Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Barrett's esophagus and associated adenocarcinoma in a mouse surgical model.

BACKGROUND The development of Barrett's esophagus (BE) and Barrett's associated adenocarcinoma (BAA) in the rat after experimental inducement of esophageal reflux of gastric, bile, and pancreatic juice has been reported by others. The purpose of this study was to determine whether similar results could be demonstrated in the mouse model. MATERIALS AND METHODS One hundred eight Swiss-Webster mice were used in this study and were divided into three groups: Group I, 37 mice with esophagojejunostomy; Group II, 39 mice with esophagojejunostomy and the carcinogen N-methyl-N-benzylnitrosamine (MBN); and Group III, 32 mice with MBN alone. The animals were sacrificed after 19 weeks. Macroscopic and histopathologic examinations were performed. RESULTS One hundred mice survived and were available for pathologic study. Macroscopic evidence suggested esophagitis in 60.6% of mice in Group I, 62.8% of mice in Group II, and 9% of mice in Group III and suggested tumor in 3% of mice in Group I, 51.4% of mice in Group II, and 53.1% of mice in Group III. Histopathologic analysis disclosed BE in 42.4% of mice in Group I, 20% of mice in Group II, and 12.5% of mice in Group III. Cancer was present in 12.2% of mice in Group I, 54.3% of mice in Group II, and 46.9% of mice in Group III. Adenocarcinoma with or without squamous cell carcinoma was present in 6.1% of mice in Group I, 37.1% of mice in Group II, and 12.5% of mice in Group III. CONCLUSIONS Esophagojejunostomy plus MBN in the mouse results in BE, BAA, or both in 57.1% of animals, consistent with findings in the rat model after similar interventions.
Treatment of diabetic retinopathy with anti‐VEGF drugs

The aim of this review is to summarize the latest developments in the treatment of diabetic retinopathy (DR) with anti‐vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) drugs. We reviewed recent studies that evaluated the role of the anti‐VEGF agents bevacizumab, ranibizumab and pegaptanib in the treatment of DR. There was only one large randomized controlled trial that evaluated the role of ranibizumab in diabetic macular oedema (DME). Other prospective and retrospective studies provided important insight into the role of anti‐VEGF drugs in DR, but most of them were not conducted in large scales. The growing evidence indicates that anti‐VEGF drugs are beneficial in DR, especially in DME. Further studies are needed to fully evaluate the role of these agents, especially in proliferative DR and in DR candidates for vitrectomy surgery.
Regulatory Spillovers in Common Audit Markets

We find that Sarbanes–Oxley (SOX) had two significant effects on the audit market for nonpublic entities. The first short-run effect stems from inelastic labor supply coupled with an audit demand shock from public companies. As a result, private companies reduced their use of attested financial reports in bank financing by 12%, and audit fee increases for nonprofit organizations (NPOs) more than doubled. The second long-run effect was a transformation in the audit supply structure. After SOX, NPOs were less likely to match with auditors most exposed to public companies, whereas auditors increasingly specialized their offices based on client type. Audit market concentration for NPOs dropped by more than one-half within five years of SOX and remained at this level through the end of our sample in 2013, whereas the number of suppliers increased by 26%. Our results demonstrate how regulation directed at public companies generates economically important spillovers for nonpublic entities. This paper was accepted by Suraj Srinivasan, accounting.
Effect of calcium and vitamin D2 fortification on physical, microbial, rheological and sensory characteristics of yoghurt

The effect of calcium and vitamin D2 fortification on yoghurt was evaluated. Two levels (500 and 600 ppm) of calcium (Calcium phosphate and calcium citrate) along with vitamin D¬2 (600IU/L) were used to fortify milk for yoghurt preparation. Acidity, pH, water holding capacity and syneresis of fortified yoghurt were not affected significantly (p>0.05) in comparison to control yoghurt. However, acetaldehyde content decreased and setting time increased upon fortification of yoghurt. Microbial growth significantly (p<0.05) decreased in calcium phosphate fortified yoghurt, whereas calcium citrate fortified yoghurt showed no difference to control yoghurt. Firmness and viscosity decreased in calcium phosphate fortified yoghurt, whereas it increased in calcium citrate fortified yoghurt as compared to control. Rheological characteristics reveled that calcium phosphate fortified yoghurt showed higher shear thinning effect, whereas calcium citrate fortified showed less shear thinning effect in comparison to control.
ON THE SACRED AND THE PROFANE

The paired up terms of sacred and profane constitute a twin concept we are likely to encounter in not a few studies in the sociology of religion. Implying an opposition between a certain qualification of religiosity and its absence, this double concept will reflect the user's conception of religion revealing „a certain degree" of opposition or another way of relationship between the two implied aspects. In other words, its particular use will reflect how religion is seen to extend into the field of everyday reality, how both religion and everyday reality relate to each other. This evidently is an important theological and sociological question. In the following, then, I will review how this pair concept is treated in some literature on religion and discuss or comment mainly on its sociological bearings. Especially we will see how it is utilized by Durkheim, Malinowski and Eliade to all of whom it is of central concern. Let us start with Durkheim.
Tone , Accent and Relative Prominence

Yoruba has three phonemically distinctive tones|H(igh), M(id), L(ow). H occurs in word-initial position only in (marked) consonant-initial words, which reveal an implicit initial vowel when preceded by another word in a genitive construction. Most words start with a vowel, which is L or M but not H. Except for this minor tonotactic restriction, tones occur freely in lexical representations, without apparent restriction on word melodies.
Rapid Changes in Cellular Immunity Following a Confrontational Role-Play Stressor

Recent laboratory studies have shown several immune system changes consistently associated with brief stress including increases in circulating natural killer (NK) cell numbers, increases in NK cell cytotoxicity (NKCC), increases in suppressor cytotoxic (CD8) T cell numbers, and decreases in the in vitro proliferative response to mitogen stimulation. In the present study, we use a confrontational role-play, which brings out responses varying from assertion to capitulation and examine the psychological, behavioral, physiological, and immune system responses to this task compared to a resting control task. Compared to the control condition, the brief confrontational role-play led to significant subjective and physiological arousal and increases in circulating NK (CD16, CD56) as well as large granular lymphocyte (CD57) cells and suppressor/cytotoxic T cells (CD8). There were also significant relationships between stress-related increases in the cardiovascular measures and the numbers of circulating NK cells. These findings support sympathetic nervous system activation as a primary mechanism for increases in NK cell numbers under challenge. These role-play results are generally consistent with those from other laboratory tasks such as mental arithmetic. However, in contrast to previously examined brief stressors, the role-play led to decreased NKCC adjusted for percentage of NK cells. This apparent differential change in NK cytotoxicity across different types of activating experimental tasks points to the importance of examining dimensions of the behavioral and emotional response to challenge or threat in addition to that of autonomic arousal.
Monkey Rotavirus Binding to α2β1 Integrin Requires the α2 I Domain and Is Facilitated by the Homologous β1 Subunit

ABSTRACT Rotaviruses utilize integrins during virus-cell interactions that lead to infection. Cell binding and infection by simian rotavirus SA11 were inhibited by antibodies (Abs) to the inserted (I) domain of the α2 integrin subunit. To determine directly which integrins or other proteins bind rotaviruses, cell surface proteins precipitated by rotaviruses were compared with those precipitated by anti-α2β1 Abs. Two proteins precipitated by SA11 and rhesus rotavirus RRV from MA104 and Caco-2 cells migrated indistinguishably from α2β1 integrin, and SA11 precipitated β1 from α2β1-transfected CHO cells. These viruses specifically precipitated two MA104 cell proteins only, but an additional 160- to 165-kDa protein was precipitated by SA11 from Caco-2 cells. The role of the α2 I domain in rotavirus binding, infection, and growth was examined using CHO cell lines expressing wild-type or mutated human α2 or α2β1. Infectious SA11 and RRV, but not human rotavirus Wa, specifically bound CHO cell-expressed human α2β1 and, to a lesser extent, human α2 combined with hamster β1. Binding was inhibited by anti-α2 I domain monoclonal Abs (MAbs), but not by non-I domain MAbs to α2, and required the presence of the α2 I domain. Amino acid residues 151, 221, and 254 in the metal ion-dependent adhesion site of the α2 I domain that are necessary for type I collagen binding to α2β1 were not essential for rotavirus binding. Rotavirus-α2β1 binding led to increased virus infection and RRV growth. SA11 and RRV require the α2 I domain for binding to α2β1, and their binding to this integrin is distinguishable from that of collagen.
Linking Theory and Practice : The Case of TESL Trainee Teachers 1

Learning the vocabulary of a language is vital in the process of acquiring the language because it serves several functions which assist learners to be good at the language, even though learning can be complicated and burdening for learners (Jiang, 2004; Cobb & Horst, 2004). The aim of the study was to investigate the English vocabulary levels of the TESL mainstream students in Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM). This research study also examined the differences in vocabulary levels between the male and female students. The study involved 90 respondents that were enrolled in the TESL programme at the Faculty of Education in UiTM, Shah Alam. The findings revealed that most of the UiTM TESL students scored an average of 15 correct answers in the 2,000 word-level, 12 for the 3,000 word-level, 8 for the 5,000 word-level, 10 for the University Word Level and 6 for the 10,000 word-level. The study also revealed that even though the students were highly engaged with listening, reading, speaking and writing activities, these involvements did not correlate with the mastery of vocabulary knowledge.
Identification of consumer segments and market potentials for organic products in Nigeria: A Hybrid Latent Class approach

Given the growing interest in the potential of organic agriculture to correct environmental externalities in sub-Saharan Africa, we use data from a hypothetical stated preference survey conducted in Nigeria to determine the market potentials of organic products as well as show how the relative importance that consumers attach to organic attributes varies strongly as a function of underlying attitudes. We specify a latent class structure that allows us to jointly analyze responses to stated choice and assignment to latent classes, while avoiding measurement error problems. Our results reveal that consumers are willing to pay premium for both environmental and health gains achieved through organic production systems, although their quantitative valuation is higher for the health concerns. Furthermore, we note that individuals with stronger preferences for organic products tend to attach a global value to the third party organic certification program attributes, whereas the valuation tends to be more restrictive among respondents that prioritize the status quo option (conventional alternative). We also observe that differences in respondents’ geographic location and level of awareness of organic food production characteristics (prior to the survey) have significant impact on consumers’ choices.
Kobe University Repository : Kernel タイトル Tit le A simple method for preserving environmental DNA in water samples at ambient temperature by addit ion of cat ionic surfactant 著者

Environmental DNA (eDNA) analysis is a powerful tool within ecology for the study of the distribution or abundance of aquatic species, although the simplification of water sampling is required for enabling light and fast field sampling to expand further application of eDNA analysis. Here, certain candidate chemicals belonging to the group of cationic surfactants were examined for their effectiveness as preservatives for eDNA water samples by simply adding the chemicals to water samples to suppress the degradation of eDNA. The quaternary ammonium compound benzalkonium chloride (BAC) at a final concentration of 0.01% was effective to retain 92% of eDNA derived from the bluegill sunfish Lepomis macrochirus in an 8-h incubation test at ambient temperature, which assumed a transportation of water samples in 1-day field sampling during the daytime. Meanwhile, eDNA in water samples without BAC retained only 14% of the initial eDNA. Moreover, an additional long-term incubation test (up to 10 days) revealed BACtreated samples retained *70 and 50% of bluegill DNA compared to the initial amount after 1and 10-day incubation at ambient temperature, respectively. Meanwhile, eDNA in naı̈ve samples reduced to 20% after 1-day incubation and reached undetectable levels after 10 days. Up to now, many eDNA studies have adopted on-site filtration followed by filter fixation, which requires many pieces of equipment. Addition of BAC can protect eDNA in water samples with less effort and equipment resulting in an increase of measurement accuracy of the eDNA quantity and detection probability of rare species by preventing the disappearance of rare sequences in water samples.
Communications in Mathematical Physics Superconformal Symmetry and HyperKähler Manifolds with Torsion

The geometry arising from Michelson & Strominger’s study of N = 4B supersymmetric quantum mechanics with superconformalD(2, 1;α)-symmetry is a hyperKähler manifold with torsion (HKT) together with a special homothety. It is shown that different parameters α are related via changes in potentials for the HKT target spaces. For α = 0,−1, we describe how each such HKT manifold M4m is derived from a space N4m−4 which is quaternionic Kähler with torsion and carries an Abelian instanton.
1 SERIOUS GAMING IN ELEMENTARY EDUCATION The Effect of Serious Gaming on Elementary Student Learning

With our ever-changing technological world, schools need to incorporate more engaging learning activities that expose and extend students' learning with technologies. This literature review investigated the effects of serious gaming activities on student achievement. Thirty peer-reviewed journals were selected, analyzed, and evaluated. These studies were conducted about a variety of subject areas in the elementary setting in different areas around the world. Research evidence suggested that serious gaming, whose primary goal is not entertainment but instead to educate the user, can improve student achievement, meet their different learning styles, and enhance student motivation across curricular areas and regions. Recommendations for adopting serious gaming were discussed. This open access graduate research paper is available at UNI ScholarWorks: https://scholarworks.uni. edu/grp/723
Using RotCFD to Predict Isolated XV-15 Rotor Performance

The objective of the present research is to validate an isolated XV-15 rotor computational model. The predicted performance of the XV-15 rotor during various flight modes is compared to wind-tunnel data. For computational efficiency, a simple rotor model is coupled to a full CFD flow-field analysis. A hybrid RANS solver, RotCFD, is used with an unsteady, incompressible flow model and a realizable k-ε turbulence model. The rotor is modeled using an actuator disk with a momentum source approach. RotCFD is a useful engineering tool because the problem setup, grid generation, and solver execution is faster than many CFD codes. With a stall-delay model, RotCFD predictions match OARF hover data quite well; RotCFD also matches wind-tunnel data for tilt rotor mode. RotCFD matches airplane-mode wind-tunnel data better at low speed than at high speed. However, the tip-loss model used proved to be too aggressive. Future work will investigate wind-tunnel wall effects on isolated rotor performance with the eventual goal of modeling a complete wind tunnel installation.
An Autoencoder-Based Image Descriptor for Image Matching and Retrieval

Zhao, Chenyang. Ph.D., Department of Computer Science and Engineering, Wright State University, 2016. An Autoencoder-Based Image Descriptor for Image Matching and Retrieval. Local image features are needed in many computer vision applications. For this purpose, a large number of point detectors and descriptors have been developed throughout the years. However, creation of effective descriptors is still a topic of research. The Scale Invariant Feature Transform (SIFT) proposed by David Lowe is an example of a widely used image descriptor in image analysis and image retrieval. SIFT first detects interest points in an image based on a scale-space analysis. It then creates a descriptor for each detected point, encoding gradient information in a patch centered at the point. SIFT descriptors are scale and rotation invariant and provide a high matching rate; however, they are computationally too slow to be useful in many image analysis and retrieval applications. Autoencoder is an effective computational method for representation learning. In this dissertation it is used to construct a low-dimensional representation for a high-dimensional data while preserving structural information within the data. In many computer vision applications, a high dimensional image data implies a high computational cost. The main motivation in this work is to improve the speed of image descriptors significantly without reducing their match ratings noticeably. A new descriptor is designed that is based on the autoencoder concept. The proposed descriptor can reduce the size and complexity of a descriptor significantly, considerably reducing the time required to find an object of interest in an image or retrieve a desired image from a database.
Maggot Therapy for Problematic Wounds: Uncommon and Off-label Applications

OBJECTIVE: To identify off-label uses for maggot therapy that may be worthy of further clinical evaluation. DESIGN: Clinician surveys and invitations to submit unusual and off-label uses of maggot therapy. SETTING: All levels of inpatient, outpatient, extended care, and home care. PARTICIPANTS: More than 350 clinicians known to use maggot therapy were invited to participate in the survey. Twelve returned the survey. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: Indications for maggot therapy other than simple debridement of wounds listed on product labeling. MAIN RESULTS: A total of 544 wounds were treated by the 12 respondents; 131 (24%) were rare or off-label applications, including stimulation of epithelialization in clean but nonhealing wounds; disinfection, odor, and drainage control; determination of tissue viability; debridement of acute burns, necrotic tumors, and ischemic ulcers; and debridement of unusual sites (ie, glans penis, joints, pleural space, and peritoneal cavity). Noted drawbacks included the time and effort needed to train personnel and convince administrators of the need for treatment. CONCLUSION: Medicinal maggots are frequently being used as an adjunct to other methods of surgical and nonsurgical wound care and often for off-label indications, including debridement, disinfection, and stimulation of healing. Further study is warranted to evaluate the efficacy and safety of maggot therapy for these indications, and better education is needed for administrative and clinical staff to make maggot treatment more accessible.
The New Perspective For The Superconductor

The superconductor theory based on the electron pair is reviewed and several viewpoints are proposed. A demonstrated case reveals the speed of each electron in the electron pair at Fermi level about 1.82x10^6 m/s in Pb. However, the fastest longitudinal and transverse speeds of crystal waves in Pb at 0 K are 2.18x10^3 m/s and 1.29x10^3 m/s in [100] direction, respectively. It seems to be very hard even impossible that the mediated phonon can real-time transfer momentum and energy between two so high-speed and antiparallel-momentum electrons in the superconducting state. In this research, we focus on single electron based on the experiments of Transmission Electron Microscopy. The new fitting temperature-dependent model for the London penetration depth is proposed. This model is much better than the one- and two-gap models and matches three experimental data much well. Then it further gives the temperature-dependent effective electron mass for the Nb superconductor film. Finally, the expression for the resistivity is deduced which can explain why the resistance is almost zero in the superconductor. All these new results are obtained by using the concept of single electron.
Effective method of combining rTMS and motor training in stroke patients.

PURPOSE Enhanced therapeutic effects of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) on the motor function of stroke patients when provided in combination with motor training have been reported. The objective of this study was to determine the most effective method for combining rTMS and motor training in stroke patients. METHODS Fourteen stroke patients were enrolled. All patients participated in two randomly arranged intervention sessions, each of which incorporated a differently combined rTMS and motor training method. With an interleaved combination method (ICM), an rTMS train and a short period of motor training were interleaved and repeated. With a preconditioning combination method (PCM), rTMS trains were applied as preconditioning, followed by repeated blocks of motor training. The total rTMS pulses and total duration of motor training were the same in both sessions. RESULTS Performance of a sequential finger motor task improved significantly after both the ICM and PCM interventions: movement accuracy increased and movement time decreased. The PCM-associated improvements were significantly greater than the ICM-associated improvements. Performance in the Purdue Pegboard Test and Nine-Hole Peg Test also improved significantly after both interventions but without a significant difference between the two interventions. Cortical excitability improved after both the ICM and PCM interventions but without a significant difference between the two. CONCLUSIONS In combining rTMS and motor training, preconditioning with rTMS followed by motor training is more effective than interleaving the rTMS and motor training to facilitate the motor performance of stroke patients.