Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Variety of RNAs in Peripheral Blood Cells, Plasma, and Plasma Fractions

Human peripheral blood contains RNA in cells and in extracellular membrane vesicles, microvesicles and exosomes, as well as in cell-free ribonucleoproteins. Circulating mRNAs and noncoding RNAs, being internalized, possess the ability to modulate vital processes in recipient cells. In this study, with SOLiD sequencing technology, we performed identification, classification, and quantification of RNAs from blood fractions: cells, plasma, plasma vesicles pelleted at 16,000g and 160,000g, and vesicle-depleted plasma supernatant of healthy donors and non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients. It was determined that 16,000g blood plasma vesicles were enriched with cell-free mitochondria and with a set of mitochondrial RNAs. The variable RNA set of blood plasma 160,000g pellets reflected the prominent contribution of U1, U5, and U6 small nuclear RNAs' fragments and at the same time was characterized by a remarkable depletion of small nucleolar RNAs. Besides microRNAs, the variety of fragments of mRNAs and snoRNAs dominated in the set of circulating RNAs differentially expressed in blood fractions of NSCLC patients. Taken together, our data emphasize that not only extracellular microRNAs but also circulating fragments of messenger and small nuclear/nucleolar RNAs represent prominent classes of circulating regulatory ncRNAs as well as promising circulating biomarkers for the development of disease diagnostic approaches.
The Meaning of Bereavement Following Spousal Loss: A Qualitative Study of the Experiences of Older Adults

Bereavement and spousal loss lead to emotional and practical problems, especially for those in failing health. The aim of this study was to explore the meaning of bereavement in older adults after the death of their spouse. The participants took part in in-depth interviews. The themes and sub-themes were identified using a hermeneutic approach. One overall theme, Struggling to maintain pride and dignity; three themes; and six sub-themes emerged. The first theme, Understanding health decline, included one sub-theme: Difficulty asking for help. The second theme, A lonely painful struggle, had three sub-themes: Striving to avoid feeling sorry for oneself, Searching for meaning when life becomes meaningless, and Sensing that one’s spouse is present. In the third theme, Feeling misunderstood in the dialogue with others, two sub-themes emerged: Longing for support to achieve inclusion and Togetherness is the best medicine. It is vital to prevent older adults from carrying a permanent state of grief with them for the rest of their life.
Addressing Culturally Specific Mental Health Care Needs in the US: The Asian American Population

As the fastest growing minority group in the US, Asian American health needs and disparities are becoming critical areas to address, particularly in the mental health domain (Leong, Park, & Kalibatseva, 2013). Currently, the culturally specific needs of this group are not being adequately met. This includes appropriately serving low English proficiency (LEP) patients who experience different healthcare quality and outcomes than other individuals. Additionally, recognizing culturally unique perspectives, emotional burdens, and immigrant experiences is crucial in developing culturally tailored mental health interventions and shifting mental health toward individualized care. This work aims to examine current policies surrounding culturally competent care in the US, areas of critical need such as language competency, differences in cultural experience, mental health service access barriers, and current efforts/future steps to address the needs of this group.
Neglecting structural breaks when estimating and valuing dynamic correlations for asset allocation

ABSTRACT This paper assesses the econometric and economic value consequences of neglecting structural breaks in dynamic correlation models and in the context of asset allocation framework. It is shown that changes in the parameters of the conditional correlation process can lead to biased estimates of persistence. Monte Carlo simulations reveal that short-run persistence is downward biased while long-run persistence is severely upward biased, leading to spurious high persistence of shocks to conditional correlation. An application to stock returns supports these results and concludes that neglecting such structural shifts could lead to misleading decisions on portfolio diversification, hedging, and risk management.
A Genome-Wide Association Study for Primary Open Angle Glaucoma and Macular Degeneration Reveals Novel Loci

Glaucoma and age-related macular degeneration (AMD) are the two leading causes of visual loss in the United States. We utilized a novel study design to perform a genome-wide association for both primary open angle glaucoma (POAG) and AMD. This study design utilized a two-stage process for hypothesis generation and validation, in which each disease cohort was utilized as a control for the other. A total of 400 POAG patients and 400 AMD patients were ascertained and genotyped at 500,000 loci. This study identified a novel association of complement component 7 (C7) to POAG. Additionally, an association of central corneal thickness, a known risk factor for POAG, was found to be associated with ribophorin II (RPN2). Linked monogenic loci for POAG and AMD were also evaluated for evidence of association, none of which were found to be significantly associated. However, several yielded putative associations requiring validation. Our data suggest that POAG is more genetically complex than AMD, with no common risk alleles of large effect.
A fault-tolerant scheduling problem

A real-time system must be reliable if a failure to meet its timing specifications might endanger human life, damage equipment, or waste expensive resources. A deadline mechanism has been previously proposed to provide fault tolerance in real-time software systems. The mechanism trades the accuracy of the results of a service for timing precision. Two independent algorithms are provided for each service subject to a deadline. The primary algorithm produces a good quality service, although its real-time reliability may not be assured. The alternate algorithm is reliable and produces an acceptable response. An algorithm to generate an optimal schedule for the deadline mechanism is introduced, and a simple and efficient implementation is discussed. The schedule ensures the timely completion of the alternate algorithm despite a failure to complete the primary algorithm within real time.
Economic Insights from Internet Auctions

This paper surveys recent studies of internet auctions. Four main areas of research are summarized. First, we survey several studies that document and attempt to explain the frequently observed sniping, or last-second bidding behavior, in these auctions. Second, we summarize several methods proposed to quantify the distortions caused by asymmetric information in these markets, most notably due to the winner's curse. Third, we explore research about the role of reputation mechanisms installed to help combat these distortions. Finally, we discuss what internet auctions have to teach us about auction design.
British Columbia's Islands Trust on the local government continuum : administrative agency or local self-government?

The Islands Trust is a local institution established by the British Columbia government under the I s l a n d s T r u s t A c t in 1974 with the unique mandate to "preserve and protect" the lslands of Georgia Strait and Howe Sound. The Islands Trust was initially composed of locally elected trustees and I I I 1 dppoi~ltees, now directly elected local trustee:; dild ind~rect ly elected regional trustees only. The Islands 'Trust was formed to attempt to address the problems of rapld (level opn~ent and the lack of adequate governance on these Gulf Islands. This thesis examines the Islands Trust to assess whct her t he I slands Trust can be considered a form of local government. The method of assessment was first to develop I a I y i 1 f ramework of formal characterist ics of hdsi:; for t he analysis and was applied to the Islands TI u s t : i t was i ~ i i t ial ly const it uted and till-ough ~ t s ubsequent clidnges over the past twenty years. The conclusions of this study are that when the Islands 1 1 i : t was cstdblished it demonstrated vel-y few formal c'lld~ dct er i st i c:; of qovernment . The Trust was establ lshed to t I I I 1 1 l 1 t i i t : i I t I I I . Amendment s to t lit. :70111nq powers from t h e reglor ia l districts t o t h e Isl311ds T r u s t s t renq t hened t h e T r u s t In terms of formal characteristics of government. I n 1 9 8 3 t h e s e powers were r u r t d l 1 e d . A comprehensive r ev l s lo r i of t h e I s l a ~ ~ d s T l u s t Act 111 1 9 8 9 a l s o a f f e c t e d T r u s t governance i n terms of t h e s e
The Role of Actin Turnover in Retrograde Actin Network Flow in Neuronal Growth Cones

The balance of actin filament polymerization and depolymerization maintains a steady state network treadmill in neuronal growth cones essential for motility and guidance. Here we have investigated the connection between depolymerization and treadmilling dynamics. We show that polymerization-competent barbed ends are concentrated at the leading edge and depolymerization is distributed throughout the peripheral domain. We found a high-to-low G-actin gradient between peripheral and central domains. Inhibiting turnover with jasplakinolide collapsed this gradient and lowered leading edge barbed end density. Ultrastructural analysis showed dramatic reduction of leading edge actin filament density and filament accumulation in central regions. Live cell imaging revealed that the leading edge retracted even as retrograde actin flow rate decreased exponentially. Inhibition of myosin II activity before jasplakinolide treatment lowered baseline retrograde flow rates and prevented leading edge retraction. Myosin II activity preferentially affected filopodial bundle disassembly distinct from the global effects of jasplakinolide on network turnover. We propose that growth cone retraction following turnover inhibition resulted from the persistence of myosin II contractility even as leading edge assembly rates decreased. The buildup of actin filaments in central regions combined with monomer depletion and reduced polymerization from barbed ends suggests a mechanism for the observed exponential decay in actin retrograde flow. Our results show that growth cone motility is critically dependent on continuous disassembly of the peripheral actin network.
Investigating Temporal Effects of Value and Risk Perceptions, and Product Satisfaction on Behavioral Intentions-Longitudinal Study

This study investigates changes in the relationship between product satisfaction and behavioral intention based on perceived value and risk over time in the context of smartphones, which is a typical product in the issue of smart devices these days. As the smartphone market is a typical product market that changes rapidly, changes in user needs appear largely over time, according to improving product performance and the turning of competitive environments. Therefore, a study of the contemporary time as a parameter in the smartphone market is assessed as offering very important implications. A study of Ha & Son [7] has confirmed change over time in the relationship between product usage satisfaction and loyalty intentions based on performance and financial risk. However, it has used a portion of risk factors and provider’s overall satisfaction, switching cost and stipulated time to moderate variables, so it is necessary to extend the study on relationships between generally perceived risk and value. Thus, this study focuses change overtime in the relationship, perceived value, perceived risk and time for satisfaction and behavioral intention, based on a traditional consumption-system approach by Mittal, Kumar and Tsiros [27]. The purpose of this study is to research changes of value and risk overtime that are inherent in the psychology of customers in mobile service, product and related industries as well as the smartphone market. Findings show that perceived value and risk have an influence on product satisfaction positively and negatively at time points T and T+1, and that product satisfaction has an effect on behavioral intention [10]. However, while perceived value affects behavioral intention directly, perceived risk does not. Carryover effects appear significantly for all variables, perceived value, perceived risk, product satisfaction and behavioral intention. In this study, through finding the changes in customer’s satisfaction and intention and the effect between earlier time and continuous time, it provides theoretical implications through the extending of previous research and managerial implications to change the perception of customers due to the time variable.
Fire emission heights in the climate system – Part 2: Impact on transport, black carbon concentrations and radiation

Abstract. Wildfires represent a major source for aerosols impacting atmospheric radiation, atmospheric chemistry and cloud micro-physical properties. Previous case studies indicated that the height of the aerosol–radiation interaction may crucially affect atmospheric radiation, but the sensitivity to emission heights has been examined with only a few models and is still uncertain. In this study we use the general circulation model ECHAM6 extended by the aerosol module HAM2 to investigate the impact of wildfire emission heights on atmospheric long-range transport, black carbon (BC) concentrations and atmospheric radiation. We simulate the wildfire aerosol release using either various versions of a semi-empirical plume height parametrization or prescribed standard emission heights in ECHAM6-HAM2. Extreme scenarios of near-surface or free-tropospheric-only injections provide lower and upper constraints on the emission height climate impact. We find relative changes in mean global atmospheric BC burden of up to 7.9±4.4 % caused by average changes in emission heights of 1.5–3.5 km. Regionally, changes in BC burden exceed 30–40 % in the major biomass burning regions. The model evaluation of aerosol optical thickness (AOT) against Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS), AErosol RObotic NETwork (AERONET) and Cloud–Aerosol Lidar with Orthogonal Polarization (CALIOP) observations indicates that the implementation of a plume height parametrization slightly reduces the ECHAM6-HAM2 biases regionally, but on the global scale these improvements in model performance are small. For prescribed emission release at the surface, wildfire emissions entail a total sky top-of-atmosphere (TOA) radiative forcing (RF) of −0.16±0.06 W m−2. The application of a plume height parametrization which agrees reasonably well with observations introduces a slightly stronger negative TOA RF of −0.20±0.07 W m−2. The standard ECHAM6-HAM2 model in which 25 % of the wildfire emissions are injected into the free troposphere (FT) and 75 % into the planetary boundary layer (PBL), leads to a TOA RF of −0.24±0.06 W m−2. Overall, we conclude that simple plume height parametrizations provide sufficient representations of emission heights for global climate modeling. Significant improvements in aerosol wildfire modeling likely depend on better emission inventories and aerosol process modeling rather than on improved emission height parametrizations.
Normalized Cut Group Clustering of Resting-State fMRI Data

Background Functional brain imaging studies have indicated that distinct anatomical brain regions can show coherent spontaneous neuronal activity during rest. Regions that show such correlated behavior are said to form resting-state networks (RSNs). RSNs have been investigated using seed-dependent functional connectivity maps and by using a number of model-free methods. However, examining RSNs across a group of subjects is still a complex task and often involves human input in selecting meaningful networks. Methodology/Principal Findings We report on a voxel based model-free normalized cut graph clustering approach with whole brain coverage for group analysis of resting-state data, in which the number of RSNs is computed as an optimal clustering fit of the data. Inter-voxel correlations of time-series are grouped at the individual level and the consistency of the resulting networks across subjects is clustered at the group level, defining the group RSNs. We scanned a group of 26 subjects at rest with a fast BOLD sensitive fMRI scanning protocol on a 3 Tesla MR scanner. Conclusions/Significance An optimal group clustering fit revealed 7 RSNs. The 7 RSNs included motor/visual, auditory and attention networks and the frequently reported default mode network. The found RSNs showed large overlap with recently reported resting-state results and support the idea of the formation of spatially distinct RSNs during rest in the human brain.
Relationship between smartphone addiction and physical activity in Chinese international students in Korea

Background and Aims Excessive usage of smartphones may induce social problems, such as depression and impairment of social and emotional functioning. Moreover, its usage can impede physical activity, but the relationship between smartphone addiction and physical activity is obscure. Therefore, we examined the relationship and the impact of excessive smartphone use on physical activity. Methods This study collected data through the structured questionnaire consisting of general characteristics, the number and hours of smartphone usage, and the Smartphone Addiction Proneness Scale (SAPS) from 110 Chinese international students in Korea. The body composition and physical activity, such as the total daily number of steps and consumed calories, were measured. Results In this study, high-risk smartphone users showed less physical activity, such as the total number of steps taken and the average consumed calories per day. Moreover, their body composition, such as muscle mass and fat mass, was significantly different. Among these factors, the hours of smartphone use revealed the proportional relationship with smartphone addiction (β = 0.209, p = 0.026), while the average number of walking steps per day showed a significant reverse proportional tendency in participants with smartphone addiction (β = –0.883, p < 0.001). Conclusions Participants with smartphone addiction were less likely to walk for each day. Namely, smartphone addiction may negatively influence physical health by reducing the amount of physical activity, such as walking, resulting in an increase of fat mass and a decrease of muscle mass associated with adverse health consequences.
High performance layout-friendly 64-bit priority encoder utilizing parallel priority look-ahead

In this paper, a high-performance priority encoder is presented by using full custom approach. The proposed encoder provides both high- and low-priority functional with scalable design structure through a parallel look-ahead structure. A prefixing architecture is applied to minimize the critical path propagation delay and maximize the operating frequency. As a result, the proposed encoder is significant reduce the total critical delay by 53%, and the number of transistors by 7%, in addition it provides a regulated in building higher-order encoders. The results are conducted for different encoder inputs through TSMC 130nm CMOS technology.
Doing Well by Doing Good: A Study of the Effects of a Service-Learning Experience on Student Success. ASHE Annual Meeting Paper.

This study explored the effects of service learning on student success in college. The study consisted of 286 students enrolled in six paired community college courses in various disciplines. One section of each pair was taught using traditional subject matter and course materials, while the other section of each pair was required to participate in a 20-hour service learning activity in addition to the regular course curriculum. Participating faculty completed questionnaires and interviews regarding the courses, and students completed end-of-course evaluations. The results indicated that, overall, students who participated in the sections with a service learning requirement achieved higher final course grades and reported greater satisfaction with the course. In addition, faculty members who taught the service learning sections reported that class discussions were more stimulating, the sections seemed more vital in terms of student involvement, and the students seemed more challenged academically than in the traditional instruction sections. (Contains 27 references.) (MDM) ******************************************************************************** Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. ******************************************************************************** DOING WELL BY DOING GOOD: A STUDY OF THE EFFECTS OF A SERVICE-LEARNING EXPERIENCE
Context-specific distractors rejection: contextual cues control long-term habituation of attentional capture by abrupt onsets

ABSTRACT The possibility to counteract visual distraction is fundamental for an efficient interaction with the environment, particularly when a salient but irrelevant stimulation repeatedly impinges our visual system. Previous studies have shown that such unwanted attentional capture is subject to habituation, a widespread form of behavioural plasticity that allows rejecting the unwanted stimulation. Although habituation is generally considered to be a non-associative form of learning, here we directly tested the possibility that habituation of attentional capture triggered by a salient onset is context specific. In two experiments we showed that distractor filtering achieved via habituation was specific for the visual context (naturalistic or geometric) in which the distractor was presented. When the same distractor presented during the training phase appeared in a new context in the test phase, a recovery of the previously habituated capture was observed. By contrast, no recovery of capture was found when the background did not change. Habituation mechanisms provide a straightforward explanation for our findings, which show that distractor filtering is achieved by taking into account the spatial context in which the distracting stimulus is encountered.
The merit factor of binary arrays derived from the quadratic character

We calculate the asymptotic merit factor, under all cyclic rotations of rows and columns, of two families of binary two-dimensional arrays derived from the quadratic character. The arrays in these families have size p x q, where p and q are not necessarily distinct odd primes, and can be considered as two-dimensional generalisations of a Legendre sequence. The asymptotic values of the merit factor of the two families are generally different, although the maximum asymptotic merit factor, taken over all cyclic rotations of rows and columns, equals 36/13 for both families. These are the first non-trivial theoretical results for the asymptotic merit factor of families of truly two-dimensional binary arrays.
Distinct types of hubs in human dynamic networks

The emergence of Delay Tolerant Networks (DTNs) has culminated in a new generation of wireless networking. New communication paradigms using dynamic interconnectedness as people encounter each other lead towards a world where digital traffic flows. We focus on human-to-human communication in such environments, which exhibits the characteristics of social networks. Among various social contexts, we examine hubs in dynamic human networks. Hubs are highly connected nodes within the network. This paper describe hubs in time-dependent netwowrks and two distinct types of hubs: party and date hubs from real world connectivity traces.