Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Arctic Research of the Composition of the Troposphere from Aircraft and Satellites (ARCTAS) mission: design, execution, and first results

The NASA Arctic Research of the Composi- tion of the Troposphere from Aircraft and Satellites (ARC- TAS) mission was conducted in two 3-week deployments based in Alaska (April 2008) and western Canada (June-July 2008). Its goal was to better understand the factors driving current changes in Arctic atmospheric composition and cli- mate, including (1) influx of mid-latitude pollution, (2) bo- real forest fires, (3) aerosol radiative forcing, and (4) chem- ical processes. The June-July deployment was preceded by one week of flights over California (ARCTAS-CARB) fo- cused on (1) improving state emission inventories for green- house gases and aerosols, (2) providing observations to test and improve models of ozone and aerosol pollution. ARC- TAS involved three aircraft: a DC-8 with a detailed chem- ical payload, a P-3 with an extensive aerosol and radio- metric payload, and a B-200 with aerosol remote sensing instrumentation. The aircraft data augmented satellite ob- servations of Arctic atmospheric composition, in particular from the NASA A-Train. The spring phase (ARCTAS-A) revealed pervasive Asian pollution throughout the Arctic as well as significant European pollution below 2 km. Unusu-
A functional simian virus 40 origin of replication is required for the generation of a super T antigen with a molecular weight of 100,000 in transformed mouse cells

We used two recombinant plasmids, one containing wild-type simian virus 40 DNA (pSVR1) and the other containing a simian virus 40 genome with a defective origin of replication (pSVR1-origin-minus) to transfect NIH3T3 cells. Quantitation of T-antigen synthesis by indirect immunofluorescence at 48 h after transfection with either DNA revealed the same percentage of T-positive nuclei. The transformation frequencies observed were also similar with both plasmids. Immunoprecipitation of [35S]methionine-labeled cell extracts showed the expected 94,000-dalton (94K) T and 17K t antigens in all clones examined. In pSVR1-generated transformants, a 100K super T antigen was also detected. Transformants isolated from pSVR1-origin-minus transfection, however, never expressed this 100K super T antigen, and some of these clones originally also showed greatly reduced levels of 94K T antigen. However, after growth in culture for several generations, the levels of 94K T antigen synthesis in these underproducer clones were dramatically increased. A direct correlation between the amounts of T antigen synthesized and the ability to grow independently of anchorage was observed. The mechanism which brings about increasing levels of T-antigen synthesis in some of the clones is not clear, but it appears not to be due to changes in either the copy number or the methylation pattern of the integrated simian virus 40 DNA.
Elevated SP-1 Transcription Factor Expression and Activity Drives Basal and Hypoxia-induced Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor (VEGF) Expression in Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer

Background: VEGF is central to cancer angiogenesis; however, we have a poor understanding of how VEGF is regulated in lung tumors. Results: High levels of SP-1 transcription factor expression amplify basal and hypoxia-induced VEGF expression. Conclusion: SP-1 plays a key role in both genetic and hypoxic microenvironment regulation of VEGF in cancer. Significance: Targeting of both VEGF and SP-1 may provide a more effective cancer therapy. VEGF plays a central role in angiogenesis in cancer. Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) tumors have increased microvascular density, localized hypoxia, and high VEGF expression levels; however, there is a lack of understanding of how oncogenic and tumor microenvironment changes such as hypoxia lead to greater VEGF expression in lung and other cancers. We show that NSCLC cells secreted higher levels of VEGF than normal airway epithelial cells. Actinomycin D inhibited all NSCLC VEGF secretion, and VEGF minimal promoter-luciferase reporter constructs were constitutively active until the last 85 base pairs before the transcription start site containing three SP-1 transcription factor-binding sites; mutation of these VEGF promoter SP-1-binding sites eliminated VEGF promoter activity. Furthermore, dominant negative SP-1, mithramycin A, and SP-1 shRNA decreased VEGF promoter activity, whereas overexpression of SP-1 increased VEGF promoter activity. Chromatin immunoprecipitation assays demonstrated SP-1, p300, and PCA/F histone acetyltransferase binding and histone H4 hyperacetylation at the VEGF promoter in NSCLC cells. Cultured NSCLC cells expressed higher levels of SP-1 protein than normal airway epithelial cells, and double-fluorescence immunohistochemistry showed a strong correlation between SP-1 and VEGF in human NSCLC tumors. In addition, hypoxia-driven VEGF expression in NSCLC cells was SP-1-dependent, with hypoxia increasing SP-1 activity and binding to the VEGF promoter. These studies are the first to demonstrate that overexpression of SP-1 plays a central role in hypoxia-induced VEGF secretion.
The immunogenicity, safety, and efficacy of etanercept liquid administered once weekly in patients with rheumatoid arthritis.

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the immunogenicity, safety, and efficacy of 50 mg/mL liquid etanercept. METHODS In a multicenter, open-label study, adults with active rheumatoid arthritis (RA) received 50 mg/mL liquid etanercept subcutaneously once weekly for 24 weeks. Immunogenicity was assessed at baseline and weeks 24 and 28, safety at all study visits, and efficacy at baseline and weeks 12 and 24. RESULTS Of 222 treated patients, 88% completed the study; 81% were women; 84% were white; mean age was 53 years; mean RA duration was 10 years. Antibodies to etanercept, all non-neutralizing, were detected in 12 of 214 patients; 7 of the 12 were borderline positive (antibody titers <1:50). The presence of non-neutralizing anti-etanercept antibodies did not appear to affect clinical safety or efficacy. Few patients reported serious adverse events (6.3%), serious infections (2.3%), or withdrew because of adverse events (4.5%). Most adverse events were mild or moderate. The most common event, injection site reaction, occurred in 29.3% patients. At week 24, 63% of patients achieved an ACR20 response, 36% an ACR50 response, and 14% an ACR70 response. Similar responses were apparent by week 12. Week 24 mean improvement in the Health Assessment Questionnaire disability index scores was 0.6 points; improvement in the Short Form-36 Physical Component Score was 10.0 points. CONCLUSION The 50 mg/mL liquid etanercept formulation administered once weekly was well tolerated. The incidence of anti-etanercept antibodies, the nature and frequency of adverse events, and improvements in signs and symptoms of RA and patient physical function were similar to those in previous etanercept studies.
Does Scoliosis Have a Psychological Impact and Does Gender Make a Difference?

Study Design. A population-based case-control study, we identified adolescents with and without scoliosis in Minnesota who were 12 through 18 years of age. Matched control subjects were randomly selected from school children who did not have scoliosis or any other condition. Information on scoliosis was obtained by a self-administered questionnaire, the Adolescent Health Survey. Collected on more than 75,000 school age adolescents, with established validity and reliability, a secondary analysis of adolescents with scoliosis was performed as compared with a normative peer group. Objective. To describe and characterize the psychosocial impact of scoliosis on the areas of peer relations, body image, and health-compromising behavior, such as suicidal thought and alcohol consumption. Summary of Background Data. The impact of adolescent idiopathic scoliosis has not been assessed using generic health status measures appropriate for adolescents. Previous studies have concentrated on the health status of adults by measuring work status, marriage status, and other adult measures. The purpose of this study was to study the health status of patients with adolescent idiopathic scoliosis, using the Adolescent Health Survey, a generic health status measure with established validity and reliability. Methods. Body image, peer relations, social and high-risk behavior, and comparative health were assessed to determine if scoliosis was an independent risk factor and to determine if scoliosis was associated with these psychosocial issues. Results. Six hundred eighty-five cases of scoliosis were identified from the 34,706 adolescents. The prevalence was 1.97%. Of the 685 adolescents with scoliosis and their control subjects, the adjusted odds ratio for having suicidal thought among adolescents with scoliosis, compared to adolescents without scoliosis, was 1.40 (P value of 0.04) after adjustment for race, gender, socioeconomic status, and age. The adjusted odds ratio for having feelings about poor body development among adolescents with scoliosis was 1.82 (P value 0.001) compared with adolescents without scoliosis after adjustment for race, gender, socioeconomic status, and age. Scoliosis was an independent risk factor for suicidal thought, worry and concern over body development, and peer interactions after adjustment. Conclusion. Scoliosis is a significant risk factor for psychosocial issues and health-compromising behavior. Gender differences exist in male and female adolescents with scoliosis.
Intensive virtual reality-based training for upper limb motor function in chronic stroke: a feasibility study using a single case experimental design and fMRI

Abstract Purpose: To evaluate feasibility and neurophysiological changes after virtual reality (VR)-based training of upper limb (UL) movements. Method: Single-case A-B-A-design with two male stroke patients (P1:67 y and 50 y, 3.5 and 3 y after onset) with UL motor impairments, 45-min therapy sessions 5×/week over 4 weeks. Patients facing screen, used bimanual data gloves to control virtual arms. Three applications trained bimanual reaching, grasping, hand opening. Assessments during 2-week baseline, weekly during intervention, at 3-month follow-up (FU): Goal Attainment Scale (GAS), Chedoke Arm and Hand Activity Inventory (CAHAI), Chedoke-McMaster Stroke Assessment (CMSA), Extended Barthel Index (EBI), Motor Activity Log (MAL). Functional magnetic resonance imaging scans (FMRI) before, immediately after treatment and at FU. Results: P1 executed 5478 grasps (paretic arm). Improvements in CAHAI (+4) were maintained at FU. GAS changed to +1 post-test and +2 at FU. P2 executed 9835 grasps (paretic arm). CAHAI improvements (+13) were maintained at FU. GAS scores changed to −1 post-test and +1 at FU. MAL scores changed from 3.7 at pre-test to 5.5 post-test and 3.3 at FU. Conclusion: The VR-based intervention was feasible, safe, and intense. Adjustable application settings maintained training challenge and patient motivation. ADL-relevant UL functional improvements persisted at FU and were related to changed cortical activation patterns. Implications for Rehabilitation YouGrabber trains uni- and bimanual upper motor function. Its application is feasible, safe, and intense. The control of the virtual arms can be done in three main ways: (a) normal (b) virtual mirror therapy, or (c) virtual following. The mirroring feature provides an illusion of affected limb movements during the period when the affected upper limb (UL) is resting. The YouGrabber training led to ADL-relevant UL functional improvements that were still assessable 12 weeks after intervention finalization and were related to changed cortical activation patterns.
Automatic Cloud Resource Scaling Algorithm based on Long Short-Term Memory Recurrent Neural Network

Scalability is an important characteristic of cloud computing. With scalability, cost is minimized by provisioning and releasing resources according to demand. Most of current Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) providers deliver threshold-based auto-scaling techniques. However, setting up thresholds with right values that minimize cost and achieve Service Level Agreement is not an easy task, especially with variant and sudden workload changes. This paper has proposed dynamic threshold based auto-scaling algorithms that predict required resources using Long Short-Term Memory Recurrent Neural Network and auto-scale virtual resources based on predicted values. The proposed algorithms have been evaluated and compared with some of existing algorithms. Experimental results show that the proposed algorithms outperform other algorithms.
Tech break up: a research method for understanding people's attachment to their technology

Tech Break Ups are an early stage research method that enables researchers to gain insights into ways in which people are attached to technology through improvised "break-ups. " Informants verbally reflect on and formally end their relationships with technology that they previously used. The method was used in a study to understand peoples' relationship to technologies that enable creative work and reasons and moments for change in the relationship. This paper provides an overview of the method and its execution. The study reveals three primary factors of detachment for technologies that support creative work: changing self-identity, creative process, and creative ability. This case study suggests that the Tech Break Up Method can provide insights into product attachment to inform the design of new technology while simultaneously providing informants with an immediate positive experience through direct emotional expression to technology.
Long-term fertilization of a boreal Norway spruce forest increases the temperature sensitivity of soil organic carbon mineralization

Boreal ecosystems store one-third of global soil organic carbon (SOC) and are particularly sensitive to climate warming and higher nutrient inputs. Thus, a better description of how forest managements such as nutrient fertilization impact soil carbon (C) and its temperature sensitivity is needed to better predict feedbacks between C cycling and climate. The temperature sensitivity of in situ soil C respiration was investigated in a boreal forest, which has received long-term nutrient fertilization (22 years), and compared with the temperature sensitivity of C mineralization measured in the laboratory. We found that the fertilization treatment increased both the response of soil in situ CO2 effluxes to a warming treatment and the temperature sensitivity of C mineralization measured in the laboratory (Q10). These results suggested that soil C may be more sensitive to an increase in temperature in long-term fertilized in comparison with nutrient poor boreal ecosystems. Furthermore, the fertilization treatment modified the SOC content and the microbial community composition, but we found no direct relationship between either SOC or microbial changes and the temperature sensitivity of C mineralization. However, the relation between the soil C:N ratio and the fungal/bacterial ratio was changed in the combined warmed and fertilized treatment compared with the other treatments, which suggest that strong interaction mechanisms may occur between nutrient input and warming in boreal soils. Further research is needed to unravel into more details in how far soil organic matter and microbial community composition changes are responsible for the change in the temperature sensitivity of soil C under increasing mineral N inputs. Such research would help to take into account the effect of fertilization managements on soil C storage in C cycling numerical models.
Adaptive Asymptotic Tracking Control of Uncertain Time-Driven Switched Linear Systems

This technical note establishes a novel result for adaptive asymptotic tracking control of uncertain switched linear systems. The result exploits a recently proposed stability condition for switched systems. In particular, a time-varying positive definite Lyapunov function is used to develop a novel piecewise continuous model-reference adaptive law and a dwell-time switching law. In contrast with previous research, where asymptotic tracking was possible only in the presence of a common Lyapunov function for the reference models, in this work asymptotic tracking is shown in a more general setting. Additionally, in the presence of persistence of excitation, the controller parameter estimation errors will converge to zero asymptotically. The main contribution of this work consists in establishing a symmetry between adaptive control of classical non-switched linear systems and adaptive control of switched linear systems. A practical example with an electro-hydraulic system is adopted to illustrate the results.
Electronic Structure and Phase Transition in Ferroelectic Sn2P2S6 Crystal

An analysis of the P2S6 cluster electronic structure and its comparison with the crystal valence band in the paraelectric and ferroelectric phases has been done by first-principles calculations for Sn2P2S6 ferroelectrics. The origin of ferroelectricity has been outlined. It was established that the spontaneous polarization follows from the stereochemical activity of the electron lone pair of tin cations, which is determined by hybridization with P2S6 molecular orbitals. The chemical bonds covalence increase and rearrangement are related to the valence band changes at transition from the paraelectric phase to the ferroelectric phase.
Study of the Effect and Design Criteria of the Input Filter for Buck Converters With Peak Current-Mode Control Using a Novel System Block Diagram

The effect and design criteria of the input filter for buck converters with peak current-mode (PCM) control are researched using a novel system block diagram. With this diagram, a novel current loop transfer function is proposed to derive the design criteria that apply to designing the input filter. However, the input filter that is added to reduce electromagnetic interference will significantly change the dynamic property of the PCM-controlled buck converter. Therefore, the induced effect due to the input filter is examined. Finally, experimental results prove the accuracy of this deduction in both the circuit simulation and the circuit experiment.
Phosphodiesterase-5 Inhibition Mimics Intermittent Reoxygenation and Improves Cardioprotection in the Hypoxic Myocardium

Although chronic hypoxia is a claimed myocardial risk factor reducing tolerance to ischemia/reperfusion (I/R), intermittent reoxygenation has beneficial effects and enhances heart tolerance to I/R. Aim of the study: To test the hypothesis that, by mimicking intermittent reoxygenation, selective inhibition of phosphodiesterase-5 activity improves ischemia tolerance during hypoxia. Adult male Sprague-Dawley rats were exposed to hypoxia for 15 days (10% O2) and treated with placebo, sildenafil (1.4 mg/kg/day, i. p.), intermittent reoxygenation (1 h/day exposure to room air) or both. Controls were normoxic hearts. To assess tolerance to I/R all hearts were subjected to 30-min regional ischemia by left anterior descending coronary artery ligation followed by 3 h-reperfusion. Whereas hypoxia depressed tolerance to I/R, both sildenafil and intermittent reoxygenation reduced the infarct size without exhibiting cumulative effects. The changes in myocardial cGMP, apoptosis (DNA fragmentation), caspase-3 activity (alternative marker for cardiomyocyte apoptosis), eNOS phosphorylation and Akt activity paralleled the changes in cardioprotection. However, the level of plasma nitrates and nitrites was higher in the sildenafil+intermittent reoxygenation than sildenafil and intermittent reoxygenation groups, whereas total eNOS and Akt proteins were unchanged throughout. Conclusions: Sildenafil administration has the potential to mimic the cardioprotective effects led by intermittent reoxygenation, thereby opening the possibility to treat patients unable to be reoxygenated through a pharmacological modulation of NO-dependent mechanisms.
The relationship between self-compassion, self-efficacy, and control belief about learning in Turkish university students

In the present study, aims were (1) to determine gender differences in self-compassion, self-efficacy, and control belief for learning and (2) to examine the relationships between self-compassion, self-efficacy, and control belief for learning. Participants were 390 university students who completed a questionnaire package that included the Self-Compassion Scale, the Self-Efficacy Scale, and the Control Belief for Learning Scale. Results showed that there were no significant gender differences in self-compassion, self-efficacy, and control belief for learning. In correlation analysis, self-kindness correlated positively with self-efficacy and control belief for learning; self-judgment had a negative correlation with self-efficacy. Awareness of common humanity had positive correlations with self-efficacy and control belief for learning, and had negative correlations with self-judgment. On the other hand, isolation was associated negatively with self-efficacy and self-kindness, and positively with self-judgment. Mindfulness related positively to self-efficacy, and control belief for learning, and it was negatively related to self-judgment and isolation. Finally, it was found that over-identification had a negative correlation with self-efficacy and self-kindness, but positive correlations with self-judgment and isolation.
Dynamic Density Based Clustering

Dynamic clustering---how to efficiently maintain data clusters along with updates in the underlying dataset---is a difficult topic. This is especially true for density-based clustering, where objects are aggregated based on transitivity of proximity, under which deciding the cluster(s) of an object may require the inspection of numerous other objects. The phenomenon is unfortunate, given the popular usage of this clustering approach in many applications demanding data updates. Motivated by the above, we investigate the algorithmic principles for dynamic clustering by DBSCAN, a successful representative of density-based clustering, and ρ-approximate DBSCAN, proposed to bring down the computational hardness of the former on static data. Surprisingly, we prove that the ρ-approximate version suffers from the very same hardness when the dataset is fully dynamic, namely, when both insertions and deletions are allowed. We also show that this issue goes away as soon as tiny further relaxation is applied, yet still ensuring the same quality---known as the ``sandwich guarantee''---of ρ-approximate DBSCAN. Our algorithms guarantee near-constant update processing, and outperform existing approaches by a factor over two orders of magnitude.