Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
TNF‐α, IL‐6, and IL‐1 expression is inhibited by GAS6 in monocytes/macrophages

GAS6 protein has been described to be involved in immune modulation in vitro and in vivo. Some of these effects are probably mediated through the involvement of monocytes/macrophages. To understand the role of GAS6 in modulating the immune response, we evaluated the effect on cytokine secretion by monocytes/macrophages and the molecular pathways involved. GAS6 inhibits TNF‐α and IL‐6 secretion by LPS‐stimulated U937 cells and monocytes/machrophages. We evidenced that among GAS6 receptors, only Mer (but not Axl or Tyro3) is expressed on differentiated U937 cells, and its activation is responsible for the reduction of cytokine expression. In immunoblot analysis, Mer was activated after GAS6 stimulation, giving rise to an increased phosphorylation of Akt. We also observed GSK3β phosphorylation and consequent inhibition of NF‐κB nuclear translocation. Therefore, GAS6 modulates macrophage cytokine secretion, triggering an “anti‐inflammatory pathway” involving PI3K/Akt/GSK3β and NF‐κB.
Developing Early Literacy Skills

This rejoinder provides responses to the conceptual concerns expressed in the nine critiques published in this issue of Educational Researcher of the 2008 National Early Literacy Panel report. It explains the necessity of adhering to clearly established study selection parameters in conducting trustworthy meta-analyses and the need to be cautious in claims made on the basis of empirical evidence. The rejoinder summarizes the report’s extensive analyses of language development data and highlights substantial empirical evidence that contradicts the critics’ claims about alphabetic code-related skills. Also included are pointed discussions of the critics’ conceptual arguments concerning shared reading activities, parent/home literacy programs, English-language learners, and early childhood education.
Compact Inverted-F Antenna With Meander Shorting Strip for Laptop Computer WLAN Applications

In this letter, a novel compact inverted-F antenna with dual-band property for WLAN applications is presented. It comes with a C-shaped radiator and two meander shorting strips, which only occupy a small size of 35 (L)3 (W) mm to be easily embedded inside a laptop computer as an internal antenna. This design can radiate with two operating bands covering 2.38-2.54 and 4.99-5.96 GHz. By properly forming these two shorting strips, the effects due to the antenna near the external casing can be suitably tackled for actual application. Nearly omnidirectional coverage to enhance the communication quality can be obtained with our design. Therefore, the proposed antenna with a compact size is well suitable for WLAN operation in a laptop computer.
Which universities lead and lag? Toward university rankings based on scholarly output

Science policy makers, university administrators, funding agencies, and prospective students all rely on many factors when deciding which academic institutions to become involved with. Organizations have stepped in to provide information to support such decision makers. From US News and World Report rankings1 to the recently released National Research Council report on academic institutions [4], there is great interest in generating objective benchmarks of academic institutions. Traditionally, these benchmarks have focused on the inputs associated with each institution—amount of money raised, SAT scores of incoming students, number of grant dollars and research staff, etc—or on the reputation of those institutions as judged by their peers. Yet by their nature, academic institutions produce a great deal of output, usually in the form of the text of academic publications or dissertations. Such text-rich datasets tend to be overlooked in quantitative analysis of institutional performance because making effective, quantitative use of text is a challenging problem. In this study, we analyze these same institutions from a new perspective: scoring institutions by how much each institution looks like the future of academia, judged quantitatively from the text of each institution’s PhD dissertation abstracts.
Effectiveness of atenolol in the treatment of hypertension during pregnancy.

This study assessed the effectiveness of atenolol in the treatment of moderate and severe hypertension during pregnancy. Seventy patients (mean age, 30.3 +/- 6.0 years), 35.7% primiparous, were included. Three groups were formed according to Davey and MacGillivray's classification: 1) chronic hypertension without proteinuria (12 patients), 2) gestational hypertension without proteinuria (52 patients), and 3) preeclampsia (six patients). Treatment with atenolol was started when blood pressure was 150/100 mm Hg or higher after 48 hours' rest. The treatment lasted at least 1 week; follow-up was every 2 weeks up to week 36, and from then on, weekly up to delivery. If blood pressure exceeded 160/110 mm Hg and the fetus was not yet mature, a second drug was added. A significant decrease in blood pressure was observed in the three groups (group 1: 155.8 +/- 15.0/100.8 +/- 7.6 versus 135.0 +/- 12.9/85.0 +/- 6.7 mm Hg; group 2: 154.2 +/- 13.6/104.9 +/- 9.3 versus 129.6 +/- 10.2/83.7 +/- 9.1 mm Hg; group 3: 158.3 +/- 27.1/104.1 +/- 8.0 versus 129.1 +/- 6.6/87.5 +/- 6.1 mm Hg). The doses of atenolol were 62.5 +/- 23.0 mg/day in group 1, 70.0 +/- 30.0 mg/day in group 2, and 100.0 +/- 41.0 mg/day in group 3. There was no fetal mortality. No significant difference occurred in newborn body weights. Four babies from group 2 mothers had an Apgar score of less than 7 at 1 minute, but only one remained abnormal after 5 minutes. In the same group, three cases of respiratory distress were observed. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
LIGHT STIMULATION OF ETHYLENE RELEASE

The effect of lght and CO2 on both the endogenous and I-aminocyclopropane-l-carboxyHc acid (ACC)-dep t ethylene evolution from metaboically active detached leaves and leaf discs of Gonphrena globosa L. is reported. Treatment with varying concentrations ofACC did not appear to inhibit photosynthesis, respiration, or stomatal behavior. In all treatments, more ethylene was released into a closed flask from ACC-treated tissue, but the pattern of ethylene release with respect to light/dark/CO2 treatments was the same. Leaf tissue in the lght with a source of CO2 sufflcient to maintain photosynthesis always generates 3 to 4 times more ethylene than tissue in the dark. Conversely, the lowest rate of ethylene release occurs when leaf tissue is lhnminated and photosynthetic activity depletes the CO2 to the compeWsation point. Ethylene rekse in the dark is also stimulated by CO, either added to the flask as bicarbonate or generated by dark respiration. Ethykne release Increases dramaticaly and In parallel with photosyntheis at increasing lght intensities in this C4 plant. Ethylene release appears dependent on CO2 both in the lit and in the dark. Therefore, it is suggested that the Important factor regulating the evolution of ethylene gas from leaves of Gomphrena may be CO2 metabolism rather than ligt
Mechanisms for Making Crowds Truthful

We consider schemes for obtaining truthful reports on a common but hidden signal from large groups of rational, self-interested agents. One example are online feedback mechanisms, where users provide observations about the quality of a product or service so that other users can have an accurate idea of what quality they can expect. However, (i) providing such feedback is costly, and (ii) there are many motivations for providing incorrect feedback. Both problems can be addressed by reward schemes which (i) cover the cost of obtaining and reporting feedback, and (ii) maximize the expected reward of a rational agent who reports truthfully. We address the design of such incentive-compatible rewards for feedback generated in environments with pure adverse selection. Here, the correlation between the true knowledge of an agent and her beliefs regarding the likelihoods of reports of other agents can be exploited to make honest reporting a Nash equilibrium. In this paper we extend existing methods for designing incentive-compatible rewards by also considering collusion. We analyze different scenarios, where, for example, some or all of the agents collude. For each scenario we investigate whether a collusion-resistant, incentive-compatible reward scheme exists, and use automated mechanism design to specify an algorithm for deriving an efficient reward mechanism.
Exploring the Web with reconnaissance agents

C A R EN R O SE N B LA TT Every click on a link is a leap of faith. When you click on the blue underlined text or on a picture on a Web page, there is always a (sometimes much too long) moment of suspense when you are waiting for the page to load. Until you actually see what is behind the link, you don’t know whether it will lead to the reward of another interesting page, to the disappointment of a junk page, or worse, to a “404 Not Found” error message. But what if you had an assistant always looking ahead for you—clicking on the Web links and Why surf alone? New agent technology can scout out the online terrain and recommend the best paths for you to follow.
Musculoskeletal problems among workers of an Iranian communication company

Introduction: Work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WMSDs) are a common health problem throughout the world and a major cause of disability in the workplace. Awkward working posture is a main risk factor for developing WMSDs. Assessment of exposure level to WMSDs risks can be an appropriate base for planning and implementing interventional ergonomics program in the workplace. This study was conducted among workers of an Iranian communication company with the objectives of a) determination of WMSDs prevalence and b) assessment of exposure level to WMSDs risks. Materials and Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 85 randomly selected workers from assembly line and closed circuit TV (CCTV) participated. Nordic musculoskeletal questionnaire (NMQ) was used to study prevalence of WMSDs and rapid upper limb assessment (RULA) technique was applied to assess physical exposure to the risks. Results: The results of NMQ revealed that WMSDs occurred at an high rate. The highest rates of WMSDs prevalence were reported in shoulders (73%), knees (67.1%) and back (66.7%). RULA showed that the Grand Score of 88.1% of cases were high and very high (action levels 3 and 4). Significant association was found between risk level and musculoskeletal symptoms in lower back (P < 0.05). Conclusion: Given the association between RULA score and the prevalence of the problems, reducing RULA score by designing ergonomic workstation may reduce the prevalence of WMSDs among the workers.
Analysis of the primary sequence and microtubule-binding region of the Drosophila 205K MAP

We have sequenced cDNA clones encoding the Drosophila 205K microtubule- associated protein (MAP), a protein that may be the species specific homologue of mammalian MAP4. The peptide sequence deduced from the longest open-reading frame reveals a hydrophilic protein, which has basic and acidic regions that are similar in organization to mammalian MAP2. Using truncated forms of the 205K MAP, a 232-amino acid region could be defined that is necessary for microtubule binding. The amino acid sequence of this region shares no similarity with the binding motif of MAP2 or tau. We also analyzed several embryonic cDNA clones, which show the existence of differentially spliced mRNAs. Finally, we identified several potential protein kinase target sequences. One of these is distal to the microtubule-binding site and fits the phosphorylation consensus sequence of proteins phosphorylated by the mitosis specific protein kinase cdc2. Our data suggest that the 205K MAP uses a microtubule-binding motif unlike that found in other MAPs, and also raise the possibility that the activities of the 205K MAP may be regulated by alternative splicing and phosphorylation.
Vertically-aligned nano-scale integrated inductors

We demonstrate a novel method to realize ultra-miniaturized on-chip vertical inductors for use in microwave and millimeter-wave devices. The inductor consists of a thin film of closely-packed, vertically aligned nickel nano-posts. The film is fabricated using a glancing angle physical vapor deposition method, which is CMOS compatible. The resulting nanostructured inductors were measured from 10 GHz to 70 GHz and were found to have inductances of 0.1 nH, resulting in 6pH μιη"2, 60 times larger than previously reported planar inductors. A quality factor of 3 is measured and the results indicate that it continues to improve above 70 GHz, while inductance remains constant. Such nanostructured posts could potentially lead to ultra-small, ultra-wideband inductors to preserve space in integrated circuits.
Predicting at-risk students in general chemistry: comparing formal thought to a general achievement measure

This study is an investigation into the ability of pre-assessment measures of formal thought ability and general achievement to predict students at-risk of poor performance in college- level general chemistry. Over a three year period, data on formal thought ability (as measured by the Test of Logical Thinking, or TOLT) and/or general achievement (as measured by the Scholastic Aptitude Test, or SAT) was collected from over 3000 students as they entered a general chemistry course. The outcome measure was an American Chemical Society general chemistry exam at the end of the course. Findings indicate that both the formal thought and the general achievement measure can successfully identify at-risk students in this setting, with neither measure being superior in doing so. The presence of distinct groups of students correctly predicted to be at-risk by only one of the measures demonstrates that formal thought ability and general achievement each represent an independent hindrance to success in chemistry. Therefore, efforts to help at-risk students should include a focus on the development of formal thought as well as a content review. [Chem. Educ. Res. Pract. , 2007, 8 (1), 32-51]
Cholinergic control of morphine‐induced locomotion in rostromedial tegmental nucleus versus ventral tegmental area sites

M5 muscarinic acetylcholine receptors expressed on ventral tegmental dopamine (DA) neurons are needed for opioid activation of DA outputs. Here, the M5 receptor gene was bilaterally transfected into neurons in the ventral tegmental area (VTA) or the adjacent rostromedial tegmental nucleus (RMTg) in mice by means of a Herpes simplex viral vector (HSV) to increase the effect of endogenous acetylcholine. Three days after HSV‐M5 gene infusion in VTA sites, morphine‐induced locomotion more than doubled at two doses, while saline‐induced locomotion was unaffected. When the HSV‐M5 gene was infused into the adjacent RMTg, morphine‐induced locomotion was strongly inhibited. The sharp boundary between these opposing effects was found where tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) and cholinesterase labelling decreases (−4.00 mm posterior to bregma). The same HSV‐M5 gene transfections in M5 knockout mice induced even stronger inhibitory behavioural effects in RMTg but more variability in VTA sites due to stereotypy. The VTA sites where HSV‐M5 increased morphine‐induced locomotion receive direct inputs from many RMTg GAD‐positive neurons, and from pontine ChAT‐positive neurons, as shown by cholera‐toxin B retrograde tracing. Therefore, morphine‐induced locomotion was decreased by M5 receptor gene expression in RMTg GABA neurons that directly inhibit VTA DA neurons. Conversely, enhancing M5 receptor gene expression on VTA DA neurons increased morphine‐induced locomotion via cholinergic inputs.
Tight control of mycotoxin biosynthesis gene expression in Aspergillus flavus by temperature as revealed by RNA-Seq.

To better understand the effect of temperature on mycotoxin biosynthesis, RNA-Seq technology was used to profile the Aspergillus flavus transcriptome under different temperature conditions. This approach allowed us to quantify transcript abundance for over 80% of fungal genes including 1153 genes that were differentially expressed at 30 and 37 °C. Eleven of the 55 secondary metabolite clusters were upregulated at the lower temperature, including aflatoxin biosynthesis genes, which were among the most highly upexpressed genes. On average, transcript abundance for the 30 aflatoxin biosynthesis genes was 3300 times greater at 30 °C as compared with 37 °C. The results are consistent with the view that high temperature negatively affects aflatoxin production by turning down transcription of the two key transcriptional regulators, aflR and aflS. Subtle changes in the expression levels of aflS to aflR appear to control transcription activation of the aflatoxin cluster.
Infants' electric brain responses to emotional prosody

In the current study, we examined 7-month-old infants' processing of emotional prosody using event-related brain potentials. Infants heard semantically neutral words that were spoken with either a happy, angry, or neutral voice. The event-related brain potential data revealed that angry prosody elicited a more negative response in infants' event-related potentials than did happy or neutral prosody, suggesting greater allocation of attention to angry prosody. A positive slow wave was elicited by angry and happy prosody over temporal electrode sites. This indicates an enhanced sensory processing of the emotionally loaded stimuli (happy and angry). The current findings demonstrate that very early in development, the human brain detects emotionally loaded words and shows differential attentional responses depending on their emotional valence.
Adhesion: Molecules and Mechanics

There is a difference between adhesion at the molecular level and adhesion in engineering. There is no doubt that molecules of solid materials stick together and can be separated mechanically. The problem is explaining the connection between molecular attractions and mechanical measurements. False ideas such as keying and gluing require critical assessment because they confuse molecules and mechanics. Mechanisms such as adhesive hysteresis, stringing, and clustering deserve evaluation. A rational theory of these phenomena should be based on the theoretical concept of reversible work of adhesion and on the measured quantity of adhesive energy, which includes the extra energy required to restructure the interface as surfaces move.
Roles for the Two 1-Butanol Dehydrogenases of Pseudomonas butanovora in Butane and 1-Butanol Metabolism

ABSTRACT Pseudomonas butanovora grown on butane or 1-butanol expresses two 1-butanol dehydrogenases, a quinoprotein (BOH) and a quinohemoprotein (BDH). BOH exhibited high affinity towards 1-butanol (Km = 1.7 ± 0.2 μM). BOH also oxidized butyraldehyde and 2-butanol (Km = 369 ± 85 μM and Km = 662 ± 98 μM, respectively). The mRNA induction profiles of BOH and BDH at three different levels of 1-butanol, a nontoxic level (0.1 mM), a growth-supporting level (2 mM), and a toxic level (40 mM), were similar. When cells were grown in citrate-containing medium in the presence of different levels of 1-butanol, wild-type P. butanovora could tolerate higher levels of 1-butanol than the P. butanovora boh::tet strain and the P. butanovora bdh::kan strain. A model is proposed in which the electrons from 1-butanol oxidation follow a branched electron transport chain. BOH may be coupled to ubiquinone, with the electrons being transported to a cyanide-sensitive terminal oxidase. In contrast, electrons from BDH may be transferred to a terminal oxidase that is less sensitive to cyanide. The former pathway may function primarily in energy generation, while the latter may be more important in the detoxification of 1-butanol.
Association between the 1793G> A MTHFR polymorphism and sporadic colorectal cancer in Iran.

BACKGROUND It has been proposed that folate and polymorphisms of the enzyme methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR), which regulates influx of folate for methylation reactions for DNA synthesis and repair, are involved in colorectal cancer. This study was designed to determine the influence of a genetic variant (MTHFR G1793A) and folate on colon cancer in Iran. MATERIALS AND METHODS We analyzed 227 cases and 239 normal unmatched controls using pyrosequencing. Odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals (95% CI) were calculated to evaluate associations of the MTHFR gene polymorphism with colorectal cancer risk. RESULTS A significantly reduced risk of recurrence was observed in patients heterozygous for the MTHFR G1793A polymorphism (OR: 0.17; 95% CI, 0.05-0.52). The frequency of GG, GA and AA genotypes of MTHFR among the colorectal cancer patients were 98%, 2% and 0% respectively, while the frequencies among controls were 90%, 10% and 0%, respectively. Furthermore, a significant reduction in recurrence risk was seen in MTHFR G1793A heterozygotes limited to those who received folate supplements. CONCLUSION Our study is compatible with previous findings concerning a reverse association between the MTHFR 1793G> A genotype with cancers in different populations.
Class-Weighted Convolutional Features for Visual Instance Search

Image retrieval in realistic scenarios targets large dynamic datasets of unlabeled images. In these cases, training or fine-tuning a model every time new images are added to the database is neither efficient nor scalable. Convolutional neural networks trained for image classification over large datasets have been proven effective feature extractors for image retrieval. The most successful approaches are based on encoding the activations of convolutional layers, as they convey the image spatial information. In this paper, we go beyond this spatial information and propose a local-aware encoding of convolutional features based on semantic information predicted in the target image. To this end, we obtain the most discriminative regions of an image using Class Activation Maps (CAMs). CAMs are based on the knowledge contained in the network and therefore, our approach, has the additional advantage of not requiring external information. In addition, we use CAMs to generate object proposals during an unsupervised re-ranking stage after a first fast search. Our experiments on two public available datasets for instance retrieval, Oxford5k and Paris6k, demonstrate the competitiveness of our approach outperforming the current state-of-the-art when using off-the-shelf models trained on ImageNet. The source code and model used in this paper are publicly available at this http URL.
Regression Identification of Coincidental Correctness via Weighted Clustering

Coverage-based fault localization techniques leverage coverage information to identify the suspicious program entities for inspection. However, coincidental correctness (CC) widely occurs during software debugging, and brings negative impact to the effectiveness of CBFL techniques. In this paper, we propose a regression approach to identity CC execution with weighted clustering analysis. Based on the observation that program entities with different suspiciousness have different contributions to identify coincidental correctness, we make use of the suspiciousness calculated by CBFL techniques as the weight of each program entity and conduct weighted clustering to identify coincidental correctness regressively. To evaluate the effectiveness of our approach, we construct controlled experiments built on benchmark programs, and the experimental results show that our approach is able to improve the accuracy of the identification of coincidental correctness executions and further improve the effectiveness of CBFL techniques.