Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Potential determinants of heavier internet usage

Despite its uses, the Internet is liable to be abused. “Internet Addiction” is a newly proposed construct, derived form DSM-IV criteria for substance abuse. As a very recent phenomenon, excess internet use probably arises through pre-existing mechanisms. The addictive element may be the search for stimulation through interactive services, or the Internet may serve the purpose of an escape from real-life difficulties. We therefore considered the extent to which sensation seeking or poor self-esteem predicts heavier Internet use. Fifty participants, recruited through the Internet or the Internet Addiction Support Group, completed an Internet Related Problem Scale, the MMPI-2 Addiction Potential Scale, the Coopersmith Self-Esteem Inventory and the Sensation Seeking Scale. The Internet Related Problem Scale showed a moderate level of internal consistency and demonstrated construct validity, predicting hours of Internet use and having a relationship with the Addiction Potential Scale. While poorer self-esteem predicted greater scores on the Internet Related Problem Scale, impulsivity did not. Researchers need to re-assess previous conceptualizations of the typical “computer addict” as a highly educated, male introvert with a constant need for intellectual stimulation (Shotton, 1991).
Information systems security engineering: a critical component of the systems engineering lifecycle

The purpose of this research paper is to illustrate the industrial and federal need for Information Systems Security Engineering (ISSE) in order to build Information Assurance (IA) into a system rather than the current costly practice of fixing systems after production. Extensive research was performed by collecting information from throughout the World Wide Web to include sites such as the National Security Agency's Homepage, the Information Assurance Technical Framework Homepage, the Workshop for Application of Engineering Principles to System Security Design, as well as many others. This research realized the following findings: (1) IA is dangerously left out of systems engineering processes; (2) a consortium from academia, industry and the federal government have formalized ISSE and its processes; (3) federally sponsored and industrially sponsored professional certifications exist for security engineers practicing ISSE; (4) ISSE, however, is not greatly used today due to a lack of understanding and a perceived high cost; (5) end-users are beginning to understand IA and are calling for more secure systems. This paper was written to illustrate a way forward, a method to bring ISSE to the frontlines of systems engineering and bring to life a notional concept of Designing for Security. This paper does not provide quantitative analyses as to the benefits of ISSE vs. the initial up front costs; however, further research should be accomplished in the future to address this. In conclusion, I recommend that ISSE must be identified as a critical component of the systems engineering lifecycle and be properly utilized to ensure that future products meet the IA demands of the end user. To achieve this, academia must build degree programs to educate ISSE and incorporate ISSE into existing degree programs; industry and the federal government must both embrace these principles and apply these techniques to their post-production, active engineering as well as new program developments.
Risk Sharing and Market Incompleteness

This version fixes several errors in the published version. We are grateful to Fernando Alvarez and Felipe Zurita for finding many of these errors, and to Fernando Alvarez for suggesting a simpler proof of Lemma 2. We thank the National Science Foundation and the UCLA Academic Senate Committee on Research for financial support. RISK SHARING AND MARKET INCOMPLETENESS 1
Structural diversity and biological significance of glycosphingolipids in pathogenic and opportunistic fungi

Glycosphingolipids (GSLs) are ubiquitous membrane components and have key roles in biological systems, acting as second messengers or modulators of signal transduction by affecting several events, ranging from cell adhesion, cell growth, cell motility, regulation of apoptosis and cell cycle. Over the last 20 years our laboratory and other research groups determined the glycan and ceramide structures of more than 20 GSLs from several pathogenic/opportunistic fungi, using a combination of gas chromatography, mass spectrometry, nuclear magnetic resonance as well as other immunochemical and biochemical techniques. Fungal GSLs can be divided in two major classes: neutral GSLs, galactosyl- and glucosylceramide (GlcCer), and acidic GSLs, the glycosylinositol-phosphorylceramides (GIPCs). Glycosyl structures in fungal GIPCs exhibited significant structural diversity and distinct composition when compared to mammalian GSLs, e.g., the expression of inositol-mannose and inositol-glucosamine cores and the terminal residue of β-D-galactofuranose which are absent in mammalian cells. Studies performed by our group demonstrated that GIPC (Galfβ 6[Manα3]Manα2InsPCer) elicited in patients with paracoccidioidomycosis an immune response with production of antibodies directed to the terminal residue of β-D-galactofuranose. Further studies also showed that inhibition of GlcCer biosynthetic pathways affects fungal colony formation, spore germination and hyphal growth, indicating that enzymes involved in GlcCer biosynthesis may represent promising targets for the therapy of fungal infections. Recently, it was shown that GlcCer and GIPCs are preferentially localized in membrane microdomains and monoclonal antibodies directed to these GSLs interfere in several fungal biological processes such as growth and morphological transition. This review focuses on glycan structures carried on sphingolipids of pathogenic/opportunistic fungi, and aspects of their biological significance are discussed.
Sourcing Innovation : On Feedback in Contests ( forthcoming Management Science )

It is notoriously difficult to provide outside parties with adequate incentives for innovation. Contests in which solvers compete for a prize offered by the contest holder have been shown to be an effective incentive mechanism. Despite considerable interest in this concept, we lack a thorough understanding of important aspects of contests; in particular, feedback from the contest holder to the solvers has received only limited attention. This paper discusses how contest holders can improve contest outcomes by devising an optimal information structure for their feedback policies. We first identify when, and when not, to give feedback as well as which type of feedback to give: public (which all solvers can observe) or private (which only the focal solver can observe). We uncover a nontrivial relationship between contest characteristics and optimal feedback choices. Second, we examine whether the contest holder should mandate interim feedback or instead allow solvers to seek feedback at their own discretion. Third, we discuss how changing the granularity of feedback information affects its value to solvers.
DA-Raf1, a competent intrinsic dominant-negative antagonist of the Ras–ERK pathway, is required for myogenic differentiation

Ras activates Raf, leading to the extracellular-regulated kinase (ERK)–mitogen-activated protein kinase pathway, which is involved in a variety of cellular, physiological, and pathological responses. Thus, regulators of this Ras–Raf interaction play crucial roles in these responses. In this study, we report a novel regulator of the Ras–Raf interaction named DA-Raf1. DA-Raf1 is a splicing isoform of A-Raf with a wider tissue distribution than A-Raf. It contains the Ras-binding domain but lacks the kinase domain, which is responsible for activation of the ERK pathway. As inferred from its structure, DA-Raf1 bound to activated Ras as well as M-Ras and interfered with the ERK pathway. The Ras–ERK pathway is essential for the negative regulation of myogenic differentiation induced by growth factors. DA-Raf1 served as a positive regulator of myogenic differentiation by inducing cell cycle arrest, the expression of myogenin and other muscle-specific proteins, and myotube formation. These results imply that DA-Raf1 is the first identified competent, intrinsic, dominant-negative antagonist of the Ras–ERK pathway.
SECRETORY PHOSPHOLIPASE A 2 OF GROUP IIA : PATHOGENIC OR PROTECTIVE FACTOR DURING ATHEROSCLEROSIS ?

One of the best-characterized types of the structurally heterogeneous superfamily of phospholipase A2 enzymes is the secretory phospholipase A2 of group IIA (sPLA2-IIA) [1,2], which was initially isolated from rheumatoid arthritic synovial fluid and platelets and which was originally designated as non-pancreatic or synovial-specific PLA2 [3-5]. Large amounts of this enzyme have been found at various inflamed sites and in the serum of patients with severe inflammations such as sepsis, septic shock, and polytrauma. The level of enzyme expression correlated strongly with the degree of the disorders [6-9]. These data suggest that sPLA2-IIA plays a pivotal role in inflammation. Based on these findings there exists some considerable hope that with the help of specific inhibitors of sPLA2-IIA new forms of therapy for severe inflammatory diseases can be established. The specific biological functions of sPLA2-IIA, however, are not completely understood. In addition to cell injury, sPLA2-IIA may be involved, similar to other phospholipases A2, in cell signaling, apoptosis, and remodelling of cell membranes [10-12]. Beyond this, new in vivo investigations have shown that an efficient bactericidal agent is available in sPLA2-IIA [13,14]. Because of this the question arises as to how far a suppression of sPLA2-IIA, especially in bacterially caused inflammatory diseases, can be considered really beneficial at each stage of the disease’s progression. This question also arises because of recently performed in vitro studies showing that statins lead to a potentiation of the IFN-γ-mediated sPLA2-IIA induction in HASMC and HepG2 cells [15] instead of a reduction, as we had at first assumed based on the published antiinflammatory properties of statins [16-18]. Similar effects of statins in IL1β-stimulated rat mesangial cells have been described by Petry et al. [19]. Given the assumption that sPLA2-IIA acts proinflammatory and proatherogenic, this effect stands in contradiction of the benefit of statins in primary and secondary prevention of coronary heart diseases [20-23]. One simple explanation could be that the presumed proinflammatory and proatherogenic effects of sPLA2IIA upregulation are neglible because of the other cardioprotective effects of statins such as inhibition of cholesterol biosynthesis or increased synthesis of nitric oxide [24-26]. On the other hand, it is known that activation of sPLA2-IIA produces multiple but controverting effects in different tissues [27]. There is evidence, for example, that sPLA2-IIA, in addition to its bactericidal properties, exhibits also antithrombotic and antiinflammatory properties as well, from which it could be concluded that sPLA2-IIA expression, with its pathogenic effects, is indeed associated with protective functions.
Faddeev Random Phase Approximation for molecules

The Faddeev random-phase approximation is a Green's function technique that makes use of Faddeev equations to couple the motion of a single electron to the two-particle-one-hole and two-hole-one-particle excitations. This method goes beyond the frequently used third-order algebraic diagrammatic construction method: all diagrams involving the exchange of phonons in the particle-hole and particle-particle channel are retained, but the phonons are now described at the level of the random-phase approximation, which includes ground-state correlations, rather than at the Tamm-Dancoff approximation level, where ground-state correlations are excluded. Previously applied to atoms, this paper presents results for small molecules at equilibrium geometry.
Binary Classification of Aqueous Solubility Using Support Vector Machines with Reduction and Recombination Feature Selection

Aqueous solubility is recognized as a critical parameter in both the early- and late-stage drug discovery. Therefore, in silico modeling of solubility has attracted extensive interests in recent years. Most previous studies have been limited in using relatively small data sets with limited diversity, which in turn limits the predictability of derived models. In this work, we present a support vector machines model for the binary classification of solubility by taking advantage of the largest known public data set that contains over 46 000 compounds with experimental solubility. Our model was optimized in combination with a reduction and recombination feature selection strategy. The best model demonstrated robust performance in both cross-validation and prediction of two independent test sets, indicating it could be a practical tool to select soluble compounds for screening, purchasing, and synthesizing. Moreover, our work may be used for comparative evaluation of solubility classification studies ascribe to the use of completely public resources.
Cardiac calcineurin during transition from hypertrophy to heart failure in rats.

We studied an alteration of calcineurin expression in the heart and its modification by cyclosporin A and an ACE inhibitor, temocapril, using Dahl salt-sensitive (DS) rats with hypertensive left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) and congestive heart failure (CHF). Calcineurin protein expression in the LV myocardium was increased in the LVH stage, but then decreased during CHF transition. Chronic cyclosporin A treatment (10 mg/kg/day), which inhibits calcineurin activity, could not block the increases of LV weight and dimensions and did not improve the LV systolic function during the CHF transition. In contrast, chronic temocapril treatment (20 mg/kg/day) restored the downregulation of calcineurin expression, but progression of the hypertrophic process was inhibited. Therefore, cardiac calcineurin is increased in the hypertensive LVH and may be involved in the development of the adaptive hypertrophic process. However, calcineurin expression is downregulated during CHF transition and may no longer play a major role in the pathogenesis of myocardial hypertrophy in the failing hearts.
Diet, alcohol consumption and reproductive factors in a case‐control study of breast cancer in Moscow

A case‐control study was conducted in Moscow to assess the effect of diet on risk of breast cancer, and also to study the established reproductive risk factors. A notable finding of the study, which covered 139 case‐control pairs matched by age and neighbourhood, is that dietary factors are more important for post‐menopausal than for pre‐menopausal breast cancer. The decreased risk of post‐menopausal breast cancer was associated with high intakes of cellulose (OR 0.04; 95% CI 0.01–0.31), mono‐ and disaccharides (OR 0.02; 95% CI 0.002–0.27), vitamin C (OR 0.20; 95% CI 0.06–0.70), beta‐carotene (OR 0.09; 95% CI 0.02–0.49), and also polyunsaturated fatty acids (OR 0.14; 95% CI 0.03–0.69). High intakes of total fat resulted in a statistically non‐significant decrease in the odds ratio (OR 0.52; 95% CI 0.04–6.99), while saturated fats slightly increased the risk of breast cancer (OR 1.67; 95% CI 0.24–11.78). Protein intake was also associated with increased risk of breast cancer (OR 4.62; 95% CI 0.69–30.70). Alcohol use significantly increased the risk of breast cancer in post‐menopausal women (OR 3.39; 95% CI 1.37–4.38). In general, the results of our study indicate that high risk of breast cancer is associated with high intakes of nutrients derived from animal products, and low risk with high intake of those from vegetables and fruits.
Dual-Tracer PET/CT in Renal Angiomyolipoma and Subtypes of Renal Cell Carcinoma

&NA; We studied the metabolic characteristics of RCC subtypes and angiomyolipoma with 18F-FDG and 11C-acetate PET/CT. Methods Fifty-eight patients with both baseline CT and dual-tracer PET/CT were recruited: 10 angiomyolipoma (16 lesions) and 48 RCC (50 lesions). Each lesion was assessed for SUVmax ratio (lesion-to-normal kidney) on 11C-acetate/18F-FDG PET and attenuation density on CT. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was analyzed to define the threshold of 11C-acetate SUVmax ratio for differentiating angiomyolipoma from RCC. Thirty-nine RCC patients were selected for 3-year disease-free survival analysis. Results All angiomyolipoma showed negative 18F-FDG but markedly increased 11C-acetate metabolism, significantly higher than RCC (11C-acetate SUVmax ratio = 4.11 ± 0.53 vs 2.00 ± 0.71; P < 0.05). 11C-acetate SUVmax ratio = 3.71 could differentiate angiomyolipoma including “fat-poor angiomyolipoma” (n = 10) from RCC with sensitivity of 93.8% (15/16) and specificity of 98.0% (49/50). Different RCC subtypes/grades (25 low- and 11 high-grade clear cell [CC], 7 chromophobe, 4 papillary, and 1 collecting duct) were found to have different dual-tracer metabolic pattern (P < 0.05), with overall RCC detection sensitivity of 90% (45/50). All chromophobe RCC were avid only for 11C-acetate but not 18F-FDG, whereas papillary RCC were primarily the opposite. RCC-CC showed variable dual-tracer uptake: high-grade more avid for 18F-FDG, low-grade more for 11C-acetate. Four RCC cases negative by dual-tracers were of low-grade RCC-CC. “Primary RCC being 18F-FDG-avid” was the only independent predictor of RCC recurrence in 3 years (P < 0.05), with a median disease-free survival of 22 months. Conclusion 11C-acetate PET/CT helps in differentiating “fat-poor angiomyolipoma” from RCC. Dual-tracer PET/CT has value in diagnosis of RCC subtypes and predicting survival.
sRAGE and Risk of Diabetes, Cardiovascular Disease, and Death

Advanced glycation end products (AGEs) and their receptors are strongly implicated in the development of diabetes complications. When stimulated by AGEs, the receptors for AGEs (RAGEs) induce inflammation and are thought to fuel disease progression. Soluble circulating RAGE (sRAGE) may counteract the detrimental effects of RAGE. We measured sRAGE in stored plasma from a random sample of 1,201 participants in the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) Study who were aged 47–68 years, had normal kidney function, and had no history of cardiovascular disease. In cross-sectional analyses, black race, male sex, higher BMI, and higher C-reactive protein were independently associated with low sRAGE. The racial difference was striking, with blacks approximately three times more likely to have low sRAGE compared with whites even after adjustment. During ~18 years of follow-up, there were 192 incident coronary heart disease events, 53 ischemic strokes, 213 deaths, and 253 cases of diabetes (among the 1,057 persons without diabetes at baseline). In multivariable Cox models comparing risk in the first quartile with that in the fourth quartile of baseline sRAGE, low levels of sRAGE were significantly associated with risk of diabetes (hazard ratio 1.64 [95% CI 1.10–2.44]), coronary heart disease (1.82 [1.17–2.84]), and mortality (1.72 [1.11–2.64]) but not ischemic stroke (0.78 [0.34–1.79]). In conclusion, we found that low levels of sRAGE were a marker of future chronic disease risk and mortality in the community and may represent an inflammatory state. Racial differences in sRAGE deserve further examination.
Transport properties and current flow patterns in homogeneous strongly anisotropic materials

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate and explain the unexpected current flow patterns and twisting equipotential surfaces observed in strongly anisotropic materials. Design/methodology/approach – Potential distributions and current flow paths in highly anisotropic composite materials were studied via numerical simulation and experimentally. Simplified composite panels with two plyes were analysed using a finite-element model; the predictions were then confirmed experimentally. Findings – The unexpected twisting equipotential surfaces and current flow patterns were found to be consistent with minimising of Joule heat release in the material. Numerical modelling suggests that the twisted profiles of the potential are highly sensitive to the anisotropic electrical conductivity. Originality/value – This paper discusses the reverse current flowswitnessed in a two-layer anisotropic system. Such behaviour has never been predicted or observed experimentally before. The reported results will be of interest to anyone who is considering using anisotropic materials such as carbon fibre composites which might experience applied potential difference, such as lightning strikes.
Finite element simulation of infrared laser ablation for mass spectrometry.

RATIONALE Laser ablation is widely used in conjunction with ambient ionization techniques, and a fundamental understanding of the mechanism of material removal is important to its optimal use in mass spectrometry. Finite element analysis simulates the laser material interaction on larger time and distance scales than atomistic approaches. Here, a two-dimensional finite element model was developed to simulate infrared laser irradiation of glycerol using a wavelength-tunable infrared (IR) laser. METHODS The laser fluence used for the simulations was varied from 1000 to 6000 J/m(2), the wavelength was varied from 2.7 to 3.7 µm, and both flat-top and Gaussian shape laser profiles were studied. RESULTS Phase explosion conditions were found for laser wavelengths near 3 µm (which corresponds to the OH stretch absorption of glycerol) and fluences above 2000 J/m(2). This suggests that laser ablation of glycerol is driven by phase explosion in the OH stretch region. The Gaussian profile generated regions of higher glycerol temperature, whereas the flat-top profile heated a larger volume of material above the phase explosion temperature. CONCLUSIONS These results suggest that the best performance for pulsed IR laser sample irradiation is in the wavelength range from 2.9 to 3.1 µm for materials with a strong OH stretch absorption.
The Cost of the "S" in HTTPS

Increased user concern over security and privacy on the Internet has led to widespread adoption of HTTPS, the secure version of HTTP. HTTPS authenticates the communicating end points and provides confidentiality for the ensuing communication. However, as with any security solution, it does not come for free. HTTPS may introduce overhead in terms of infrastructure costs, communication latency, data usage, and energy consumption. Moreover, given the opaqueness of the encrypted communication, any in-network value added services requiring visibility into application layer content, such as caches and virus scanners, become ineffective. This paper attempts to shed some light on these costs. First, taking advantage of datasets collected from large ISPs, we examine the accelerating adoption of HTTPS over the last three years. Second, we quantify the direct and indirect costs of this evolution. Our results show that, indeed, security does not come for free. This work thus aims to stimulate discussion on technologies that can mitigate the costs of HTTPS while still protecting the user's privacy.