Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Integrative Analyses of Long Non-coding RNA and mRNA Involved in Piglet Ileum Immune Response to Clostridium perfringens Type C Infection

Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) have been shown to play important roles in regulating host immune and inflammatory responses to bacterial infection. Infection with Clostridium perfringens (C. perfringens), a food-borne zoonotic pathogen, can lead to a series of inflammatory diseases in human and piglet, greatly challenging the healthy development of global pig industry. However, the roles of lncRNAs involved in piglet immune response against C. perfringens type C infection remain unknown. In this study, the regulatory functions of ileum lncRNAs and mRNAs were investigated in piglet immune response to C. perfringens type C infection among resistance (IR), susceptibility (IS) and sham-inoculation (control, IC) groups. A total of 480 lncRNAs and 3,669 mRNAs were significantly differentially expressed, the differentially expressed lncRNAs and mRNAs in the IR and IS groups were enriched in various pathways of ABC transporters, olfactory transduction, PPAR signaling pathway, chemokine signaling pathway and Toll-like receptor signaling pathway, involving in regulating piglet immune responses and resistance during infection. There were 212 lncRNAs and 505 target mRNAs found to have important association with C. perfringens infectious diseases, furthermore, 25 dysregulated lncRNAs corresponding to 13 immune-related target mRNAs were identified to play potential roles in defense against bacterial infection. In conclusion, the results improve our understanding on the characteristics of lncRNAs and mRNAs on regulating host immune response against C. perfringens type C infection, which will provide a reference for future research into exploring C. perfringens-related diseases in human.
Non-parametric models for structured data and applications to human bodies and natural scenes

The purpose of this thesis is the study of non-parametric models for structured data and their fields of application in computer vision. We aim at the development of context-sensitive architectures which are both expressive and efficient. Our focus is on directed graphical models, in particular Bayesian networks, where we combine the flexibility of non-parametric local distributions with the efficiency of a global topology with bounded treewidth. A bound on the treewidth is obtained by either constraining the maximum indegree of the underlying graph structure or by introducing determinism. The non-parametric distributions in the nodes of the graph are given by decision trees or kernel density estimators. The information flow implied by specific network topologies, especially the resultant (conditional) independencies, allows for a natural integration and control of contextual information. We distinguish between three different types of context: static, dynamic, and semantic. In four different approaches we propose models which exhibit varying combinations of these contextual properties and allow modeling of structured data in space, time, and hierarchies derived thereof. The generative character of the presented models enables a direct synthesis of plausible hypotheses. Extensive experiments validate the developed models in two application scenarios which are of particular interest in computer vision: human bodies and natural scenes. In the practical sections of this work we discuss both areas from different angles and show applications of our models to human pose, motion, and segmentation as well as object categorization and localization. Here, we benefit from the availability of modern datasets of unprecedented size and diversity. Comparisons to traditional approaches and state-of-the-art research on the basis of well-established evaluation criteria allows the objective assessment of our contributions.
Social influence and the diffusion of user-created content

Social influence determines to a large extent what we adopt and when we adopt it. This is just as true in the digital domain as it is in real life, and has become of increasing importance due to the deluge of user-created content on the Internet. In this paper, we present an empirical study of user-to-user content transfer occurring in the context of a time-evolving social network in Second Life, a massively multiplayer virtual world. We identify and model social influence based on the change in adoption rate following the actions of one's friends and find that the social network plays a significant role in the adoption of content. Adoption rates quicken as the number of friends adopting increases and this effect varies with the connectivity of a particular user. We further find that sharing among friends occurs more rapidly than sharing among strangers, but that content that diffuses primarily through social influence tends to have a more limited audience. Finally, we examine the role of individuals, finding that some play a more active role in distributing content than others, but that these influencers are distinct from the early adopters.
Corporate Governance, Investor Protection and Performance in Emerging Markets

Recent research studying the link between law, and finance has concentrated on country-level investor protection measures, and focused on differences in legal systems across countries, and legal families. The authors extend this literature, and provide a study of firm-level corporate governance practices across emerging markets, and a greater understanding of the environments under which corporate governance matters more. Their empirical tests show that better corporate governance is highly correlated with better operating performance, and market valuation. More important, the authors provide evidence showing that firm-level corporate governance provisions, matter more in countries with weak legal environments. These results suggest that firms can partially compensate for ineffective laws, and enforcement by establishing good governance, and providing credible investor protection. The authors' tests also show that firm-level governance, and performance is lower in countries with weak legal environments, suggesting that improving the legal system, should remain a priority for policymakers.
Time to Go Our Separate Ways: Opposite Effects of Study Duration on Priming and Recognition Reveal Distinct Neural Substrates

Amnesic patients have difficulties recognizing when stimuli are repeated, even though their responses to stimuli can change as a function of repetition in indirect tests of memory – a pattern known as priming without recognition. Likewise, experimental manipulations can impair recognition in healthy individuals while leaving priming relatively unaffected, and priming and recognition have been associated with distinct neural correlates in these circumstances. Does this evidence necessarily indicate that priming and recognition rely on distinct brain systems? An alternative explanation is that recognition is merely more sensitive to amnestic insults and experimental manipulations than is priming, and that both priming and recognition are produced by a single brain system. If so, then experimental manipulations would tend to drive priming and recognition in the same direction, albeit to a greater extent for one versus the other in some circumstances. We found evidence to the contrary – that manipulating study duration has opposite effects on priming versus recognition. Studying objects for one-quarter second led to worse recognition than studying objects for 2 s, whereas the opposite was true for priming (greater for one-quarter-second study than two-second study). Furthermore, distinct electrophysiological repetition effects were associated with priming versus recognition. We therefore conclude that study duration had opposite effects on priming and recognition, and on the engagement of implicit versus explicit memory systems. These findings call into question single-process accounts of priming and recognition, and substantiate previous behavioral, neuropsychological, and neuroimaging dissociations between implicit and explicit memory.
Fluorescent Recovery after Photobleaching ( FRAP ) Analysis of Nuclear Export Rates Identifies Intrinsic Features of

Background: A dedicated cell machinery oversees energy-dependent nucleocytoplasmic translocation of most proteins. Results: The Fluorescent Recovery after Photobleaching technique reveals high similarity between export and import fluxes, which are nonetheless uncoupled. Conclusion:Our results suggest differential gating properties at individual nuclear pore level. Significance:Our findings can help clarify the mechanism governing energy-dependent translocation through nuclear pores.
Yield Evaluation of Ten Introduced Alfalfa Cultivars in Beijing Area of China

A field study was conducted for six years to evaluate the dry matter yield of ten cultivars in Beijing area,and to determine the suitable cultivars for Beijing and its surrounding areas.And this study could provide information for alfalfa breeding programs.The results showed that the climatic conditions resulted in significantly different dry matter yield among years(P0.01). The top cultivars with the highest means of annual dry matter yield were Affinity(13.9t/hm2),AmeriGraze701(13.8t/hm2) and Aggressor(13.6t/hm2),respectively.There were significant differences in dry matter yield of four harvests among the six harvest years(P0.05). The first harvest had the highest dry matter yields and obtained more than 32% of annual dry matter yield.The fourth harvest got the lowest yield and were less than 18% of annual yield.And there were no significant differences between the second and third harvests(P0.05). The effects order of four harvests on annual dry matter yield was first harvest second harvestthird harvestfourth harvest.For each cultivar,there were significant differences in annual plant height among six harvest years(P0.05),with the highest in 2002 and the lowest in 2007.And AmeriGraze701 was always one of the top five cultivars with the highest annual plant height in five years,but the differences among ten cultivars were insignificant(P0.05). Affinity,AmeriGraze701 and Aggressor are suitable to be cultivated in Beijing area and around.
Townscape revisited: unravelling the character of the historic townscape in Malaysia

This book examines the concept of townscape in relation to urban design, clearly outlining the inter relationship between townscape and the other important concepts in urban design such as identity, image and sense of place. The subject dealt with includes the approach to conducting a townscape appraisal and the criteria used to examine the townscape quality, the physical components that constitute the townscape, the influence of human activities to the townscape qualities and the role of meanings in making the townscape memorable. Reference is made in various chapters to the historic townscape of the major cities in Malaysia in order to illustrate the qualities discussed. The aim of the book is to highlight the unique townscape qualities of these cities and how they influence the overall character of the cities. The book ends by highlighting the prospects and the threats to the historic townscape in keeping up with the pressures for development and rapid urbanisation rate. This book tries to instil an awareness of the value of the historic townscapes of Malaysia and to evoke a sense of pride of this urban heritage in order to safeguard them from further destruction in the future.
A study on information extraction of water body using band1 and band7 of TM imagery

Using TM imagery of Beijing area,a new scheme for extracting information of water body has been proposed in this paper through the study on the difference of spectral characteristics between water body and other surface features,and the contrastive analysis on the common water extraction methods —NDWI and MNDWI.The new scheme extracted water body information by using normalized ratio of Band1and Band7—(Band1-Band7)/(Band1+Band7). The experiment demonstrated as follow: the new scheme could extract water body information within urban area much more precisely than NDWI and MNDWI,as well as could extract water body information within the plant footprint.
Treatment of septic shock with human monoclonal antibody HA-1A. A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial. CHESS Trial Study Group.

OBJECTIVE To compare the effectiveness of 100 mg of HA-1A and placebo in reducing the 14-day all-cause mortality rate in patients with septic shock and gram-negative bacteremia in the Centocor: HA-1A Efficacy in Septic Shock (CHESS) trial, and to assess the safety of 100 mg of HA-1A given to patients with septic shock who did not have gram-negative bacteremia. DESIGN Large, simple, group-sequential, randomized, double-blind, multicenter, placebo-controlled trial. SETTING 603 investigators at 513 community and university-affiliated hospitals in the United States. PATIENTS Within 6 hours before enrollment, the patients had been in shock with a systolic blood pressure of less than 90 mm Hg after adequate fluid challenge or had received vasopressors to maintain blood pressure. These episodes of shock began within 24 hours of enrollment. A presumptive clinical diagnosis of gram-negative infection as the cause of the shock episode and a commitment from the patients' physicians to provide full supportive care were required. MEASUREMENTS Blood cultures were obtained within 48 hours of enrollment, and death at day 14 after treatment was recorded. Adverse events occurring within 14 days after enrollment were also tabulated. RESULTS 2199 patients were enrolled; 621 (28.2%) met all enrollment criteria, received HA-1A or placebo, and had confirmed gram-negative bacteremia. Mortality rates in this group were as follows: placebo, 32% (95 and HA-1A, 33% (109 of 328) (P = 0.864, Fisher exact test, two-tailed; 95% CI for the difference, -6.2% to 8.6%). Mortality rates in the patients without gram-negative bacteremia were as follows: placebo, 37% (292 of 793) and HA-1A, 41% (318 of 785) (P = 0.073, Fisher exact test, one-tailed; CI, -0.8% to 8.8%). CONCLUSIONS In this trial, HA-1A was not effective in reducing the 14-day mortality rate in patients with gram-negative bacteremia and septic shock. These data do not support using septic shock as an indication for HA-1A treatment. If HA-1A is effective in reducing the mortality rate in patients dying from endotoxemia, these patients must be identified using other treatment criteria.
Health and Quality of Life Outcomes

Background: The need to evaluate the impact of oral health has led to the development of instruments for measuring oral health-related quality of life (OHQoL). One such instrument is the Child Perceptions Questionnaire (CPQ11–14), developed specifically for 11-to-14-year-old children. As this questionnaire was considered long (37 items), shorter forms were developed with 8 (Impact Short Form: 8 – ISF:8) and 16 items (Impact Short Form: 16 – ISF:16) to facilitate use in the clinical setting and population-based health surveys. The aim of the present study was to translate and cross-culturally adapt these CPQ11–14 short forms for Brazilian Portuguese and evaluate the measurement properties of these versions for use on Brazilian children. Methods: Following translation and cross-cultural adaptation, the ISF:8 and ISF:16 were tested on 136 children from 11 to 14 years of age in the city of Belo Horizonte, Brazil. The instrument was administered by a trained researcher who also performed clinical examinations. The measurement properties (i.e. criterion validity, construct validity, internal consistency reliability, test-retest reliability) were determined. Discriminant validity was tested between groups, which were divided into children with no cavities and no malocclusion; children with cavities and without malocclusion; and children with malocclusion and without cavities. Results: The mean total score was 6.8 [standard deviation (SD) 4.2] for the ISF:8 and 11.9 (SD 7.6) for the ISF:16 (p < 0.001). Statistically significant associations were found between oral abnormalities and the subscales of the ISF:8 and ISF:16 (p < 0.05). Both test-retest stability and internal consistency, as measured by the intra-class correlation coefficient (ICC) (ISF:8 = 0.98 and ISF:16 = 0.97) and Cronbach's alpha (ISF:8 = 0.70 and ISF:16 = 0.84) proved to be adequate. Construct validity was confirmed from the correlation between the short form scores and oral health and overall well-being ratings. The score on the short forms of the CPQ11–14 was able to discriminate between different oral conditions. Criterion validity was satisfactory (p < 0.05). Conclusion: The Brazilian versions of CPQ11–14 ISF:8 and ISF:16 have satisfactory psychometric properties, similar to those of the original instrument. Published: 17 May 2009 Health and Quality of Life Outcomes 2009, 7:43 doi:10.1186/1477-7525-7-43 Received: 27 November 2008 Accepted: 17 May 2009 This article is available from: http://www.hqlo. com/content/7/1/43 © 2009 Torres et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Investigation of the interactions between titanium and calcium zirconium oxide (CaZrO3) ceramics modified with alumina

Powdered mixtures of CaO, ZrO2 and Al2O3 in various ratios were hot pressed. The mixtures reacted with titanium at 1600? C for 30min in argon to evaluate the suitable ceramic crucibles for casting of titanium. The interfacial microstructures between titanium and ceramic composites were characterized using X-ray diffractometer, scanning and transmission electron microscope. The produced hot pressed mixtures that were chemically bonded together, contained calcium aluminate (CaAl2O4), calcium dialuminate (CaAl4O7), cubic zirconia (c-ZrO2), and calcium zirconium oxide (CaZrO3). The increase in Al2O3 amount led to the decrease in CaZrO3 amount and an increase in the amount of CaAl2O4, CaAl4O7 and c-ZrO2 due to the reaction of CaO and Al2O3. At the end of the reaction of the ceramic mixtures with Ti at 1600? C for 30min, the acicular ? -Ti and ? -Ti were formed at the interface of Ti and the composites containing up to 10 vol.% Al2O3. In composites containing more than 20 vol.% Al2O3, Ti3Al5 was found at the interface instead of ? -Ti and ? -Ti. Furthermore, CaZrO3, ZrO2 and Ca3Al2O6 existed on the sides of the ceramic far away from the interface. CaZrO3/Al2O3 composites with less than 20 vol.% Al2O3 could be a potential crucible or mould material for productive applications in titanium casting.
International Journal of Agriculture and Environmental Research

The global objective of this study is to identify the agricultural techniques minimizing bark necrosis at Hevea brasiliensis. In a specific way, it is to find out the tapping panel the management technique which minimizes bark necrosis on six clones of rubber tree (IRCA 111, IRCA 109, IRCA 130, IRCA 18, GT 1, PR 107) in the southwest of Ivory Coast. To achieve these goals, the observations related to the number of trees attacked by bark necrosis and tapping panel dryness were made through the complete statement and the dry panel statement. The taking into account of tapping panel dryness in this study is justified by the fact that it may be related to bark necrosis. The importance of bark necrosis and the tapping panel dryness on the clones was checked respectively by the rate of necrosis and the length of the diseased tapping panel cut. It appeared at the end of this study that the management of tapping panels does not influence the development of bark necrosis and tapping panel dryness on the clones of Hevea brasiliensis under the d/4 6d/7 conditions of exploitation with modes of stimulation specific to each clone. This agricultural technique which was until suspected to amplify bark necrosis did not show any link with the disease. Indeed the clonal factor influences the rates of the disease. All the clones expressed both diseases, but at different levels. Some clones were shown less tolerant (IRCA 130) or tolerant (GT1) at the same time to both diseases. Tapping panel dryness and bark necrosis do not appear here according to the metabolism of the clones (active, intermediate or slow). International Journal of Agriculture and Environmental Research ISSN: 2455-6939 Volume:03, Issue:03 "May-June 2017" www.ijaer. in Copyright © IJAER 2017, All right reserved Page 3022
A new laboratory apparatus for measuring leakage through geomembrane holes beneath mine tailings

The design and performance of a new laboratory apparatus for measuring leakage through geomembrane holes beneath mine tailings is presented. Finite element seepage analysis shows a negligible effect of the lateral boundary on leakage through the geomembrane hole and that the laboratory apparatus provides an excellent idealization of the deep burial conditions expected in the field. Results from four experiments are then reported to demonstrate the effectiveness of the new apparatus and gain insight on the effect of having a low permeable layer on top of the geomembrane on leakage, as may be expected for containment applications involving mine tailings. Two of the experiments simulated having fine grained tailings above the geomembrane (containing a 10 mm diameter hole) in a deep tailings storage facility with applied vertical and pore pressures of 3000 and 1500 kPa. Leakage through the hole with low permeable layer on top of the geomembrane was found to be two to four times smaller than the leakage from t.
Centre de Referència en Economia Analítica Barcelona Economics Working Paper Series Working Paper n o 148 Efficient and Stable Collective Choices under Crowding Preferences

We consider a set of agents who have to choose one alternative among a finite set of social alternatives. A final allocation is a pair given by the selected alternative and the group of its users. Agents have crowding preferences over allocations: between any pair of allocations with the same alternative, they prefer the allocation with the largest number of users. We require that a decision be efficient and stable (which guarantees free participation in the group of users and free exit from it). We propose a two-stage sequential mechanism ∗We have received very useful comments from Pablo Amorós, Carmen Beviá, Sandro Brusco, Luis Corchón, Humberto Llavador, Bernardo Moreno, David Pérez-Castrillo, Socorro Puy, and Marc Vorsatz. The work of Massó is partially supported by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Technology through grant BEC2002-02130, and by Generalitat de Catalunya, through grant 2001SGR-00162 and the Barcelona Economics Program (CREA). Both authors acknowledge the financial support of the grant HI2001-0039 under the Acción Integrada (Azione Integrata) España-Italia from the Italian Ministery of University and Scientific Research (MIUR) and the Spanish Ministery of Science and Technology. †Departament d’Economia i d’Història Econòmica and CODE, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, 08193 Bellaterra (Barcelona), Spain. E-mail: jordi.masso@uab.es. ‡Corresponding author. Dipartimento di Scienze Economiche, Università di Padova, via del Santo 33, 35123 Padova, Italy. Fax: (39)0498274211. E-mail: antonio.nicolo@unipd.it. 1 Barcleona Economics WP no 148 whose unique subgame perfect equilibrium outcome is an efficient and stable allocation which also satisfies a maximal participation property. The social choice function implemented by the proposed mechanism is also anonymous