Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
α6 Integrin (α6high)/Transferrin Receptor (CD71)low Keratinocyte Stem Cells Are More Potent for Generating Reconstructed Skin Epidermis Than Rapid Adherent Cells

The epidermis basal layer is composed of two keratinocyte populations: Keratinocyte Stem cells (KSC) and Transitory Amplifying (TA) cells that arise from KSC division. Unfortunately, no specific marker exists to differ between KSC and TA cells. Here, we aimed at comparing two different methods that pretended to isolate these two populations: (i) the rapid adhesion method on coated substrate and (ii) the flow cytometry method, which is based on the difference in cell surface expressions of the α6 integrin and transferrin receptor (CD71). Then, we compared different parameters that are known to discriminate KSC and TA populations. Interestingly, we showed that both methods allow enrichment in stem cells. However, cell sorting by flow cytometry (α6high/CD71low) phenotype leads to a better enrichment of KSC since the colony forming efficiency is five times increased versus total cell suspension, whereas it is only 1.4 times for the adhesion method. Moreover, α6high/CD71low cells give rise to a thicker pluristratified epithelium with lower seeding density and display a low Ki67 positive cells number, showing that they have reached the balance between proliferation and differentiation. We clearly demonstrated that cells isolated by a rapid adherent method are not the same population as KSC isolated by flow cytometry following α6high/CD71low phenotype.
Evaluating the Validity of an Instrumental Variable Study of Neuroleptics: Can Between-Physician Differences in Prescribing Patterns Be Used to Estimate Treatment Effects?

Background:Postmarketing studies of prescription drugs are challenging because prognostic variables that determine treatment choices are often unmeasured. In this setting, instrumental variable (IV) methods that exploit differences in prescribing patterns between physicians may be used to estimate treatment effects; however, IV methods require strong assumptions to yield consistent estimates. We sought to explore the validity of physician-level IV in a comparative study of short-term mortality risk among elderly users of conventional versus atypical antipsychotic medications (APM). Methods:We studied a cohort of patients initiating APMs in Pennsylvania who were eligible for Medicare and a state-funded pharmaceutical benefit plan. The IV was defined as the type of the APM prescription written by each physician before the index prescription. To evaluate whether the IV was related to other therapeutic decisions that could affect mortality, we explored the association between the instrument and 2 types of potentially hazardous coprescriptions: a tricyclic antidepressant (TCA) not recommended for use in the elderly or a long-acting benzodiazepine. To insure that the IV analysis was not biased by case-mix differences between physicians, we examined the associations between the observed patient characteristics and the IV. Results:The cohort consisted of 15,389 new users of APMs. Our multivariable model indicated that physicians who had most recently prescribed a conventional APM were not significantly more or less likely to coprescribe a potentially hazardous TCA [odds ratio (OR), 0.78; 95% confidence interval (CI), 0.58–1.02] but were less likely to prescribe a long-acting benzodiazepine (OR, 0.57; 95% CI, 0.45–0.72) with their current APM prescription. The association between long-acting benzodiazepine prescribing and APM preference was no longer significant when the analysis was restricted to primary care physicians (OR, 0.84; 95% CI, 0.62–1.15). Multivariable regression indicated that important medical comorbidities (eg, cancer, hypertension, stroke) were unrelated to the IV. Conclusions:The previous APM prescription written by the physician was unassociated with major medical comorbidities in the current patient, suggesting that the IV estimates were not biased by case-mix differences between physicians. However, we did find that the IV was associated with the use of long-acting benzodiazepines. This association disappeared when the study was restricted to the patients treated by primary care physicians. Our study illustrates how internal validation approaches may be used to improve the design of quasi-experimental studies.
Fast and effective histogram construction

Histogram construction or sequence segmentation is a basic task with applications in database systems, information retrieval, and knowledge management. Its aim is to approximate a sequence by line segments. Unfortunately, the quadratic algorithm that derives an optimal histogram for Euclidean error lacks the desired scalability. Therefore, sophisticated approximation algorithms have been recently proposed, while several simple heuristics are used in practice. Still, these solutions fail to resolve the efficiency-quality tradeoff in a satisfactory manner. In this paper we take a fresh view on the problem. We propose conceptually clear and scalable algorithms that efficiently derive high-quality histograms. We experimentally demonstrate that existing approximation schemes fail to deliver the desired efficiency and conventional heuristics do not fare well on the side of quality. On the other hand, our schemes match or exceed the quality of the former and the efficiency of the latter.
Honest Signals in the Recognition of Functional Relational Roles in Meetings

Intelligence (www.aaai.org). All rights reserved. Abstract In this paper we focus on the usage of honest signals for the automatic recognition of functional relational roles. We consider 16 speech honest signal features, along with three fidgeting visual features, and investigate their potential for role classification comparing: a) different labeling convention for relational roles, b) the contribution of honest signals’ class to classification, and c) independent vs. joint classification of task and social roles, in order to understand the extent to which the redundancy between the task and socio roles can be exploited for classification
The Impact of the Natural, Social, Built, and Policy Environments on Breast Cancer

Background The global burden of breast cancer in women is substantial and increasing. Efforts to address breast cancer have focused on primary prevention, reduction of modifiable risk factors, early detection, timely referral for appropriate treatment, and survivorship. Environmental and lifestyle factors that increase breast cancer risk include ionizing radiation, exogenous hormones, certain female reproductive factors, alcohol and other dietary factors, obesity, and physical inactivity. A variety of chemical exposures are purported to be associated with breast cancer. Methods In this article, we summarize the influence of the natural, social, built, and policy environments on breast cancer incidence and cancer recurrence in women based upon bibliographic searches and relevant search terms. Results Despite a lack of conclusive evidence from epidemiologic studies, exposures to chemicals with estrogenic or other properties relevant to sex steroid activity could influence breast cancer risk if the exposures occur at critical life stages or in combination with exposure to other similar chemicals. Results from several studies support an association between shift work and disruption of the circadian rhythm with breast cancer risk. The social environment likely influences breast cancer risk through several mechanisms including social norms pertaining to breast feeding, age at first live birth, parity, use of oral contraceptives and replacement estrogens, diet, and consumption of alcohol. Social norms also influence body weight, obesity, and physical activity, which have an effect on risk of breast cancer incidence and recurrence. Obesity, which is influenced by the social, built, and policy environments, is a risk factor for the development of postmenopausal breast cancer and certain other cancer types. Conclusions The natural, social, built, and policy environments affect breast cancer incidence and survival. Effective health care policies can encourage the provision of high-quality screening and treatment for breast cancer and public education about the value of proper diet, weight control, screening and treatment. Additional research and policy development is needed to determine the value of limiting exposures to potentially carcinogenic chemicals on breast cancer prevention.
A novel salinity proxy based on Na incorporation into foraminiferal calcite

Salinity and temperature determine seawater density, and differences in both thereby control global thermohaline circulation. Whereas numerous proxies have been calibrated and applied to reconstruct temperature, a direct and independent proxy for salinity is still missing. Ideally, a new proxy for salinity should target one of the direct constituents of dissolved salt, such as [Na p ] or [Cl − ]. This study investigates the impact of salinity on foraminiferal Na/Ca values by laser ablation ICP-MS analyses of specimens of the benthic foraminifer Ammonia tepida cultured at a range of salinities (30.0–38.6). Foraminifera at lower salinities (30.0 and 32.5) added more chambers (10–11) to their test over the course of the culturing experiment than those maintained at higher salinities (36.1, 7–8 chambers, and 38.6, 6–7 chambers), suggesting that growth rates in this species are promoted by lower salinities. The Na/Ca of cultured specimens correlates significantly with seawater salinity (Na/Ca = 0.22S–0.75, R 2 = 0.96, p D Na vary between 5.17 and 9.29 mmol mol −1 and 0.12–0.16 × 10 −3 , which are similar to values from inorganic precipitation experiments. The significant correlation between test size and Na/Ca results from co-variation with salinity. This implies that foraminiferal Na/Ca could serve as a robust and independent proxy for salinity, enabling salinity reconstructions independent of calcitic δ 18 O.
Gametic differentiation in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. II. Flagellar membranes and the agglutination reaction

A structural and biochemical study is presented concerning the agglutination of gametic flagella, the initial step in the mating reaction of Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. An alteration in the distribution of the intramembranous particles revealed by freeze- fracturing of flagella membranes is shown to accompany gametic differentiation in both mating types. The isolation and electrophoretic analysis of flagellar membranes and mastigonemes are reported; no electrophoretic differences can be detected when the membrane or mastigoneme glycoproteins from vegative and gametic cells are compared, nor when glycoproteins from the two mating types are compared, and no novel polypeptides are present in gametic preparations. The membrane vesicles, after they are freed of mastigonemes by sedimentation through a discontinuous sucrose gradient, are extremely active as an isoagglutinin, indicating a direct involvement of the membrane in the mating reaction.
Contribution of Efflux to the Emergence of Isoniazid and Multidrug Resistance in Mycobacterium tuberculosis

Multidrug resistant (MDR) tuberculosis is caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis resistant to isoniazid and rifampicin, the two most effective drugs used in tuberculosis therapy. Here, we investigated the mechanism by which resistance towards isoniazid develops and how overexpression of efflux pumps favors accumulation of mutations in isoniazid targets, thus establishing a MDR phenotype. The study was based on the in vitro induction of an isoniazid resistant phenotype by prolonged serial exposure of M. tuberculosis strains to the critical concentration of isoniazid employed for determination of drug susceptibility testing in clinical isolates. Results show that susceptible and rifampicin monoresistant strains exposed to this concentration become resistant to isoniazid after three weeks; and that resistance observed for the majority of these strains could be reduced by means of efflux pumps inhibitors. RT-qPCR assessment of efflux pump genes expression showed overexpression of all tested genes. Enhanced real-time efflux of ethidium bromide, a common efflux pump substrate, was also observed, showing a clear relation between overexpression of the genes and increased efflux pump function. Further exposure to isoniazid resulted in the selection and stabilization of spontaneous mutations and deletions in the katG gene along with sustained increased efflux activity. Together, results demonstrate the relevance of efflux pumps as one of the factors of isoniazid resistance in M. tuberculosis. These results support the hypothesis that activity of efflux pumps allows the maintenance of an isoniazid resistant population in a sub-optimally treated patient from which isoniazid genetically resistant mutants emerge. Therefore, the use of inhibitors of efflux should be considered in the development of new therapeutic strategies for preventing the emergence of MDR-TB during treatment.
Ieee Transactions on Information Forensics and Security 1 a Sift-based Forensic Method for Copy-move Attack Detection and Transformation Recovery

—One of the principal problems in image forensics is determining if a particular image is authentic or not. This can be a crucial task when images are used as basic evidence to influence judgment like, for example, in a court of law. To carry out such forensic analysis, various technological instruments have been developed in the literature. In this paper the problem of detecting if an image has been forged is investigated; in particular, attention has been paid to the case in which an area of an image is copied and then pasted onto another zone to create a duplication or to cancel something that was awkward. Generally, to adapt the image patch to the new context a geometric transformation is needed. To detect such modifications, a novel methodology based on Scale Invariant Features Transform (SIFT) is proposed. Such a method allows both to understand if a copy-move attack has occurred and, furthermore, to recover the geometric transformation used to perform cloning. Extensive experimental results are presented to confirm that the technique is able to precisely individuate the altered area and, in addition, to estimate the geometric transformation parameters with high reliability. The method also deals with multiple cloning.
Interpopulation variation in a fish predator drives evolutionary divergence in prey in lakes

Ecological factors are known to cause evolutionary diversification. Recent work has shown that evolution in strongly interacting predator species has reciprocal impacts on ecosystems. These divergent impacts of predators may alter the selective landscape and cause the evolution of prey. Yet, this link between intraspecific variation and evolution is unexplored. We compared the life history of a species of zooplankton (Daphnia ambigua) from lakes in New England in which the dominant planktivorous predator, the alewife (Alosa pseudoharengus), differs in feeding traits and migratory behaviour. Anadromous alewife (seasonal migrants) exhibit larger gapes, gill-raker spacing and target larger prey than landlocked alewife (year-round freshwater resident). In ‘anadromous’ lakes, Daphnia are abundant in the spring but extirpated by alewife predation in summer. Daphnia are rare year-round in ‘landlocked’ lakes. We show that Daphnia from lakes with anadromous alewife grew faster, matured earlier but at the same size and produced more offspring than Daphnia from lakes with landlocked or no alewife across multiple temperature and resource treatments. Our results are inconsistent with a response to size-selective predation but are better explained as an adaptation to colder temperatures and shorter periods of development (countergradient variation) mediated by seasonal alewife predation.
The Application of the Mindfulness Framework to the Study of Intercultural Competence

THE APPLICATION OF THE MINDFULNESS FRAMEWORK TO THE STUDY OF INTERCULTURAL COMPETENCE Sébastien J.R. J. Houde Dr. Serge Desmarais University Of Guelph, 2014 Advisor Although a growing body of evidence has looked at the beneficial impact of mindfulness practice in a number of domains (e.g., improvement of mental health and psychological well-being, physical health, behavioral regulation, relationship and social interaction quality; see Baer, 2003; Brown et al., 2007), very little empirical research has been conducted or focused on the role that mindfulness could play in better understanding intercultural relations and related issues (e.g., intercultural competence development and training, intercultural adaptation and effectiveness). As such, the purpose of this dissertation was to investigate the relationship between mindfulness and intercultural competence, and more specifically investigate the extent to which there exists a direct or indirect relationship between these constructs. Although empirical evidence suggests that numerous mechanisms could be at play (see Shapiro et al., 2006), there are no theories or models specifically looking at the construct of mindfulness and the means by which it could potentially impact the development of intercultural competence. By drawing on the seminal work of Shapiro et al. (2006), two studies were conducted to test an integrative framework to highlight the presence of such a relationship and investigate the mediating role played by these different mechanisms, including (a) decentering, (b) exposure, (c) flexibility/rigidity, (d) self-regulation/self-management, and (e) value clarification. After steps were taken to ensure that the measurement properties of the different indices or psychometric instruments were meeting an acceptable standard across both studies, results generally indicated that mindfulness was indeed related to a number of intercultural competence indices, and that this relationship tended to be partially mediated by a number of mediating variables or mechanisms of action (i.e., exposure, flexibility/ rigidity, self-regulation/self-management, and value-clarification). Overall, these results tend to suggest that applying the mindfulness framework to the study of intercultural competence is likely to generate a number of interesting insights and greatly benefit both research and practice.
Who Is Responsible for Climate Change? Attribution of Responsibility, News Media, and South Koreans’ Perceived Risk of Climate Change

Analyzing data from a survey of South Koreans’ perceptions of climate change, this study examines whether the way people attribute responsibility can affect their perceived risks. We also examine the role of the media in this process, looking at whether media use can influence the way the audiences attribute responsibility. Our findings provided support for the basic principles of risk perception that perceived controllability of a risk can affect the level of perceived risk (Slovic, Fischhoff, & Lichtenstein, 1982). Respondents who believed that the government or large corporations—as opposed to average citizens—were responsible for the negative consequences of climate change indicated perceptions of a greater risk because the risk was believed to be beyond their own control and determined largely by another entity (i.e., the government or corporations). When it comes to the role of the media, television news viewing was negatively associated with attributing responsibility to the government and to large corporations. On the contrary, uses of online bulletin boards and blogs were positively associated with blaming the government and corporations. By assessing the role of attribution in perceiving climate change risk, this study adds a new and likely helpful discovery regarding the dynamics of climate change perceptions.
Capital Market Development, Integration, Legal Systems, and the Value of Corporate Diversification: A Cross-Country Analysis

Using a database of more than 8,000 companies from 35 countries, we find that the value of corporate diversification is related to the level of capital market development, integration, and legal systems. Among high-income countries, where capital markets are well developed and integrated, we find a significant diversification discount. By contrast, for the lower income and segmented countries, we find that there is either no diversification discount or a diversification premium. For these firms, the benefits of diversification appear to offset the agency costs of diversification. We also find that a country's legal system and the firm's ownership structure affects the value of corporate diversification among the various countries. In particular, we find that diversification discounts are largest among countries where the legal system is of English origin. We find smaller diversification discounts in countries where the legal system is of German, Scandinavian, or French origin. One interpretation of these results is that internal capital markets generated through corporate diversification are more valuable (or less costly) in countries where there is less shareholder protection and where firms find it more difficult to raise external capital. More generally, our results suggest that the financial, legal, and regulatory environment all have an important influence on the value of diversification, and that the optimal organizational structure and corporate governance may be very different for firms operating in emerging markets than it is for firms operating in more developed and integrated countries.
Neck Circumference May Be a Better Alternative to Standard Anthropometric Measures

This paper evaluates neck circumference as a metabolic risk marker. Overweight/obese, nondiabetic Hispanics, 40–65 years old, who are free of major cardiovascular diseases, were recruited for the San Juan Overweight Adults Longitudinal Study (SOALS). Baseline exams were completed by 1,206 participants. Partial correlation coefficients (r) and logistic models adjusted for age, gender, smoking status, and physical activity were computed. Neck circumference was significantly correlated with waist circumference (r = 0.64), BMI (r = 0.66), and body fat % (r = 0.45). Neck circumference, highest (compared to lowest) tertile, had higher association with prediabetes: multivariable OR = 2.30 (95% CI: 1.71–3.06) compared to waist circumference OR = 1.97 (95% CI: 1.48–2.66) and other anthropometric measures. Neck circumference showed higher associations with HOMA, low HDL-C, and triglycerides, multivariable OR = 8.42 (95% CI: 5.43–13.06), 2.41 (95% CI: 1.80–3.21), and 1.52 (95% CI: 1.14–2.03), but weaker associations with hs-CRP and hypertension, OR = 3.61 (95% CI: 2.66–4.90) and OR = 2.58 (95% CI: 1.90–3.49), compared to waist circumference. AIC for model fit was generally similar for neck or waist circumference. Neck circumference showed similar or better associations with metabolic factors and is more practicable than waist circumference. Hence, neck circumference may be a better alternative to waist circumference.
Using Corpus Analysis to Inform Research into Opinion Detection in Blogs

Opinion detection research relies on labeled documents for training data, either by assumptions based on the document's origin or by using human assessors to categorise the documents. In recent years, blogs have become a source for opinion identification research (TREC Blog06). This study analyses the part-of-speech proportion and the words used within various corpora, determining key differences and similarities useful when preparing for opinion identification research. The resulting comparisons between the characteristics of the various corpora is detailed and discussed. In particular, opinion-bearing and nonopinion Blog06 documents were found to display a high level of similarity, indicating that blog documents assessed at the document level cannot be used as training data in opinion identification research.