Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Signal Processing for Metagenomics: Extracting Information from the Soup

Traditionally, studies in microbial genomics have focused on single-genomes from cultured species, thereby limiting their focus to the small percentage of species that can be cultured outside their natural environment. Fortunately, recent advances in high-throughput sequencing and computational analyses have ushered in the new field of metagenomics, which aims to decode the genomes of microbes from natural communities without the need for cultivation. Although metagenomic studies have shed a great deal of insight into bacterial diversity and coding capacity, several computational challenges remain due to the massive size and complexity of metagenomic sequence data. Current tools and techniques are reviewed in this paper which address challenges in 1) genomic fragment annotation, 2) phylogenetic reconstruction, 3) functional classification of samples, and 4) interpreting complementary metaproteomics and metametabolomics data. Also surveyed are important applications of metagenomic studies, including microbial forensics and the roles of microbial communities in shaping human health and soil ecology.
Dreams and Taboos: Home Loan Advertising in the United States and Saudi Arabia

ABSTRACT Home ownership is important, complex, and influenced by culture. In the United States, home ownership is the American Dream, supported by an elaborate mortgage lending system. Home ownership is less common in Saudi Arabia because Islamic law prohibits both paying and charging interest—thus, mortgage loans have traditionally been considered taboo. Given these differing cultural values and orientations, an important research question becomes how do marketing communications differ when offering financial opportunities for dreams or taboos? A qualitative analysis of advertising messages reveals several themes. The “dream of home ownership” and “relationship” themes are common to both cultures. However, the manners in which these messages are articulated differ and appear derived from cultural values and communication styles. Further, in the United States the emphasis is on affordability of interest charges while religious validity is emphasized in Saudi ads. Implications for marketers are discussed.
In vivo evaluation of novel chitosan graft polymeric micelles for delivery of paclitaxel

A water-insoluble anti-tumor agent, Paclitaxel (PTX) was successfully incorporated into polymeric micelles formed from new graft copolymers, N-octyl-N-(2-carboxyl-cyclohexamethenyl) chitosan derivatives(OCCC). The objective of this study was to optimize and characterize the novel PTX micelle (PTX-M). Furthermore, the pharmacokinetics, NIR-imaging, biodistribution, and anti-tumor effects of PTX-M were evaluated. The results showed that the PTX-M had high drug loading (43.25%). The Vd and t1/2β of PTX-M were increased by 11.4- and 2.83-fold, respectively, but the plasma AUC of PTX-M was 3.8-fold lower than that of Taxol. Biodistribution study indicated that PTX-M was widely distributed into most tissues, most of them found in liver, spleen, lung, and kidney. This result was similar with NIR(near-infrared)-imaging. Tumor growth was significantly inhibited after intravenous injection of PTX-M. PTX-M showed the enhanced anti-tumor effect and non-toxic effects compared with Taxol, the commercial product of PTX. Therefore, the chitosan-derived micelle system offered a stable and effective platform for cancer chemotherapy with PTX.
The Relationship between Training and Small Firm Performance; Research Frameworks and Lost Quests

DEAN PATTON IS PRINCIPAL LECTURER in corporate strategy, Sue Marlow is principal lecturer in industrial relations, and Paul Hannon is academic director at the Leicestershire Centre for Enterprise, all at de Montfort University, England. In recent years it has been acknowledged that the take-up of training and development opportunities within the United Kingdom has been generally poor and that this has had a detrimental effect upon national productivity and competitiveness (Keep and Mayhew, 1997). It is noticeable that smaller firms in particular are reluctant to engage with formal training initiatives regardless of the incentives offered (Maton, 1999; Jennings and Hawley, 1996; Stanworth and Gray, 1992). To support greater take-up of such initiatives, policymakers and academics have sought to find a relationship between training and the performance of firms. The extant literature on this subject is inconclusive and a number of criticisms have been made witlh reference to the research design and methodology employed (Westhead and Storey, 1997). This paper proposes that a more focused research design to the subject is required and puts forward a model that would address many of the concerns raised (Westhead, 1996; Westhead and Storey, 1997). It is suggested that the search for statistical significance may actually be inappropriate, given the number of variables in the relationship. The model would, however, provide a framework within which the importance and interaction of such variables can be more clearly analysed and evaluated.
Sorafenib-induced defective autophagy promotes cell death by necroptosis

Autophagy is one of the main cytoprotective mechanisms that cancer cells deploy to withstand the cytotoxic stress and survive the lethal damage induced by anti-cancer drugs. However, under specific conditions, autophagy may, directly or indirectly, induce cell death. In our study, treatment of the Atg5-deficient DU145 prostate cancer cells, with the multi-tyrosine kinase inhibitor, sorafenib, induces mitochondrial damage, autophagy and cell death. Molecular inhibition of autophagy by silencing ULK1 and Beclin1 rescues DU145 cells from cell death indicating that, in this setting, autophagy promotes cell death. Re-expression of Atg5 restores the lipidation of LC3 and rescues DU145 and MEF atg5−/− cells from sorafenib-induced cell death. Despite the lack of Atg5 expression and LC3 lipidation, DU145 cells form autophagosomes as demonstrated by transmission and immuno-electron microscopy, and the formation of LC3 positive foci. However, the lack of cellular content in the autophagosomes, the accumulation of long-lived proteins, the presence of GFP-RFP-LC3 positive foci and the accumulated p62 protein levels indicate that these autophagosomes may not be fully functional. DU145 cells treated with sorafenib undergo a caspase-independent cell death that is inhibited by the RIPK1 inhibitor, necrostatin-1. Furthermore, treatment with sorafenib induces the interaction of RIPK1 with p62, as demonstrated by immunoprecipitation and a proximity ligation assay. Silencing of p62 decreases the RIPK1 protein levels and renders necrostatin-1 ineffective in blocking sorafenib-induced cell death. In summary, the formation of Atg5-deficient autophagosomes in response to sorafenib promotes the interaction of p62 with RIPK leading to cell death by necroptosis.
The exchange of physical attractiveness for resource potential and commitment

Abstract According to David Buss's evolutionary theory of sex differences in sexual strategies men prefer short term, promiscuous sexual encounters because each encounter may result in the conception of a child and the perpetuation of the man's genes. On the other hand, women prefer long term, committed relationships. Only having sex with a man with resources who is willing to commit those resources to the woman and their child is a much more adaptive strategy with respect to perpetuating the woman's genes than promiscuous sex. As a result of these different strategies men and women desire different things in a mate. Men desire youth and beauty because these are indices of a woman's fertility; women desire status, resources, and commitment. Both men and women value desirable personalities. Applying social exchange theory to the desires of men and women it was theorized that women exchange physical attractiveness for men with status, resources, commitment, and desirable personalities. Women of varying degr.
A qualitative study on family acceptance, stigma and discrimination of persons with schizophrenia in an Indian metropolis

Families’ perception and their acceptance of the person with schizophrenia play a major role in the course and outcome of schizophrenia. Based on in-depth interviews with people with schizophrenia and focused group discussion with their care givers, this article identifies the factors that influence family acceptance which in turn nullify people’s experiences of stigma and discrimination in an urban metropolis of India. Factors that strengthened acceptance and nullified people’s experiences of stigma and discrimination in domains like marriage, decision-making, access to property, treatment and care have been identified. The article highlights implications for social work practice and research.
Quotient FCMs-a decomposition theory for fuzzy cognitive maps

In this paper, we introduce a decomposition theory for fuzzy cognitive maps (FCM). First, we partition the set of vertices of an FCM into blocks according to an equivalence relation, and by regarding these blocks as vertices we construct a quotient FCM. Second, each block induces a natural sectional FCM of the original FCM, which inherits the topological structure as well as the inference from the original FCM. In this way, we decompose the original FCM into a quotient FCM and some sectional FCM. As a result, the analysis of the original FCM is reduced to the analysis of the quotient and sectional FCM, which are often much smaller in size and complexity. Such a reduction is important in analyzing large-scale FCM. We also propose a causal algebra in the quotient FCM, which indicates that the effect that one vertex influences another in the quotient depends on the weights and states of the vertices along directed paths from the former to the latter. To illustrate the process involved, we apply our decomposition theory to university management networks. Finally, we discuss possible approaches to partitioning an FCM and major concerns in constructing quotient FCM. The results represented in this paper provide an effective framework for calculating and simplifying causal inference patterns in complicated real-world applications.
The Association Between Hepatic Fat Content and Liver Injury in Obese Children and Adolescents

OBJECTIVE Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease and nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) are highly prevalent in obese youth. Herein, we aimed to study the association between hepatic fat accumulation as assessed by magnetic resonance imaging and circulating levels of cytokeratin-18 (CK-18) fragments, a robust NASH biomarker, and to explore the impact on this association of ethnicity, insulin resistance, and single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) associated with steatosis (rs738409 in the PNPLA3, rs1260326 in the GCKR) or NASH severity (rs2645424 in the FDFT1). RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS Two-hundred twenty-nine obese youths (87 Caucasians, 61 African Americans, and 81 Hispanics; mean age, 12.8 ± 2.9 years; mean BMI, 31.4 ± 7.4) underwent magnetic resonance imaging, oral glucose tolerance test, and CK-18 levels measurement; 12 subjects underwent liver biopsy. RESULTS African Americans showed lower CK-18 levels than Hispanics (P < 0.001) and Caucasians (P = 0.004). Hepatic fat content (HFF%) and whole body insulin sensitivity index (WBISI) modulated CK-18 levels in Caucasians and Hispanics (P = 0.02 and P = 0.011), but not in African Americans; in fact, CK-18 was associated with HFF% and WBISI in Caucasians (P = 0.0018 and P < 0.0001) and Hispanics (P < 0.0001 and P = 0.02), but not in African Americans (both P = 0.5). The PNPLA3 SNP showed association in Caucasians (P = 0.02) and Hispanics (P = 0.05), and FDFT1 SNP showed an association in Caucasians (P = 0.05) and Hispanics (P = 0.02), with the same trend in African Americans (P = 0.07). CONCLUSIONS African Americans have lower levels of CK-18 than Caucasians and Hispanics irrespective of HFF% and insulin resistance. Moreover, SNPs in the PNPLA3 and FDFT1 may drive the individual predisposition to development of hepatic injury.
Electromyography and electric stimulation of nerves in diseases of motor unit; observations on myasthenic syndrome associated with malignant tumors.

† Tracings of electric potentials in voluntary muscle can be obtained by inserting needle electrodes. Electromyography and related neurophysiological techniques are being used with increasing frequency and effectiveness in the diagnosis and study of diseases of the motor unit (neuromuscular diseases). The value of these newer techniques is assessed in general and illustrated by specific examples. Cases are included to indicate how electromyographic data can be used in the diagnosis of carpal tunnel syndrome. Also, cases of a new myasthenic syndrome associated with intrathoracic neoplasms are described to show the use of electromyography and nerve stimulation in distinguishing the syndrome from myasthenia gravis.
Effects of glucocorticoids on the TPA‐induced monocytic differentiation

The human monocytic cell line U937 was used as a model system to investigate the effects of glucocorticoids on monocytic differentiation. Upon incubation with the phorbol ester 12‐O‐tetradecanoylphorbol‐13‐acetate (TPA) (5 × 10‐9 M) for 48 to 72 h, the immature U937 cells ceased to proliferate and became morphologically and functionally macrophage‐like. Preincubation of the cells with glucocorticoids (dexamethasone and prednisolone, 10‐7 and 10‐6 M) but not progesterone (10‐6 M) had marked effects: The cells remained in suspension and developed very little cell‐cell interaction. This correlated with decreased expression of the surface molecules ICAM‐1 and CD18 as determined by fluorescence‐activated cell sorter analysis. The TPA‐induced ability of the cells to release lysozyme or to generate reactive oxygen radicals (determined as reduction of nitroblue tetrazolium) was markedly reduced. The induction of cyclooxygenase activity and thus the ability to release prostanoids was almost completely abolished. Inhibition of prostanoid synthesis was also observed when the glucocorticoids were administered 24 or 48 h after TPA. The primary step of TPA induction, the activation and translocation of protein kinase C, however, was not affected by glucocorticoids as determined by activity measurements and Western blot analysis. There was no change in the subsequent TPA‐induced induction of c‐fos. The down‐regulation of the differentiation‐related oncogenes c‐myc and c‐myb was the same in cells treated with TPA in the presence or absence of glucocorticoids. Furthermore, no significant effect of glucocorticoids on the TPA‐induced growth arrest was observed. Glucocorticoids thus interfere with TPA‐induced functions, which are typical for activated macrophages; however, they do not impair the differentiation process and concomitant growth inhibition.
Building integrated care systems: a case study of Bidasoa Integrated Health Organisation

Introduction This paper analyses the implementation of integrated care policies in the Basque Country through the deployment of an Integrated Health Organisation in Bidasoa area during the period 2011–2014. Structural, functional and clinical integration policies have been employed with the aim to deliver integrated and person-centred care for patients, especially for those living with chronic conditions. Methods This organisational case study used multiple data sources and methods in a pragmatic and reflexive manner to build a picture of the organisational development over a 4-year period. In order to measure the progress of integration three concepts have been measured: (i) readiness for chronicity measured with Assessment of Readiness for Chronicity in Healthcare Organisations tool; (ii) collaboration between clinicians from different care levels measured with the D'Amour Questionnaire, and (iii) overall impact of integration through several indicators based on the Triple Aim Framework. Results The measurement of organisational readiness for chronicity showed improvements in five of the six areas under evaluation. Similarly the collaboration between professionals of different care levels showed a steady improvement in each of the 10 items. Furthermore, the Triple Aim-based indicators showed a better experience of care in terms of patients’ perceptions of care coordination; a reduction in hospital utilisation, particularly for patients with complex chronic conditions; and cost-containment in terms of per capita expenditure. Conclusion There is a significant amount of data that shows that Bidasoa Integrated Health Organisation has progressed in terms of delivering integrated care for chronic conditions with a positive impact on several Triple Aim outcomes.
Resistance to small doses of insulin in various clinical conditions.

In a number of clinical conditions the response of the level of blood sugar to a given dosage of insulin is less than that obtained in normal individuals. This phenomenon is commonly termed insulin resistance. Soon after the discovery of insulin numlerous investigators described resistance in certain cases of diabetes mellitus. Radoslav (1) in 1924 adminiistered known amounts of inisulin to fasting individuals suffering from diabetes mellitus and pointed out that diabetics, without known comJplicationis, might be insulin resistant, inisulin sensitive, or insulin hypersensitive. The early investigations o01 this subject were comprehensively review-ed in 1933 (2); since that time, there have l)een numtierous reports describing insulin resistance in diabetes. Although the resistance has usually been attributed to various disorders complicating the diabetic state, certain cases exhibiting this phenomenon in marked degree have been unexplained (3). In 1941 Fraser, Albright, and Smith (4) demonstrated variations in response to the intravenous administration of 1/10 of a unit of insulin per kg. of body weight in a number of endocrine disorders. The dosage recommended by these authors has been employed by other investigators to show insulin resistance in schizophrenics (5), pellagrins (6), and in a small group of hypertensives (7). Kronenberg and McCulloch (8), employing a uluch smaller dose, 1/40 unit per kg. , demonstrated increased tolerance to insulin in oneirophrenics and in several cases of acromegaly and malignant hypertension. The present investigation explored this phenomenon in 99 patients suffering from hypertension and from other disease conditions, and in 25 normal subjects. The smaller dose of Kronenberg and
Gender Differences in Emotional Responses to Cooperative and Competitive Game Play

Previous research indicates that males prefer competition over cooperation, and it is sometimes suggested that females show the opposite behavioral preference. In the present article, we investigate the emotions behind the preferences: Do males exhibit more positive emotions during competitive than cooperative activities, and do females show the opposite pattern? We conducted two experiments where we assessed the emotional responses of same-gender dyads (in total 130 participants, 50 female) during intrinsically motivating competitive and cooperative digital game play using facial electromyography (EMG), skin conductance, heart rate measures, and self-reported emotional experiences. We found higher positive emotional responses (as indexed by both physiological measures and self-reports) during competitive than cooperative play for males, but no differences for females. In addition, we found no differences in negative emotions, and heart rate, skin conductance, and self-reports yielded contradictory evidence for arousal. These results support the hypothesis that males not only prefer competitive over cooperative play, but they also exhibit more positive emotional responses during them. In contrast, the results suggest that the emotional experiences of females do not differ between cooperation and competition, which implies that less competitiveness does not mean more cooperativeness. Our results pertain to intrinsically motivated game play, but might be relevant also for other kinds of activities.
Socioeconomic deprivation and asthma prevalence and severity in young adolescents

This study used the international study of asthma and allergies in childhood (ISAAC) to investigate the association between asthma and socioeconomic deprivation among young adolescents in Cape Town, South Africa. The completed ISAAC written and video questionnaires of 4,706 13–14-yr-old school pupils were used. The prevalence of asthma symptoms was analysed by a local index of socioeconomic deprivation, based on residential location and defined on a 10-category scale from least to most deprived. Linear trends were examined visually and the prevalence odds ratio was used to summarize overall trends. In general, the least socioeconomically deprived pupils reported higher prevalences of asthma symptoms “ever” and “in the last 12 months”. In contrast, the most socioeconomically deprived pupils reported higher asthma-symptom occurrence monthly or more frequently in the previous 12 months. A subgroup of pupils from low-income areas commuting to better-off schools showed the highest symptom prevalences. The findings are consistent with a model in which an increase in the incidence of asthma is driven by factors associated with improved social circumstances, whereas severity is determined by factors associated with poverty. The impact of social mobility on asthma, including reporting of symptoms, deserves closer study.
A Study on EFL Students' Use of E-Learning Programs for Learning English —Taking a Taiwanese University as an Example

With its characteristics of repeated practice and easy review, e-Learning programs have been hailed as an effective way for learning foreign languages nowadays. Supported by ICT (Information & Communication Technology), e-Learning offers students self-paced learning whereby learners can control their schedules and it is presumed to be a round-the-clock teaching aid to EFL students. As many scholars anticipate that e-Learning will become a future trend in EFL, more and more higher education institutions are investing money on English e-Learning programs in the hope that students’ English proficiency will be further upgraded by using the ubiquitous system. After investigating students’ frequency of using English e-learning programs in a local university in Taipei, the author argues in this paper that e-Learning programs do not benefit EFL students to the degree as we anticipated given the fact that cold technology and machines can never successfully become a “facilitator” that should be played by a teacher. (Harmer, 2000) After all, technology can never take the place of the teacher, who is thought to be the most crucial element of any teaching activities.
CONCURRENCY AND COMPUTATION : PRACTICE AND EXPERIENCE Concurrency Computat

Recently there has been an increasing interest in developing parallel programming capabilities in Java to harness the vast resources available in clusters, grids and heterogeneous networked systems. In this paper, we introduce a Java object-passing interface (JOPI) library. JOPI provides Java programmers with the necessary functionality to write object-passing parallel programs in distributed heterogeneous systems. JOPI provides a Message Passing Interface (MPI)-like interface that can be used to exchange objects among processes. In addition to the well-known benefits of the object-oriented development model, using objects to exchange information in JOPI is advantageous because it facilitates passing complex structures and enables the programmer to isolate the problem space from the parallelization problem. The run-time environment for JOPI is portable, efficient and provides the necessary functionality to deploy and execute parallel Java programs. Experiments were conducted on a cluster system and a collection of heterogeneous platforms to measure JOPI’s performance and compare it with MPI. The results show good performance gains using JOPI. Copyright c © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.