Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Discovery and Cardioprotective Effects of the First Non-Peptide Agonists of the G Protein-Coupled Prokineticin Receptor-1

Prokineticins are angiogenic hormones that activate two G protein-coupled receptors: PKR1 and PKR2. PKR1 has emerged as a critical mediator of cardiovascular homeostasis and cardioprotection. Identification of non-peptide PKR1 agonists that contribute to myocardial repair and collateral vessel growth hold promises for treatment of heart diseases. Through a combination of in silico studies, medicinal chemistry, and pharmacological profiling approaches, we designed, synthesized, and characterized the first PKR1 agonists, demonstrating their cardioprotective activity against myocardial infarction (MI) in mice. Based on high throughput docking protocol, 250,000 compounds were computationally screened for putative PKR1 agonistic activity, using a homology model, and 10 virtual hits were pharmacologically evaluated. One hit internalizes PKR1, increases calcium release and activates ERK and Akt kinases. Among the 30 derivatives of the hit compound, the most potent derivative, IS20, was confirmed for its selectivity and specificity through genetic gain- and loss-of-function of PKR1. Importantly, IS20 prevented cardiac lesion formation and improved cardiac function after MI in mice, promoting proliferation of cardiac progenitor cells and neovasculogenesis. The preclinical investigation of the first PKR1 agonists provides a novel approach to promote cardiac neovasculogenesis after MI.
Stress and Coping in Higher Education: A Case Study of a Haitian American Woman Administrator.

The authors applied Relational-Cultural Theory (RCT) to conduct a case study of an AfroCaribbean woman administrator to explore her perceptions of stress and coping in higher education. While much has been written about the challenges facing Black faculty and students, this study focused on the experiences of a Black woman administrator in a predominantly White higher education institution. Findings suggest that resilience and coping for this Black woman administrator are reflected in her acts of resistance to combat the effects of systemic oppression.
What does research tell high school teachers about student motivation for test performance?

Abstract ‘Motivation’ is a significant concept for teachers and students during programmes of learning which lead explicitly to high stakes assessments and examinations. This systematic literature review surveys current research evidence to find out how secondary school teachers use motivational strategies specifically in respect of student academic assessment and performance. Six research studies were identified describing the behaviours secondary school teachers engaged in to improve student performance in assessment. Taken together, the studies presented show the importance of teacher behaviours to students’ academic performance, with both positive and negative impacts. The review highlights a need for further research on teacher knowledge of the effects of teacher behaviour upon the motivation of students. The review recommends collaboration between teachers and students specific to the context of learning programmes that lead to high-stakes assessments, in order to provide a locally sensitive knowledge base for teachers’ practice.
A search for giant pulses in Vela-like pulsars

We have carried out a survey for 'giant pulses' in six young, Vela-like pulsars. In no cases did we find single pulses with flux densities more than 10 times the mean flux density. However, in PSR B1706-44 we have detected giant micro-pulses very similar to those seen in the Vela pulsar. In PSR B 1706-44 these giant micro-pulses appear on the trailing edge of the profile and have an intrinsic width of ∼ 1 ms. The cumulative probability distribution of their intensities is best described by a power law. If the power law continues to higher intensities, then 3.7 × 10 6 rotations are required to obtain a pulse with 20X the mean pulse flux. This number is similar to the giant pulse rate in PSR B1937+21 and PSR B1821-24 but significantly higher than that for the Crab.
Loss of MAPK Pathway Activation in Post-Mitotic Retinal Cells as Mechanism in MEK Inhibition-Related Retinopathy in Cancer Patients

AbstractRecently, treatment with MEK inhibitors has been shown to be an effective treatment option for metastatic melanoma. Treatment efficacy is dependent on inhibition of MAPK-related melanoma proliferation. However, targeting of MEK can be accompanied by a time-dependent and reversible serous retinopathy of unknown origin.We analyzed the molecular mechanism by which the MEK inhibitor binimetinib may lead to retinopathy, using neuroretina and cell models of retinal pigment epithelium (RPE). Binimetinib inhibited the MAPK pathway while discontinuation of treatment resulted in reactivation. However, cell proliferation was not inhibited correspondingly during binimetinib treatment of ARPE19 cells. Remarkably, post-mitotic neuroretinal tissue displayed a strong MAPK activation that was lost after binimetinib treatment.We propose that binimetinib-associated retinopathy is correlated with inhibition of the MAPK pathway in multiple retinal components. Retinal cells are able to regain the activation after binimetinib treatment, mimicking the reversibility of the retinopathy. As most retinal cells are nonregenerating, other mechanisms than stimulation of proliferation must be involved.
Evaluating Nationwide Health Interventions When Standard Before-After DoesnﾒT Work: Malawi's Itn Distribution Program

Nationwide health interventions are difficult to evaluate as contemporaneous control groups do not exist and before-after approaches are usually infeasible. We propose an alternative semi-parametric estimator that is based on the assumption that the intervention has no direct effect on the health outcome but influences the outcome only through its effect on individual behavior. We show that in this case the evaluation problem can be divided into two parts: (i) the effect of the intervention on behavior, for which a conditional before-after assumption is more plausible; and (ii) the effect of the behavior on the health outcome, where we exploit that a contemporaneous control groups exists for behavior. The proposed estimator is used to evaluate one of Malawi's main malaria prevention campaigns, a nationwide insecticide-treated-net (ITN) distribution scheme, in terms of its effect on infant mortality. We exploit that the program affects child mortality only via bed net usage. We find that Malawi's ITN distribution campaign reduced child mortality by 1 percentage point, which corresponds to about 30% of the total reduction in infant mortality over the study period.
Global non-axisymmetric perturbation configurations in a composite disc system with an isopedic magnetic field: relation between dark matter halo and magnetic field

We study global non-axisymmetric stationary perturbations of aligned and unaligned logarithmic spiral configurations in an axisymmetric composite differentially rotating disc system of scale-free stellar and isopedically magnetized gas discs coupled by gravity. The infinitely thin gas disc is threaded across by a vertical magnetic field B z with a constant dimensionless isopedic ratio λ ≡ 2πGΣ (g) /B z of surface gas mass density Σ (g) to B z with G being the gravitational constant. Our exploration focuses on the relation between the isopedic ratio λ and the dark matter amount represented by a gravitational potential ratio f ≡ Φ/Φ in order to sustain stationary perturbation configurations, where Φ is the gravitational potential of a presumed axisymmetric halo of dark matter and Φ is the gravitational potential of the composite disc matter. For typical disc galaxies, we explore relevant parameter ranges numerically. High and low λ values correspond to relatively weak and strong magnetic fields given the same gas surface mass density, respectively. The main goal of our model analysis is to reveal the relation between isopedic magnetic fields and dark matter halo in spiral galaxies with globally stationary perturbation configurations. Our results show that for stationary perturbation configurations, fairly strong yet realistic magnetic fields require a considerably larger amount of dark matter in aligned and unaligned cases than weak or moderate magnetic field strengths. We discuss astrophysical and cosmological implications of our findings. For examples, patterns and pattern speeds of galaxies may change during the course of galactic evolution. Multiple-armed galaxies may be more numerous in the early Universe. Flocculent galaxies may represent the transitional phase of pattern variations in galaxies.
How Learning Goal Orientation Fosters Leadership Recognition in Self‐Managed Teams: A Two‐Stage Mediation Model

Defined as a mental framework for how individuals interpret and respond to achievement situations, learning goal orientation (LGO) has received increasing attention in organisational research. However, its effect on leadership, especially in contexts absent of formal leadership, remains understudied. Drawing on social exchange theory, we propose and test an individual-level two-stage process model of generalised exchange linking LGO and leadership recognition in self-managed teams. Specifically, we posit that learning-oriented individuals will tend to feel safer in self-managed teams, which will enable and sustain their engagement in contextual role behavior. Such behavior, in turn, will be reciprocated with recognition of these individuals as leaders. We use a multiphase, multi-informant approach (n = 287), and we find that felt safety mediates the effect of LGO on contextual role behavior, but that contextual role behavior alone does not mediate the effect of LGO on leadership recognition. LGO has an indirect effect on leadership recognition through the joint mediation of felt safety and contextual role behavior. Our results offer insight on the link between LGO and leadership, with practical implications for people working in self-managed teams.
Development and Implementation of Parameterized FPGA-Based General Purpose Neural Networks for Online Applications

This paper presents the development and implementation of a generalized backpropagation multilayer perceptron (MLP) architecture described in VLSI hardware description language (VHDL). The development of hardware platforms has been complicated by the high hardware cost and quantity of the arithmetic operations required in online artificial neural networks (ANNs), i.e., general purpose ANNs with learning capability. Besides, there remains a dearth of hardware platforms for design space exploration, fast prototyping, and testing of these networks. Our general purpose architecture seeks to fill that gap and at the same time serve as a tool to gain a better understanding of issues unique to ANNs implemented in hardware, particularly using field programmable gate array (FPGA). The challenge is thus to find an architecture that minimizes hardware costs, while maximizing performance, accuracy, and parameterization. This work describes a platform that offers a high degree of parameterization, while maintaining generalized network design with performance comparable to other hardware-based MLP implementations. Application of the hardware implementation of ANN with backpropagation learning algorithm for a realistic application is also presented.
Enumeration of CD4+ T-Cells Using a Portable Microchip Count Platform in Tanzanian HIV-Infected Patients

Background CD4+ T-lymphocyte count (CD4 count) is a standard method used to monitor HIV-infected patients during anti-retroviral therapy (ART). The World Health Organization (WHO) has pointed out or recommended that a handheld, point-of-care, reliable, and affordable CD4 count platform is urgently needed in resource-scarce settings. Methods HIV-infected patient blood samples were tested at the point-of-care using a portable and label-free microchip CD4 count platform that we have developed. A total of 130 HIV-infected patient samples were collected that included 16 de-identified left over blood samples from Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH), and 114 left over samples from Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences (MUHAS) enrolled in the HIV and AIDS care and treatment centers in the City of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. The two data groups from BWH and MUHAS were analyzed and compared to the commonly accepted CD4 count reference method (FACSCalibur system). Results The portable, battery operated and microscope-free microchip platform developed in our laboratory (BWH) showed significant correlation in CD4 counts compared with FACSCalibur system both at BWH (r = 0.94, p<0.01) and MUHAS (r = 0.49, p<0.01), which was supported by the Bland-Altman methods comparison analysis. The device rapidly produced CD4 count within 10 minutes using an in-house developed automated cell counting program. Conclusions We obtained CD4 counts of HIV-infected patients using a portable platform which is an inexpensive (<$1 material cost) and disposable microchip that uses whole blood sample (<10 µl) without any pre-processing. The system operates without the need for antibody-based fluorescent labeling and expensive fluorescent illumination and microscope setup. This portable CD4 count platform displays agreement with the FACSCalibur results and has the potential to expand access to HIV and AIDS monitoring using fingerprick volume of whole blood and helping people who suffer from HIV and AIDS in resource-limited settings.
Notice of RetractionSoft computing based biosignals in human machine interaction for assistive devices

Healthcare is a complex system, so effective technologies and algorithms required to obtaining optimal benefits and results. Also, healthcare has a very large domain but as an engineer we can see that many common algorithms are used for healthcare engineering today's. In this study, we want to review soft computing approaches used for analyze biosignals in healthcare technology issues and specially assistance devices. By attention to variety of assistance devices we can't mention to all published papers in this area. Actually, we will try to introduce some significant algorithms by order of time to provide a good perspective of this area. It must be noted that we don't select papers only based on the number of their citation. But also, some significant papers that are not mention too much, for any reason, are introduced.
The ultraluminous X-ray source NGC 1313 X-2. Its optical counterpart and environment

NGC 1313 X-2 is one of the brightest ultraluminous X-ray sources in the sky, at both X-ray and optical wavelengths; therefore, quite a few studies of available ESO VLT and HST data have appeared in the literature. Here, we present our analysis of VLT/FORS1 and HST/ACS photometric data, confirming the identification of the B ∼ 23 mag blue optical counterpart. We show that the system is part /
Cellular Mechanisms of the Augmenting Response: Short-Term Plasticity in a Thalamocortical Pathway

Some thalamocortical pathways display an “augmenting response” when stimuli are delivered at frequencies between 7 and 14 Hz. Cortical responses to the first three stimuli of a series increase progressively in amplitude and are relatively stable thereafter. We have investigated the cellular mechanisms of the augmenting response using extracellular and intracellular recordings in vivo and in slices of the sensorimotor neocortex of the rat. Single stimuli to the ventrolateral (VL) nucleus of the thalamus generate EPSPs followed by feedforward IPSPs that hyperpolarize cells in layer V. A long-latency depolarization interrupts the IPSP with a peak at ∼200 msec. A second VL stimulus delivered during the hyperpolarization and before the peak of the long-latency depolarization yields an augmenting response. The shortest latency for augmenting responses occurs in cells of layer V, and they appear in dendrites and somata recorded in upper layers ∼5 msec later. Recordings in vitro show that some layer V cells have hyperpolarization-activated and deinactivated conductances that may serve to increase their excitability after IPSPs. Also in vitro, cells from layer V, but not from layer III, generated augmenting responses at the same stimulation frequencies that were effective in vivo. Control experiments indicated that neither paired-pulse depression of IPSPs nor presynaptically mediated facilitation can account for the augmenting response. Active dendritic conductances contribute to the spread of augmenting responses into upper layers by way of back-propagating fast spikes, which attenuate with repetition, and long-lasting spikes, which enhance in parallel with the augmenting response. In conclusion, we propose that the initiation of augmenting responses depends on an interaction between inhibition, intrinsic membrane properties, and synaptic interconnections of layer V pyramidal neurons.
An Exploration of Evaluation Metrics for Mobile Push Notifications

How do we evaluate systems that filter social media streams and send users updates via push notifications on their mobile phones? Such notifications must be relevant, timely, and novel. In this paper, we explore various evaluation metrics for this task, focusing specifically on measuring relevance. We begin with an analysis of metrics deployed at the TREC 2015 Microblog evaluations. A simple change to the metrics, reflecting a different assumption, dramatically alters system rankings. Applying another metric, previously used in the TREC Microblog evaluations, again yields different system rankings. We find little correlation between a number of "reasonable" evaluation metrics, which suggests that system effectiveness depends on how you measure it---an undesirable state in IR evaluation. However, we argue that existing evaluation metrics can be generalized into a framework that uses the same underlying contingency table, but places different weights and penalties. Although we stop short of proposing the "one true metric", this framework can guide the future development of a family of metrics that more accurately models user needs.
(Democratic) regime change and the representation of women in parliament

ABSTRACT A regime change not only rests on new rules and political opportunities, but also it may bring alternatives in the distribution of power and representation of groups. The installation of a new regime, in particular, a regime change from autocracy to democracy, could also be beneficial for the representation of women in parliament. Including women in the country’s positions of power could be a sign of openness in the political arena, could provide legitimacy to the new regime and might stand for a new set of values. In this paper we measure the degree to which women’s representation changes after a regime transition, in particular, from autocratic to democratic rule, but also reciprocally. Using a global dataset on women’s representation from 1946 to 2014 including more than 140 regime changes, we establish through descriptive and inferential statistics that most regime changes, regardless of the nature of the transition involved, do not improve the representation of women.
A Class of Bounded Component Analysis Algorithms for the Separation of Both Independent and Dependent Sources

Bounded Component Analysis (BCA) is a recent approach which enables the separation of both dependent and independent signals from their mixtures. In this approach, under the practical source boundedness assumption, the widely used statistical independence assumption is replaced by a more generic domain separability assumption. This article introduces a geometric framework for the development of Bounded Component Analysis algorithms. Two main geometric objects related to the separator output samples, namely Principal Hyper-Ellipsoid and Bounding Hyper-Rectangle, are introduced. The maximization of the volume ratio of these objects, and its extensions, are introduced as relevant optimization problems for Bounded Component Analysis. The article also provides corresponding iterative algorithms for both real and complex sources. The numerical examples illustrate the potential advantage of the proposed BCA framework in terms of correlated source separation capability as well as performance improvement for short data records.
Subtyping and Subgrouping: Processes for the Prevention and Promotion of Stereotype Change

Two processes of stereotyping, subtyping and subgrouping, are compared. Subtyping occurs when perceivers respond to members of a target group who disconfirm their stereotypes by seeing them as exceptions to the rule and placing them in a separate subcategory apart from members who confirm the stereotype. The more recently defined process of subgrouping refers to the perceiver's organization of information in terms of clusters of individuals based on their similarities and differences; subgroups can include confirmers and disconfirmers. We consider how subtypes and subgroups are defined, operationalized, and measured, their consequences for stereotype change, and the role of typicality. It is concluded that the clearest difference between subtyping and subgrouping is in terms of their consequences (subtyping leads to the preservation and subgrouping to differentiation of the stereotype). There are, however, some similarities between the processes, and attention is drawn to whatfuture research is required, both to deepen our knowledge of each process and clarify their distinction.
Enhanced extrastriate visual response to bandpass spatial frequency filtered fearful faces: Time course and topographic evoked‐potentials mapping

We compared electrical brain responses to fearful vs. neutral facial expressions in healthy volunteers while they performed an orthogonal gender decision task. Face stimuli either had a broadband spatial‐frequency content, or were filtered to create either low spatial‐frequency (LSF) or high spatial‐frequency (HSF) faces, always overlapped with their complementary SF content in upside‐down orientation to preserve the total stimulus energy. We tested the hypothesis that the coarse LSF content of faces might be responsible for an early modulation of event‐related potentials (ERPs) to fearful expressions. Consistent with previous findings, we show that broadband images of fearful faces, relative to neutral faces, elicit a higher global field power of approximately 130 ms poststimulus onset, corresponding to an increased P1 component over lateral occipital electrodes, with neural sources located within the extrastriate visual cortex. Bandpass filtering of faces strongly affected the latency and amplitude of ERPs, with a suppression of the normal N170 response for both LSF and HSF faces, irrespective of expression. Critically, we found that LSF information from fearful faces, unlike HSF information, produced a right‐lateralized enhancement of the lateral occipital P1, without any change in the scalp topography, relative to unfiltered (broadband) fearful faces. These results demonstrate that an early P1 response to fear expression depends on a visual pathway preferentially tuned to coarse‐magnocellular inputs, and can persist unchanged even when the N170 generators are disrupted by SF filtering. Hum Brain Mapp, 2005. © 2005 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
On exactly marginal deformations of N=4 SYM and type IIB supergravity on AdS(5) x S**5

= 4 supersymmetric Yang-Mills theory with gauge group SU(N) (N ≥ 3) is believed to have two exactly marginal deformations which break the supersymmetry to = 1. We discuss the construction of the string theory dual to these deformations, in the supergravity approximation, in a perturbation series around the AdS5 × S5 solution. We construct explicitly the deformed solution at second order in the deformation. We show that deformations which are marginal but not exactly marginal lead to a non-conformal solution with a logarithmically running coupling constant. Surprisingly, at third order in the deformation we find the same beta functions for the couplings in field theory and in supergravity, suggesting that the leading order beta functions (or anomalous dimensions) do not depend on the gauge coupling (the coefficient is not renormalized).