Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Tyrosine-Autokinase UbK Is Required for Proper Cell Growth and Cell Morphology of Streptococcus pneumoniae

Protein phosphorylation is a key post-translational modification required for many cellular functions of the bacterial cell. Recently, we identified a new protein-kinase, named UbK, in Bacillus subtilis that belongs to a new family of protein-kinases widespread in bacteria. In this study, we analyze the function of UbK in Streptococcus pneumoniae. We show that UbK displays a tyrosine-kinase activity and autophosphorylates on a unique tyrosine in vivo. To get insights into its cellular role, we constructed a set of pneumococcal ubk mutants. Using conventional and electron microscopy, we show that the ubk deficient strain, as well as an ubk catalytic dead mutant, display both severe cell-growth and cell-morphology defects. The same defects are observed with a mutant mimicking permanent phosphorylation of UbK whereas they are not detected for a mutant mimicking defective autophosphorylation of UbK. Moreover, we find that UbK phosphorylation promotes its ability to hydrolyze ATP. These observations show that the hydrolysis of ATP by UbK serves not only for its autophosphorylation but also for a distinct purpose essential for the optimal cell growth and cell-morphogenesis of the pneumococcus. We thus propose a model in which the autophosphorylation/dephosphorylation of UbK regulates its cellular function through a negative feedback loop.
Apoptosis and Autophagy in Picornavirus Infection

Cell death is a fundamental process in maintaining cellular homeostasis, which can be either accidental or programed. Programed cell death depends on the specific signaling pathways, resulting in either lytic or non-lytic morphology. It exists in two primary forms: apoptosis and autophagic cell death. Apoptosis is a non-lytic and selective cell death program, which is executed by caspases in response to non-self or external stimuli. In contrast, autophagy is crucial for maintaining cellular homeostasis via the degradation and recycling of cellular components. These two mechanisms also function in the defense against pathogen attack. However, picornaviruses have evolved to utilize diverse strategies and target critical components to regulate the apoptotic and autophagic processes for optimal replication and the release from the host cell. Although an increasing number of investigations have shown that the apoptosis and autophagy are altered in picornavirus infection, the mechanism by which viruses take advantage of these two processes remains unknown. In this review, we discuss the mechanisms of picornavirus executes cellular apoptosis and autophagy at the molecular level and the relationship between these interactions and viral pathogenesis.
Derivation and internal validation of a data-driven prediction model to guide frontline health workers in triaging children under-five in Nairobi, Kenya

Background: Many hospitalized children in developing countries die from infectious diseases. Early recognition of those who are critically ill coupled with timely treatment can prevent many deaths. A data-driven, electronic triage system to assist frontline health workers in categorizing illness severity is lacking. This study aimed to develop a data-driven parsimonious triage algorithm for children under five years of age. Methods: This was a prospective observational study of children under-five years of age presenting to the outpatient department of Mbagathi Hospital in Nairobi, Kenya between January and June 2018. A study nurse examined participants and recorded history and clinical signs and symptoms using a mobile device with an attached low-cost pulse oximeter sensor. The need for hospital admission was determined independently by the facility clinician and used as the primary outcome in a logistic predictive model. We focused on the selection of variables that could be quickly and easily assessed by low skilled health workers. Results: The admission rate (for more than 24 hours) was 12% (N=138/1,132). We identified an eight-predictor logistic regression model including continuous variables of weight, mid-upper arm circumference, temperature, pulse rate, and transformed oxygen saturation, combined with dichotomous signs of difficulty breathing, lethargy, and inability to drink or breastfeed. This model predicts overnight hospital admission with an area under the receiver operating characteristic curve of 0.88 (95% CI 0.82 to 0.94). Low- and high-risk thresholds of 5% and 25%, respectively were selected to categorize participants into three triage groups for implementation. Conclusion: A logistic regression model comprised of eight easily understood variables may be useful for triage of children under the age of five based on the probability of need for admission. This model could be used by frontline workers with limited skills in assessing children. External validation is needed before adoption in clinical practice.
Association Between Internet Addiction and the Risk of Musculoskeletal Pain in Chinese College Freshmen – A Cross-Sectional Study

Background It is well established that increased internet use is related to an increased risk of musculoskeletal pain among adolescents. The relationship between internet addiction (IA), a unique condition involving severe internet overuse, and musculoskeletal pain has, however, not been reported. This study aimed to investigate the association between IA and the risk of musculoskeletal pain among Chinese college students. Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted among 4211 Chinese college freshmen. IA status was evaluated using the 20-item Young’s Internet Addiction Test (IAT). IA was defined as internet addiction score ≥50 points. Musculoskeletal pain was assessed using a self-reported questionnaire. Multiple logistic regression analysis was performed to determine association between IA categories (normal, mild, and moderate-to-severe) and musculoskeletal pain. Results Among all participants; neck, shoulder, elbow, wrist/hand, and low back and waist pain was reported by 29.2, 33.9, 3.8, 7.9, and 27.9%, respectively. The prevalence of IA was 17.4%. After adjusting for potential confounders, the results showed significant differences in the risk of musculoskeletal pain among different IA categories. The odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) for neck pain with IA categories were 1.000 (reference), 1.451 (1.221, 1.725), and 1.994 (1.608, 2.473), respectively (P for trends: < 0.001). For shoulder pain, these were 1.000 (reference), 1.520 (1.287, 1.795), and 2.057 (1.664, 2.542), respectively (P for trends: < 0.001). For elbow pain, ORs (95% CIs) were 1.000 (reference), 1.627 (1.016, 2.605), and 2.341 (1.382, 3.968), respectively (P for trends: 0.001). Those for wrist/hand pain were 1.000 (reference), 1.508 (1.104, 2.060), and 2.236 (1.561, 3.202), respectively (P for trends: < 0.001). For low back and waist pain with severe IA categories, these were 1.000 (reference), 1.635 (1.368, 1.955), and 2.261 (1.813, 2.819), respectively (P for trends: < 0.001). Conclusion This cross-sectional study showed that severe IA was associated with a higher risk of musculoskeletal pain in Chinese college freshmen. In future research, it will be necessary to explore causality regarding this relationship using interventional studies.
Exploring Deep Multimodal Fusion of Text and Photo for Hate Speech Classification

Interactions among users on social network platforms are usually positive, constructive and insightful. However, sometimes people also get exposed to objectionable content such as hate speech, bullying, and verbal abuse etc. Most social platforms have explicit policy against hate speech because it creates an environment of intimidation and exclusion, and in some cases may promote real-world violence. As users’ interactions on today’s social networks involve multiple modalities, such as texts, images and videos, in this paper we explore the challenge of automatically identifying hate speech with deep multimodal technologies, extending previous research which mostly focuses on the text signal alone. We present a number of fusion approaches to integrate text and photo signals. We show that augmenting text with image embedding information immediately leads to a boost in performance, while applying additional attention fusion methods brings further improvement.
A Long-Term Study of Young Children's Rapport, Social Emulation, and Language Learning With a Peer-Like Robot Playmate in Preschool

Prior research has demonstrated the importance of children's peers for their learning and development. In particular, peer interaction, especially with more advanced peers, can enhance preschool children's language growth. In this paper, we explore one factor that may modulate children's language learning with a peer-like social robot: rapport. We explore connections between preschool children's learning, rapport, and emulation of the robot's language during a storytelling intervention. We performed a long-term field study in a preschool with 17 children aged 4–6 years. Children played a storytelling game with a social robot for 8 sessions over two months. For some children, the robot matched the level of its stories to the children's language ability, acting as a slightly more advanced peer (Matched condition); for the others, the robot did not match the story level (Unmatched condition). We examined children's use of target vocabulary words and key phrases used by the robot, children's emulation of the robot's stories during their own storytelling, and children's language style matching (LSM—a measure of overlap in function word use and speaking style associated with rapport and relationship) to see whether they mirrored the robot more over time. We found that not only did children emulate the robot more over time, but also, children who emulated more of the robot's phrases during storytelling scored higher on the vocabulary posttest. Children with higher LSM scores were more likely to emulate the robot's content words in their stories. Furthermore, the robot's personalization in the Matched condition led to increases in both children's emulation and their LSM scores. Together, these results suggest first, that interacting with a more advanced peer is beneficial for children, and second, that children's emulation of the robot's language may be related to their rapport and their learning. This is the first study to empirically support that rapport may be a modulating factor in children's peer learning, and furthermore, that a social robot can serve as an effective intervention for language development by leveraging this insight.
Three-Dimensional Texture Analysis Based on PET/CT Images to Distinguish Hepatocellular Carcinoma and Hepatic Lymphoma

Objectives: This study compared the diagnostic ability of image-based parameters with texture parameters in the differentiation of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and hepatic lymphoma (HL) by positron emission tomography–computed tomography (PET/CT). Methods: Patients with pathological diagnosis of HCC and HL were included in this study. Image-based and texture parameters were obtained by manual drawing of region of interest. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) was used to test the diagnostic capacity of each parameter. Binary logistic regression was used to transform the most discriminative image-based parameters, texture parameters, and the combination of these parameters into three regression models. ROC was used to test the diagnostic capacity of these models. Result: Ninety-nine patients diagnosed with HCC (n = 76) and HL (n = 23, 10 primary HL, 13 secondary HL) by histological examination were included in this study (From 2011 to 2018, West China hospital). According to the AUC and p-value, 2 image-based parameters and five texture parameters were selected. The diagnostic ability of texture-based model was better than that of image-based model, and after combination of those two groups of parameters the diagnostic capacity improved. Conclusion: Texture parameters can differentiate HCC from HL quantitatively and improve the diagnostic ability of image-based parameters.
CHAPTER 4 the magnitude of diabetes and its association with obesity in the slums of nairobi , Kenya : results from a cross-sectional survey

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RETN rs 3745368 polymorphism and resistin level in Javanese ethnic Indonesian obese : a case-control study

Body Mass Index Ethnic Javanese Resistin Obesity has become a global public health problem. It occurs due to a positive energy balance leading to adipose tissue expansion. White adipose tissue was an endocrine organ which secreted resistin. Resistin also produced by immune cells due to low chronic level inflammation might cause higher resistin level in obese people. Polymorphism +62G>A RETN gene was reported has a relationship with low resistin level and A allele as a protective allele. This study aimed to determine genotype and allele frequency distribution concerning resistin level. Another objective aimed to know the correlation between resistin level with body mass index. The design of the research was a case-control study with 122 people (18-40 y.o.), divided equally in the case group (BMI ≥ 27 kg/m2) and control group (BMI 18.5-24.9 kg/m2) without diabetes mellitus. Blood was taken after fasting a minimal 8 hours. Plasma was used to measure the resistin level. DNA genotyping was analyzed using PCR-RFLP. Genotyping result showed three genotypes of RETN gene +62G>A polymorphism (GG, GA, AA). There was no significant difference in genotype and allele frequency distribution related to obesity status (p=0.680; p=1) and resistin level (p=0.537) between case and control group. There was no significant difference in resistin level between case and control group (p=0.770). Resistin level was correlated with BMI in obese group (p= 0.05; r= -0.25). The present study concludes that there is no significant difference in genotype and allele frequency distribution related to obesity status and resistin level. Resistin level has a negative correlation with BMI.
Event individuation by objects: Evidence from frequency adjectives1

Adverbially-interpreted temporal frequency adjectives (FAs) such as frequent, sporadic, and daily, are usually restricted to modifying event-denoting nominals (e.g. The house underwent frequent cleanings = Frequently, the house underwent cleanings vs. We saw frequent sailors/the frequent sailor 6= Frequently, we saw sailors/the sailor). In this, they contrast with what Gehrke and McNally (2012) refer to as nontemporal FAs (e.g. odd, cp. The odd sailor strolled by = A sailor strolled by on odd occasions). However, there is a systematic set of exceptions to this generalization, e.g. She wrote frequent letters, which have never been explained. In this paper we provide an analysis of these exceptional cases. Our account points to interesting parallelisms between the construction of interest and Kennedy’s (2012) use of Kratzer’s (1996) Event Identification to account for event measurement via measure expressions on incremental themes. It also situates this use of FAs within the family of semantic incorporation constructions, providing a novel example of how the varied morphosyntactic resources of a language can make it possible to fulfill the pragmatic functions that incorporation constructions serve for a wide variety of propositional contents.
The Electrical and Microstructural Properties of Zr-doped LaNbO 4 Thin Ceramic Films

In the current research thin Zr-doped lanthanum niobium oxide (LaNb1-xZrxO4) films deposited by magnetron sputtering were studied to investigate their microstructural and electrical properties. The main attention is paid to the electrical processes in the formed thin films, e.g. relaxation time and activation energy derived from the different electrical parameters. X-ray diffractometry, energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy were used to study the structure and composition of the films. Electrical parameters of LaNb1-xZrxO4 thin ceramic were investigated by impedance spectroscopy in the frequency range from 0.1 Hz to 1.0 MHz in temperature range from 773 to 1173 K. It is shown that LaNb1-xZrxO4 thin ceramic films have nanocrystalline structure with characteristic peaks corresponding to the tetragonal LaNbO4 structure. The increase of Zr dopants does not influence the tetragonal structure. It was revealed that the Non-Debye relaxation process is dominant in the formed thin films and the activation energy is dependent on the concentration of the dopants. The comparison between the activation energies estimated using different electrical parameters: electrical modulus, impedance imaginary part and slope from the conductivity plot was made. Also the relaxation time was calculated. The relaxation time varies from from 2.80·10-4 s to 3.78·10-5 s in the formed thin films.
Temporal resolution of odour pulses by three types of pheromone receptor cells in Antheraea polyphemus

Temporal response characteristics of three cell types of male A. polyphemus, each responding to a different pheromone component, have been measured using series of short (20 ms) pheromone pulses. The stimuli were delivered through capillaries 20 gm in diameter and applied to single olfactory sensilla trichodea. Two of three cell types sensitive to (E,Z)-6,11-hexadecadienal and (E,Z)-4,9-tetradecadienyl acetate are able to resolve at least 5 stimuli/s whereas the third, responding to the major pheromone component (E,Z)-6,11-hexadecadienyl acetate, is slower, resolving only about 2 stimuti/s. These results suggest that receptor cells are able to respond to pulses of pheromone concentration as they occur downwind from a point source. The time-averaged number of nerve impulses does not seem to be a reliable measure of the amount of pheromone reaching the sensillum. Responses of the ceils thus reflect the non-uniform distribution of pheromone in a plume rather than the average concentration.
Cryogenic RF Performance of Double-Quarter Wave Cavities Equipped with HOM Filters

Crab cavities are one of the several components included in the luminosity upgrade of the Large Hadron Collider (HLLHC). The cavities have to provide a nominal deflecting kick of 3.4 MV per cavity while the cryogenic load per cavity stays below 5 W. Cryogenic RF tests confirmed the required performances in bare cavities, with several cavities exceeding the required voltage by more than 50%. However, the first tests of a Double-Quarter Wave (DQW) cavity with one out of three Higher-Order Mode (HOM) filters did not reach the required voltage. The present paper describes the studies and tests conducted to understand the limiting factor in the operation of a DQW cavity with HOM filters. The recipe to meet the performance specification and exceed the voltage requirement by more than 35% is discussed.
UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA THESIS OR DISSERTATION FORMATTING TEMPLATE

of Dissertation Presented to the Graduate School of the University of Florida in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy FINITE ELEMENT MODELING OF BEHAVIOR OF MASS CONCRETE PLACED ON SOIL By Tu Anh Do August 2013 Chair: Mang Tia Major: Civil Engineering This dissertation presents the development of a finite element model for the prediction of temperatures and cracking potential of mass concrete footings placed on soil. To evaluate the effectiveness of the temperature predictions from the model, three different bridge pier footings in Florida were monitored for temperature developments. The measured temperatures were compared with the predicted results obtained from the model. Isothermal calorimetry testing was done on the cementitious materials of concrete mixtures to determine the energy released during hydration, which was then converted to temperature rise as inputs for the finite element model. Analysis of influences of thermal properties of soil on temperature development and cracking in mass concrete footings was conducted. A parametric study on the effects of dimensions of three types of rectangular footings on the maximum allowable temperature differential to prevent cracking in concrete was conducted. A user-friendly computer program called “DIANA Input File Generator” was developed to provide the needed input files to the TNO DIANA software for modeling of typical mass concrete structures such as rectangular footings and columns.
UNDERSTANDING THE BEHAVIOUR OF SHEAR WALLS: A NUMERICAL REVIEW

A new interface model that includes all failure mechanisms found in masonry structures was recently developed by the authors . The model is used to analyse solid and hollow masonry shear-walls and is capable of predicting the experimental collapse load and behaviour accurately. Detailed comparisons between experimental and numerical results perrnit a clear understanding of the walls structural behaviour, fiow of internal forces and redistribution of stresses both in the preand post-peak regime. The parameters necessary to charaeterize the rnodel are well-defined from available rnicro-experiments .
Bank Lending Channel of Transmission of Monetary Policy : Does the Financial Structure of Banks Matter ?

This paper tests the importance of the financial structure of banks in the bank lending channel of monetary policy transmission in Colombia, using an unbalanced panel of 51 banks for the period of 1996:4-2014:8. We find that an increase in the interbank rate (proxy of the intervention rate) has a response of a drop in the growth of the total loan portfolio of banks. When we breakdown by type of policy, the bank lending channel works better in times of monetary contraction, exhibiting significant reactions from banks with low levels of solvency rather than those with high solvency. In contrast, when the policy is expansionary, the high solvency banks are the only segment exhibiting the presence of the bank lending channel. We discuss the policy implications of findings.