Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Expression patterns of Aurora A and B kinases, Ki-67 and the estrogen and progesterone receptors determined using an endometriosis tissue microarray model.

BACKGROUND The roles of cell proliferation and genomic instability in endometriosis are highly debated aspects of the pathogenesis of this disease. Aurora A and B kinases play different important roles in cell cycle control and genomic instability and have never been studied in endometriosis. The aim of this study was to compare the expression levels of Aurora kinases, Ki-67 and hormone receptor in endometriotic tissue (ET) and normal endometrium. METHODS We retrospectively analysed 438 samples obtained from 194 patients affected by endometriosis and 28 samples from 28 patients with normal endometrium, which were all collected by the Pathology Department and Gynecologic Clinic of the University Hospital of Udine. A tissue microarray model was constructed to use immunohistochemistry to analyse the expression of Aurora A and B kinases, Ki-67 and the estrogen and progesterone receptors in ET and normal endometrium. RESULTS Aurora A and B kinases were expressed at a very low level in the majority of endometriosis core biopsies. Aurora A and B kinases, Ki-67 and the estrogen and progesterone receptors were expressed at a higher level in the proliferative endometrium than in the secretory endometrium and in ovarian and non-ovarian ET (P < 0.05). Additionally, Aurora B kinase, Ki-67 and the estrogen and progesterone receptors were more highly expressed in non-ovarian than ovarian ET (P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS Considering the low expression levels of Aurora A and B kinases in the majority of endometriosis core biopsies, the growth and survival of endometrial tissue outside the uterus cannot be explained by deregulation of this pathway. The analysed ectopic endometrium protein expression pattern resembled that of the secretory endometrium, and markers of proliferation and hormone receptors were expressed at lower levels in ovarian than in non-ovarian ET. The low level of hormone receptors and the consequent low levels of proliferation markers in ovarian ETs may be due to down-regulation by the ovary's hormone milieu.
Software package requirements and procurement

The paper outlines the problems of specifying requirements and deploying these requirements in the procurement of software packages. Despite the fact that software construction de novo is the exception rather than the rule, little or no support for the task of formulating requirements to support assessment and selection among existing software packages has been developed. We analyse the problems arising in this process and review related work. We outline the key components of a programme of research in this area.
Drug-susceptibility Patterns of Mycobacterium tuberculosis in Mpumalanga Province, South Africa: Possible Guiding Design of Retreatment Regimen

Multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) has been a cause of concern in both developed and developing countries. The prevalence of drug resistance in Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) isolates (n=692) from Mpumalanga province was assessed. In total, 692 (64%) MTB strains from cases with pulmonary TB were tested for susceptibility against rifampicin, isoniazid, ethambutol, and streptomycin using the MGIT 960 instrument. Two hundred and nine (30.2%) strains were resistant to one or more drugs. Resistance to one drug ranged from 1.4% for ethambutol to 17.7% for rifampicin. The prevalence of MDR-TB ranged from 6.7% for three drugs to 34% for four drugs, with significant predictors being patients’ age-groups of 25–54 years (p=0.0012) and >55 years (p=0.007). The result showed a high level (58.4%) of MDR-TB from cases in Mpumalanga province. To achieve a higher cure rate in this province, drug-susceptibility tests must be done for every case.
Dual Smoothing and Level Set Techniques for Variational Matrix Decomposition

We focus on the robust principal component analysis (RPCA) problem, and review a range of old and new convex formulations for the problem and its variants. We then review dual smoothing and level set techniques in convex optimization, present several novel theoretical results, and apply the techniques on the RPCA problem. In the final sections, we show a range of numerical experiments for simulated and real-world problems.
Scaling Foreign Exchange Volatility

When asset returns are normally distributed the risk of an asset over a long return interval may be estimated by scaling the risk from shorter return intervals. While it is well known that asset returns are not normally distributed a key empirical question concerns the effect that scaling the volatility of dependent processes will have on the pricing of related financial assets. This study provides an insight into this issue by investigating the return properties of the most important currencies traded in spot markets against the U.S. dollar: the Deutsche mark, the Swiss franc, the Japanese yen, and the British pound, during the period from January 1985 to December 1998. The novelty of this paper is that the volatility properties of the series are tested utilizing statistical procedures developed from fractal geometry after adjusting for dependence in the series, with the economic impact determined within an option-pricing framework. The results demonstrate that scaling risk underestimates the actual level of risk for all four series investigated. However while the call and put premiums on Deutsche mark, Swiss franc and yen options are too low, those on the English pound are not. In our discussion of the possible sources of option under-pricing both conditional heteroskedasticity and underpricing bias by the Black-Scholes model have been considered. However, these factors were unable to account for the very high levels of underpricing reported. In conclusion, these results highlight the complex behaviour of financial asset returns and the inability of general pricing models to completely and accurately describe this behaviour.
A continuous spectral aerosol-droplet microphysics model

A two-dimensional (2-D) continuous spectral aerosol-droplet microphysics model is presented and implemented into the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model for large-eddy simulations (LES) of warm clouds. Activation and regeneration of aerosols are treated explicitly in the calculation of condensation/evaporation. The model includes a 2-D spectrum that encompasses wet aerosol particles (i.e., haze droplets), cloud droplets, and drizzle droplets in a continuous and consistent manner and allows for the explicit tracking of aerosol size within cloud droplets due to collision-coalescence. The system of differential equations describing condensation/evaporation (i.e., mass conservation and energy conservation) is solved simultaneously within each grid cell. The model is demonstrated by simulating a marine stratocumulus deck for two different aerosol loadings (100 and 500 cm^(−3)), and comparison with the more traditional microphysics modeling approaches (both 1-D bin and bulk schemes) is evaluated. The simulations suggest that in a 1-D bin microphysics scheme, without regeneration, too few particles are produced and hence the mode of the droplet size spectrum occurs at a larger size relative to the 2-D bin model results. Moreover, with regeneration, the 1-D scheme produces too many small droplets and thus shifts the mode toward smaller sizes. These large shifts in the droplet size distribution can potentially have significant effects on the efficiency of the collision-coalescence process, fall speeds, and ultimately precipitation.
Moving Network Protection from Software to Hardware: An Energy Efficiency Analysis

Software-based network security is constantly challenged by the increase in network speeds and number of attacks. At the same time, mobile network access underscores the need for energy efficiency. In this paper, we present a new way to improve the throughput and to reduce the energy consumption of an anomaly-based intrusion detection system for probing attacks. Our framework implements the same classifier algorithm in software (C++) and in hardware (synthesizable VHDL), and then compares the energy efficiency of the two approaches. Our results for a decision tree classifier show that the hardware version consumed only 0.03% of the energy used by the same algorithm in software, even though the hardware version operates with a throughput that is 15 times that of the software version.
Fears of compassion: development of three self-report measures.

OBJECTIVES There is increasing evidence that helping people develop compassion for themselves and others has powerful impacts on negative affect and promotes positive affect. However, clinical observations suggest that some individuals, particularly those high in self-criticism, can find self-compassion and receiving compassion difficult and can be fearful of it. This study therefore developed measures of fear of: compassion for others, compassion from others, and compassion for self. We also explored the relationship of these fears with established compassion for self and compassion for others measures, self-criticism, attachment styles, and depression, anxiety, and stress. METHOD Students (N= 222) and therapists (N= 53) completed measures of fears of compassion, self-compassion, compassion for others, self-criticism, adult attachment, and psychopathology. RESULTS Fear of compassion for self was linked to fear of compassion from others, and both were associated with self-coldness, self-criticism, insecure attachment, and depression, anxiety, and stress. In a multiple regression, self-criticism was the only significant predictor of depression. CONCLUSION This study suggests the importance of exploring how and why some people may actively resist engaging in compassionate experiences or behaviours and be fearful of affiliative emotions in general. This has important implications for therapeutic interventions and the therapeutic relationship because affiliative emotions are major regulators of threat-based emotions.
Motives for Sharing in Developing Countries: Experimental Evidence from Jakarta

We implemented laboratory experiments in Jakarta, Indonesia, to identify motives for sharing, including baseline altruism, directed altruism, sanction aversion, and reciprocity. The study area is located on the periphery of the Metropolis of Jakarta, many of whose residents are migrants and are closely connected with informal institutions such as Arisan, a rotating savings and credit association in Indonesia. Using data from sample households, the experimental results show that transfers based on baseline altruism accounted for the largest amount.Because the difference in the transferred amounts arising from the revelation of dictators' identities was statistically insignificant, we combined the four motives into two: preference-related motives (baseline and directed altruism) and incentive-related motives (sanction aversion and reciprocity) for the examination of their association with real world behavior regarding sharing. The empirical results suggest the importance of incentive-related motives in explaining variations in the amount of income transfers received from and sent to others.
The Relationship between School and Youth Offending

The purpose of this research, conducted with a sample of young people in three New Zealand youth justice residential facilities, was to explore the compulsory school experience as perceived by young people who went on to commit serious criminal offences. By listening to their stories I hoped to identify the risk factors, if any, that schools contribute to the developmental pathways towards criminal offending. A significant finding was that although the school experience does not cause a young person to commit crimes, the cumulative effect of negative school experiences can result in a student’s alienation from the education system, aggravating pre-existing risk factors that lead a vulnerable person towards chronic criminal offending. What also emerged was the unique opportunity that schools provide to interrupt the pathway to youth offending through a process of early identification and timely intervention. YOUNG OFFENDERS IN NEW ZEALAND – AOTEAROA Although most young New Zealanders m ake significant, positive contributions to their families/whānau, peer groups, schools and communities, many children and young people offend at some stage while they are growing up. The majority do so in a limited way, committing only minor offences infrequently that may not come to the attention of the police. In 2007 there were 1,540 police apprehensions of 14- to 16-year-olds per 10,000 of the population for non-traffic offences, the majority of which were offences against property (see Figure 1). A significant number of these offences, according to New Zealand primary youth court judge Andrew Becroft, are committed by a small group of young people, a high proportion of whom are Māori (Becroft 2003, 2004a).
Immunomodulatory effects of sucupira (Pterodon pubescens) seed infusion on collagen-induced arthritis.

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the clinical and immunomodulatory efficacy of seed extracts from sucupira branca (Pterodon pubescens Benth.), a Brazilian anti-inflammatory folk medicine, against collagen II (CII)-induced arthritis (CIA) in mice. METHODS Mice were divided into 3 groups: 1) normal control mice received a vehicle (ethanol 15% in water); 2) mice with CIA received the vehicle; and 3) mice with CIA received extract from 1 mg sucupira seeds/day. The daily oral treatments started 21 days after the first collagen immunization, ending 4 weeks later. We analyzed the arthritic index, the histopathology of the joints, the serum anti-CII IgG antibody level, and the absolute counts of the CD4+, CD8+, CD4+CD69+ and CD8+CD69+ subsets of inguinal lymph nodes (LN). RESULTS Sucupira treatment strongly reduced the severity of arthritis (p < 0.001). Vehicle-treated CIA mice exhibited invasive synovial pannus and significant articular leukocyte infiltration, features that were reduced or absent in sucupira-treated mice. Mice with CIA exhibited twice the number of CD4+ and CD8+ LN cells found in control mice. Suctupira-treated mice exhibited these subsets in numbers comparable to the latter. A two-thirds decrease in the level of serum anti-CII IgG antibody and a normalization of the CD4+CD69+ LN cell number in treated mice hallmark a negative regulatory effect of sucupira on B- and CD4 T-cell activation, respectively. The CD8+CD69+ cell number remained roughly the same in the 3 groups. CONCLUSION The clinical and immunomodulatory effects of sucupira on CIA provides a further experimental basis for the popular use of sucupira in chronic inflammatory diseases.
External information processing versus property ascertaining: a discourse-pragmatic study of three yes/no question particles in Shishan (Hainan Island, China)

Abstract Drawing on naturally occurring conversation, the present study examines three utterance-final yes/no question particles, mi, o, and ang, in Shishan, a dialect of Lingao of the Tai-Kadai language family, spoken on northern Hainan Island (China). Both mi and o signal the proposition as deriving from an external information source (primarily preceding discourse). Mi marks simple, linear knowledge accruement/thought progression, based on external information, including plain registration of new information and simple inference. O signals conflicts between externally derived information vis-à-vis the speaker's pre-existing knowledge/expectation. Ang constructs a genuine query for unknown information, ascertaining whether the quality/characteristic, as coded in the predicate of the utterance, can ascribe to (i.e., ascribable as a property of) the entity represented by the sentential subject. The meaning of “property ascertaining” gives rise to the use of ang in various presequences (cf. Schegloff 1988).
Friendship and Fairness

Individuals involved in a continuous relationship (college roommates) and strangers allocated rewards for a task under conditions of either high or low performance. It was predicted and found that roomates would overlook differences in merit and choose an equality distribution rule, whereas strangers would choose equality when they performed poorly and merit when they excelled. Results are interpreted in terms of the important situation-defining effect of type of relationship.
A Note on K-Theory of Azumaya Algebras

For an Azumaya algebra A which is free over its centre R, we prove that K-theory of A is isomorphic to K-theory of R up to its rank torsions. We conclude that K i (A, ℤ/m) = K i (R, ℤ/m) for any m relatively prime to the rank and i ≥ 0. This covers, for example, K-theory of division algebras, K-theory of Azumaya algebras over semilocal rings, and K-theory of graded central simple algebras indexed by a totally ordered abelian group.
CYTOCHEMICAL LOCALIZATION OF OXIDATIVE ENZYMES IN HUMAN NERVE CELLS AND NEUROGLIA

The biological properties of a family of heterocyclic compounds known as tetrazolium salts were first described in 1941 (1, 2). The oxidation-reduction potentials of a number of these compounds are such as to permit their reduction by biological systems. Their value derives primarily from their color and solubility change on reduction, i.e. the colorless, soluble tetrazole is converted to the colored, insoluble formazan. Evidence from several laboratories has indicated that the intracellular reduction of these indicators is not accomplished directly by dehydrogenases or by reduced pyridine nucleotides but by a subsequent flavoprotein intermediate of the electron transport system (3-10). The term "diaphorase" has been used by some investigators to designate these flavoenzymes which act as specific dehydrogenases for the reduced forms of DPN (diphosphopyridine nucleotide) and TPN (triphosphopyridine nucleotide), respectively. These "diaphorases" were characterized by their ability to reduce methylene blue but not cytochrome C. It now appears that these "diaphorases" are closely associated with iron in their natural state. When prepared by methods preserving the associated metal ions, the highly purified products are capable of being specifically reduced by DPNH or TPNH and will, in turn, actively reduce cytochrome C. The intracellular reduction of tetrazolium ions, therefore, in all probability involves cytochrome C reductase (11-13). The introduction of a new ditetrazole, 2, 2-(p-nitrophenyl)5, 5'-diphenyl-2, 2'(3 ,3'dimethoxy-4 ,4' biphenylene) ditetrazolium chloride (Nitro-BT) by Seligman and his co-workers (14, 15), with its particularly favorable properties for cytochemical study, has permitted significant improvement in the demonstration of loci of oxidation-reduction within the cell. A histochemical study of human neural tissues utilizing Nitro-BT was undertaken as an extension of an investigation initiated by Wolf, Cowen and Antopol (16), demonstrating reduction of neotetrazolium in the satellite cells of cerebrospinal and sympathetic ganglia of the monkey.
‘Value added’ modern languages teaching in the classroom: an investigation into how teachers' use of classroom target language can aid pupils' communication skills

This paper presents some of the preliminary findings of a study into modern languages (ML) learning in five Scottish secondary schools. Five ML teachers were observed and audio-recorded over a period of several weeks while teaching their third-year classes (pupils aged 14–15 years). All the teachers used the target language extensively in their classrooms. The purpose of the study was two-fold: to observe how the teachers went about their work and to examine how pupils responded to the teachers' continuous input in the foreign language, with few mother tongue interjections. A sample of pupils was also interviewed. Despite a range of schools and ability levels of classes observed, the analysis of the data uncovered important similarities in the techniques the teachers used to promote pupils' language learning, which are the focus of this article.
CEO Narcissism and the Impact of Prior Board Experience on Corporate Strategy

We examine how chief executive officer (CEO) narcissism influences the interorganizational imitation of corporate strategy. We theorize that narcissistic CEOs are influenced more by the corporate strategies they experienced on other boards and less by the corporate strategies experienced by other directors. These effects are strengthened if the other firms to which the CEO has interlock ties have high status and if the CEO is powerful. Through longitudinal analyses of Fortune 500 companies’ decisions (from 1997 to 2006) related to the acquisition emphasis of a firm’s growth strategy and the firm’s level of international diversification, we show that narcissistic CEOs are influenced by corporate strategies that they witnessed at other firms much more than other CEOs. In addition, relatively narcissistic CEOs not only strongly resist the influence of other directors’ prior experience but also tend to demonstrate their superiority by adopting corporate strategies that are the opposite of what fellow directors’ prior experience would suggest. Our theory and results highlight how CEO narcissism limits directors’ influence over corporate strategy and influences CEOs’ learning and information processing in making strategic decisions.
Consumption, Dividends, and the Cross-Section of Equity Returns

We show that aggregate consumption risks embodied in cash flows can account for the puzzling differences in risk premia across book-to-market, momentum, and size-sorted portfolios. The dynamics of aggregate consumption and cash flow growth rates, modeled as a vector autoregression, are used to measure the consumption beta of discounted cash flows. Differences in these cash flow betas account for more than 60% of the cross-sectional variation in risk premia. The market price for risk in cash flows is highly significant. We argue that cash flow risk is important for interpreting differences in risk compensation across assets. Copyright 2005 by The American Finance Association.
Framing Responsibility for Political Issues

This article examines the influence of television news on viewers' attributions of responsibility for political issues. Television's systematic reliance on episodic as opposed to thematic depictions of political life elicits individualistic attributions of responsibility for national problems such as poverty and terrorism. These attributions emphasize the actions of private rather than governmental actors. By obscuring the connections between political problems and the actions or inactions of political leaders, television news trivializes political discourse and weakens the accountability of elected officials.