Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Whose participation? whose knowledge?: exploring PD in Tanzania-Zanzibar and Sweden

In this paper we discuss two Participatory Design (PD) projects, one in Tanzania-Zanzibar and the other one in Sweden. In both countries the design process was done through the analysis of work practices involving both designers and users. The discussion focuses on a number of factors such as location, time and scene. We also ask how different projects can be that it is still possible to talk about PD as an overall participation and design approach. If PD is not a singular, definite, closed and fixed approach on the explicit layers, so how do these projects relate to each other when focusing on methods embracing the ambiguities of participation? The paper ends with a discussion of differences and similarities considering participation in the projects.
Drug Interaction Studies of Therapeutic Proteins or Monoclonal Antibodies

Drug interactions can alter the pharmacokinetics and/or pharmacodynamics of a drug. In pharmacokinetic drug interactions, the concentrations of 1 or more drugs are altered by another. This change in concentration in a given drug may be due to changes in absorption, distribution, metabolism, or elimination. The pharmacodynamic interaction can lead to additive, synergistic, or antagonistic effects of a drug. Drug interaction studies are regularly conducted with conventional drugs (small molecules), but very few drug interaction studies have been performed with macromolecules (therapeutic proteins or monoclonal antibodies). This is mainly because most macromolecules are not metabolized by the cytochrome P450 system, and their mechanism of elimination is complex. However, it has been shown in several studies that interferons can have an impact on the cytochrome P450 system that may alter the pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of a conventional drug when given with interferons. Therefore, it is important to evaluate the effect of other classes of macromolecules (cytokines, interleukins, monoclonal antibodies) on drug‐metabolizing enzymes. It is also imperative that the effects of conventional drugs on the pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of macromolecules be conducted. The present review encompasses several drug interaction studies that were conducted with macromolecules and highlights the impact of these studies on the pharmacokinetics and/or pharmacodynamics of the involved drugs.
A Demonstration of SpatialHadoop: An Efficient MapReduce Framework for Spatial Data

This demo presents SpatialHadoop as the first full-fledged MapReduce framework with native support for spatial data. SpatialHadoop is a comprehensive extension to Hadoop that pushes spatial data inside the core functionality of Hadoop. SpatialHadoop runs existing Hadoop programs as is, yet, it achieves order(s) of magnitude better performance than Hadoop when dealing with spatial data. SpatialHadoop employs a simple spatial high level language, a two-level spatial index structure, basic spatial components built inside the MapReduce layer, and three basic spatial operations: range queries, k-NN queries, and spatial join. Other spatial operations can be similarly deployed in SpatialHadoop. We demonstrate a real system prototype of SpatialHadoop running on an Amazon EC2 cluster against two sets of real spatial data obtained from Tiger Files and OpenStreetMap with sizes 60GB and 300GB, respectively.
STUDIES ON THE CORNEA

Physiological studies have demonstrated that ions, as well as large molecules such as hemoglobin or fluorescein, can diffuse across and within the cornea. Most of the substrates for corneal metabolism are obtained from aqueous humor filling the anterior chamber. In order to receive its nutrients and in order to maintain its normal conditions of hydration, the avascular cornea must transport relatively large amounts of solute and solvent across the cellular layers which cover this structure. It has been suggested in the past that there may be a morphological basis for the transport of large amounts of solvents and solutes by cells by the mechanism of pinocytosis. The use of electron-opaque markers to study fluid movements at the electron microscope magnification level was described by Wissig (29). The present study describes the fine structure of the normal rabbit cornea and the pathways of transport of colloidal particles by the cornea in vivo. Rabbit corneas were exposed in vivo to suspensions of saccharated iron oxide, thorium dioxide, or ferritin by injection of the material into the anterior chamber. In other experiments thorium dioxide or saccharated iron oxide was injected into the corneal stroma, producing a small bleb. Particles presented at the aqueous humor surface of the rabbit corneal endothelium are first attached to the cell surface and then pinocytosed. It appears that the particles are carried around the terminal bar by an intracellular pathway involving the pinocytosis of the particles and their subsequent transport in vesicles to the lateral cell margin basal to the terminal bar. Particles introduced at the basal surface of the endothelium (via blebs in the corneal stroma) are apparently carried through the endothelial cells in membrane-bounded vesicles without appearing in the intercellular space. There appears to be free diffusion of these particles through Descemet's membrane and the corneal stroma. The stromal cells take up large quantities of the particles when blebs are injected into the stroma.
A statistical interpretation of term specificity and its application in retrieval

The exhaustivity of document descriptions and the specificity of index terms are usually regarded as independent. It is suggested that specificity should be interpreted statistically, as a function of term use rather than of term meaning. The effects on retrieval of variations in term specificity are examined, experiments with three test collections showing in particular that frequently‐occurring terms are required for good overall performance. It is argued that terms should be weighted according to collection frequency, so that matches on less frequent, more specific, terms are of greater value than matches on frequent terms. Results for the test collections show that considerable improvements in performance are obtained with this very simple procedure.
A Stochastic Model of Evolution

We propose a stochastic model for evolution. Births and deaths of species occur with constant probabilities. Each new species is associated with a fitness sampled from the uniform distribution on (0,1). Every time there is a death event, the type that is killed is the one with the smallest fitness. We show that there is a sharp phase transition when the birth probability is larger than the death probability. The set of species with fitness higher than a certain critical value approach a uniform distribution. On the other hand all the species with fitness less than the critical disappear after a finite (random) time.
Deletion of Pr130 Interrupts Cardiac Development in Zebrafish

Protein phosphatase 2 regulatory subunit B, alpha (PPP2R3A), a regulatory subunit of protein phosphatase 2A (PP2A), is a major serine/threonine phosphatase that regulates crucial function in development and growth. Previous research has implied that PPP2R3A was involved in heart failure, and PR130, the largest transcription of PPP2R3A, functioning in the calcium release of sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR), plays an important role in the excitation-contraction (EC) coupling. To obtain a better understanding of PR130 functions in myocardium and cardiac development, two pr130-deletion zebrafish lines were generated using clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR)/CRISPR-associated proteins (Cas) system. Pr130-knockout zebrafish exhibited cardiac looping defects and decreased cardiac function (decreased fractional area and fractional shortening). Hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) staining demonstrated reduced cardiomyocytes. Subsequent transmission electron microscopy revealed that the bright and dark bands were narrowed and blurred, the Z- and M-lines were fogged, and the gaps between longitudinal myocardial fibers were increased. Additionally, increased apoptosis was observed in cardiomyocyte in pr130-knockout zebrafish compared to wild-type (WT). Taken together, our results suggest that pr130 is required for normal myocardium formation and efficient cardiac contractile function.
Case-Control Study of Enteropathogens Associated with Childhood Diarrhea in Dhaka, Bangladesh

ABSTRACT The International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh, is a major center for research into diarrheal diseases. The center treats more than 100,000 patients a year. To obtain useful information representative of all patients, a surveillance system in which a 4% systematic sample of all patients is studied in detail, including etiological agents of diarrhea, was installed in October 1979. The first paper on etiology for the surveillance patients was published in 1982, which identified a potential enteric pathogen in 66% of patients. In subsequent years, several new agents of diarrhea have been identified. To assess the importance of a broader spectrum of diarrheal agents including the ones identified relatively recently, we studied 814 children with diarrhea. The children were up to 5 years of age and were part of the surveillance system. They were matched with an equal number of community controls without diarrhea. The study was conducted from February 1993 to June 1994. A potential enteric pathogen was isolated from 74.8% of diarrheal children and 43.9% of control children (P = 0.0001). Even though the first study was not a case-control study, it identified rotavirus, Campylobacter jejuni, enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli,Shigella spp. , and Vibrio cholerae O1 as major pathogens. The present study identified these pathogens as being significantly associated with diarrhea. In addition, the study also identified six additional agents, including enteropathogenic E. coli, Aeromonas spp. , V. cholerae O139, enterotoxigenic Bacteroides fragilis, Clostridium difficile, and Cryptosporidium parvum, as being significantly associated with diarrhea. Plesiomonas shigelloides, Salmonella spp. , diffusely adherentE. coli, enteroaggregative E. coli,Entamoeba histolytica, and Giardia lamblia were not significantly associated with diarrhea. Enteroinvasive E. coli, enterohemorrhagic E. coli, and Cyclospora cayetanensis were not detected in any of the children. The major burden of diseases due to most pathogens occurred in the first year of life. As in the previous study, seasonal patterns were seen for diarrhea associated with rotavirus, V. cholerae, and enterotoxigenic E. coli, and infections with multiple pathogens were common. With a few exceptions, these findings are in agreement with those from other developing countries. This knowledge of a broader spectrum of etiological agents of diarrhea in the surveillance patients will help us plan studies into various aspects of diarrheal diseases in this population.
Multiwalled carbon nanotubes-magnetite reinforced thermoplastic polypropylene- natural rubber blends

The effect of multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs)-magnetite (Fe3O4) hybrid content on the magnetic and dynamic mechanical properties of thermoplastic polypropylene-natural rubber (TPNR) nanocomposites was evaluated. The effect of acid treatment of MWCNTs on the properties of nanocomposites has also been examined. TPNR/fillers nanocomposites were prepared via a Thermo Haake internal mixer using melt blending method with ball-milling technique as a pre-mixed process. The acid treatment successfully shortened the lengths and disentangled the crowds of MWCNTs. The improved dispersion of acid-treated MWCNTs-Fe3O4 in TPNR matrix and the enhanced interfacial adhesion between acid-treated MWCNTs-Fe3O4 and TPNR matrix increased the magnetic and dynamic mechanical properties. Acid-treated MWCNTs-Fe3O4 filled TPNR shows 10% improvement in storage modulus over neat TPNR due to the fine dispersion of MWCNTs in the TPNR matrix.
Estimating child sleep from parent report of time in bed: development and evaluation of adjustment approaches.

OBJECTIVE To develop and evaluate adjustment factors to convert parent-reported time in bed to an estimate of child sleep time consistent with objective measurement. METHODS A community sample of 217 children aged 4-9 years (mean age = 6.6 years) wore actigraph wristwatches to objectively measure sleep for 7 days while parents completed reports of child sleep each night. After examining the moderators of the discrepancy between parent reports and actigraphy, 3 adjustment factors were evaluated. RESULTS Parent report of child sleep overestimated nightly sleep duration by ∼24 min per night relative to actigraphy. Child age, gender, and sleep quality all had small or nonsignificant associations with correspondence between parent report and actigraph. Empirically derived adjustment factors significantly reduced the discrepancy between parent report and objective measurement. CONCLUSIONS Simple adjustment factors can enhance the correspondence and utility of parent reports of child sleep duration for clinical and research purposes.
$L_{p}$  Norm Localized Multiple Kernel Learning via Semi-Definite Programming

Our objective is to train SVM based Localized Multiple Kernel Learning with arbitrary <formula formulatype="inline"><tex Notation="TeX">$l_{p}$</tex> </formula>-norm constraint using the alternating optimization between the standard SVM solvers with the localized combination of base kernels and associated sample-specific kernel weights. Unfortunately, the latter forms a difficult <formula formulatype="inline"><tex Notation="TeX">$l_{p}$</tex></formula>-norm constraint quadratic optimization. In this letter, by approximating the <formula formulatype="inline"> <tex Notation="TeX">$l_{p}$</tex></formula>-norm using Taylor expansion, the problem of updating the localized kernel weights is reformulated as a non-convex quadratically constraint quadratic programming, and then solved via associated convex Semi-Definite Programming relaxation. Experiments on ten benchmark machine learning datasets demonstrate the advantages of our approach.
Taste test: children rate flavoring agents used with activated charcoal.

OBJECTIVE To compare flavoring agents added to activated charcoal (AC) to determine which mixture is most palatable to children. DESIGN Healthy volunteers between the ages of 3 and 17 years participated in a prospective masked trial. Five identical pitchers were prepared containing AC alone, AC with chocolate milk, AC with Coca-Cola (Coca-Cola Corp, Atlanta, Ga), AC with cherry-flavored syrup, and AC with sorbitol. Subjects tasted all 5 substances in random order. Children younger than 8 years rated taste on a 10-point Faces Scale. Children 8 years and older used a 100-point visual analog scale to rate taste and, separately, ease of swallowing. All children were asked which mixture was best. Ratings were compared using 1-way analysis of variance, and comparisons for all pairs were made using the Tukey test. P<. 05 was considered significant. RESULTS Mean age among the 53 children enrolled was 8.3 years; 23 children were younger than 8 years. Girls made up 52% of the group. Taste scores for chocolate milk, Coca-Cola, and cherry-flavored syrup were significantly better than those for no flavoring agent. The scores for ease of swallowing for Coca-Cola, chocolate milk, and cherry-flavored syrup were significantly better than those for either no flavoring agent or sorbitol. When asked to choose a single best flavoring agent, 39% chose chocolate milk, 23% picked Coca-Cola, and 23% chose cherry-flavored syrup. CONCLUSION The addition of chocolate milk, Coca-Cola, or cherry-flavored syrup to AC improves palatability for children and is favored over no flavoring agent or sorbitol.
Nutritional assessment: comparison of clinical assessment and objective variables for the prediction of length of hospital stay and readmission.

BACKGROUND Nutritional assessment commonly includes multiple nutrition indicators (NIs). To promote efficiency, a minimum set is needed for the diagnosis of malnutrition in the acute care setting. OBJECTIVE The objective was to compare the ability of different NIs to predict outcomes of length of hospital stay and readmission to refine the detection of malnutrition in acute care. DESIGN This was a prospective cohort study of 1022 patients recruited from 18 acute care hospitals (academic and community), from 8 provinces across Canada, between 1 July 2010 and 28 February 2013. Participants were patients aged ≥18 y admitted to medical and surgical wards. NIs measured at admission were subjective global assessment (SGA; SGA A = well nourished, SGA B = mild or moderate malnutrition, and SGA C = severe malnutrition), Nutrition Risk Screening (2002), body weight, midarm and calf circumference, serum albumin, handgrip strength (HGS), and patient-self assessment of food intake. Logistic regression determined the independent effect of NIs on the outcomes of length of hospital stay (<7 d and ≥7 d) and readmission within 30 d after discharge. RESULTS In total, 733 patients had complete NI data and were available for analysis. After we controlled for age, sex, and diagnosis, only SGA C (OR: 2.19; 95% CI: 1.28, 3.75), HGS (OR: 0.98; 95% CI: 0.96, 0.99 per kg of increase), and reduced food intake during the first week of hospitalization (OR: 1.51; 95% CI: 1.08, 2.11) were independent predictors of length of stay. SGA C (OR: 2.12; 95% CI: 1.24, 3.93) and HGS (OR: 0.96; 95% CI: 0.94, 0.98) but not food intake were independent predictors of 30-d readmission. CONCLUSIONS SGA, HGS, and food intake were independent predictors of outcomes for malnutrition. Because food intake in this study was judged days after admission and HGS has a wide range of normal values, SGA is the single best predictor and should be advocated as the primary measure for diagnosis of malnutrition. This study was registered at clinicaltrials.gov as NCT02351661.
A column-generation based branch-and-bound algorithm for sorting by reversals

We consider the problem of sorting a permutation by reversals (SBR), calling for the minimum number of reversals transforming a given permutation of f1; : : : ; ng into the identity permutation. SBR was inspired by computational biology applications , in particular genome rearrangement. We propose an exact branch-and-bound algorithm for SBR. A lower bound is computed by solving a linear program with a possibly exponential (in n) number of variables, by using column generation techniques. An eeective branching scheme is described, which is combined with a greedy algorithm capable of producing near{optimal solutions. The algorithm presented can solve to optimality SBR instances of considerably larger size with respect to previous existing methods.
Development of insula connectivity between ages 12 and 30 revealed by high angular resolution diffusion imaging

The insula, hidden deep within the Sylvian fissures, has proven difficult to study from a connectivity perspective. Most of our current information on the anatomical connectivity of the insula comes from studies of nonhuman primates and post mortem human dissections. To date, only two neuroimaging studies have successfully examined the connectivity of the insula. Here we examine how the connectivity of the insula develops between ages 12 and 30, in 307 young adolescent and adult subjects scanned with 4‐Tesla high angular resolution diffusion imaging (HARDI). The density of fiber connections between the insula and the frontal and parietal cortex decreased with age, but the connection density between the insula and the temporal cortex generally increased with age. This trajectory is in line with well‐known patterns of cortical development in these regions. In addition, males and females showed different developmental trajectories for the connection between the left insula and the left precentral gyrus. The insula plays many different roles, some of them affected in neuropsychiatric disorders; this information on the insula's connectivity may help efforts to elucidate mechanisms of brain disorders in which it is implicated. Hum Brain Mapp 35:1790–1800, 2014. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Both the autophagy and proteasomal pathways facilitate the Ubp3p-dependent depletion of a subset of translation and RNA turnover factors during nitrogen starvation in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Protein turnover is an important regulatory mechanism that facilitates cellular adaptation to changing environmental conditions. Previous studies have shown that ribosome abundance is reduced during nitrogen starvation by a selective autophagy mechanism termed ribophagy, which is dependent upon the deubiquitinase Ubp3p. In this study, we asked whether the abundance of various translation and RNA turnover factors are reduced following the onset of nitrogen starvation in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. We found distinct differences in the abundance of the proteins tested following nitrogen starvation: (1) The level of some did not change; (2) others were reduced with kinetics similar to ribophagy, and (3) a few proteins were rapidly depleted. Furthermore, different pathways differentially degraded the various proteins upon nitrogen starvation. The translation factors eRF3 and eIF4GI, and the decapping enhancer Pat1p, required an intact autophagy pathway for their depletion. In contrast, the deadenylase subunit Pop2p and the decapping enzyme Dcp2p were rapidly depleted by a proteasome-dependent mechanism. The proteasome-dependent depletion of Dcp2p and Pop2p was also induced by rapamycin, suggesting that the TOR1 pathway influences this pathway. Like ribophagy, depletion of eIF4GI, eRF3, Dcp2p, and Pop2p was dependent upon Ubp3p to varying extents. Together, our results suggest that the autophagy and proteasomal pathways degrade distinct translation and RNA turnover factors in a Ubp3p-dependent manner during nitrogen starvation. While ribophagy is thought to mediate the reutilization of scarce resources during nutrient limitation, our results suggest that the selective degradation of specific proteins could also facilitate a broader reprogramming of the post-transcriptional control of gene expression.
A specific role for phosphoinositide 3-kinase and AKT in osteoblasts?

The phosphoinositide 3-kinase and AKT (protein kinase B) signaling pathway (PI3K/AKT) plays a central role in the control of cell survival, growth, and proliferation throughout the body. With regard to bone, and particularly in osteoblasts, there is an increasing amount of evidence that the many signaling molecules exert some of their bone-specific effects in part via selectively activating some of the generic effects of the PI3K/AKT pathway in osteoblasts. There is further data demonstrating that PI3K/AKT has the capacity to specifically cross-talk with other signaling pathways and transcriptional networks controlling bone cells’ development in order to fine-tune the osteoblast phenotype. There is also evidence that perturbations in the PI3K/AKT pathway may well be responsible for certain bone pathologies. In this review, we discuss some of these findings and suggest that the PI3K/AKT pathway is a central nexus in the extensive network of extracellular signaling pathways that control the osteoblast.