Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Coagulation and endothelial dysfunction during longterm hyperdynamic porcine bacteremia – effects of selective inducible nitric oxide synthase inhibition

Summary Coagulation abnormalities have been implicated in the pathogenesis of sepsis and organ dysfunction. Nitric oxide (NO) is regarded as a critical mediator of many vascular pathologies, including sepsis. However, limited evidence is available to document a relationship between NO generated by inducible NO synthase (iNOS) and hemostatic abnormalities in sepsis. Therefore, we evaluated the effects of selective iNOS inhibition on markers of endothelial and coagulation homeostasis in a clinically relevant model of porcine bacteremia induced and maintained for 24 hours (h) with a continuous infusion of live P. aeruginosa. After 12 h of sepsis, animals received either vehicle (Control, n = 7) or continuous infusion of selective iNOS inhibitor L-NIL (n=7). Before as well as 12, 18 and 24 h after starting P. aeruginosafollowing variables related to i) endothelial dysfunction (von Willebrand factor [vWf]; tissue plasminogen activator activity [t-PA]; ii) coagulation (thrombin-antithrombin complexes [TAT]; platelet count); iii) fibrinolysis (t-PA activity, activity of plasminogen activator inhibitor type 1 (PAI-1 act); and iv) oxidative/ nitrosative stress (isoprostanes, nitrate/nitrite levels) were measured. L-NIL inhibited sepsis-induced increase in plasma nitrate/nitrite and isoprostanes concentrations, prevented hypotension and acidosis. L-NIL significantly attenuated sepsisinduced rise in plasma vWF and TAT. P. aeruginosa-induced drop in t-PA activity was blunted by iNOS inhibition, while increased PAI-1 and reduced platelet count were not reversed by the treatment. In conclusion, selective iNOS inhibition was associated with attenuation of sepsis-induced coagulation and endothelial dysfunction suggesting the interplay between mediators of vascular system and hemostatic balance. Reduction of oxidative stress probably contributes to the beneficial effects afforded by iNOS blockade.
A battery health monitoring framework for planetary rovers

Batteries have seen an increased use in electric ground and air vehicles for commercial, military, and space applications as the primary energy source. An important aspect of using batteries in such contexts is battery health monitoring. Batteries must be carefully monitored such that the battery health can be determined, and end of discharge and end of usable life events may be accurately predicted. For planetary rovers, battery health estimation and prediction is critical to mission planning and decision-making. We develop a model-based approach utilizing computationally efficient and accurate electrochemistry models of batteries. An unscented Kalman filter yields state estimates, which are then used to predict the future behavior of the batteries and, specifically, end of discharge. The prediction algorithm accounts for possible future power demands on the rover batteries in order to provide meaningful results and an accurate representation of prediction uncertainty. The framework is demonstrated on a set of lithium-ion batteries powering a rover at NASA Ames Research Center using real experimental field test data.
The middle east conflict and tourism to Israel, 1967–90

Since the mid-1970s many developing countries have undertaken the development of their tourism infrastructures in an effort to attract a massive flow of inbound international tourists. In many of these countries international tourism has been perceived as an appropriate way to boost the economy by creating more jobs, a potential solution to foreign debt, -and the possibility of successfully implementing regional development plans, especially in peripheral areas. ' This industry is not just a major generator of foreign currency revenues but, being labour intensive, it provides thousands of jobs, some of which are in peripheral and lessdeveloped regions. Hard-currency income and job generation are considered the two most important benefits of tourism development, particularly in developing countries. ' The multi-functional nature of the tourism industry, on the one hand, and its highly sensitive nature, on the other, requires therefore guide-lines and plans for dealing with various potentially negative impacts that may arise during the course of the development process. One of the most destructive impacts is the effect of the security situation on the potential tourist's willingness to visit a given destination, country or region. A turbulent security environment, caused by wars, coups d'e'tat, civil unrest and terrorism, has already proved its negative impact on tourism development in many countries around the world. The willingness to visit tourist destinations obviously diminishes once tourists realize that their holiday, and sometimes their lives, may be put in danger.3 The nature of security events, their duration, location, level of severity, frequency and the way they are perceived by the tourist all determine the level of the negative impact on the travel industry. The most problematic effect is the decline of inbound international tourist flows to a given affected country and its results. ' The security situation in the Middle East has affected not only the countries of conflict but, in some cases, also the rest of the eastern Mediterranean basin, including those countries which never took an active part in the major regional conflict (Turkey, Greece and Cyprus, for example). As a result of the continuous conflicts in the Middle East, while world tourism arrivals has grown steadily attaining new records every
E-cadherin interactions are required for Langerhans cell differentiation

Human skin contains the following two distinct DC subsets: (i) Langerhans cells (LCs), expressing Langerin but not DC‐specific intercellular adhesion molecule‐3‐grabbing nonintegrin (DC‐SIGN), are predominantly localized in the epidermis; and (ii) dermal DCs, expressing DC‐SIGN but not Langerin, are observed mainly in the dermis. It is not known whether localization in the epidermis provides cues for LC differentiation. Here, we show that E‐cadherin expressed by epidermal keratinocytes (KCs) is crucial for differentiation of LCs. Monocytes differentiated into LC‐like cells in presence of IL‐4, GM‐CSF, and TGF‐β1. However, these LC‐like cells expressed not only Langerin but also DC‐SIGN. Notably, co‐culturing of these LC‐like cells with KCs expressing E‐cadherin or recombinant E‐cadherin strongly decreased expression of DC‐SIGN and further induced a phenotype similar to purified epidermal LCs. Moreover, pretreatment of LC‐like cells with anti‐E‐cadherin‐specific antibody completely abolished their Langerin expression, indicating the requirement of E‐cadherin–E‐cadherin interactions for the differentiation into Langerin+ cells. These findings suggest that E‐cadherin expressed by KCs provide environmental cues that induce differentiation of LCs in the epidermis.
Biodiversity offsetting: problematisation of an emerging governance regime

Purpose – The paper aims to analyse accounting rationalities and practices which lie behind biodiversity offsetting. The way in which accounting functions as a technology of government through the practice of biodiversity offsetting is to be considered and its effects examined.Design/methodology/approach – Governmentality is drawn upon to examine ways in which power and authority are exercised in a single case study setting. Data analysed comprise corporate and industry websites and documents, corporate reports, public documentation and interviews. The arena concept is utilised to highlight contestation in the case, and signal concerns regarding the wider impact of the use of particular accounting rationalities and technologies in the context of biodiversity offsetting.Findings – The paper provides empirical insights into how accounting for biodiversity offsetting rationales and practices constitute an attempt to reproduce power relations in favour of particular parties and foster disciplinary effects. Th.
The relationship between low levels of mindfulness skills and pathological worry: the mediating role of psychological inflexibility

Mindfulness-based interventions have recently been proposed for the treatment of generalized anxiety disorder (GAD). However, the specific nature of the relationship between mindfulness skills and patholog- ical worry is still not very well known. This study analyzes the mediating role of psychological inflexibility—a central construct in the acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) model of psychopathology—in the effect of mindfulness skills on pathological worry. A total of 132 nonclinical par- ticipants completed questionnaires assessing the constructs of interest: the Penn State Worry Questionnaire (PSWQ), the Acceptance and Action Questionnaire - II (AAQ-II), and the Kentucky Inventory of Mindfulness Skills (KIMS). Because the Spanish translation of the KIMS used lacked of a formal validation, its psychometric properties and factor structure were previously evaluated. This process led to a reduced version of the KIMS that showed good internal consistency and factor structure. Mediation analyses revealed that psychological inflexibility fully mediated the effects of mindfulness skills as a set on pathological worry. Regarding specific mindfulness skills, psychological inflexibility was shown to be a mediator and suppressor, respectively, of the relationship between acceptance with- out judgment and act with awareness on worry. Results are discussed em- phasizing the need of using mindfulness exercises to promote psychologi-
On the ability to inhibit thought and action

Many situations require people to stop or change their current thoughts and actions. We present a theory of the inhibition of thought and action to account for people's performance in such situations. The theory proposes that a control signal, such as an external stop signal or an error during performance, starts a stopping process that races against the processes underlying ongoing thought and action. If the stopping process wins, thought and action are inhibited; if the ongoing process wins, thought and action run on to completion. We develop the theory formally to account for many aspects of performance in situations with explicit stop signals, and we apply it to several sets of data. We discuss the relation between response inhibition and other acts of control in motor performance and in cognition, and we consider how our theory relates to current thinking about attentional control and automaticity.
Popular television formats, The student-as-consumer metaphor, acculturation and critical engagement in the teaching of accounting

This paper discusses six television programme formats which were self-selected by Australian university students to facilitate their group-based presentations of accounting subject matter to fellow students in seminar and tutorial classes. This paper is a reflection upon the experiences of these formats (news and current affairs, game shows, tabloid television, soap operas, children's programmes and situation comedies) using an evaluative framework comprising the student-as-consumer metaphor, notions of ‘acculturation’ and a model of ‘critical engagement’. The television programme format appears to be beneficial in serving accounting students' psychological and emotional needs and in providing them with a shared cultural structure by which to address accounting issues. This shared structure facilitates students' critical and creative engagement with accounting.
On the application of the auto mutual information rate of decrease to biomedical signals

The auto mutual information function (AMIF) evaluates the signal predictability by assessing linear and nonlinear dependencies between two measurements taken from a single time series. Furthermore, the AMIF rate of decrease (AMIFRD) is correlated with signal entropy. This metric has been used to analyze biomedical data, including cardiac and brain activity recordings. Hence, the AMIFRD can be a relevant parameter in the context of biomedical signal analysis. Thus, in this pilot study, we have analyzed a synthetic sequence (a Lorenz system) and real biosignals (electroencephalograms recorded with eyes open and closed) with the AMIFRD. We aimed at illustrating the application of this parameter to biomedical time series. Our results show that the AMIFRD can detect changes in the non-linear dynamics of a sequence and that it can distinguish different physiological conditions.
Relationship of stimulated whole saliva cortisol level with the severity of a feeling of dry mouth in menopausal women.

OBJECTIVES To evaluate the relationship of stimulated whole saliva cortisol level with the severity of a feeling of dry mouth (DM) in menopausal women. BACKGROUND A feel of DM is a major complaint for many elderly individuals and strongly associated with the menopause. The exact mechanisms that mediate sensation of DM in menopausal women have not been firmly established. METHODS A case-control study was carried out on 104 selected menopausal women with/without a feeling of DM, conducted at the Clinic of Oral Medicine, Tehran University of Medical Sciences. Xerostomia Inventory (XI) score was used as an index of DM severity. Stimulated whole saliva cortisol concentration (stimulated by chewing standard-sized paraffin for 60 s) was measured by ELISA. Statistical analysis by Student's t-test and Spearman correlation was used. RESULTS The mean cortisol concentration of saliva, but not saliva cortisol output, was significantly higher in the cases than in the controls. There was significant positive correlation between XI score and concentration (r = 0.357, p = 0.000) or output (r = 0.223, p = 0.017) of stimulated whole saliva cortisol. CONCLUSIONS It appears that stimulated whole saliva cortisol is high in menopausal women with a feeling of DM.
Phase- and size-controllable synthesis of hexagonal upconversion rare-earth fluoride nanocrystals through an oleic acid/ionic liquid two-phase system.

Herein, we introduce a facile, user- and environmentally friendly (n-octanol-induced) oleic acid (OA)/ionic liquid (IL) two-phase system for the phase- and size-controllable synthesis of water-soluble hexagonal rare earth (RE = La, Gd, and Y) fluoride nanocrystals with uniform morphologies (mainly spheres and elongated particles) and small sizes (<50 nm). The unique role of the IL 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium hexafluorophosphate (BmimPF(6)) and n-octanol in modulating the phase structure and particle size are discussed in detail. More importantly, the mechanism of the (n-octanol-induced) OA/IL two-phase system, the formation of the RE fluoride nanocrystals, and the distinctive size- and morphology-controlling capacity of the system are presented. BmimPF(6) is versatile in term of crystal-phase manipulation, size and shape maintenance, and providing water solubility in a one-step reaction. The luminescent properties of Er(3+)-, Ho(3+)-, and Tm(3+)-doped LaF(3), NaGdF(4), and NaYF(4) nanocrystals were also studied. It is worth noting that the as-prepared products can be directly dispersed in water due to the hydrophilic property of Bmim(+) (cationic part of the IL) as a capping agent. This advantageous feature has made the IL-capped products favorable in facile surface modifications, such as the classic Stober method. Finally, the cytotoxicity evaluation of NaYF(4):Yb,Er nanocrystals before and after silica coating was conducted for further biological applications.
A robust digital image watermarking technique using auto encoder based convolutional neural networks

Watermarking plays a very important role in providing authentication, ownership and transmission of secret information. The existing techniques of watermarking in literature are based on either spatial domain or transformation domain. Human brain consists of large number of neurons which are capable of doing paralleling tasking accurately. This resulted in the evaluation of neural network architectures, providing wide range of well connected features representing the input of the network. Convolutional Neural Networks(CNN) which were evolved in early 90s became popular and are being in use in wide range of tasks like classification, detection, recognition, patch matching. In this paper, we propose a digital image watermarking technique using auto-encoder based CNN which is robust to different noises and attacks like salt & pepper, Gaussian and JPEG effect. The proposed method, to the best of our knowledge, is the very first attempt of CNN in the domain of watermarking. We compare the performance of the proposed technique with the existing techniques which are based on spatial domain and transform domain. We show that the proposed method of watermarking using auto encoder based CNN (ACNNWM) gives better or on par results with the existing methods.
The Slp Homology Domain of Synaptotagmin-like Proteins 1–4 and Slac2 Functions as a Novel Rab27A Binding Domain*

rab27A, which encodes a small GTP-binding protein, was recently identified as a gene in which mutations caused human hemophagocytic syndrome (Griscelli syndrome) andashen mice, which exhibit defects in melanosome transport as well as in regulated granule exocytosis in cytotoxic T lymphocytes. However, little is known about the molecular mechanism of Rab27A-dependent membrane trafficking or the specific effector molecules of Rab27A. In this study, we discovered that the Slp (synaptotagmin-like protein) homology domain (SHD) of Slp1–3 and Slac2-a/b specifically and directly binds the GTP-bound form of Rab27A both in vitro and in intact cells but not of the other Rabs tested (Rab1, Rab2, Rab3A, Rab4, Rab5A, Rab6A, Rab7, Rab8, Rab9, Rab10, Rab11A, Rab17, Rab18, Rab20, Rab22, Rab23, Rab25, Rab28, and Rab37). Immunocytochemical analysis revealed that Slp2 (or Slp1) colocalized with Rab27A in the melanosomes of melanoma cells. Slp2 and Rab27A were distributed to the periphery of the cells (especially at the dendritic tips) in the wild-type melanoma cells, whereas they accumulated in the perinuclear region in the melanosome transport-defective cells (S91/Cloudman). These results strongly indicated that the SHD of Slp1–3 and Slac2 functions as an in vivo Rab27A binding domain.
The Craig Handicap Assessment and Reporting Technique (CHART): Metric Properties and Scoring

The purpose of this study was to facilitate the proper use and interpretation of the Craig Handicap Assessment and Reporting Technique (CHART) as a measure of community integration and social participation in individuals with spinal cord injury (SCI). CHART data on 1,998 cases in the SCI Model Systems database were analyzed. These cases provide the basis for norms by neurologic categories on a large sample. The relationship of CHART subscale scores with demographic factors (age, gender, race/ethnicity, occupation, year post injury, marital status, and education) and level and completeness of SCI are described. Maximum scores achieved for the subscales are presented by time post injury. Sample biases are demonstrated with substantial missing data in the Economic Self Sufficiency subscale. The CHART total score is shown to be a potentially misleading summary assessment of handicap, and use of subscale scores is recommended. The discussion addresses these issues and others relevant to characteristics and pra.
Constructing an Annotated Corpus for Protest Event Mining

We present a corpus for protest event min- ing that combines token-level annotation with the event schema and ontology of entities and events from protest research in the social sci- ences. The dataset uses newswire reports from the English Gigaword corpus. The token-level annotation is inspired by annotation standards for event extraction, in particular that of the Automated Content Extraction 2005 corpus (Walker et al., 2006). Domain experts perform the entire annotation task. We report competi- tive intercoder agreement results.
Directed evolution of phenylacetone monooxygenase as an active catalyst for the baeyer–villiger conversion of cyclohexanone to caprolactone

Phenylacetone monooxygenase (PAMO) is an exceptionally robust Baeyer–Villiger monooxygenase, which makes it ideal for potential industrial applications. However, its substrate scope is limited, unreactive cyclohexanone being a prominent example. Such a limitation is unfortunate, because this particular transformation in an ecologically viable manner would be highly desirable, the lactone and the respective lactam being of considerable interest as monomers in polymer science. We have applied directed evolution in search of an active mutant for this valuable C‐C activating reaction. Using iterative saturation mutagenesis (ISM), several active mutants were evolved, with only a minimal trade‐off in terms of stability. The best mutants allow for quantitative conversion of 2 mM cyclohexanone within 1 h reaction time. In order to circumvent the NADP+ regeneration problem, whole E. coli resting cells were successfully applied. Molecular dynamics simulations and induced fit docking throw light on the origin of enhanced PAMO activity. The PAMO mutants constitute ideal starting points for future directed evolution optimization necessary for an industrial process. Biotechnol. Bioeng. 2015;112: 1354–1364. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Judicial Decision Thresholds for Violence Risk Management

To affect violence risk management decisions, it is necessary to apply a decision threshold to the estimates that actuarial violence risk assessments generate. Despite widespread agreement that the choice of decision threshold is a matter of policy rather than of science, no one has actually asked policy makers about their choices. A survey was conducted asking 26 judges where they would set the decision threshold for instituting short-term civil commitment as a “danger to others. ” The five risk assessment options communicated to the judges were the Risk Classes obtained in the MacArthur Study. Results showed great variability among judges. As a group, however, judges chose Risk Class 3 – a 0.26 likelihood of committing a violent act – as their decision threshold for short-term civil commitment.
On Comparing Apples with Apples Deemed Nonexistent: A Reply to Johnson

ABSTRACT M. Johnson's rebuttal is an example of the paradigm I described to readers in my original article. Johnson develops a taxonomy of intimate violence where female initiated violence does not exist. He does this despite extensive evidence to the contrary. A recent national survey included questions about both severity and instrumentality of violence given to both genders. Intimate terrorism (as defined by a combination of instrumentality and repletion of severe violence) is perpetrated by both genders (2.6% of women and 4.2% of men). The notion that women do not initiate domestic violence is misleading to custody assessors who must consider risk to children as part of the child's best interest.