Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Ant Colony Optimisation with Unified Nearest-Neighbour Thermodynamic Parameter for DNA Sequence Design in DNA Computing

The process of designing a set of good DNA sequences is an essential problem and one of the most practical and important research topics in DNA-based computing. In this field of research, a DNA sequence design problem is defined as a multi-objective problem, and it is evaluated using four objective functions, which are h-measure, similarity, continuity, and hairpin. In addition, two constraints, GC content and melting temperature, are used to maintain uniform chemical characteristics of the sequences. In the authors' previous research, ant colony system (ACS) was proposed to solve the DNA sequence design problem and the Watson-Crick base pair ÄGo37 was used as the distance between nodes in the computational model of DNA sequence design. In the current study, the use of other parameters, namely, unified near estneighbour thermodynamic parameters, are investigated and the result is compared with the previous work.
Matrix Metalloproteinase-2 (MMP-2) Gene Deletion Enhances MMP-9 Activity, Impairs PARP-1 Degradation, and Exacerbates Hepatic Ischemia and Reperfusion Injury in Mice

Hepatic ischemia and reperfusion injury (IRI) is an inflammatory condition and a significant cause of morbidity and mortality after surgery. Matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) have been widely implicated in the pathogenesis of inflammatory diseases. Among the different MMPs, gelatinases (MMP-2 and MMP-9) are within the most prominent MMPs detected during liver IRI. While the role of MMP-9 in liver damage has been fairly documented, direct evidence of the role for MMP-2 activity in hepatic IRI remains to be established. Due to the lack of suitable inhibitors to target individual MMPs in vivo, gene manipulation is as an essential tool to assess MMP direct contribution to liver injury. Hence, we used MMP-2-/- deficient mice and MMP-2+/+ wild-type littermates to examine the function of MMP-2 activity in hepatic IRI. MMP-2 expression was detected along the sinusoids of wild-type livers before and after surgery and in a small population of leukocytes post-IRI. Compared to MMP-2+/+ mice, MMP-2 null (MMP-2-/-) mice showed exacerbated liver damage at 6, 24, and 48 hours post-reperfusion, which was fatal in some cases. MMP-2 deficiency resulted in upregulation of MMP-9 activity, spontaneous leukocyte infiltration in naïve livers, and amplified MMP-9-dependent transmigration of leukocytes in vitro and after hepatic IRI. Moreover, complete loss of MMP-2 activity impaired the degradation of poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP-1) in extensively damaged livers post-reperfusion. However, the administration of a PARP-1 inhibitor to MMP-2 null mice restored liver preservation to almost comparable levels of MMP-2+/+ mice post-IRI. Deficient PARP-1 degradation in MMP-2-null sinusoidal endothelial cells correlated with their increased cytotoxicity, evaluated by the measurement of LDH efflux in the medium. In conclusion, our results show for the first time that MMP-2 gene deletion exacerbates liver IRI. Moreover, they offer new insights into the MMP-2 modulation of inflammatory responses, which could be relevant for the design of new pharmacological MMP-targeted agents to treat hepatic IRI.
Revisiting prior empirical findings for mobile apps: an empirical case study on the 15 most popular open-source Android apps

Our increasing reliance on mobile devices has led to the explosive development of millions of mobile apps across multiple platforms that are used by millions of people around the world every day. However, most software engineering research is performed on large desktop or server-side software applications (e.g., Eclipse and Apache). Unlike the software applications that we typically study, mobile apps are 1) designed to run on devices with limited, but diverse, resources (e.g., limited screen space and touch interfaces with diverse gestures) and 2) distributed through centralized "app stores," where there is a low barrier to entry and heavy competition. Hence, mobile apps may differ from traditionally studied desktop or server side applications, the extent that existing software development "best practices" may not apply to mobile apps. Therefore, we perform an exploratory study, comparing mobile apps to commonly studied large applications and smaller applications along two dimensions: the size of the code base and the time to fix defects. Finally, we discuss the impact of our findings by identifying a set of unique software engineering challenges posed by mobile apps.
The Numbing Effect of Mortality Salience in Consumer Settings

Nationwide Insurance and Johnnie Walker Scotch aired advertisements that encouraged people to contemplate death.What are the immediate emotional and perceptual outcomes of such advertisements? With five studies, thinking about death was found to attenuate emotional reactions and perceptions, a novel finding in the literature. This attenuation was observed with neural and self‐report measures along with retrospective and prospective assessments of emotion and is an outcome not yet investigated in mortality salience research. Contemplating death dampened people's expectations of emotion in a future consumption experience and diminished the attractiveness of the experience. Similarly, contemplating death affected backward‐looking assessments of emotion, for example, when nostalgic memories are brought to mind. Importantly, this dampening effect of mortality salience was replicated with advertisements that portrayed death‐related concepts and attenuated emotional reactions to subsequent advertisements.
Expression of interleukin-17 in lesions of erythema multiforme may indicate a role for T helper 17 cells

Introduction The aim of this study was to evaluate levels of interleukin (IL)-2, IL-6, IL-8, IL-10, IL-17A and interferon γ (IFN-γ) in the serum of patients with erythema multiforme (EM) and to search for the presence of IL-17-expressing cells in lesional samples of EM. Material and methods A total of 32 patients (22 females and 10 males) diagnosed with EM of the minor or major type were included in the study. Levels of IL-2, IL-6, IL-8, IL-10, IL-17A and IFN-γ in the serum were determined and compared with healthy controls. Biopsy specimens were stained with haematoxylin and eosin (HE) and monoclonal antibodies to CD4, CD8 and IL-17 for immunohistochemical examination. Results IL-2, 6, 8 and 17A were significantly higher in the patient group (p = 0.016, p = 0.001, p = 0.004, p = 0.006, respectively) and levels of IL-10 were significantly lower than in the control group (p = 0.046). The cellular infiltrate in lesions of EM was composed mainly of CD4+ T lymphocytes. The presence of IL-17-expressing cells, at proportion of 5 to 50%, was observed in the infiltrate. Conclusions The demonstration of IL-17-expressing cells in lesions of EM in this study has brought forth the assumption that Th17 cells may be involved in the pathogenesis of EM.
You Say You Want a Revolution: Information Technology and Growth

The information technology (IT) revolution has arrived, but how much will it change the world? It has been established that IT is contributing to labor productivity growth through both increases in the levels of IT capital per worker and total factor productivity (TFP) growth in the production of IT equipment. The main outstanding issue is whether IT is contributing to TFP growth more generally. Using data on IT expenditure and production for a broad sample of countries, we find a positive, large, and significant effect of IT expenditure on the acceleration in TFP in the late 1990s and a smaller -and significant- effect of IT production. We also find evidence that the impact of IT expenditure on TFP growth increases over time, suggesting that spillovers materialize gradually. Our results suggest that the increase in IT expenditure across industrial countries during 1995-2000 will eventually lead to an average increase in TFP growth of about one-third of 1 percent per year.
Effects of Fibrinogen Concentrate on Thrombin Generation, Thromboelastometry Parameters, and Laboratory Coagulation Testing in a 24-Hour Porcine Trauma Model

Introduction: In a 24-hour porcine model of liver injury, we showed that fibrinogen supplementation does not downregulate endogenous fibrinogen synthesis. Here we report data from the same study showing the impact of fibrinogen on coagulation variables. Materials and Methods: Coagulopathy was induced in 20 German land race pigs by hemodilution and blunt liver injury. Animals randomly received fibrinogen concentrate (100 mg/kg) or saline. Coagulation parameters were assessed and thromboelastometry (ROTEM) was performed. Results: Fibrinogen concentrate significantly reduced the prolongations of EXTEM clotting time, EXTEM clot formation time, and prothrombin time induced by hemodilution and liver injury. A decrease in clot strength was also ameliorated. Endogenous thrombin potential was significantly higher in the fibrinogen group than in the control group, 20 minutes (353 ± 24 vs 289 ± 22 nmol/L·min; P < .05) and 100 minutes (315 ± 40 vs 263 ± 38 nmol/L·min; P < .05) after the start of infusion. However, no significant between-group differences were seen in other thrombin generation parameters or in d-dimer or thrombin–antithrombin levels. Fibrinogen–platelet binding was reduced following liver injury, with no significant differences between groups. No significant between-group differences were observed in any parameter at ∼12 and ∼24 hours. Conclusion: This study suggests that, in trauma, fibrinogen supplementation may shorten some measurements of the speed of coagulation initiation and produce a short-lived increase in endogenous thrombin potential, potentially through increased clotting substrate availability. Approximately 12 and 24 hours after starting fibrinogen concentrate/saline infusion, all parameters measured in this study were comparable in the 2 study groups.
Moving into FE: The Voice of the Learner.

The changes occurring in students' attitudes as they move from secondary to postsecondary education were examined in a study of a cohort of 79 British students. The cohort, which was confined to students who had given clear indications oi interxio-is to proceed to post-16 studies in a further education (FE) college, included equal numbers of males and females, representatives of the Asian ethnic community, and roughly equal representation of students intending to proceed to the following: A-level or international baccalaureate courses; General National Vocational Qualification (GNVQ) advanced courses (or the equivalent); and other full-time post-16 courses. The 79 students were interviewed initially while in year 11 of secondary school. Fifty of the students were reinterviewed during the second half of their first term in FE. Seventeen teachers, FE tutors, and parents were also interviewed. The interviews focused on the following: anticipations of and reactions to learning opportunities in FE; attitudes toward learning; and approaches to being a student. Changes in the students' attitudes were identified and discussed from the standpoint of their implications for teaching practice. Contains 40 references. Appended is a list of the 79 students' year 12 destinations. (MN) ******************************************************************************** Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. ********************************************************************************
Does Mandatory Rotation of Audit Partners Improve Audit Quality

ABSTRACT: Opponents of mandatory rotation argue that a change of partner is bad for audit quality, as it results in a loss of client-specific knowledge. On the other hand, proponents argue that a change of partner is beneficial, as it results in a positive peer review effect and a fresh perspective on the audit. We test the impact of mandatory partner rotation on audit quality using a unique dataset of audit adjustments in China. Our results suggest that mandatory rotation of engagement partners results in higher quality audits in the years immediately surrounding rotation. Specifically, we find a significantly higher frequency of audit adjustments during the departing partner's final year of tenure prior to mandatory rotation and during the incoming partner's first year of tenure following mandatory rotation.
The curvy side of dementia: The impact of gender on prevalence and caregiving

Dementia, the most common form of which is Alzheimer’s disease, is a mental illness characterised by progressive deterioration of cognitive function. Various studies indicate that significant gender differences exist in dementia prevalence and caregiving with women being the most negatively affected. Biological variations in hormonal regulation and immune response can lead to changes in cognitive function. Depression, which is more prevalent in females, is also associated with a higher risk of developing dementia. The majority of caregivers of individuals with dementia are women, the latter experiencing more psychological burden that men. This highlights the importance of more research in gender-specific issues relating to caring for individuals with dementia in order to develop interventions aimed at improving the quality of life through bettering dementia management and care.
Combining docking and molecular dynamic simulations in drug design

A rational approach is needed to maximize the chances of finding new drugs, and to exploit the opportunities of potential new drug targets emerging from genomic and proteomic initiatives, and from the large libraries of small compounds now readily available through combinatorial chemistry. Despite a shaky early history, computer‐aided drug design techniques can now be effective in reducing costs and speeding up drug discovery. This happy outcome results from development of more accurate and reliable algorithms, use of more thoughtfully planned strategies to apply them, and greatly increased computer power to allow studies with the necessary reliability to be performed. Our review focuses on applications and protocols, with the main emphasis on critical analysis of recent studies where docking calculations and molecular dynamics (MD) simulations were combined to dock small molecules into protein receptors. We highlight successes to demonstrate what is possible now, but also point out drawbacks and future directions. The review is structured to lead the reader from the simpler to more compute‐intensive methods. Thus, while inexpensive and fast docking algorithms can be used to scan large compound libraries and reduce their size, more accurate but expensive MD simulations can be applied when a few selected ligand candidates remain. MD simulations can be used: during the preparation of the protein receptor before docking, to optimize its structure and account for protein flexibility; for the refinement of docked complexes, to include solvent effects and account for induced fit; to calculate binding free energies, to provide an accurate ranking of the potential ligands; and in the latest developments, during the docking process itself to find the binding site and correctly dock the ligand a priori. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Med Res Rev, 26, No. 5, 531–568, 2006
Observations of evolving turbulence in the polar solar wind

The Ulysses magnetic field experiment has measured the heliospheric magnetic field in solar wind flows from the Sun's Southern polar coronal hole over a wide range of heliolatitudes and distances. We present an analysis of more than one year of data, covering a latitude range of 40° to 80°S and a distance range of 4.0 to 1.7 AU. We extend an earlier analysis of Ulysses magnetic field data and, by calculating structure functions, demonstrate that the spectrum of fluctuations in the magnetic field changed along the orbit of Ulysses within polar flows and that this change is a result of the variation in Ulysses' distance from the Sun, rather than its latitude. We interpret this change as being due to the development of turbulence in the polar solar wind.
A systematic approach for monitoring and evaluating the construction project progress

A persistent problem in construction is to document changes which occur in the field and to pr epare the as-built schedule. In current practice, deviations from planned performance can only be r eported after significant time has elapsed and manual monitoring of the construction activities are costly and error prone. Availability of advanced portable computing, multimedia and wireless communication allows, even encourages fundamental changes in many jobsite pr ocesses. However a r ecent investigation indicated that there is a lack of systematic and automated evaluation and monitoring in constr uction projects. The aim of this study is to identify techniques that can be used in the constr uction industry for monitoring and evaluating the physical progress, and also to establish how current computer technology can be utilised for monitoring the actual physical pr ogress at the construction site. This study discusses the results of questionnaire survey conducted within Malaysian Constr uction Industry and suggests a prototype system, namely Digitalising Constr uction Monitoring (DCM). DCM pr ototype system integrates the information from constr uction drawings, digital images of constr uction site progress and planned schedule of work. Using emerging technologies and information system the DCM r e-engineer the traditional practice for monitoring the pr oject progress. This system can automatically interpr et CAD drawings of buildings and extract data on its str uctural components and store in database. It can also extract the engineering information fr om digital images and when these two databases ar e simulated the percentage of progress can be calculated and viewed in Micr osoft Project automatically. The application of DCM system for monitoring the project progress enables project management teams to better track and contr ols the productivity and quality of construction projects. The use of the DCM can help rengineer, construction manager and site engineer in monitoring and evaluating pr oject performance. This model will impr ove decision-making process and provides better mechanism for advanced pr oject management.
The Iterated Sigma Point Kalman Filter with Applications to Long Range Stereo

This paper investigates the use of statistical linearization to improve iterative non-linear least squares estimators. In particular, we look at improving long range stereo by filtering feature tracks from sequences of stereo pairs. A novel filter called the Iterated Sigma Point Kalman Filter (ISPKF) is developed from first principles; this filter is shown to achieve superior performance in terms of efficiency and accuracy when compared to the Extended Kalman Filter (EKF), Unscented Kalman Filter (UKF), and Gauss-Newton filter. We also compare the ISPKF to the optimal Batch filter and to a Gauss-Newton Smoothing filter. For the long range stereo problem the ISPKF comes closest to matching the performance of the full batch MLE estimator. Further, the ISPKF is demonstrated on real data in the context of modeling environment structure from long range stereo data.
Trauma to the corpus callosum: MR features.

The frequency, distribution, and appearance of corpus callosum injuries were evaluated with MR and CT in a prospective study of 78 patients with acute (n = 63) and chronic (n = 15) head injuries. Traumatic lesions of the corpus callosum were detected in 47% of patients. MR was significantly (p less than .001) more sensitive than CT in the detection of callosal injuries. MR and CT visualized 100% and 27%, respectively, of the traumatic callosal lesions that were detected in the study population. The majority of lesions were located in the splenium but a few were also found in the body and genu. Patients with callosal injuries had a significantly higher incidence of primary brainstem injury (p less than .02) as well as a greater number of subcortical gray-matter (p less than .05) and diffuse axonal "shear" (p less than .001) lesions. In addition, patients with callosal injuries had a significantly higher incidence of traumatic lesions of the septum pellucidum (p less than .007) and fornix (p less than .001). Intraventricular hemorrhage occurred significantly more often (p less than .002) in patients with callosal injuries, especially if traumatic lesions of the fornix or septum pellucidum were also present. Patients with callosal injuries had significantly lower initial Glasgow Coma Scale scores (mean, 6.6) than those without injuries (mean, 10.7) (p less than .001). Injury to the corpus callosum occurs much more often with nonfatal head injuries than had been believed previously.
Cashew cultivation, access to land and food security in Brong-Ahafo Region, Ghana:Preventing the intergenerational transmission of poverty

This research aimed to investigate the implications of changing agricultural land use from food production towards increased cashew cultivation for food security and poverty alleviation in Jaman North District, Brong-Ahafo Region of Ghana. Based on qualitative, participatory research with a total of 60 participants, the research found that increased cashew production had led to improvements in living standards for many farmers and their children over recent years. Global demand for cashew is projected to continue to grow rapidly in the immediate future and cashew-growing areas of Ghana are well placed to respond to this demand. Cashew farmers however were subject to price fluctuations in the value of Raw Cashew Nuts (RCN) due to unequal power relations with intermediaries and export buyer companies and global markets, in addition to other vulnerabilities that constrained the quality and quantity of cashew and food crops they could produce. The expansion of cashew plantations was leading to pressure on the remaining family lands available for food crop production, which community members feared could potentially compromise the food security of rural communities and the land inheritance of future generations.
Caffeine Inhibits the Activation of Hepatic Stellate Cells Induced by Acetaldehyde via Adenosine A2A Receptor Mediated by the cAMP/PKA/SRC/ERK1/2/P38 MAPK Signal Pathway

Hepatic stellate cell (HSC) activation is an essential event during alcoholic liver fibrosis. Evidence suggests that adenosine aggravates liver fibrosis via the adenosine A2A receptor (A2AR). Caffeine, which is being widely consumed during daily life, inhibits the action of adenosine. In this study, we attempted to validate the hypothesis that caffeine influences acetaldehyde-induced HSC activation by acting on A2AR. Acetaldehyde at 50, 100, 200, and 400 μM significantly increased HSC-T6 cells proliferation, and cell proliferation reached a maximum at 48 h after exposure to 200 μM acetaldehyde. Caffeine and the A2AR antagonist ZM241385 decreased the cell viability and inhibited the expression of procollagen type I and type III in acetaldehyde-induced HSC-T6 cells. In addition, the inhibitory effect of caffeine on the expression of procollagen type I was regulated by A2AR-mediated signal pathway involving cAMP, PKA, SRC, and ERK1/2. Interestingly, caffeine’s inhibitory effect on the expression of procollagen type III may depend upon the A2AR-mediated P38 MAPK-dependent pathway. Conclusions: Caffeine significantly inhibited acetaldehyde-induced HSC-T6 cells activation by distinct A2AR mediated signal pathway via inhibition of cAMP-PKA-SRC-ERK1/2 for procollagen type I and via P38 MAPK for procollagen type III.