Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
DNA Methylation and Gene Expression Changes in Monozygotic Twins Discordant for Psoriasis: Identification of Epigenetically Dysregulated Genes

Monozygotic (MZ) twins do not show complete concordance for many complex diseases; for example, discordance rates for autoimmune diseases are 20%–80%. MZ discordance indicates a role for epigenetic or environmental factors in disease. We used MZ twins discordant for psoriasis to search for genome-wide differences in DNA methylation and gene expression in CD4+ and CD8+ cells using Illumina's HumanMethylation27 and HT-12 expression assays, respectively. Analysis of these data revealed no differentially methylated or expressed genes between co-twins when analyzed separately, although we observed a substantial amount of small differences. However, combined analysis of DNA methylation and gene expression identified genes where differences in DNA methylation between unaffected and affected twins were correlated with differences in gene expression. Several of the top-ranked genes according to significance of the correlation in CD4+ cells are known to be associated with psoriasis. Further, gene ontology (GO) analysis revealed enrichment of biological processes associated with the immune response and clustering of genes in a biological pathway comprising cytokines and chemokines. These data suggest that DNA methylation is involved in an epigenetic dysregulation of biological pathways involved in the pathogenesis of psoriasis. This is the first study based on data from MZ twins discordant for psoriasis to detect epigenetic alterations that potentially contribute to development of the disease.
Most small bowel cancers are revealed by a complication

ABSTRACT Objective To characterize the pattern of primary small bowel cancers in a tertiary East-European hospital. Methods A retrospective study of patients with small bowel cancers admitted to a tertiary emergency center, over the past 15 years. Results There were 57 patients with small bowel cancer, representing 0.039% of admissions and 0.059% of laparotomies. There were 37 (64.9%) men, mean age of 58 years; and 72 years for females. Out of 57 patients, 48 (84.2%) were admitted due to an emergency situation: obstruction in 21 (38.9%), perforation in 17 (31.5%), upper gastrointestinal bleeding in 8 (14.8%), and lower gastrointestinal bleeding in 2 (3.7%). There were 10 (17.5%) duodenal tumors, 21 (36.8%) jejunal tumors and 26 (45.6%) ileal tumors. The most frequent neoplasms were gastrointestinal stromal tumor in 24 patients (42.1%), adenocarcinoma in 19 (33.3%), lymphoma in 8 (14%), and carcinoids in 2 (3.5%). The prevalence of duodenal adenocarcinoma was 14.55 times greater than that of the small bowel, and the prevalence of duodenal stromal tumors was 1.818 time greater than that of the small bowel. Obstruction was the complication in adenocarcinoma in 57.9% of cases, and perforation was the major local complication (47.8%) in stromal tumors. Conclusion Primary small bowel cancers are usually diagnosed at advanced stages, and revealed by a local complication of the tumor. Their surgical management in emergency setting is associated to significant morbidity and mortality rates.
The evolution of social ties online: A longitudinal study in a massively multiplayer online game

How do social ties in online worlds evolve over time? This research examined the dynamic processes of relationship formation, maintenance, and demise in a massively multiplayer online game. Drawing from evolutionary and ecological theories of social networks, this study focuses on the impact of three sets of evolutionary factors in the context of social relationships in the online game EverQuest II (EQII): the aging and maturation processes, social architecture of the game, and homophily and proximity. A longitudinal analysis of tie persistence and decay demonstrated the transient nature of social relationships in EQII, but ties became considerably more durable over time. Also, character level similarity, shared guild membership, and geographic proximity were powerful mechanisms in preserving social relationships.
Income Inequality and the Incomes of Very High-Income Taxpayers: Evidence from Tax Returns

This paper uses tax return data for the period 1951-1990 to investigate the rising share of adjusted gross income (AGI) that is reported on very high income tax returns. We find that most of this increase is due to a rise in reported income for the one quarter of one percent of taxpayers with the highest AGIs. The share of total AGI reported by these taxpayers rose slowly in the early 1980s, and increased sharply in 1987 and 1988. This pattern suggests that at least part of the increase in the income share of high-AGI taxpayers was due to the changing tax incentives that were enacted in the 1986 Tax Reform Act. By lowering marginal tax rates on top-income households from 50% to 28%, TRA86 reduced the incentive for these households to engage in tax avoidance activities. We also find substantial differences in the growth of the income share of the highest one quarter of one percent of taxpayers, and the share of other very high income taxpayers. This casts doubt on the view that the increasing inequality of reported incomes at very high levels is driven by the same factors that have generated widening wage inequality at lower income levels.
Model-based development of embedded systems-the MADES approach

This paper discusses the goals of the MADES project, which aims to use techniques of model-driven development to assist the development of complex embedded systems. Three main areas are covered by MADES the development of embedded software; the development of embedded hardware; and the verification and validation of the system. This paper presents an early example of the MADES model transformations being used to generate synthesisable VHDL descriptions from high-level UML MARTE models.
Avoiding Pitfalls in the Statistical Analysis of Heterogeneous Tumors

Information about tumors is usually obtained from a single assessment of a tumor sample, performed at some point in the course of the development and progression of the tumor, with patient characteristics being surrogates for natural history context. Differences between cells within individual tumors (intratumor heterogeneity) and between tumors of different patients (intertumor heterogeneity) may mean that a small sample is not representative of the tumor as a whole, particularly for solid tumors which are the focus of this paper. This issue is of increasing importance as high-throughput technologies generate large multi-feature data sets in the areas of genomics, proteomics, and image analysis. Three potential pitfalls in statistical analysis are discussed (sampling, cut-points, and validation) and suggestions are made about how to avoid these pitfalls.
Family Business and Its Longevity

As a part of a global comparative study on the family firms’ longevity, this empirical paper aims at analyzing the centuries-old family firms in the western hemisphere (Italy and Switzerland) with Japan as a benchmark. Longevity is certainly a keen interest of family firms, which however, has remained as a missing research spot. The current research responds a call for research on longevity, with a perspective and research method different from the literature. The paper first provides a bird’s-eye view of the family business, followed by the definitions and the research method named as PIA (public information analysis), and its results. Ownership transfer to the outside of the family in the western hemisphere is contrasted to the intra-family transfer and the formation of ie or an extended family in Japan. Cultural and structural aspects of the family business in Japan are analyzed from the social capital perspective which is instrumental to the longevity of the Japanese family businesses. The paper presents several implications, both for academia and practitioners, before arriving at the conclusion.
An improved frequency offset estimation algorithm by multi-band averaging method for MB-OFDM based UWB communication for WPAN applications

We present a fast converging scheme for estimating coarse frequency offset (FO) in multi-band orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (MB-OFDM) based ultra-wideband (UWB) systems for wireless personal area network (WPAN). Our estimator performs an averaging of initial estimate over multiple bands and shows an improved estimation of cong3 times in terms of estimation error variance for band group 1 compared to our earlier proposed scheme [3]. Cramer Rao lower bound (CRLB) of estimation error and bit-error rate (BER) performances with our estimator, multi-band averaged frequency synchronizer (MBAFS), is studied and compared with [3] for 100,000 noisy realizations in UWB channel models (CM), CM1 and CM3. Also, computational complexity of MBAFS is analyzed for its usability evaluation.
Towards a flexible assessment of higher education with 360-degree feedback

Quality management procedures at higher education institutions tend to use industrial quality models to demonstrate effective performance. Such models evaluate resources and results, but fail to address the quality of the educational processes. In this paper we provide an overview of the most common quality management frameworks used in higher education institutions and discuss their application, strengths and shortcomings. Furthermore, we present the conceptual basis of a flexible assessment methodology inspired by the 360-degree feedback, that aims to circumvent the shortcomings of the previous frameworks while providing additional possibilities for result analysis.
The Petroushka Chord: A Perceptual Investigation

Five experiments investigated listeners9 capacities for perceiving polytonality, in which materials from more than one key are employed simultaneously. The stimulus materials were based on a particularly striking example of polytonal writing from Stravinsky9s Petroushka; it outlines in arpeggiated form the tonic triads of two maximally distant major keys, C and F# major. The first experiment demonstrates, using the probe-tone technique, that the two component voices presented in isolation establish the expected keys and that when they are combined some influence of both keys is felt. The second and third experiments indicate, however, that when presented dichotically the two components cannot be separated perceptually; this is attributed to the two voices having the same rhythmic and contour patterns and being sounded in the same pitch range. The fourth experiment replicated the findings of the first three, using listeners very familiar with the particular passage. The final experiment tested an alternative theoretical account, the octatonic collection. Probe-tone ratings following an octatonic scale did not account satisfactorily for the data for the musical passage, but the hierarchy of priorities proposed by Van den Toorn (1983) fit the data better than the major key profiles, especially for the experienced listeners.
Retrospective, relevance, and trends of SAC requirements engineering track

Context: The activities related to Requirements engineering (RE) are some of the most important steps in software development, since the requirements describe what will be provided in a software system in order to fulfill the stakeholders' needs. In this context, the ACM Symposium on Applied Computing (SAC) has been a primary gathering forum for many RE activities. When studying a research area, it is important to identify the most active groups, topics, the research trends and so forth. Objective: This study aims to investigate how the SAC RE-Track is evolving, by analyzing the papers published in its 8 previous editions. Method: We adopted a research strategy that combines scoping study and systematic review good practices. Results: We investigated the most active countries, institutions and authors, the main topics discussed, the types of the contributions, the conferences and journals that have most referenced SAC RE-Track papers, the phases of the RE process supported by the contributions, the publications with the greatest impact, and the trends in RE. Conclusions: We found 79 papers over the 8 previous SAC RE-Track editions, which were analyzed and discussed.
Detection and Classification of Plant Leaf Diseases using ANN

Plant diseases problem can cause significant reduction in both quality and quantity of agricultural products. Automatic detection of plant leaf diseases is an essential research topic as it may prove benefits in monitoring large fields of crops, and thus automatically detect the symptoms of diseases as soon as they appear on plant leaves. The proposed system is a software solution for automatic detection and computation of plant leaf diseases. The developed processing scheme consists of five main steps, first a color transformation structure for the input RGB image is created, then the noise i.e. unnecessary part is removed using specific threshold value, then the image is segmented with connected component labeling and the useful segments are extracted, finally the ANN classification is computed by giving different features i.e. size, color, proximity and average centroid distance. Experimental results on a database of 4 different diseases confirms the robustness of the proposed approach.
The Paradox of Knowledge Creation in a High-Reliability Organization: A Case Study

We employed an instrumental case study of a multisystem hydroelectric power producer, a high-reliability organization (HRO), to explore how new knowledge is created in a context in which errors may result in destruction, catastrophic consequences, and even loss of human life. The findings indicate that knowledge creation is multilevel, nested within three levels of paradox: paradox of knowing, paradox of practice, and paradox of organizing. The combination of the lack of opportunity for errors with the dynamism of the HRO context necessitates that individuals work through multiple paradoxes to generate and formalize new knowledge. The findings contribute to the literature on knowledge creation in context by explicating the work practices associated with issue recognition, resolution, and refinement, and the formalization of knowledge in failure-intolerant organizations.
Deep convolutional encoder-decoder for myelin and axon segmentation

We propose a fully automatic method for segmenting myelin and axon from microscopy images of excised mouse spinal cord based on Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs) and Deep Convolutional Encoder-Decoder. We compare a two-class CNN, multi-class CNN, and multi-class deep convolutional encoder-decoder with traditional methods. The CNN method gives a pixel-wise accuracy of 79.7% whereas an Active Contour method gives 59.4%. The encoder-decoder shows better performance with 82.3% and noticeably shorter classification time than CNN methods.
Incidence of Chemotherapy-Induced Amenorrhea After Adjuvant Chemotherapy With Taxane and Anthracyclines in Young Patients With Breast Cancer

Background Chemotherapy-induced amenorrhea is one of long term side effects of adjuvant chemotherapy in patients with breast cancer which may interfere with their future reproductive function. Although amenorrhea is well recognized, the actual incidence following taxanes remains uncertain. Methods In a cross sectional study, we identified breast cancer patients aged 45 years or younger who were treated with adjuvant anthracycline and taxane-based regimens at three different oncology departments from 2001-2008. Results One hundred and nineteen patients met all eligibility criteria and consented to participate in a regular follow up program. The median age at diagnosis was 33.5 years (range, 25-41). Seventy (58%) patients developed amenorrhea for at least 12 months following completion of treatment, and regular menses were maintained in another 49 (42%) patients. No statistically significant association was found between age and development of amenorrhea, although those who experienced cessation of menses were older. Conclusion Although taxane containing chemotherapy was associated with higher rate of amenorrhea compared to FAC, this was not statistically significant (P=0.11). Also, treatment with tamoxifen and Estrogen Receptor (ER) positive status was significantly correlated with chemotherapy induced amenorrhea.
Foreign Investors' Reaction to Lower Profitability – the Role of Information Asymmetry

Owners of firms in trouble are more exposed to moral hazard problems than owners of successful firms. Foreign owners who face higher costs to monitor the firm should be more vulnerable to these problems than domestic ones. Consequently, a downward revision in a firm's expected future earnings should push foreign investors to sell their shares to a larger extent than domestic investors. We test this hypothesis on profit warnings issued at the Helsinki Stock Exchange. Our results reveal that in the wake of profit warnings foreign investors will predominantly sell, while domestic investors pick up the net sales by foreigners. Differences in the scale of the foreign investor sell-out reaction are explained by a number of variables. The most significant one is our proxy for the magnitude of surprise in the warning. The reaction also increases with the degree of perceived information asymmetry for the firm that issued the warning, while foreign members on the firm's board have a moderating impact. By contrast, a number of general corporate governance-related variables have no statistically significant impact on the reaction.
Genetic diversity and phylogenetic analysis of native mountain ponies of Britain and Ireland reveals a novel rare population

The conservation of unique populations of animals is critical in order to preserve valuable genetic diversity and, where populations are free-living, maintain their irreplaceable influence upon habitat ecology. An accurate assessment of genetic diversity and structure within and between populations is crucial in order to design and implement conservation strategies in natural and domesticated species. Moreover, where it is possible to identify relic populations that are related to a structured breed an ideal opportunity presents itself to model processes that reveal historical factors that have shaped genetic diversity. The origins of native UK mountain and moorland ponies are uncertain, but they may have directly descended from prehistoric populations and potentially harbour specific adaptations to the uplands of Britain and Ireland. To date, there have been no studies of population structure and genetic diversity present within a free-living group of ponies in the Carneddau mountain range of North Wales. Herein, we describe the use of microsatellites and SNPs together with analysis of the mitochondrial control region to quantify the extent and magnitude of genetic diversity present in the feral Carneddau pony and relate this to several recognised British and Irish pony breeds. Our results establish that the feral Carneddau ponies represent a unique and distinctive population that merits recognition as a defined population and conservation priority. We discuss the implications for conservation of this population as a unique pool of genetic diversity adapted to the British uplands and potentially of particular value in maintaining the biodiversity of these habitats.
Quantitative analysis of changes in spatial distribution and plus-end geometry of microtubules involved in plant-cell cytokinesis

The cell plate of higher plants is formed within a ribosome-excluding cell plate assembly matrix. Phragmoplast microtubules facilitate cell-plate formation by forming a scaffold that directs Golgi-derived vesicles to the forming cell plate. Here, we analyse the effects of the cell-plate assembly matrix on phragmoplast microtubule plus-end geometry by electron tomography of cryogenically fixed Arabidopsis meristem cells. Five distinct microtubules plus-end geometries are seen - blunt, extended, horned, flared and hybrid extended/horned. We have quantified and mapped these types of plus-end morphology during the different stages of cell-plate formation and analysed the effects of cell-plate assembly matrix association on microtubule plus-end morphologies. Our results show that somatic-type phragmoplast microtubules do not interdigitate at the cell plate mid-line. The cell-plate assembly matrix is shown to stabilize microtubule plus ends, as evidenced by the fact that of these microtubules that do not terminate in such a matrix, 40-80% are horn-shaped (shrinking), whereas of those that end in such a matrix, 50-70% are blunt (metastable). Also, a third of the blunt-ended microtubules within the cell-plate assembly matrix end at a distance of ∼30 nm from the cell plate.
Large sets with small doubling modulo p are well covered by an arithmetic progression

We prove that there is a small but fixed positive integer e such that for every prime larger than a fixed integer, every subset S of the integers modulo p which satisfies |2S|<(2+e)|S| and 2(|2S|)-2|S|+2 < p is contained in an arithmetic progression of length |2S|-|S|+1. This is the first result of this nature which places no unnecessary restrictions on the size of S.
Loan maturity and renegotiation evidence from the lending practices of large and small banks

Corporate finance theories suggest that problems of asymmetric information and moral hazard in credit markets can be addressed by choosing short-term maturities. Theories of debt renegotiation suggest that the credibility of the implicit commitment to not make concessions to insolvent borrowers, which would undermine the effectiveness of short-term maturities, is related to the characteristics of the lender and in particular to its size. the joint implication of these theories is that, for given borrower's characteristics, small banks should be less willing to issue long term, loans. Using information on Italian banks, this study presents a cross-sectional analysis of the maturity of loans to firms and shows a first evidence consistent with this prediction. With more opaque borrowers, like small and innovative firms, other supply-side features (special regulatory regimes favouring lending relationships and economies of scale in the screening technology) are also shown to be relevant in the determination of loan maturity.
Trust among Strangers*

The paper presents a simulation of the dynamics of impersonal trust. It shows how a “trust and reciprocate” norm can emerge and stabilize in populations of conditional cooperators. The norm, or behavioral regularity, is not to be identified with a single strategy. It is instead supported by several conditional strategies that vary in the frequency and intensity of sanctions.
TURBULENCE SIMULATIONS ON PARALLEL

This paper presents a review of the recent turbulent ow computations on parallel computers performed at the Center for Turbulence Research. Examples of these computations include direct numerical simulation of time-evolving annular mixing layer, a jet diiusion ame and large eddy simulations of ow over a circular cylinder and ow in a coaxial jet combustor. Parallel algorithms used in the turbulence simulation codes are described. Parallel processing has also been used to enhance the statistical sample available at each time step in turbulence simulations.