic that can be controlled. However it is usually the incoming traffic that causes bottlenecks. This paper proposes a simple load balancing approach to optimize the use of WAN links in a multihomed environment. Incoming traffic on a link is controlled by diverting outgoing traffic from some nodes to other links. Incoming bandwidth is measured, thresholds are defined, and traffic diversion takes place to maintain the thresholds. We present a scheme to implement this. A prototype implementation has been done on an educational campus network. Preliminary experiments have shown that there are significant improvements in performance. These results are presented. Proposed future work to extend the scheme to an ISP network is described
Fun is more fun when others are involved

Abstract Fun activities are commonly sought and highly desired yet their affective side has received little scrutiny. The present research investigated two features of fun in two daily diary studies and one laboratory experiment. First, we examined the affective state associated with fun experiences. Second, we investigated the social context of fun, considering whether shared fun is more enjoyable than solitary fun. Findings from these studies indicated that fun is associated with both high-activation and low-activation positive affects, and that it is enhanced when experienced with others (especially friends). However, social fun was associated with increases in high-activation but not low-activation positive affect, suggesting that social interaction emphasizes energizing affective experiences. We also found that loneliness moderated the latter effects, such that lonely individuals received a weaker boost from shared compared to solitary fun. These results add to what is known about the impact of social contexts on affective experience.
Modes of Explanation in Organization Theory

Organization Theory (OT) is concerned with explaining the genesis, existence, functionality and the transformation of organizations, and by doing so, it is also concerned, either implicitly or explicitly, with influencing organizational practice. However, in their everyday life indi-viduals already have an intuitive understanding of how organizations work. OT knowledge differs from individuals' lay knowledge by its systematic and methodic characteristics. But whoever attends a lecture on OT or consults a textbook will be surprised that Organization Theory is not a unified set of knowledge. In fact there are many organizational theories in textbooks, scholarly journals etc., which are entirely different from each other.
Relation of Neutrophil-to-Lymphocyte Ratio With GRACE Risk Score to In-Hospital Cardiac Events in Patients With ST-Segment Elevated Myocardial Infarction

In this study, we aimed to investigate the association of the neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) with Global Registry of Acute Coronary Events (GRACE) risk score in patients with ST-segment elevated myocardial infarction (STEMI). We analyzed 101 consecutive patients with STEMI. Patients were divided into 3 groups by use of GRACE risk score. The association between NLR and GRACE risk score was assessed. The NLR showed a proportional increase correlated with GRACE risk score (P < .001). The occurrence of in-hospital cardiac death, reinfarction, or new-onset heart failure was significantly related to NLR at admission (P < .001). Likewise, NLR and GRACE risk score showed a significant positive correlation (r = .803, P < .001). In multivariate analysis, NLR resulted as a predictor of worse in-hospital outcomes independent of GRACE risk score. Our study suggests that the NLR is significantly associated with adverse in-hospital outcomes, independent of GRACE risk score in patients with STEMI.
Genetic control of weight loss during pneumonic Burkholderia pseudomallei infection.

Burkholderia pseudomallei (Bp) is the causal agent of a high-morbidity/mortality disease syndrome known as melioidosis. This syndrome can range from acute fulminate disease to chronic, local, and disseminated infections that are often difficult to treat because Bp exhibits resistance to many antibiotics. Bp is a prime candidate for use in biologic warfare/terrorism and is classified as a Tier-1 select agent by HHS and APHIS. It is known that inbred mouse strains display a range of susceptibility to Bp and that the murine infection model is ideal for studying acute melioidosis. Here, we exploit a powerful mouse genetics resource that consists of a large family of BXD-type recombinant inbred strains, to perform genome-wide linkage analysis of the weight loss phenotype following pneumonic infection with Bp. We infected parental mice and 32 BXD strains with 50-100 CFU of Bp (strain 1026b) and monitored weight retention each day over an eleven-day time course. Using the computational tools in GeneNetwork, we performed genome-wide linkage analysis to identify an interval on chromosome 12 that appears to control the weight retention trait. We then analyzed and ranked positional candidate genes in this interval, several of which have intriguing connections with innate immunity, calcium homeostasis, lipid transport, host cell growth and development, and autophagy.
Psychotherapy with Women Survivors of Sexual Abuse

&NA; The essential elements of psychotherapy with women who were sexually abused in childhood are outlined. The author begins with a brief discussion of the prevalence and impact of childhood sexual abuse. She reviews the assessment of patients who may have been the victims of such abuse and then describes the three stages of treatment for such patients. The article concludes with a discussion of the importance of considering issues of transference and countertransference in providing psychotherapy to women survivors of sexual abuse. (Journal of Psychiatric Practice 2000;6:27‐32)
Gamma radiation tolerance in different life stages of the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster

Abstract Purpose: Insects are known to have higher levels of radiation tolerance than mammals. The fruit fly Drosophila provides opportunities for genetic analysis of radiation tolerance in insects. A knowledge of stage-specific sensitivity is required to understand the mechanisms and test the existing hypothesis of insect radiation tolerance. Materials and methods: Drosophila melanogaster were irradiated using gamma rays at different life stages. Irradiation doses were chosen to start from 100–2200 Gy with increments of 100 Gy, with a dose rate of 12.5 and 25 Gy/min. The threshold of mortality, LD50 and LD100 1 h post-irradiation was recorded for larvae and adults and 24 h post-irradiation for eggs and after 2–3 days for early and late pupae. Total antioxidant capacity for all the life stages was measured using the phosphomolybdenum method. Results: Twenty-four hours post-irradiation, 100% mortality was recorded for eggs at 1000 Gy. One hour post irradiation 100% mortality was recorded at 1300 Gy for first instar larvae, 1700 Gy for second instar larvae, 1900 Gy for feeding third instar larvae and 2200 Gy for non-feeding third instar larvae. Post-irradiation complete failure of emergence (100% mortality) was observed at 130 Gy for early pupae and 1500 Gy for late pupae; 100% mortality was observed at 1500 Gy for adults. The values of LD50 were recorded as 452 Gy for eggs, 1049 Gy for first instar larvae, 1350 Gy for second instar larvae, 1265 Gy for feeding third instar larvae, 1590 Gy for non-feeding third instar larvae, 50 Gy for early pupae, 969 Gy for late pupae, 1228 Gy for adult males and 1250 Gy for adult females. Conclusions: Early pupae were found to be prone to radiation, whereas the non-feeding third instar larvae were most resistant among all stages. The chromosome number being constant and total antioxidant capacity being nearly constant in all stages, we suggest that high rate of cell division during early pupae makes this stage sensitive to radiation.
Encoding of temporal intervals in the rat hindlimb sensorimotor cortex

The gradual buildup of neural activity over experimentally imposed delay periods, termed climbing activity, is well documented and is a potential mechanism by which interval time is encoded by distributed cortico-thalamico-striatal networks in the brain. Additionally, when multiple delay periods are incorporated, this activity has been shown to scale its rate of climbing proportional to the delay period. However, it remains unclear whether these patterns of activity occur within areas of motor cortex dedicated to hindlimb movement. Moreover, the effects of behavioral training (e.g., motor tasks) under different reward conditions but with similar behavioral output are not well addressed. To address this, we recorded activity from the hindlimb sensorimotor cortex (HLSMC) of two groups of rats performing a skilled hindlimb press task. In one group, rats were trained only to a make a valid press within a finite window after cue presentation for reward (non-interval trained, nIT; n = 5), while rats in the second group were given duration-specific cues in which they had to make presses of either short or long duration to receive reward (interval trained, IT; n = 6). Using perievent time histogram (PETH) analyses, we show that cells recorded from both groups showed climbing activity during the task in similar proportions (35% IT and 47% nIT), however, only climbing activity from IT rats was temporally scaled to press duration. Furthermore, using single trial decoding techniques (Wiener filter), we show that press duration can be inferred using climbing activity from IT animals (R = 0.61) significantly better than nIT animals (R = 0.507, p < 0.01), suggesting IT animals encode press duration through temporally scaled climbing activity. Thus, if temporal intervals are behaviorally relevant then the activity of climbing neurons is temporally scaled to encode the passage of time.
A comparison of methods of recruitment to a health promotion program for university seniors.

BACKGROUND Participant recruitment is an understudied part of health research. It can be a limiting factor and can affect the external validity of a study. This study compares two recruitment methods, active and passive, used to recruit university seniors into a health promotion study. METHODS During active recruitment, 3,787 seniors were telephoned and asked to participate. During passive recruitment, 5,644 seniors were mailed literature and asked to respond if interested. RESULTS During active recruitment, 1,680 h were spent on the phone, 341 participants were measured, and 161 entered the study, at a cost of $79 per participant. During passive recruitment, 970 h were spent on the phone, 238 participants were measured, and 178 entered the study, at a cost of $45 per participant. The active method had a higher recruitment rate (9% vs 4%) and attrition rate (53% vs 25%) than the passive method. CONCLUSIONS In conclusion, neither recruitment method was ideal. Those recruited with the passive method reported more physical activity and had lower blood pressures, suggesting a self-selection bias. Active recruitment produced a more representative sample and a higher recruitment rate. Passive recruitment was less expensive and led to a lower attrition rate. Conclusions are limited because these are uncontrolled comparisons, not a controlled study.
Dikes of distinct composition intruded into Noachian‐aged crust exposed in the walls of Valles Marineris

Valles Marineris represents the deepest natural incision in the Martian upper crust. Previous studies showed that the upper parts of the walls were made of finely layered probable basalts in most of the chasmata, while the base of the stratigraphy reveals primary Noachian crustal blocks. Exposures of pristine Noachian bedrock are rare on Mars, and mostly observed outside of their geological context. The occurrence of well‐preserved and extended outcrops of pristine material in this giant rift could bring valuable information on the early processes that took place at the surface of Mars. Analyses of high resolution data over the best exposures of lower walls in Coprates Chasma, central Valles Marineris, revealed the presence of multiple magmatic intrusions interpreted as dikes. These dikes intrude an old, massive, fractured bedrock interpreted as being preserved ancient Noachian crust. Their composition, determined using CRISM data, and distribution, limited to this ancient crust at the bottom walls, indicate that they might have formed early in the rift formation, and therefore represent exceptionally well‐preserved outcrops of the early history of Mars.
Chitosan-Alginate Microparticles as a Protein Carrier

The oral administration of peptidic drugs requires their protection from degradation in the gastric environment and the improvement of their absorption in the intestinal tract. For these requirements, a microsystem based on cross-linked alginate as the carrier of bovine serum albumin (BSA), used as a model protein, was proposed. A spray-drying technique was applied to BSA/sodium alginate solutions to obtain spherical particles having a mean diameter less than 10 μm. The microparticles were hardened using first a solution of calcium chloride and then a solution of chitosan (CS) to obtain stable microsystems. The cross-linking process was carried out at different CS concentrations and pH values of the cross-linking medium. The CS concentration affected the BSA loading in the microparticles prepared at a pH value less than the protein isoelectric point (pI). Moreover, the BSA loading at a pH value less than the pI was higher than that at a pH similar to the pI regardless of the CS concentration. This finding could be attributable to the formation of a BSA/alginate complex. The evaluation of the interaction between BSA and alginate at different pH values by means rheological measurements confirmed this hypothesis. This approach may represent a promising way to devise a microcarrier system with appropriate size for targeting the Peyer's patches, with appropriate immobilization capacity, and suitable for the oral administration of peptidic drugs.
Pancreatic Bicarbonate Secretion Involves Two Proton Pumps*

Pancreas secretes fluid rich in digestive enzymes and bicarbonate. The alkaline secretion is important in buffering of acid chyme entering duodenum and for activation of enzymes. This secretion is formed in pancreatic ducts, and studies to date show that plasma membranes of duct epithelium express H+/HCO3− transporters, which depend on gradients created by the Na+/K+-ATPase. However, the model cannot fully account for high-bicarbonate concentrations, and other active transporters, i.e. pumps, have not been explored. Here we show that pancreatic ducts express functional gastric and non-gastric H+-K+-ATPases. We measured intracellular pH and secretion in small ducts isolated from rat pancreas and showed their sensitivity to H+-K+ pump inhibitors and ion substitutions. Gastric and non-gastric H+-K+ pumps were demonstrated on RNA and protein levels, and pumps were localized to the plasma membranes of pancreatic ducts. Quantitative analysis of H+/HCO3− and fluid transport shows that the H+-K+ pumps can contribute to pancreatic secretion in several species. Our results call for revision of the bicarbonate transport physiology in pancreas, and most likely other epithelia. Furthermore, because pancreatic ducts play a central role in several pancreatic diseases, it is of high relevance to understand the role of H+-K+ pumps in pathophysiology.
Loss of gallbladder interstitial Cajal‐like cells in patients with cholelithiasis

Background Interstitial cells of Cajal (ICCs) play an important role in the regulation of gut motility. There is growing evidence that interstitial Cajal‐like cells (ICLCs) are present in the gallbladder wall. We hypothesize that changes in the density of ICLCs in the gallbladder wall may lead to the development of cholelithiasis due to the impairment of the gallbladder motility. The purpose of this study was to identify ICLCs in the gallbladders of patients with gallstones and to assess their densities.
Arsenic-induced sub-lethal stress reprograms human bronchial epithelial cells to CD61¯ cancer stem cells

In the present report, we demonstrate that sub-lethal stress induced by consecutive exposure to 0.25 μM arsenic (As3+) for six months can trigger reprogramming of the human bronchial epithelial cell (BEAS-2B) to form cancer stem cells (CSCs) without forced introduction of the stemness transcription factors. These CSCs formed from As3+-induced sub-lethal stress featured with an increased expression of the endogenous stemness genes, including Oct4, Sox2, Klf4, Myc, and others that are associated with the pluripotency and self-renewal of the CSCs. Flow cytometry analysis indicated that 90% of the CSC cells are CD61¯, whereas 100% of the parental cells are CD61+. These CD61¯ CSCs are highly tumorigenic and metastatic to the lung in xenotransplantation tests in NOD/SCID Il2rγ−/− mice. Additional tests also revealed that the CD61¯ CSCs showed a significant decrease in the expression of the genes important for DNA repair and oxidative phosphorylation. To determine the clinical relevance of the above findings, we stratified human lung cancers based on the level of CD61 protein and found that CD61low cancer correlates with poorer survival of the patients. Such a correlation was also observed in human breast cancer and ovarian cancer. Taken together, our findings suggest that in addition to the traditional approaches of enforced introduction of the exogenous stemness circuit transcription factors, sub-lethal stress induced by consecutive low dose As3+ is also able to convert non-stem cells to the CSCs.
Temperature performance of 1.3-μm InGaAsP-InP lasers with different profile of p-doping

Temperature dependencies of the threshold current, device slope efficiency, and heterobarrier electron leakage current from the active region of InGaAsP-InP multiquantum-well (MQW) lasers with different profiles of acceptor doping were measured. We demonstrate that the temperature sensitivity of the device characteristics depends on the profile of p-doping, and that the variance in the temperature behavior of the threshold current and slope efficiency for lasers with different doping profiles cannot be explained by the change of the measured value of the leakage current with doping only. The entire experimental data can be qualitatively explained by suggesting that doping ran affect the value of electrostatic band profile deformation that affects temperature sensitivity of the output device characteristics. We show that doping of the p-cladding/SCH layer interface in InGaAsP-InP MQW lasers leads to improvement of the device temperature performance.
Cytologic Features of ALK-Positive Pulmonary Adenocarcinoma

Background The aim of this study was to determine the cytologic features of anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) expressing pulmonary adenocarcinoma. Methods We analyzed the cytopathological findings of 15 cases of endobronchial ultrasound guided aspiration and a case of bronchial washing. These cases were selected based on the histomorphology of ALK-rearranged lung adenocarcinoma. Results Cytology showed mucinous (81.3%) and hemorrhagic (50%) backgrounds. The cells were arranged in tubulopapillary or tubulocribriform patterns (93.8%), and clusters (56.3%) admixed with signet ring cell features (87.5%). The tumor cells were monotonous and uniform with vesicular nuclei and a small nucleolus. Conclusions The characteristic findings were sheets showing a tubulopapillary or tubulocribriform appearance, with vesicular nuclei and a bland chromatin pattern (p<0.001). Scattered signet ring cells were helpful in suggesting ALK-positive adenocarcinoma (p<0.001).
Origins and Evolution of WUSCHEL-Related Homeobox Protein Family in Plant Kingdom

WUSCHEL-related homeobox (WOX) is a large group of transcription factors specifically found in plants. WOX members contain the conserved homeodomain essential for plant development by regulating cell division and differentiation. However, the evolutionary relationship of WOX members in plant kingdom remains to be elucidated. In this study, we searched 350 WOX members from 50 species in plant kingdom. Linkage analysis of WOX protein sequences demonstrated that amino acid residues 141–145 and 153–160 located in the homeodomain are possibly associated with the function of WOXs during the evolution. These 350 members were grouped into 3 clades: the first clade represents the conservative WOXs from the lower plant algae to higher plants; the second clade has the members from vascular plant species; the third clade has the members only from spermatophyte species. Furthermore, among the members of Arabidopsis thaliana and Oryza sativa, we observed ubiquitous expression of genes in the first clade and the diversified expression pattern of WOX genes in distinct organs in the second clade and the third clade. This work provides insight into the origin and evolutionary process of WOXs, facilitating their functional investigations in the future.
Transcription Factor SP4 Is a Susceptibility Gene for Bipolar Disorder

The Sp4 transcription factor plays a critical role for both development and function of mouse hippocampus. Reduced expression of the mouse Sp4 gene results in a variety of behavioral abnormalities relevant to human psychiatric disorders. The human SP4 gene is therefore examined for its association with both bipolar disorder and schizophrenia in European Caucasian and Chinese populations respectively. Out of ten SNPs selected from human SP4 genomic locus, four displayed significant association with bipolar disorder in European Caucasian families (rs12668354, p = 0.022; rs12673091, p = 0.0005; rs3735440, p = 0.019; rs11974306, p = 0.018). To replicate the genetic association, the same set of SNPs was examined in a Chinese bipolar case control sample. Four SNPs displayed significant association (rs40245, p = 0.009; rs12673091, p = 0.002; rs1018954, p = 0.001; rs3735440, p = 0.029), and two of them (rs12673091, rs3735440) were shared with positive SNPs from European Caucasian families. Considering the genetic overlap between bipolar disorder and schizophrenia, we extended our studies in Chinese trios families for schizophrenia. The SNP7 (rs12673091, p = 0.012) also displayed a significant association. The SNP7 (rs12673091) was therefore significantly associated in all three samples, and shared the same susceptibility allele (A) across all three samples. On the other hand, we found a gene dosage effect for mouse Sp4 gene in the modulation of sensorimotor gating, a putative endophenotype for both schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. The deficient sensorimotor gating in Sp4 hypomorphic mice was partially reversed by the administration of dopamine D2 antagonist or mood stabilizers. Both human genetic and mouse pharmacogenetic studies support Sp4 gene as a susceptibility gene for bipolar disorder or schizophrenia. The studies on the role of Sp4 gene in hippocampal development may provide novel insights for the contribution of hippocampal abnormalities in these psychiatric disorders.