Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Rosetting Plasmodium falciparum-Infected Erythrocytes Bind to Human Brain Microvascular Endothelial Cells In Vitro, Demonstrating a Dual Adhesion Phenotype Mediated by Distinct P. falciparum Erythrocyte Membrane Protein 1 Domains

ABSTRACT Adhesion interactions between Plasmodium falciparum-infected erythrocytes (IE) and human cells underlie the pathology of severe malaria. IE cytoadhere to microvascular endothelium or form rosettes with uninfected erythrocytes to survive in vivo by sequestering IE in the microvasculature and avoiding splenic clearance mechanisms. Both rosetting and cytoadherence are mediated by the parasite-derived IE surface protein family Plasmodium falciparum erythrocyte membrane protein 1 (PfEMP1). Rosetting and cytoadherence have been widely studied as separate entities; however, the ability of rosetting P. falciparum strains to cytoadhere has received little attention. Here, we show that IE of the IT/R29 strain expressing a rosette-mediating PfEMP1 variant (IT4var09) cytoadhere in vitro to a human brain microvascular endothelial cell line (HBEC-5i). Cytoadherence was inhibited by heparin and by treatment of HBEC-5i with heparinase III, suggesting that the endothelial receptors for IE binding are heparan sulfate proteoglycans. Antibodies to the N-terminal regions of the IT4var09 PfEMP1 variant (NTS-DBL1α and DBL2γ domains) specifically inhibited and reversed cytoadherence down to low concentrations (<10 μg/ml of total IgG). Surface plasmon resonance experiments showed that the NTS-DBLα and DBL2γ domains bind strongly to heparin, with half-maximal binding at a concentration of ∼0.5 μM in both cases. Therefore, cytoadherence of IT/R29 IE is distinct from rosetting, which is primarily mediated by NTS-DBL1α interactions with complement receptor 1. These data show that IT4var09-expressing parasites are capable of dual interactions with both endothelial cells and uninfected erythrocytes via distinct receptor-ligand interactions.
Deep Learning for User Comment Moderation

Experimenting with a new dataset of 1.6M user comments from a Greek news portal and existing datasets of EnglishWikipedia comments, we show that an RNN outperforms the previous state of the art in moderation. A deep, classification-specific attention mechanism improves further the overall performance of the RNN. We also compare against a CNN and a word-list baseline, considering both fully automatic and semi-automatic moderation.
Visual Homing in Dynamic Indoor Environments

Our dissertation concerns robotic navigation in dynamic in door environments using image-based visual homing. Image-based visual homing infe rs the direction to a goal location S from the navigator’s current location C usin g the similarity between panoramic imagesIS and IC captured at those locations. There are several ways to compute this similarity. One of the contributions of our dis sertation is to identify a robust image similarity measure – mutual image information – to use in dynamic indoor environments. We crafted novel methods to speed the com putation of mutual image information with both parallel and serial processors and demonstrated that these time-savers had little negative effect on homing success. I mage-based visual homing requires a homing agent to move so as to optimise the mutual im age information signal. As the mutual information signal is corrupted by sensor nois e we turned to the stochastic optimisation literature for appropriate optimisation algorithms. We tested a number of these algorithms in both simulated and real dynamic labor tory environments and found that gradient descent (with gradients computed by one -sid d differences) works best.
Antimicrobial efficacy of chlorhexidine and calcium hydroxide/camphorated paramonochlorophenol on infected primary molars: a split-mouth randomized clinical trial.

OBJECTIVE To compare via a split-mouth randomized clinical trial the efficacy of 1% chlorhexidine gel, calcium hydroxide/camphorated paramonochlorophenol (Callen PMCC), and a one-visit endodontic treatment against mutans streptococci and anaerobic bacteria found in primary molars with necrotic pulps and to assess clinical success rates after 12 months. METHOD AND MATERIALS Pre- and posttreatment intracanal samples were collected from 37 teeth (from 21 children) for analysis of the number of mutans streptococci and anaerobic bacteria. Clinical and radiographic criteria were analyzed to determine treatment outcome. RESULTS Chlorhexidine gel significantly reduced mutans streptococci levels (P = .010), whereas Callen PMCC significantly reduced the levels of anaerobic bacteria (P = .002). No differences in the reduction of mutans streptococci (P = .187) and anaerobes (P = .564) were observed between groups. The clinical success rates were 85.71% (Callen PMCC), 78.57% (chlorexidine gel), and 77.77% (one-visit treatment). CONCLUSION Teeth treated with Callen PMCC presented the highest clinical success rate. The 1% chlorhexidine gel, as well as calcium hydroxide/camphorated paramonochlorophenol, presented limited efficacy in reducing bacteria from necrotic primary root canals.
#FoodPorn: Obesity Patterns in Culinary Interactions

We present a large-scale analysis of Instagram pictures taken at 164,753 restaurants by millions of users. Motivated by the obesity epidemic in the United States, our aim is three-fold: (i) to assess the relationship between fast food and chain restaurants and obesity, (ii) to better understand people's thoughts on and perceptions of their daily dining experiences, and (iii) to reveal the nature of social reinforcement and approval in the context of dietary health on social media. When we correlate the prominence of fast food restaurants in US counties with obesity, we find the Foursquare data to show a greater correlation at 0.424 than official survey data from the County Health Rankings would show. Our analysis further reveals a relationship between small businesses and local foods with better dietary health, with such restaurants getting more attention in areas of lower obesity. However, even in such areas, social approval favors the unhealthy foods high in sugar, with donut shops producing the most liked photos. Thus, the dietary landscape our study reveals is a complex ecosystem, with fast food playing a role alongside social interactions and personal perceptions, which often may be at odds.
Algılanan Örgütsel Desteğin Çalışanların İş-Aile, Aile-İş Çatışması, Örgütsel Özdeşleşme ve İşten Ayrılma Niyetine Etkisi: Savunma Sektöründe Bir Araştırma / The Effect of Perceived Organizational Support on Work-Family Conflict, Family-Work Conflict, Org

Ozet: Orgut basariminda onemli bir role sahip isgucunun beklentileri gun gectikce farklilasabilmektedir. Calisanlar icin orgutsel destek, calisanlarin tutumlarinda etkisi olan onemli bir faktordur. Orgutsel destegin calisanlarin orgutsel ozdeslesme duzeyine, is-aile ve aile is catismasi duzeyi ile isten ayrilma niyetine etkilerini belirlemek bu calismanin temel konusudur. Savunma sektoru calisanlari uzerinde yapilan arastirmada konu edilen bes degisken yapisal esitlik modeli ile analiz edilmis ve elde edilen veriler dogrultusunda aracilik etkileri arastirilmistir. Analiz sonucunda algilanan orgutsel destegin(AOD) is-aile catismasi(IAC), aile-is catismasini(AIC) ve isten ayrilma niyetini (IAN) anlamli olarak azalttigi, orgutsel ozdeslesmeyi(OO) anlamli olarak artirdigi belirlenmistir. Ayrica, AOD'nin IAN'ye etkisinde IAC ve orgutsel ozdeslesmenin kismi aracilik rolu ustlendigi tespit edilmistir. Anahtar Kelimeler: Algilanan orgutsel destek(AOD), Is-Aile Catismasi(IAC), Aile- Is Catismasi(AIC), Orgutsel Ozdeslesme(OO), Isten Ayrilma Niyeti(IAN) The Effect of Perceived Organizational Support on Work-Family Conflict, Family-Work Conflict, Organizational Identification and Turnover Intention: A Research on Defence Sector Abstract: The expectations of the human resource that have an important role in the success of organization differ in time. Perceived organizational support (POS) for employees is an important factor which affects employees' attitudes. The study focuses on the determination of the effects of POS on work-family conflict (WFC), family-work conflict (FWC), organizational identification (OI) and turnover intention (TI). Five variables, discussed at the research which is related to defense sector employees, were analyzed with structural equation model and mediating effects were researched according to the derived data. As a result of analysis, it was determined that POS has significant effect on WFC, FWC, OI and TI. It was also determined that WFC and OI has a partial mediating role on POS's effect on TI. Key Words: Perceived Organizational Support (POS), Work-Family Conflict (WFC), Family-Work Conflict (FWC), Organizational Identification (OI), Turnover Intention (TI)
Sm29, but Not Sm22.6 Retains its Ability to Induce a Protective Immune Response in Mice Previously Exposed to a Schistosoma mansoni Infection

Background A vaccine against schistosomiasis would have a great impact in disease elimination. Sm29 and Sm22.6 are two parasite tegument proteins which represent promising antigens to compose a vaccine. These antigens have been associated with resistance to infection and reinfection in individuals living in endemic area for the disease and induced partial protection when evaluated in immunization trials using naïve mice. Methodology/principals findings In this study we evaluated rSm29 and rSm22.6 ability to induce protection in Balb/c mice that had been previously infected with S. mansoni and further treated with Praziquantel. Our results demonstrate that three doses of the vaccine containing rSm29 were necessary to elicit significant protection (26%–48%). Immunization of mice with rSm29 induced a significant production of IL-2, IFN-γ, IL-17, IL-4; significant production of specific antibodies; increased percentage of CD4+ central memory cells in comparison with infected and treated saline group and increased percentage of CD4+ effector memory cells in comparison with naïve Balb/c mice immunized with rSm29. On the other hand, although immunization with Sm22.6 induced a robust immune response, it failed to induce protection. Conclusion/significance Our results demonstrate that rSm29 retains its ability to induce protection in previously infected animals, reinforcing its potential as a vaccine candidate.
Choice stepping reaction time test using exergame technology for fall risk assessment in older people

Accidental falls remain an important problem in older people. Stepping is a common task to avoid a fall and requires good interplay between sensory functions, central processing and motor execution. Increased choice stepping reaction time has been associated with recurrent falls in older people. The aim of this study was to examine if a sensor-based Exergame Choice Stepping Reaction Time test can successfully discriminate older fallers from non-fallers. The stepping test was conducted in a cohort of 104 community-dwelling older people (mean age: 80.7 ± 7.0 years). Participants were asked to step laterally as quickly as possible after a light stimulus appeared on a TV screen. Spatial and temporal measurements of the lower and upper body were derived from a low-cost and portable 3D-depth sensor (i.e. Microsoft Kinect) and 3D-accelerometer. Fallers had a slower stepping reaction time (970 ± 228 ms vs. 858 ± 123 ms, P = 0.001) and a slower reaction of their upper body (719 ± 289 ms vs. 631 ± 166 ms, P = 0.052) compared to non-fallers. It took fallers significantly longer than non-fallers to recover their balance after initiating the step (2147 ± 800 ms vs. 1841 ± 591 ms, P = 0.029). This study demonstrated that a sensor-based, low-cost and easy to administer stepping test, with the potential to be used in clinical practice or regular unsupervised home assessments, was able to identify significant differences between performances by fallers and non-fallers.
Teaching adaptations as they are related to academic task and student engagement

Researchers claim that effective teachers adapt their instruction to meet their students' learning needs (see for instance, Bransford, Darling-Hammond, & LePage, 2005; Duffy, 2005; Pressley, Allington, Wharton-McDonald, Block, & Morrow, 2001). Little research has examined how teachers adapt their instruction or their reasons for doing so. While more open tasks lead to more student engagement and learning in different studies (Miller & Meece, 1999; Thornburg, 2005; Turner, 1995), there is little evidence to show how teaching adaptations are related to the openness of literacy tasks and student engagement. In this study, I used a mixed-method multiple case study design (Creswell, 2005) to study six teachers' literacy instruction in each of the six elementary grade levels. Specifically, I explored the teaching adaptations as they are related to academic tasks and student motivation as measured by engaged time on task. I observed each teacher's literacy instruction approximately every three weeks over one school year to identify the teaching adaptations and rationales for those adaptations, the openness of literacy tasks and student motivation as measured by engaged time on task. After each observation I interviewed the teacher for the purposes of verifying that adaptations were changes on-the-fly and to collect their rationales for adapting. Six case studies, one each from kindergarten to fifth grade, revealed that there is an overall low to low relationship between the quality ratings of adaptations and the openness of tasks. Thus, adaptations occurred most frequently during closed tasks and were rated overwhelmingly as minimally thoughtful. Counter to findings from previous research on tasks and motivation, this study also found that engaged time on task was high despite the fact that the tasks were closed. Implications of how contextual issues influence methodological procedures, and studying thoughtfully adaptive teaching as it relates to tasks, teachers, engagement, and rationales are discussed.
Structural Organization of the Corpus Callosum Predicts the Extent and Impact of Cortical Activity in the Nondominant Hemisphere

Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) were combined to examine the relationship between callosal organization and cortical activity across hemispheres. Healthy young adults performed an incidental verbal encoding task (semantic judgments on words) while undergoing fMRI. Consistent with previous studies, the verbal encoding task was associated with left-lateralized activity in the inferior prefrontal cortex (LIPFC). When subjects were divided into two groups based on fractional anisotropy (FA) values in the anterior corpus callosum (DTI), individuals with low anterior callosal FA were found to exhibit greater activity in a homologous region within the right inferior prefrontal cortex (RIPFC) relative to those with high anterior callosal FA. Interestingly, whereas the magnitude of RIPFC activity did not negatively impact subsequent verbal memory performance for individuals with low anterior callosal FA, greater RIPFC activity during verbal encoding was associated with poorer subsequent memory performance for individuals with high anterior callosal FA. Together, these findings provide novel evidence that individual differences in callosal organization are related to the extent of nondominant cortical activity during performance during a lateralized task, and further, that this relationship has consequences on behavior.
Beyond rituals and riots : ethnic pluralism and social cohesion in Singapore

Contents: The Political History of Interethnic Relations in Singapore The Legal and Institutional Framework and Issues of Multiculturalism in Singapore We, the Citizens of Singapore: Multi-ethnicity, its Evolution and its Aberrations A Study of Children's Social Interactions in Informal Primary School Settings Schools and Post-Secondary Aspirations among Female Chinese Malay and Indian Normal Stream Students How Now, NE? An Exploratory Study of Ethnic Relations in Three Singapore Schools Trainee Teachers' Stereotypes of Racial Groups in Singapore by Ethnicity Management and Language Education Policy: Towards an Alternative Model of Language Education in Our Schools Madrasah Education and National Integration Cross-Cultural Issues in Social Service Delivery by Family Service Centres 'Ethnic' and 'Citizen' Patterns of Provision in Social and Community Services Ethnic Representation on Local Film and Television.
Joint Overlay and Underlay Power Allocation Scheme for OFDM-Based Cognitive Radio Systems

In this paper, we investigate joint overlay and underlay power allocation for OFDM-based cognitive radio (CR) systems. Unlike existing work in literature where power is allocated in either overlay only or underlay fashion, we propose schemes which perform a joint allocation. Specifically, the total capacity of CR is maximized while maintaining a total power budget and keeping the interference introduced to the primary user (PU) band below a threshold. As the complexity of optimal scheme can be high, a suboptimal scheme has also been proposed. Presented simulation results show that a significant gain in transmission capacity is achieved by using joint overlay and underlay allocation scheme as compared to either overlay or underlay only scheme. Further, numerical results show that even our proposed suboptimal scheme outperforms either overlay or underlay only scheme.
Conceptual Blockbusting: A Guide to Better Ideas

Conceptual Blockbusting: A Guide to Better Ideas, by James L. Adams. 2001. Cambridge, MA: Perseus Publishing. 209 pages, Soft Cover, $16.50 Intended Audience: C Major Headings from Table of Contents: Perpetual Blocks; Emotional Blocks; Cultural and Environmental Blocks; Intellectual and Expressive Blocks; Alternate Thinking Languages; Kinds of Blockbusters; Groups; Organizations. How is the book most useful for its intended audience? It teaches a person to get outside their comfort zone and to look at problems from many different sides. The top five things you learned from reading this book: 1. To look at problem solving from different aspects. 2. To know that there is not one way to approach a problem. 3. There are many things that influence our decision-making abilities. 4. That sometimes when you think about a solution to a problem, you let outside factors influence you. 5. That you can open your mind to new possibilities. I found Conceptual Blockbusting to be very interesting, as I never realized the blocks that were happening in my life that inhibit my creative thinking skills. I was taught in early school years to find only a "solid" solution to a problem. Creativity was generally not recommended. Author James L. Adams identifies the key blocks (perceptual, emotional, cultural, environmental, intellectual, and expressive) that prevent us from realizing the full potential of our minds. He uses different exercises and other interactive elements that will certainly help individuals, teams, and organizations overcome blocks in creativity, look at alternative ways of thinking about complex problems, and see that creative thinking can really be a valuable asset. In the Perceptual Blocks chapter, Adams discusses his many theories of what blocks our creativity from a perception standpoint, including inability to see the problem from various viewpoints, saturation of our sensory input, and failure to utilize all sensory input. He believes that most solutions affect other people, so their input must be considered. In his chapter on Emotional Blocks, Adams asserts that people generally want to gain acceptance and that going "against the grain" can sometimes jeopardize that acceptance. The areas he believes prevent us from communicating ideas to others in a manner which will gain acceptance include: * Fear of making a mistake * Overriding desires for security * Preference for judging ideas rather than generating them * Inability to relax, incubate, and "sleep on it" * Lack of challenge versus excessive need to succeed quickly * Inability to distinguish reality from fantasy In the Cultural and Environmental Blocks chapter, Adams believes that the culture and/or environment that people grew up in have a significant impact on their ability to contribute creatively. …
Particle Emissions from Ships: Dependence on Fuel Type

Abstract This paper presents the results of field emission measurements that have been carried out on the 4500-kW four-stroke main engine on-board a product tanker. Two fuel qualities—heavy fuel oil (HFO) and marine gas oil (MGO)—have been tested on the same engine for comparable load settings. A fuel switch within the marine sector is approaching and the aim of this study is to draw initial conclusions on the subsequent effects on ship exhaust gas composition and emission factors with a focus on particles. Measurements on exhaust gas concentrations of carbon dioxide (CO2), carbon monoxide (CO), nitrogen oxides (NOx), sulfur dioxide (SO2), total hydro-carbons (HCs), and particulate matter (PM) were conducted. The gases, except SO2, did not show any major differences between the fuels. Specific PM emissions were generally higher for HFO than for MGO; however, for the smallest size-fraction measured containing particles 0.30–0.40 µm in diameter, the opposite is observed. This finding emphasizes that to minimize negative health effects of particles from ships, further regulation may be needed to reduce small-sized particles; a fuel shift to low sulfur fuel alone does not seem to accomplish this reduction. The average of this and previously published data from on-board studies on particle emissions from ships results in emissions factors of 0.33 and 1.34 g/kWh for marine distillate oil (MDO) and HFO, respectively. Accounting for 1 standard deviation in each direction from the average values gives a range of 0.18–0.48 g/kWh for MDO and 0.56–2.12 g/kWh for HFO.
Gastrointestinal case of the day. Suprahepatic gallbladder.

A, Contrast-enhanced CT scan of abdomen shows gallbladder lyIng anterIorly and superIorly over dome of right lobe of liver. B, Contrast-enhanced CT scan of lower sectIon shows a prominent rIght-sided Intrahepatlc fIssure contaIning not only hepatic flexure but neck of gallbladder. C, LongItudinal sonogram of abdomen shows anterosuperlor gallbladder extending over dome of rIght lobe of liver. Cystic duct Inserts normally Into common bile duct. (Reprinted with permissIon from Mellstrup and Hopper (9].)
IFN-gamma fails to antagonize fibrotic effect of TGF-beta on keloid-derived dermal fibroblasts.

BACKGROUND Interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma) has been noted as a potential therapeutic agent for various fibrotic disorders, in part, through its antagonistic effect on a fibrogenic cytokine, transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-beta). Keloid is a fibrotic skin disorder that results in an excessive deposition of extracellular matrix, which is associated with altered-expression of or -responses to TGF-beta in dermal fibroblasts. OBJECTIVE We sought to determine whether IFN-gamma antagonized TGF-beta-mediated fibrotic response in keloid-derived dermal fibroblasts. METHODS Type I collagen production, fibroblast contractile activity, and alpha-smooth muscle actin (alpha-SMA) expression were assessed by using Western blotting, an in vitro type I collagen gel contraction assay, and immunofluorescence study in normal and keloid-derived human dermal fibroblasts in the presence or absence of IFN-gamma and/or TGF-beta. RESULTS In contrast to normal dermal fibroblasts, IFN-gamma did not inhibit TGF-beta-induced type I collagen production, contractile activity, and alpha-SMA expression in keloid-derived dermal fibroblasts. In addition, keloid-derived dermal fibroblasts constitutively expressed type I collagen and alpha-SMA with increased capacity to contract a collagen matrix. CONCLUSION IFN-gamma failed to antagonize TGF-beta-mediated fibrotic response in keloid-derived dermal fibroblasts. Thus, IFN-gamma may not be therapeutically useful for keloid and clarification of the molecular mechanisms underlying the IFN-gamma resistance should be investigated for therapeutic application of IFN-gamma for keloid.