Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Hydrodynamic simulations of merging clusters of galaxies

ABSTRA C T We present the results of high-resolution AP 3 Ma SPH simulations of merging clusters of galaxies. We find that the compression and shocking of the core gas during a merger can lead to large increases in bolometric X-ray luminosities and emission-weighted temperatures of clusters. Cooling flows are completely disrupted during equal-mass mergers, with the mass deposition rate dropping to zero as the cores of the clusters collide. The large increase in the cooling time of the core gas strongly suggests that cooling flows will not recover from such a merger within a Hubble time. Mergers with subclumps having one eighth of the mass of the main cluster are also found to disrupt a cooling flow if the merger is head-on. However, in this case the entropy injected into the core gas is rapidly radiated away and the cooling flow restarts within a few Gyr of the merger. Mergers in which the subcluster has an impact parameter of 500 kpc do not disrupt the cooling flow, although the mass deposition rate is reduced by ,30 per cent. Finally, we find that equal mass, off-centre mergers can effectively mix gas in the cores of clusters, while head on mergers lead to very little mixing. Gas stripped from the outer layers of subclumps results in parts of the outer layers of the main cluster being well mixed, although they have little effect on the gas in the core of the cluster. None of the mergers examined here resulted in the intracluster medium being well mixed globally.
Performance of Botnet Detection by Neural Networks in Software-Defined Networks

The recent evolution of Internet to new paradigms such as network function virtualization and software defined networking poses new relevant challenges to the detection of Botnet attacks, calling for innovative approaches. In this work we propose a detection mechanism based on an Artificial Neural Net classifier trained by available data sets collected in conventional networks. We apply such detection mechanism to the timely use case scenario of a software defined network infected by the dangerous Botnet Mirai, circulating in October 2016. Experimental results show an accuracy of Botnet detection higher than 99%, thus outperforming available Botnet detection mechanisms currently used in conventional networks.
No 695 July 2005 Cities in the Developing World

Rapid urbanisation is a major feature of developing countries. Some 2 billion more people are likely to become city residents in the next 30 years, yet urbanisation has received little attention in the modern development economics literature. This paper reviews theoretical and empirical work on the determinants and effects of urbanisation. This suggests that there are substantial productivity benefits from cities, although unregulated outcomes may well lead to excessive primacy as externalities and coordination failures inhibit decentralisation of economic activity. Policy should operate both by identifying and addressing these market failures, and by seeking to remove institutional obstacles to decentralisation.
CCL20 and Beta-Defensin 2 Production by Human Lung Epithelial Cells and Macrophages in Response to Brucella abortus Infection

Both CCL20 and human β-defensin 2 (hBD2) interact with the same membrane receptor and display chemotactic and antimicrobial activities. They are produced by airway epithelia in response to infectious agents and proinflammatory cytokines. Whereas Brucella spp. can infect humans through inhalation, their ability to induce CCL20 and hBD2 in lung cells is unknown. Here we show that B. abortus induces CCL20 expression in human alveolar (A549) or bronchial (Calu-6) epithelial cell lines, primary alveolar epithelial cells, primary human monocytes, monocyte-derived macrophages and the monocytic cell line THP-1. CCL20 expression was mainly mediated by JNK1/2 and NF-kB in both Calu-6 and THP-1 cells. CCL20 secretion was markedly induced in A549, Calu-6 and THP-1 cells by heat-killed B. abortus or a model Brucella lipoprotein (L-Omp19) but not by the B. abortus lipopolysaccharide (LPS). Accordingly, CCL20 production by B. abortus-infected cells was strongly TLR2-dependent. Whereas hBD2 expression was not induced by B. abortus infection, it was significantly induced in A549 cells by conditioned media from B. abortus-infected THP-1 monocytes (CMB). A similar inducing effect was observed on CCL20 secretion. Experiments using blocking agents revealed that IL-1β, but not TNF-α, was involved in the induction of hBD2 and CCL20 secretion by CMB. In the in vitro antimicrobial assay, the lethal dose (LD) 50 of CCL20 for B. abortus (>50 μg/ml) was markedly higher than that against E. coli (1.5 μg/ml) or a B. abortus mutant lacking the O polysaccharide in its LPS (8.7 ug/ml). hBD2 did not kill any of the B. abortus strains at the tested concentrations. These results show that human lung epithelial cells secrete CCL20 and hBD2 in response to B. abortus and/or to cytokines produced by infected monocytes. Whereas these molecules do not seem to exert antimicrobial activity against this pathogen, they could recruit immune cells to the infection site.
The value of information and optimal trading strategies in markets with heterogeneously informed traders #

Current Version: October 2003 ______________________________________________________________________ Abstract With a simulation study and an experimental market we explore, how valuable information in a market is. While earlier work in this field covered this question only with two levels of information we use ten different levels to control careful for the influence of additional information. We find that additional information is mostly useless and sometimes even harmful for low and medium informed investors. The second focus of the paper is to explore the usefulness of different trading strategies. Here we find that different information levels should use differing strategies, so there is no single optimal strategy.
Alpha fetoprotein is a novel protein‐binding partner for caspase‐3 and blocks the apoptotic signaling pathway in human hepatoma cells

Although there is increasing evidence that alpha fetoprotein (AFP) may function as regulatory factor in the growth of tumor cells, the precise mechanism is still unclear. In the current study, we investigated the role of the cytoplasmic AFP in caspase‐3‐mediated signaling of apoptosis. Our results showed that low doses of TNF‐related apoptosis‐inducing ligand (TRAIL) elevated the activity of caspase‐8, but not caspase‐3. Caspase‐3 colocalized and interacted with AFP in the cytoplasm of Bel 7402 cells, and translocated into nuclei in association with the occurrence of apoptosis while cells were under cotreatment with all‐trans retinoic acid (ATRA) or TRAIL. AFP was able to form complexes with caspase‐3 and block onward transmission of signaling from caspase‐8. Knockdown of AFP increased the sensitivity of Bel 7402 cells to TRAIL, and thereby, triggered caspase‐3 signaling. No intermolecule interaction occurred between AFP and caspase‐8, nor was caspase‐8 activity altered after AFP knockdown, demonstrating the selectivity of AFP in interfering with the apoptotic signaling pathway. The effect of AFP on caspase‐3 was further confirmed by transfection of the AFP gene into HLE cells (AFP negative). We conclude that ATRA or TRAIL resistance in AFP producing hepatoma is at least, in part, attributable to the high level of the cytoplasmic AFP. Therefore, it is possible that the combination of AFP gene silencing together with ATRA/TRAIL cotreatment will benefit the enhancement of the chemotherapeutic efficiency of these agents on tumors. © 2009 UICC
RETRACTED ARTICLE: The Nature of Creativity

Like E. Paul Torrance, my colleagues and I have tried to understand the nature of creativity, to assess it, and to improve instruction by teaching for creativity as well as teaching students to think creatively. This article reviews our investment theory of creativity, propulsion theory of creative contributions, and some of the data we have collected with regard to creativity. It also describes the propulsion theory of creative contributions. Finally, it draws some conclusions.
A Sibling Study of Sensation Seeking and Opiate Addiction

Substance abuse and its correlative personality traits may have familial associations. We assessed the relationship between sensation seeking and drug use in 201 opiate addicts and 133 of their siblings in a cross-sectional family study. Probands and their drug-abusing siblings showed greater sensation seeking than their non-drug-abusing siblings and this diagnosis accounted for the most variance in regression models. Degree of sensation seeking correlated among drug-abusing siblings and with age of first drug use. The results are discussed in terms of substance abuse typologies and for using sensation-seeking assessments for prevention and treatment of substance abuse.
Outcome from serious injury in older adults.

PURPOSE To analyze the research published in peer-reviewed journals between 1996 and 2005 about factors affecting the physical outcomes of older adults after serious traumatic injury. ORGANIZING CONSTRUCT Twenty-seven primary research studies published in the last 10 years pertained to in-hospital and long-term outcomes of serious injury among older adults. Research specific to isolated hip injury, traumatic brain injury, and burn trauma was excluded. METHODS An integrative review of research published between January 1996 and January 2005 was carried out to examine the relationship between older age and outcome from severe injury. MEDLINE, BIOSIS previews, CINAHL, and PsycINFO databases were searched using the MeSH terms: injury, serious injury, trauma and multiple trauma, and crossed with type, severity, medical/surgical management, complication, outcome, mortality, morbidity, survival, disability, quality of life, functional status, functional recovery, function, and placement. FINDINGS Older adults in these studies had higher short- and long-term mortality than did younger adults. The relationship between older age and poorer outcome persisted when adjusting for injury severity, number of injuries, comorbidities, and complications. At the same time, injury severity, number of injuries, complications, and gender each independently correlated with increased mortality among older adults. The body of research is limited by overreliance on retrospective data and heterogeneity in definitional criteria for the older adult population. CONCLUSIONS Additional research is needed to clarify the contributory effect of variables such as psychosocial sequelae and physiologic resilience on injury outcome. The field of geriatric trauma would benefit from further population-based prospective investigation of the determinants of injury outcome in older adults in order to guide interventions and acute care treatment.
P-selectin-mediated platelet adhesion promotes tumor growth

Blood platelets foster carcinogenesis. We found that platelets are accumulated in human tumors. P-selectin deficiency and soluble P-selectin abolish platelet deposition within tumors, decreasing secretion of vascular endothelial growth factor and angiogenesis, thereby suppressing tumor growth. Binding of the P-selectin cytoplasmic tail to talin1 triggers the talin1 N-terminal head to interact with the β3 cytoplasmic tail. This activates αIIbβ3 and recruits platelets into tumors. Platelet infiltration into solid tumors occurs through a P-selectin-dependent mechanism.
Emergence of Mammalian Cell-Adapted Vesicular Stomatitis Virus from Persistent Infections of Insect Vector Cells

ABSTRACT Arboviruses (arthropod-borne viruses) represent quintessential generalists, with the ability to infect and perform well in multiple hosts. However, antagonistic pleiotropy imposed a cost during the adaptation to persistent replication of vesicular stomatitis virus in sand fly cells and resulted in strains that initially replicated poorly in hamster cells, even when the virus was allowed to replicate periodically in the latter. Once a debilitated strain started replicating continuously in mammalian cells, fitness increased significantly. Fitness recovery did not entail back mutations or compensatory mutations, but instead, we observed the replacement of persistence-adapted genomes by mammalian cell-adapted strains with a full set of new, unrelated sequence changes. These mammalian cell-adapted genomes were present at low frequencies in the populations with a history of persistence for up to a year and quickly became dominant during mammalian infection, but coexistence was not stable in the long term. Periodic acute replication in mammalian cells likely contributed to extending the survival of minority genomes, but these genomes were also found in strictly persistent populations.
Efficacy and safety of two single-pill fixed-dose combinations of angiotensin II receptor blockers/calcium channel blockers in hypertensive patients (EXAMINER study)

Abstract Background: There is some controversy regarding which single-pill fixed-dose combinations of angiotensin II type 1 receptor blockers (ARBs) and calcium channel blockers (CCBs) are effective at reducing blood pressure (BP). Methods: Sixty hypertensive patients who received a single-pill fixed-dose combination of valsartan 80 mg/day and amlodipine 5 mg/day were enrolled (UMIN Registration 000013460). They were randomly divided into two treatment groups [single-pill fixed-dose combination therapy with valsartan 80 mg/day and amlodipine 5 mg/day (Val/Am group), or irbesartan 100 mg/day and amlodipine 5 mg/day (Irb/Am group)] and treated for 16 weeks. If the patient did not reach the target office BP at 8 weeks, they received double doses of amlodipine (10 mg/day). Results: In the Irb/Am group, systolic BP (SBP) and diastolic BP (DBP) were significantly decreased at 16 weeks. There were no significant changes in SBP or DBP in the Val/Am group. In the Irb/Am group, serum uric acid (UA) was significantly decreased at 8 weeks and patients who had hyperuricemia showed significantly decreased serum UA at 16 weeks. In addition, the levels of triglycerides (TG) were significantly decreased at 16 weeks in the Irb/Am group. Conclusion: A single-pill fixed-dose combination therapy with irbesartan 100 mg/day and amlodipine 5 mg/day was superior to the combination of valsartan 80 mg/day and amlodipine 5 mg/day with respect to significant decreases in BP, serum UA and TG in patients with hypertension.
The Room Effect: Exploring Paths and Rooms in a Desktop Virtual Environment With Objects Grouped Categorically and Spatially

People rapidly learn the spatial layout of the interior of rooms when they navigate through a building to perform everyday tasks in a simulated environment, a phenomenon called the room effect. Three experiments showed that the room effect did not depend on the categorical or functional utilization of rooms or on the exploration routes taken. Although there was a strong effect of whether or not the objects in the rooms all came from the same category or not, this object organization effect was independent of the room effect. Second, the room effect was just as strong when objects in different rooms were visited successively as it was when all objects in a room were visited before moving to the next room. The results are difficult to explain from the landmark-route-survey model or other extant explanations. A characteristic enclosure framework explanation is proposed.
Migration status and transnational mothering: the case of Filipino migrants in France

Recent studies on transnational mothering have explored the various strategies migrant women use to negotiate their absence from home; however, there is limited knowledge on how migration status diversifies transnational mothering practices. To fill this gap, I conducted in-depth interviews and observations of Filipino migrant mothers working in the domestic service sector in and around Paris. The consequences of migration include the prolongation of a planned stay in France, emotional difficulties due to family separation, and distant mother–child relationships. Transnational family life appears more complicated and difficult to manage for undocumented migrant mothers since they cannot easily visit their family back home, which they try to compensate by resorting to more intense transnational communication and gift-giving practices. Hence, migration status plays an important role in shaping transnational motherhood.
Investigation of Torque Ripples in Permanent Magnet Synchronous Machines With Skewing

This paper investigates the influence of skewing on torque ripples, including the electromagnetic (EM) torque ripple, and the cogging torque, in permanent magnet (PM) machines. It is found that the effectiveness of skewing largely depends on the axial variation of a torque ripple phase but less on its magnitude under skewing. It is further found that, in both linear and nonlinear cases, the EM and the on-load torque ripple cannot be fully eliminated by skewing one on-load torque ripple period or any other angles, except 360° electrical, which is impractical. This is due to the fact that the EM torque ripple, especially its phase, of each slice is different due to the axial variation of the equivalent current phase advance angle introduced by skewing. In nonlinear cases, the EM torque ripple variation is further aggravated by the axial variation of magnetic saturation. The EM torque ripple as well as the on-load torque ripple may be even increased by skewing, especially when the cogging torque is low and electric loading is high.
‘Our identity is our currency’: South Africa, the responsibility to protect and the logic of African intervention

Heavyweights of South Africa's ruling African National Congress claim that the responsibility to protect citizens in the case of an unwilling or unable government is an African concept, owned by the continent: rooted in the security–development crisis of the past few decades, Pretoria stresses that there is an intellectual and political history of intervention, separate from Western conceptions of R2P. While the conception of an African responsibility to protect has come to constitute a major pillar of South African foreign policy, this is not without its critics—domestic or abroad—and, as the Libya case exemplifies, often presents decision-makers in Pretoria with tough real world dilemmas. South Africa shares the intense scepticism of China and Russia about Western claims of value-based foreign policies. But much as anti-imperialist ideology and growth-centred relations with other emerging powers inform South African foreign policy, it would be a mistake to see Pretoria's scepticism about Western interpretations as a sign of profound normative convergence with Russian and Chinese critiques of liberal peace-building: the South African critique of the responsibility to protect is more procedural than substantive.
The dynamics of nacre self-assembly

We show how nacre and pearl construction in bivalve and gastropod molluscs can be understood in terms of successive processes of controlled self-assembly from the molecular- to the macro-scale. This dynamics involves the physics of the formation of both solid and liquid crystals and of membranes and fluids to produce a nanostructured hierarchically constructed biological composite of polysaccharides, proteins and mineral, whose mechanical properties far surpass those of its component parts.
Persistent Neuronal Firing in Primary Somatosensory Cortex in the Absence of Working Memory of Trial-specific Features of the Sample Stimuli in a Haptic Working Memory Task

Previous studies suggested that primary somatosensory (SI) neurons in well-trained monkeys participated in the haptic–haptic unimodal delayed matching-to-sample (DMS) task. In this study, 585 SI neurons were recorded in monkeys performing a task that was identical to that in the previous studies but without requiring discrimination and active memorization of specific features of a tactile or visual memorandum. A substantial number of those cells significantly changed their firing rate in the delay compared with the baseline, and some of them showed differential delay activity. These firing changes are similar to those recorded from monkeys engaged in active (working) memory. We conclude that the delay activity is not necessarily only observed as was generally thought in the situation of active memorization of different features between memoranda after those features have been actively discriminated. The delay activity observed in this study appears to be an intrinsic property of SI neurons and suggests that there exists a neural network in SI (the primary sensory cortex) for haptic working memory no matter whether the difference in features of memoranda needs to be memorized in the task or not. Over 400 SI neurons were also recorded in monkeys well-trained to discriminate two memoranda in the haptic–haptic DMS task for comparison of delay firing of SI neurons between the two different working memory tasks used in this study. The similarity observed in those two situations suggests that working memory uses already-existing memory apparatus by activating it temporarily. Our data also suggest that, through training (repetitive exposure to the stimulus), SI neurons may increase their involvement in the working memory of the memorandum.
Awareness on the Association between Periodontal Diseases and Pregnancy Outcomes among Gynecologists: A Cross-sectional Study

Background: Studies showed periodontal diseases are risk factors for adverse pregnancy outcomes. Prenatal health care should include an assessment of oral health during pregnancy. Lack of awareness and attitudes regarding oral health leads to neonatal mortality and preterm low birth weight among infants. Finally, what needs to be realized is the key role of medical professionals in this aspect, to deliver appropriate and standard prenatal care to pregnant women. Hence, it is essential to evaluate the knowledge of medical health professionals about periodontitis and its association with adverse pregnancy outcomes. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in Hyderabad among gynecologists using a questionnaire. The questionnaire was distributed to the gynecologists by e-mails, fax, and personal interactions and was requested to anonymously complete the questionnaire. Results: Among 112 respondents, 51.7% of them were aware of what is a periodontal disease, 57% of participants were aware of that pregnancy is a cause for preterm birth, 79.4% of gynecologists said that there was a correlation between health of the teeth, gums, and pregnancy, 65% of practitioners refer patients to the dentist when they are at risk, 75.7% of the participants were questioning their patients about their oral health during consultations, and only a few practitioners were referring, systematically their patient to a dentist. Knowledge of periodontitis is seen more in experienced practitioners with a hospital practice. Conclusions: Clinical behavior regarding oral and periodontal health did not correlate with such knowledge; therefore, specific educational programs should be developed to share knowledge between dentists and gynecologists to develop teamwork. Periodic dental visits during early phases of pregnancy can be proposed to prevent adverse pregnancy outcomes and to improve oral health status in pregnant woman.