Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Spi-C Has Opposing Effects to PU.1 on Gene Expression in Progenitor B Cells1

The Ets transcription factor Spi-C, expressed in B cells and macrophages, is closely related to PU.1 and has the ability to recognize the same DNA consensus sequence. However, the function of Spi-C has yet to be determined. The purpose of this study is to further examine Spi-C activity in B cell development. First, using retroviral vectors to infect PU.1−/− fetal liver progenitors, Spi-C was found to be inefficient at inducing cytokine-dependent proliferation and differentiation of progenitor B (pro-B) cells or macrophages relative to PU.1 or Spi-B. Next, Spi-C was ectopically expressed in fetal liver-derived, IL-7-dependent pro-B cell lines. Wild-type (WT) pro-B cells ectopically expressing Spi-C (WT-Spi-C) have several phenotypic characteristics of pre-B cells such as increased CD25 and decreased c-Kit surface expression. In addition, WT-Spi-C pro-B cells express increased levels of IgH sterile transcripts and reduced levels of expression and transcription of the FcγRIIb gene. Gel-shift analysis suggests that Spi-C, ectopically expressed in pro-B cells, can bind PU.1 consensus sites in the IgH intronic enhancer and FcγRIIb promoter. Transient transfection analysis demonstrated that PU.1 functions to repress the IgH intronic enhancer and activate the FcγRIIb promoter, while Spi-C opposes these activities. WT-Spi-C pro-B cells have reduced levels of dimethylation on lysine 9 of histone H3 within the IgH 3′ regulatory region, indicating that Spi-C can contribute to removal of repressive features in the IgH locus. Overall, these studies suggest that Spi-C may promote B cell differentiation by modulating the activity of PU.1-dependent genes.
Representation Theory of Superconformal Algebras and the Kac-Roan-Wakimoto Conjecture

We study the representation theory of the superconformal algebra $W_k(g,f_{\theta})$ associated with a minimal gradation of $g$. Here, $g$ is a simple finite-dimensional Lie superalgebra with a non-degenerate, even supersymmetric invariant bilinear form. Thus, $W_k(g,f_{\theta})$ can be one of the well-known superconformal algebras including the Virasoro algebra, the Bershadsky-Polyakov algebra, the Neveu-Schwarz algebra, the Bershadsky-Knizhnik algebras, the N=2 superconformal algebra, the N=4 superconformal algebra, the N=3 superconformal algebra and the big N=4 superconformal algebra. We prove the conjecture of V. G. Kac, S. -S. Roan and M. Wakimoto for $W_k(g,f_{\theta})$. In fact, we show that any irreducible highest weight character of $W_k(g,f_{\theta})$ at any level $k\in C$ is determined by the corresponding irreducible highest weight character of the Kac-Moody affinization of $g$.
Low-Complexity Particle Swarm Optimization for Time-Critical Applications

Particle swam optimization (PSO) is a popular stochastic optimization method that has found wide applications in diverse fields. However, PSO suffers from high computational complexity and slow convergence speed. High computational complexity hinders its use in applications that have limited power resources while slow convergence speed makes it unsuitable for time critical applications. In this paper, we propose two techniques to overcome these limitations. The first technique reduces the computational complexity of PSO while the second technique speeds up its convergence. These techniques can be applied, either separately or in conjunction, to any existing PSO variant. The proposed techniques are robust to the number of dimensions of the optimization problem. Simulation results are presented for the proposed techniques applied to the standard PSO as well as to several PSO variants. The results show that the use of both these techniques in conjunction results in a reduction in the number of computations required as well as faster convergence speed while maintaining an acceptable error performance for time-critical applications.
Thermal, mechanical and morphological properties of Nut-shells of Argan /PP composites treated with MAPP

This article presents the thermal, mechanical and morphological properties of Nut-shells of Argan/PP composites compared with Talc/PP composites. The effect of content, particles size and MAPP as coupling agent (5 wt.%) on the thermal, mechanical and morphological properties of the composites were also investigated. Thermal degradation takes place in three steps. In the first step, the composites and the matrix have a similar stability. In the second step, the matrix shows a slightly better stability than the composites. In the last step, the composites show a better stability than the matrix. But, the particles size has no significant effect on the thermal degradation of the composites. The experimental results reveal that the tensile strength tended to decrease with increasing NA particles size and content. Tensile modulus shows an increasing trend with increase in particle content. The morphological properties of surface were studied using Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM).
Impatience as Selfishness

Time preference is modelled as a current self that overcomes selfishness by incurring a cognitive cost of empathizing with her future selves. Such a model unifies disparate well-known experimental findings. Behavioral foundations are provided by exploiting the idea that higher stakes provide an incentive for the exertion of higher effort, so that changes in the agent's impatience with respect to the scale of outcomes pin down the underlying process. The behavioral content of limited cognitive resources is shown to lie in violations of Separability.
Fast discovery and the generalization of strong jumping emerging patterns for building compact and accurate classifiers

Classification of large data sets is an important data mining problem that has wide applications. Jumping emerging patterns (JEPs) are those itemsets whose supports increase abruptly from zero in one data set to nonzero in another data set. In this paper, we propose a fast, accurate, and less complex classifier based on a subset of JEPs, called strong jumping emerging patterns (SJEPs). The support constraint of SJEP removes potentially less useful JEPs while retaining those with high discriminating power. Previous algorithms based on the manipulation of border as well as consEPMiner cannot directly mine SJEPs. In this paper, we present a new tree-based algorithm for their efficient discovery. Experimental results show that: 1) the training of our classifier is typically 10 times faster than earlier approaches, 2) our classifier uses much fewer patterns than the JEP-classifier to achieve a similar (and, often, improved) accuracy, and 3) in many cases, it is superior to other state-of-the-art classification systems such as naive Bayes, CBA, C4.5, and bagged and boosted versions of C4.5. We argue that SJEPs are high-quality patterns which possess the most differentiating power. As a consequence, they represent sufficient information for the construction of accurate classifiers. In addition, we generalize these patterns by introducing noise-tolerant emerging patterns (NEPs) and generalized noise-tolerant emerging patterns (GNEPs). Our tree-based algorithms can be adopted to easily discover these variations. We experimentally demonstrate that SJEPs, NEPs, and GNEPs are extremely useful for building effective classifiers that can deal well with noise
Comparison of Various Lipid Variables as Predictors of Coronary Heart Disease in Japanese Men and Women With Type 2 Diabetes

OBJECTIVE To determine the best lipid variable to predict coronary heart disease (CHD) in Japanese patients with type 2 diabetes. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS Eligible Japanese men and women (1,771) aged 40–70 years with type 2 diabetes from 59 institutes nationwide were followed for a planned 8-year period. The performance of eight conventional lipid variables, i.e., total cholesterol (TC), LDL-cholesterol (LDLC), HDL-cholesterol (HDLC), triglycerides (TGs), non-HDLC, TC/HDLC ratio, LDLC/HDLC ratio, and TG/HDLC ratio, as predictors of incident CHD were evaluated by four methods: hazard ratio (HR) per one SD increment by multivariate Cox analysis, χ2 likelihood ratio test, area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC), and tertile analysis. RESULTS Although all variables significantly predicted CHD events in men, non-HDLC (HR per one SD 1.78 [95% CI 1.43–2.21]; AUC 0.726) and TC/HDLC (HR 1.63 [1.36–1.95]; AUC 0.718) had the better predictive performances among the variables, including LDLC. In women, TGs (log-transformed; HR 1.72 [1.21–2.43]; AUC 0.708) were the best predictor according to results of tertile analysis (HR of the top tertile versus the bottom tertile 4.31 [1.53–12.16]). The associations with incident CHD were linear and continuous. CONCLUSIONS For Japanese diabetic men, non-HDLC and TC/HDLC were the best predictors, whereas TGs were most predictive for women. These findings, which included prominent sex differences, should be considered among clinical approaches to risk reduction among East Asians with diabetes.
Reproductive Ecology of the Giant African Snail in South Florida: Implications for Eradication Programs

Giant African snail (Achatina fulica (Bowdich, 1822)), an important invasive snail, was recently found in South Florida, USA. An extensive eradication effort was initiated consisting of pesticide applications, debris removal and hand collections. We studied the reproduction capacity and population dynamics of snails collected from 22 populations for two years to help evaluate the likely success of the eradication program. A total of 23,890 snails, ranging from 25–131 mm, were measured, dissected and the number of eggs in each snail counted. Gravid snails ranged from 48–128 mm. Only 5% of snails had eggs, which were found year round. As the snails increased in size, they were more likely to include reproducing individuals. However, the percentage of gravid snails peaked when snails were approximately 90 mm. Although more prevalent, small (<65 mm) adults contributed fewer eggs to the population than the larger snails. We evaluated the effect of control measures on six populations having >1000 adult snails and used data from the two largest populations to investigate how environmental factors (temperature, humidity, and rainfall) interacted with population dynamics and control measures. More snails were collected in weeks with high humidity and more gravid snails were collected when the temperature was higher. The addition of metaldehyde pesticides had the greatest impact on population dynamics by reducing snail numbers. In populations with fewer snails, their numbers were already declining before the use of metaldehyde, although the new treatment accelerated the process. As a consequence of the eradication program, egg-producing snails were no longer collected from most populations by the end of the study. The aggressive and persistent control efforts apparently lead to reduced populations of egg producing snails, eventually resulting in local extinctions of this important pest.
Contextual influences on the use of health facilities for childbirth in Africa.

OBJECTIVES Previous studies of maternal health-seeking behavior focused on individual- and household-level factors. We examined community-level influences on the decision to deliver a child in a health facility across 6 African countries. METHODS Demographic and Health Survey data were linked with contextual data, and multilevel models were fitted to identify the determinants of childbirth in a health facility in the 6 countries. RESULTS We found strong community-level influences on a woman's decision to deliver her child in a health facility. Several pathways of influence between the community and individual were identified. CONCLUSIONS Community economic development, the climate of female autonomy, service provision, and fertility preferences all exert an influence on a woman's decision to seek care during labor, but significant community variation remains unexplained.
Prevalence of cholesteryl ester storage disease.

Cholesteryl ester storage disease (CESD) is an autosomal recessive chronic liver disease caused by lysosomal acid lipase (LAL) deficiency. The gene is located on chromosome 10q23.2-q23.3, and the enzyme is essential for triglycerides and cholesteryl ester hydrolysis in lysosomes. CESD is characterized by hypercholesterolemia, hypertriglyceridemia, HDL deficiency, and abnormal lipid deposition in many organs. In the liver this results in hepatomegaly caused by hepatic steatosis and fibrosis that can lead to micronodular cirrhosis.1 Disease onset takes place during childhood or adolescence. Males and females are affected in about equal numbers. Patients rarely reach the age of 30. Biochemically, the disorder is recognized by largely reduced lysosomal acid lipase activity.2,3 Complete absence of LAL activity causes Wolman Disease, which is normally fatal within the first 6 months of life.1,4 Several groups have identified mutations in the LAL gene underlying CESD and Wolman disease.5–9 Mutations causing Wolman disease produce an enzyme with no residual activity or no enzyme at all, whereas CESD-causing mutations encode for LAL which retains some enzyme activity.4,10 A G-to-A transition at position −1 of the exon 8 splice donor (E8SJM, E xon 8 S plice J unction M utation) leads to an in-frame deletion of exon 8. The resulting protein is 24 amino acids shorter and has no residual LAL activity, however E8SJM does not cause Wolman Disease because 2% to 4% of normally spliced LAL is present in homozygote carriers.11,12 The vast majority of CESD …
DEM (DIGITAL ELEVATION MODEL) PRODUCTION AND ACCURACY MODELING OF DEMS FROM 1:35.000 SCALE AERIAL PHOTOGRAPHS

: Aerial photographs and satellite imagery have been evaluated manually by the operators for a long time for the extraction of the contour line and DEM data. Computer technology and digital image processing technologies have been developed and this development provides to perform these extraction processes automatically or semi-automatically. The aim of making the processes automatic is to increase the speed of collecting the data and to reduce the cost. Many researches are made about the production of digital elevation models from different data sources and with different methods. In all of the studies, digital elevation models having different resolutions and different data sources are produced and the accuracies of digital elevation models are investigated. The results of these studies vary according to the source data, resolution, ground control point distribution, production method, topography, and reference data for the accuracy assessment. In this study, digital elevation models are produced by automatic image matching and from contour lines which are compiled from 1:35.000 scale aerial photographs and the accuracies of digital elevation models are assessed. Optimum data collection interval and accuracy of digital elevation models are investigated. Automatic image matching and photogrammetric compilation methods for digital elevation model production are compared. Accuracies are also investigated according to the resolution of digital elevation model and slope of topography. The results showed that the accuracy is correlated highly with digital elevation model resolution and 8 to 16 meters of DEM resolution is appropriate for DEMs produced by automatic image matching from 1:35.000 scale aerial photographs. A higher resolution of DEM does not affect the accuracy of DEM.
Electronic test technology curriculum revisiting

Recent introduction of the open semiconductor test architecture (OPENSTAR) by the semiconductor test consortium and on-going proliferation of the modular instrumentation and measurement systems in the area of industrial automation, including testing (in particular, mixed-signal device testing) make it necessary to look at and perhaps to revise the contents of the electronic test education programs of tertiary institutions. Even though the instrumentation and measurement systems and automatic test equipment (ATE) are close to each other in terms of their target functions, there are still quite different in their implementation, characteristics and application. And both the commonalities and differences have to be addressed when designing and delivering undergraduate and graduate courses on electronic test technology and practical test engineering.
Smoothing and Multiplexing Tradeoffs for Deterministic Performance Guarantees to VBR Video

The burstiness of variable bit rate traac makes it diicult to both eeciently utilize network resources and provide end-to-end network performance guarantees to the traac sources. Generally, smoothing or shaping traac sources at the entrance of the network reduces their burstiness to allow higher utilization within the network. However, this buuering introduces an additional delay so that, in eeect, lossless smoothing trades queueing delay inside the network for smoothing delay at the network edge. In this paper, we consider the net eeect of smoothing on end-to-end performance guarantees where a no-loss, no-delay-violation de-terministic guarantee is provided with the D-BIND traac model. We analytically quantify these tradeoos and provide a set of general rules for determining under which conditions smoothing provides a net gain. We also empirically investigate these tradeoos using traces of MPEG compressed video.
Memory-Efficient Hash Joins

We present new hash tables for joins, and a hash join based on them, that consumes far less memory and is usually faster than recently published in-memory joins. Our hash join is not restricted to outer tables that fit wholly in memory. Key to this hash join is a new concise hash table (CHT), a linear probing hash table that has 100% fill factor, and uses a sparse bitmap with embedded population counts to almost entirely avoid collisions. This bitmap also serves as a Bloom filter for use in multi-table joins. We study the random access characteristics of hash joins, and renew the case for non-partitioned hash joins. We introduce a variant of partitioned joins in which only the build is partitioned, but the probe is not, as this is more efficient for large outer tables than traditional partitioned joins. This also avoids partitioning costs during the probe, while at the same time allowing parallel build without latching overheads. Additionally, we present a variant of CHT, called a concise array table (CAT), that can be used when the key domain is moderately dense. CAT is collision-free and avoids storing join keys in the hash table. We perform a detailed comparison of CHT and CAT against leading in-memory hash joins. Our experiments show that we can reduce the memory usage by one to three orders of magnitude, while also being competitive in performance.
Effects of Age on the Neural Correlates of Retrieval Cue Processing are Modulated by Task Demands

The electrophysiological correlates of retrieval orientation—the differential processing of retrieval cues according to the nature of the sought-for information—were investigated in healthy young (18–20 years old) and older (63–77 years old) adults. In one pair of study–test cycles, subjects studied either words or pictures presented in one of two visually distinct contexts, and then performed a yes/no recognition task with words as test items. In another pair of study–test cycles, subjects again made recognition judgments, but were required, in addition, to signal the study context for each item judged “old. ” Young subjects' event-related potentials (ERPs) for new (unstudied) test items were more negative-going when the study material was pictures rather than words, and this effect varied little between the two retrieval tasks. Replicating a previous report [Morcom, A. M. , & Rugg, M. D. Effects of age on retrieval cue processing as revealed by ERPs. Neuropsychologia, 42, 1525–1542, 2004], the effects of study material on the ERPs of the older subjects were attenuated and statistically nonsignificant in the recognition task. In the source retrieval task, however, material effects in the older group were comparable in both onset latency and magnitude with those of the young subjects. Thus, the failure of older adults to demonstrate differential cue processing in tests of recognition memory likely reflects the adoption of a specific retrieval strategy rather than the incapacity to process retrieval cues in a goal-directed manner.
Hypovitaminosis D is Independently Associated with Metabolic Syndrome in Obese Patients

Background Metabolic syndrome (MS) and hypovitaminosis D represent two of the most diffuse condition worldwide, reaching pandemic proportions in industrialized countries, and are both strongly associated with obesity. This study set out to evaluate the presence of an independent association between hypovitaminosis D and MS in an adult population of obese subjects with/without MS. Methods We recruited 107 consecutive obese subjects, 61 with MS (age(mean±SD) 45.3±13.3 years, BMI(mean±SD): 43.1±8.3 kg/m2) and 46 without MS (age: 41.8±11.5, p = n.s., BMI:41.6±6.5 kg/m2, p = n.s.) comparable for sex, BMI, waist circumference and body fat mass, evaluated by bioimpedentiometry. 25(OH) vitamin D3 levels were measured by colorimetric method. Insulin resistance was estimated by fasting blood insulin, HOMA-IR and ISI. Results Serum 25(OH)D3 levels were significantly lower in MS obese patients than in obese subjects without MS (median(range) 13.5(3.3–32) vs 17.4(5.1–37.4), p<0.007). Low 25(OH)D3 levels correlated with glycaemia (p<0.007), phosphate (p<0.03), PTH (p<0.003) and the MS (p<0.001). Multivariate model confirmed that low 25(OH)D3 levels were associated with the diagnosis of MS in obese patients independently from gender, age, serum PTH and body fat mass. After stratifying the study population according to 25(OH)D3 concentrations, patients in the lowest quartile showed a markedly increased prevalence of MS compared to those in the highest quartile (OR = 4.1, CI 1.2–13.7, p = 0.02). Conclusions A powerful association exists between hypovitaminosis D and MS in obese patients independently from body fat mass and its clinical correlates. This indicates that the association between low 25(OH) D3 levels and MS is not merely induced by vitamin D deposition in fat tissue and reinforces the hypothesis that hypovitaminosis D represent a crucial independent determinant of MS.
Begin-of-school-year perceived autonomy-support and structure as predictors of end-of-school-year study efforts and procrastination: the mediating role of autonomous and controlled motivation

Abstract In this prospective study, we recruited a sample of Belgian adolescents (N = 886) to investigate to what extent perceived teachers’ motivating style relates to quality of motivation in the beginning of the school year and, in turn, changes in study effort and procrastination by the end of the school year. After controlling for initial levels of study effort and procrastination and for a shared variance due to classroom membership, we found, through path analysis, perceived autonomy support and structure to relate positively to autonomous motivation, which in turn predicted increased study effort and decreased procrastination at the end of the school year. The findings are discussed from a theoretical and practical standpoint.