Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Classification and Segmentation of Nanoparticle Diffusion Trajectories in Cellular Micro Environments

Darkfield and confocal laser scanning microscopy both allow for a simultaneous observation of live cells and single nanoparticles. Accordingly, a characterization of nanoparticle uptake and intracellular mobility appears possible within living cells. Single particle tracking allows to measure the size of a diffusing particle close to a cell. However, within the more complex system of a cell’s cytoplasm normal, confined or anomalous diffusion together with directed motion may occur. In this work we present a method to automatically classify and segment single trajectories into their respective motion types. Single trajectories were found to contain more than one motion type. We have trained a random forest with 9 different features. The average error over all motion types for synthetic trajectories was 7.2%. The software was successfully applied to trajectories of positive controls for normal- and constrained diffusion. Trajectories captured by nanoparticle tracking analysis served as positive control for normal diffusion. Nanoparticles inserted into a diblock copolymer membrane was used to generate constrained diffusion. Finally we segmented trajectories of diffusing (nano-)particles in V79 cells captured with both darkfield- and confocal laser scanning microscopy. The software called “TraJClassifier” is freely available as ImageJ/Fiji plugin via https://git.io/v6uz2.
Effect of quality improvement on racial disparities in diabetes care.

BACKGROUND Racial disparities in care are well documented; information regarding solutions is limited. We evaluated whether generic quality improvement efforts were associated with changes in racial disparities in diabetes care. METHODS Using insurance claims and electronic medical record data, we identified 5101 whites and 1987 blacks with diabetes mellitus receiving care within a multispecialty group practice from 1997 to 2001. We assessed rates of annual low-density lipoprotein cholesterol level testing, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol level control (<130 mg/dL [<3.37 mmol/L]), statin therapy, annual glycosylated hemoglobin level testing, glycosylated hemoglobin level control (<7.0%), and annual dilated eye examinations. We used logistic regression models with generalized estimating equations to adjust for race, year, race x year interactions, age, and sex. RESULTS Rates of annual low-density lipoprotein cholesterol level testing increased from 39% to 64%, while the white-black disparity decreased from 14% to 4%; rates of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol level control increased from 15% to 43%, while the white-black disparity decreased from 9% to 6% (P<.001 for both race x year interactions). Statin therapy rates increased from 20% to 37%; however, black patients remained less likely than white patients to receive therapy. The 1997 rates of annual glycosylated hemoglobin level testing (76%) and annual eye examinations (74%) were high, and there was no white-black disparity over time. Rates of glycosylated hemoglobin level control remained low (31%), and the white-black disparity remained constant at 10%. CONCLUSIONS Racial disparities were diminished in some aspects of diabetes care following variably successful quality improvement, but differences in the use of statins and glycemic level control persisted. Reducing disparities may require a focus on minority health.
The Impact of Age on the Reservation Wage: The Role of Employability

In an aging society, it is important to gain insight in the factors explaining why the transition from unemployment to employment gets harder as people move from mid to late career. This study focuses on one related aspect: individuals’ wage setting behaviour. The study explores the relationship between age and the reservation wage for people in their mid and late career. We moreover investigate whether two employability factors, ‘willingness to move’ and ‘ease of movement’, mediate this relationship. Higher wage claims would not necessarily be problematic if they result from a stronger labour market position (ease of movement) and therefore a higher ‘market value. ’ It would be more problematic if higher wage claims are a way to price oneself out of the labour market because of a low willingness to move. Path analysis on a sample of 8,113 Belgian workers aged 40 to 60 years reveals that age positively affects the reservation wage via willingness to move. Yet, this effect is neutralized by the negative influence via ease of movement. Our analyses moreover reveal a direct, positive effect of age on the reservation wage, if employability factors are controlled for. This finding suggests that wage claims are increasing if people move from mid to late career irrespective of their employability. We discuss implications for theory, practice and future research.
Distinct inflammatory phenotypes of microglia and monocyte‐derived macrophages in Alzheimer's disease models: effects of aging and amyloid pathology

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disease characterized by formation of amyloid‐β (Aβ) plaques, activated microglia, and neuronal cell death leading to progressive dementia. Recent data indicate that microglia and monocyte‐derived macrophages (MDM) are key players in the initiation and progression of AD, yet their respective roles remain to be clarified. As AD occurs mostly in the elderly and aging impairs myeloid functions, we addressed the inflammatory profile of microglia and MDM during aging in TgAPP/PS1 and TgAPP/PS1dE9, two transgenic AD mouse models, compared to WT littermates. We only found MDM infiltration in very aged mice. We determined that MDM highly expressed activation markers at basal state. In contrast, microglia exhibited an activated phenotype only with normal aging and Aβ pathology. Our study showed that CD14 and CD36, two receptors involved in phagocytosis, were upregulated during Aβ pathogenesis. Moreover, we observed, at the protein levels in AD models, higher production of pro‐inflammatory mediators: IL‐1β, p40, iNOS, CCL‐3, CCL‐4, and CXCL‐1. Taken together, our data indicate that microglia and MDM display distinct phenotypes in AD models and highlight the specific effects of normal aging vs Aβ peptides on inflammatory processes that occur during the disease progression. These precise phenotypes of different subpopulations of myeloid cells in normal and pathologic conditions may allow the design of pertinent therapeutic strategy for AD.
Some Surprising Properties of Power Indices

A troubling aspect about power indices is how the values assigned to players can depend upon the index. As shown, the problem is more severe; different indices can generate radically different rankings; e.g., a 15-player game exists with over a trillion different strict power index rankings of the players. It is shown that certain indices always share the same ranking, but this assertion depends on the number of players; e.g., the Shapley and Banzhaf rankings agree with three players, but with more players they can even have opposite rankings. It is also shown how changes in certain assumptions affect the outcomes. This includes demonstrating how the rankings change when players drop out of a game.
On a variant of Hardy inequality between weighted Orlicz spaces

Let M be an N-function satisfying the $\Delta_2$- condition, let $\omega, \vp$ be two other functions, $\omega\ge 0$. We study Hardy-type inequalities \[ \int_{\rp} M(\omega (x)|u(x)|) {\rm exp}(-\vp (x))dx \le C\int_{\rp} M(|u'(x)|) {\rm exp}(-\vp (x))dx, \] where $u$ belongs to some dilation invariant set ${\cal R}$ contained in the space of locally absolutely continuous functions. We give sufficient conditions the triple $(\omega,\vp,M)$ must satisfy in order to have such inequalities valid for $u$ from a given set ${\cal R}$. The set ${\cal R}$ can be smaller than the set of Hardy transforms. Bounds for constants, retrieving classical Hardy inequalities with best constants, are also given.
A nicotinic acetylcholine receptor transmembrane point mutation (G275E) associated with resistance to spinosad in Frankliniella occidentalis

High levels of resistance to spinosad, a macrocyclic lactone insecticide, have been reported previously in western flower thrips, Frankliniella occidentalis, an economically important insect pest of vegetables, fruit and ornamental crops. We have cloned the nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (nAChR) α6 subunit from F. occidentalis (Foα6) and compared the nucleotide sequence of Foα6 from susceptible and spinosad‐resistant insect populations (MLFOM and R1S respectively). A single nucleotide change has been identified in Foα6, resulting in the replacement of a glycine (G) residue in susceptible insects with a glutamic acid (E) in resistant insects. The resistance‐associated mutation (G275E) is predicted to lie at the top of the third α‐helical transmembrane domain of Foα6. Although there is no direct evidence identifying the location of the spinosad binding site, the analogous amino acid in the C. elegans glutamate‐gated chloride channel lies in close proximity (4.4 Å) to the known binding site of ivermectin, another macrocyclic lactone pesticide. The functional consequences of the resistance‐associated mutation have been examined in the human nAChR α7 subunit. Introduction of an analogous (A272E) mutation in α7 abolishes the modulatory effects of spinosad whilst having no significant effect upon activation by acetylcholine, consistent with spinosad having an allosteric mechanism of action.
Changing Organizational Culture: Cultural Change Work in Progress

Part I: Perspectives on Organizational and Cultural Change 1. Introduction 2. Organizational Change 3. Organizational Culture and Change Part II: Change Work in Practice - A Close-Up Study 4. The Case - and How We Studied It 5. A Cultural Change Project I: Background, Objectives and Design 6. A Cultural Change Project II: Implementation, Reception and Outcomes Part III: Crucial Issues in Cultural Change Work 7. 'It Is Not So Damn Easy' - Lack of Consistency and Expressiveness in Cultural Change Work 8. Disconnected Work: Cultural Change Efforts Decoupled 9. Hyperculture Part IV: Getting into the Substance of Organizational Change Work 10. Working with Culture vs Culture Working on Change Workers 11. Working with Change 12. Lessons for Cultural Change Actors and Others
PROBING THE INTERGALACTIC MEDIUM/GALAXY CONNECTION. V. ON THE ORIGIN OF Lyα AND O vi ABSORPTION AT z < 0.2

We analyze the association of galaxies with Lyα and O vi absorption, the most commonly detected transitions of the low-z intergalactic medium (IGM), in the fields of 14 quasars with zem = 0.06–0.57. Confirming previous studies, we observe a high covering fraction for Lyα absorption to impact parameter ρ = 300 h−172 kpc: 33/37 of our L > 0.01 L* galaxies show Lyα equivalent width WLyα ⩾ 50 mÅ. Galaxies of all luminosity L > 0.01 L* and spectral type are surrounded by a diffuse and ionized circumgalactic medium (CGM), whose baryonic mass is estimated at ∼1010.5 ± 0.3M☉ for a constant NH = 1019 cm−2. The virialized halos and extended CGM of present-day galaxies are responsible for most strong Lyα absorbers (WLyα > 300 mÅ) but cannot reproduce the majority of observed lines in the Lyα forest. We conclude that the majority of Lyα absorption with WLyα = 30–300 mÅ occurs in the cosmic web predicted by cosmological simulations and estimate a characteristic width for these filaments of ≈400 h−172 kpc. Regarding O vi, we observe a near unity covering fraction to ρ = 200 h−172 kpc for L > 0.1 L* galaxies and to ρ = 300 h−172 kpc for sub-L* (0.1 L* < L < L*) galaxies. Similar to our Lyα results, stronger O vi systems (W1031 > 70 mÅ) arise in the virialized halos of L > 0.1 L* galaxies. Unlike Lyα, the weaker O vi systems (W1031 ≈ 30 mÅ) arise in the extended CGM of sub-L* galaxies. The majority of O vi gas observed in the low-z IGM is associated with a diffuse medium surrounding individual galaxies with L ≈ 0.3 L* and rarely originates in the so-called warm-hot IGM (predicted by cosmological simulations.
Measuring Hair Cortisol Concentrations to Assess the Effect of Anthropogenic Impacts on Wild Chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes)

Non-human primates face major environmental changes due to increased human impacts all over the world. Although some species are able to survive in certain landscapes with anthropogenic impact, their long-term viability and fitness may be decreased due to chronic stress. Here we assessed long-term stress levels through cortisol analysis in chimpanzee hair obtained from sleeping nests in northwestern Uganda, in order to estimate welfare in the context of ecotourism, forest fragmentation with human-wildlife conflicts, and illegal logging with hunting activity (albeit not of primates), compared with a control without human contact or conflict. Concerning methodological issues, season [F(2,129) = 37.4, p < 0.0001, r2 = 0.18] and the age of nests [F(2,178) = 20.3, p < 0.0001, r2 = 0.11] significantly predicted hair cortisol concentrations (HCC). With regard to effects of anthropogenic impacts, our results neither showed elevation of HCC due to ecotourism, nor due to illegal logging compared to their control groups. We did, however, find significantly increased HCC in the fragment group compared to chimpanzees living in a nearby intact forest [F(1,88) = 5.0, p = 0.03, r2 = 0.20]. In conclusion, our results suggest that hair cortisol analysis is a powerful tool that can help understanding the impact of anthropogenic disturbances on chimpanzee well-being and could be applied to other great ape species.
Assessment of maximum loadability point for static voltage stability studies using evolutionary programming

This paper presents a critical evaluation of maximum loadability point identification in a power system network. The study involved maximum loadability identification on individual load bus and simultaneous increase at several load buses. This is to identify the strength of the system when single load increase was performed to the system as compared to multi-load increase. To obtain the optimum load values prior to voltage instability occurrence; Evolutionary Programming (EP) technique is introduced as the optimization technique. Results obtained from the studies revealed that the implementation of EP in identifying the optimal point of single maximum loadability and also for the several load increase are very accurate indicated by FVSI close to 0.95 as the reference ceiling value. It was also discovered that, the maximum loadability point of a single load is higher as compared to load simultaneous load increase at several load buses. This due to the fact that, the system can sustain higher load if only one load is subjected to loading variation, while considering other load buses maintained at the base case condition. The proposed EP technique was validated on the IEEE Reliability Test System and promising results were produced. Comparative studies performed with respect to artificial immune system (AIS) and automatic voltage stability analysis (AVSA) had revealed that EP outperformed both techniques in terms of accuracy and computation times.
Sensitivity of p-Process Nucleosynthesis to Nuclear Reaction Rates in a 25 M☉ Supernova Model

The astrophysical p-process, which is responsible for the origin of the proton-rich stable nuclei heavier than iron, was investigated using a full nuclear reaction network for a Type II supernova explosion when the shock front passes through the O/Ne layer. Calculations were performed with a multilayer model adopting the seed of a preexplosion evolution of a 25 M☉ star. The reaction flux was calculated to determine the main reaction path and branching points responsible for synthesizing the proton-rich nuclei. In order to investigate the impact of nuclear reaction rates on the predicted p-process abundances, extensive simulations with different sets of collectively and individually modified neutron-, proton-, and α-capture and photodisintegration rates have been performed. These results are not only relevant to explore the nuclear-physics-related uncertainties in p-process calculations but are also important for identifying the strategy and planning of future experiments.
Optimal Taxation When People Do Not Maximize Well-Being

I derive the optimal nonlinear income tax when individuals do not necessarily maximize their own well-being. This generates a corrective argument for taxation: optimal marginal taxes are higher (lower) if individuals work too much (too little) from a well-being point of view. I allow for multidimensional heterogeneity and derive the optimal tax schedule in terms of measurable sufficient statistics. One of these statistics measures the degree to which individuals fail to optimize their labor supply. I empirically estimate this by using British life satisfaction data as a measure of well-being. I find that low-income workers tend to work ‘too little’ and high-income workers ‘too much,’ providing a motive for lower marginal tax rates at the bottom and higher marginal tax rates at the top of the income distribution.
High-Throughput Phenotyping of Wheat and Barley Plants Grown in Single or Few Rows in Small Plots Using Active and Passive Spectral Proximal Sensing

In the early stages of plant breeding, breeders evaluate a large number of varieties. Due to limited availability of seeds and space, plot sizes may range from one to four rows. Spectral proximal sensors can be used in place of labour-intensive methods to estimate specific plant traits. The aim of this study was to test the performance of active and passive sensing to assess single and multiple rows in a breeding nursery. A field trial with single cultivars of winter barley and winter wheat with four plot designs (single-row, wide double-row, three rows, and four rows) was conducted. A GreenSeeker RT100 and a passive bi-directional spectrometer were used to assess biomass fresh and dry weight, as well as aboveground nitrogen content and uptake. Generally, spectral passive sensing and active sensing performed comparably in both crops. Spectral passive sensing was enhanced by the availability of optimized ratio vegetation indices, as well as by an optimized field of view and by reduced distance dependence. Further improvements of both sensors in detecting the performance of plants in single rows can likely be obtained by optimization of sensor positioning or orientation. The results suggest that even in early selection cycles, enhanced high-throughput phenotyping might be able to assess plant performance within plots comprising single or multiple rows. This method has significant potential for advanced breeding.
Political Violence and Excess Liquidity in Egypt: A Note

In this paper we estimate a time-series model of excess liquidity in the Egyptian banking sector. While financial liberalization and financial stability are found to have reduced excess liquidity, these effects have been offset by an increase in the number of violent political incidents arising from conflict between radical Islamic groups and the Egyptian state. The link between political events and financial outcomes provides a rationale for economic policy interventions by the international community in response to increases in political instability.
A duality between string topology and the fusion product in equivariant K-theory

Let $G$ be a compact Lie group. Let $G \to E \to M$ be a principal $G$-bundle over a closed manifold $M$, and $G \to Ad(E) \to M$ its adjoint bundle. In this paper we describe a new Frobenius algebra structure on $h_*(Ad(E)),$ where $h_*$ is an appropriate generalized homology theory. Recall that a Frobenius algebra has both a product and a coproduct. The product in this new Frobenius algebra is induced by the string topology product. In particular, the product can be defined when $G$ is any topological group and in the case that $E$ is contractible it is precisely the Chas-Sullivan string product on $H_*(LM). $ We will show that the coproduct is induced by completing the untwisted Freed-Hopkins-Teleman fusion product. Indeed, when $M$ is replaced by $BG$ and $h_*$ is $K$-theory the coproduct is the completion of the Freed-Hopkins-Teleman fusion structure. We will then show that this duality between the string and fusion products is realized by a Spanier-Whitehead duality between certain Thom spectra of virtual bundles over $Ad(E)$.
Topological derivative for the inverse scattering of elastic waves

To establish an alternative analytical framework for the elastic-wave imaging of underground cavities, the focus of this study is an extension of the concept of topological derivative, rooted in elastostatics and shape optimization, to three-dimensional elastodynamics involving semi-infinite and infinite solids. The main result of the proposed boundary integral approach is a formula for topological derivative, explicit in terms of the elastodynamic fundamental solution, obtained by an asymptotic expansion of the misfit-type cost functional with respect to the creation of an infinitesimal hole in an otherwise intact (semi-infinite or infinite) elastic medium. Valid for an arbitrary shape of the infinitesimal cavity, the formula involves the solution of six canonical exterior elastostatic problems, and becomes fully explicit when the vanishing cavity is spherical. A set of numerical results is included to illustrate the potential of topological derivative as a computationally efficient tool for exposing an approximate cavity topology, location, and shape via a grid-type exploration of the host solid. For a comprehensive solution to three-dimensional inverse scattering problems involving elastic waves, the proposed approach can be used most effectively as a pre-conditioning tool for more refined, albeit computationally intensive minimization-based imaging algorithms. To the authors' knowledge, an application of topological derivative to inverse scattering problems has not been attempted before; the methodology proposed in this paper could also be extended to acoustic problems.
Inhibition of the Nuclear Import of Cubitus Interruptus by Roadkill in the Presence of Strong Hedgehog Signal

Hedgehog (Hh) signalling plays an important role in various developmental processes by activating the Cubitus interruptus (Ci)/Glioblastoma (Gli) family of transcription factors. In the process of proper pattern formation, Ci activity is regulated by multiple mechanisms, including processing, trafficking, and degradation. However, it remains elusive how Ci distinctly recognizes the strong and moderate Hh signals. Roadkill (Rdx) induces Ci degradation in the anterior region of the Drosophila wing disc. Here, we report that Rdx inhibited Ci activity by two different mechanisms. In the region abutting the anterior/posterior boundary, which receives strong Hh signal, Rdx inhibited the nuclear import of Ci by releasing importin α3 from Ci. In this region, Rdx negatively regulated the expression of transcription factor Knot/Collier. In farther anterior regions receiving moderate levels of Hh signal, Rdx induced Ci degradation, as reported previously. Thus, two different mechanisms by which Rdx negatively regulates Ci may play an important role in the fine-tuning of Hh responses.