Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Bottom-up fabrication of graphene nanostructures on Ru 10 1 ¯ 0 ?>

Investigations on the bottom-up fabrication of graphene nanostructures with 10, 10’-dibromo-9, 9’-bianthryl (DBBA) as a precursor on Ru 10 1 ¯ 0 ? > were carried out using scanning tunnelling microscopy (STM) and density functional theory (DFT) calculations. Upon annealing the sample at submonolayer DBBA coverage, N = 7 graphene nanoribbons (GNRs) aligned along the 1 2 ¯ 10 ? > direction form. Higher DBBA coverage and higher annealing temperature lead to the merging of GNRs into ribbon-like graphene nanoflakes with multiple orientations. These nanoflakes show different Moiré patterns, and their structures were determined by DFT simulations. The results showed that GNRs possess growth preference on the Ru 10 1 ¯ 0 ? > substrate with a rectangular unit cell, and GNRs with armchair and zigzag boundaries are obtainable. Further DFT calculations suggest that the interaction between graphene and the substrate controls the orientations of the graphene overlayer and the growth of graphene on Ru 10 1 ¯ 0 ? > .
Combination of Domain Knowledge and Deep Learning for Sentiment Analysis of Short and Informal Messages on Social Media

Sentiment analysis has been emerging recently as one of the major natural language processing (NLP) tasks in many applications. Especially, as social media channels (e.g. social networks or forums) have become significant sources for brands to observe user opinions about their products, this task is thus increasingly crucial. However, when applied with real data obtained from social media, we notice that there is a high volume of short and informal messages posted by users on those channels. This kind of data makes the existing works suffer from many difficulties to handle, especially ones using deep learning approaches. In this paper, we propose an approach to handle this problem. This work is extended from our previous work, in which we proposed to combine the typical deep learning technique of Convolutional Neural Networks with domain knowledge. The combination is used for acquiring additional training data augmentation and a more reasonable loss function. In this work, we further improve our architecture by various substantial enhancements, including negation-based data augmentation, transfer learning for word embeddings, the combination of word-level embeddings and character-level embeddings, and using multitask learning technique for attaching domain knowledge rules in the learning process. Those enhancements, specifically aiming to handle short and informal messages, help us to enjoy significant improvement in performance once experimenting on real datasets.
The 2019 European Parliament election in the UK

Abstract This article examines the 2019 European Parliament election in the UK. The main beneficiaries were the newly formed Brexit Party and the Liberal Democrats, both of which ran on clear Brexit platforms, while the Conservatives and Labour struggled to attract support. But the Brexit focus of the campaign – and the victory of parties with clear positions on these issues – belied the extent to which the election conformed to the expectations of second-order contest theory, with low turnout, declining support for the governing (Conservative) party, a surge in support for new and small parties, and scant discussion of European Union-level issues. While the vote shows realignment in the UK continues and can tell us much about the shifting politics of Brexit, we should be cautious inferring much from the victory of the Brexit Party and the Liberal Democrats given the second-order nature of the contest.
Use of calcium channel blockers and risk of hospitalized gastrointestinal tract bleeding.

BACKGROUND We conducted a case-control study of the association between calcium channel blocker use and gastrointestinal (GI) tract bleeding in hypertensive members of a health maintenance organization. METHODS Case patients (n=174) were treated hypertensive health maintenance organization members hospitalized for GI tract bleeding between January 1992 and December 1994. Case patients were identified using computerized diagnosis codes and were confirmed by medical record review. Control subjects (n=771) were treated hypertensive members selected from ongoing studies at the health maintenance organization. Computerized pharmacy data and medical records were used to assess medication use and other risk factors for GI tract bleeding. RESULTS Compared with beta-blocker users, calcium channel blocker users had an age-, sex- and calendar year-adjusted relative risk (RR) of GI tract bleeding of 2.60 (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.71-3.96). The RR associated with calcium channel blocker use was 2.05 (95% CI, 1.33-3.17) after further adjustment for number of recent visits, diastolic blood pressure, chronic congestive heart failure, and duration of hypertension. No significant dose-response relationship was observed. Compared with beta-blocker users, angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor users had an RR of 1.22 (95% CI, 0.75-1.97). Calcium channel blocker use tended to be more strongly associated with risk of lower GI tract bleeding (RR, 2.56; 95% CI, 1.08-6.05) than with risk of upper GI tract bleeding (RR, 1.54; 95% CI, 0.91-2.59) or peptic ulcer-related bleeding (RR, 1.17; 95% CI, 0.62-2.21), although these results were compatible with chance. CONCLUSIONS Calcium channel blocker use might be associated with an elevated risk of GI tract bleeding. These findings require confirmation in randomized studies.
Pharmacokinetics of betamethasone in plasma, urine, and synovial fluid following intra-articular administration to exercised thoroughbred horses.

The use of corticosteroids, such as betamethasone, in performance horses is tightly regulated. The objective of the current study was to describe the plasma pharmacokinetics of betamethasone as well as time-related urine and synovial fluid concentrations following intra-articular administration to horses. Twelve racing-fit adult Thoroughbred horses received a single intra-articular administration (9 mg) of a betamethasone sodium phosphate and betamethasone acetate injectable suspension into the right antebrachiocarpal joint. Blood, urine, and synovial fluid samples were collected prior to and at various times up to 21 days post drug administration. All samples were analyzed using tandem liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry. Plasma data were analyzed using compartmental pharmacokinetic modeling. Maximum measured plasma betamethasone concentrations were 3.97 ± 0.23 ng/mL at 1.45 ± 0.20 h. The plasma elimination half-life was 7.48 ± 0.39 h. Betamethasone concentrations were below the limit of detection in all horses by 96 h and 7 days in plasma and urine, respectively. Betamethasone fell below the limit of detection in the right antebrachiocarpal joint between 14 and 21 days. Results of this study provide information that can be used to regulate the use of intra-articular betamethasone in the horse. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Oral Triphenylmethane Food Dye Analog, Brilliant Blue G, Prevents  Neuronal Loss in APPSwDI/NOS2-/- Mouse Model

Reducing amyloid-β (Aβ) accumulation is a promising strategy for developing Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) therapeutics. We recently reported that a triphenylmethane food dye analog, Brilliant Blue G (BBG), is a dose-dependent modulator of in vitro amyloid-β aggregation and cytotoxicity in cell-based assays. Following up on this recent work, we sought to further evaluate this novel modulator in a therapeutically-relevant AD transgenic mouse model. BBG was orally administered to APPSwDI/NOS2-/- mice for three months in order to assess its biocompatibility, its permeability across the blood-brain barrier, and its efficacy at rescuing AD pathology. The results showed that BBG was well-tolerated, caused no significant weight change/unusual behavior, and was able to significantly cross the AD blood-brain barrier in APPSwDI/NOS2-/- mice. Immunohistochemical and electron microscopic analysis of the brain sections revealed that BBG was able to significantly prevent neuronal loss and reduce intracellular APP/Aβ in hippocampal neurons. This is the first report of 1) the effect of Brilliant Blue G on neuronal loss in a transgenic animal model of AD, 2) oral administration of BBG to affect a protein conformation/aggregation disease, and 3) electron microscopic ultrastructural analysis of AD pathology in APPSwDI/NOS2-/- mice.
Overview: cost of cancer to the patient

The escalating financial cost of cancer to patients and their families is emerging as a global phenomenon. Despite diversely funded healthcare systems internationally, cancer causes substantial financial burden to individuals in many different countries, including the USA, Canada and Ireland. Australia is no exception and the articles in this Forum explore the many facets of financial costs in this context.
Tooth in the line of fracture: its prognosis and its effects on healing.

AIMS AND OBJECTIVE The aim of this prospective study was to compare the postoperative results of mandibular angle fracture cases treated by open reduction and internal fixation wherein the third molar in the line of fracture was preserved in one group while it was extracted in the second group. MATERIALS AND METHODS Group I consisted of 30 patients in which the mandibular third molar in the line of fracture was preserved and group II consisted of 24 patients in which it was extracted following specific criteria. Various parameters like postoperative healing, infection, occlusion, tooth vitality, and mobility were graded numerically. Statistical analysis using a t-test was done. Data were expressed as mean±SD and a probability (P) value of <0.05 was considered significant. RESULTS The presence of infection with pain and tenderness was higher in group I. Osteogenesis was higher in group I till the end of the third week but the difference was not significant later. Discrepancy in occlusion was more in group II. Mobility of tooth decreased and status of periodontal tissue improved significantly with time. In the tooth involved, the return of vitality and decrease in pain/tenderness was significant after 1 week and continued till 24 weeks to normalcy. Two teeth showed mild root resorbtion and none showed ankylosis. CONCLUSION Postoperative occlusal discrepancy is less but infection is higher when the tooth in the line of fracture is preserved as compared to when it is removed. More than half of the teeth in the fracture line show complete recovery within a period of 6 months to 1 year. Despite the risk of an increase in the rate of complications, the tooth in the line of fracture should be preserved for its merits.
HEDGEHOG‐GLI Signaling Drives Self‐Renewal and Tumorigenicity of Human Melanoma‐Initiating Cells

The question of whether cancer stem/tumor‐initiating cells (CSC/TIC) exist in human melanomas has arisen in the last few years. Here, we have used nonadherent spheres and the aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH) enzymatic activity to enrich for CSC/TIC in a collection of human melanomas obtained from a broad spectrum of sites and stages. We find that melanomaspheres display extensive in vitro self‐renewal ability and sustain tumor growth in vivo, generating human melanoma xenografts that recapitulate the phenotypic composition of the parental tumor. Melanomaspheres express high levels of Hedgehog (HH) pathway components and of embryonic pluripotent stem cell factors SOX2, NANOG, OCT4, and KLF4. We show that human melanomas contain a subset of cells expressing high ALDH activity (ALDHhigh), which is endowed with higher self‐renewal and tumorigenic abilities than the ALDHlow population. A good correlation between the number of ALDHhigh cells and sphere formation efficiency was observed. Notably, both pharmacological inhibition of HH signaling by the SMOOTHENED (SMO) antagonist cyclopamine and GLI antagonist GANT61 and stable expression of shRNA targeting either SMO or GLI1 result in a significant decrease in melanoma stem cell self‐renewal in vitro and a reduction in the number of ALDHhigh melanoma stem cells. Finally, we show that interference with the HH‐GLI pathway through lentiviral‐mediated silencing of SMO and GLI1 drastically diminishes tumor initiation of ALDHhigh melanoma stem cells. In conclusion, our data indicate an essential role of the HH‐GLI1 signaling in controlling self‐renewal and tumor initiation of melanoma CSC/TIC. Targeting HH‐GLI1 is thus predicted to reduce the melanoma stem cell compartment. Stem Cells2012;30:1808–1818
Depression, Anxiety and Stress among Saudi Arabian Dermatology Patients: Cross-sectional study.

OBJECTIVES This study aimed to determine the prevalence of depression, anxiety and stress among Saudi Arabian dermatology patients and to assess associations with sociodemographic and clinical characteristics. METHODS This cross-sectional study was conducted among 300 consecutive dermatology patients visiting King Abdulaziz Medical City in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, in August 2015. The Arabic version of the Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale was used to screen for symptoms of depression, anxiety and stress. Quality of life (QOL) was assessed using the Dermatology Life Quality Index. RESULTS A total of 254 dermatology patients participated in the study (response rate: 84.7%). The prevalence of depression, anxiety and stress was 12.6%, 22.1% and 7.5%, respectively. The presence of at least one of these negative emotional states was noted among 24.4% of the cohort (95% confidence interval: 19.3-30.2%). Depression was significantly higher among subjects who lacked family support (26.5% versus 10.7%; P = 0.006) while anxiety was less common among patients who engaged in physical exercise (14.5% versus 29.4%; P = 0.005). According to the multivariate logistic regression analysis, poor QOL and a lack of family support were significant predictors of a negative emotional state. CONCLUSION Almost a quarter of the studied Saudi Arabian dermatology patients were found to suffer from at least one negative emotional state. A lack of family support and poor QOL were the primary factors associated with a negative emotional state. Interventional studies are needed to examine the effects of social and family support on psychological conditions among Saudi Arabian dermatology patients.
Ursodeoxycholic acid for treatment of nonalcoholic steatohepatitis: Results of a randomized trial

No effective medical therapy is available for all patients with nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH). Ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA) has been suggested to be of benefit based on open label clinical studies. We randomized 166 patients with liver biopsy–proven NASH to receive between 13 and 15 mg/kg/d of UDCA or placebo for 2 years. End points included changes in liver test results and liver histology at 2 years of therapy. The treatment groups were comparable at entry with regard to age, gender, risk factors for NASH, serum liver biochemistries, and baseline liver histology. A total of 126 patients completed 2 years of therapy. Pre‐ and posttreatment liver biopsies were available in 107 patients for review at the end of the study. UDCA was well tolerated and body weight was stable during the study duration. Serum liver biochemistries were stable or improved in both the UDCA and placebo‐treated groups. Changes in the degree of steatosis, necroinflammation, or fibrosis that occurred with therapy were not significantly different between the UDCA and placebo groups. In conclusion, 2 years of therapy with UDCA at a dose of 13 to 15 mg/kg/d, although safe and well tolerated, is not better than placebo for patients with NASH. (HEPATOLOGY 2004;39:770–778.)
Seminar Paper Presenter Brian Rountree Rice University Topic ‘ Idiosyncratic Return Volatility , Earnings Quality , and Firm Age

This study links the trend in two earnings quality metrics: 1) the standard deviation of residuals from the Dechow and Dichev (2002) model, and 2) squared residuals from the Jones (1991) model to firm age (defined using data about firm incorporation/founding dates). The results reveal the significant increasing trends in both measures during the 1962-2006 period are related to the dramatic decrease in firm age coupled with the increasing percentage of market capitalization that young firms during the sample. Given young firms are expected to have greater variation in accruals, the temporal trends in the measures are not indicative of worse earnings quality over time. We further illustrate after accounting for firm age, there is no association between earnings quality measures and the trend in idiosyncratic return volatility during the sample period. Overall, researchers need to carefully consider the confounding effects of firm age on measures of earnings quality when conducting empirical tests.
YSO jets in the Galactic plane from UWISH2 – I. MHO catalogue for Serpens and Aquila

Jets and outflows from young stellar objects (YSOs) are important signposts of currently ongoing star formation. In order to study these objects, we are conducting an unbiased survey along the Galactic plane in the 1-0S(1) emission line of molecular hydrogen at 2. 122I¼m using the United Kingdom Infrared Telescope. In this paper, we are focusing on a 33-deg 2-sized region in Serpens and Aquila (18Â° < l < 30Â°;- 1Â°.5 < b < +1Â°.5). We trace 131 jets and outflows from YSOs, which results in a 15-fold increase in the total number of known molecular hydrogen outflows. Compared to this, the total integrated 1-0S(1) flux of all objects just about doubles, since the known objects occupy the bright end of the flux distribution. Our completeness limit is 3 A? 10 -18Wm -2 with 70per cent of the objects having fluxes of less than 10 -17Wm -2. Generally, the flows are associated with giant molecular cloud complexes and have a scaleheight of 25-30pc with respect to the Galactic plane. We are able to assign potential source candidates to about half the objects. Typically, the flows are clustered in groups of three to five objects, within a radius of 5pc. These groups are separated on average by about half a degree, and two-thirds of the entire survey area is devoid of outflows. We find a large range of apparent outflow lengths from 4 to 130arcsec. If we assume a distance of 3kpc, only 10per cent of all outflows are of parsec scale. There is a 2.6I? overabundance of flow position angles roughly perpendicular to the Galactic plane. Â© 2012 The Author Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society Â© 2012 RAS.
Kineococcus radiotolerans sp. nov., a radiation-resistant, gram-positive bacterium.

A gram-type positive, motile, coccus-shaped organism was isolated from a radioactive work area. Strain SRS30216T is an orange-pigmented bacterium that is catalase-positive, oxidase-negative and urease-negative. The orange pigment is most likely a carotenoid with absorption peaks at approximately 444, 471 and 501 nm. Cells normally grew in clusters, but individual, motile, flagellated cells were also observed. Growth of strain SRS30216T occurred at temperatures between 11 and 41 degrees C, between pH 5 and 9 and at NaCl concentrations up to and including 5%. Fatty acid composition was limited, with >90% of the fatty acids being anteiso 15:0. Alkenes of 19-24 carbons in length were detected during examination of the neutral lipids. Strain SRS30216T demonstrated high levels of resistance to gamma-radiation and desiccation. The most closely related recognized species is Kineococcus aurantiacus RA 333T, which is 93% similar in 16S rDNA sequence. DNA-DNA hybridization revealed only 31% similarity between these two organisms. It is proposed that SRS30216T (= ATCC BAA-149T = DSM 14245T) represents the type strain of a novel species in the genus Kineococcus, Kineococcus radiotolerans sp. nov.
Semigroup theory applied to options

Black and Scholes (1973) proved that under certain assumptions about the market place, the value of a European option, as a function of the current value of the underlying asset and time, verifies a Cauchy problem. We give new conditions for the existence and uniqueness of the value of a European option by using semigroup theory. For this, we choose a suitable space that verifies some conditions, what allows us that the operator that appears in the Cauchy problem is the infinitesimal generator of a C0-semigroup T(t). Then we are able to guarantee the existence and uniqueness of the value of a European option and we also achieve an explicit expression of that value.
A Homolog of Voltage-Gated Ca2+Channels Stimulated by Depletion of Secretory Ca2+ in Yeast

ABSTRACT In animal cells, capacitative calcium entry (CCE) mechanisms become activated specifically in response to depletion of calcium ions (Ca2+) from secretory organelles. CCE serves to replenish those organelles and to enhance signaling pathways that respond to elevated free Ca2+ concentrations in the cytoplasm. The mechanism of CCE regulation is not understood because few of its essential components have been identified. We show here for the first time that the budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiaeemploys a CCE-like mechanism to refill Ca2+ stores within the secretory pathway. Mutants lacking Pmr1p, a conserved Ca2+ pump in the secretory pathway, exhibit higher rates of Ca2+ influx relative to wild-type cells due to the stimulation of a high-affinity Ca2+ uptake system. Stimulation of this Ca2+ uptake system was blocked inpmr1 mutants by expression of mammalian SERCA pumps. The high-affinity Ca2+ uptake system was also stimulated in wild-type cells overexpressing vacuolar Ca2+ transporters that competed with Pmr1p for substrate. A screen for yeast mutants specifically defective in the high-affinity Ca2+ uptake system revealed two genes, CCH1 and MID1, previously implicated in Ca2+ influx in response to mating pheromones. Cch1p and Mid1p were localized to the plasma membrane, coimmunoprecipitated from solubilized membranes, and shown to function together within a single pathway that ensures that adequate levels of Ca2+ are supplied to Pmr1p to sustain secretion and growth. Expression of Cch1p and Mid1p was not affected in pmr1mutants. The evidence supports the hypothesis that yeast maintains a homeostatic mechanism related to CCE in mammalian cells. The homology between Cch1p and the catalytic subunit of voltage-gated Ca2+ channels raises the possibility that in some circumstances CCE in animal cells may involve homologs of Cch1p and a conserved regulatory mechanism.
Fiscal Competition and Public Debt

The existing theoretical literature on fiscal competition has to a large extent ignored the role of government debt as a determinant of taxes and productive public spending. We develop a simple model of fiscal competition with government borrowing. If a default on government debt is no option, initial debt levels play no role in fiscal competition. This neutrality result is overturned when a default is possible. A government that is constrained in its borrowing due to a possible default responds optimally by lowering spending on durable public infrastructure, which in turn induces more aggressive tax setting. A rise in exogenous firm mobility reinforces the link between legacy debt and fiscal competition. Our model may help explain the observation that highly indebted countries in Europe have decreased corporate tax rates over-proportionally. Our model may also be useful for evaluating decentralization reforms in which the power to tax firms is devolved to lower levels of governments which differ in their initial debt levels.