Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Magnetic resonance imaging of human endothelial progenitors reveals opposite effects on vascular and muscle regeneration into ischaemic tissues.

AIMS The assessment of progenitor cell survival and efficacy after transplantation is one of the major challenges in cardiovascular cell therapy. Translation of currently used imaging techniques to patients is not immediate. Possible options include iron oxide particle loading into cells to be tracked using magnetic resonance (MR) and by MR-based water diffusion anisotropy analysis. The aim of the present study was to assess, using these techniques, the localization and survival of human 'early' endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) and their effects on vascular and skeletal muscle regeneration in a mouse model of hind limb ischaemia. METHODS AND RESULTS A paramagnetic iron oxide particle loading protocol of human peripheral blood-derived early EPCs was devised. The iron+ EPCs maintained their phenotype and in vitro functional activity. In addition, the presence of iron+ cells was observed by MR until 7 days after injection into a pharmacologically immunosuppressed mouse model of hind limb ischaemia. Immunohistochemistry with human major histocompatibility complex antibodies revealed the absence of human cells at 7 days post-ischaemia. EPC death was confirmed by staining of iron+ cells with an anti-mouse CD68 antibody and by qPCR performed on DNA extracted from injected ischaemic limbs, at different times following injection. Surprisingly, early EPC injection enhanced arteriogenesis but caused a significant increase in ischaemic tissue inflammation and a retarded muscle regeneration, as evidenced by water diffusion anisotropy analysis and histology. CONCLUSION In line with recent reports, our results show that the use of iron-based contrast agents does not allow detection of long-term EPC engraftment into ischaemic tissues. They further show that early EPCs exert a potent arteriogenic effect on ischaemic tissues that is not dependent on their prolonged survival. Unexpectedly, injection of these cells elicited a long-term inflammatory response that reflected a delayed muscle healing process.
Skin hydration in postmenopausal women: argan oil benefit with oral and/or topical use

The aim of this study The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of daily consumption and/or application of argan oil on skin hydration in postmenopausal women. Material and methods Sixty postmenopausal women consumed butter during the stabilization period and were randomly divided into two groups for the intervention period: the treatment group absorbed alimentary argan oil (n = 30) and the control group olive oil (n = 30). Both groups applied cosmetic argan oil in the left volar forearm during a sixty days’ period. Evaluation of skin hydration, i.e. transepidermal water loss (TEWL) and water content of the epidermis (WCE) on both volar forearms of the two groups, were performed during three visits at D0, D30 and after sixty days (D60) of oils treatment. Results The consumption of argan oil has led to a significant decrease in TEWL (p = 0.023) and a significant increase in WCE (p = 0.001). The application of argan oil has led to a significant decrease in TEWL (p = 0.01) and a significant increase in WCE (p < 0.001). Conclusions Our findings suggest that the daily consumption and application of argan oil have improved the skin hydration by restoring the barrier function and maintaining the water-holding capacity.
Code Reordering of Decision Support Systems for optimizedInstruction

Instruction fetch bandwidth is feared to be a major limiting factor to the performance of future wide-issue aggressive superscalars. Consequently, it is crucial to develop techniques to increase the number of useful instructions per cycle provided to the processor. Unfortunately, most of the past work in this area has largely focused on engineering workloads, rather than on the more challenging, badly-behaved popular commercial workloads. In this paper, we focus on Database applications running Decision Support workloads. We characterize the locality patterns of database kernel code and nd frequently executed paths. Using this information, we propose an algorithm to lay out the basic blocks of the database kernel for improved I-fetch. Finally, we evaluate the scheme via simulations. Our results show a miss reduction of 60-98% for realistic I-cache sizes and a doubling of the number of instructions executed between taken branches. As a consequence we increase the fetch bandwith provided by an aggressive sequential fetch unit from 5.8 for the original code to 10.6 using our proposed layout. Our software scheme combines well with hardware schemes like a Trace Cache providing up to 12.1 instruction per cycle, suggesting that commercial workloads may be amenable to the aggressive I-fetch of future superscalars.
Pediatric Oncology Palliative Care: Experiences of General Practitioners and Bereaved Parents

Objective This qualitative study set in the West Midlands region of the United Kingdom, aimed to examine the role of the general practitioner (GP) in children’s oncology palliative care from the perspective of GPs who had cared for a child with cancer receiving palliative care at home and bereaved parents. Methods One-to-one semi-structured interviews were undertaken with 18 GPs and 11 bereaved parents following the death. A grounded theory data analysis was undertaken; identifying generated themes through chronological comparative data analysis. Results Similarity in GP and parent viewpoints was found, the GPs role seen as one of providing medication and support. Time pressures GPs faced influenced their level of engagement with the family during palliative and bereavement care and their ability to address their identified learning deficits. Lack of familiarity with the family, coupled with an acknowledgment that it was a rare and could be a frightening experience, also influenced their level of interaction. There was no consistency in GP practice nor evidence of practice being guided by local or national policies. Parents lack of clarity of their GPs role resulted in missed opportunities for support. Conclusions Time pressures influence GP working practices. Enhanced communication and collaboration between the GP and regional childhood cancer centre may help address identified GP challenges, such as learning deficits, and promote more time-efficient working practices through role clarity. Parents need greater awareness of their GP’s wide-ranging role; one that transcends palliative care incorporating bereavement support and on-going medical care for family members
A Blended Learning Exercise using a Computer Game based on Abstract Learning Materials

We use routing in computer networks as an experiment to determine the viability of using a computer game specifically designed to incorporate abstract learning materials as part of a blended learning environment. Routing is the process of determining a data packet's path trough a network. The students participating in the experiment play a short computer game where the word is a network modelled as a labyrinth. The conclusion we draw from the experiment is that overall the students felt that they learned just as much from this as from a traditional lecture/lab, but that they enjoyed this more. The learning environment is created with no game elements other than those that are necessary to solve the quests given to the students during the game. The game can be run both as single and multi-player. We arranged a competition for the students during this experiment, and ran it as a multi-player game. This prototype was created as part of a greater experiment investigating the success of placing learning material in gaming environments. As well as considering the value of the prototype in supporting a blended learning exercise, the experiment was used to help determine whether removing all explicit game playing activities not directly linked to the learning material still makes it possible to create a game that can be engaging for the students. As part of the experimental model the students are asked whether they feel playing the game improves their knowledge, if they enjoy this form of learning, and if they find it useful.
Passing and goal scoring characteristics in Australian A-League football

Abstract The aim of this study was to analyse passing sequences, shots and goals in elite Australian football (soccer). Using a computerised video analysis system (Sportsdata Pty Ltd©), notated data relating to the number of passes per possession were collected from 84 A-League matches. A total of 36,297 possessions were analysed, resulting in 220 goals. The results indicate that a higher proportion of goals were scored from longer passing sequences (five or more passes), producing an average of 13 goals per 1000 possessions compared to 6 goals per 1000 possessions from shorter passing sequences (four or less passes). Notably, 46% of team possessions were zero length passing possessions compared to approximately 25% reported in existing literature. In order to improve team possession and goal scoring efficiency, it is recommended that A-League coaches implement programmes designed to enhance individual skills and develop effective team strategies.
Seed size, growth rate and gap microsite conditions as determinants of recruitment success for pioneer species

1 We examined how seed size and seedling growth rate influence recruitment success of neotropical pioneer species. We investigated the soil seed bank, and followed seedlings from emergence and establishment to the sapling stage in artificially created gaps in secondary forest on the Barro Colorado Nature Monument, Panamá. 2 To simulate microsite variation within gaps, litter addition/removal and soil disturbance treatments were applied to seedling plots in a factorial design. 3 Seedling emergence was almost three‐fold higher in litter‐free plots than in control plots. 4 We found a negative relationship between seed mass and seed abundance in the soil, seed mass was positively correlated with seedling emergence success from the seed bank and with seedling survival through to the end of the first dry season. 5 In the 18 months following the first dry season we observed an uncoupling of seed mass from seedling performance. Seedling mortality was now a function of maximum relative growth rate, with higher mortality of fast‐growing species attributable to herbivory, notably by shoot‐borers. 6 We propose that a seed size‐dependent trade‐off between dispersal success (selecting for large seed number), and emergence–establishment success (selecting for large seed size) can explain the maintenance of wide variation in seed size among pioneer species. Secondarily, a trade‐off between growth rate and susceptibility to herbivores acting at the post‐establishment phase may contribute to observed differences in light requirements among pioneer species.
Consumer perceptions and attitudes towards SMS advertising: recent evidence from New Zealand

Advertising creatives are often characterised in terms of stereotypes such as genius or maverick. Relatively few studies have focused on the complexities and contradictions that face creatives in their professional role. In this paper we draw on depth interviews conducted with a small sample of senior-level creatives working in a cross-section of New York agency settings to explore the ways in which they negotiate and resolve their senses of personal and professional identity. We find that ad agencies are a site of conflict and insecurity for these creatives, yet also of potential fulfilment. We suggest that these creatives may be complicit in the conflict because their sense of professional identity has a substantial investment in it. We suggest that the advertising industry has not evolved working practices that fully assimilate those creatives who experience such dilemmas of identity.
Technology clusters exploration for patent portfolio through patent abstract analysis

This study explores technology clusters through patent analysis. The aim of exploring technology clusters is to grasp competitors’ levels of sustainable research and development (R&D) and establish a sustainable strategy for entering an industry. To achieve this, we first grouped the patent documents with similar technologies by applying affinity propagation (AP) clustering, which is effective while grouping large amounts of data. Next, in order to define the technology clusters, we adopted the term frequency-inverse document frequency (TF-IDF) weight, which lists the terms in order of importance. We collected the patent data of Korean electric car companies from the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) to verify our proposed methodology. As a result, our proposed methodology presents more detailed information on the Korean electric car industry than previous studies.
How Do the Skilled and the Unskilled Respond to Regional Shocks? The Case of Spain

Are there any differences in how workers of different skill levels respond to regional shocks? This paper addresses that question using the methodology of Blanchard and Katz (1992) and a unique data set on working-age population, labor force, and employment for five educational groups (ranging from the illiterate to the college-educated) over 1964-92 for the 50 Spanish provinces. The paper finds that the highly skilled migrate very promptly in response to a decline in regional labor demand, while low-skilled workers drop out of the labor force or stay unemployed.
Regulation of the Axillary Osmidrosis-Associated ABCC11 Protein Stability by N-Linked Glycosylation: Effect of Glucose Condition

ATP-binding cassette C11 (ABCC11) is a plasma membrane protein involved in the transport of a variety of lipophilic anions. ABCC11 wild-type is responsible for the high-secretion phenotypes in human apocrine glands, such as that of wet-type ear wax, and the risk of axillary osmidrosis. We have previously reported that mature ABCC11 is a glycoprotein containing two N-linked glycans at Asn838 and Asn844. However, little is known about the role of N-linked glycosylation in the regulation of ABCC11 protein. In the current study, we investigated the effects of N-linked glycosylation on the protein level and localization of ABCC11 using polarized Madin-Darby canine kidney II cells. When the N-linked glycosylation in ABCC11-expressing cells was chemically inhibited by tunicamycin treatment, the maturation of ABCC11 was suppressed and its protein level was significantly decreased. Immunoblotting analyses demonstrated that the protein level of the N-linked glycosylation-deficient mutant (N838Q and N844Q: Q838/844) was about half of the ABCC11 wild-type level. Further biochemical studies with the Q838/844 mutant showed that this glycosylation-deficient ABCC11 was degraded faster than wild-type probably due to the enhancement of the MG132-sensitive protein degradation pathway. Moreover, the incubation of ABCC11 wild-type-expressing cells in a low-glucose condition decreased mature, glycosylated ABCC11, compared with the high-glucose condition. On the other hand, the protein level of the Q838/844 mutant was not affected by glucose condition. These results suggest that N-linked glycosylation is important for the protein stability of ABCC11, and physiological alteration in glucose may affect the ABCC11 protein level and ABCC11-related phenotypes in humans, such as axillary osmidrosis.
Time in the experience of agency and emotion in English language learning in rural Vietnam

ABSTRACT While time and context have been found to have both synergistic and cumulative effects on language learners’ cognitive and socio-affective development, time itself remains under-conceptualised in those processes. Drawing on the Bakhtinian construct of chronotope Bakhtin [(1981). The Dialogic Imagination: Four Essays. Translated by Caryl Emerson and Michael Holquist. Austin: University of Texas Press], and Blommaert’s [(2015). “Chronotopes, Scales, and Complexity in the Study of Language in Society. ” Annual Review of Anthropology 44: 105–116. doi:10.1146/annurev-anthro-102214-014035] emphasis on its essential connection to historical and momentary agency, we analyse narrative accounts of three high school students learning English in rural Vietnam from a dialogical perspective. Specifically, we identify how different chronotopes are implied and expressed involving a range of settings, social actors, artefacts, actions and timescales as the students author themselves as English language learners. Importantly, we examine how these chronotopes function as frames in which time, settings, agency and emotion are entwined, assuming different significance and generating meanings which can merge, collide and conflict with other chronotopes. We reveal how chronotopes are implicated in the ways in which learners construct their agency at specific moments within particular settings, and argue that emotion is a central component in those processes. To conclude, we suggest that the construct of chronotope is a valuable tool for developing more complex, fine-grained understandings of how students construct meaning within and across multiple time-space configurations as they author their lifeworlds.
Why Do Contracts Differ between VC Types? Market Segmentation Versus Corporate Governance Varieties

The main objective of the present paper is to disentangle observed differences in the design of contracts across VC types into firm selection effects and corporate governance differences between VC types (different contracts). Based on a theoretical approach developed in the first part of the paper, we investigate in the second part these issues empirically by using a unique, hand-collected German data set consisting of all contractual details of VC investments into 290 entrepreneurial firms in the period 1990-2004. By employing various matching procedures, we show that VC types differ in both firm choice and corporate governance approach.
The mesencephalic locomotor region sends a bilateral glutamatergic drive to hindbrain reticulospinal neurons in a tetrapod

In vertebrates, stimulation of the mesencephalic locomotor region (MLR) on one side evokes symmetrical locomotor movements on both sides. How this occurs was previously examined in detail in a swimmer using body undulations (lamprey), but in tetrapods the downstream projections from the MLR to brainstem neurons are not fully understood. Here we examined the brainstem circuits from the MLR to identified reticulospinal neurons in the salamander Notophthalmus viridescens. Using neural tracing, we show that the MLR sends bilateral projections to the middle reticular nucleus (mRN, rostral hindbrain) and the inferior reticular nucleus (iRN, caudal hindbrain). Ca2+ imaging coupled to electrophysiology in in vitro isolated brains revealed very similar responses in reticulospinal neurons on both sides to a unilateral MLR stimulation. As the strength of MLR stimulation was increased, the responses increased in size in reticulospinal neurons of the mRN and iRN, but the responses in the iRN were smaller. Bath‐application or local microinjections of glutamatergic antagonists markedly reduced reticulospinal neuron responses, indicating that the MLR sends glutamatergic inputs to reticulospinal neurons. In addition, reticulospinal cells responded to glutamate microinjections and the size of the responses paralleled the amount of glutamate microinjected. Immunofluorescence coupled with anatomical tracing confirmed the presence of glutamatergic projections from the MLR to reticulospinal neurons. Overall, we show that the brainstem circuits activated by the MLR in the salamander are organized similarly to those previously described in lampreys, indicating that the anatomo‐physiological features of the locomotor drive are well conserved in vertebrates. J. Comp. Neurol. 524:1361–1383, 2016. © 2015 The Authors The Journal of Comparative Neurology Published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
The average distances in random graphs with given expected degrees

Random graph theory is used to examine the “small-world phenomenon”; any two strangers are connected through a short chain of mutual acquaintances. We will show that for certain families of random graphs with given expected degrees the average distance is almost surely of order log n/log d̃, where d̃ is the weighted average of the sum of squares of the expected degrees. Of particular interest are power law random graphs in which the number of vertices of degree k is proportional to 1/kβ for some fixed exponent β. For the case of β > 3, we prove that the average distance of the power law graphs is almost surely of order log n/log d̃. However, many Internet, social, and citation networks are power law graphs with exponents in the range 2 < β < 3 for which the power law random graphs have average distance almost surely of order log log n, but have diameter of order log n (provided having some mild constraints for the average distance and maximum degree). In particular, these graphs contain a dense subgraph, which we call the core, having nc/log log n vertices. Almost all vertices are within distance log log n of the core although there are vertices at distance log n from the core.
Stat6-Dependent Inhibition of Mincle Expression in Mouse and Human Antigen-Presenting Cells by the Th2 Cytokine IL-4

The C-type lectin receptors (CLRs) Mincle, Mcl, and Dectin-2 bind mycobacterial and fungal cell wall glycolipids and carbohydrates. Recently, we described that expression of these CLR is downregulated during differentiation of human monocytes to dendritic cells (DC) in the presence of GM-CSF and IL-4. Here, we demonstrate that the Th2 cytokine IL-4 specifically inhibits expression of Mincle, Mcl, and Dectin-2 in human antigen-presenting cells (APC). This inhibitory effect of IL-4 was observed across species, as murine macrophages and DC treated with IL-4 also downregulated these receptors. IL-4 blocked upregulation of Mincle and Mcl mRNA expression and cell surface protein by murine macrophages in response to the Mincle ligand Trehalose-6,6-dibehenate (TDB), whereas the TLR4 ligand LPS overcame inhibition by IL-4. Functionally, downregulation of Mincle expression by IL-4 was accompanied by reduced cytokine production upon stimulation with TDB. These inhibitory effects of IL-4 were dependent on the transcription factor Stat6. Together, our results show that the key Th2 cytokine IL-4 exerts a negative effect on the expression of Mincle and other Dectin-2 cluster CLR in mouse and human macrophages and DC, which may render these sentinel cells less vigilant for sensing mycobacterial and fungal ligands.
Relative sensitivity of life‐cycle and biomarker responses in four earthworm species exposed to zinc

Life‐cycle (survival, weight change, and cocoon production rate) and biomarker (neutral‐red retentionby coelomocytes lysosomes) responses to zinc in four earthworm species were measured in laboratory tests. In all species, dose‐dependent effects on survival, cocoon production, and neutral‐red retention times were found (one‐way ANOVA p < 0.05). However, for weight change, only Aporrectodea caliginosa showed a clear response. Comparisons of the effects of zinc on these parameters in the different earthworm species indicated similar order of sensitivity. Thus, Lumbricus rubellus and Aporrectodea caliginosa were more sensitive to zinc than Lumbricus terrestris and Eisenia fetida in all cases. To compare the relative sensitivities of life‐cycle and biomarker responses, a sublethal sensitivity index (SSI) was applied. For cocoon production, SSIs indicated that the EC10s were below LC50s by a factor of between 8.3 and 16.5. These values are toward the high end of the range found previously for soil invertebrates, indicating an emphasis on maximizing survival. For neutral red, SSIs ranged from 4.5 to 41.2. Thus, the biomarker was predictive of life‐cycle effects in some (Lumbricus rubellus and Aporrectodea caliginosa), although not the other two species tested.