Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
mTORC1 activation decreases autophagy in aging and idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis and contributes to apoptosis resistance in IPF fibroblasts

Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is a chronic, progressive, and usually lethal disease associated with aging. However, the molecular mechanisms of the aging process that contribute to the pathogenesis of IPF have not been elucidated. IPF is characterized by abundant foci of highly active fibroblasts and myofibroblasts resistant to apoptosis. Remarkably, the role of aging in the autophagy activity of lung fibroblasts and its relationship with apoptosis, as adaptive responses, has not been evaluated previously in this disease. In the present study, we analyzed the dynamics of autophagy in primary lung fibroblasts from IPF compared to young and age‐matched normal lung fibroblasts. Our results showed that aging contributes for a lower induction of autophagy on basal conditions and under starvation which is mediated by mTOR pathway activation. Treatment with rapamycin and PP242, that target the PI3K/AKT/mTOR signaling pathway, modified starvation‐induced autophagy and apoptosis in IPF fibroblasts. Interestingly, we found a persistent activation of this pathway under starvation that contributes to the apoptosis resistance in IPF fibroblasts. These findings indicate that aging affects adaptive responses to stress decreasing autophagy through activation of mTORC1 in lung fibroblasts. The activation of this pathway also contributes to the resistance to cell death in IPF lung fibroblasts.
Intergenerational Conflict Management in Immigrant Arab Canadian Families

The present studies bridged across the conflict management and family psychology literatures to increase our understanding of intergenerational conflict within the context of immigrant Arab Canadian families. Using a quantitative approach, Study 1 (n = 71) found that although emerging adults reported relatively low levels of intergenerational conflict, honor-related conflict issues were salient to this population and not captured by the Intergenerational Conflict Inventory. Study 1 also found that emerging adults’ preferred conflict handling style was associated with overall levels of intergenerational conflict as well as cultural orientation and adaptation. Three conflict handling styles (avoid, integrate, and dominate) were associated with increased intergenerational conflict, whereas oblige was associated with decreased intergenerational conflict. These results were confirmed using a qualitative approach in Study 2 (n = 12). Importantly, Study 2 also suggested that oblige took two distinct forms in this population, as some emerging adults actually obliged their parents in the conflict situation, whereas others stated that they would but covertly disobeyed their parents.
Orofacial pain and symptoms of temporomandibular disorders in Finnish and Thai populations

Abstract Objective. Cultural or ethnic factors may play an important role in subjects’ pain reports. The aim of the study was to compare the prevalence of orofacial pain symptoms between Finnish and Thai populations. Materials and methods. The Finnish study population comprised the Northern Finland Birth Cohort 1966, of which 5696 subjects participated in the present study. The Thai sample consisted of 1501 randomly selected people living in 10 different districts in Bangkok. Data on orofacial pain was collected based on questionnaires. Results. After adjusting for age, gender and education, the logistic regression analysis showed that Thai subjects had an increased risk for reporting oral pain (OR = 4.5, 95% CI = 3.7–5.4), tooth pain (OR = 2.0, 95% CI = 1.8–2.4) and pain in the face (OR = 1.5, 95% CI = 1.2–1.7). Conclusions. It can be concluded that Thai people report more orofacial pain symptoms than Finnish subjects. Cross-cultural factors exist in the background of reporting pain symptoms in the oral and facial area.
Factors affecting attendance at professional sport events.

Forty attendance items comprised a questionnaire using a Likert 5-point scale to describe the relative importance of each factor from the YIew of the following sample of 117: CFL (8), NFL (28), NHL (21), NBA (23), M1SL (11); American Baseball (14), and National Baseball (12). It was hypothesized that no difference exists between leagues on attendance factors; on factor categories; between winning, moderately winning, and losing teams; and between indoor and outdoor leagues. ANOVA and Tukey tests were used for significant differences. Factor analysis using the principal component model followed by Varimax rotation was applied to the 40 items. The response rate was 46%. Significant differences resulted. Factor analysis derived 10 factor categories. Baseball and the NFL accounted for most of the differences, followed by the MISL. Items generating differences were scheduling, team roster quality, price, forms of entertainment competition, and convenience for fans. This study provides current status, factor ca.
Assessing the Changes of Ecosystem Services in the Nansi Lake Wetland, China

Wetlands provide many essential ecosystem services for human well-being. The ecological assessment of wetland ecosystem services is problematic and thus is an important focus in the field of ecological research. In this study, an ecological assessment system containing the ecosystem product value, ecosystem regulation service value, and ecosystem cultural service value was established to calculate the gross ecosystem product in the Nansi Lake Wetland, China. Based on remote sensing images, field studies, and literature reviews, the gross ecosystem product was estimated for the years 1985, 1992, 2005, 2011, and 2017. The results showed that the gross ecosystem product of the Nansi Lake Wetland increased from 40.91 × 108 USD in 1985 to 46.28 × 108 USD in 2017. The gross ecosystem product of the altered wetlands increased by about 8.5 times with a rising linear relationship, while natural wetlands presented a nonlinear relationship. Furthermore, except for the changes in climatic condition, anthropogenic interference factors such as coal mining activities, farming practices, and government policies have promoted significant services in the Nansi Lake Wetland over the past 30 years. This study could provide important insight into the ecological assessment of wetland ecosystems and thus inform policy for the protection and better use of wetland resources.
Status of Plasmodium falciparum towards catalase

The role of endogenous and internalized catalase in the protection of Plasmodium against oxidant stress was studied. Catalase activities were measured in isolated Plasmodium falciparum at different stages of intererythrocytic development. Activities measured at late schizont stages were compared to parasite markers (glutamate dehydrogenase, SOD) and to red blood cell markers (haemoglobin, Cu/Zn‐SOD). The fate of the host cell catalase in the parasite digestive system was studied by immunoelectron microscopy using monoclonal antibodies. The internalized catalase appeared to be dissociated in the digestive system of the parasite and inactivated. To examine the protective role of the endogenous and internalized catalase in the parasite protection against oxidant stress, parasites were cultivated at two oxygen concentrations (5% and 20%) in inhibited catalase red blood cells. These experiments suggested that the catalases present both in red blood cell and parasite are not essential when parasites are cultivated under 5% oxygen, but are necessary to protect the parasite under 20% oxygen. Catalase may not be the main protective enzyme involved in the protection of P. falciparum in standard in vitro culture conditions, but may become critical under the higher oxygen tensions conditions encountered in vivo.
Pizza into Java: translating theory into practice

Pizza is a strict superset of Java that incorporates three ideas from the academic community: parametric polymorphism, higher-order functions, and algebraic data types. Pizza is defined by translation into Java and compiles into the Java Virtual Machine, requirements which strongly constrain the design space. Nonetheless, Pizza fits smoothly to Java, with only a few rough edges.
Pooled Enrichment Sequencing Identifies Diversity and Evolutionary Pressures at NLR Resistance Genes within a Wild Tomato Population

Nod-like Receptors (NLRs) are Nucleotide-binding domain and Leucine rich Repeats (NB-LRR)-containing proteins that are important in plant resistance signaling. Many of the known pathogen Resistance (R)-genes in plants are NLRs and they can recognise directly or indirectly pathogen molecules. As such, divergence and copy number variants at these genes is found to be high between species. Within populations, positive and balancing selection are to be expected if plants coevolve with their pathogens. In order to understand the complexity of R-gene coevolution in wild non-model species, it is necessary to identify the full range of NLRs and infer their evolutionary history. Here we investigate and reveal polymorphism occurring at 220 NLR genes within one population of the partially selfing wild tomato species S. pennellii. We use a combination of enrichment sequencing and pooling of ten individuals, to specifically sequence NLR genes in a resource and cost-effective manner. We focus on the effects which different of mapping and SNP calling software and settings have on calling polymorphisms in customized pooled samples. Our results are accurately verified using Sanger sequencing of polymorphic gene fragments. Our results indicate that some NLRs, namely 13 out of 220, have maintained polymorphism within our S. pennellii population. These genes show a wide range of πN/πs ratios and differing site frequency spectra. We compare our observed rate of heterozygosity to expectations for this selfing and bottlenecked population. We conclude that our method enables us to pinpoint NLR genes which have experienced natural selection in their habitat.
Anacardic Acid Inhibits Estrogen Receptor α–DNA Binding and Reduces Target Gene Transcription and Breast Cancer Cell Proliferation

Anacardic acid (AnAc; 2-hydroxy-6-alkylbenzoic acid) is a dietary and medicinal phytochemical with established anticancer activity in cell and animal models. The mechanisms by which AnAc inhibits cancer cell proliferation remain undefined. AnAc 24:1ω5 was purified from geranium (Pelargonium × hortorum) and shown to inhibit the proliferation of estrogen receptor α (ERα)–positive MCF-7 and endocrine-resistant LCC9 and LY2 breast cancer cells with greater efficacy than ERα-negative primary human breast epithelial cells, MCF-10A normal breast epithelial cells, and MDA-MB-231 basal-like breast cancer cells. AnAc 24:1ω5 inhibited cell cycle progression and induced apoptosis in a cell-specific manner. AnAc 24:1ω5 inhibited estradiol (E2)–induced estrogen response element (ERE) reporter activity and transcription of the endogenous E2 target genes pS2, cyclin D1, and cathepsin D in MCF-7 cells. AnAc 24:1ω5 did not compete with E2 for ERα or ERβ binding, nor did AnAc 24:1ω5 reduce ERα or ERβ steady-state protein levels in MCF-7 cells; rather, AnAc 24:1ω5 inhibited ER-ERE binding in vitro. Virtual screening with the molecular docking software Surflex evaluated AnAc 24:1ω5 interaction with ERα ligand binding (LBD) and DNA binding (DBD) domains in conjunction with experimental validation. Molecular modeling revealed AnAc 24:1ω5 interaction with the ERα DBD but not the LBD. Chromatin immunoprecipitation experiments revealed that AnAc 24:1ω5 inhibited E2-ERα interaction with the endogenous pS2 gene promoter region containing an ERE. These data indicate that AnAc 24:1ω5 inhibits cell proliferation, cell cycle progression, and apoptosis in an ER-dependent manner by reducing ER-DNA interaction and inhibiting ER-mediated transcriptional responses. Mol Cancer Ther; 9(3); 594–605
Compass Rose: A Rotational Robust Signature for Optical Flow Computation

This paper proposes a new image signature, called Compass Rose, which is particularly suited to optical flow computation. It is differentiable, fast to compute, and robust to additive illumination changes, translation, and fast rotation. We design a sparse flow computation system based on the invariance of the Compass Rose signatures. This is then extended to dense motion estimation by the addition of an optional diffusion step. Quantitative testing on several benchmark sequences shows the Compass Rose attains higher accuracy than the traditional flow signatures under a range of conditions. Finally, we demonstrate its application to human motion estimation, which is challenging for optical flow methods due to fast limb rotation.
A Meta-Analysis on Cognitive Distortions and Externalizing Problem Behavior

Cognitive distortions are an important focus in many investigations and treatments of externalizing problem behavior, such as antisocial, delinquent, and aggressive behavior. Yet the overall strength of the association between cognitive distortions and externalizing behavior is unknown. Furthermore, it is unknown whether interventions can effectively reduce cognitive distortions and subsequently externalizing behavior. To fill these gaps, we conducted a meta-analysis of 71 studies on 20,685 participants. Results showed a medium to large effect size (d = .70) for the association between cognitive distortions and externalizing behavior. Interventions had a small effect (d = .27) on reducing cognitive distortions. In a subset of intervention studies that incorporated both cognitive distortions and externalizing behavior, however, neither cognitive distortions nor externalizing behavior were effectively reduced. Hence, although cognitive distortions are substantially linked to externalizing behavior and interventions can reduce cognitive distortions, a subsequent reduction in externalizing behavior remains to be demonstrated.
SAVE (Super-dose anti-VEGF) trial: 2.0 mg ranibizumab for recalcitrant neovascular age-related macular degeneration: 1-year results.

OBJECTIVES To assess durability of visual and anatomic gains with 2.0 mg ranibizumab in recalcitrant neovascular age-related macular degeneration (AMD). METHODS Phase I-II trial of 88 patients with recalcitrant neovascular AMD treated as needed every 4 (cohort A) or 6 weeks (cohort B) following three monthly doses. ETDRS refraction and spectral-domain OCT-guided as-needed re-treatments. RESULTS Seventy-nine patients completed the 12-month endpoint and were given 11.6 (cohort A) and 8.6 (cohort B) mean treatments. Mean best corrected visual acuity gains of 4.1 letters following three monthly doses were sustained for 12 months for both cohorts. Anatomic improvements were sustained for 12 months for cohort A, but not for cohort B; cohort B demonstrated a gradual increase in mean central retinal thickness (P = .03). CONCLUSION Visual and anatomic gains achieved with 2.0 mg ranibizumab in recalcitrant neovascular AMD were sustained for 1 year with monthly treatment. In comparison, anatomic gains were diminished with less than monthly treatment.
Adjustment and Strain among Domestic and International Student Sojourners

Every year, a growing number of students leave their home environments and relocate to study at universities abroad. Relocation, however, can be a challenging and stressful experience. This longitudinal study surveyed 294 international and domestic student sojourners to examine and compare their adjustment and distress or strain responses during the first six months of their entry into a medium-sized, mid-western US state university. The findings revealed that international student sojourners, compared to domestic sojourners, had greater difficulty in adjusting during their initial transition into the university. Although sojourners experienced increasing adjustment over time, the pattern of strain was curvilinear, peaking three months after the start of the semester. Self-efficacy, social support and cultural novelty predicted adjustment and strain at different times during the transition period.
Sherlock Holmes and the Death of the Null Hypothesis

In the eighty years since R.A. Fisher’s original work, null hypothesis significance testing has become the ubiquitous research methodology in fields as diverse as biology, agronomy, social science, psychology, epidemiology and most forms of medical research. Throughout this period, the method has been heavily criticised by statisticians who point to a range of problems. The most severe of these is the Bayesian fallacy of wrongly accepting an alternative hypothesis and the problem becomes most obvious in the screening test anomaly whereby a medical screening test can deliver more than 50% of false positives. This paper examines the inverse logical fallacy, that of failing to reject a null hypothesis and thereby accepting an invalid conclusion. A definition of the fundamental concept of experimental completeness leads to a reductio ad absurdum proof. The paper finishes with a live example of the dangerous consequences of accepting an invalid null hypothesis out of a null hypothesis significance test.
Teaching accounting to overseas MBA students: exploring an alternative method

The use of alternative media for the teaching and learning of accounting, in contrast to the traditional lecture/tutorial format, continues to be highly topical. There is a continuing challenge for teachers to devise teaching and learning strategies which will encourage students to relate to the subject matter they are studying in a purposeful and satisfying way. Ramsden claims that the ‘method used is always secondary to the teacher's aims’ which ideally are to encourage deep approaches to learning through engaging students responsibly and actively with the subject matter. This was not entirely borne out in this trial as cognitive dissonance experienced by the students limited an evaluation of their responses. The trial described in this paper reports the use of two methods of teaching a budgeting topic in management accounting to a group of MBA students from Asia at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology. One half of the group used a self-learning format including videos; the other half of the grou.
Two Nations, Revisited: The Lynching of Black and Brown Bodies, Police Brutality, and Racial Control in ‘Post-Racial’ Amerikkka

In 1968, President Lyndon B. Johnson established the National Advisory Commission on Civil Disorders (NACCD) to examine the 1967 race riots that were taking place in Los Angeles, Chicago, Newark, and Detroit that erupted in the mid-1960s. That report, officially labeled the Kerner Report, outlined structural inequalities in America that privileged whites over other racial and ethnic groups; the report concluded that the United States was headed toward two separate and unequal societies: black and white. Forty-seven years after the Kerner Report where do we stand? In this article, I revisit recent events on police violence toward minorities and give consideration to some thoughts moving forward.
The role of self-construals in obsessive-compulsive disorder

Cognitive accounts of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) recognise that maladaptive beliefs are central to the maintenance of the disorder. Unhelpful beliefs underlie one’s appraisal of unwanted intrusions as important and personally revealing, so that they become associated with negative affect and liable to developing into obsessions. Cognitive models additionally suggest that neutralising responses are responsible for the persistence of obsessional problems; they alleviate discomfort in the short term, but are associated with longer term maintenance of discomfort, increases in the urge to engage in further neutralising responses, and strengthening of maladaptive beliefs (Salkovskis, 1989, 1998). Given that our belief systems are intimately intertwined with self-concepts, the current thesis proposes the inclusion of such concepts in the cognitive framework for OCD. This thesis shows that there is mounting support that self-processes are implicated in OC phenomena. In particular, ambivalence in self-worth and sensitivity in moral self-worth. There is currently, however, limited research on those aspects of the self that are less under conscious awareness, such as the implicit self. The overall aim of the current thesis is therefore to examination how both implicit and explicit selfconstruals relate to OCD. It was hypothesised that a discrepancy between implicit and explicit self-processes are relevant to OCD, specifically a discrepant low self-esteem (high implicit, low explicit self-esteem). In particular, the thesis aimed to investigate three aspects of the relationship between self-construals and OCD. First, it examined whether self-beliefs (implicit and explicit) relate to OCD symptoms and beliefs. Second, it addressed the relationship that obsessions and compulsions have on self-beliefs. Finally, this thesis investigated how self-beliefs may serve as a liability to experiencing unwanted intrusions. Three studies
Student self-concept and effort: gender and grade differences

Students’ self-concept and effort in schoolwork are known to have significant influences on essential academic outcomes, but self-concept and effort may decline as students grow up. Students from 16 schools in Sydney (N = 2200) were asked to rate on two self-concept components (competency and affect) and effort in schoolwork. Based on measures established in confirmatory factor analysis, a 5 (grade: 3rd, 5th, 7th, 9th, 11th) × 2 (gender: boys, girls) × 3 (measure: competency, affect, effort) repeated-measures ANOVA found that: (a) for all variables, scores were lower for higher grade levels; (b) boys were lower in affect and effort; (c) particularly for effort, gender differences favouring girls in primary became negligible in higher secondary; and (d) differences between primary and secondary tended to be greater for girls. Educators and curriculum designers need to consider the self-concept and effort of boys in the primary and girls in the secondary.
Time-varying effects and averaging issues in models for current-mode control

This paper investigates issues in modeling of current-mode control in converters. The effects of the current-sampling intrinsic to current-mode control are analyzed, and inadequately recognized limitations of linear time-invariant (LTI) models at high frequencies (where the system behavior is time-varying) are exposed. The paper also examines the geometric methods used to derive duty-ratio constraints in averaged models of current-mode control and points out the sources of discrepancies among various models. The conclusions are supported by simulation and experimental results.