Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Development of Immune-Specific Interaction Potentials and Their Application in the Multi-Agent-System VaccImm

Peptide vaccination in cancer therapy is a promising alternative to conventional methods. However, the parameters for this personalized treatment are difficult to access experimentally. In this respect, in silico models can help to narrow down the parameter space or to explain certain phenomena at a systems level. Herein, we develop two empirical interaction potentials specific to B-cell and T-cell receptor complexes and validate their applicability in comparison to a more general potential. The interaction potentials are applied to the model VaccImm which simulates the immune response against solid tumors under peptide vaccination therapy. This multi-agent system is derived from another immune system simulator (C-ImmSim) and now includes a module that enables the amino acid sequence of immune receptors and their ligands to be taken into account. The multi-agent approach is combined with approved methods for prediction of major histocompatibility complex (MHC)-binding peptides and the newly developed interaction potentials. In the analysis, we critically assess the impact of the different modules on the simulation with VaccImm and how they influence each other. In addition, we explore the reasons for failures in inducing an immune response by examining the activation states of the immune cell populations in detail. In summary, the present work introduces immune-specific interaction potentials and their application to the agent-based model VaccImm which simulates peptide vaccination in cancer therapy.
2-D non-separable GenLOT with trend vanishing moments

A novel design method of 2-D non-separable linear-phase paraunitary filter banks (LPPUFBs) is proposed. The trend vanishing moment (TVM) condition is newly derived for the lattice structure. The TVM condition can be regarded as a natural extension of 1-D VM to 2-D one and alternative of the conventional directional vanishing moments(DVMs). The structure is based on the 2-D DCT and can be regarded as an extension of GenLOT to the 2-D non-separable case. Because of the non-separability, the bases are allowed to be anisotropic and directional in addition to the fixed-subsampling, overlapping, orthogonal, real-valued, symmetric and compact-support property. As a previous work, the authors have shown that the block-wise implementation is appealing for the image processing application since the technique serves boundary operation for size-limitation, seamless basis alteration and compatibility with the block DCT. This work further contributes to yield the TVM condition so that piece-wise smooth images with smooth contours are compactly approximated. The condition is imposed directly on the design parameters and, therefore, the desirable properties of the lattice structure are maintained. From an experimental result of coding, it is shown that the TVM condition gives smooth reconstruction of a diagonal texture image.
Processing Clitic Pronouns in Bulgarian — Evidence from Normal and Agrammatic Comprehension

Processing Clitic Pronouns in Bulgarian — Evidence from Normal and Agrammatic Comprehension Clitic clusters display a complicated interaction of prosodic and syntactic properties which determines their word order and stress patterns. In Bulgarian, short pronouns appear as unstressed verbal enclitics in positive utterances. Proclitic negation attracts the pronouns and forms with them a prosodic unit stressed on the second syllable, the pronoun. Theoretical linguistics characterizes the behaviour of object clitics in terms of "non-trivial chains" (Bošković 2001) containing copies. The overt realisation of a higher or lower copy depends on phonological constraints like enclitisation requirements. In line with the slow-syntax-hypothesis (Burkhardt et al. 2008) and with the assumption that prosody-related processes may also compete for the same limited processing resources of Broca's aphasics (Avrutin et al. 1999), we test sensitivity to the phonosyntactic constraints negation imposes on the word order of personal and reflexive clitics. Results suggest that the pattern of agrammatic processing of clitic clusters resembles normal comprehension but proceeds in a protracted manner. Employing a self-paced reading task and an experimental design which reduces discourse-related interpretation processes, we also show that the syntactic functions of personal object clitics as syntactic object agreement markers in Bulgarian are relatively preserved in the aphasic group.
Association between Burnout and Anger in Oncology versus Ophthalmology Health Care Professionals

The prevalence of burnout in oncology staff was compared with that of the ophthalmology staff, who normally present a low prevalence of burnout as described in this literature. The correlation of burnout with the emotion of anger was also investigated. Thirty-six subjects working in an oncology department and 32 working in an ophthalmology department were examined using the Maslach Burnout Inventory and the State-Trait Anger Expression Inventory. The oncology group showed higher mean scores on the MBI Emotive Exhaustion and Depersonalization scales with respect to ophthalmology staff. Correlation analysis showed that increasing burnout was associated with higher anger expressed towards the environment and loss of anger control. Anger, as a response to frustration, appears to be a feature constantly associated with the clinical expression of burnout and it should not be underestimated in theoretical and preventive contexts.
Is narcissism inversely related to satisfaction ? an examination of data from two U.S. samples

ABSTRACT To date, no research has directly examined associations between a nonprojective measure of narcissism and measures of satisfaction. Based on recent empirical research and the clinical observations of Kernberg (1975) and Kohut (1971), we posited that narcissism would be inversely related to life, self-, family, and job satisfaction (Hypothesis 1). Also, negative associations were predicted to be stronger for satisfaction with life and self than for satisfaction with family and job, as the first two sources are more integrally related to the ego identity than the latter two are (Hypothesis 2). With the use of two versions of the Margolis-Thomas (1980) Measure of Narcissism and several established satisfaction scales, data were collected from two samples, one of adult female college students and one of male alumni, in the United States. Hypothesis 1 was supported in both studies. Hypothesis 2 was supported in Study 1 only. In general, it was found that the narcissist obtains relatively little satisf.
On Photosynthesis and Free Nitrogen Assimilation by Leguminous Plants.

In recent years the relation between the assimilation of CO2 and fixation of nitrogen by leguminous plants has received increasing attention. Because the two great synthetic processes of nature, assimilation of CO2 and of free nitrogen are both functions of the Leguminosae, it is of great interest to determine whether or not they are mutually independent in these plants. The results of experiments carried out during the last five years provide several new lines of evidence which indicate that the two syntheses are closely interrelated and that certain generalizations are justified concerning this relationship. The concept that photosynthesis is an important function in the assimilation of free nitrogen by leguminous plants is not new. ' It has been suggested by several investigators but little experimental data are offered in support of this idea. The present paper is concerned with the carbohydrate-nitrogen relation of inoculated leguminous plants, especially as affected by the gaseous environment of the plant and the influence of this relation on nodule formation and nitrogen fixation. The data show a definite correlation between the nitrogen-fixing, photosynthetic and respiratory functions in leguminous plants and afford a common basis for interpretation of problems relating to the following aspects of the fixation process: (1) quantity of nitrogen fixed; (2) size, number and distribution of nodules; (3) effect of combined nitrogen on fixation of free nitrogen. Methods. -The details of the methods used for growing the plants and supplying atmospheres of various composition have been described in other publications.2 The carbohydrate or nitrogen supply of inoculated leguminous plants was changed and the effect noted on the various functions of the fixation process; the desired modifications were brought about by the following controlled variation in the environment of the plant: (1) percentage of CO2 of the atmosphere supplied to the plants. In this way the photosynthetic activity of the plant could be varied and
Optimal Policies for Recovering the Value of Consumer Returns

This study characterizes the class of Pareto optimal returns policies between a manufacturer and a retailer who receives consumer returns. The manufacturer may take a costly hidden action that reduces the expected number of products returned by consumers, which when realized is hidden information known only to the retailer. When faced with consumer returns, the retailer must decide whether to send the product back to the manufacturer, who harvests a low salvage value, or to engage in costly refurbishment that permits the returned product to be resold to consumers. We find that the optimal returns policies may be implemented through the payment by the manufacturer of a full refund to the retailer of the wholesale price for any returns as well as a bonus paid to the retailer that is decreasing in the number of returns to the manufacturer.
Enhancement of Arabic Text Classification Using Semantic Relations of Arabic WordNet

Arabic text classification methods have emerged as a natural result of the existence of a massive amount of varied textual information (written in Arabic language) on the web. In most text classification processes, feature selection is crucial task since it highly affects the classification accuracy. Generally, two types of features could be used: Statistical based features and semantic and concept features. The main interest of this paper is to specify the most effective semantic and concept features on Arabic text classification process. In this study, two novel features that use lexical, semantic and lexico-semantic relations of Arabic WordNet (AWN) ontology are suggested. The first feature set is List of Pertinent Synsets (LoPS), which is list of synsets that have a specific relation with the original terms. The second feature set is List of Pertinent Words (LoPW), which is list of words that have a specific relation with the original terms. Fifteen different relations (defined in AWN ontology) are used with both proposed features. Naive Bayes classifier is used to perform the classification process. The experimental results, which are conducted on BBC Arabic dataset, ‎show that using LoPS feature set improves the accuracy of Arabic text ‎classification compared with the well-known Bag-of-Word feature and the ‎recent Bag-of-Concept (synset) features. Also, it was found that LoPW (especially with related-to relation) improves the classification accuracy compared with LoPS, Bag-of-Word and Bag-of-Concept.
An investigation of inner cell mass and trophoblast tissues following their isolation from the mouse blastocyst.

1. Inner cell mass (ICM) and trophoblast were isolated from 3½-day post-coitum mouse blastocysts by microsurgery. 2. Trophoblastic fragments formed vesicles in culture but did not aggregate with other such fragments. They proved as effective as intact blastocysts in inducing decidua in recipient uteri, but thereafter failed to proliferate. 3. Isolated ICMs remained as solid balls of cells that readily aggregated in pairs or groups in culture but failed to induce implantation changes in receptive uteri. 4. Possible explanations for the failure of isolated trophoblast to proliferate after implantation are discussed. It is argued that presence of ICM tissue is necessary for trophoblast proliferation, and suggested that the ICM exerts its effect by controlling development of the ectoplacental cone.
Factors Influencing Viral Clearing and Renal Function During Polyomavirus BK–Associated Nephropathy After Renal Transplantation

Background The course of BK virus nephropathy (BKVN) is difficult to predict. Methods Between 2008 and 2010, we diagnosed BKVN in 46 (5.5%) of 859 patients with transplant biopsies by simian virus 40 (SV40) staining and routine serum polymerase chain reaction. We measured the influence of different variables on glomerular filtration rate (&Dgr;GFR increasing or decreasing) and the time for viral polymerase chain reaction reduction by 1 log (⩽13 or >13 weeks). At diagnosis, we either reduced calcineurin inhibitor (CNI) and mycophenolate mofetil by 30% to 50% (n=23), or we switched from CNI to mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) inhibitor (n=7) or from CNI to mTOR inhibitor as a second step in patients with protracted viral reduction (n=16). Results are the following: GFR stabilized or increased in 61% of patients and decreased in 39% (graft failure, 15%). Viral reduction by 1 log was rapid in 54% (⩽13 weeks) and slow in 46% (>13 weeks). Rapid viral reduction was associated with stable or increasing GFR (84%), compared with slow viral reduction (33%; P=0.0004). High peak viral load, tacrolimus treatment, and late diagnosis (biopsy for cause vs. protocol biopsy) had a negative influence on GFR and viral reduction time. Defining 1-log viral load reduction as an event, tacrolimus compared with cyclosporine was associated with slow viral reduction (P=0.0043). In 88% of patients with slow viral reduction, the secondary switch from CNI to mTOR inhibitor favored viral load decrease. Conclusions We conclude that peak viral load, tacrolimus treatment, delayed diagnosis, and viral reduction time influence outcomes in patients with BKVN.
Justice and Union Participation: An Extension and Test of Mobilization Theory

Heeding John Kelly's call to reorient the field of industrial relations towards the study of injustice, we employ mobilization, social exchange and organizational justice theories to specify and test a model of union participation. Using individual-level survey data from public-sector union members to test our model, we find that differences in worker perceptions of workplace injustice and union justice explain slightly more variation in members' union participation than more traditional measures of job satisfaction and union instrumentality perceptions. The implications of our analysis for researchers and union practitioners are also discussed. Copyright Blackwell Publishing Ltd/London School of Economics 2004.
Lessons from tumor reversion for cancer treatment

Purpose of review Tumor reversion is the biological process by which highly tumorigenic cells lose at great extent or entirely their malignant phenotype. The purpose of our research is to understand the molecular program of tumor reversion and its clinical application. We first established biological models of reversion, which was done by deriving revertant cells from different tumors. Secondly, the molecular program that could override the malignant phenotype was assessed. Differential gene-expression profiling showed that at least 300 genes are implicated in this reversion process such as SIAH-1, PS1, TSAP6, and, most importantly, translationally controlled tumor protein (TPT1/TCTP). Decreasing TPT1/TCTP is key in reprogramming malignant cells, including cancer stem cells. Recent findings Recent findings indicate that TPT1/TCTP regulates the P53–MDM2–Numb axis. Notably, TPT1/TCTP and p53 are implicated in a reciprocal negative-feedback loop. TPT1/TCTP is a highly significant prognostic factor in breast cancer. Sertraline and thioridazine interfere with this repressive feedback by targeting directly TPT1/TCTP and inhibiting its binding to MDM2, restoring wildtype p53 function. Combining sertraline with classical drugs such as Ara-C in acute myeloid leukemia may be also beneficial. Summary In this review, we discuss some of these reversion pathways and how this approach could open a new route to cancer treatment.
MASCULINITY AND CHILD HOMICIDE

In this article masculinity and violence are explored through an examination of case studies of child homicides committed by men in Victoria, Australia between 1985 and 1994. The findings reveal a diversity of violent scenarios and a complexity in masculinity and its relationship to violence. They challenge the adequacy of universalistic representations of male violence as either an instrumental act, a means of accomplishing masculinity, or as an unpremenditated emotional act of rage and anger in response to a threat. In particular, the scenarios reveal both the complex and sometimes contradictory expectations of masculinities and the ways in which they are achieved differently in different situations.
Impact of Accurate Geoid Fields on Estimates of the Ocean Circulation

Abstract The impact of new geoid height models on estimates of the ocean circulation, now available from the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) spacecraft, is assessed, and the implications of far more accurate geoids, anticipated from the European Space Agency’s (ESA) Gravity and Ocean Circulation Explorer (GOCE) mission, are explored. The study is based on several circulation estimates obtained over the period 1992–2002 by combining most of the available ocean datasets with a global general circulation model on a 1° horizontal grid and by exchanging only the EGM96 geoid model with two different geoid models available from GRACE. As compared to the EGM96-based solution, the GRACE geoid leads to an estimate of the ocean circulation that is more consistent with the Levitus temperature and salinity climatology. While not a formal proof, this finding supports the inference of a substantially improved GRACE geoid skill. However, oceanographic implications of the GRACE model are only modest compar.
Magic wand: a hand-drawn gesture input device in 3-D space with inertial sensors

This paper presents a gesture input device, magic wand, with which a user can input gestures in 3-D space, inertial sensors embedded in it generate acceleration and angular velocity signals according to a user's hand movement. A trajectory estimation algorithm is employed to convert them into a trajectory on 2-D plane. The recognition algorithm based on Bayesian networks finds the gesture model with the maximum likelihood from it. The recognition performance of the proposed system is quite promising; the writer-independent recognition rate was 99.2% on average for the database of 15 writers and 13 gesture classes.
State feedback control of piecewise-affine systems with norm bounded noise

Being able to design controllers that are robust to noisy measurements is of fundamental importance in practical applications. With this objective in mind, the original contribution of this paper is to propose a design technique for state feedback control of piecewise-affine systems that is robust to bounded noise in the measurements. More specifically, the paper gives conditions under which a piecewise-affine state feedback controller designed to stabilize a noise-free piecewise-affine system to a target point still stabilizes the system when the state is subject to norm bounded noisy measurements. It is shown that controllers designed using a globally quadratic Lyapunov function are robust to noisy state measurements and that the state trajectories of the closed-loop system still converges to a region around the equilibrium point in the presence of noise. The size of this region is related to the norm bound on the noise.
Familial Longevity Is Marked by Better Cognitive Performance at Middle Age: The Leiden Longevity Study

Background Decline in cognitive performance is a highly prevalent health condition in elderly. We studied whether offspring of nonagenarian siblings with a familial history of longevity, perform better on cognitive tests compared to their partners as controls. This is relevant since it could provide insights into determinants underlying decline in cognitive performance. Methods Cross-sectional analysis within the longitudinal cohort of the Leiden Longevity Study consisting of middle-aged offspring of nonagenarian siblings together with their partners (n = 500, mean age (SD) 66.3 (6.1) and 65.7 (7.2) years, respectively) as controls. Memory function, attention and processing speed were tested using the 15-Picture Learning Test, Stroop test and Digit Symbol Substitution Test. Data were analyzed with regression adjusted for age, gender, years of education and additionally for diabetes mellitus, cardiovascular diseases, alcohol use, smoking, inflammatory markers and apolipoprotein E genotype. Robust standard errors were used to account for familial relationships among the offspring. Results Cognitive performance was worse at higher calendar age (p<0.001, all except Stroop test part 1). The offspring performed better compared to their partners on trial 3 (p = 0.005), the immediate (p = 0.016) and delayed (p = 0.004) recall of the 15-Picture Learning Test as well as on the interference and combined interference score of the Stroop test (p = 0.014 and p = 0.036, respectively) in the fully adjusted model. The difference between offspring and partners was estimated to be more than three years according to the observed difference in calendar age. Conclusions Offspring of nonagenarian siblings with a familial history of longevity have better cognitive performance compared to the group of their partners of comparable age. This effect is independent of age-related diseases and known possible confounders. Possible explanations might be differences in subclinical vascular pathology between both groups.
Effects of resistance training on running economy and cross-country performance.

PURPOSE Heavy-resistance training and plyometric training offer distinct physiological and neuromuscular adaptations that could enhance running economy and, consequently, distance-running performance. To date, no studies have examined the effect of combining the two modes of training on running economy or performance. METHODS Fifty collegiate male and female cross-country runners performed a 5-km time trial and a series of laboratory-based tests to determine aerobic, anthropometric, biomechanical, and neuromuscular characteristics. Thereafter, each athlete participated in a season of six to eight collegiate cross-country races for 13 wk. After the first 4 wk, athletes were randomly assigned to either heavy-resistance or plyometric plus heavy-resistance training. Five days after completing their final competition, runners repeated the same set of laboratory tests. We also estimated the effects of the intervention on competition performance throughout the season using athletes of other teams as controls. RESULTS Heavy-resistance training produced small-moderate improvements in peak speed, running economy, and neuromuscular characteristics relative to plyometric resistance training, whereas changes in biomechanical measures favored plyometric resistance training. Men made less gains than women in most tests. Both treatments had possibly harmful effects on competition times in men (mean = 0.5%; 90% confidence interval = ±1.2%), but there may have been benefit for some individuals. Both treatments were likely beneficial for all women (-1.2%; ±1.3%), but heavy-resistance training was possibly better than plyometric resistance training. CONCLUSIONS The changes in laboratory-based parameters related to distance-running performance were consistent with the changes in competition times for women but only partly for men. Our data indicate that women should include heavy-resistance training in their programs, but men should be cautious about using it in season until more research establishes whether certain men are positive or negative responders.