Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
C. elegans VANG-1 Modulates Life Span via Insulin/IGF-1-Like Signaling

The planar cell polarity (PCP) pathway is highly conserved from Drosophila to humans and a PCP-like pathway has recently been described in the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans. The developmental function of this pathway is to coordinate the orientation of cells or structures within the plane of an epithelium or to organize cell-cell intercalation required for correct morphogenesis. Here, we describe a novel role of VANG-1, the only C. elegans ortholog of the conserved PCP component Strabismus/Van Gogh. We show that two alleles of vang-1 and depletion of the protein by RNAi cause an increase of mean life span up to 40%. Consistent with the longevity phenotype vang-1 animals also show enhanced resistance to thermal- and oxidative stress and decreased lipofuscin accumulation. In addition, vang-1 mutants show defects like reduced brood size, decreased ovulation rate and prolonged reproductive span, which are also related to gerontogenes. The germline, but not the intestine or neurons, seems to be the primary site of vang-1 function. Life span extension in vang-1 mutants depends on the insulin/IGF-1-like receptor DAF-2 and DAF-16/FoxO transcription factor. RNAi against the phase II detoxification transcription factor SKN-1/Nrf2 also reduced vang-1 life span that might be explained by gradual inhibition of insulin/IGF-1-like signaling in vang-1. This is the first time that a key player of the PCP pathway is shown to be involved in the insulin/IGF-1-like signaling dependent modulation of life span in C. elegans.
Incorporating Content , Context and Process Evaluation into Action Design Research

This paper examines the integration of content, context and process (CCP), an humancentred approach to evaluation, into Action Design Research (ADR) to complement the latter's more prescribed technology-centred project and software audits of project progress. The examination is conducted through a case study in which successive ICT student teams are incrementally building, over several semesters, tailored, low cost business intelligence (BI) systems for an organisation in the not-for-profit (NFP) sector. The BI systems enhance performance monitoring and regulatory reporting for the NFP. The integration of CCP evaluation into ADR is showing unexpected outcomes.
Disability Identity and Use of Services Among College Students With Psychiatric Disabilities

With the increasing number of undergraduate students with psychiatric disabilities enrolling in college, and the disproportionately high attrition rates in this group, the current study aimed to understand these students’ experiences and identify barriers that they face in higher education contexts. Specifically, whereas past research suggests that students’ endorsement of a “disability identity” impacts the proactive utilization of valuable academic accommodations and promotes students’ academic success, little is known about the meanings that underlie students’ disability identity and how it is formed, shaped, and maintained within the college context. The current phenomenological study investigated the processes by which 5 undergraduate students with psychiatric disabilities in a large public research university made meaning of their disability, and how their disability identity motivated their use of disability support services. The analysis of a series of interviews with each student highlighted the dynamic nature of students’ disability identity and its formation through interactions with others and through participation in various activities and experiences in the college context.
The Effect of PPAR Agonists on the Migration of Mature and Immature Eosinophils

PPARγ agonists can either enhance or inhibit eosinophil migration, which is a sum of directional migration (chemotaxis) and random cell movement (chemokinesis). To date, the effects of PPAR agonists on chemokinesis have not been examined. This study investigates the effects of PPARα, δ, and γ agonists on eosinophil migration and chemokinesis. Eosinophils purified from blood of atopic donors were preincubated with rosiglitazone (PPARγ agonist), GW9578 (PPARα agonist), GW501516 (PPARδ agonist), or diluent. The effects of PPAR agonists were examined on eosinophil chemokinesis, eotaxin-induced migration of eosinophils, and migration of IL-5Rα+ CD34+ cells. Expressions of CCR3, phospho-p38, phospho-ERK, and calcium release were also measured in eosinophils after rosiglitazone treatment. Low concentrations of rosiglitazone, but not GW9578 or GW501516, increased chemokinesis of eosinophils (P = 0.0038), and SDF-1α-induced migration of immature eosinophils (P = 0.0538). Rosiglitazone had an effect on eosinophil calcium flux but had no effect on expression of CCR3 or phosphorylation of p38 or ERK. In contrast, high concentrations of rosiglitazone inhibited eosinophil migration (P = 0.0042). The effect of rosiglitazone on eosinophil migration and chemokinesis appears to be through modification of calcium signaling, which alludes to a novel PPAR-mediated mechanism to modulate eosinophil function.
Using Recommendation Systems for Explicit Knowledge Dissemination and Profiling Identification for Scientific and Engineering Contexts

In scientific and engineering scenarios we can notice the predominance of explicit knowledge being manipulated and distributed, which makes recommender systems very useful in this environment. But along with a knowledge management approach this kind of system can support the organization in better identifying competences, help engage users in a continuous and dynamic knowledge exchange, and customize knowledge dissemination as much as possible. In this work we detail a collaborative recommender system which is used in a Knowledge Management Environment for Scientific and Engineering contexts; we show how this approach can be aimed at a KM process and how this approach can deal with other kinds of knowledge used in research centers and universities.
Aging and Migration in a Transition Economy: The Case of China

Post-reform China has been experiencing two major demographic changes, an extraordinary amount of internal migration and an aging population. We present a general migration model which captures the idea that older migrants have shorter durations in the destination but possibly larger general human capital to transfer. Therefore, the incentive to migrate is ambiguously related to age. We test the theoretical implication using an extended modified gravity model, nuanced to fit the case of a transition economy. We find that shifts in China's age distribution have generated significant changes in the country's migration patterns.
Resource allocation techniques for cellular networks in TV white space spectrum

TV white space (TVWS) represents unused TV channels - resulting from the transition to digital over-the-air broadcasting - made available by FCC for unlicensed secondary users. This presents opportunities for new wireless networks and services, for example as a complement to licensed 4G cellular networks as a mechanism for data offloading, in analogy with the use of 802.11 WLAN hotspot networks for current 3G networks. However, certain design challenges must be addressed - TVWS spectrum is characterized by significant (spatial) variability in number and quality (measured by signal to interference and noise ratio) of available channels. Therefore, channel allocation - that seeks to optimize some overall network performance metric - must be adapted to this variation while complying with FCC regulations. In this paper, we explore the problem of resource allocation in TVWS spectrum by developing models for channel availability based on co-channel interferences among secondary users as well as primary-to-secondary interference. We define two formulations: a) based on maximizing number of allocated channels, and b) based on total network throughput. Techniques for solving these two formulations are explored and the results are compared through numerical evaluations.
On the genealogy of power, truth-telling and self-care : (neo)governmentality and globalisation

This thesis considers Foucault’s political value with respect to ‘governmentality’. It does this by attending to Foucault as an ethical philosopher, drawing on Foucault’s progressive use of genealogy as three interrelated axes (power, truth, and ethics). The ‘governmentality concept’ and Foucault’s political value can be fully realized only on this basis. ‘Governmentality’ is a critical concept that initially appears in a discussion of instrumentally rational power tied to a genealogy of power, but becomes more nuanced and, perhaps, relevant to contemporary forms of democratic governance when Foucault discusses ancient ethics and the Enlightenment. Therefore, the concern with how to govern the freedom of others interlinks with the problematisation of how to govern the self. Instead of reading Foucault’s discussion of parrhesia and enlightenment as merely sources that contribute to contemporary theories of democratic emancipation, I suggest that both Foucault’s preference for the Phaedo-Laches/Cynic parrhesia over the Alcibiades’ version—with its Neoplatonic connotations—and his condemnation of the Enlightenment as a project of man leading to a telos, generates both a genealogical critique of the present and an ethos of living. To put it differently, a genealogy of ethics is identified and further realised in this thesis. Genealogy driven by the ethical axis contemplates how power, truth-telling and self-care interact to interrupt ‘games of power’ by leading to ‘games of knowledge’ rather than ‘games of truth’. Building on David Owen’s ‘legislation versus orientation in thinking’, Thomas Osborne’s ‘scientific/therapeutic enlightenment versus aesthetic enlightenment’ and Nikolas Rose’s ‘ethopolitics’, I forge a twofold ‘neogovernmentality critique’. Thus, I give an overview of Foucault’s theory before laying the groundwork for a ‘neogovernmentality critique’. This overview attempts to bring the genealogy of antiquity and the genealogy of instrumental rationality together for the sake of understanding the present. The ‘critique’ contributes to the established Habermas-Foucault debate with respect to parrhesia and enlightenment, while focussing on the less discussed connection between governmentality and deliberative democracy. It also illuminates the discussion between Foucault and the reflexive sociology of Beck and Giddens with respect to the ideas of parrhesia and enlightenment, while elaborating the connections between governmentality and cosmopolitanism.
Homogeneous age dating of 55 Galactic globular clusters. Clues to the Galaxy formation mechanisms

We present homogeneous age determinations for a large sample of 55 Galactic globular clusters, which constitute about 30% of the total Galactic population. A study of their age distribution reveals that all clusters from the most metal poor ones up to intermediate metallicities are coeval, whereas at higher [Fe/H] an age spread exists, together with an age-metallicity relationship. At the same time, all clusters within a certain galactocentric distance appear coeval, whereas an age spread is present further away from the Galactic centre, without any correlation with distance. The precise value of [Fe/H] and galactocentric distance for the onset of the age spread and the slope of the age-metallicity relationship are strongly aﬀected by the as yet uncertain [Fe/H] scale. We discuss how diﬀerences in the adopted [Fe/H] scale and cluster sample size may explain discrepant results about the clusters age distribution reached by diﬀerent authors. Taking advantage of the large number of objects included in our sample, we also tested the possibility that age is the global second parameter which determines the Horizontal Branch morphology, and found indications that age could explain the global behaviour of the second parameter eﬀect.
Glutathione S-transferase gene polymorphisms and susceptibility to acute myeloid leukemia: meta-analyses.

OBJECTIVE A large body of evidence has shown the possible relevance of polymorphisms of the genes that encode glutathione S-transferase μ, π and θ (GSTM1, GSTP1 and GST1, respectively) to the susceptibility of acute myeloid leukemia, but the exact association still remains uncertain. Therefore, we performed a meta-analysis to derive a more precise estimation of the relationship. METHODS A comprehensive literature search of PubMed and Web of Knowledge electronic databases was conducted to collect relevant studies until 20 February 2014. References of the retrieved articles were also screened. The extracted data were statistically analyzed, and pooled odds ratios with 95% confidence intervals were calculated to estimate the association strength using Review Manager version 5.2. RESULTS Twenty-nine studies were included in the meta-analysis. The pooled analyses revealed that the GSTM1-null genotype was associated with an increased risk of acute myeloid leukemia in East Asians (P = 0.01; odds ratio = 1.22; 95% confidence interval = 1.05-1.42), and GSTT1-null genotype in Caucasians (P < 0.0001; odds ratio = 1.48; 95% confidence interval = 1.29-1.69). There was also a predilection towards the female gender for both of these polymorphisms. For GSTP1 Ile105Val polymorphism, no significant association was found under any contrast model. In addition, the presence of the double-null genotypes increased the risk of acute myeloid leukemia in both Caucasians and East Asians. CONCLUSIONS This meta-analysis suggested that heritable GST status could influence the risk of developing acute myeloid leukemia.
Measuring the Success of Community Science: The Northern California Household Exposure Study

Background: Environmental health research involving community participation has increased substantially since the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) environmental justice and community-based participatory research (CBPR) partnerships began in the mid-1990s. The goals of these partnerships are to inform and empower better decisions about exposures, foster trust, and generate scientific knowledge to reduce environmental health disparities in low-income, minority communities. Peer-reviewed publication and clinical health outcomes alone are inadequate criteria to judge the success of projects in meeting these goals; therefore, new strategies for evaluating success are needed. Objectives: We reviewed the methods used to evaluate our project, “Linking Breast Cancer Advocacy and Environmental Justice,” to help identify successful CBPR methods and to assist other teams in documenting effectiveness. Although our project precedes the development of the NIEHS Evaluation Metrics Manual, a schema to evaluate the success of projects funded through the Partnerships in Environmental Public Health (PEPH), our work reported here illustrates the record keeping and self-reflection anticipated in NIEHS’s PEPH. Discussion: Evaluation strategies should assess how CBPR partnerships meet the goals of all partners. Our partnership, which included two strong community-based organizations, produced a team that helped all partners gain organizational capacity. Environmental sampling in homes and reporting the results of that effort had community education and constituency-building benefits. Scientific results contributed to a court decision that required cumulative impact assessment for an oil refinery and to new policies for chemicals used in consumer products. All partners leveraged additional funding to extend their work. Conclusions: An appropriate evaluation strategy can demonstrate how CBPR projects can advance science, support community empowerment, increase environmental health literacy, and generate individual and policy action to protect health.
M a C R Oeconomic Be H Avior during Periods of Spec U L a T Ive Pressure or Re a L I G N M E N T : Evidence from Pa C I Fic Basin Economies

Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco. I would like to thank, without implicating, Ken Kasa, Joe Mattey, and Mark Spiegel for helpful comments. I am also grateful to Thuan-Luyen Le for research assistance. This paper uses nonparametric tests to provide a description of the " s t y l i zed fa c t s " a s s o c i ated with episodes of speculative pressure in foreign exchange markets in Pacific Basin Economies and to see whether these " stylized facts " appear to be broadly consistent with the alternative explanations for such episodes suggested in the theoretical literature. The empirical results are mixe d, but some are nonetheless suggestive. Larger budget deficits and growth in central bank domestic credit appear to be associated with episodes of depreciation rather than episodes of appreciation or periods of tranquility, indicating that unusually expansionary or contractionary policies may contribute to speculative pressures in foreign exchange markets. There also is some evidence that episodes of speculative pressure may arise when economic conditions make it costly for the government to maintain a stable exchange rate. In recent years, there has been renewed interest in the causes and characteristics of episodes in which speculators put strong upward or downward pressure on a currency. General interest has been motivated by the attack on the exchange rate mechanism of the European Monetary System in September 1992 and more recently by the devaluation and float of the Mexican peso in December 1994. In Asian economies, interest in speculative pressures is largely motivated by their experiences with surges in capital inflows (see Glick and Moreno, 1994). It is not easy to explain why an exchange rate may be subject to speculative pressure. One view is that macroeconomic policies that are inconsistent with a govern-ment's exchange rate target trigger speculative pressures. Another explanation is that the speculators' beliefs affect government policy and, specifically, the willingness of a government to defend a peg, triggering episodes of speculative pressure that may force adjustment in the exchange rate. For example, expectations of inflation may raise domestic interest rates, making it costly for the government to preserve a peg that it otherwise would have maintained, leading to devaluation and higher inflation. Under these conditions, market expectations take on the characteristics of self-fulfilling prophecies. The underlying source of speculative pressure in foreign exchange markets has important implications for policy. I f such pres …
Personalities of Introductory Course Instructors and Course Completion

Online courses are often criticized for having lower retention rates than traditional courses, especially introductory courses. This study aimed to determine whether there was a relationship between online and traditional instructor personality traits and course completion rate for introductory course instructors at a higher education institution in the Western United States. Instructor personality traits, as measured by the NEO Five-Factor Inventory-3 (NEO-FFI-3), were correlated with student course completion rate. Independent t tests were used to determine whether the relationship differed as a function of modality. There were no statistically significant relationships found between online and traditional instructor personality traits and course completion rate, but there were statistically significant differences between modalities for extroversion, agreeableness, and course completion rate. The results imply the traditional modality better supports individuals with these traits and allows for greater expression of the traits. The findings provide a greater understanding of the diversity among teachers in different modalities.
Postoperative Regulatory T-Cells and Natural Killer Cells in Stage I Nonsmall Cell Lung Cancer Underwent Video-assisted Thoracoscopic Lobectomy or Thoracotomy

Background:Regulatory T-cells (Treg) play key roles in suppressing cell-mediated immunity in cancer patients. Little is known about perioperative Treg fluctuations in nonsmall cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Video-assisted thoracoscopic (VATS) lobectomy, as a minimal invasive procedure for treating NSCLC, may have relatively less impact on the patient's immune system. This study aimed to observe perioperative dynamics of circulating Treg and natural killer (NK) cell levels in NSCLC patients who underwent major lobectomy by VATS or thoracotomy. Methods:Totally, 98 consecutive patients with stage I NSCLC were recruited and assigned into VATS or thoracotomy groups. Peripheral blood samples were taken on 1-day prior to operation, postoperative days (PODs) 1, 3, 7, 30, and 90. Circulating Treg and NK cell counts were assayed by flow cytometry, defined as CD4+CD25+CD127low cells in CD4+ lymphocytes and CD56+16+CD3− cells within CD45+ leukocytes respectively. With SPSS software version 21.0 (SPSS Inc., USA), differences between VATS and thoracotomy groups were determined by one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA), and differences between preoperative baseline and PODs in each group were evaluated by one-way ANOVA Dunnett t-test. Results:In both groups, postoperative Treg percentages were lower than preoperative status. No statistical difference was found between VATS and thoracotomy groups on PODs 1, 3, 7, and 30. On POD 90, Treg percentage in VATS group was significantly lower than in thoracotomy group (5.26 ± 2.75 vs. 6.99 ± 3.60, P = 0.012). However, a higher level of NK was found on all PODs except on POD 90 in VATS group, comparing to thoracotomy group. Conclusions:Lower Treg level on POD 90 and higher NK levels on PODs 1, 3, 7, 30 in VATS group might imply better preserved cell-mediated immune function in NSCLC patients, than those in thoracotomy group.
An Investigation into the Causes of Conflict in Zimbabwean Schools: A Case Study of Nkayi South Circuit

The present study sought to investigate the causes of conflict in selected Zimbabwean schools with particular reference to Nkayi South Circuit. This article draws on a qualitative inquiry of factors contributing towards various conflict situations in schools using a sample of 30 teachers and heads of schools from Matabeleland North in Zimbabwe selected by means of purposeful sampling. The research adopted a qualitative methodology using a case study design. Data were gathered by means of semi-structured interviews using an interview guide. Views of the respondents were audio-taped, transcribed and became the primary data for analysis. The findings indicated that most respondents felt that conflict affected the productivity of the members of the organization. Participants indicated that lack of communication; interpersonal relationships within the schools as well as procedural issues were the major causes of conflict. The study concluded that Conflict amongst educators in Zimbabwean schools is endemic. It went on to conclude that the major causes of conflict in schools include the following: competition for resources, gossiping or spreading malicious rumors about a work mate, poor communication, and incompetence in the work place, alcohol abuse, favoritism, power struggles, and lack of compensation for work done. The study recommends that school should have agreed mechanisms in place for groups of people who may be antagonistic to collectively discuss and resolve issues. Key words: School, conflict, circuit, disputes, conflict management