Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
REG3A promotes the proliferation, migration, and invasion of gastric cancer cells

The mechanism underlying the metastasis of gastric cancer (GC) cells remains elusive. REG3A is considered an oncogene in various cancers, but in GC its role is unclear. Here, we report that the expression of REG3A was significantly increased in the tumor tissues of patients with GC compared with the matched normal tissues. Knockdown of REG3A induced by specific small interfering RNA (siRNA) significantly repressed the proliferation of GC cells for 24 h or 48 h. Moreover, knockdown of REG3A significantly suppressed the migration, invasion, and adhesion of GC cells in vitro. Furthermore, knockdown of REG3A reduced the phosphorylation of JAK2 and STAT3, and altered the messenger RNA (mRNA) and protein expression levels of E-cadherin, Snail, RhoC, MTA1, MMP-2, and MMP-9. Taken together, REG3A is overexpressed in GC and promotes the proliferation, migration, invasion, and adhesion of GC cells by regulating the JAK2/STAT3 signal pathway. REG3A may be a potential therapeutic target for GC.
Design for peripheral interaction

In everyday life we perform several activities in our periphery of attention. For example, we are aware of what the weather is like and we can wash our hands without actively thinking about it. Though computing technology is becoming increasingly present in our everyday routines, interactions with these technologies usually require focused attention. Inspired by our interactions in the physical world, this thesis explores the concept of peripheral interaction: interaction with technology that takes place outside the focus of attention. We believe that this direction may support interactive devices to better blend into our everyday routines. We explore peripheral interaction by observing how everyday activities take place in the periphery and by developing and deploying a number of physical peripheral interaction designs. We conclude with a set of considerations for facilitating peripheral interaction. With this work, we hope to contribute to interaction design research and practice by providing insights in how human attention abilities can be leveraged in interaction design.
"Soft power,” selfishness, or altruism? Motivations and satisfaction of US-based international volunteers

Postcolonial critiques of international development organizations scrutinise their role in “soft power” public diplomacy, observing as symptomatic the partly self-serving motivations and naïve beliefs about the world of many volunteers. However, international volunteers are not necessarily influenced by political agendas or selfishness; nor should they be assumed as naïvely complicit in problematic international relations strategies. This article examines the perceptions of United States-based volunteers in education and public health working with an international development organisation, exploring their motivations and senses of satisfaction with their experiences. By framing volunteers’ experiences as fundamental to the field of international volunteerism, our findings add nuance to simplistic views of volunteerism as a broad tool of soft power or as acts of selfless altruism, enabling volunteer programmes to become more holistic, grounded, and critical in conceptualizing their work.
Distribution of protein kinase C-like immunoreactive neurons in rat brain

Distribution of protein kinase C in the CNS of rat is presented based on immunohistochemical analysis with monoclonal antibodies against this protein kinase. Protein kinase C-like immunoreactivity was discretely localized and associated with neurons. Most, if not all, glial cells were not significantly stained. The greatest density of the immunoreactive material was seen in the following regions: the olfactory bulb (external plexiform layer), olfactory tuberculum, anterior olfactory nucleus, cerebral cortex (layers I and IV), pyriform cortex, hippocampus (strata radiatum and oriens), amygdaloid complex (central and basolateral nuclei), cerebellar cortex (molecular layer), dorsal cochlear nucleus, nucleus spinal tract of the trigeminal nerve, and dorsal horn of the spinal cord (substantia gelatinosa). Image analysis revealed that the regional distribution of the protein kinase C-like immunoreaction generally agreed with that of phorbol ester- binding sites. Immunoreactive perikarya were found in the following areas: the cerebral cortex (layers V and VI), caudate putamen, hippocampus, thalamus, amygdaloid complex, medial and lateral geniculate nucleus, superior colliculus, cerebellar cortex, nucleus spinal tract of the trigeminal nerve, dorsal cochlear nucleus, and dorsal horn of the spinal cord. Intense protein kinase C-like immunoreactivity in the neuron was observed both in the membrane and cytoplasm of the perikarya, dendrites, axons, and axon terminals, while weak immunoreaction was seen in the nuclei but almost never in the nucleoles. A map of protein kinase C-containing neurons was constructed. Such an uneven distribution in the brain suggests that this enzyme may play roles in controlling neuronal function in the areas noted.
On the Covariant Quantization of Type II Superstrings

In a series of papers Grassi, Policastro, Porrati and van Nieuwenhuizen have introduced a new method to covariantly quantize the GS-superstring by constructing a resolution of the pure spinor constraint of Berkovits' approach. Their latest version is based on a gauged WZNW model and a definition of physical states in terms of relative cohomology groups. We first put the off-shell formulation of the type-II version of their ideas into a chirally split form and directly construct the free action of the gauged WZNW model, thus circumventing some complications of the super group manifold approach to type-II. Then we discuss the BRST charges that define the relative cohomology and the N=2 superconformal algebra. A surprising result is that nilpotency of the BRST charge requires the introduction of another quartet of ghosts.
Comparison of Servant Leadership and Stewardship

The moral and social responsibility of leadership is important to the development of successful servant-leadership and stewardship. The role of ethics in leadership, business, and economics is shown to the foundation of successful servant-leadership. In addition, these leadership orientations are shown to produce organizations with longevity and profitability. Integral to stewardship and organization success is moral leadership and organizational integrity. The skills, competencies, and behaviors essential to moral leadership are presented as well as how they must be applied to an individual in order to be effective in the new business paradigm.
Adaptive modulation for multiuser orthogonal random beamforming systems

In this paper, we present and analyze a rate-adaptive multiuser orthogonal random beamforming (ORBF) system. The goal is to maximize the average spectral efficiency (ASE) while satisfying a target bit error ratio (BER) constraint. We first derive the cumulative distribution function of the post-scheduling signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR) with a new approach. The average BER and the ASE are derived as closed-form expressions. Finally, we obtain the optimal switching SINR thresholds maximizing the ASE under average BER constraint. Simulation results show performance improvement in terms of ASE.
Improving and Sustaining Elementary Teachers’ Science Teaching Perceptions and Process Skills: A Postintervention Study

ABSTRACT Few research studies have examined postintervention data from professional development interventions on science teaching and learning. Given the limited research, it is recommended that more studies examine the lasting effects of science professional development on teachers and students. The purpose of this current study was to examine the sustained changes in teachers’ science teaching perceptions and process skills as a result of 2 years of an ongoing, embedded science professional development intervention. In this randomized controlled trial,experimental teachers participated in 2 types of professional development across 2 years: (a) Summer institutes (60 hr across 2 years) provided training on problem-based science curriculum units, inquiry-based instruction, classroom management, and technology use in the classroom; and (b) coaching (60 hr across 2 years) provided teachers with assistance in establishing an investigative classroom and implementing the science curriculum. Both experimental and comparison teachers followed the state science frameworks to guide their classroom instruction, but the experimental teachers implemented 1 problem-based curriculum unit in their classroom each year. Teacher data were collected 1 year after the professional development intervention was completed and compared to the data previously collected during the 2-year intervention. Results indicated that positive changes in science teaching perceptions and process skills were maintained 1 year after the professional development was withdrawn.
Implementing Curve25519 for Side-Channel--Protected Elliptic Curve Cryptography

For security-critical embedded applications Elliptic Curve Cryptography (ECC) has become the predominant cryptographic system for efficient key agreement and digital signatures. However, ECC still involves complex modular arithmetic that is a particular burden for small processors. In this context, Bernstein proposed the highly efficient ECC instance Curve25519 that particularly enables efficient software implementations at a security level comparable to AES-128 with inherent resistance to simple power analysis (SPA) and timing attacks. In this work, we show that Curve25519 is likewise competitive on FPGAs even when countermeasures to thwart side-channel power analysis are included. Our basic multicore DSP-based architectures achieves a maximal performance of more than 32,000 point multiplications per second on a Xilinx Zynq 7020 FPGA. Including a mix of side-channel countermeasures to impede simple and differential power analysis, we still achieve more than 27,500 point multiplications per second with a moderate increase in logic resources.
“They need to be able to have walked in our shoes”: What people with intellectual disability say about National Disability Insurance Scheme planning

ABSTRACT Background: Planning is a key mechanism by which the Australian National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) ensures individuals with disability have choice and control over supports. People with intellectual disability will comprise the largest NDIS participant group and many will need assistance to engage in planning. In order to respond effectively, NDIS planners must understand the decision-making support required by individuals. Method: Focus groups were conducted with 9 adults with intellectual disability living in an NDIS trial site to explore their experiences of NDIS planning. Results: Thematic analysis identified 6 themes related to good planning experiences for people with intellectual disability: preparation, learning from mistakes, personal growth, and having a credible, consistent, and disability-aware planner. Conclusions: Participants who developed a trusting relationship with a planner used planning to increase independence and social participation. Planner skills, particularly communication and sector knowledge, and attributes such as warmth and openness created trust.
Infrared Image Enhancement Based on Wavelet Transformation and Retinex

As infrared image enhancement method based on wavelet transformation has the problem of poor visual effect, the method based on wavelet transformation and Retinex was proposed. Firstly, the infrared image is decomposed into high frequency detail and low frequency approximation components at various resolutions; Secondly, the low frequency subband of the bottom level is enhanced by multiscale Retinex algorithm, thus the gain coefficients of high frequency subbands are available by calculating the local compatibility of the enhanced low frequency subband of the same level, and the gain coefficients are multiplied by the corresponding detail image to get enhanced high frequency subband images; Finally, the enhanced image is reconstructed by the low frequency subband and high frequency subbands. Experimental results show that the proposed method enhances image details, suppresses noise, and achieves a better visual effect by comparing with infrared image enhancement method based on stationary wavelet transform.
Reflections on Interdisciplinarity in the Study of Childhood in the Past

ABSTRACT One of the hallmarks of research on childhood in the past is inclusive, interdisciplinary thinking. This reliance on interdisciplinarity to produce robust scholarship speaks, in part, to the ways we think about children and childhood today, as simultaneously embodied, material, cognitive, intersectional, relational, and developmental. Scholars working and connecting across disciplinary boundaries are also a product of the relatively recent emergence of childhood as an area of scholarly interest and the marginalization of the topic in traditional disciplinary silos. This paper takes a unique approach to addressing the interdisciplinary nature of scholarship on children and childhood in the past. Four scholars have produced reflective essays: a theatre historian, an art historian, an archaeologist/teaching professional, and a bioarchaeologist, which offer perspectives and insights into the importance of interdisciplinary thinking in their own work, and by extension in their larger fields of disciplinary practice.
Procedia Social and Behavioral Sciences Monitoring Changes in the Social Network Structure of Clinical Care Teams Resulting from Team Development Efforts

This paper describes the results of a longitudinal observation of team communication structure for two distinct interdisciplinary health care teams at a large academic children medical center in the United States. Our goal was to use the longitudinal analyses to inform teams of opportunities and strategies that strengthen the communication structures a function critical to team effectiveness. For both teams, the members were geographically dispersed across the hospital campus, thereby requiring dependence not only on face to face communication but also on e-mail to promote information flow and facilitate discussion. We analyzed the email archives of two teams (the Liver Transplant/Biliary Atresia and Cerebral Palsy teams) to monitor structural changes in email communication patterns between the 2010 and 2011 observations. Since the first analyses, both teams were designated as strategic priorities by the institution, underwent off site meetings to define and put into execution a strategic plan, initiated processes to improve care delivery and coordination and reviewed the results of the initial SNA. We measured social network metrics such as density, core/periphery structure, distribution of ties, and betweenness centrality and degree centrality. We found that for both teams the communication patterns over the past year had a positive trend, as shown by the increase in density, network resilience and external connectivity.
Composites from southern pine juvenile wood. Part 3. Juvenile and mature wood furnish mixtures

Composite panels made from mixtures of mature and juvenile southern pine (Pinus taeda L.) were evaluated for initial mechanical properties and dimensional stability. The effect that the proportion of juvenile wood had on panel properties was analyzed by regression and rule-of-mixtures models. The mixed furnish data: 1) highlighted the degree to which juvenile wood types can affect specific panel properties; 2) substantiated significant and non-significant differences found in parts 1 and 2 of the study for homogeneous panels; and 3) showed the rule-of-mixtures to be a good model for property changes due to changes in the proportion of juvenile wood in the furnish.
Indoor VLC system with multiple LEDs of different path lengths employing space-time block-coded DMT/CAP modulation [invited]

We experimentally demonstrate a practical visible light communication (VLC) system of 3.2-m transmission using spectrally efficient discrete multitone (DMT) or carrierless amplitude phase (CAP) modulation. The transmitters consist of two light emitting diodes (LEDs) spaced 2 m apart, the arrangement of which corresponds to a common case for full-range illumination in indoor environments, and this work also investigates the influence of the difference in transmission path lengths from the LEDs to a single receiver. In the overlapped illumination area, the delay interference between the LEDs could result in up to about 40% capacity reduction using quaternary CAP or bit-loaded DMT signals, when two LEDs simply transmit the same signal. To mitigate the impact of the delay interference, Alamouti space-time block coding (STBC) is employed for both DMT and CAP signals, and the combination of CAP and STBC is proposed for the first time to the authors' best knowledge. Employing STBC, we successfully demonstrate interference-tolerant VLC over 3.2-m air transmission, and the maximum data rates for DMT and CAP signals are 220 and 150 Mbps, respectively.
Episodic Demands, Resources, and Engagement: An Experience-Sampling Study

This study contributes to the literature on work engagement and job demands-resources (JD-R) theory by exploring the momentary relations between episodic demands, resources, engagement, and performance during various activities (e.g., checking e-mails) within a day. Using experience-sampling methodology, 61 Dutch employees completed activity characteristics, engagement, and performance surveys at three different times during the day for one week. Results from 413 observations showed that 88% of the total variance in engagement fluctuates from activity to activity. Multilevel path analysis results confirmed that during activities, episodic engagement was positively related to performance, and mediated the positive associations of resources and negative associations of hindering demands with performance.
Macromolecular networks and intelligence in microorganisms

Living organisms persist by virtue of complex interactions among many components organized into dynamic, environment-responsive networks that span multiple scales and dimensions. Biological networks constitute a type of information and communication technology (ICT): they receive information from the outside and inside of cells, integrate and interpret this information, and then activate a response. Biological networks enable molecules within cells, and even cells themselves, to communicate with each other and their environment. We have become accustomed to associating brain activity – particularly activity of the human brain – with a phenomenon we call “intelligence. ” Yet, four billion years of evolution could have selected networks with topologies and dynamics that confer traits analogous to this intelligence, even though they were outside the intercellular networks of the brain. Here, we explore how macromolecular networks in microbes confer intelligent characteristics, such as memory, anticipation, adaptation and reflection and we review current understanding of how network organization reflects the type of intelligence required for the environments in which they were selected. We propose that, if we were to leave terms such as “human” and “brain” out of the defining features of “intelligence,” all forms of life – from microbes to humans – exhibit some or all characteristics consistent with “intelligence. ” We then review advances in genome-wide data production and analysis, especially in microbes, that provide a lens into microbial intelligence and propose how the insights derived from quantitatively characterizing biomolecular networks may enable synthetic biologists to create intelligent molecular networks for biotechnology, possibly generating new forms of intelligence, first in silico and then in vivo.
Genetic Association Analysis of Common Variants in FOXO3 Related to Longevity in a Chinese Population

Recent studies suggested that forkhead box class O3 (FOXO3) functions as a key regulator for the insulin/insulin-like growth factor-1signaling pathway that influence aging and longevity. This study aimed to comprehensively elucidate the association of common genetic variants in FOXO3 with human longevity in a Chinese population. Eighteen single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in FOXO3 were successfully genotyped in 616 unrelated long-lived individuals and 846 younger controls. No nominally significant effects were found. However, when stratifying by gender, four SNPs (rs10499051, rs7762395, rs4946933 and rs3800230) previously reported to be associated with longevity and one novel SNP (rs4945815) showed significant association with male longevity (P-values: 0.007–0.032), but all SNPs were not associated with female longevity. Correspondingly, males carrying the G-G-T-G haplotype of rs10499051, rs7762395, rs4945815 and rs3800230 tended to have longer lifespan than those carrying the most common haplotype A-G-C-T (odds ratio = 2.36, 95% confidence interval = 1.20–4.63, P = 0.013). However, none of the associated SNPs and haplotype remained significant after Bonferroni correction. In conclusion, our findings revealed that the FOXO3 variants we tested in our population of Chinese men and women were associated with longevity in men only. None of these associations passed Bonferroni correction. Bonferroni correction is very stringent for association studies. We therefore believe the effects of these nominally significant variants on human longevity will be confirmed by future studies.
Stochastic Analysis of the Fractional Brownian Motion

Since the fractional Brownian motion is not a semiimartingale, the usual Ito calculus cannot be used to deene a full stochastic calculus. However, in this work, we obtain the Itt formula, the ItttClark representation formula and the Girsanov theorem for the functionals of a fractional Brownian motion using the stochastic calculus of variations.
Students’ conceptions of learning in the context of an accounting degree

ABSTRACT Students' conceptions of learning (CoL) play an important role in the learning process leading to the development of generic skills. This paper investigates whether CoL of accounting students can be developed by incorporating high-level cognitive skills progressively within the accounting curriculum. First, the study explored, using phenomenography, the variation in accounting students' CoL. The findings highlighted some nuances in accountings students' CoL and that lower-order CoL were prevalent among accounting students. However, more (less) third-year students than second-year students adopted higher- (lower-) order CoL. Upon examining the learning objectives, teaching methods and assessment of all units comprising the accounting major of the host university, evidence was found that CoL are progressively developed and shaped, albeit in a limited way, based on the levels of cognitive domain emphasised within the curriculum. The findings highlight the need for accounting educators to take a whole of the programme approach to developing higher-order CoL.