Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Proretinal nanoparticles: stability, release, efficacy, and irritation

Despite many potent biological activities, retinoids such as retinoic acid (RA) and retinal possess dose-related broad side effects. In this study, we show that this problem, which has been unsolvable for a long time, can be tackled through a controlled release strategy in which retinal is continuously delivered to the skin via sustained release from proretinal nanoparticles. The water dispersible proretinal nanoparticles are stable when kept in water at neutral pH and at room temperature for 8 months under light-proof conditions, and show sustained release of retinal into human synthetic sebum at a pH of 5. In the daily topical application tests performed for 4 weeks on rats’ skin, the nanoparticles showed superior ability to increase epidermal thickness compared to RA and retinal, with no skin irritation observed for the proretinal particles, but severe skin irritation observed for RA and free retinal. When tested under occlusion conditions in human volunteers, insignificant skin irritation was observed for the proretinal nanoparticles. The 12-week, double-blind, split-face study on human volunteers indicates better antiaging efficacy of the particles as compared to the free RA.
Institutional equilibrium selection by intentional idiosyncratic play

We introduce intentional idiosyncratic play in a standard stochastic evolutionary model of equilibrium selection, where the equilibria represent distributional conventions between members of two classes. Intentional idiosyncratic play alters the standard evolutionary dynamic in ways that are plausible in light of historical studies of institutional transitions. First, transitions between institutions are induced only by the idiosyncratic play of those who stand to benefit from the switch, while the opposite is true in the standard (unintentional) approach. Second, where sub-population sizes and error rates differ cross groups, the group whose interests are favored are those who engage in more frequent idiosyncratic play and who are are less numerous. The opposite is true in the standard dynamic. The conventions that are selected as stochastically stable under the intentional idiosyncratic play dynamic differ from those selected under the standard dynamic. Our dynamic selects the convention that implements the Nash bargain, while the standard dynamic selects the Kalai-Smorodinsky bargain. Institutional transitions are less frequent under the intentional dynamic, and its long run average selects the stochastically stable state more reliably than the unintentional dynamic.
An empirical analysis of technology absorption capacity of the Brazilian industry

This article presents and discusses empirical evidence on external technology absorption facilitated by activities performed inside firms. Indicators of internal and external learning are developed and applied in statistical causality models, to distinguish possible ways in which technology can be absorbed. Industrial activity sectors at the three-digit level of the National Classification of Economic Activities (NACE) are the basic reference units of the research, which uses the information generated by Brazil's Survey of Technological Innovation (PINTEC). The results show that in-house research and development (R&D) is the main source of technology absorption, followed by the knowledge generated from the "learning by doing" and "training practices".
Precipitation and air pollution at mountain and plain stations in northern China: Insights gained from observations and modeling

We analyzed 40 year data sets of daily average visibility (a proxy for surface aerosol concentration) and hourly precipitation at seven weather stations, including three stations located on the Taihang Mountains, during the summertime in northern China. There was no significant trend in summertime total precipitation at almost all stations. However, light rain decreased, whereas heavy rain increased as visibility decreased over the period studied. The decrease in light rain was seen in both orographic‐forced shallow clouds and mesoscale stratiform clouds. The consistent trends in observed changes in visibility, precipitation, and orographic factor appear to be a testimony to the effects of aerosols. The potential impact of large‐scale environmental factors, such as precipitable water, convective available potential energy, and vertical wind shear, on precipitation was investigated. No direct links were found. To validate our observational hypothesis about aerosol effects, Weather Research and Forecasting model simulations with spectral‐bin microphysics at the cloud‐resolving scale were conducted. Model results confirmed the role of aerosol indirect effects in reducing the light rain amount and frequency in the mountainous area for both orographic‐forced shallow clouds and mesoscale stratiform clouds and in eliciting a different response in the neighboring plains. The opposite response of light rain to the increase in pollution when there is no terrain included in the model suggests that orography is likely a significant factor contributing to the opposite trends in light rain seen in mountainous and plain areas.
Tidal torques, disc radius variations, and instabilities in dwarf novae and soft X-ray transients

The study of outer disc radius variations in close binary systems is important for understanding the structure and evolution of accretion discs. These variations are predicted by models of both quasi-steady and time-dependent discs, and these predictions can be confronted with observations. We consider theoretical and observational consequences of such variations in cataclysmic variables and low-mass X-ray binaries. We find that the action of tidal torques, that determine the outer radius at which the disc is truncated, must be important also well inside the tidal radius. We conclude that it is doubtful that the tidal-thermal instability is responsible for the superoutburst/superhump phenomena in dwarf novae, and confirm that it cannot be the reason for the outbursts of soft X-ray transients. It is likely that tidal torques play a role during superoutbursts of very-low mass-ratio systems but they cannot be the main and only cause of superhumps.
Transcontextual Effects of Racialized Sports Media Framing: Students’ Off the Field Perceptions of Student-Athletes

This research examines the effects of racial stereotypes embedded within sports media. An experiment was conducted to examine the impact of racialized “brawn” and “brain” frames on perceptions of student-athletes among their potential peers. College student participants (N = 232) were exposed to one of eight versions of a news article about a college football recruit that manipulated the athlete’s race (White vs. Black) and the frame used to describe him (brawn vs. brain vs. mixed vs. control). Results showed a college admittance essay was evaluated more positively when the author was a Black athlete compared to a White athlete. In addition, the brawn frame elicited lower levels of social attraction and greater athlete stereotype endorsement compared to all other frames. No interaction effects were revealed. These findings suggest that how the media frame student-athletes affects expectations of their academic performance, which has practical implications for interpersonal dynamics between student-athletes and their peers, as well as public perceptions of student-athletes writ large.
Reinvestigating the Determinants of Lifelong Learning: Can Pedagogy for Critical Thinking Contribute to Developing Lifelong Learners?

The aim of the current study is to investigate practically the determining factor(s) affecting the students’ inclination to become lifelong learners and further to verify the potential effect of pedagogy for critical thinking to play a significant role in this respect. Participants in the study were 80 freshman English majors, found mostly through the Intrinsic Motivation Inventory (IMI) questionnaire to be amotivated as learners. Primarily, significant variables, identified in the literature to affect the students’ inclination to grow as lifelong learners, were specified. The criteria were applied in practice to investigate their relative contribution in making a group of amotivated freshman English majors motivated as lifelong learners. Various instruments and materials from questionnaires to student writings were used to collect data concerning the identified variables so as to identify through both quantitative and qualitative analyses the most determining one(s) in educating lifelong learners. The results suggested critical thinking as the most consequential variable involved. Implications of the study for pedagogy in higher education were discussed and questions were raised for future studies to take into account.
High Proportion of Intestinal Colonization with Successful Epidemic Clones of ESBL-Producing Enterobacteriaceae in a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit in Ecuador

Background and Aims Neonatal infections caused by Extended-spectrum beta-lactamase (ESBL)-producing bacteria are associated with increased morbidity and mortality. No data are available on neonatal colonization with ESBL-producing bacteria in Ecuador. The aim of this study was to determine the proportion of intestinal colonization with ESBL-producing Enterobacteriaceae, their resistance pattern and risk factors of colonization in a neonatal intensive care unit in Ecuador. Methods During a three month period, stool specimens were collected every two weeks from hospitalized neonates. Species identification and susceptibility testing were performed with Vitek2, epidemiologic typing with automated repetitive PCR. Associations between groups were analyzed using the Pearson X 2 test and Fisher exact test. A forward step logistic regression model identified significant predictors for colonization. Results Fifty-six percent of the neonates were colonized with ESBL-producing Enterobacteriaceae. Length of stay longer than 20 days and enteral feeding with a combination of breastfeeding and formula feeding were significantly associated with ESBL-colonization. The strains found were E. coli (EC, 89%) and K. pneumoniae (KP, 11%) and epidemiological typing divided these isolates in two major clusters. All EC and KP had bla CTX-M group 1 except for a unique EC isolate that had bla CTX-M group 9. Multi-locus sequence typing performed on the K. pneumoniae strains showed that the strains belonged to ST855 and ST897. The two detected STs belong to two different epidemic clonal complexes (CC), CC11 and CC14, which previously have been associated with dissemination of carbapenemases. None of the E. coli strains belonged to the epidemic ST 131 clone. Conclusions More than half of the neonates were colonized with ESBL-producing Enterobacteriaceae where the main risk factor for colonization was length of hospital stay. Two of the isolated clones were epidemic and known to disseminate carbapenemases. The results underline the necessity for improved surveillance and infection control in this context.
Amplification of the 20q Chromosomal Arm Occurs Early in Tumorigenic Transformation and May Initiate Cancer

Duplication of chromosomal arm 20q occurs in prostate, cervical, colon, gastric, bladder, melanoma, pancreas and breast cancer, suggesting that 20q amplification may play a causal role in tumorigenesis. According to an alternative view, chromosomal imbalance is mainly a common side effect of cancer progression. To test whether a specific genomic aberration might serve as a cancer initiating event, we established an in vitro system that models the evolutionary process of early stages of prostate tumor formation; normal prostate cells were immortalized by the over-expression of human telomerase catalytic subunit hTERT, and cultured for 650 days till several transformation hallmarks were observed. Gene expression patterns were measured and chromosomal aberrations were monitored by spectral karyotype analysis at different times. Several chromosomal aberrations, in particular duplication of chromosomal arm 20q, occurred early in the process and were fixed in the cell populations, while other aberrations became extinct shortly after their appearance. A wide range of bioinformatic tools, applied to our data and to data from several cancer databases, revealed that spontaneous 20q amplification can promote cancer initiation. Our computational model suggests that 20q amplification induced deregulation of several specific cancer-related pathways including the MAPK pathway, the p53 pathway and Polycomb group factors. In addition, activation of Myc, AML, B-Catenin and the ETS family transcription factors was identified as an important step in cancer development driven by 20q amplification. Finally we identified 13 "cancer initiating genes", located on 20q13, which were significantly over-expressed in many tumors, with expression levels correlated with tumor grade and outcome suggesting that these genes induce the malignant process upon 20q amplification.
Isolation of Multidrug-Resistant Escherichia coli O157 from Goats in the Somali Region of Ethiopia: A Cross-Sectional, Abattoir-Based Study

Toxigenic Escherichia coli (E. coli) are an important cause of gastroenteritis in developing countries. In Ethiopia, gastroenteritis due to food-borne disease is a leading cause of death. Yet, there is no surveillance for E. coli O157 and little is known about the carriage of this pathogen in Ethiopia’s livestock. This study aimed to assess the prevalence and levels of antimicrobial resistance of E. coli O157 in goat meat, feces, and environmental samples collected at a large abattoir in the Somali region of Ethiopia. The samples were enriched in modified tryptone broth containing novobiocin, and plated onto sorbitol MacConkey agar. Isolates were confirmed using indole test and latex agglutination. Antimicrobial susceptibility testing was conducted using the disk diffusion method. A total of 235 samples, including 93 goat carcass swabs, 93 cecal contents, 14 water, 20 hand, and 15 knife swabs were collected. Overall, six (2.5%) samples were contaminated with E. coli O157 of which two (2.1%) were isolated from cecal contents, three (3.2%) from carcass swabs, and one (7.1%) from water. All isolates were resistant to at least two of the 18 antimicrobials tested. Two isolates (33.3%) were resistant to more than five antimicrobials. Abattoir facilities and slaughter techniques were conducive to carcass contamination. This study highlights how poor hygiene and slaughter practice can result in contaminated meat, which is especially risky in Ethiopia because of the common practice of eating raw meat. We detect multi-resistance to drugs not used in goats, suggesting that drugs used to treat human infections may be the originators of antimicrobial resistance in livestock in this ecosystem. The isolation of multidrug-resistant E. coli O157 from goats from a remote pastoralist system highlights the need for global action on regulating and monitoring antimicrobial use in both human and animal populations.
Sleep disorders in children beginning school: their causes and effects.

BACKGROUND Sleep disorders are a common problem among children beginning school and may be associated both with impaired school performance and with behavioral difficulties. Because these disorders manifest themselves highly variably among children of any given age, and even in an individual affected child, they need an appropriate diagnostic evaluation so that the many environmental and background factors that may be relevant to the further course of the problem can be assessed. METHODS Extensive data were obtained on approximately 1400 children who were tested before beginning school in 2005 by means of a special sleep questionnaire and another screening instrument that is used to assess behavioral strengths and difficulties (the SDQ, Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire). RESULTS Five percent of the children were found to have difficulty falling asleep, difficulty staying asleep, or nocturnal awakening. Less frequent problems included parasomnias such as pavor nocturnus (0.5%), sleepwalking (0.1%), and frequent nightmares (1.7%). CONCLUSION Sleep disorders increase the risk of daytime fatigue and of psychological problems in general, including both hyperactivity and excessive emotional stress. These results imply that sleep problems and emotional disturbances are intimately connected and underscore the importance of diagnosing sleep problems in young children.
Output queued switch emulation by a one-cell-internally buffered crossbar switch

The output queued (OQ) switching architecture shows optimal performance amongst all queuing approaches. However, OQ switches lack scalability due to high memory-bandwidth constraints. An OQ switch can be exactly emulated by a more scalable crossbar switch (i.e., input-queued - IQ - switch) and a small speedup (Chuang, S. et al., 1998). Unfortunately, this result was not of practical use due to the high complexity of the proposed scheduling scheme. A similar result was shown by B. Magill et al. (see Conf. on Commun. Control and Computing, 2002) and was based on the internally buffered crossbar (IBC) switching architecture. While the latter result seems to overcome the complexity issue, the scheduling scheme presented is costly. We extend our previous work (Mhamdi and Hamdi, IEEE ICC'03, vol.3, p.1659-63, 2003) and prove the same result as Magill et al., but with lower hardware requirements. In particular, we propose a simple scheduling scheme, named modified current arrival first-lowest TTL (time-to-live) first (MCAF-LTF), that does not require a costly time stamping mechanism. Based on the MCAF-LTF, we prove that, with a speedup of just 2, a one-cell-internally buffered crossbar switch can exactly emulate an OQ switch. The reduced complexity of our proposed scheme makes it of high practical value and allows it to be readily implemented in ultra-high capacity networks.
Twigs on the tree of life? Neutral and selective models for integrating macroevolutionary patterns with microevolutionary processes in the analysis of asexuality

Neutral models characterize evolutionary or ecological patterns expected in the absence of specific causal processes, such as natural selection or ecological interactions. In this study, we describe and evaluate three neutral models that can, in principle, help to explain the apparent 'twigginess' of asexual lineages on phylogenetic trees without involving the negative consequences predicted for the absence of recombination and genetic exchange between individuals. Previously, such phylogenetic twiggyness of asexual lineages has been uncritically interpreted as evidence that asexuality is associated with elevated extinction rates and thus represents an evolutionary dead end. Our first model uses simple phylogenetic simulations to illustrate that, with sexual reproduction as the ancestral state, low transition rates to stable asexuality, or low rates of ascertained ‘speciation’ in asexuals, can generate twiggy distributions of asexuality, in the absence of high extinction rates for asexual lineages. The second model, developed by Janko et al. (2008 ), shows that a dynamic equilibrium between origins and neutral losses of asexuals can, under some conditions, generate a relatively low mean age of asexual lineages. The third model posits that the risk of extinction for asexual lineages may be higher than that of sexuals simply because asexuals inhabit higher latitudes or altitudes, and not due to effects of their reproductive systems. Such neutral models are useful in that they allow quantitative evaluation of whether empirical data, such as phylogenetic and phylogeographic patterns of sex and asexuality, indeed support the idea that asexually reproducing lineages persist over shorter evolutionary periods than sexual lineages, due to such processes as mutation accumulation, slower rates of adaptive evolution, or relatively lower levels of genetic variability.
The Interplay between Radioresistant Caco-2 Cells and the Immune System Increases Epithelial Layer Permeability and Alters Signaling Protein Spectrum

Colorectal cancer is one of the most frequent type of cancer, with a higher incidence in the developed countries. Colorectal cancer is usually managed with both surgeries, chemotherapy and radiotherapy. Radiotherapy has the well-known advantage of targeting the tumor, minimizing normal tissue exposure. Nevertheless, during radiation treatment, exposure of healthy tissues is of great concern, in particular because of the effects on the intestinal barrier functions and on cells belonging to the immune system. The functional role of intestinal barrier in avoiding paracellular trafficking and controlling bacterial spread from gut it is well known and it is due to the presence of tight junction complexes. However, intestinal barrier is fundamental in participating to the interplay with immune system, especially considering the gut-associated lymphoid tissue. Until few years ago, radiotherapy was considered to bear only a depressive action on the immune system. However, it is now recognized that the release of pro-inflammatory signals and phenotypic changes in tumoral cells due to ionizing radiation could trigger the immune system against the tumor. In this work, we address how intestinal barrier functions are perturbed by X-ray doses in the range 0–10 Gy, focusing on the interplay between tumoral cells and the immune system. To this aim, we adopted a coculture model in which Caco-2 cells can be grown in presence/absence of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC). We focused our attention on changes in the proliferation, trans-epithelial electrical resistance (TEER), cytokine release, and proteins of the junctional complexes. Our results indicate a high radioresistance of Caco-2 in the investigated dose range, and an increased permeability of the tumoral cell layer due to the presence of PBMC. This is found to be correlated with activation of PBMC, inhibiting the apoptotic pathway, with the enhancement of cytokine release and with variation of tight junction scaffold protein expression levels, assumed to be related to IFN-γ- and TNF-α-mediated signaling.
Best paper -- Follow the money: understanding economics of online aggregation and advertising

The large-scale collection and exploitation of personal information to drive targeted online advertisements has raised privacy concerns. As a step towards understanding these concerns, we study the relationship between how much information is collected and how valuable it is for advertising. We use HTTP traces consisting of millions of users to aid our study and also present the first comparative study between aggregators. We develop a simple model that captures the various parameters of today's advertising revenues, whose values are estimated via the traces. Our results show that per aggregator revenue is skewed (5% accounting for 90% of revenues), while the contribution of users to advertising revenue is much less skewed (20% accounting for 80% of revenue). Google is dominant in terms of revenue and reach (presence on 80% of publishers). We also show that if all 5% of the top users in terms of revenue were to install privacy protection, with no corresponding reaction from the publishers, then the revenue can drop by 30%.