Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Assessment of the variation of skin barrier function with anatomic site, age, gender and ethnicity

The skin is the largest organ of the human body and its functions include protection, thermoregulation sensation and secretion. Significant advances in our understanding of how the morphology and physiology of the skin contribute to the skin’s barrier role have been achieved in recent years. The aim of this review is to summarize the principal approaches which have been used to assess variation in skin barrier function with anatomic site, age, gender, and ethnicity. The methods discussed include trans‐epidermal water loss (TEWL) measurement, assessment of corneocyte size, response to vasoactive compounds and attenuated total reflectance Fourier transform infrared (ATR‐FTIR) interrogation of skin. The utility of the various methods is considered and the most important findings in the literature to date are highlighted.
UX Design and Agile: A Natural Fit?

Found at the intersection of many fields, UX design addresses a software user’s entire experience: from logging on to navigating, accessing, modifying, and saving data. Unfortunately, UX design is often overlooked or treated as a "bolt-on," available only to those projects blessed with the extra time and budget to accommodate it. Careful design of the user experience, however, can be crucial to the success of a product. And it’s not just window dressing: choices made about the user experience can have a significant impact on a software product’s underlying architecture, data structures, and processing algorithms.
hospholipid and sphingolipid metabolism in Leishmania

In many eukaryotes, phospholipids (PLs) and sphingolipids (SLs) are abundant membrane components and reservoirs for important signaling molecules. In Leishmania, the composition, metabolism, and function of PLs and SLs differ significantly from those in mammalian cells. Although only a handful of enzymes have been experimentally characterized, available data suggest many steps of PL/SL metabolism are critical for Leishmania viability and/or virulence, and could be a source for new drug targets. Further studies
CHOP-R therapy overcomes the adverse prognostic influence of BCL-2 expression in diffuse large B-cell lymphoma

BCL-2 protein expression correlates with shorter survival in patients with diffuse large B cell lymphoma (DLBCL) who are treated with CHOP chemotherapy. We report a retrospective analysis of the prognostic significance of BCL-2 status in patients who received CHOP with the addition of rituximab (CHOP-R) for DLBCL. Patients over 15 years of age with de novo, HIV negative DLBCL, without CNS involvement, and known BCL-2 protein status were identified from the BCCA Lymphoid Cancer Database. BCL-2 tumour positivity was defined as over 50% of tumour cells with BCL-2 protein expression. 140 patients who received CHOP-R were analysed. The majority (59%) of patients were over 60 years of age. Disease stage distribution was limited (22%) and advanced (78%). BCL-2 protein expression was observed in 90 (64%) cases. IPI score was similar in both BCL-2 positive and negative cases. Median follow-up time for living patients is 40 months. BCL-2 status did not predict for either progression-free or overall survival. IPI score was predictive for progression-free survival but not overall survival. The addition of rituximab to CHOP chemotherapy negates the adverse prognostic influence of BCL-2 protein expression on progression free and overall survival in DLBCL.
Management of atrial fibrillation in specific patient populations.

Kardiologia Polska Copyright © Polskie Towarzystwo Kardiologiczne 2016 Associate Professor Filip M. Szymanski is a head of Cardiovascular Disease Prevention Lab by the 1st Department of Cardiology, Medical University of Warsaw. He is a recipient of Scientific Award of the Club 30 of Polish Cardiac Society, Award of the President of Polish Cardiac Society, Award of the Polish Hypertension Society, several Scientific Awards of the Rector of the Medical University of Warsaw and two Club 30 grants from the Polish Cardiac Society. His projects are focused on novel cardiovascular risk factors in non-classical high-risk populations. His research includes thromboembolic risk stratification in atrial fibrillation patients, and its association with obstructive sleep apnoea. His discoveries resulted in describing and introduction into the clinical practice a novel clinical entity — the OSAFED syndrome.
Investigation of correlation between traits and path analysis of rice (Oryza sativa L.) grain yield under coastal salinity

Correlation and path analysis was carried out to study the association between quantitative traits on yield of rice. Grain yield per plant exhibited positive and significant association with number of productive tillers, panicle length, number of grains per panicle, grain breadth and hundred grain weight suggesting that selection pressure applied for these traits will eventually increase the grain yield per plant under salinity. The secondary trait panicle length showed significant positive association with number of grains per panicle, hundred grain weight and grain yield, suggesting that selection based on this trait will be fruitful for enhancing grain yield.
Virus Evasion of MHC Class I Molecule Presentation1

The MHC class I H chain and the L chain that assembles with it, β2-microglobulin (β2m),[3][1] are cotranslationally inserted into the lumen of the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) ([1][2]). In the ER, the MHC/β2m heterodimer binds peptide that is generated by proteasomal protein degradation in the
Behind‐the‐Counter, but Over‐the‐Border? The Assessment of the Geographical Spillover Effects of Emergency Contraception on Abortions

Washington was the first state to ease the prescription requirements making emergency contraception (EC) available behind-the-counter at pharmacies to women of any age in 1998. Using county-level vital statistics data in conjunction with the pharmacy specific location data from the Not-2-Late Hotline database, I study whether the increased access to EC affects fertility rates within the state and beyond the borders of the state that allows it. Unlike other studies that rely on geographic variations in access, I show that increased availability of EC in Washington, measured by the distance to the closest 'no-prescription EC pharmacy', is associated with a statistically significant albeit economically moderate decrease in abortion rates in Washington counties where women had access to 'no-prescription EC'. These effects are localized (i.e., decrease with travel distance) and robust in a number of specifications. Finally, I find some evidence in support of geographical spillover effects in Idaho, but not in Oregon. However, after accounting for the availability of abortion services, the decrease in 'treated' Idaho counties is rather small. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Functional evidence that Drosha overexpression in cervical squamous cell carcinoma affects cell phenotype and microRNA profiles

Although gain of chromosome 5p is one of the most frequent DNA copy‐number imbalances in cervical squamous cell carcinoma (SCC), the genes that drive its selection remain poorly understood. In a previous cross‐sectional clinical study, we showed that the microRNA processor Drosha (located on chromosome 5p) demonstrates frequent copy‐number gain and overexpression in cervical SCC, associated with altered microRNA profiles. Here, we have conducted gene depletion/overexpression experiments to demonstrate the functional significance of up‐regulated Drosha in cervical SCC cells. Drosha depletion by RNA interference (RNAi) produced significant, specific reductions in cell motility/invasiveness in vitro, with a silent RNAi‐resistant Drosha mutation providing phenotype rescue. Unsupervised hierarchical clustering following global profiling of 319 microRNAs in 18 cervical SCC cell line specimens generated two groups according to Drosha expression levels. Altering Drosha levels in individual SCC lines changed the group into which the cells clustered, with gene depletion effects being rescued by the RNAi‐resistant mutation. Forty‐five microRNAs showed significant differential expression between the groups, including four of 14 that were differentially expressed in association with Drosha levels in clinical samples. miR‐31 up‐regulation in Drosha‐overexpressing samples/cell lines was the highest‐ranked change (by adjusted p value) in both analyses, an observation validated by northern blotting. These functional data support the role of Drosha as an oncogene in cervical SCC, by affecting expression of cancer‐associated microRNAs that have the potential to regulate numerous protein‐coding genes. Copyright © 2011 Pathological Society of Great Britain and Ireland. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Approximate Markov Chain Monte Carlo Algorithms for Large Scale Bayesian Inference

Author(s): Korattikara Balan, Anoop | Advisor(s): Welling, Max | Abstract: Traditional algorithms for Bayesian posterior inference require processing the entire dataset in each iteration and are quickly getting obsoleted by the proliferation of massive datasets in various application domains. Most successful applications of learning with big data have been with simple minibatch-based algorithms such as Stochastic Gradient Descent, because they are the only ones that can computationally handle today's large datasets. However, by restricting ourselves to these algorithms, we miss out on all the advantages of Bayesian modeling, such as controlling over-fitting, estimating uncertainty and the ability to incorporate prior knowledge. In this thesis, we attempt to scale up Bayesian posterior inference to large datasets by developing a new generation of approximate Markov Chain Monte Carlo algorithms that process only a mini-batch of data to generate each posterior sample. The approximation introduces a bias in the stationary distribution of the Markov chain, but we show that this bias is more than compensated by accelerated burn-in and lower variance due to the ability to generate a larger number of samples per unit of computational time.Our main contributions are the following. First, we develop a fast Metropolis-Hastings (MH) algorithm by approximating each accept/reject decision using a sequential hypothesis test that processes only an adaptive mini-batch of data instead of the complete dataset. Then, we show that the same idea can be used to speed up the slice sampling algorithm. Next, we present a theoretical analysis of Stochastic Gradient Langevin Dynamics (SGLD), a posterior sampling algorithm derived by adding Gaussian noise to Stochastic Gradient Ascent updates. We also show that the bias in SGLD can be reduced by combining it with our approximate MH test. We then propose a new algorithm called Stochastic Gradient Fisher Scoring (SGFS) which improves the mixing rate of SGLD using a preconditioning matrix that captures the curvature of the posterior distribution. Finally, we develop an efficient algorithm for Bayesian Probabilistic Matrix Factorization using a combination of SGLD and approximate Metropolis-Hastings updates.
Membrane vesiculation function and exocytosis of wild-type and mutant matrix proteins of vesicular stomatitis virus

Transfection of mammalian CV1 cells with a recombinant M-gene pTM1 plasmid, driven by vaccinia virus-expressed phage T7 polymerase, resulted in the expression of matrix (M) protein, which is progressively released from the exterior surface of the transfected-cell plasma membrane. Exocytosis of M protein begins 2 to 4 h posttransfection and reaches a peak by 10 to 16 h posttransfection; dye uptake studies reveal that > 97% of cells are alive and have intact membranes at 16 h posttransfection. Density gradient centrifugation and labeling with radioactive palmitic acid revealed that the M protein is released from cells in association with lipid vesicles. Expression of M-gene deletion mutants suggests that exocytosis of M protein requires the presence of a membrane-binding site at N-terminal amino acids 1 to 50. Cells transfected with the pTM1 plasmid containing the M gene of the temperature-sensitive mutant tsO23 expressed ample quantities of the mutant M protein at permissive (31 degrees C) and restrictive (39 degrees C) temperatures, but the exocytosis of the mutant M protein occurred only at the permissive temperature. The tsO23 M gene has three site-specific mutations resulting in amino acid substitutions at residues 21, 111, and 227. Expression of wild-type and mutant M genes with mutations or revertants at each of these sites resulted in exocytosis of M protein at the nonpermissive temperature only when wild-type leucine was present at residue 111, but M-protein exocytosis was restricted (to some extent even at the permissive temperature) when mutant phenylalanine was present at residue 111. Past and present data indicate that a specific structural conformation of the M protein is responsible for the formation and budding of vesicles, a property of the M protein which probably also promotes vesicular stomatitis virus assembly and budding of virions from host cells.
Familiar Real-World Spatial Cues Provide Memory Benefits in Older and Younger Adults

Episodic memory, future thinking, and memory for scenes have all been proposed to rely on the hippocampus, and evidence suggests that these all decline in healthy aging. Despite this age-related memory decline, studies examining the effects of context reinstatement on episodic memory have demonstrated that reinstating elements of the encoding context of an event leads to better memory retrieval in both younger and older adults. The current study was designed to test whether more familiar, real-world contexts, such as locations that participants visited often, would improve the detail richness and vividness of memory for scenes, autobiographical events, and imagination of future events in young and older adults. The predicted age-related decline in internal details across all 3 conditions was accompanied by persistent effects of contextual familiarity, in which a more familiar spatial context led to increased detail and vividness of remembered scenes, autobiographical events, and, to some extent, imagined future events. This study demonstrates that autobiographical memory, imagination of the future, and scene memory are similarly affected by aging, and all benefit from being associated with more familiar (real-world) contexts, illustrating the stability of contextual reinstatement effects on memory throughout the life span.
Keratinocyte‐specific modulation of type VII collagen gene expression by pro‐inflammatory cytokines (tumor necrosis factor‐α and interleukin‐1β)

Abstract: Previous studies have shown that pro‐inflammatory cytokines such as tumor necrosis factor (TNF)‐α and interleukin (IL)‐1β up‐regulate type VII collagen gene (COL7A1) expression in cultured dermal fibroblasts. The present study was designed to investigate the effects of TNF‐α and IL‐1β on COL7A1 expression in epidermal keratinocytes. We demonstrated that both TNF‐α and IL‐1β reduced COL7A1 expression in epidermal keratinocytes in an additive manner, whereas they increased COL7A1 expression in dermal fibroblasts. Thus, regulation of COL7A1 by pro‐inflammatory cytokines is cell type specific. In particular, the inhibitory effects of TNF‐α and IL‐1β occurred, at least in part, at the transcriptional level. Finally, we demonstrated that TNF‐α and IL‐1β enhanced the TGF‐β‐mediated up‐regulation of COL7A1 expression in HaCaT keratinocytes, suggesting that the combination of TGF‐β and TNF‐α or IL‐1β induces a signaling pathway that is completely different from that induced by either pro‐inflammatory cytokine alone.
Adolescents’ Attitude Towards Premarital Sex

The study was on the adolescents’ attitude towards premarital sex in Awka North and South Local Government Areas of Anambra State. The general purpose of study was identifying some of the attitudes of adolescents towards premarital sex, the major factors responsible for the attitudes of those adolescents towards premarital sex. And then suggest counselling techniques that will help in controlling the adolescent premarital sex. Two research questions and two hypotheses were formulated the instrument used for data collection was questionnaire for the adolescents attitude towards premarital sex (AATPSQ). The statistical analyses used were mean and standard deviation for the research questions and t-test for the hypotheses. The findings of the study reveal that: Adolescents have not less than 20 permissive attitudes towards premarital sex and the views of the adolescents and adults parents on the adolescents’ attitude towards premarital sex do not differ significantly. It was recommended among others that the Guidance Counsellors in Counselling Association of Nigeria should work hard to create awareness through pastoral and group counselling to re-orientate the members of the society on the issues and problems of sex. DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2014. v5n10p491
Modularity for Sensorimotor Control: Evidence and a New Prediction

ABSTRACT By combining a few modules, the CNS may learn new control policies quickly and efficiently. Support for a modular organization of the motor system has recently come from the observation of low dimensionality in the motor commands. However, stronger evidence would come from testing the predictions on the effect of an intervention on the mechanisms required to implement a modular controller. Thus, the authors propose to test the predictions of modularity on motor adaptation. They argue that unlike a nonmodular controller, a modular controller must adapt faster to a perturbation that is compatible with the modules (i.e., one that can be compensated by reusing the same modules), than to an incompatible perturbation (i.e., one that requires new modules).
Complete Loss of ICD Programmability After Magnetic Resonance Imaging

The purpose of this case report is to describe the effects of an MRI performed on a patient without realizing that an ICD has been previously implanted. After a few seconds of imaging the adversity was recognized and the examination was stopped immediately. The patient was not pacemaker dependent and had neither physical complaints nor electrocardiographic changes in the surface ECG. A consecutively performed ICD assessment showed a backup mode with standard parameters for pacing (VVI 50 beats/min) and arrhythmia detection and treatment. The device could not be programmed by the external programmer. With the exception of printing out the parameters, all software functions were no longer feasible. A device examination by the manufacturer after ICD replacement showed that a major portion of the device memory was corrupt. Even ICDs of a newer generation are susceptible to magnetic interference, with the danger of complete loss of programmability. (PACE 2004; 27:1002–1004)
A discontinuous carrier-based multilevel modulation for multilevel converters

Multilevel modulators based on carrier shifting reach their minimum harmonic content only through asymmetrical sampling and proper phase shifting. Since their implementation is critical for microcontrollers and DSP's peripherals, field programmable gate array (FPGA) becomes attractive because it allows the design and realization of "ad hoc" digital modulators with the desired number of timers. On the other hand discontinuous modulation, poorly investigated in single-phase systems, may lead to results similar to those of asymmetrical carrier-shifted modulation, but with less implementation burden. When modulation index is near unity (typical in active rectifier applications), the discontinuous modulation can outperform other choices. In this paper a new single-phase multilevel modulation technique is proposed, analyzed and compared with other multilevel modulation techniques. The implementation of the considered multilevel modulations using standard microcontrollers is discussed and the use of FPGA is proposed and analyzed.
Institutional Skewness Preferences and the Idiosyncratic Skewness Premium ∗

This study examines whether idiosyncratic skewness preferences of institutional investors influence stock returns. On aggregate, institutions exhibit an aversion for idiosyncratic skewness but prefer systematic skewness, and in the cross-section, larger (smaller) and more (less) diversified institutions exhibit stronger (weaker) aversion for idiosyncratic skewness. The aggregate institutional preferences generate an annual, risk-adjusted idiosyncratic skewness premium of 3.17%. However, in the cross-section, the premium is strongly negative (positive) when institutional ownership is lower (higher). These pricing effects are further amplified when arbitrage costs are higher. Idiosyncratic skewness preferences of institutions are partially reflected in the size factor (SMB). A factor which captures those preferences can explain about 14% of the variation in SMB. Collectively, the evidence indicates that institutional idiosyncratic skewness preferences get impounded into stock prices. IN AN ECONOMY WHERE INVESTORS HOLD CONCAVE PREFERENCES and like positive skewness (e.g., Arditti (1967), Kane (1982)), everything else equal, stocks that decrease the skewness of a portfolio earn higher expected returns (e.g., Kraus and Litzenberger (1976), Lim (1989)). In this economy, idiosyncratic skewness is irrelevant at the margin and is unlikely to influence expected stock returns. Consistent with these theoretical predictions, Harvey and Siddique (2000) find that stocks with lower systematic skewness (i.e., coskewness) outperform stocks with higher coskewness by about 3.60% per year. In other words, a positive and economically significant coskewness premium exists. This evidence suggests that marginal, price-setting investors prefer stocks with higher coskewness and their preferences get impounded into stock prices. Following Harvey and Siddique (2000), I decompose total skewness into systematic and idiosyncratic components. Idiosyncratic skewness of a stock is defined as the skewness of the residual from a regression where the excess (over the riskfree rate) stock returns are regressed on excess market returns and squared excess market returns. The systematic skewness (or coskewness) is the coefficient estimate of the squared excess market return variable. See Harvey and Siddique (2000) for other related coskewness measures.
Zygote transfer on day 1 versus cleavage stage embryo transfer on day 3: a prospective randomized trial.

BACKGROUND It has been reported that pronuclear morphology is related to embryo quality and viability, and that zygote stage embryos might establish pregnancies after being transferred to the uterus. The objective of this study was to investigate whether transferring zygotes on day 1 would result in similar pregnancy rates compared to transferring cleavage stage embryos on day 3 in a prospective randomized trial. METHODS Patients undergoing IVF/ICSI treatments were randomized to either day 1 or day 3 transfers by envelope withdrawal technique. Zygotes were classified as 'pattern 0' and 'non-pattern 0' according to the size and alignment of pronuclei, the number and distribution of nucleoli. The two best zygotes or embryos were transferred on day 1 or day 3 respectively. The primary outcome measure was pregnancy rate. RESULTS Pregnancy rates were higher in day 3 group (55/131, 42%) when compared to day 1 (34/123, 28%, P = 0.024). Similarly, implantation rates were higher in day 3 group (P = 0.03). There were more cycles with cryopreservation in the day 1 group (P < 0.001). Embryo quality on day 3 was similar between pattern 0 and non-pattern 0 zygotes. CONCLUSIONS Day 3 embryo transfers result in better pregnancy and implantation rates compared to day 1 zygote transfers. The present pronuclei scoring cannot reliably select zygotes for transfer on day 1.