Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Surfactant Protein A in Exhaled Endogenous Particles Is Decreased in Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) Patients: A Pilot Study

Background Exhaled, endogenous particles are formed from the epithelial lining fluid in small airways, where surfactant protein A (SP-A) plays an important role in pulmonary host defense. Based on the knowledge that chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) starts in the small airway epithelium, we hypothesized that chronic inflammation modulates peripheral exhaled particle SP-A and albumin levels. The main objective of this explorative study was to compare the SP-A and albumin contents in exhaled particles from patients with COPD and healthy subjects and to determine exhaled particle number concentrations. Methods Patients with stable COPD ranging from moderate to very severe (n = 13), and healthy non-smoking subjects (n = 12) were studied. Subjects performed repeated breath maneuvers allowing for airway closure and re-opening, and exhaled particles were optically counted and collected on a membrane using the novel PExA® instrument setup. Immunoassays were used to quantify SP-A and albumin. Results COPD patients exhibited significantly lower SP-A mass content of the exhaled particles (2.7 vs. 3.9 weight percent, p = 0.036) and lower particle number concentration (p<0.0001) than healthy subjects. Albumin mass contents were similar for both groups. Conclusions Decreased levels of SP-A may lead to impaired host defense functions of surfactant in the airways, contributing to increased susceptibility to COPD exacerbations. SP-A in exhaled particles from small airways may represent a promising non-invasive biomarker of disease in COPD patients.
Winning Conditions of Precarious Workers' Struggles: A Reflection Based on Case Studies from South Korea

In South Korea, many struggles of non-regular workers, who attempted to organize their unions and engage in militant action to protest against employers’ inhumane discrimination and illegal exclusion, have failed to achieve the desired outcomes, due to their vulnerable employment status and their lack of action resources. In this light, our study examines the conditions that lead to victory in precarious workers’ struggles, by focusing on three attributes: internal solidarity with regular workers, external solidarity from labour and civil society groups outside the workplace, and mobilized protest repertoires. Specifically, this study seeks to identify the configurations of these three conditions that produce successful outcomes in precarious workers’ struggles, in terms of bargaining gains and organizational sustainability. We do this by employing fs/QCA modelling to examine 30 major cases of non-regular worker struggles occurring over a 16-year period from 1998 to 2013.Our analysis presents the finding that the conditional configuration of strong external solidarity, strong internal solidarity, and fewer struggle repertoires constitutes a significant causal path to successful outcomes. This reaffirms the idea that strong solidarity bridging, whether with regular workers that have a different employment status in the segmented workplace, or with labour and civil society groups outside the workplace, is the crucial causal condition for precarious workers to achieve their desired outcomes from struggle. An unexpected finding, however, is that when precarious worker struggles mobilize fewer struggle repertoires, they are likely to achieve the successful outcomes of bargaining and organizational gains. Our study contributes to the theoretical elaboration of labour movement revitalization for the precariat class, by shedding light on the activism of precarious workers, considering that the English-language literature that pays attention to the active role of such atypical workers in staging protests against employers’ inhumane treatments and the neoliberal labour regime is limited.
Opinion Climates in Social Media: Blending Mass and Interpersonal Communication

Social media's capacity for users to generate, comment on, and forward content (including mass media messages) to other users has created new forms of mass interpersonal communication. These systems render observable processes underlying the formation of opinion climates. Five attributes of contemporary electronic opinion environments can alter the way users gauge, form, and express opinions on topics of public interest: the juxtaposition of mass media and user-generated content, ideological homogeneity and heterogeneity of online networks, technical ease with which to express opinions, the reach of messages, and networked audiences. These attributes facilitate analysis of theoretical and empirical works from different scholarly traditions, suggesting lines of inquiry that can enrich the analysis of (public) opinion formation via current communication technologies.
Dream Content and its Relationship to Trait Anxiety

Although numerous dream content findings support the view that dreams reflect the dreamer’s waking experiences, thoughts and concerns, research on the relation between dream content and various personality dimensions has yielded mixed results. The present study investigated the relationship between trait anxiety and everyday dream content in healthy women. Thirty adult women completed a standardized measure of trait anxiety and kept a home dream log for two to three weeks. A total of 502 dream reports were collected and scored on various content scales, including aggressive interactions, failures, misfortune, and dream report length. There was a significant positive correlation between trait anxiety and dream report length but no significant relationships were found between trait anxiety and any of the other dream content variables. These findings suggest that while higher levels of trait anxiety in women are associated with more detailed dream recall they do not significantly impact the actual content of everyday dreams. More refined measures of anxiety may be required, however, to better capture the multidimensional nature of anxiety and its potential relation to dream content.
Design of Targeted B Cell Killing Agents

B cells play an important role in the pathogenesis of both systemic and organ-specific autoimmune diseases. Autoreactive B cells not only produce autoantibodies, but also are capable to efficiently present specific autoantigens to T cells. Furthermore, B cells can secrete proinflammatory cytokines and amplify the vicious process of self-destruction. B cell-directed therapy is a potentially important approach for treatment of various autoimmune diseases. The depletion of B cells by anti-CD20/19 monoclonal antibody Retuximab® used in autoimmune diseases therapy leads to systemic side effects and should be significantly improved. In this study we designed a repertoire of genetically engineered B cell killers that specifically affected one kind of cells carrying a respective B cell receptor. We constructed immunotoxins (ITs), fused with c-myc epitope as a model targeting sequence, based on barnase, Pseudomonas toxin, Shiga-like toxin E.coli and Fc domain of human antibody IgGγ1. C-MYC hybridoma cell line producing anti-c-myc IgG was chosen as a model for targeted cell depletion. C-myc sequence fused with toxins provided addressed delivery of the toxic agent to the target cells. We demonstrated functional activity of designed ITs in vitro and showed recognition of the fusion molecules by antibodies produced by targeted hybridoma. To study specificity of the proposed B cells killing molecules, we tested a set of created ITs ex vivo, using C-MYC and irrelevant hybridoma cell lines. Pseudomonas-containing IT showed one of the highest cytotoxic effects on the model cells, however, possessed promiscuous specificity. Shiga-like toxin construct demonstrated mild both cytotoxicity and specificity. Barnase and Fc-containing ITs revealed excellent balance between their legibility and toxic properties. Moreover, barnase and Fc molecules fused with c-myc epitope were able to selectively deplete c-myc-specific B cells and decrease production of anti-c-myc antibodies in culture of native splenocytes, suggesting their highest therapeutic potential as targeted B cell killing agents.
FAKTOR-FAKTOR YANG MEMPENGARUHI PENERIMAAN DIRI PADA WANITA INFERTILITAS

Abstract This study aims to determine the factors that influence self-acceptance in women who experience infertility. This study uses a qualitative method approach to the case study technique. Characteristics among the study subjects had been married for at least three years, had never given birth, and there is no any proximity to the researchers. The data was collected using the methods of observation and interviews. Data were analyzed using qualitative data analysis with a technical examination of the validity of the data using the technique of triangulation. Triangulation is used in this study is the triangulation of data sources and methods. Triangulation of data sources that extract data from research subjects and significant others. Triangulation method to get the data by observation, interviews, and documentation. The study found that the two subjects in this study is able to accept yourself, but picture yourself acceptance in both different and influenced by different factors as well. At first the subject there are several internal factors that influence the acceptance of the subject, including an understanding of self, realistic expectations, the influence of success, the identification of the person who has a good adjustment, self-concept is stable. External factors that influence the acceptance of him as there are no obstacles in the environment, positive social attitudes, and parenting little future. On the subject of the second, it can be seen several internal factors that influence the acceptance of himself that is, an understanding of themselves, have realistic expectations, did not experience severe emotional disturbance, identification with a person who has a good adjustment, a broad perspective of self, and self-concept subjects stable. In addition, there are also external factors that affect selfacceptance on the subject that the two of them, good parenting in childhood, positive social attitudes, and there are no obstacles in the environment. The third external factor is equal to the external factors that affect self-acceptance on the subject first. Keywords: Self-Acceptance, Women, Infertility
Robust codebook-based downlink beamforming using mixed integer conic programming

This paper considers robust codebook-based downlink beamforming (i.e., single-layer precoding), where the beamformer of each user is chosen from a fixed beamformer codebook defined, e.g., in LTE and LTE-A. Admission control and power allocation are embedded in the precoding vector selection procedure. The objective is to maximize the system utility, defined as the revenue gained from admitting users minus the cost for the transmitted power of the base station. We adopt the quality-of-service constrained approach and the robustness against channel covariance estimation errors is realized with worst-case design. The robust codebook-based beamforming problem, which is a bi-level mixed integer program, is converted into a more tractable mixed integer second-order cone program. Techniques are proposed to customize the convex continuous relaxation based branch-and-cut algorithm to compute the optimal solutions. A low-complexity inflation procedure is also developed to compute the near-optimal solutions for practical applications. Numerical examples show that the gap between the average number of admitted users achieved by the fast inflation procedure and that of the optimal solutions is less than 11.6% for all considered simulation settings. Further, the inflation procedure yields optimal solutions in 88% of the Monte Carlo runs under specific parameter settings.
Valuation Ratios and the Long-Run Stock Market Outlook

The use of price–earnings ratios and dividend-price ratios as forecasting variables for the stock market is examined using aggregate annual US data 1871 to 2000 and aggregate quarterly data for twelve countries since 1970. Various simple efficient-markets models of financial markets imply that these ratios should be useful in forecasting future dividend growth, future earnings growth, or future productivity growth. We conclude that, overall, the ratios do poorly in forecasting any of these. Rather, the ratios appear to be useful primarily in forecasting future stock price changes, contrary to the simple efficient-markets models. This paper is an update of our earlier paper (1998), to take account of the remarkable behavior of the stock market in the closing years of the twentieth century.
Mineralogy, provenance, and diagenesis of a potassic basaltic sandstone on Mars: CheMin X‐ray diffraction of the Windjana sample (Kimberley area, Gale Crater)

The Windjana drill sample, a sandstone of the Dillinger member (Kimberley formation, Gale Crater, Mars), was analyzed by CheMin X‐ray diffraction (XRD) in the MSL Curiosity rover. From Rietveld refinements of its XRD pattern, Windjana contains the following: sanidine (21% weight, ~Or95); augite (20%); magnetite (12%); pigeonite; olivine; plagioclase; amorphous and smectitic material (~25%); and percent levels of others including ilmenite, fluorapatite, and bassanite. From mass balance on the Alpha Proton X‐ray Spectrometer (APXS) chemical analysis, the amorphous material is Fe rich with nearly no other cations—like ferrihydrite. The Windjana sample shows little alteration and was likely cemented by its magnetite and ferrihydrite. From ChemCam Laser‐Induced Breakdown Spectrometer (LIBS) chemical analyses, Windjana is representative of the Dillinger and Mount Remarkable members of the Kimberley formation. LIBS data suggest that the Kimberley sediments include at least three chemical components. The most K‐rich targets have 5.6% K2O, ~1.8 times that of Windjana, implying a sediment component with >40% sanidine, e.g., a trachyte. A second component is rich in mafic minerals, with little feldspar (like a shergottite). A third component is richer in plagioclase and in Na2O, and is likely to be basaltic. The K‐rich sediment component is consistent with APXS and ChemCam observations of K‐rich rocks elsewhere in Gale Crater. The source of this sediment component was likely volcanic. The presence of sediment from many igneous sources, in concert with Curiosity's identifications of other igneous materials (e.g., mugearite), implies that the northern rim of Gale Crater exposes a diverse igneous complex, at least as diverse as that found in similar‐age terranes on Earth.
A novel 3-D indoor ray-tracing propagation model: the path generator and evaluation of narrow-band and wide-band predictions

A novel three-dimensional (3-D) ray-tracing model capable of supporting detailed representation of the indoor environment, as well as external building structures, is presented in this paper. The developed algorithm uses a hybrid imaging technique where the two-dimensional (2-D) image generations in vertical and horizontal planes are combined to produce 3-D paths. It also employs the concept of "illumination zones" of the images which greatly simplifies the image map and allows the evaluation of complex indoor scenarios. In order to investigate the accuracy of the presented model, comparisons of predictions with narrow-band and wide-band measurements are performed in line-of-sight (LOS), non-LOS (NLOS), and deep shadow areas, both for co- and cross-polarized antennas. The analysis shows that accurate power predictions can be achieved for both antenna polarizations with rms errors less than 7 dB, even when long sections of the test route are in deep shadow areas. There is a trend agreement between the simulated and measured channel impulse responses, while the rms delay spread in NLOS areas is predicted with less than 5-ns rms error (or better than 13% normalized mean error). The paper provides an insight into the real and the modeled radio channel.
Pathways to Well-Being During the Cultural Transition Process: The Daily Experiences of Chinese International Students

PATHWAYS TO WELL-BEING DURING THE CULTURAL TRANSITION PROCESS: THE DAILY EXPERIENCES OF CHINESE INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS By Ivan Wu The current study aims to increase knowledge and awareness of first-year Chinese international students’ daily experiences of stress, coping, and psychological well-being. More specifically, the current study seeks to (1) gather data about the daily experiences of stress among Chinese international students at Michigan State University (MSU), (2) examine how appraisals of stress and coping affect their psychological well-being, and (3) investigate how trait mindfulness promotes their psychological well-being by influencing appraisals of stress and coping. Research suggests that the cultural adjustment process can be particularly isolating and stressful experience for international students that hail from countries that are dissimilar to the U.S. (e.g., those from eastern cultures, such as China, compared to those from similar cultures, such as England). Despite the dramatic increase in Chinese international students at MSU and similar institutions, empirical information regarding Chinese international student experiences and needs is sparse, which hinders efforts to provide culturally sensitive and appropriate mental health counseling and student programming. Grounded in stress and coping theory (e.g., Berry, Kim, Minde, & Mok, 1987; Lazarus & Folkman, 1984), the current study examines how perceived stress and coping strategies relate to psychological well-being. Specifically, the role of emotionand problem-focused coping strategies was assessed. Building upon existing literature that underscores the psychological benefits of trait mindfulness, the current study also examine how trait mindfulness influences perceived stress, coping, and psychological well-being. Towards these goals, 30 Chinese international students from MSU completed an online survey on mindfulness, and psychological well-being, and then engage in a two-week daily diary about their experiences of stress and coping as well as their daily affect. A mixed methods approach was used to analyze the qualitative and quantitative data gathered from the study. Specifically, thematic analysis was used to analyze qualitative data in order to reveal themes related to reported stressors. Additionally, multilevel structural equation modeling (MSEM) was used to test hypotheses related to stress, coping, trait mindfulness, and psychological well-being in a cross-cultural context.
Rehberlik ve Psikolojik Danışmanlık Bölümü Öğrencilerinin Algılanan Sosyal Destek Düzeylerinin ve İletişim Becerilerinin İncelenmesi

Calismanin amaci, egitim fakultesinde ogrenim goren RPD ogrencilerinin cok boyutlu sosyal destek algilari ile iletisim beceri duzeylerinin incelenmesidir. Iliskisel tarama seklinde planlanan arastirmanin orneklemini, KKTC’de ozel bir universitede Rehberlik ve Psikolojik Danismanlik (RPD) bolumunde ogrenim goren 310 (163 kadin, 147 erkek) ogrenci olusturmustur. Katilimcilarin %48,4’u 1. Sinif, %51,6’si 4. Sinifta egitim goren ogrencilerdir. Her bir katilimciya sosyal destek algisinin olculebilmesi amaciyla Eker ve Arkar’in (1995) Turkceye uyarladiklari “Cok Boyutlu Algilanan Sosyal Destek Olcegi”, bireylerin iletisim becerilerinin degerlendirilebilmesi icin Ersanli ve Balci (1998) tarafindan gelistirilen “Iletisim Becerileri Envanteri” ve arastirmacilar tarafindan gelistirilen Kisisel Bilgi Formu uygulanmistir. Verilerin analizinde gruplar arasinda farkin olup olmadigini belirlemek icin ikili degiskenler icin “t” testi, ikiden fazla degiskenler icin ise “F” testi uygulanmistir. Degiskenler arasinda belirlenen anlamli farkliliklarin hangi gruplardan kaynaklandigini belirlemek icin “Scheffe” anlamlilik testi” uygulanmistir. Genclerin algilanan sosyal destek ve iletisim duzeyleri arasindaki iliskinin ortaya konulmasinda Pearson Momentler Carpimi korelasyon teknigi kullanilmistir. Arastirmadan elde edilen bulgulara genel olarak bakildiginda ogrencilerin ailelerinden [t(308)=7.85, p <. 05] algiladiklari sosyal destegin 4. siniflar lehine istatistiksel olarak anlamli farklilik gosterdigi gorulmustur. Ayrica algilanilan sosyal destek ve iletisim becerileri arasinda dusuk duzeyde pozitif yonde iliski oldugu gorulmustur (r=0.162, p<.05).
Keyword and Keyphrase Extraction Using Centrality Measures on Collocation Networks

Keyword and keyphrase extraction is an important problem in natural language processing, with applications ranging from summarization to semantic search to document clustering. Graph-based approaches to keyword and keyphrase extraction avoid the problem of acquiring a large in-domain training corpus by applying variants of PageRank algorithm on a network of words. Although graph-based approaches are knowledge-lean and easily adoptable in online systems, it remains largely open whether they can benefit from centrality measures other than PageRank. In this paper, we experiment with an array of centrality measures on word and noun phrase collocation networks, and analyze their performance on four benchmark datasets. Not only are there centrality measures that perform as well as or better than PageRank, but they are much simpler (e.g., degree, strength, and neighborhood size). Furthermore, centrality-based methods give results that are competitive with and, in some cases, better than two strong unsupervised baselines.
Teaching teachers about retirement and investments: A comparison of three interventions

The authors describe a project that compared the effects of three interventions on the retirement investment knowledge of public school teachers in the Midwest. They interpret outcomes from three different interventions (online training, site-based workshop, and hybrid of online and site-based). While the study results indicate that program participants increased their investment and retirement knowledge of content presented in the measured approaches, the differences in gains between the interventions were not significant. The authors call for additional research into the investment and retirement education of teachers that employs larger samples and uses valid and reliable instrumentation.
Correlation between the overexpression of Yin Yang 1 and the expression levels of miRNAs in Burkitt's lymphoma: A computational study

A growing number of studies have highlighted the role of microRNAs (miRNAs or miRs) in the development and progression of cancer. In particular, the aberrant expression of cancer-related proteins, such as oncogenes and tumor suppressors has been shown to correlate with the modulation of the expression of specific miRNAs. In the present study, we aimed to determine which downregulated miRNAs may be involved in modulating the expression of the oncogenic transcription factor, Yin Yang 1 (YY1). YY1 has been reported to be overexpressed in several malignancies and our previous studies have highlighted the significant correlation between the levels of YY1 and aggressive behavior in non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL). A total of 57 miRNAs that are potentially capable of targeting YY1 was identified through in silico approaches. The search of publicly available NHL datasets, including paired mRNA and miRNA data (GSE23026) highlighted a significant correlation (Pearson's correlation, r>0.5) between the expression levels of YY1 and the expression levels of a limited set of miRNAs, including miR-363, miR-200a, miR-23b, miR-15a and miR-15b. Intriguingly, both hsa-miR-363 and hsa-miR-200a belong to the top 20 miRNAs that were found to be downregulated in Burkitt's lymphoma (BL) tissue compared to normal tissue. Although further validation studies are warranted, the identification of these two miRNAs associated with the upregulation of YY1 in BL may provide further insight into the pathogenesis of this tumor and may contribute to more personalized and targeted treatment approaches for patients with this disease.