Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A Tour of Hybrid A Language for Programming with Active Objects

Object-oriented programming is a powerful paradigm for organizing software into reusable components. There have been several attempts to adapt and extend this paradigm to the programming of concurrent and distributed applications. Hybrid is a language whose design attempts to retain multiple inheritance, genericity and strong-typing, and incorporate a notion of active objects. Objects in Hybrid are potentially active entities that communicate with one another through a messagepassing protocol loosely based on remote procedure calls. Non-blocking calls and delay queues are the two basic mechanisms for interleaving and scheduling activities. A prototype implementation of a compiler and run-time system for Hybrid have been completed. We shall review aspects of the language design and attempt to evaluate its shortcomings. W e conclude with a list of requirements that we pose as a challenge for the design of future concurrent object-oriented languages.
Levels of pentraxin-3 in gingival crevicular fluid and plasma in periodontal health and disease.

BACKGROUND Pentraxins are classic mediators of inflammation and markers of acute-phase reactions. Pentraxin-3 (PTX3) is the first-identified long pentraxin and is believed to be a true independent indicator of disease activity. Although a classic pentraxin, C-reactive protein, and its association with various systemic diseases is well documented in the periodontal literature, there is no data on PTX3 to our knowledge. METHODS Forty participants (20 males and 20 females; age range: 23 to 50 years) were involved in the study. Participants were divided into three groups based on gingival index, probing depth, and clinical attachment level: the healthy group (group 1; n = 10), gingivitis group (group 2; n = 15), and periodontitis group (group 3; n = 15). Gingival crevicular fluid (GCF) and plasma samples collected from each subject were quantified for PTX3 levels using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. RESULTS In tandem with the disease progression from healthy to gingivitis to periodontitis, the mean PTX3 concentrations increased in GCF and plasma. However, GCF values were higher than plasma values. It was found that PTX3 concentration was highest in group 3 and lowest in group 1. PTX3 concentrations also correlated positively with periodontal parameters. CONCLUSIONS GCF and plasma PTX3 concentrations correlated positively in all groups. However, within the limits of the present study, the differences in plasma PTX3 levels were not found to be statistically significant. Hence, GCF PTX3 values were considered a marker of inflammatory activity in periodontal disease. However, PTX3 deserves further consideration as a therapeutic target. Additional large-scale studies should be carried out to confirm positive correlations.
Assessment of Mandibular Alveolar Bone Density in Osteoporotic Adults in Syria

Objectives: Many studies indicated that reduction of skeletal bone mineral density (BMD) may lead to loss of the mandibular alveolar bone mass (MABM). Since osteoporosis is characterized with low bone mineral density, it may affect both maxilla and mandible. This study aims to evaluate the correlation between mandibular alveolar bone density (MABD) and bone mineral density (BMD), and to assess the use of intra-oral periapical radiographs in osteoporosis detection. Methods: Participants were patients attending periodontal clinic, Dentistry School, Damascus University then referred to the bone density unit at Al-Mowassat teaching hospital in Damascus to receive DEXA. Dual X-ray absorptiometry (DEXA) was done on Lumbar spine vertebrae (L2-L4) and femoral neck for each participant. They were classified into three groups: osteoporotic, osteopenic and normal (control) subjects. A periapical radiograph was taken for each participant using a standardized paralleling technique with an aluminum step wedge. MABD was measured using computerized software (Digora) to calculate MABD. Results: the number of the participants was 169 individuals (age= 42± 5.3 years), they were assigned as follows (Osteopenic 57, Osteoporotic 52, control 60). A significant positive correlation between MABD and BMD was found in osteoporotic group (R = 0.527 & p < 0.01). Also there were significant differences of MABD between osteoporotic group versus both osteopenic and normal groups . Conclusions: Mandible can be affected by osteoporosis. Intra-oral periapical radiographs using aluminum step wedge is considered one of the important and useful techniques for the detection of osteoporosis
Heads-up 3D Microscopy: An Ergonomic and Educational Approach to Microsurgery

Summary: Traditional microsurgery can lead surgeons to use postures that cause musculoskeletal fatigue, leaving them more prone to work-related injuries. A new technology from TrueVision transmits the microscopic image onto a 3-dimensional (3D) monitor, allowing surgeons to operate while sitting/standing in a heads-up position. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the feasibility of performing heads-up 3D microscopy as a more ergonomic alternative to traditional microsurgery. A feasibility study was conducted comparing heads-up 3D microscopy and traditional microscopy by performing femoral artery anastomoses on 8 Sprague-Dawley rats. Operative times and patency rates for each technology were compared. The 8 microsurgeons completed a questionnaire comparing image quality, comfort, technical feasibility, and educational value of the 2 technologies. Rat femoral artery anastomoses were successfully carried out by all 8 microsurgeons with each technology. There was no significant difference in anastomosis time between heads-up 3D and traditional microscopy (average times, 34.5 and 33.8 minutes, respectively; P = 0.66). Heads-up 3D microscopy was rated superior in neck and back comfort by 75% of participants. Image resolution, field of view, and technical feasibility were found to be superior or equivalent in 75% of participants, whereas 63% evaluated depth perception to be superior or equivalent. Heads-up 3D microscopy is a new technology that improves comfort for the microsurgeon without compromising image quality or technical feasibility. Its use has become prevalent in the field of ophthalmology and may also have utility in plastic and reconstructive surgery.
Boosting the Concordance Index for Survival Data – A Unified Framework To Derive and Evaluate Biomarker Combinations

The development of molecular signatures for the prediction of time-to-event outcomes is a methodologically challenging task in bioinformatics and biostatistics. Although there are numerous approaches for the derivation of marker combinations and their evaluation, the underlying methodology often suffers from the problem that different optimization criteria are mixed during the feature selection, estimation and evaluation steps. This might result in marker combinations that are suboptimal regarding the evaluation criterion of interest. To address this issue, we propose a unified framework to derive and evaluate biomarker combinations. Our approach is based on the concordance index for time-to-event data, which is a non-parametric measure to quantify the discriminatory power of a prediction rule. Specifically, we propose a gradient boosting algorithm that results in linear biomarker combinations that are optimal with respect to a smoothed version of the concordance index. We investigate the performance of our algorithm in a large-scale simulation study and in two molecular data sets for the prediction of survival in breast cancer patients. Our numerical results show that the new approach is not only methodologically sound but can also lead to a higher discriminatory power than traditional approaches for the derivation of gene signatures.
Elevated tricuspid regurgitation velocity and decline in exercise capacity over 22 months of follow up in children and adolescents with sickle cell anemia

Background While in adults with sickle cell disease an elevation of tricuspid regurgitation velocity is associated with increased mortality, the importance of this finding in children has not been established. The role of intravascular hemolysis in the development of this complication is controversial. Design and Methods We conducted a prospective, longitudinal, multi-center study of 160 individuals aged 3–20 years with hemoglobin SS, performing baseline and follow-up determinations of clinical markers, six-minute walk distance less than tricuspid regurgitation velocity and E/Etdi ratio by echocardiography. Results At baseline, 14.1% had tricuspid regurgitation velocity of 2.60 m/sec or over, which suggests elevated systolic pulmonary artery pressure, and 7.7% had increased E/Etdi, which suggests elevated left ventricular filling pressure. Over a median of 22 months, baseline elevation in tricuspid regurgitation velocity was associated with an estimated 4.4-fold increase in the odds of a 10% or more decline in age-standardized six-minute-walk distance (P=0.015). During this interval, baseline values above the median for a hemolytic component derived from four markers of hemolysis were associated with a 9.0-fold increase in the odds of the new onset of elevated tricuspid regurgitation velocity (P=0.008) and baseline E/Etdi elevation was associated with an estimated 6.1-fold increase in the odds (P=0.039). In pathway analysis, higher baseline hemolytic component and E/Etdi predicted elevated tricuspid regurgitation velocity at both baseline and follow up, and these elevations in turn predicted decline in six-minute-walk distance. Conclusions Further studies should define the long-term risks of elevated tricuspid regurgitation velocity in childhood and identify potential interventions to prevent increased pulmonary artery pressure and preserve function.
Differential Regulation of the Surface-Exposed and Secreted SslE Lipoprotein in Extraintestinal Pathogenic Escherichia coli

Extra-intestinal pathogenic Escherichia coli (ExPEC) are responsible for diverse infections including meningitis, sepsis and urinary tract infections. The alarming rise in anti-microbial resistance amongst ExPEC complicates treatment and has highlighted the need for alternative preventive measures. SslE is a lipoprotein secreted by a dedicated type II secretion system in E. coli that was first identified as a potential vaccine candidate using reverse genetics. Although the function and protective efficacy of SslE has been studied, the molecular mechanisms that regulate SslE expression remain to be fully elucidated. Here, we show that while the expression of SslE can be detected in E. coli culture supernatants, different strains express and secrete different amounts of SslE when grown under the same conditions. While the histone-like transcriptional regulator H-NS strongly represses sslE at ambient temperatures, the variation in SslE expression at human physiological temperature suggested a more complex mode of regulation. Using a genetic screen to identify novel regulators of sslE in the high SslE-expressing strain UTI89, we defined a new role for the nucleoid-associated regulator Fis and the ribosome-binding GTPase TypA as positive regulators of sslE transcription. We also showed that Fis-mediated enhancement of sslE transcription is dependent on a putative Fis-binding sequence located upstream of the -35 sequence in the core promoter element, and provide evidence to suggest that Fis may work in complex with H-NS to control SslE expression. Overall, this study has defined a new mechanism for sslE regulation and increases our understanding of this broadly conserved E. coli vaccine antigen.
Plexiform Malignant Peripheral Nerve Sheath Tumor of Infancy and Childhood

We present nine cases of an atypical cellular peripheral nerve sheath tumor, designated plexiform malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumor (MPNST) of infancy and childhood, occurring in five boys and four girls aged 50 days to 13 years (median, 1.5 years). The tumors were located in the lower extremities (five cases), upper extremities (three cases), and the orbital region (one case), and they ranged from 1.5 to 8 cm in size (median, 3 cm). Two lesions were congenital, and another was associated with a history of von Recklinghausen's disease. Follow-up, available in six cases, ranged from 6 months to 15 years (median, 51 months); four patients had local recurrences within 8 to 31 months after excision of the initial lesion, and one with an orbital tumor died of locally invasive disease within 6 months. Histologically, the initial lesions were characterized by a predominantly superficial location within the dermis and subcutis, with occasional extension into deeper soft tissues, had infiltrative or sharply demarcated margins, and resembled entangled or intertwined hypercellular nerve trunks, resulting in a plexiform appearance at low magnification. The nuclei were oval to serpentine with a vesicular chromatin pattern and small basophilic nucleoli; mitoses were seen in all cases and averaged from 1 to 18/10 high-power fields (hpf) (median, 4/10 hpf). Neither necrosis nor vascular invasion was seen. Features diagnostic of plexiform or cellular schwannoma, such as nuclear pleomorphism, An-toni B areas, thick-walled hyalinized blood vessels, and secondary degenerative features were lacking. Other than a prominent plexiform architecture, the lesions were indistinguishable from MPNST occurring in other sites in infants and children. Although none metastasized, the histologic similarity of plexiform MPNST to other childhood MPNST, its relatively high propensity for local recurrences, and its potential to behave in a locally aggressive manner indicate that it is best regarded as low-grade malignant. Overall, the behavior of plexiform MPNST is better than other MPNST in children, probably because of its relatively small size, peripheral and superficial location in most instances, absence of necrosis or vascular invasion, occurrence in young patients, and infrequent association with von Recklinghausen's disease rather than a function of its prominent plexiform architecture. Distinction of plexiform MPNST from cellular and plexiform schwannoma, plexiform neurofibroma, and hamartomatous lesions of childhood is important. Complete excision should be ensured to prevent local recurrences and potential metastases.
Feature Selection for Ridge Regression with Provable Guarantees

We introduce single-set spectral sparsification as a deterministic sampling–based feature selection technique for regularized least-squares classification, which is the classification analog to ridge regression. The method is unsupervised and gives worst-case guarantees of the generalization power of the classification function after feature selection with respect to the classification function obtained using all features. We also introduce leverage-score sampling as an unsupervised randomized feature selection method for ridge regression. We provide risk bounds for both single-set spectral sparsification and leverage-score sampling on ridge regression in the fixed design setting and show that the risk in the sampled space is comparable to the risk in the full-feature space. We perform experiments on synthetic and real-world data sets; a subset of TechTC-300 data sets, to support our theory. Experimental results indicate that the proposed methods perform better than the existing feature selection methods.
Lightpath rerouting in wavelength-routed WDM networks

Rerouting is a viable and cost-effective approach to decrease the blocking probability in legacy circuit-switched networks. We study lightpath rerouting in optical WDM networks in this paper. First, we investigate two different lightpath-rerouting strategies, namely, passive rerouting and intentional rerouting. Passive rerouting means the rerouting of existing lightpaths to accommodate new lightpath requests that will otherwise be blocked. Intentional rerouting is intentionally rerouting existing lightpaths during their life period to achieve better load balancing. Second, we investigate the hybrid rerouting scheme, which combines passive rerouting and intentional rerouting. Through extensive simulation studies, we draw the following conclusions: (1) when there is wavelength conversion, passive rerouting works much better than intentional rerouting, and hybrid rerouting can only improve the performance over passive rerouting slightly, and (2) when there is no wavelength conversion, a naive-wavelength-retuning algorithm can achieve the most benefit of passive rerouting, whereas path adjusting does not help any further; however, the hybrid rerouting scheme can improve the blocking performance significantly.
Microtubule-interfering Agents Stimulate the Transcription of Cyclooxygenase-2

We investigated whether microtubule-interfering agents (MIAs: taxol, colchicine, nocodazole, vinblastine, vincristine, 17-β-estradiol, 2-methoxyestradiol) altered cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) expression in human mammary epithelial cells. MIAs enhanced prostaglandin E2 synthesis and increased levels of COX-2 protein and mRNA. Nuclear run-off assays revealed increased rates of COX-2 transcription after treatment with MIAs. Calphostin C, an inhibitor of protein kinase C, blocked the induction of COX-2 by MIAs. The stimulation of COX-2 promoter activity by MIAs was inhibited by overexpressing dominant negative forms of Rho and Raf-1. MIAs stimulated ERK, JNK, and p38 mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPK); pharmacological inhibitors of MAPK kinase and p38 MAPK blocked the induction of COX-2 by MIAs. Overexpressing dominant negative forms of ERK1 or p38 MAPK inhibited MIA-mediated activation of the COX-2 promoter. MIAs stimulated the binding of the activator protein-1 transcription factor complex to the cyclic AMP response element in the COX-2promoter. A dominant negative form of c-Jun inhibited the activation of the COX-2 promoter by MIAs. Additionally, cytochalasin D, an agent that inhibits actin polymerization, stimulatedCOX-2 transcription by the same signaling pathway as MIAs. Thus, microtubule- or actin-interfering agents stimulated MAPK signaling and activator protein-1 activity. This led, in turn, to induction of COX-2 gene expression via the cyclic AMP response element site in the COX-2 promoter.
Flipping the Foreign Language Classroom and Critical Pedagogies

Since the foundation of the Khan Academy (2006), a great deal of attention has been generated to the term flipped classrooms (also known as reverse or backwards classrooms), which is a (new) pedagogical movement that reverses the traditional paradigm of class lecture and homework. This approach subordinates teacher-centred lectures to a secondary level of importance and proposes that lectures should be carried outside of class time in the form of screencasts/video recordings that students can watch at home. As a consequence, this newly freed class time can be used for discussion, questions and assisting students with meaningful practice and hands-on activities. This article first defines what a flipped foreign language (FL) classroom is, and what it is not. The discussion then moves to the fundamental tenets of critical pedagogy (following Vygotsky and Freire), namely: (a) the opposition between banking education and problem-posing education, (b) scaffolding and the zone of proximal development (ZPD) and (c) accountability of the student’s own learning. It is argued that flipped classrooms and problem-posing models of education are in fact two sides of the same coin. Then, the author addresses some of the most common concerns among FL instructors regarding the flip and proposes possible solutions. Finally, the limitations are discussed.
Teacher–Child Interactions and the Development of Executive Function in Preschool-Age Children Attending Head Start

ABSTRACT Research Findings: The purpose of this study was to examine the potential contribution of teacher–child interactions to residualized Inhibitory Control (IC) gains over approximately a six-month period for preschoolers from predominantly low-income households. The study also explored whether the association between quality of teacher–child interactions and IC gains depends on children’s IC skills upon classroom entry and their household income-to-needs ratio. The study included 169 preschoolers from 51 classrooms in a Head Start program run by an agency in a large city in Oklahoma. Children’s IC skills were assessed in fall (time 1) and spring (time 2), and teacher–child interaction quality was observed at fall (i.e., September through November). Results from Hierarchical Linear Modeling (HLM) did not show significant effects of high-quality teacher–child interactions on residualized IC gains over six months. However, results showed that children who initially presented poor IC skills displayed higher gains in their IC skills at spring when they were in classrooms practicing high-quality teacher–child interactions, as defined by emotional support and classroom organization. Practice or Policy: Emotionally supportive and well-organized classrooms in Head Start programs may benefit early IC development, especially for children presenting poor IC skills at classroom entry.
Penta-EF-Hand Protein Peflin Is a Negative Regulator of ER-To-Golgi Transport

Luminal calcium regulates vesicle transport early in the secretory pathway. In ER-to-Golgi transport, depletion of luminal calcium leads to significantly reduced transport and a buildup of budding and newly budded COPII vesicles and vesicle proteins. Effects of luminal calcium on transport may be mediated by cytoplasmic calcium sensors near ER exits sites (ERES). The penta-EF-hand (PEF) protein apoptosis-linked gene 2 (ALG-2) stabilizes sec31A at ER exit sites (ERES) and promotes the assembly of inner and outer shell COPII components. However, in vitro and intact cell approaches have not determined whether ALG-2 is a negative or positive regulator, or a regulator at all, under basal physiological conditions. ALG-2 interacts with another PEF protein, peflin, to form cytosolic heterodimers that dissociate in response to calcium. However, a biological function for peflin has not been demonstrated and whether peflin and the ALG-2/peflin interaction modulates transport has not been investigated. Using an intact, single cell, morphological assay for ER-to-Golgi transport in normal rat kidney (NRK) cells, we found that depletion of peflin using siRNA resulted in significantly faster transport of the membrane cargo VSV-G. Double depletion of peflin and ALG-2 blocked the increased transport resulting from peflin depletion, demonstrating a role for ALG-2 in the increased transport. Furthermore, peflin depletion caused increased targeting of ALG-2 to ERES and increased ALG-2/sec31A interactions, suggesting that peflin may normally inhibit transport by preventing ALG-2/sec31A interactions. This work identifies for the first time a clear steady state role for a PEF protein in ER-to-Golgi transport—peflin is a negative regulator of transport.
Determinants of Performance in Customer Relationship Management &#8212; Assessing the Technology Usage-Performance Link

The management of customer relationships has become a top priority for companies in the last years. Despite this, little is known about the factors of successful CRM implementations and the role of information technology in this context. This study provides three models for the explanation of CRM performance separated according to the customer lifecycle phases initiation, maintenance, and retention. We analyze the relationship between CRM technology, CRM technology usage and CRM performance. In addition, we identify the drivers that affect implementation success for each phase the most.