Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Association of HLA-G 3’ Untranslated Region Polymorphisms with Systemic Lupus Erythematosus in a Japanese Population: A Case-Control Association Study

HLA-G plays a role in fetal-maternal tolerance as well as immunoregulation, and has been suggested to be involved in autoimmune diseases and cancers. HLA-G encodes two potentially functional polymorphisms in the 3’ untranslated region, 14bp insertion/deletion (14bp indel, rs371194629) and a single nucleotide polymorphism rs1063320, previously reported to affect HLA-G expression level or splicing isoform and to be associated with susceptibility to systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). However, the results of SLE association studies are inconsistent, probably due to the small sample size of each study and lack of consideration of linkage disequilibrium (LD) with HLA-class II haplotypes in each population. In this study, we performed association studies of these polymorphisms on 843 patients with SLE and 778 healthy controls in a Japanese population, in many of whom HLA-DRB1 alleles have been genotyped at the four-digit level. LD was detected between DRB1*13:02, protective against multiple autoimmune diseases in the Japanese, and the rs1063320 G (D’ = 0.86, r2 = 0.02) and with 14bp del (D’ = 0.62, r2 = 0.01), but not between SLE-susceptible DRB1*15:01 and HLA-G. Although significant association with overall SLE was not detected, 14bp ins allele was significantly associated with SLE with the age of onset <20 years, when compared with healthy controls (P = 0.0067, PFDR = 0.039, OR 1.44, additive model) or with SLE patients with the age of onset ≥20 (P = 0.033, PFDR = 0.0495, OR 2.09, additive model). This association remained significant after conditioning on DRB1*13:02 or DRB1*15:01. On the other hand, significant association was detected between rs1063320 C and anti-RNP antibody and anti-Sm antibody positive SLE, which was dependent on negative LD with DRB1*13:02. eQTL analysis showed reduced HLA-G mRNA level in 14bp ins/ins individuals. In conclusion, our observations showed that HLA-G 14bp ins allele represents a genetic contribution on early-onset SLE independent of DRB1.
Use of chemical profiles in assessing the feeding ecology of eastern North Pacific killer whales

Blubber biopsy samples from adult male North Pacific killer whales (Orcinus orca), were analyzed for fatty acids, carbon and nitrogen stable isotopes and organochlorine contaminants. Fatty acid profiles were sufficiently distinct among the three reported ecotypes (“resident,” “transient” or “offshore”) to correctly classify the whales in this study by ecotype using a previously developed discriminant function model. In addition, a new discriminant function model was developed using data from whales from both the new and the previous studies. PCB profiles in blubber also allowed unambiguous classification of all three killer whale ecotypes (also using both the old and new models). OC concentrations and ratios were used to provide additional insight on the dietary preferences of killer whales biopsied in Alaska, particularly for the offshores about which little dietary information is available. Surprisingly, mean ∑DDT concentrations in the offshores exceeded those of the Alaska transients and were 20 times higher than those of the residents. In addition, mean ∑PCB concentrations of offshores were very similar to those of the transients and were 10 times higher than those of the residents. If the offshores are fish-eaters, concentrations of ∑PCBs and ∑DDTs should be more similar to those in the fish-eating residents, rather than to those of the marine mammal-eating transients—however, the reverse was true. Thus, it appears that offshores feed at a high trophic level or consume species containing high levels of ∑PCB and ∑DDT, perhaps shark or tuna species. Ratios of certain contaminants have been used to define regions from which prey may originate. Offshore contaminant ratios (e.g., ∑DDTs/∑PCBs and p,p’-DDT/∑DDTs) generally fell between those of the West Coast transients and those of the Alaska residents and transients. Because the offshores are known to have a range that extends from Alaska to California, their contaminant ratios and other chemical profiles may represent those from a mix of prey species acquired from California to the Arctic. However, this study demonstrates that offshore killer whales consume prey species that are distinctly different from those of sympatric resident and transient killer whales. To identify the particular species that comprise the diets of offshore killer whales, as well as for the other ecotypes, contaminant profiles and ratios, as well as fatty acid and stable isotope profiles must be measured in many more putative prey species collected from the killer whales’ foraging areas.
Concurrency testing using schedule bounding: an empirical study

We present the first independent empirical study on schedule bounding techniques for systematic concurrency testing (SCT). We have gathered 52 buggy concurrent software benchmarks, drawn from public code bases, which we call SCTBench. We applied a modified version of an existing concurrency testing tool to SCTBench to attempt to answer several research questions, including: How effective are the two main schedule bounding techniques, preemption bounding and delay bounding, at bug finding? What challenges are associated with applying SCT to existing code? How effective is schedule bounding compared to a naive random scheduler at finding bugs? Our findings confirm that delay bounding is superior to preemption bounding and that schedule bounding is more effective at finding bugs than unbounded depth-first search. The majority of bugs in SCTBench can be exposed using a small bound (1-3), supporting previous claims, but there is at least one benchmark that requires 5 preemptions. Surprisingly, we found that a naive random scheduler is at least as effective as schedule bounding for finding bugs. We have made SCTBench and our tools publicly available for reproducibility and use in future work.
FDG-Avid Portal Vein Tumor Thrombosis from Hepatocellular Carcinoma in Contrast-Enhanced FDG PET/CT

Objective(s): In this study, we aimed to describe the characteristics of portal vein tumor thrombosis (PVTT), complicating hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in contrast-enhanced FDG PET/CT scan. Methods: In this retrospective study, 9 HCC patients with FDG-avid PVTT were diagnosed by contrast-enhanced fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography/computed tomography (FDG PET/CT), which is a combination of dynamic liver CT scan, multiphase imaging, and whole-body PET scan. PET and CT DICOM images of patients were imported into the PET/CT imaging system for the re-analysis of contrast enhancement and FDG uptake in thrombus, the diameter of the involved portal vein, and characteristics of liver tumors and metastasis. Results: Two patients with previously untreated HCC and 7 cases with previously treated HCC had FDG-avid PVTT in contrast-enhanced FDG PET/CT scan. During the arterial phase of CT scan, portal vein thrombus showed contrast enhancement in 8 out of 9 patients (88.9%). PET scan showed an increased linear FDG uptake along the thrombosed portal vein in all patients. The mean greatest diameter of thrombosed portal veins was 1.8 ± 0.2 cm, which was significantly greater than that observed in normal portal veins (P<0.001). FDG uptake level in portal vein thrombus was significantly higher than that of blood pool in the reference normal portal vein (P=0.001). PVTT was caused by the direct extension of liver tumors. All patients had visible FDG-avid liver tumors in contrast-enhanced images. Five out of 9 patients (55.6%) had no extrahepatic metastasis, 3 cases (33.3%) had metastasis of regional lymph nodes, and 1 case (11.1%) presented with distant metastasis. The median estimated survival time of patients was 5 months. Conclusion: The intraluminal filling defect consistent with thrombous within the portal vein, expansion of the involved portal vein, contrast enhancement, and linear increased FDG uptake of the thrombus extended from liver tumor are findings of FDG-avid PVTT from HCC in contrast-enhanced FDG PET/CT.
The efficacy of a percutaneous expandable titanium device in anatomical reduction of vertebral compression fractures of the thoracolumbar spine

Objectives: To evaluate the feasibility of a minimally invasive technique using a titanium expandable device to achieve anatomical restoration of vertebral compression fractures (VCF) of the thoracolumbar spine. Methods: This prospective study included 27 patients diagnosed with VCF (Magerl classification A.1.2, A.1.3, and A.3.1) of the thoracolumbar spine treated with percutaneous cement augmentation using the SpineJack® device. The study was conducted in Valladolid University Hospital, Valladolid, Spain from January to December 2012, with a minimum one-year follow up. Preoperative evaluation included visual analogue scale (VAS) for pain, and radiological assessment of the VCF using 3-dimensional computed tomography (3D-CT) scans for measurements of vertebral heights and angles. The patients were followed at 3, 6, and 12 months with clinical VAS and radiological assessments. Results: The procedure was performed in 27 patients with a mean age of 55.9 ± 17.3 years, 55.6% females. All patients underwent surgery within 6 weeks from time of injury. No procedure related complications occurred. Pain measured by VAS score decreased from 7.0 preoperatively to 3.2 within 24 hours, and remained 2.2 at 3 months, 2.1 at 6 months, and 1.5 at 12-months follow-up (p<0.05). Mean height restorations for the anterior was 3.56 mm, central was 2.49, and posterior vertebral was 1.28 mm, and maintained at 12-months follow-up (p=0.001). Conclusion: This new percutaneous technique for VCF has shown good clinical results in pain control and the possibility to reduce both vertebral kyphosis angles and fractured endplates seen in 3D-CT scans assessment method. Further studies are needed to confirm those results on larger cohorts with long-term follow up.
“So, what is an embryo?” A comparative study of the views of those asked to donate embryos for hESC research in the UK and Switzerland

The moral status of the human embryo has gained much attention in debates over the acceptability, or otherwise, of human embryonic stem cell research. Far less attention has been paid to the suppliers of those embryos: people who have undergone IVF treatment to produce embryos to assist them to have a baby. It is sociologically and ethically important to understand their views and experiences of being asked to donate embryos for research if we are to fully understand the wider social and regulatory aspects of hESC science. This paper reports on parallel studies investigating these issues in the UK and in Switzerland. The studies reveal the inextricable entangling of the social and moral status of embryos. Since donors participate in different discursive domains and contexts (public, clinic, family) that shape their perception of “what” an embryo is, their views of embryos embody conflicting ideas and ambivalences.
Transition from Preschool to Primary School: An Overview of the Personal Experiences of Children and their Parents in Singapore

SUMMARY Studies in the US, UK and Australia in particular have researched aspects of school readiness and children s transition from pre to primary school. Although there are now many examples in the literature ofgood practices that should help to ease this process the topic has only received attention quite recently in Singapore. This paper reports on the perceptions of 500 families prior to school entry and 270 families on follow up six months later: part of the findings of two research projects that studied different aspects of transition from pre-school to primary school in Singapore. The first research project studied the effects of a parent involvement project on children s academic and language skill acquisition in pre-school and later into their coping skills in primary school. The second project investigated young children's abilities to adjust to some of the cognitive, language, social and emotional demands of primary schools. Both studies were conducted during the final six months in pre-school andfollow-ups were conducted during their first year in primary school.
Performance of Redirected Walking Algorithms in a Constrained Virtual World

Redirected walking algorithms imperceptibly rotate a virtual scene about users of immersive virtual environment systems in order to guide them away from tracking area boundaries. Ideally, these distortions permit users to explore large unbounded virtual worlds while walking naturally within a physically limited space. Many potential virtual worlds are composed of corridors, passageways, or aisles. Assuming users are not expected to walk through walls or other objects within the virtual world, these constrained worlds limit the directions of travel and as well as the number of opportunities to change direction. The resulting differences in user movement characteristics within the physical world have an impact on redirected walking algorithm performance. This work presents a comparison of generalized RDW algorithm performance within a constrained virtual world. In contrast to previous studies involving unconstrained virtual worlds, experimental results indicate that the steer-to-orbit keeps users in a smaller area than the steer-to-center algorithm. Moreover, in comparison to steer-to-center, steer-to-orbit is shown to reduce potential wall contacts by over 29%.
Drosophila couch potato Mutants Exhibit Complex Neurological Abnormalities Including Epilepsy Phenotypes

RNA-binding proteins play critical roles in regulation of gene expression, and impairment can have severe phenotypic consequences on nervous system function. We report here the discovery of several complex neurological phenotypes associated with mutations of couch potato (cpo), which encodes a Drosophila RNA-binding protein. We show that mutation of cpo leads to bang-sensitive paralysis, seizure susceptibility, and synaptic transmission defects. A new cpo allele called cpoEG1 was identified on the basis of a bang-sensitive paralytic mutant phenotype in a sensitized genetic background (sda/+). In heteroallelic combinations with other cpo alleles, cpoEG1 shows an incompletely penetrant bang-sensitive phenotype with ∼30% of flies becoming paralyzed. In response to electroconvulsive shock, heteroallelic combinations with cpoEG1 exhibit seizure thresholds less than half that of wild-type flies. Finally, cpo flies display several neurocircuit abnormalities in the giant fiber (GF) system. The TTM muscles of cpo mutants exhibit long latency responses coupled with decreased following frequency. DLM muscles in cpo mutants show drastic reductions in following frequency despite exhibiting normal latency relationships. The labile sites appear to be the electrochemical GF-TTMn synapse and the chemical PSI-DLMn synapses. These complex neurological phenotypes of cpo mutants support an important role for cpo in regulating proper nervous system function, including seizure susceptibility.
The Usefulness of Past Knowledge when Learning a New Task in Deep Neural Networks

In the current study we investigate the ability of a Deep Neural Network (DNN) to reuse, in a new task, features previously acquired in other tasks. The architecture we realized, when learning the new task, will not destroy its ability in solving the previous tasks. Such architecture was obtained by training a series of DNNs on different tasks and then merging them to form a larger DNN by adding new neurons. The resulting DNN was trained on a new task, with only the connections relative to the new neurons allowed to change. The architecture performed very well, requiring few new parameters and a smaller dataset in order to be trained efficiently and, on the new task, outperforming several DNNs trained from scratch.
Noncommutative field theory and violation of translation invariance

Noncommutative field theories with commutator of the coordinates of the form [xμ,xν] = i Λωμνxω with nilpotent structure constants are studied and shown that a free quantum field theory is not affected. Invariance under translations is broken and the conservation of energy-momentum is violated, obeying a new law which is expressed by a Poincare-invariant equation. The resulting new kinematics is studied and applied to simple examples and to astrophysical puzzles, such as the observed violation of the GZK cutoff. The λΦ4 quantum field theory is also considered in this context. In particular, self interaction terms violate the usual conservation of energy-momentum and, hence, the radiative correction to the propagator is altered. The correction to first order in λ is calculated. The usual UV divergent terms are still present, but a new type of term also emerges, which is IR divergent, violates momentum conservation and implies a correction to the dispersion relation.
Lack of Connexin43-Mediated Bergmann Glial Gap Junctional Coupling does not Affect Cerebellar Long-Term Depression, Motor Coordination, or Eyeblink Conditioning

Bergmann glial cells are specialized astrocytes in the cerebellum. In the mature cerebellar molecular layer, Bergmann glial processes are closely associated with Purkinje cells, enclosing Purkinje cell dendritic synapses with a glial sheath. There is intensive gap junctional coupling between Bergmann glial processes, but their significance in cerebellar functions is not known. Connexin43 (Cx43), a major component of astrocytic gap junction channels, is abundantly expressed in Bergmann glial cells. To examine the role of Cx43-mediated gap junctions between Bergmann glial cells in cerebellar functions, we generated Cx43 conditional knockout mice with the S100b-Cre transgenic line (Cx43fl/fl:S100b-Cre), which exhibited a significant loss of Cx43 in the Bergmann glial cells and astrocytes in the cerebellum with a postnatal onset. The Cx43fl/fl:S100b-Cre mice had normal cerebellar architecture. Although gap junctional coupling between the Bergmann glial cells measured by spreading of microinjected Lucifer yellow was virtually abolished in Cx43fl/fl:S100b-Cre mice, electrophysiologic analysis revealed that cerebellar long-term depression could be induced and maintained normally in their cerebellar slices. In addition, at the behavioral level, Cx43fl/fl:S100b-Cre mice had normal motor coordination in the rotarod task and normal conditioned eyelid response. Our findings suggest that Cx43-mediated gap junctional coupling between Bergmann glial cells is not necessary for the neuron-glia interactions required for cerebellum-dependent motor coordination and motor learning.
Effects of Increasing Users' Attention on Cost in Software Download Interfaces on the Internet

In this paper we analyze how users behave on the Internet while dealing with software download. We present the results of a usability test performed comparing the Internet Explorer SP-1 software download interface with a wizard-based interface. Experimental results show that our 3-step wizard is effective in increasing users' attention level and is almost error free.
100 years of consolidation--remembering Müller and Pilzecker.

Introduction The origin of the concept of memory consolidation and the introduction of the term “consolidirung” (consolidation) to the modern science of memory are generally credited to Georg Elias Müller (1850–1934), professor at the University of Göttingen, Germany, and his student Alfons Pilzecker. Their seminal monograph “Experimentelle Beiträge zur Lehre vom Gedächtnis” (Experimental Contributions to the Science of Memory), published in 1900, proposed that learning does not induce instantaneous, permanent memories but that memory takes time to be fixed (or consolidated). Consequently, memory remains vulnerable to disruption for a period of time after learning. Georg Müller was among the founders of experimental psychology. Inspired by the work of Gustav Fechner (1801–1887), Wilhelm Wundt (1832–1920), and Herman Ebbinghaus (1859–1909), he was an early advocate of the view that mental function results from the action of matter, and that learning and memory should thus exhibit lawful properties. In their 300-page monograph, Müller and Pilzecker reported 40 experiments, carried out between 1892 and 1900, which were designed to identify the laws that govern memory formation and retrieval. Although Müller and Pilzecker have been frequently acknowledged for introducing the concept of memory consolidation, their monograph has not been translated and knowledge of their methods and experimental findings has faded with the passing of almost a century. This commentary is intended to outline the experimental work of Müller and Pilzecker to explicate how the concept of memory consolidation originated. In their studies, Müller and Pilzecker used lists of nonsense syllables, which had been introduced by Ebbinghaus (1885). In his experiments, Ebbinghaus determined the number of trials that were needed to reproduce all of the syllables in a studied list twice without error (method of complete mastery). The methods of Müller and Pilzecker differed in
Factors Affecting Customer Loyalty of Using Internet Banking in Malaysia

Internet banking (IB) has become one of the widely used banking services among Malaysian retail banking customers in recent years. Despite its attractiveness, customer loyalty towards Internet banking website has become an issue due to stiff competition among the banks in Malaysia. As the development and validation of a customer loyalty model in Internet banking website context in Malaysia had not been addressed by past studies, this study attempts to develop a model based on the usage of Information System, with the purpose to investigate factors influencing customer loyalty towards Internet banking websites. A questionnaire survey was conducted with the sample consisting of Internet banking users in Malaysia. Factors that influence customer loyalty towards Internet banking website in Malaysia have been investigated and tested. The study also attempts to identify the most essential factors among those investigated: service quality, perceived value, trust, habit and reputation of the bank. Based on the findings, trust, habit and reputation are found to have a significant influence on customer loyalty towards individual Internet banking websites in Malaysia. As compared to trust or habit factors, reputation is the strongest influence. The results also indicated that service quality and perceived value are not significantly related to customer loyalty. Service quality is found to be an important factor in influencing the adoption of the technology, but did not have a significant influence in retention of customers. The findings have provided an insight to the internet banking providers on the areas to be focused on in retaining their customers.