Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Intraepithelial and lamina propria lymphocytes show distinct patterns of apoptosis whereas both populations are active in Fas based cytotoxicity in coeliac disease

BACKGROUND Lamina propria (LPLs) and intraepithelial (IELs) lymphocytes are markedly increased in coeliac mucosa, and are thought to play a crucial role in the generation of villous atrophy in coeliac disease (CD). However, the mechanisms by which they mediate the killing of enterocytes in this condition are still poorly characterised. AIM We investigated Fas mediated cytotoxicity and apoptosis of both LPLs and IELs, isolated from 10 untreated coeliac patients, 10 coeliac patients on a gluten free diet, and 10 biopsied controls. METHODS Fas and Fas ligand expression were assessed by flow cytometry and immunocytochemistry. Lymphocyte cytotoxicity against Fas expressing Jurkat cells was determined by the Jam test. The effect of the antagonist ZB4 anti-Fas antibody on apoptotic activity exerted by coeliac lymphocytes against enterocytes was analysed. Lymphocyte apoptosis was assessed by oligonucleosome ELISA. RESULTS LPLs and IELs showed increased apoptotic activity and higher levels of Fas ligand expression in untreated CD compared with treated CD patients and controls. Enterocyte apoptosis observed after coculturing coeliac lymphocytes and enterocytes in the presence of ZB4 antibody was reduced. In active CD, LPLs manifested increased apoptosis whereas IELs showed decreased apoptosis. CONCLUSIONS Our results support the involvement of the Fas/Fas ligand system in CD associated enterocyte apoptosis. Increased LPL apoptosis is likely to downregulate mucosal inflammation whereas decreased IEL apoptosis could be responsible for autoimmune and malignant complications of CD.
Sensing as a service model for smart cities supported by Internet of Things

The world population is growing at a rapid pace. Towns and cities are accommodating half of the world's population thereby creating tremendous pressure on every aspect of urban living. Cities are known to have large concentration of resources and facilities. Such environments attract people from rural areas. However, unprecedented attraction has now become an overwhelming issue for city governance and politics. The enormous pressure towards efficient city management has triggered various Smart City initiatives by both government and private sector businesses to invest in information and communication technologies to find sustainable solutions to the growing issues. The Internet of Things (IoT) has also gained significant attention over the past decade. IoT envisions to connect billions of sensors to the Internet and expects to use them for efficient and effective resource management in Smart Cities. Today, infrastructure, platforms and software applications are offered as services using cloud technologies. In this paper, we explore the concept of sensing as a service and how it fits with the IoT. Our objective is to investigate the concept of sensing as a service model in technological, economical and social perspectives and identify the major open challenges and issues. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Locomotion Enhances Neural Encoding of Visual Stimuli in Mouse V1

Neurons in mouse primary visual cortex (V1) are selective for particular properties of visual stimuli. Locomotion causes a change in cortical state that leaves their selectivity unchanged but strengthens their responses. Both locomotion and the change in cortical state are thought to be initiated by projections from the mesencephalic locomotor region, the latter through a disinhibitory circuit in V1. By recording simultaneously from a large number of single neurons in alert mice viewing moving gratings, we investigated the relationship between locomotion and the information contained within the neural population. We found that locomotion improved encoding of visual stimuli in V1 by two mechanisms. First, locomotion-induced increases in firing rates enhanced the mutual information between visual stimuli and single neuron responses over a fixed window of time. Second, stimulus discriminability was improved, even for fixed population firing rates, because of a decrease in noise correlations across the population. These two mechanisms contributed differently to improvements in discriminability across cortical layers, with changes in firing rates most important in the upper layers and changes in noise correlations most important in layer V. Together, these changes resulted in a threefold to fivefold reduction in the time needed to precisely encode grating direction and orientation. These results support the hypothesis that cortical state shifts during locomotion to accommodate an increased load on the visual system when mice are moving. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT This paper contains three novel findings about the representation of information in neurons within the primary visual cortex of the mouse. First, we show that locomotion reduces by at least a factor of 3 the time needed for information to accumulate in the visual cortex that allows the distinction of different visual stimuli. Second, we show that the effect of locomotion is to increase information in cells of all layers of the visual cortex. Third, we show that the means by which information is enhanced by locomotion differs between the upper layers, where the major effect is the increasing of firing rates, and in layer V, where the major effect is the reduction in noise correlations.
Diffeomorphic Multi-Frame Non-Rigid Registration of Cell Nuclei in 2D and 3D Live Cell Images

To gain a better understanding of cellular and molecular processes, it is important to quantitatively analyze the motion of subcellular particles in live cell microscopy image sequences. Since, generally, the subcellular particles move and cell nuclei move as well as deform, it is important to decouple the movement of particles from that of the cell nuclei using non-rigid registration methods. We have developed a diffeomorphic multi-frame approach for non-rigid registration of cell nuclei in 2D and 3D live cell fluorescence microscopy images. Our non-rigid registration approach is based on local optic flow estimation, exploits information from multiple consecutive image frames, and determines diffeomorphic transformations in the log-domain, which allows efficient computation of the inverse transformations. To register single images of an image sequence to a reference image, we use a temporally weighted mean image, which is constructed based on inverse transformations and multiple consecutive frames. Using multiple consecutive frames improves the registration accuracy compared to pairwise registration, and using a temporally weighted mean image significantly reduces the computation time compared with previous work. In addition, we use a flow boundary preserving method for regularization of computed deformation vector fields, which prevents from over-smoothing compared to standard Gaussian filtering. Our approach has been successfully applied to 2D and 3D synthetic as well as real live cell microscopy image sequences, and an experimental comparison with non-rigid pairwise, multi-frame, and temporal groupwise registration has been carried out.
New Full-Frequency-Range Supercapacitor Model With Easy Identification Procedure

Energy storage has become a key issue for achieving goals connected with increasing the efficiency of both producers and users. In particular, supercapacitors currently seem to be interesting devices for many applications because they can supply high power for a significant amount of time and can be recharged more quickly than electrochemical batteries. In different applications, a combination of the two devices, batteries and supercapacitors, could be used to develop a high-efficiency storage system with a high dynamic performance. Because of the diffusion of supercapacitors, a good model is needed to represent their behavior in different applications. Some models have been proposed that characterize supercapacitors working at either low or high frequencies. In this paper, the authors present a full-frequency-range model that can be used to represent all of the phenomena that involve supercapacitors. Moreover, to realize a simple and useful tool, the authors present a simple procedure to identify the parameters of the model that can be used to characterize a supercapacitor before use.
Molecular Analysis of the Cold Tolerant Antarctic Nematode, Panagrolaimus davidi

Isolated and established in culture from the Antarctic in 1988, the nematode Panagrolaimus davidi has proven to be an ideal model for the study of adaptation to the cold. Not only is it the best-documented example of an organism surviving intracellular freezing but it is also able to undergo cryoprotective dehydration. As part of an ongoing effort to develop a molecular understanding of this remarkable organism, we have assembled both a transcriptome and a set of genomic scaffolds. We provide an overview of the transcriptome and a survey of genes involved in temperature stress. We also explore, in silico, the possibility that P. davidi will be susceptible to an environmental RNAi response, important for further functional studies.
Serum substance P levels in patients with chronic schizophrenia treated with typical or atypical antipsychotics

Aspiration pneumonia is a major cause of death in patients with dysphagia, often accompanied by psychiatric symptoms. The inhibition of swallowing and cough reflexes, which contribute to a significant risk for aspiration, may be related to decreased levels of substance P. Clinical studies indicate a strong association of an increased mortality in psychiatric patients with the use of antipsychotics. The present study documented fewer positive episodes of swallowing reflex in patients treated with haloperidol for schizophrenia (7/11; 63.6%) than those treated with risperidone (10/11; 90.9%). In addition, patients treated with risperidone had serum substance P levels comparable with control subjects (29.0 +/- 7.8 pg/mL, 29.6 +/- 7.6, respectively; p = 0.9), while patients treated with haloperidol had significantly lower serum substance P levels (20.6 +/- 5.5 pg/mL; p < 0.01). Among patients on haloperidol, those with negative episodes of reflex (4/11; 36.4%) had serum substance P levels at 15.8 +/-1.0 pg/mL, in contrast with those with positive episodes (7/11; 63.6%) who had serum levels at 23.4 +/- 4.9 pg/mL. However, in the patient group treated with risperidone, serum substance P levels in the majority of patients with positive episodes of reflexes (10/11, 90.9%; 30.1 +/- 7.2 pg/mL) was found to be as high as in control subjects, all with positive episodes (5/5, 100%; 29.6 +/- 7.6 pg/mL) (p = 0.866), and higher than in one patient with negative reflex (1/11, 9.1%; 18.0 +/- 0.0 pg/mL). These results suggest that the decreased serum substance P levels are strongly associated with the use of haloperidol, as well as decreased swallowing reflexes. This suggests that serum substance P levels may be a useful predictive marker for the increased risk of developing aspiration, or subsequently aspiration pneumonia. Moreover, this increased incidence of aspiration may contribute to an increased mortality in patients following antipsychotic therapy. Risperidone, which has little influence on serum substance P productions, may be a more appropriate first-line drug of choice for treatment of schizophrenia.
Contrastive Bayesianism

Bayesianism provides a rich theoretical framework, which lends itself rather naturally to the explication of various “contrastive” and “non-contrastive” concepts. In this (brief) discussion, I will focus on issues involving “contrastivism”, as they arise in some of the recent philosophy of science, epistemology, and cognitive science literature surrounding Bayesian confirmation theory. 1. What is “Bayesianism”? I.J. Good [19] once estimated that there are 46,656 varieties of Bayesianism. He based his estimate on a number of “dimensions” along which different sorts of Bayesianism could be characterized. From the perspective of this volume, Good’s is probably an under-estimate, since he was talking mainly about applications of “Bayesianism” to problems involving statistical inference. In contemporary analytic philosophy, there are still further “dimensions” along which (many) additional “Bayesianisms” might be distinguished. What all “Bayesianisms” have in common is that they all make essential use of probability as their main theoretical tool. For the most part, disagreements among different kinds of “Bayesians” will involve differing interpretations of probability. There are many interpretations of probability in the philosophical universe (see [22] for an excellent survey). In this article, I will try to remain as neutral as possible on the various interpretive disputes that arise among the myriad of “Bayesians” one encounters in the philosophical literature. Of course, certain applications will most naturally be associated with certain kinds of “Bayesianism” (in contrast with others). But, I will not dwell on such differences, unless they are essential to the “contrastivist” character of the accounts in question. Because my focus will be rather narrow (I’ll be focusing on issues that arise in recent applications of Bayesian confirmation theory), I will be able to sidestep many (but, as we will see, not quite all) of these intramural interpretive disputes. 2. What is “Contrastivism”? This volume is about “contrastivism”. So, it is natural to wonder what distinguishes “contrastive” philosophical approaches or accounts from “non-contrastive” ones. I won’t attempt a demarcation. Indeed, I won’t even say very much (in any general way) about this distinction. Instead, I will try to illustrate how “contrastivist” thinking arises in some recent applications of “Bayesian” techniques. Date: 07/14/10. Draft: final version to appear in Contrastivism in Philosophy (M. Blaauw ed.).
The Differentiation and Protective Function of Cytolytic CD4 T Cells in Influenza Infection

CD4 T cells that recognize peptide antigen in the context of class II MHC can differentiate into various subsets that are characterized by their helper functions. However, increasing evidence indicates that CD4 cells with direct cytolytic activity (CD4 CTL) play a role in chronic as well as acute infections, such as influenza A virus (IAV) infection. In the last couple of decades, techniques to measure the frequency and activity of these cytolytic cells has demonstrated their abundance in infections, such as human immunodeficiency virus, mouse pox, murine gamma herpes virus, cytomegalovirus, Epstein–Barr virus, and influenza among others. We now appreciate a greater role for CD4 CTL as direct effectors in viral infections and antitumor immunity through their ability to acquire perforin-mediated cytolytic activity and contribution to lysis of virally infected targets or tumors. As early as the 1980s, CD4 T cell clones with cytolytic potential were identified after influenza virus infection, yet much of this early work was dependent on in vitro culture and little was known about the physiological relevance of CD4 CTL. Here, we discuss the direct role CD4 CTL play in protection against lethal IAV infection and the factors that drive the generation of perforin-mediated lytic activity in CD4 cells in vivo during IAV infection. While focusing on CD4 CTL generated during IAV infection, we pull comparisons from the literature in other antiviral and antitumor systems. Further, we highlight what is currently known about CD4 CTL secondary and memory responses, as well as vaccination strategies to induce these potent killer cells that provide an extra layer of cell-mediated immune protection against heterosubtypic IAV infection.
Who benefits from HEIs engagement? An analysis of priority stakeholders and activity profiles of HEIs in the United Kingdom

ABSTRACT It has been suggested that higher education institutions (HEIs) may develop different activity profiles (including research, teaching and socio-economic engagement) in their attempt to maximise the fit between institutional resources and strategic opportunities; the latter include strategies of engagement with different groups of external stakeholders. Understanding the extent to which HEIs’ resources and activity profiles are aligned with their strategic prioritisation of stakeholder groups allows us to better understand the different ways in which HEIs drive socio-economic development. Using non-parametric techniques – qualitative and quantitative ordinal multidimensional scaling – applied to data on the universe of HEIs in the United Kingdom, we show that HEIs with different institutional resources and undertaking different sets of activities prioritise their engagement with different stakeholder groups. We also confirm the complex associations between HEIs’ institutional resources, activity profiles and stakeholder prioritisation strategies, which lock HEIs into configurations that are difficult to change.
‘The Snowball of Emails We Deal With’: CCing in Multinational Companies

The ability to copy in relevant stakeholders has rendered the business email a useful tool for managing interpersonal relations and operational matters. However, CCing in business email has remained vastly underresearched in workplace discourse literature, a gap this article seeks to address. We explore the functions of CCing in workplace emails and the way formality is negotiated by writers in one organization. We draw on the analysis of email chains and discourse-based interviews and show that employees strategically project professional achievements and assume and deny responsibility for company decisions as they shift between the sender/receiver positions in the chain.
Therapists’ (and Their Therapists’) God Representations in Clinical Practice

Previous studies have focused on patients’ developmental conceptions of God, and how these dynamics are manifest in treatment with psychotherapists. The present study is the first to examine empirically this relationship the other way around: that therapists’ developmental antecedents of their own God representations can also have differential impact on their clinical work, perhaps especially so with patients who are themselves religious. Four hypotheses were examined: that anonymous therapists’ work with religious issues in therapy could be matched from either their developmental God representations (H1), or their experience with how religious issues were addressed in their own personal therapy (H2); and that pooling information from both variables would increase the number of matches significantly over either variable alone (H3, H4, p < .05 for all hypotheses). Three of the four hypotheses were confirmed. Data from the present study support the argument that when it comes to how therapists work with religious issues in therapy, even more important than their developmental construction of God as a psychological representation is their experience with how religious issues were handled in their own personal therapy. I offer seven points for future research, along with implications for graduate training programs that seek to equip students to work with religious issues in therapy.
Phonetic Ambiguity : Approaches, Touchstones, Pitfalls and New Approaches

Phonetic ambiguity and confusibility are bugbears for any form of bottom-up or data-driven approach to language processing. The question of when an input is ``close enough'' to a target word pervades the entire problem spaces of speech recognition, synthesis, language acquisition, speech compression, and language representation, but the variety of representations that have been applied are demonstrably inadequate to at least some aspects of the problem. This paper reviews this inadequacy by examining several touchstone models in phonetic ambiguity and relating them to the problems they were designed to solve. An good solution would be, among other things, efficient, accurate, precise, and universally applicable to representation of words, ideally usable as a ``phonetic distance'' metric for direct measurement of the ``distance'' between word or utterance pairs. None of the proposed models can provide a complete solution to the problem; in general, there is no algorithmic theory of phonetic distance. It is unclear whether this is a weakness of our representational technology or a more fundamental difficulty with the problem statement.
Neoliberal ideology in work and organizational psychology

ABSTRACT This paper explores the role of neoliberal ideology in workplace practices and in work and organizational psychology (WOP) research. It analyses how neoliberal ideology manifests in these two domains by using a prominent framework from the field of political theory to understand ideology through three different logics: political, social and fantasmatic logics. We explore the main neoliberal assumptions underlying existing practices in the workplace as well as in WOP research, how individuals are gripped by such practices, and how the status quo is maintained. The paper analyses how individuals in the contemporary workplace are henceforth influenced by neoliberalism, and how this is reflected in the practices and dominant paradigms within WOP. In particular, we focus on three ways neoliberalism affects workplaces and individual experiences of the workplace: through instrumentality, individualism and competition. The paper finishes with practical recommendations for researchers and practitioners alike on how to devote more attention to the, often implicit, role of neoliberal ideology in their work and research. The discussion elaborates on how alternative paradigms in the workplace can be developed which address the downsides of neoliberalism.
A Study on Ego-resilience, Disaster Experience and Core Competencies among Emergency Room Nurses

Purpose: The study was aimed to describe the relationships between ego-resilience, disaster experience, and core competencies among emergency room (ER) nurses. Methods: Data were collected from ER nurses in Incheon and Kyunggi province from May to June 2014. Data were analyzed with descriptive study, t-test, ANOVA, and Pearson’s correlation coefficient using SPSS/WIN 18.0 version. Results: Male respondents showed significantly higher ego-resilience than female respondents (t=-2.04, p=.043), and education (F=4.96, p=.002) and position (F=7.70, p=.001) were statistically significant. The differences in disaster experience was found in gender (t=-2.29, p=.023), age (F=4.25, p=.006), marital status (t=-2.02, p=.045), education (F=6.34, p<.001), religion (F=3.69, p=.015), and position (F=3.55, p=.031). Regarding core competencies for disaster nursing, age (F=7.80, p<.001), marital status (t=-3.00, p=.001), education (F=16.53, p<.001), career (F=5.40, p<.001), position (F=12.52, p<.001) were significantly different. Positive associations were found between core competencies for disaster nursing and ego-resilience (r=.66, p<.001), disaster experience and core competencies for disaster nursing (r=.52, p<.001), and disaster experience and ego-resilience (r=.33, p<.001). Conclusion: Core competencies were higher among ER nurses when they have higher ego-resilience, and more disaster experience. This finding suggests the need for improving ego-resilience among ER nurses. In addition, disaster education needs to be considered as a part of core nursing curriculum in college and clinical settings.