Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
HMGB1 Promotes Prostate Cancer Development and Metastasis by Interacting with Brahma-Related Gene 1 and Activating the Akt Signaling Pathway

Background and Aim: We have previously shown that high-mobility group box 1 (HMGB1) is an independent biomarker for shortened survival of prostate cancer (PCa) patients. However, the specific role of HMGB1 in tumor development and progression remains largely unknown. In this study, we investigated the molecular mechanisms of HMGB1 in PCa tumorigenesis. Methods: Gain-of-function and loss-of-function experiments were used to determine the biological functions of HMGB1 both in vitro and in vivo. Bioinformatic analysis, immunoprecipitation, and immunofluorescence assays were applied to discern and examine the relationship between HMGB1 and its potential targets. Specimens from 64 patients with PCa were analyzed for the expression of HMGB1 and its relationship with Brahma-related gene 1 (BRG1) was examined by immunohistochemistry. Results: The results demonstrated that ectopic expression of HMGB1 facilitated growth and metastasis of PCa by enhancing Akt signaling pathway and promoting epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT), while silencing of HMGB1 showed the opposite effects. Mechanistically, HMGB1 exerted these functions through its interaction with BRG1 which may augment BRG1 function and activate the Akt signaling pathway thereby promoting EMT. Importantly, both HMGB1 and BRG1 expression was markedly increased in human PCa tissues. Conclusions: Taken together, these findings indicate that upregulation of HMGB1 promotes PCa development via activation of Akt and accelerates metastasis through regulating BRG1-mediated EMT. HMGB1 could be used as a novel potential target for the treatment of PCa.
Time–Energy and Time–Entropy Uncertainty Relations in Nonequilibrium Quantum Thermodynamics under Steepest-Entropy-Ascent Nonlinear Master Equations

In the domain of nondissipative unitary Hamiltonian dynamics, the well-known Mandelstam–Tamm–Messiah time–energy uncertainty relation τFΔH≥ℏ/2 provides a general lower bound to the characteristic time τF=ΔF/|d〈F〉/dt| with which the mean value of a generic quantum observable F can change with respect to the width ΔF of its uncertainty distribution (square root of F fluctuations). A useful practical consequence is that in unitary dynamics the states with longer lifetimes are those with smaller energy uncertainty ΔH (square root of energy fluctuations). Here we show that when unitary evolution is complemented with a steepest-entropy-ascent model of dissipation, the resulting nonlinear master equation entails that these lower bounds get modified and depend also on the entropy uncertainty ΔS (square root of entropy fluctuations). For example, we obtain the time–energy-and–time–entropy uncertainty relation (2τFΔH/ℏ)2+(τFΔS/kBτ)2≥1 where τ is a characteristic dissipation time functional that for each given state defines the strength of the nonunitary, steepest-entropy-ascent part of the assumed master equation. For purely dissipative dynamics this reduces to the time–entropy uncertainty relation τFΔS≥kBτ, meaning that the nonequilibrium dissipative states with longer lifetime are those with smaller entropy uncertainty ΔS.
Genotype analysis of varicella-zoster virus isolates from suburban Shanghai Municipal Province , China

To determine the predominant genotype of the varicella-zoster virus (VZV) in suburban Shanghai Municipal Province, specimens were collected from the lesions of 95 outpatients clinically diagnosed with varicella or herpes zoster. Of these, 69 patients (72.6 %) were positive for VZV DNA. The 69 isolates were all genotyped as the genotype J1/clade 2. Based on sequencing of the 447 bp sequence in ORF22, 66 isolates were identified as genotype J/clade 2 strains and three were identified as type M2/clade 4 strains. To confirm the classification of these three strains, we determined the presence of 27 single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and found that isolates 1270/1450 shared seven SNPs that differed from those of clade 2, in which three SNPs were unique to clade 3 and another three were unique to clade 4. Isolate 1456 had two markers of clade 4 that differed from clade 2. The phylogenetic tree showed that our isolates clustered primarily with clade 2 and that the three M2/J1 strains clustered between clades 2 and 4. It is likely that isolates 1270/1450/1446 may represent a new subclade of either clade 2 or 4, or some recombinant events. In addition, our isolates were WT strains. We also observed significant inter-strain variations. Received 1 December 2014 Accepted 8 December 2015
Material for “ Understanding Geometry of Encoder-Decoder CNNs ” ( Proof included )

Encoder-decoder networks using convolutional neural network (CNN) architecture have been extensively used in deep learning literatures thanks to its excellent performance for various inverse problems. However, it is still difficult to obtain coherent geometric view why such an architecture gives the desired performance. Inspired by recent theoretical understanding on generalizability, expressivity and optimization landscape of neural networks, as well as the theory of deep convolutional framelets, here we provide a unified theoretical framework that leads to a better understanding of geometry of encoder-decoder CNNs. Our unified framework shows that encoder-decoder CNN architecture is closely related to nonlinear frame representation using combinatorial convolution frames, whose expressivity increases exponentially with the depth. We also demonstrate the importance of skipped connection in terms of expressivity, and optimization landscape.
An Intraday Analysis of the Samuelson Hypothesis for Commodity Futures Contracts

This paper examines the Samuelson Hypothesis (Samuelson, 1965), which proposes that the futures price volatility increases as the futures contract approaches its expiration. The study utilizes intraday data from twelve commodity markets in five futures exchanges for the period 1996 2003. Overall and consistent with previous studies, we find stronger support for the Samuelson Hypothesis in agricultural futures than in metal futures. The study also provides support for the argument of Bessembinder et al. (1996) that the Samuelson Hypothesis is more likely to be supported in those markets which exhibit a negative covariance between spot price changes and changes in net carry costs. Consistent with the suggestion of the “state variable” hypothesis, our study also provides evidence supporting the role of information flow in explaining futures price volatility. In addition, the empirical evidence for the Samuelson Hypothesis is largely unaltered even after we allow for information flow in our regressions. JEL classification: C22, G13, G15 and Q14
Joint Computing Offloading and Resource Allocation for Propagation in Blockchain

The mining process in blockchain requires solving a proof-of-work puzzle, which is resource expensive to implement in mobile devices due to the high computing power and energy needed. Meanwhile, Mobile edge computing (MEC) providing information technology and cloud-computing capabilities within the radio access network is an emerging technique in fifthgeneration networks. In this paper, we consider Mobile edge computing as an enabler for mobile blockchain. In order to minimize the energy consumption on miners, we jointly optimize the offloading selection, radio resource allocation, and computational resource allocation coordinately. We formulate the energy consumption minimization problem as a mixed interger nonlinear programming problem, which is subject to specific application latency constraints. We show by simulation that the joint offloading task execution is more energy-efficient than local execution and remote execution for miners.
On Market-Based Approaches to the Valuation of Capital

Market measures suggest banks are as risky as they were in the pre-crisis period. This appears attributable to a decrease in bank franchise value, rather than a byproduct of the current low interest rate environment, and cautions about the stability of the nancial sector. However, stress test results reveal little cause for concern; in 2017, all 34 stressed institutions in the United States passed the tests, suggesting they will remain well-capitalized in the event of a downturn more severe than the Great Recession. Their passage paved the way for capital disbursements and ignited calls for deregulation. In this paper, we demonstrate that a market-based stress test approach produces results that are signi cantly less encouraging than the regulatory tests. While a pure market-based stress test is undesirable, we believe it is important to incorporate market information into the stress test methodology to facilitate more credible inferences about bank safety.
Ab Initio simulation of core-level spectroscopies and correlated materials

Modern material science relies on spectroscopic techniques in the X-ray regime to achieve a material characterization at length-scales, where other methods are not available. More often than not this involves correlated materials. In this thesis protocols for the simulation of core-level spectroscopies (NEXAFS and XPS) and a correct description of correlated materials adsorbed on surfaces are developed based on model Hamiltonian techniques such as DFT+U.
Automatic Detection of Prosodic Focus in American English

Focus, which is usually modulated by prosodic prominence, highlights a particular element within a sentence for emphasis or contrast. Despite its importance in communication, it has received little attention in the field of speech recognition. This paper developed an automatic detection system of prosodic focus in American English, using telephone-number strings. Our data were 100 10-digit phone number strings read by 5 speakers (3 females and 2 males). We extracted 18 prosodic features from each digit within the strings and one categorical variable and trained a Random Forest model to detect where the focused digit is within a given string. We also compared the model performance to human judgment rates from a perception experiment with 67 native speakers of American English. Our final model shows 92% of accuracy in detecting the location of prosodic focus, which is slightly lower than the human perception (97.2%) but much better than the chance level (10%). We discuss the predictive features in our model and potential features to add in the future study.
Prognostic significance of frailty in patients undergoing surgery for renal cell carcinoma and construction of a predictive model

Purpose: We evaluated the association between frailty and overall survival (OS) and metastasis-free survival (MFS) in patients with renal cell carcinoma who underwent radical surgery. Methods: We performed a retrospective study of patients with histologically confirmed non-metastatic renal cell carcinoma who underwent surgery between January 2004 and July 2014. Frailty was quantified using the Canadian Study of Health and Aging Modified Frailty Index (mFI). Univariate and multivariate analyses were performed to determine the potential prognostic value of frailty. Nomograms were established to evaluate prognosis for OS and MFS. The predictive accuracy of nomograms was measured by Harrell’s concordance index (c-index). Results: Of the 672 patients identified in this study, patients were divided into 2 groups (mFI < 2 and mFI ≥ 2) based on X-tile program. Patients with an mFI ≥ 2 had significantly poorer OS (p = 0.0006) and MFS (p = 0.0009) than those with an mFI < 2 in Kaplan-Meier survival analysis. Multivariate analysis identified higher mFI value as an independent risk predictor of overall survival (HR = 2.43; 95% CI = 1.40-4.23; p = 0.002) and metastasis-free survival (HR = 2.22; 95% CI = 1.34-3.69; p = 0.002). Moreover, the nomograms combined with mFI could accurately predict OS (c-index: 0.831) and MFS (cindex: 0.763). Conclusion: In our study of non-metastatic renal cell carcinoma, a higher mFI value can effectively act as an independent prognostic predictor of postoperative survival. Additionally, the established nomograms can be applied in prognosis of survival for RCC patients after curative nephrectomy.
THE EFFECT OF CULTURAL ORGANIZATION , LEADERSHIP , MOTIVATION WORK , AND JOB SATISFACTION COMMITMENT TO ORGANIZATION ( A CASE STUDY IN MADRASAH ALIYAH STATE NORTH SUMATERA )

This study was aimed to investigate the influence of organizational culture on organizational commitment, leadership influence on organizational commitment, work motivation influence on organizational commitment, and job satisfaction on organizational commitment in the education unit MAN (Madrasah Aliyah) of North Sumatra province. The results showed that organizational culture directly influence organizational commitment, leadership directly influence organizational commitment, motivation direct effect on organizational commitment, job satisfaction directly influence the organizational commitment of organizational culture direct effect on job satisfaction, leadership directly influence job satisfaction, organizational culture direct effect on motivation, leadership directly influence the work motivation of organizational culture direct influence on the leadership of headmaster.
What Determines Debt Maturity?

What determines the maturity structure of debt? In this article, I develop a simple model to explore how the optimal maturity of debt issued by a firm (or a country) depends both on the firm? s cyclical state and other features of the economic environment in which it operates. I find that firms with better current earnings and better growth prospects issue debt with longer maturity, while firms operating in more-volatile environments issue debt with shorter maturity. Yield to maturity is a poor indicator of the risk of debt issued by a firm. The reason is simple: Yield to maturity captures both default risk and a component that is a pseudo term premium. In the model, the market does require a term premium and one appears only because of the risk of default. It is not possible to separate the impact of maturity and risk.
Realizing Content and Language Integration in Higher Education

The increasing importance of Erasmus exchanges, the facilities to start international double-degrees and also the possibilities of teacher exchanges have raised the interest of universities for tuition in a foreign language, especially English. At Universitat Jaume I, a group of lecturers suggested to the authorities to start teaching their classes in English in order to attract Erasmus students from other universities. As a consequence, an institutional Project was proposed and approved with the aim of facilitating the introduction of the foreign language as the language of tuition in some undergraduate courses. The Project started in 2003 with a duration of two years, and 28 teachers from 7 different departments joined it immediately. Thanks to this project, during the academic year 2005-2006, 22 subjects in 9 different courses started introducing English progressively as the language of tuition. The aim of this paper is to explain how the Project was conceived, and how it has been developed, using a methodology of participation, debate and collaboration between content and language teachers.
Discontinuity in Care: Practice Closures among Primary Care Providers and Patient Health

This paper investigates consequences of practice closures among primary care providers on subsequent patient health care utilization and health. Critically, the analysis relies on population-level administrative Danish data that facilitate a unique link between all Danes and their family doctor. We start by characterizing the nature of a practice closure, including the change in provider characteristics that occurs when patients change provider. Practice closure leads patients to choose a systematically younger and less experienced primary care provider. Using a difference-in-differences strategy that compares individuals who experience a practice closing with similar individuals enrolled in similar practices that do not close until later, we next investigate consequences for patient health care utilization and health outcomes. We find that a change in provider due to practice closure increases detection of chronic illness but does not lead to concurrent changes in primary care utilization. We do detect a considerable increase in the use of emergency care, however. A decomposition exercise shows that both physician practice style and the disruption itself plays a role for the total effects but that the direction of their relative influence varies across outcome domains. Importantly, disruption is not always negative from the perspective of the patient.
Olive-mill wastewater spreading in Southern Tunisia : effects on a barley crop ( Hordeum Vulgare L . )

This study was conducted to assess the impact of different concentrations of Olive mill waste water (OMWW) on the phenological behavior of a local barley variety (Arthaoui.) during three consecutive crop seasons. A complete randomized block design was used with four amounts of OMWW equivalent to 0 m3/ha (T0), 15 m3/ha (T1), 30 m3/ha (T2) and 45 m3/ha (T3) and three replications. The results showed a highly significant reduction as well as of the tiller and ears number compared to the control according to the increase of OMWW concentrations especially for the highest amounts either T2 and T3 (30 and 45 m3/ha). This reduction was although observed but it was less accentuated for the treatment with an amount of 15 m3/ha compared to the other rates. In addition, barley yield components were negatively affected by “OMWW” in particular yields plots that received higher doses as 30 and 45 m3/ ha. Obviously, the straw and seed yield are significantly affected with relatively different degrees depending on the applied dose but also on the cumulative effect of successive applications during the three years of study. Indeed, richness of these effluents on salts especially in sodium and chlorides, on polyphenols and other compounds with variable toxicity is causing physiological disturbances that are negatively reflected at different phenological stages of barley as tillering, stem elongation and heading giving the poor results in terms of seed yield.
A ug 2 01 7 Error Exponents of Typical Random Codes

We define the error exponent of the typical random code as the long–block limit of the negative normalized expectation of the logarithm of the error probability of the random code, as opposed to the traditional random coding error exponent, which is the limit of the negative normalized logarithm of the expectation of the error probability. For the ensemble of uniformly randomly drawn fixed composition codes, we provide exact error exponents of typical random codes for a general discrete memoryless channel (DMC) and a wide class of (stochastic) decoders, collectively referred to as the generalized likelihood decoder (GLD). This ensemble of fixed composition codes is shown to be no worse than any other ensemble of independent codewords that are drawn under a permutation–invariant distribution (e.g., i.i.d. codewords). We also present relationships between the error exponent of the typical random code and the ordinary random coding error exponent, as well as the expurgated exponent for the GLD. Finally, we demonstrate that our analysis technique is applicable also to more general communication scenarios, such as list decoding (for fixed–size lists) as well as decoding with an erasure/list option in Forney’s sense.
A Welfare Analysis of Occupational Licensing in U.S. States

We assess the welfare consequences of occupational licensing for workers and consumers. We estimate a model of labor market equilibrium in which licensing restricts labor supply but also affects labor demand via worker quality and selection. On the margin of occupations licensed differently between U.S. states, we find that licensing raises wages and hours but reduces employment. We estimate an average welfare loss of 12 percent of occupational surplus. Workers and consumers respectively bear 70 and 30 percent of the incidence. Higher willingness to pay offsets 80 percent of higher prices for consumers, and higher wages compensate workers for 60 percent of the cost of mandated investment in occupation-specific human capital. Welfare effects appear more favorable in occupations in which licensing is more common.
JacNet: Learning Functions with Structured Jacobians

Neural networks are trained to learn an approximate mapping from an input domain to a target domain. Often, incorporating prior knowledge about the true mapping is critical to learning a useful approximation. With current architectures, it is difﬁcult to enforce structure on the derivatives of the input-output mapping. We propose to directly learn the Jacobian of the input-output function with a neural network, which allows easy control of derivative. We focus on structuring the derivative to allow invertibility, and also demonstrate other useful priors can be enforced, such as k -Lipschitz. Using this approach, we are able to learn approximations to simple functions which are guaranteed to be invertible, and easily compute the inverse. We also show a similar results for 1-Lipschitz functions.
Determination of trace-elements and toxic heavy minerals in Thai longan , litchi and Siam weed honeys using ICP-MS

Eupatorium odoratum (Siam weed), Litchi chinensis (litchi) and Dimocarpus longan (longan) honeys harvested in Thailand were analyzed for their trace elements (Ag, Al, Ba, Cd, Co, Cs, Cu, Fe, Ga, Li, Mg, Mn, Rb, Se, Sr, and U) and toxic heavy metals (As, Be, Cd, Cr, Ni, Pb, Tl and V) contents using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). The validation of analytical procedure showed satisfactory results. The maximum and minimum heavy metals in Siam weed, litchi and longan honeys were Mg, (18.71±7.66, 10.19±3.01 and 21.83±5.00 mg/kg) and Be (0.67±0.24, 0.07±0.20 and 0.45±0.18 μg/kg) respectively. The analysis of the 3 honeys revealed sequence of overall toxic metals in the following: Pb > Ni > Cr > Cd >Tl > V > As > Be for Siam weed, Pb > Cr > Cd > Ni > Tl > V > As > Be for Litchi, and Ni > Pb > Cr > Cd > Tl > V > As > Be for Longan honey. The contents of toxic heavy metals in the samples did not exceed the established maximum level in foodstuffs according to Commission Regulation (EC) No.1881/2006. However one litchi honey sample contained Pb (1.07 mg/kg) with the highly deviated content from median of its group and more than the permissible limit regulated by the Ministry of Public Health of Thailand (< 0.5 mg/kg). This may suggested an environmental contaminant of Pb to the sample.
A collaborative writing approach: Methodology and student assessment

This paper will review a collaborative writing methodology designed for the authors’ eFl university classes in which students work in pairs to produce co-authored paragraphs and essays. Throughout the step-by-step procedure, students use the target language to plan, negotiate, draft, and revise their writing assignments, and thus make meaningful, task-oriented use of multiple skills at all stages of the process. at the end of the year-long course, the authors asked their students to submit written feedback about their experience in order to assess the efficacy of the collaborative approach. This paper provides background information on collaborative writing, outlines the actual program put into place, analyzes student feedback and concludes with suggestions for improvements that could be made to the program.