Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Complete Rescue of Lipoprotein Lipase–Deficient Mice by Somatic Gene Transfer of the Naturally Occurring LPLS447X Beneficial Mutation

The naturally occurring human lipoprotein lipase S447X variant (LPLS447X) exemplifies a gain-of function mutation with significant benefits including decreased plasma triglycerides (TG), increased high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, and reduced risk of coronary artery disease. The S447X variant may be associated with higher LPL catalytic activity; however, in vitro data supporting this hypothesis are contradictory. We wanted to investigate the in vivo mechanism by which the LPLS447X variant improves the lipid profile of S447X carriers. We conducted a functional assessment of human LPLS447X compared with LPLWT in mice. LPL variants were compared in the absence of endogenous mouse LPL in newborn LPL−/− mice by adenoviral-mediated gene transfer. LPL−/− mice normally exhibit severe hypertriglyceridemia and die within 48 hours of birth. LPLWT gene transfer prolonged the survival of mice up to 21 days. In contrast, LPLS447X completely rescued 95% of the mice to adulthood and increased LPL catalytic activity in postheparin plasma 2.1-fold compared with LPLWT at day 3 (P=0.003). LPLS447X also reduced plasma TG 99% from baseline (P<0.001), 2-fold more than LPLWT, (P<0.01) and increased plasma HDL cholesterol 2.9-fold higher than LPLWT (P<0.01). These data provide in vivo evidence that the increased catalytic activity of LPLS447X improves plasma TG clearance and increases the HDL cholesterol pool compared with LPLWT.
Authenticating Sexual Diversity in School: Examining Sociolinguistic Constructions of Young People’s Sexual Identities

ABSTRACT Recent research into sexuality and education shows that homophobia is particularly prevalent and problematic in schools. However, little of this work has drawn on linguistic frameworks. This article uses the tactics of intersubjectivity framework to examine how a group of LGB-identified young people understand their sexuality identities in relation to the secondary school context. The application of this framework offers deeper insights into sexual orientation and education than can be gained from thematic analysis alone and can contribute towards developing understandings of sexual diversity issues in schools. The framework is applied to interview data in which young LGB people talk about their school experiences. Findings show that in the schools attended by the young LGB people, they have experienced a state of pervasive illegitimation surrounding LGB identities. The participants express a desire for this perceived institutional illegitimation to be replaced by authorisation using a range of authentication strategies.
A novel channel-identification method for wireless communication systems

We present a novel dual-channel identification approach for mobile wireless communication systems. Unlike traditional channel-estimation methods that rely on training symbols, we propose a bent-pipe feedback mechanism which requires the mobile station (MS) to send portions of its received signal back to the base station (BS) for wireless channel identification. Using a filter-bank decomposition concept, we introduce an effective algorithm that can identify both the forward and the reverse channels based only on this feedback information. This new method permits transfer of computational burden from the MS to the resource-rich BS, and leads to significant savings in bandwidth-consuming training signals.
Tandem ethnography: On researching ‘trafficking’ and ‘anti-trafficking’

How can an elusive phenomenon such as human trafficking be studied anthropologically? Recent anthropological research has problematized and destabilized bound territory and sitedness. UN agencies, governments, and NGOs attempt to combat trafficking in persons, but find it hard to pinpoint traffickers and their victims for programmatic purposes. Similar to anthropology’s relativization of site, displaced locality is central to the anti-trafficking discourse. In this essay, I reflect upon my own research on the social worlds of trafficking and anti-trafficking along the Lao-Thai border and show how a ‘tandem ethnography’ allows a methodological oscillation between the policy domain of anti-trafficking and the social world of mobility, sex commerce and the recruitment within it. Rather than giving away the importance of physical locality, I argue for the importance of strategic positioning within an ethnography of the mobile. As such, the old anthropological principle of comparisons must be brought into the field.
Comparing Time to Disease Progression of Irinotecan and Oxaliplatin-based Chemotherapies in Colorectal Cancer Patients With Liver Only Metastasis

Objectives: The liver is the most common metastatic site in colorectal cancer (CRC). In this study, we evaluated if there is any difference between first-line irinotecan-based and oxaliplatin-based chemotherapies in the duration of time to disease progression (TTP) in CRC patients with only liver metastasis. Methods: We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of patients with metastatic CRC referred to the Medical Oncology Department at the Faculty of Medicine of Ege University, between January 2002 and December 2010. Seventy-seven patients had only liver metastasis and completed their first-line chemotherapy. Forty-two patients had oxaliplatin-based treatments while 12 also had bevacizumab therapy, and 35 patients had irinotecan-based treatments while 16 also had bevacizumab therapy. Results: Median TTP was 6.70±0.29 months for patients treated with oxaliplatin+5-fluorouracil (5-FU) and 8.33±1.15 months for patients treated with oxaliplatin+5-FU+bevacizumab. TTP was significantly improved for patients who received irinotecan+5-FU+bevacizumab (median TTP, 13.73±2.10 mo) when compared with irinotecan+5-FU (median TTP, 5.13±0.70 mo). Conclusions: Although previous studies showed no survival difference between these 2 chemotherapeutic agents in metastatic CRC, there might be differences in the benefit of delaying the disease progression in subgroup populations. Irinotecan+5-FU with bevacizumab combination chemotherapy may be superior in the first-line treatment of CRC with hepatic only metastasis.
A New Triggering Receptor Expressed on Myeloid Cells (Trem) Family Member, Trem-Like 4, Binds to Dead Cells and Is a DNAX Activation Protein 12-Linked Marker for Subsets of Mouse Macrophages and Dendritic Cells1

Dendritic cells (DCs) are professional APCs that can control immune responses against self and altered self, typically foreign, determinants. DCs can be divided into several subsets, including CD8α+ and CD8α− DCs. These subsets possess specific functions. For example, mouse splenic CD8α+, but not CD8α− DCs selectively take up dying cells and cross-present cell-associated Ags to naive T cells. In this study, we identified genes that were more expressed in CD8α+ than CD8α− DCs by microarray analysis. Only one of these genes, when the extracellular domains were linked to human IgG Fc domain, could bind to late apoptotic or necrotic cells. This gene was a new member of the triggering receptor expressed on myeloid cells (Trem) family, Trem-like 4 (Treml4). Treml4 mRNA and protein, the latter detected with a new mAb, were predominantly expressed in spleen. Treml4, like other Trem family members, could associate with the adaptor molecule DNAX activation protein 12 kDa, but neither DNAX activation protein 10 kDa nor FcRγ. Consistent with the microarray data, we confirmed that Treml4 protein was more expressed on CD8α+ than CD8α− DCs, and we also found that Treml4 was expressed at high levels on splenic macrophages in spleen, particularly red pulp and marginal metallophilic macrophages. In addition, Treml4 expression on DCs was not changed after maturation induced by TLR ligands. Thus, Treml4 is a new Trem family molecule that is abundantly expressed on CD8α+ DCs and subsets of splenic resident macrophages, and can recognize dead cells by different types of phagocytes in spleen.
Old and very old adults as witnesses: event memory and metamemory

Older people constitute an important category of eyewitnesses. Episodic memory performance in older persons is poorer than in younger adults, but little research has been made on older persons’ metacognitive judgments. Since more persons of advanced age will likely be called upon as witnesses in coming years, it is critical to characterize this population’s metacognitive abilities. We compared event memory metacognition in old adults (66-year-old, n = 74) to very old adults (87 or 90 years old, n = 55). Participants were tested on their memory of a film, using questions with two answer alternatives and the confidence in their answer. As expected, the very old group had a lower accuracy rate than the old group (d = 0.59). The very old group, however, monitored this impairment, since their over-/underconfidence and calibration did not differ from the old group but they displayed a poorer ability to separate correct from incorrect answers (discrimination ability). Possibly, the very old group was able to monitor the level of their over-/underconfidence because they applied general self-knowledge about their memory skills. In contrast, the discrimination of correct from incorrect answers may be more dependent on ability to attend to the features of each retrieved memory.
Surface Treatment of Polyethylene Terephthalate Films Using DBD Excited by Repetitive Unipolar Nanosecond Pulses in Air at Atmospheric Pressure

Dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) is proved to be an effective method for surface treatment of polymers over the past 20 years and is now widely used in the fields of surface modification. In this paper, surface treatment of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) films for improving the hydrophilicity using DBD excited by unipolar nanosecond pulses is presented. Two typical discharges exhibiting homogeneous and filamentary modes are obtained under certain experimental conditions, and then, they are used to modify the surface of PET films. The microstructure and properties of the film surface before and after treatment are characterized with water contact angle measurement, scanning electron microscope, atomic force microscope, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscope. The results show that, with the treatment power density of 192 and 158 mW/cm2 in filamentary and homogeneous modes, respectively, surface morphology and property after treatment are significantly changed, and the physical etching and introduction of oxygen-containing polar functional groups account for the decease of surface contact angle and the increase of surface roughness. Compared with the filamentary DBD treatment, the homogeneous DBD (HDBD) is more effective in surface treatment, such as lower contact angle, higher roughness, and more oxygen-containing function groups after treatment. It is attributed to the fact that the HDBD can achieve a uniform treatment and can make the physical and chemical interaction much sufficient.
HISTOCHEMICAL LOCALIZATION OF ENZYME ACTIVITY IN THE KIDNEYS OF THREE MAMMALIAN SPECIES DURING THEIR POSTNATAL DEVELOPMENT

The activities of various enzymes were studied histochemically in two species which at birth have a kidney with an active nephrogenic zone, the rat and rabbit, and one (the guinea pig) in which this organ is at this time apparently fully matured. The histochemical reactions, in general, reflect the degree of maturity found in kidneys of newborn and growing animals. Immature proximal convoluted tubules lack enzymatic activity or show only minimal amounts. As these tubules mature, the adult pattern is noted at about the 14th to 16th day after birth in rat, and after 21 to 28 days in rabbit. Within this general pattern, however, considerable variations are noted. Glucose-6-phosphatase, e.g., is less active at birth, even in mature tubules, while acid phosphatase localized in granular "lysosomal" bodies is as prominent in newborn kidney as in adult. Newborn guinea pig kidney lacks glomerular adenosine triphosphatase activity in spite of its general enzymatic maturity, while rat kidney at birth has no tubular adenosine triphosphatase activity, even in more mature proximal convolutions. Oxidative enzymes, particularly succinic dehydrogenase, and acid phosphatase are active in tubules of the inner portion of medulla in rat and rabbit at birth. This appears to be an expression of the immaturity of newborn kidney. With the progress of zonal differentiation, this enzyme activity is no longer found in the papillary portion of medulla where thin limbs of Henle's loop are now located. In rat kidney, best seen in cryostat sections briefly postfixed in very cold neutral formalin, single cells are found in the collecting ducts with striking 5-nucleotidase activity. The number of these cells is greater in neonatal kidney than in adult kidney. The physiological significance of many of the findings described in this report has still to be clarified.
GLASSES: Relieving The Myopia Of Bayesian Optimisation

We present GLASSES: Global optimisation with Look-Ahead through Stochastic Simulation and Expected-loss Search. The majority of global optimisation approaches in use are myopic, in only considering the impact of the next function value; the non-myopic approaches that do exist are able to consider only a handful of future evaluations. Our novel algorithm, GLASSES, permits the consideration of dozens of evaluations into the future. This is done by approximating the ideal look-ahead loss function, which is expensive to evaluate, by a cheaper alternative in which the future steps of the algorithm are simulated beforehand. An Expectation Propagation algorithm is used to compute the expected value of the loss.We show that the far-horizon planning thus enabled leads to substantive performance gains in empirical tests.
Body Mass Index and Breast Size in Women: Same or Different Genes?

The objective of the current study was to investigate the heritability of breast size and the degree to which this heritability is shared with BMI. In a sample of 1010 females twins (mean age 35 years; SD = 2.1; range 28–40), self-report data pertaining to bra cup size and body mass index (BMI) was collected in the context of self-report data and an interview relating to disordered eating respectively. In a sample of 348 complete twin pairs who completed data collection (226 MZ pairs and 122 DZ pairs and 360 incomplete pairs (170 MZ and 190 DZ)), we found that the heritability of bra cup size was 56%. Of this genetic variance, one third is in common with genes influencing body mass index, and two thirds (41% of total variance) is unique to breast size, with some directional evidence of non-additive genetic variation. The implications of these findings with respect to previous research linking breast size with reproductive potential are discussed.
A Joint Algorithm for Base Station Operation and User Association in Heterogeneous Networks

In this paper, we present an algorithm that performs base station (BS) switching-on/off and user terminal (UT) association jointly in heterogeneous networks composed of cellular networks and wireless local area networks (WLANs). We first formulate a general problem which minimizes a total cost function, which is designed to balance the energy consumption of overall network and the revenue of cellular networks. Given that the time scale for determining the set of active BSs is much larger than that for UT association, we decompose the problem into a UT association algorithm and a BS switching-on/off algorithm, and then obtain an optimal UT association policy for the UT association problem. Since BS switching-on/off problem is a challenging combinatorial problem, we propose two heuristic algorithms based on the total cost function and the density of access points of WLANs within the coverage of each BS, respectively. Numerical results demonstrate that the proposed algorithms can considerably reduce energy consumption compared with the case where all the BSs are always turned on.
Is the Demand for Corporate Insurance a Habit? Evidence from Directors' and Officers' Insurance

Of the many fundamental questions left unanswered in finance, one relates to corporate risk management practices. It is still relatively unclear what are the reasons that motivate risk neutral corporations to manage their idiosyncratic risk. Our contention in this paper is that corporate insurance purchases are driven by habit rather than an optimal approach to corporate risk management. Because public access to corporate insurance purchases and risk management strategies is limited at best, we examine a particular aspect of the corporate demand for insurance for which public information is available: Directors' and Officers' (DO rather they may rely more on a force of habit than on a clear and concise strategy to manage corporate risk. As a result, and in contrast to Core (1997, 2000) and Chalmers et al. (2002), we find no evidence of managerial opportunism in regards to D&O insurance coverage. Une des grandes questions fondamentales qui demeurent en finance est pourquoi des firmes presumement neutres au risque achetent de l'assurance et gerent leur risque. Notre hypothese est que l'achat d'assurance est plus lie aux habitudes prises par les corporations qu'a une decision etudiee de gerer les risques. Etant donne la quasi-impossibilite d'obtenir des donnees publiques sur l'achat d'assurance des corporations et leur gestion de risques, nous examinons un aspect particulier de cette demande pour laquelle l'information existe dans le public, soit l'assurance de la responsabilite civile des administrateurs et des dirigeants. Cette information est disponible dans le public au Canada depuis 1993 seulement. Nos resultats suggerent que la decision de s'assurer et le niveau de couverture semblent etre determines uniquement par la decision de la firme a l'annee precedente. Ainsi aucun facteur fondamental (sante financiere ou gouvernance) de l'entreprise ne semble pouvoir expliquer la decision d'une entreprise de s'assurer ni la limite son type de couverture. Nous concluons que les corporations ne gerent pas leur risque de maniere optimale puisqu'elles semblent baser leur decision d'assurance davantage sur leurs habitudes que sur une strategie claire et concise de gestion des risques d'entreprise. Par consequent, et contrairement aux resultats obtenus par Core (1997, 2000) et Chalmers et al. (2002), nous ne trouvons aucune raison d'affirmer que l'achat d'assurance est lie a l'opportunisme des dirigeants.
Diagnosis and Treatment of Resistant Hypertension: The Critical Role of Ambulatory Blood Pressure Monitoring

other settings). 7 Two arguments can reasonably be postulated. First, if participants in a clinical trial of a procedural intervention have been enrolled based on CBPM values that were indeed influenced by the white-coat phenomenon and then undergo the intervention, their true (lower) BP values are less likely to be reduced by that intervention, thereby lessening the likelihood of finding compelling evidence that the intervention is truly effective. Second, if familiarization (with or without regression to the mean) occurs during the trial, the beneficial reduction in BP may be erroneously attributed to the intervention. In addition, while some trials that employ CBPM may be very well conducted and may indeed show an effect on BP at the snapshot in time at which a measurement is taken (which may only be at one point in a 24-hour cycle, typically during daytime hours), they cannot provide information on the duration of an effect on BP throughout a 24-hour period or its effect during the nocturnal period.
Migration routes, stopover sites and home range sizes of Taiga Bean Geese (Anser fabalis fabalis) breeding in northern Sweden and central Norway tracked by GPS tags

The Taiga Bean Goose (Anser fabalis fabalis) has shown a recent decrease in population size. For geese breeding in central Scandinavia, the delineation between different subpopu-lations is not entirely clear and more detailed knowledge regarding migratory routes is still lacking. Moulting Taiga Bean Geese caught at Vilhelmina, Sweden were equipped with solar-powered GPS satellite transmitters. In this study the route, timing and stopover use was de-termined for autumn and spring migration. For several major sites the home range was also determined as well as the similarity in space use within and between years for every goose. A total of 13 tagged Taiga Bean Geese eventually provided (partial) telemetry data for three years. Two distinct routes were revealed. The majority flew to Toreboda to stage during spring, before flying to their breeding grounds in southern Vasterbotten County, Sweden. Two geese however migrated along the Swedish-Norwegian border to breed in Borgefjell national park, Norway. During autumn all birds departing from northern Sweden used a long duration stop-over at Toreboda before returning to their wintering grounds in Thisted, Denmark. Their autumn migration varied from 11 to 150 days. In contrast, the two Norwegian breeding birds flew straight to their destination in Thisted, generally completing their autumn journey within less than a day. Both groups displayed high fidelity and return rates to their wintering and major stopover sites. Although the data of this study only includes two birds breeding in Norway, the consistently distinct migratory route and behaviour, combined with recent genetic data, indicates that these birds are largely distinct from their Swedish counterparts. Uncovering discrete migratory routes is thus crucial for implementing more targeted conser-vation efforts towards more vulnerable subpopulations. Encompassing 3 years of telemetry data, this study contributes towards a first step in better understanding the delineation and connectivity of flyways of Taiga Bean Geese breeding in Scandinavia.
Being a Mathematics Learner: Four Faces of Identity

One dimension of mathematics learning is developing an identity as a mathematics learner. The social learning theories of Gee (2001) and Wenger (1998) serve as a basis for the discussion four “faces” of identity: engagement, imagination, alignment, and nature. A study conducted with 54 rural high school students, with half enrolled in a mathematics course, provides evidence for how these faces highlight different ways students develop their identity relative to their experiences with classroom mathematics. Using this identity framework several ways that student identities—relative to mathematics learning—can be developed, supported, and maintained by teachers are provided.