Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Loss of the NHE2 Na+/H+ Exchanger in Mice Results in Dilation of Folliculo-Stellate Cell Canaliculi

Genetic ablation of the NHE2 Na+/H+ exchanger causes gastric achlorhydria, absorptive defects in kidney and colon, and low fertility. Here we show that NHE2 is expressed in the pituitary, with the highest mRNA expression in pars distalis and lower expression in pars intermedia. In pars distalis of NHE2-null mice, prominent cyst-like dilatations of folliculo-stellate (FS) cell canaliculi developed with age, and there were increased FS cell area, accumulation of lipid in FS cell cytoplasm, redundancies in FS cell basement membrane, and other changes. The expansion of the canaliculi indicates that NHE2 is a major absorptive Na+/H+ exchanger in the luminal membranes lining the extensive network of channels formed by FS cells, which may provide a means of intrapituitary communication. The results suggest that NHE2 contributes to homeostatic regulation of the volume and composition of the canalicular fluid and may counter the secretory activity of the CFTR Cl− channel, which is known to be expressed in pituitary.
Effect of Psychological Capital on Elementary Teacher Stress and Workplace Affect

EFFECT OF PSYCHOLOGICAL CAPITAL ON ELEMENTARY TEACHER STRESS AND WORKPLACE AFFECT Scott Stephen Casad Old Dominion University, 2015 Director: Dr. Cindy Tomovic Calling upon principles of positive psychology, the quantitative study used structural equation modeling (SEM) to explore the relationships between teacher psychological capital (PsyCap), role ambiguity, role conflict, role overload, workplace stress, job satisfaction, job commitment, and intention to quit. Valid and reliable instruments from the literature were incorporated into a 64-item survey and distributed to 830 third through fifth grade teachers at seven northern Virginia school districts. In total, 225 complete responses were received. SEM testing rejected the exact-fit hypotheses and revealed insufficient overall fit between the study data and hypothesized models; thereby, providing no support for the proposed causal relationships. Furthermore, high unexplained variance in the models suggested unaccounted for variables in predicting teacher turnover. However, individual parameter estimates confirmed PsyCap’s statistically significant relationship with satisfaction, commitment, stress, and intention to quit. Findings further supported new evidence establishing significant negative relationships between PsyCap and role conflict, ambiguity, and overload, which had not been previously studied. Additionally, the study was the first investigation of PsyCap with elementary school teachers and confirmed findings from manufacturing, engineering, service industry, and academia. The study was not without its limitations. SEM testing requires data be independent; however, teachers were nested within schools and within school districts, which increased the likelihood of type II errors. The alpha level was lowered to . 01 to counter this limitation. Normality testing also indicated there was greater likelihood of multivariate non-normality, which detrimentally effects SEM fit statistics and chi-square testing. Despite strong literature support for the intention to quit measurement instrument, the reliability in this study was low enough to raise questions regarding its value to assess teacher turnover intention. Lastly, the sample size exceeded the academically accepted minimum of 200, but structural modeling benefits from a large robust data set typically in the thousands. Future studies would benefit from exploring the antecedents of PsyCap, the multilevel effects of PsyCap, the influence of workplace relationships on PsyCap and worker affect, and the impact on other desired educational
The ‘strong’ state and the ‘soft’ market in educational reform processes: Management philosophies and their consequences

In contemporary western society, welfare work in general, particularly in education, has been struck by an endless series of policy reforms, discourses and technologies. These have consequences not only for the production of professional identity, but also for the way educational tasks are understood and handled. Inspired by the work of post-structuralist thinkers such as Foucault, Rose, Ball, Alvesson and Willmott, and the psychoanalytical thinker Žižek, the authors describe some of these consequences by analysing two examples which stem from the Danish educational context: upper secondary schools and vocational educational training. The first example shows how a ‘strong’ state logic results in a focus on numbers, which leads to a form of cynical leadership and an undermining of teachers’ professional judgment. The second example shows how leaders and teachers in a vocational training school, with help from critical utopian action researchers, seek to innovate their practices in accordance with ‘soft’ market logic. As a consequence, teachers’ professionalism is ‘hijacked’ by a new form of organizational professionalism.
Comparing Hierarchies of Segmentations : Humans , Nomalized Cut , and Minimum Spanning Tree

Minimum spanning tree and normalized cut based segmentation method are evaluated with respect to segmentations made by humans. The segmentation error is determined by two discrepancy measures, as a sum of miss-counted segmented pixels. Gray value images are used for the evaluation. This benchmarking is well suited in finding the class of images best suited for a particular method.
The Population Biology of Bacterial Plasmids: A Hidden Markov Model Approach

Horizontal plasmid transfer plays a key role in bacterial adaptation. In harsh environments, bacterial populations adapt by sampling genetic material from a horizontal gene pool through self-transmissible plasmids, and that allows persistence of these mobile genetic elements. In the absence of selection for plasmid-encoded traits it is not well understood if and how plasmids persist in bacterial communities. Here we present three models of the dynamics of plasmid persistence in the absence of selection. The models consider plasmid loss (segregation), plasmid cost, conjugative plasmid transfer, and observation error. Also, we present a stochastic model in which the relative fitness of the plasmid-free cells was modeled as a random variable affected by an environmental process using a hidden Markov model (HMM). Extensive simulations showed that the estimates from the proposed model are nearly unbiased. Likelihood-ratio tests showed that the dynamics of plasmid persistence are strongly dependent on the host type. Accounting for stochasticity was necessary to explain four of seven time-series data sets, thus confirming that plasmid persistence needs to be understood as a stochastic process. This work can be viewed as a conceptual starting point under which new plasmid persistence hypotheses can be tested.
Behavioural and Psychological Symptoms of Dementia (BPSD)

32 Aarsland D, Bronnick K, Ehrt U, De Deyn PP, Tekin S, Emre M, et al. Neuropsychiatric symptoms in patients with Parkinson’s disease and dementia: frequency, profile and associated care giver stress. J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry 2007; 78: 36–42. 33 Amer-Ferrer G, de la Pena A, Garcia Soriano MT, Garcia Martin A. Main components of Neuropsychiatric Inventory in Alzheimer’s disease. Definition of behavioral syndromes [Spanish]. Neurologia 2005; 20: 9–16.
Id2-, RORγt-, and LTβR-independent initiation of lymphoid organogenesis in ocular immunity

The eye is protected by the ocular immunosurveillance system. We show that tear duct–associated lymphoid tissue (TALT) is located in the mouse lacrimal sac and shares immunological characteristics with mucosa-associated lymphoid tissues (MALTs), including the presence of M cells and immunocompetent cells for antigen uptake and subsequent generation of mucosal immune responses against ocularly encountered antigens and bacteria such as Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Initiation of TALT genesis began postnatally; it occurred even in germ-free conditions and was independent of signaling through organogenesis regulators, including inhibitor of DNA binding/differentiation 2, retinoic acid–related orphan receptor γt, lymphotoxin (LT) α1β2–LTβR, and lymphoid chemokines (CCL19, CCL21, and CXCL13). Thus, TALT shares immunological features with MALT but has a distinct tissue genesis mechanism and plays a key role in ocular immunity.
Ureteral Injury in Gynecologic Surgery: A 5-Year Review in A Community Hospital

Purpose We reviewed the cases of ureteral injury during gynecologic surgeries in a community hospital and attempted to find possible options for alleviating these distressing situations. Materials and Methods A total of 2,927 patients underwent gynecologic surgeries in the last 5 years at our hospital. We retrospectively analyzed the cases, particularly the possible risk factors and management according to the time of detection of the injury. Thirty-five cases (1.2%) were identified with ureteral injury in a total of 2,927 gynecologic surgeries. Risk factors included endometriosis, pelvic inflammatory disease, previous pelvic surgery, history of pelvic radiation, and congenital anomalies. Among 2,927 patients, 522 had predisposing factors for ureteral injuries. Results The incidence of ureteral injury in laparoscopic cases was 1.1%, similar to the cases of laparotomy (1.2%). The rate of ureteral injury was significantly higher in the group with risk factors (2.7%) than in the group without risk factors (0.9%; p=0.002). Prophylactic ureteral stenting was performed in 101 of 522 patients with risk factors according to the gynecologic surgeon's preference. The injury rate (1.0%) in the stenting group was lower than that in the non-stenting group (3.1%; p=0.324). Management of ureteral injuries was successful in all cases. Of the patients with postoperatively diagnosed injuries, two patients were managed with secondary procedures, such as retrograde balloon dilatation or ureteroneocystostomy. Conclusions The incidence of ureteral injury was significantly higher in cases having risk factors than in cases without risk factors. Surgeons should be cautious to avoid ureteral injury during gynecologic surgery, especially in patients with risk factors.
Measure of synchrony in large neuronal networks

A neuronal synchrony measure is a number that quantifies the level of synchrony of a large population of neurons within a network. It is usually normalized to be between 0 and 1. It is equal to 0 when the neurons in the population fire in an asynchronized manner, it is equal to 1 when all those neurons fire in full synchrony, exactly at the same times, and it is between 0 and 1 for partially synchronized states, i.e., states in which the firing times of the neurons are related (synchronized) but not identical (fully synchronized).
Extended Bayesian information criteria for model selection with large model spaces

The ordinary Bayesian information criterion is too liberal for model selection when the model space is large. In this paper, we re-examine the Bayesian paradigm for model selection and propose an extended family of Bayesian information criteria, which take into account both the number of unknown parameters and the complexity of the model space. Their consistency is established, in particular allowing the number of covariates to increase to infinity with the sample size. Their performance in various situations is evaluated by simulation studies. It is demonstrated that the extended Bayesian information criteria incur a small loss in the positive selection rate but tightly control the false discovery rate, a desirable property in many applications. The extended Bayesian information criteria are extremely useful for variable selection in problems with a moderate sample size but with a huge number of covariates, especially in genome-wide association studies, which are now an active area in genetics research. Copyright 2008, Oxford University Press.
Building consensus through place: Place-making as a driver for place-based collaboration

Abstract Place-based collaboration is of increasing interest as a means to involve scientists, managers and local stakeholders in resource management. Although place attachment, place identity and place meanings often have been used to investigate place-based collaboration, the processes facilitating cooperation are not yet clearly defined. Through a case study of a long-term voluntary collaboration, the Beaver Hills Initiative, we investigated the role of these factors in initiating and sustaining cooperation through interviews with members of the collaboration, photo-elicitation, and content analysis of past presentations about the collaboration. We found the collaboration was supported by place-based mechanisms operating at both the group and individual level. Place-making by the leaders of the collaboration in motivational, diagnostic and collective action frames led to development of shared place identity and personal place meanings, which merged with social norms for conservation of “special places”. The resulting motivations, at the group and personal level, explained the long-term, voluntary cooperation by study participants. Findings suggest socially-mediated and experiential aspects of place attachment and place-making can influence place-based collaborative action.
Impact of Imprecise Dating of Measurements for Bulk Material Flow Network Monitoring

Abstract This paper discusses the negative impact of errors in the time datation of data as they are gathered accross a distributed newtork of sensors to be treated by a centralized monitoring algorithm. An example of flow monitoring serves as basis for the analysis. Using a simple probability model, we establish the variance of an estimator serving for loss detection and show how it varies with the time uncertainty. A mitigating solution is proposed. Further extensions are discussed.
Retrospective simulation response optimization

An approach to simulation response optimization in which a simulation experiment is run in such a manner as to generate optimal solutions is presented. Once the stochastic sample path of a simulation run has been generated, it is sometimes possible to retrospectively solve a deterministic optimization problem or a closely related problem. As demonstrated with some examples from communications and manufacturing, this approach can greatly simplify both the simulation experiment and the simulation model. <<ETX>>
A Strategy  for the Selection of Solutions of the Pareto Front Approximation in Multi-objective Clustering Approaches

One of the advantages of Pareto-based multi-objective genetic algorithms for clustering, when compared to classical clustering algorithms, is that, instead of a single solution (partition), they give as an output a set of solutions (approximation of the Pareto front or Pareto front, for short). However, such a set could be very large (e.g., hundreds of partitions) and, consequently, difficult to be analyzed manually. We present a selection strategy, based on the corrected Rand index, that aims at recommending, as final solution for Pareto-based multi-objective genetic algorithm approaches, a subset of partitions from the Pareto front. This subset should be much smaller than the the latter and, at the same time, keep the quality and the diversity of the partitions. In order to test our strategy, we develop a study of case in which we apply the strategy to the sets of solutions obtained with the multi-objective clustering ensemble algorithm (MOCLE) in the context of several data sets.
Chandra LETGS and XMM-Newton observations of NGC 4593

In this paper, we analyze spectra of the Seyfert 1 galaxy NGC 4593 obtained with the Chandra Low Energy Transmission Grating Spectrometer (LETGS), the Reflection Grating Spectrometer (RGS) and the European Photon Imaging Camera's (EPIC) onboard of XMM-Newton. The two observations were separated by7 months. In the LETGS spectrum we detect a highly ionized warm absorber corresponding to an ionization state of 400 10 9 W m, visible as a depression at 10 18 A. This depression is formed by multiple weak Fe and Ne lines. A much smaller column density was found for the lowly ionized warm absorber, corresponding to= 3 10 9 W m. However, an intermediate ionization warm absorber is not detected. For the RGS data the ionization state is hard to constrain. The EPIC results show a narrow Fe K line.
The Relationship Between Bisphosphonate Adherence and Fracture: Is It the Behavior or the Medication? Results From the Placebo Arm of the Fracture Intervention Trial

Medication compliance may be a surrogate for factors that improve health outcomes such as fractures. Little is known about the size of this potential “healthy adherer” effect. We evaluated the hypothesis that compliance with placebo is associated inversely with bone loss and fractures among women participating in the Fracture Intervention Trial (FIT). Compliance with placebo and alendronate was evaluated using daily medication diaries. Women were defined as having high compliance if they took 80% or more of dispensed study medication. Change in bone mineral density (BMD) was assessed using mixed models comparing women with high versus lower compliance with placebo. Cox proportional‐hazards models analyzed the association between placebo compliance and various types of fractures. Among 3169 women randomized to placebo, 82% had high compliance. Compared with women with lower placebo compliance, bone loss at the total hip was lower in compliant placebo‐treated women (−0.43%/year versus −0.58%/year, p = .04). Among placebo‐treated women, there were 46 hip, 110 wrist, 77 clinical vertebral, and 492 total clinical fractures. Compared with women with lower placebo compliance, women with high placebo compliance had a nonsignificant reduced risk for hip fracture [adjusted hazard ratio (HR) = 0.67, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.30–1.45]. This trend was not observed for other fractures. Medication compliance may be a proxy for factors that confers benefit on reducing hip fracture (but not other types of fractures) independent of the effect of the medication itself. Nonrandomized studies of interventions designed to maintain or improve bone density and/or hip fracture may need to consider medication compliance as a confounder to better estimate true intervention effects. © 2011 American Society for Bone and Mineral Research.
A deep AAOmega survey of low‐luminosity galaxies in the Shapley supercluster: stellar population trends

We present new optical spectroscopy for 342 R 100 km s -1 are similar for age and Z/H. For a/Fe, a steeper slope is recovered for the high-σ subset, a/Fe oc σ 0.36+0.07. The recovered age-σ relation is shown to be consistent with the observed evolution in the giant-to-dwarf galaxy ratio in clusters at redshifts z = 0.4-0.8. In a companion paper, we determine the age, [Z/H] and [a/Fe] for individual galaxies, and investigate in detail the distribution of galaxy properties at fixed velocity dispersion.
Competitive Learning: From Interactive Activation to Adaptive Resonance

Functional and mechanistic comparisons are made between several network models of cognitive processing: competitive learning, interactive activation, adaptive resonance, and back propagation. The starting point of this comparison is the article of Rumelhart and Zipser (1985) on feature discovery through competitive learning. All the models which Rumelhart and Zipser (1985) have described were shown in Grossberg (1976b) to exhibit a type of learning which is temporally unstable. Competitive learning mechanisms can be stabilized in response to an arbitrary input environment by being supplemented with mechanisms for learning top-down expectancies, or templates; for matching bottom-up input patterns with the top-down expectancies; and for releasing orienting reactions in a mismatch situation, thereby updating short-term memory and searching for another internal representation. Network architectures which embody all of these mechanisms were called adaptive resonance models by Grossberg (1976c) . Self-stabilizing learning models are candidates for use in real-world applications where unpredictable changes can occur in complex input environments. Competitive learning postulates are inconsistent with the postulates of the interactive activation model of McClelland and Rumelhart (1981) , and suggest different levels of processing and interaction rules for the analysis of word recognition. Adaptive resonance models use these alternative levels and interaction rules. The selforganizing learning of an adaptive resonance model is compared and contrasted with the teacher-directed learning of a back propagation model. A number of criteria for evaluating real-time network models of cognitive processing are described and applied.
Decentralised Supply Chain Formation: A Belief Propagation-based Approach

Decentralised supply chain formation involves determining the set of producers within a network able to supply goods to one or more consumers at the lowest cost. This problem is frequently tackled using auctions and negotiations. In this paper we show how it can be cast as an optimisation of a pairwise cost function. Optimising this class of functions is NP-hard but good approximations to the global minimum can be obtained using Loopy Belief Propagation (LBP). Here we detail a LBP-based approach to the supply chain formation problem, involving decentralised message-passing between potential participants. Our approach is evaluated against a well-known double-auction method and an optimal centralised technique, showing several improvements: it obtains better solutions for most networks that admit a competitive equilibrium Competitive equilibrium as defined in [3] is used as a means of classifying results on certain networks to allow for minor inefficiencies in their auction protocol and agent bidding strategies. while also solving problems where no competitive equilibrium exists, for which the double-auction method frequently produces inefficient solutions.
Genetic variants of tumor necrosis factor superfamily, member 4 (TNFSF4), and risk of incident atherothrombosis and venous thromboembolism.

BACKGROUND Recent data have implicated tumor necrosis factor (ligand) superfamily, member 4 (TNFSF4) gene variation in myocardial infarction in women; however, no prospective data are available on either incident arterial or venous disorders. METHODS We evaluated 2 previously characterized TNFSF4 gene variants (-921C>T and dbSNP rs3850641) with a) incident arterial events using a prospective case-cohort design with 344 incident CVD cases and 2254 control participants, all white, drawn from the Women's Health Study cohort with 10 years of follow-up, and b) venous thromboembolism (VTE) risk using a nested, matched case-control design of 108 white male pairs (drawn from the Physicians' Health Study cohort) and a case-cohort design of white female participants consisting of 125 cases and 2269 controls (drawn from the Women's Health Study cohort), analyzed separately. RESULTS Genotype distributions were in Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium. Results from a marker-by-marker regression analysis, adjusting for traditional risk factors, showed a significant association of -921C>T with an increased risk of VTE in women (additive: odds ratio 1.86; 95% CI 1.17-2.92, P = 0.008) in women. Furthermore, using a haplotype-based regression analysis, haplotype C-G was associated with a reduced risk of VTE relative to the referent haplotype, C-A (odds ratio 0.50; 95% CI 0.27-0.92; P = 0.02). In contrast, we found little evidence for an association of the variants/haplotypes with risk of VTE in men or CVD risk in women (as previously reported). CONCLUSIONS Our present findings, if corroborated in other prospective investigations, suggest that the TNFSF4 variants tested may be useful indicators for assessing the risk of venous thromboembolism.