Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Factors influencing serum total tryptase concentrations in a general adult population

Abstract Background: Serum tryptase measurements are increasingly being used in clinical practice. However, there is a paucity of studies focused on factors that influence tryptase concentrations. We investigated the relationships between total tryptase concentrations and age, gender, atopy, alcohol consumption, smoking, and common metabolic abnormalities in adults. Methods: This was a cross-sectional study of a random sample from an adult population (n=420, age 18–92 years, 45% males) from a single municipality. Serum total tryptase was measured using a fluoro-enzyme immunoassay. Results: The median tryptase concentration was 5.1 μg/L (range, <1–30.7 μg/L). There was a significant (p<0.0001) continual increase in tryptase with age; the median concentrations were 4.0 μg/L in 18–30 years old and 6.6 μg/L in those >80 years. Female gender and heavy ethanol use were negatively and independently associated with tryptase concentrations. Tryptase was higher in individuals that were non-atopic, overweight, or had metabolic syndrome compared to individuals that were atopic, normal weight, or did not have the metabolic syndrome. However, these associations were attenuated after adjusting for age. Conclusions: Serum total tryptase concentrations in adults are not significantly modified by atopy status, but may be modified by lifestyle factors, such as alcohol consumption and gender. Serum total tryptase concentrations are particularly dependent on age. Clin Chem Lab Med 2010;48:701–6.
Rotation invariant copy move forgery detection method

In recent years, due to the increment in the image editing software applications and the easiness of using these, the probability of malicious changes on the images has also increased. Copy-move forgery is one of the most widely applied modification types on the images. In case of that the copied region is rotated before being pasted, forgery detection becomes difficult. Many researchers try on proposing new rotation-invariant techniques for detecting forgeries. For this purpose, various techniques such as Zernike invariants and log-polar transform have been utilized. In this study, Circular Projection technique is used for generating feature vectors from the image blocks. When compared with the results of the studies in the same field, it is observed that the proposed method gives better results even on the rotation operations with greater angles. Experimental results show that the proposed technique is robust against scaling and mirroring operations.
Healthy Older Observers Show Equivalent Perceptual-Cognitive Training Benefits to Young Adults for Multiple Object Tracking

The capacity to process complex dynamic scenes is of critical importance in real life. For instance, traveling through a crowd while avoiding collisions and maintaining orientation and good motor control requires fluent and continuous perceptual-cognitive processing. It is well documented that effects of healthy aging can influence perceptual-cognitive processes (Faubert, 2002) and that the efficiency of such processes can improve with training even for older adults (Richards et al., 2006). Here we assess the capacity of older participants to improve their tracking speed thresholds in a dynamic, virtual reality environment. Results show that this capacity is significantly affected by healthy aging but that perceptual-cognitive training can significantly reduce age-related effects in older individuals, who show an identical learning function to younger healthy adults. Data support the notion that learning in healthy older persons is maintained for processing complex dynamic scenes.
Using Paraphrases for Parameter Tuning in Statistical Machine Translation

Most state-of-the-art statistical machine translation systems use log-linear models, which are defined in terms of hypothesis features and weights for those features. It is standard to tune the feature weights in order to maximize a translation quality metric, using held-out test sentences and their corresponding reference translations. However, obtaining reference translations is expensive. In this paper, we introduce a new full-sentence paraphrase technique, based on English-to-English decoding with an MT system, and we demonstrate that the resulting paraphrases can be used to drastically reduce the number of human reference translations needed for parameter tuning, without a significant decrease in translation quality.
The Impact of the Wording of Employment Advertisements on Students' Inclination to Apply for a Job

ABSTRACT Students' inclination to apply for a job was examined as a function of (1) the wording of the desired candidate's profile specified in the employment advertisement and (2) applicant gender. Previous research found that women are more inclined than men to apply for jobs that include a profile corresponding to their gender (i.e., a profile containing prototypically feminine instead of masculine personal characteristics). Based on Fiedler and Semin's (1996) Linguistic Category Model, we expected that this effect would decrease if the desired profile was worded in terms of behaviors/verbs instead of nouns/adjectives. ANOVA supported this reasoning for women but not for men. We conclude that organizations may increase the number of women applying for particular jobs by changing the presentation form of the advertisement.
Targeting IL11 Receptor in Leukemia and Lymphoma: A Functional Ligand-Directed Study and Hematopathology Analysis of Patient-Derived Specimens

Purpose: The IL11 receptor (IL11R) is an established molecular target in primary tumors of bone, such as osteosarcoma, and in secondary bone metastases from solid tumors, such as prostate cancer. However, its potential role in management of hematopoietic malignancies has not yet been determined. Here, we evaluated the IL11R as a candidate therapeutic target in human leukemia and lymphoma. Experimental Design and Results: First, we show that the IL11R protein is expressed in a variety of human leukemia– and lymphoma–derived cell lines and in a large panel of bone marrow samples from leukemia and lymphoma patients, whereas expression is absent from nonmalignant control bone marrow. Moreover, a targeted peptidomimetic prototype (termed BMTP-11), specifically bound to leukemia and lymphoma cell membranes, induced ligand–receptor internalization mediated by the IL11R, and resulted in a specific dose-dependent cell death induction in these cells. Finally, a pilot drug lead-optimization program yielded a new myristoylated BMTP-11 analogue with an apparent improved antileukemia cell profile. Conclusions: These results indicate (i) that the IL11R is a suitable cell surface target for ligand-directed applications in human leukemia and lymphoma and (ii) that BMTP-11 and its derivatives have translational potential against this group of malignant diseases. Clin Cancer Res; 21(13); 3041–51. ©2015 AACR.
Blind Source Separation for Unimodal and Multimodal Brain Networks: A Unifying Framework for Subspace Modeling

In the past decade, numerous advances in the study of the human brain were fostered by successful applications of blind source separation (BSS) methods to a wide range of imaging modalities. The main focus has been on extracting “networks” represented as the underlying latent sources. While the broad success in learning latent representations from multiple datasets has promoted the wide presence of BSS in modern neuroscience, it also introduced a wide variety of objective functions, underlying graphical structures, and parameter constraints for each method. Such diversity, combined with a host of datatype-specific know-how, can cause a sense of disorder and confusion, hampering a practitioner's judgment and impeding further development. We organize the diverse landscape of BSS models by exposing its key features and combining them to establish a novel unifying view of the area. In the process, we unveil important connections among models according to their properties and subspace structures. Consequently, a high-level descriptive structure is exposed, ultimately helping practitioners select the right model for their applications. Equipped with that knowledge, we review the current state of BSS applications to neuroimaging. The gained insight into model connections elicits a broader sense of generalization, highlighting several directions for model development. In light of that, we discuss emerging multidataset multidimensional models and summarize their benefits for the study of the healthy brain and disease-related changes.
Nuclear Organization of Mammalian Genomes : Polar Chromosome Territories Build Up Functionally Distinct Higher Order Compartments

We investigated the nuclear higher order compartmentalization of chromatin according to its replication timing (Ferreira et al., 1997) and the relations of this compartmentalization to chromosome structure and the spatial organization of transcription. Our aim was to provide a comprehensive and integrated view on the relations between chromosome structure and functional nuclear architecture. Using different mammalian cell types, we show that distinct higher order compartments whose DNA displays a specific replication timing are stably maintained during all interphase stages. The organizational principle is clonally inherited. We directly demonstrate the presence of polar chromosome territories that align to build up higher order compartments, as previously suggested (Ferreira et al., 1997). Polar chromosome territories display a specific orientation of early and late replicating subregions that correspond to Ror G/C-bands of mitotic chromosomes. Higher order compartments containing G/C-bands replicating during the second half of the S phase display no transcriptional activity detectable by BrUTP pulse labeling and show no evidence of transcriptional competence. Transcriptionally competent and active chromatin is confined to a coherent compartment within the nuclear interior that comprises early replicating R-band sequences. As a whole, the data provide an integrated view on chromosome structure, nuclear higher order compartmentalization, and their relation to the spatial organization of functional
The development of a system of linear measurements to provide an assessment of type and function of beef cattle.

Linear measurements have been used as indicators of weight in cattle. Withers height has been used most commonly, but measurements of White Park cattle show that it is of limited value. This paper explores alternative measurements and indices, not only to provide a superior guide to weight, but also as indicators of type and function of beef cattle. A complex index is recommended for breed characterisation, while hip width or rump length are shown to be the preferred single measurements for evaluation of individual animals or within-herd groups.
Enhanced Plasmonic Resonance Energy Transfer in Mesoporous Silica-Encased Gold Nanorod for Two-Photon-Activated Photodynamic Therapy

The unique optical properties of gold nanorods (GNRs) have recently drawn considerable interest from those working in in vivo biomolecular sensing and bioimaging. Especially appealing in these applications is the plasmon-enhanced photoluminescence of GNRs induced by two-photon excitation at infrared wavelengths, owing to the significant penetration depth of infrared light in tissue. Unfortunately, many studies have also shown that often the intensity of pulsed coherent irradiation of GNRs needed results in irreversible deformation of GNRs, greatly reducing their two-photon luminescence (TPL) emission intensity. In this work we report the design, synthesis, and evaluation of mesoporous silica-encased gold nanorods (MS-GNRs) that incorporate photosensitizers (PSs) for two-photon-activated photodynamic therapy (TPA-PDT). The PSs, doped into the nano-channels of the mesoporous silica shell, can be efficiently excited via intra-particle plasmonic resonance energy transfer from the encased two-photon excited gold nanorod and further generates cytotoxic singlet oxygen for cancer eradication. In addition, due to the mechanical support provided by encapsulating mesoporous silica matrix against thermal deformation, the two-photon luminescence stability of GNRs was significantly improved; after 100 seconds of 800 nm repetitive laser pulse with the 30 times higher than average power for imaging acquisition, MS-GNR luminescence intensity exhibited ~260% better resistance to deformation than that of the uncoated gold nanorods. These results strongly suggest that MS-GNRs with embedded PSs might provide a promising photodynamic therapy for the treatment of deeply situated cancers via plasmonic resonance energy transfer.
Self-regulated Learning and the 21 St Century Competencies

2 The purpose of this chapter is to evaluate the relation between the 21 st Century Competencies (21CC) and self-regulated learning (SRL). The 21CC framework emerged out of efforts to improve and reform educational systems in order to better prepare students to be for 21 st Century Skills, 2009a, 2009b). Within this framework, competencies move beyond simple content area knowledge or skills to encompass the abilities needed to meet the complex demands within any particular context. Hence, in this framework a competence includes a broader understanding that comprises the skills, attitudes, knowledge and students will need to successful in school, in the workplace, and in life more generally. Models of SRL are rooted in broader conceptions of self-regulation that have been developed with regard to a variety of domains in order to understand how individuals' take an active, purposeful and reflective role in their own functioning or behavior. For example, there is Pintrich, & Zeidner, 2000). SRL concerns the application of general models of self-regulation to issues of learning with a particular focus on academic contexts. Models of SRL, that is, attempt to understand how students can and do take an active role in managing their own academic functioning. Even within this specific focus, models of SRL have emerged from a number of theoretical traditions including those that stress volition, information processing, behavioral, cognitive development, and sociocultural views of learning (Zimmerman & Schunk, 2001). Hence, there is no single universal model used to understand SRL but rather a number of views that, while stressing somewhat different constructs and conceptualizations, overlap in substantial 3 ways. The present discussion draws most directly on prominent models of SRL that arise from a Social-cognitive models share several basic assumptions about the nature of SRL (Pintrich, 2004). One assumption is that SRL is dependent on students having a necessary set of skills or abilities as well as adaptive attitudes and beliefs that can be taught and learned by most students. In the past, this assumption has been phrased as students needing to have both the " skill " and the " will " to learn. An important caveat of this assumption is that, although subject to biological, developmental, and contextual constraints, the underlying competencies, attitudes and beliefs necessary for SRL can be learned by most all students. A second assumption in these models is the importance of setting goals or having performance standards or criterion. …
One component? Two components? Three? The effect of including a nonexchanging “free” water component in multicomponent driven equilibrium single pulse observation of T1 and T2

Quantitative myelin content imaging provides novel and pertinent information related to underlying pathogenetic mechanisms of myelin‐related disease or disorders arising from aberrant connectivity. Multicomponent driven equilibrium single pulse observation of T1 and T2 is a time‐efficient multicomponent relaxation analysis technique that provides estimates of the myelin water fraction, a surrogate measure of myelin volume. Unfortunately, multicomponent driven equilibrium single pulse observation of T1 and T2 relies on a two water‐pool model (myelin‐associated water and intra/extracellular water), which is inadequate within partial volume voxels, i.e., containing brain tissue and ventricle or meninges, resulting in myelin water fraction underestimation. To address this, a third, nonexchanging “free‐water” component was introduced to the multicomponent driven equilibrium single pulse observation of T1 and T2 model. Numerical simulations and experimental in vivo data show that the model to perform advantageously within partial volume regions while providing robust and reproducible results. It is concluded that this model is preferable for future studies and analysis. Magn Reson Med, 2013. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Elevated ghrelin predicts food intake during experimental sleep restriction

Sleep curtailment has been linked to obesity, but underlying mechanisms remain to be elucidated. This study assessed whether sleep restriction alters 24‐h profiles of appetite‐regulating hormones ghrelin, leptin, and pancreatic polypeptide during a standardized diet and whether these hormonal alterations predict food intake during ad libitum feeding.
Beta, but Not Gamma, Band Oscillations Index Visual Form-Motion Integration

Electrophysiological oscillations in different frequency bands co-occur with perceptual, motor and cognitive processes but their function and respective contributions to these processes need further investigations. Here, we recorded MEG signals and seek for percept related modulations of alpha, beta and gamma band activity during a perceptual form/motion integration task. Participants reported their bound or unbound perception of ambiguously moving displays that could either be seen as a whole square-like shape moving along a Lissajou's figure (bound percept) or as pairs of bars oscillating independently along cardinal axes (unbound percept). We found that beta (15–25 Hz), but not gamma (55–85 Hz) oscillations, index perceptual states at the individual and group level. The gamma band activity found in the occipital lobe, although significantly higher during visual stimulation than during base line, is similar in all perceptual states. Similarly, decreased alpha activity during visual stimulation is not different for the different percepts. Trial-by-trial classification of perceptual reports based on beta band oscillations was significant in most observers, further supporting the view that modulation of beta power reliably index perceptual integration of form/motion stimuli, even at the individual level.
Deep GALEX Imaging of the COSMOS HST Field: A First Look at the Morphology of z ~ 0.7 Star-forming Galaxies

We present a study of the morphological nature of redshift z ~ 0.7 star-forming galaxies using a combination of HST ACS, GALEX, and ground-based images of the COSMOS field. Our sample consists of 8146 galaxies, 5777 of which are detected in the GALEX near-ultraviolet band (2310 Å or ~1360 Å rest frame) down to a limiting magnitude of 25.5 (AB), and all of which have a brightness of F814W(HST) < 23 mag and photometric redshifts in the range 0.55 < z < 0.8. We make use of the UV to estimate star formation rates, correcting for the effect of dust using the UV slope, and of the ground-based multiband data to calculate masses. For all galaxies in our sample, we compute, from the ACS F814W images, their concentration (C), asymmetry (A), and clumpiness (S), as well as their Gini coefficient (G) and the second moment of the brightest 20% of their light (M20). We observe a bimodality in the galaxy population in asymmetry and in clumpiness, although the separation is most evident when either of those parameters is combined with a concentration-like parameter (C, G, or M20). We further show that this morphological bimodality has a strong correspondence with the FUV-g color bimodality and conclude that UV-optical color predominantly evolves concurrently with morphology. We observe many of the most star-forming galaxies to have morphologies approaching that of early-type galaxies, and we interpret this as evidence that strong starburst events are linked to bulge growth and constitute a process through which galaxies can be brought from the blue to the red sequence while simultaneously modifying their morphology accordingly. We conclude that the red sequence has continued growing at z ≲ 0.7. We also observe z ~ 0.7 galaxies to have physical properties similar to that of local galaxies, except for higher star formation rates. Whence we infer that the dimming of star-forming galaxies is responsible for most of the evolution in star formation rate density since that redshift, although our data are also consistent with a mild number evolution.
Harvesting facts from textual web sources by constrained label propagation

There have been major advances on automatically constructing large knowledge bases by extracting relational facts from Web and text sources. However, the world is dynamic: periodic events like sports competitions need to be interpreted with their respective timepoints, and facts such as coaching a sports team, holding political or business positions, and even marriages do not hold forever and should be augmented by their respective timespans. This paper addresses the problem of automatically harvesting temporal facts with such extended time-awareness. We employ pattern-based gathering techniques for fact candidates and construct a weighted pattern-candidate graph. Our key contribution is a system called PRAVDA based on a new kind of label propagation algorithm with a judiciously designed loss function, which iteratively processes the graph to label good temporal facts for a given set of target relations. Our experiments with online news and Wikipedia articles demonstrate the accuracy of this method.
Complement Components and Activation in Primary Biliary Cirrhosis

Total complement activity was normal in 18 patients with primary biliary cirrhosis using two hemolytic assays capable of distinguishing between defects in classical and alternative pathways. Activation of the classical pathway was demonstrated in all patients by formation of complexes between C1r, C1s, and C1 inactivator. Large amounts of free C1q, not in complex with C1r and C1s, were demonstrated in the majority of patient sera. Furthermore, C4 levels were within the normal range or slightly subnormal. No evidence for alternative pathway activation was found. Increased mean levels of several complement components, in particular C1 inactivator, C2, C3, factor B, factor H, were noted. A significant correlation between these complement factors, derived mainly from the liver, and ceruloplasmin suggests that this elevation might be secondary to cholestasis. In contrast, no significant correlations with levels of early reacting acute phase reactants, immunoglobulins, or circulating immune complex‐like material were observed. It is concluded that activation of the complement system by the classical pathway is common in patients with primary biliary cirrhosis.
Australia Department of Econometrics and Business Statistics Local Linear Forecasts Using Cubic Smoothing Splines Local Linear Forecasts Using Cubic Smoothing Splines Local Linear Forecasts Using Cubic Smoothing Splines

We show how cubic smoothing splines fitted to univariate time series data can be used to obtain local linear forecasts. Our approach is based on a stochastic state space model which allows the use of a likelihood approach for estimating the smoothing parameter, and which enables easy construction of prediction intervals. We show that our model is a special case of an ARIMA(0,2,2) model and we provide a simple upper bound for the smoothing parameter to ensure an invertible model. We also show that the spline model is not a special case of Holt's local linear trend method. Finally we compare the spline forecasts with Holt's forecasts and those obtained from the full ARIMA(0,2,2) model, showing thattherestrictedparameterspacedoesnotimpair forecastperformance.