Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Protein kinase CK2: a challenge to canons

CK2 is an extremely conserved pleiotropic protein kinase with a growing list of more than 300 substrates, the majority of which are proteins implicated in signal transduction, gene expression and other nuclear functions. The CK2 phosphoacceptor sites are specified by multiple acidic residues, with the one at position +3 relative to the target residue being of crucial relevance. The CK2 holoenzyme is composed of two catalytic subunits (αα, α′α′ or αα′), which are essential for cell viability, and a dimer of two non-catalytic β subunits, whose precise function is still poorly understood. Although theβ subunits deeply affect many properties of CK2, both the isolated catalytic subunits and the holoenzyme are constitutively active, which is probably responsible for the oncogenic potential of CK2. Given the structure of the holoenzyme, the β subunits could undergo reversible dissociation under physiological conditions and play a role as anchoring elements and/or as a docking platform for protein substrates and effectors. These unusual features are likely to be instrumental in the involvement of CK2 in a number of key biological functions, notably RNA synthesis, Wnt signaling, ubiquitination and cell survival.
A Perfect Mess: The Hidden Benefits of Disorder--How Crammed Closets, Cluttered Offices, and On-the-Fly Planning Make the World a Better Place

"An engaging polemic against the neat-police who hold so much sway over our lives. " -The Wall Street Journal Enthusiastically embraced by readers everywhere, this groundbreaking book is an antidote to the accepted wisdom that tight schedules, neatness, and consistency are the keys to success. With an astounding array of anecdotes and case studies of the useful role mess can play in business, parenting, cooking, the war on terrorism, hardware stores, and even the meteoric career of Arnold Schwarzenegger, coauthors Abrahamson and Freedman demonstrate that moderately messy systems use resources more efficiently, yield better solutions, and are harder to break than neat ones. From clutter to time sprawl to blurring of categories, A PERFECT MESS will forever change the way we think about disorder. "A compelling and comical tour of humanity's guilt-ridden love affair with accidents, messes, and randomness. Combine the world-is-not-as-it-seems mindset of Freakonomics with the delicious celebration of popular culture found in Everything Bad Is Good for You to get the cocktail-party-chatter-ready anecdotes of 'messiness leading to genius' in A PERFECT MESS. " -Fast Company
Differential Densities of Muscarinic Acetylcholine Receptor and IK,ACh in Canine Supraventricular Tissues and the Effect of Amiodarone on Cholinergic Atrial Fibrillation and IK,ACh

Background: Vagal nerve plays an important role in the induction and maintenance of atrial fibrillation (AF). This study investigated the differential densities of M2 receptor and acetylcholine-induced inward rectifier K+ current (IK,ACh) in atrial appendage, atrium, pulmonary vein (PV) and super vena cava (SVC) to discuss the role of atrial appendage and PV in cholinergic AF. Methods and Results: In 10 dogs, action potential duration was determined at 24 sites during bilateral cervical vagal stimulation and amiodarone administration. AF could be induced at first in right atrial appendage (RAA) and right atrium (RA) without left atrial appendage (LAA) and left atrium (LA). Amiodarone decreased the initiation of AF in vivo. Western blot and patch clamp were used to determine M2 receptor and IK,ACh in RAA, LAA, RA, LA, PV and SVC. The densities of M2 receptor and IK,ACh in LAA, RAA and LA were higher than that in RA, PV and SVC (21.34 ± 0.92 vs. 8.24 ± 0.45 pA/pF, p < 0.05). Furthermore, the densities of the M2 receptor and IK,ACh in LAA and RAA were higher than that in LA (21.34 ± 0.92 vs. 14.17 ± 0.65 pA/pF, p < 0.05). After amiodarone administration, densities of IK,ACh in LA and RA were not different, but densities of IK,ACh were also less in atrium than in atrial appendage. Conclusions: Densities of the M2 receptor and IK,ACh are higher in atrial appendage than other sites. Atrial appendage perhaps plays an important role in initiation of cholinergic AF. However, PV and SVC less often play an important role in vagotonic paroxysmal AF. Reduced dispersion of IK,ACh is the mechanism for amiodarone to therapy AF.
Approximating NURBS curves by arc splines

It is desirable to approximate a smooth curve by arc splines with the fewest segments within a prescribed tolerance. We present an efficient algorithm for fitting planar smooth curves by arc splines. The main idea is that we construct the optimal arc spline by optimizing the interpolating biarc curve. The scheme consists of three steps: sampling the curve based on consecutive tangent deviation; construct the interpolating arc spline; and reduce the arc number to the minimum within a prescribed tolerance. The algorithm can control the approximating error efficiently and results in the fewest number of arc segments.
A Prospective, Double‐Blind, Placebo‐Controlled Trial of a Single Dose of Azithromycin on Postoperative Wound Infections in Plastic Surgery

Over a 9-month period from September of 1991 to May of 1992, 339 patients were included in a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study using azithromycin as the prophylactic agent to determine whether it effects a clinically meaningful reduction in postoperative surgical infections in plastic surgery. Azithromycin was given as prophylaxis in 171 patients and placebo in 168 patients. The study medication was a single oral dose taken at 8 P.M. the day before surgery. The patients were followed up for a minimum of 4 weeks after surgery. The patients who received wound infection prophylaxis had 5.1 percent infections compared with 20.5 percent in the placebo group (p = 0.00009). Eighty percent of all wound infections were first seen after discharge, explaining why plastic surgeons might overlook their infectious complications. There was a significant reduction in postoperative complications (p = 0.04) and in the additional use of antibiotics postoperatively (p = 0.007) in the prophylaxis group. Subgroup analysis showed a significant reduction in surgical infections in breast surgery (p < 0.05) and reconstructive surgery with flaps (p < 0.05). No effect of the prophylactic regime was demonstrated in patients undergoing secondary surgery for cleft lip and palate disease.
Autonomous Perceptron Neural Network Inspired from Quantum computing

Recently with the rapid development of technology, there are a lot of applications require to achieve low-cost learning in order to accomplish inexpensive computation. However the known computational power of classical artificial neural networks (CANN), they are not capable to provide low-cost learning due to many reasons such as linearity, complexity of architecture, etc. In contrast, quantum neural networks (QNN) may be representing a good computational alternate to CANN, based on the computational power of quantum bit (qubit) over the classical bit. In this paper, a new algorithm of quantum perceptron neural network based only on one neuron is introduced to overcome some limitations of the classical perceptron neural networks. The proposed algorithm is capable to construct its own set of activation operators that enough to accomplish the learning process in a limited number of iterations and, consequently, reduces the cost of computation. For evaluation purpose, we utilize the proposed algorithm to solve five problems using real and artificial data. It is shown throughout the paper that promising results are provided and compared favorably with other reported algorithms
A phenomenological understanding of self-esteem in physically disabled adolescents in a non-disabled environment

By using a descriptive design, the study attempts to arrive at a phenomenological understanding of self-esteem as experienced by a group of physically disabled adolescents with cerebral palsy in a non-disabled environment. Spontaneous descriptions of their experiences are transcribed and analyzed using a phenomenological method of analysis. Within the phenomenological tradition, there is only a limited exploration of self-esteem, no comprehensive psychology of adolescence and no extensive study of disability. The physical and social changes which occur during adolescence have been found to be associated with changes in self-concept. As body-image is an important factor in adolescent selfconcept development, it is reasonable to assume that physical disability would have an effect on self-concept and selfesteem. It is also evident that with children with cerebral palsy, the permanence of the disability is truly felt during adolescence. As we move towards a more inclusive society, it is clear that the disabled and non-disabled sectors of our communities
Adaptive TGF-β-dependent regulatory T cells control autoimmune diabetes and are a privileged target of anti-CD3 antibody treatment

Previous results have shown that CD4+CD25+ regulatory T cells (Tregs) control autoimmunity in a spontaneous model of type 1 diabetes, the nonobese diabetic (NOD) mouse. Moreover, anti-CD3 reverses diabetes in this setting by promoting Tregs that function in a TGF-β-dependent manner. This finding contrasts with a large body of work suggesting that CD4+CD25high Tregs act in a cytokine-independent manner, thus suggesting that another type of Treg is operational in this setting. We sought to determine the basis of suppression both in untreated NOD mice and in those treated with anti-CD3. Our present results show that a subset of foxP3+ cells present within a CD4+CD25low lymphocyte subset suppresses T cell immunity in spontaneously diabetic NOD mice in a TGF-β-dependent manner, a functional property typical of “adaptive” regulatory T cells. This distinct Treg subset is evident in NOD, but not normal, mice, suggesting that the NOD mice may generate these adaptive Tregs in an attempt to regulate ongoing autoimmunity. Importantly, in two distinct in vivo models, these TGF-β-dependent adaptive CD4+CD25low T cells can be induced from peripheral CD4+CD25− T lymphocytes by anti-CD3 immunotherapy which correlates with the restoration of self-tolerance.
Activity-Dependent Development of Axonal and Dendritic Delays, or, Why Synaptic Transmission Should Be Unreliable

Systematic temporal relations between single neuronal activities or population activities are ubiquitous in the brain. No experimental evidence, however, exists for a direct modification of neuronal delays during Hebbian-type stimulation protocols. We show that in fact an explicit delay adaptation is not needed if one assumes that the synaptic strengths are modified according to the recently observed temporally asymmetric learning rule with the downregulating branch dominating the upregulating branch. During development, slow, unbiased fluctuations in the transmission time, together with temporally correlated network activity, may control neural growth and implicitly induce drifts in the axonal delays and dendritic latencies. These delays and latencies become optimally tuned in the sense that the synaptic response tends to peak in the soma of the postsynaptic cell if this is most likely to fire. The nature of the selection process requires unreliable synapses in order to give successful synapses an evolutionary advantage over the others. The width of the learning function also determines the preferred dendritic delay and the preferred width of the postsynaptic response. Hence, it may implicitly determine whether a synaptic connection provides a precisely timed or a broadly tuned contextual signal.
Le visage de la douleur : informations efficientes pour la reconnaissance et impacts sur l’observateur

Facial expression plays a central role in pain communication including when judging on others’ pain intensity. Facial expression characteristics have been investigated mainly with descriptive methods (e.g. FACS). The thesis introduction summarizes current knowledge on behavioral and cerebral processes involved in pain facial expression and pain communication. Moreover, a better understanding of the processes subtending the recognition of pain in others appears essential to address clinical issues such as the classical under-estimation effect. The article 1 uses a direct method (Bubbles) to identify the visual information efficiently used by the observer to correctly discriminate pain among basic emotions facial expressions. Results show that, among all the facial movement typically found in pain facial expressions, the observers use few information. Moreover, the visual regions highly correlated with correct identification of pain have previously been described as encoding the affective-motivational of the pain experience of the sufferer. It is known that the pain experience can be increased by visual stimuli with a negative affective valence, including pain facial expressions, through spinal and supra-spinal (perceptual) processes. The article 2 aims to study if the facial regions important for pain identification are sufficient to modulate the observer’s pain
Ten-year responses of ground-dwelling spiders to retention harvest in the boreal forest.

The Ecosystem Management Emulating Natural Disturbances (EMEND) project tests the hypothesis that varying levels of green tree retention maintain and retain forest biodiversity better than conventional clear-cutting. We studied epigaeic spiders to assess biodiversity changes 2, 5, and 10 yr following a range of partial retention harvests (clear-cut, 10-75% retention) and unharvested controls in four boreal mixedwood cover types. A total of 56 371 adult spiders representing 220 species was collected using pitfall traps. Lasting effects on forest structure were proportional to harvest intensity. These changes strongly influenced spider richness, abundance, and species composition, as well as assemblage recovery. Distinctive assemblages were associated with disturbance level, especially with partial harvests (≤50% retention), and these were dominated by open-habitat species even 10 yr after harvest. Assemblages were more similar to those of controls in the highest (75%) retention treatment, but significant recovery toward the structure of pre-disturbance assemblages was not detected for any prescription in any cover type. Although early responses to retention harvest suggested positive effects on spider assemblages, these are better explained as lag effects after harvest because assemblages were less similar to those of unharvested controls 5 yr post-harvest, and only minor recovery was observed 10 yr following harvest. Retention of forest biodiversity decreased over time, especially in conifer stands and the lower (10-50%) retention treatments. Overall, retention harvests retained biodiversity and promoted landscape heterogeneity somewhat better than clear-cutting; however, there was a clear gradient of response and no retention "threshold" for conservation can be recommended on the basis of our data. Furthermore, results suggest that retention harvest prescriptions should be adjusted for cover type. We show that low retention ameliorated impacts in broadleaved forests characteristic of earlier stages in mixedwood succession, but only higher retention was associated with less impact in successionally older conifer forests. Although these short-term responses (10 yr) of spider assemblages support use of retention harvests, understanding the true conservation merit of these practices, relative to conventional approaches, requires evaluation over longer time scales, with work more focused on recovery of biodiversity than on its preservation after harvest.
“Winners” and “Losers”: The Effects of Being Allowed or Denied Entry into Competitive Extracurricular Activities

A number of high school extracurricular activities are competitive and selective, requiring aspiring students to apply and audition for membership. The process of trying out for two such teams, cheerleading and dance, was explored, and the reactions of girls who were successful were contrasted with those who were unsuccessful. Post-outcome assessments indicated significant differences in measures of subjective state (positive and negative emotions, arousal, investment), classroom performance (attentiveness, grades), attendance/truancy, and feelings about self and about school between girls who made the team and those who did not. Of the variables examined, only drug and alcohol use did not appear to be affected. Data collected at eight intervals demonstrated the longer-lasting negative effects of being denied entry to the team over a two-month time span.
Fluoroscopic X-ray image guidance for manual and robotic orthopedic surgery

Current orthopedic practice relies heavily on the use of intra-operative fluoroscopic Xray images as a means of navigation. Based on these images the surgeon determines the relative positions of anatomical structures, surgical tools and implants. While readily available, fluoroscopic X-ray images are uncorrelated, have a small field of view, are geometrically distorted, and are a static representation of a dynamic spatial situation. To overcome these limitations, surgeons repeatedly acquire images from several viewpoints, to mentally recreate the underlying spatial situation. This leads to undesired high cumulative radiation exposure. This thesis describes methods and systems which enhance or altogether replace the use of conventional fluoroscopic X-ray images as a means of navigation in orthopedics. The first part of the thesis presents a method for aligning a pre-operative CT to the intra-operative situation using a few fluoroscopic X-ray images (2D/3D rigid registration). The anatomy-based method enables less invasive procedures, and has a mean accuracy below 2mm, which is adequate for most orthopedic procedures. This is the key component of a virtual reality navigation system which replaces the use of fluoroscopic X-ray images. The system displays three dimensional dynamic virtual views of the intra-operative situation. This alleviates the problems associated with the use of uncorrelated, static, small field of view fluoroscopic X-ray images, and eliminates the radiation exposure. The second part of the thesis presents a method for creating panoramic images. Panoramic images enable measurement of long bones and serve to document surgical outcomes. Individual overlapping fluoroscopic X-ray images are combined into a single image which represents the underlying anatomy. This alleviates the problems associated with the small field of view of the original images. The panoramic images enable the surgeon to assess the intra-operative situation quantitatively by performing measurements which are currently not available using conventional fluoroscopic X-ray imaging. The third part of the thesis presents methods for the alignment of a robotic surgical assistant system for distal locking of long bone intramedullary nails. A patientmounted robot is automatically positioned to provide mechanical guidance for handheld drilling of the distal screw’s pilot holes. The robot is aligned using only a few fluoroscopic X-ray images of the drill guide and distal locking nail holes. This system increases surgeon accuracy by providing mechanical guidance during drilling, and reduces their radiation exposure by eliminating the need for fluoroscopic X-ray images associated with the free hand technique.
N Communication X an Approach to Parallel M 399 Parallel M × N Communication an Approach to Parallel M × N Communication

High performance scientific applications are frequently multiphysics codes composed from single-physics programs, or have a functional decomposition based on physics as well as a domain decomposition for parallelism. In either case, dividing the application into independent components that can be developed and tested separately is useful. This requires a fast and efficient mechanism to share the large parallel data structures that are used in scientific applications. The “M × N problem” is the transfer of data between two scientific parallel programs with different numbers of processes on each side. We present a solution to the M × N problem based on an I/O message passing interface (MPI). In this solution, the client application reads and writes data using the standard MPI I/O, but instead of going to hard drives the data are streamed in parallel between module programs working together on an integrated simulation. This approach builds on existing technology, emphasizes the easy migration of current applications, and simplifies the unit testing of the components while maintaining parallel high performance throughout the application. It also does not require a component to know how many processes another communicating component has.
Deconstructing Dependency in a Five-Factor World: A Meta-Analytic Review

Meta-analysis of studies assessing the relation between interpersonal dependency test scores and five-factor model (FFM) domain scores revealed that dependency scores are positively correlated with FFM Neuroticism and Agreeableness scores and negatively correlated with FFM Extraversion, Openness, and Conscientiousness scores. The magnitudes of these correlations were all in the small-to-moderate range, and comparable score intercorrelations were obtained when participants' dependency levels were assessed by means of a trait dependency questionnaire, dependent personality disorder questionnaire, or dependent personality disorder interview. These findings have implications for researchers' efforts to deconstruct dependency into its basic trait elements and for the dimensional approaches to personality disorders being considered for future versions of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders.
Palliative treatment with radiation-emitting metallic stents in unresectable Bismuth type III or IV hilar cholangiocarcinoma

Background The emerging data for stenting in combination with brachytherapy in unresectable hilar cholangiocarcinoma are encouraging. The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy and safety of radiation-emitting metallic stents (REMS) for unresectable Bismuth type III or IV hilar cholangiocarcinoma. Patients and methods Consecutive patients who underwent percutaneous placement with REMS or uncovered self-expandable metallic stent (SEMS) for unresectable Bismuth type III or IV hilar cholangiocarcinoma between September 2011 and April 2016 were identified into this retrospective study. Data on patient demographics and overall survival, functional success, stent patency and complications were collected at the authors’ hospital. Results A total of 59 patients were included: 33 (55.9%) in the REMS group and 26 (44.1%) in the SEMS group. The median overall survival was 338 days in the REMS group and 141 days in the SEMS group (p<0.001). The median stent patency time was 385 days for REMS and 142 days for SEMS (p<0.001). The functional success rate (87.9% vs 84.6%, p=0.722) and incidence of overall complications (27.3% vs 26.9%, p=0.999) did not differ in the two groups. Conclusions Placement with REMS is safe and effective in palliation for unresectable Bismuth type III or IV hilar cholangiocarcinoma, and seems to prolong survival as well as patency of stent in these patients.