Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Selective DNA Demethylation Accompanies T Cell Homeostatic Proliferation and Gene Regulation in Lupus-Prone lpr Mice

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is characterized by increased DNA demethylation in T cells, although it is unclear whether this occurs primarily in a subset of SLE T cells. The process driving the DNA demethylation and the consequences on overall gene expression are also poorly understood and whether this represents a secondary consequence of SLE or a primary contributing factor. Lupus-prone lpr mice accumulate large numbers of T cells with age because of a mutation in Fas (CD95). The accumulating T cells include an unusual population of CD4−CD8−TCR-αβ+ (DN) T cells that arise from CD8+ precursors and are also found in human SLE. We have previously observed that T cell accumulation in lpr mice is due to dysregulation of T cell homeostatic proliferation, which parallels an increased expression of numerous genes in the DN subset, including several proinflammatory molecules and checkpoint blockers. We thus determined the DNA methylome in lpr DN T cells compared with their CD8+ precursors. Our findings show that DN T cells manifest discrete sites of extensive demethylation throughout the genome, and these sites correspond to the location of a large proportion of the upregulated genes. Thus, dysregulated homeostatic proliferation in lpr mice and consequent epigenetic alterations may be a contributing factor to lupus pathogenesis.
Designing variable control charts under failure censoring reliability tests with replacement

There exist many processes where the quality characteristic does not follow a normal distribution, and the conditions for the application of central limit theorem are not satisfied; for example, because collecting data in a subgroup is impossible or the distribution is highly skewed. Thus, researchers have developed the control charts according to the specific distribution that models the quality characteristic. In this paper, some control charts are designed to monitor an exponentially distributed lifetime. The life testing is conducted according to the failure censoring while during the test; once observing a failure item, it is replaced by a new one so that the total number of items inspected during the test remains constant. Under the condition of the test, it is discussed that the elapsed time until observing the r’th failure has Erlang distribution. According to the relation of Erlang and chi-square distributions, the chart limits are computed to satisfy a specified value of type I error. Examples are presented and the curves of average run length are derived for the one-sided and two-sided control charts. Also, a comparative study is conducted to show the performance and superiority of the proposed control charts.
The Association Between Oral Hygiene Behavior and Gingival Health Status with the Stage and Grade of Periodontitis: A Cross-Sectional Study

Aim: To analyze the association between teeth brushing (TB) and interdental cleansing (IDC) frequency changes with gingival health status and the stage and grade of periodontitis. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study consisted of clinical examination and questionnaires. The questionnaires include demographic information and oral hygiene (TB and IDC) behavior. More than 18-year-old participants who underwent a periodontal treatment were randomly included. 548 individuals were classified as gingival healthy, gingivitis, and periodontitis according to the 2017 classification system. The degree of periodontitis was based on stage and grade systems. The data were analyzed by using Kruskal–Wallis and Mann–Whitney U tests. Results: The highest TB frequency (twice daily) was the highest in patients with gingivitis (83.7%) followed by healthy patients (82.9%) and patients with stage I periodontitis (52.2%). Compared to those who performed IDC daily, 18.9% of patients were healthy and 8.1% had stage II periodontitis. There was a statistically significant association between the oral hygiene behavior and periodontal health status of participants. Statistically significant association was seen between the TB and IDC with stage-grade of periodontitis. When the TB and IDC scores of different grade groups were compared at the same stage level, no statistically significant difference was found. Conclusion: This study showed that periodontal health status was positively correlated with TB and IDC frequency.
Who Am I and What Do I Need? Identity Difficulties as a Mechanism of the Link Between Childhood Neglect and Adult Sexual Disturbances

Abstract Objectives A growing body of research suggests that childhood neglect is associated with several negative repercussions in adulthood such as low self-esteem. However, we know little about howvictims navigate their sexuality. Methods: We explored associations between childhood neglect, identity impairment and sexual disturbances in adulthood, and examined the mediating role of identity difficulties in the relationship between childhood neglect and sexual disturbances. Results: Path analyses revealed that childhood neglect was associated with more identity impairment, which in turn, was associated with greater sexual disturbances. Conclusions: Results highlight the relevance of addressing identity difficulties in people who experienced childhood neglect and are struggling with sexual difficulties.
Expression, purification and characterisation of the recombinant soluble receptor for advanced glycosylation end products (sRAGE)

xx 1.0 LITERATURE REVIEW . 1 1.1 Discovery of the Receptor for Advanced Glycation End Products . 2 1.2 Expression and Structure of the Receptor for Advanced Glycation End Products . 2 1.2. 1 Genetic characterisation and expression of RAGE . 2 1.2. 2 Proteomic structure of RAGE . 7 1.2. 3 V-type ligand binding domain . 8 1.2. 4 C-type lectin domains . 11 1.2. 5 Intracellular C-terminal signalling domain . 13 1.2. 6 Lactoferrin-like polypeptide structural association with RAGE . 14 1.3 RAGE Ligands . 15 1.3. 1 Advanced glycation end-products (AGE) . 15 1.3. 2 Amyloids . 18 1.3. 3 Calgranulins . 21 1.3. 4 High-mobility group box chromosomal protein 1 . 24 1.4 RAGE Intracellular Signalling Pathways . 27 1.4. 1 Cytoskeletal regulation . 27 1.4. 1 Pro-inflammatory signalling and gene expression . 30 1.5 Pathophysiologies Associated with RAGE . 35 1.5. 1 Atherosclerosis . 35 1.5. 2 Inflammation . 36 1.5. 3 Cancer and tumour development . 38 1.5. 4 Diabetes . 38 1.5. 5 Amyloidoses . 40
COMPORTAMENTO SILVICULTURAL DE ESPÉCIES FLORESTAIS EM ARRANJO PARA INTEGRAÇÃO PECUÁRIA FLORESTA

Objetivou-se neste estudo avaliar o comportamento silvicultural de sete especies florestais introduzidas em arranjo inicial para sistema de integracao pecuaria-floresta sobre pastagem degradada em Lavras, Minas Gerais. O trabalho foi instalado em delineamento de blocos casualizados em quatro repeticoes, 48 plantas uteis por parcela, em arranjo de (3(3x2)+7x2) m. Avaliaram-se as especies florestais Acacia mangium Willd, Calophyllum brasiliense Cambess, Dipteryx alata Vogel, Eucalyptus urophylla x Eucalyptus grandis (1528 e GG100), Khaya senegalensis A. Juss, Tectona grandis L. e dois materiais de Toona ciliata M. Roemer, propagados por meio vegetativo e via semente. As especies foram selecionadas, principalmente, pelo valor economico da madeira, taxa de crescimento em areas degradadas e multiplos usos. O comportamento silvicultural foi realizado aos 52 meses pela mensuracao da sobrevivencia, diâmetro a altura do peito, altura total, volume de madeira e area de projecao de copa, sendo analisados por meio do software R. Os resultados obtidos demonstram que as especies apresentaram diferente comportamento silvicultural, destacando a adaptacao e rusticidade dos hibridos de Eucalyptus urophylla x Eucalyptus grandis e Acacia mangium Willd. Contudo, dentre as especies testadas, o hibrido de Eucalyptus urophylla x Eucalyptus grandis (GG100 e 1528), A. mangium e T. ciliata clonal apresentaram melhor comportamento silvicultural, com o maior potencial de utilizacao em sistema de integracao pecuaria-floresta no arranjo (3(3x2)+7x2) m em pastagem degradada, nas condicoes edafoclimaticas de Lavras.
Management and early outcomes of children with appendicitis in the UK and Ireland during the COVID-19 pandemic: a survey of surgeons and observational study

Objectives Acute appendicitis is the most common surgical condition in children. In the UK, appendicectomy is the most common treatment with non-operative management unusual. Due to concerns about the risk of SARS-CoV-2 transmission during surgical procedures, surgeons were advised to consider non-operative treatment and avoid laparoscopy where possible. This study aims to report management and outcomes, to date, of children with appendicitis in the UK and Ireland during the COVID-19 pandemic. Design Survey of consultant surgeons who treat children with appendicitis that informed a prospective multicentre observational cohort study. Setting Data were collected from centres in the UK and Ireland for cases admitted between 1 April and 31 May 2020 (first 2 months of the COVID-19 pandemic) at both general surgical and specialist paediatric surgical centres. Participants The study cohort includes 838 children with a clinical and/or radiological diagnosis of acute appendicitis of which 527 (63%) were male. Main outcomes measured Primary outcome was treatment strategy used for acute appendicitis. Other outcomes reported include change in treatment strategy over time, use of diagnostic imaging and important patient outcomes to 30 days following hospital admission. Results From very early in the pandemic surgeons experienced a change in their management of children with appendicitis and almost all surgeons who responded to the survey anticipated further changes during the pandemic. Overall, 326/838 (39%) were initially treated non-operatively of whom 81/326 (25%) proceeded to appendicectomy within the initial hospital admission. Of cases treated initially surgically 243/512 (48%) were performed laparoscopically. Diagnostic imaging was used in 445/838 (53%) children. Cases treated non-operatively had a shorter hospital stay than those treated surgically but hospital readmissions within 30 days were similar between groups. In cases treated surgically the negative appendicectomy rate was 4.5%. There was a trend towards increased use of surgical treatment and from open to laparoscopic appendicectomy as the pandemic progressed. Conclusion Non-operative treatment of appendicitis has been widely used for the first time in children in the UK and Ireland and is safe and effective in selected patients. Overall patient outcomes do not appear to have been adversely impacted by change in management during the pandemic thus far.
Incidencia de la inoculación de microorganismos benéficos en el cultivo de fresa (Fragaria sp.)

Se evaluo el efecto de microorganismos beneficos (MOBs) en el desarrollo del cultivo de fresa ( Fragaria sp.). La investigacion se realizo en tres fases. (i) Primera: en la provincia de Azuay – Ecuador, se recolectaron muestras de distintas plantas ubicadas en tres pisos altitudinales con caracteristicas climatologicas diferentes. (ii) Segunda: en el laboratorio de la Universidad Nacional Agraria La Molina, en Lima – Peru, con cada muestra vegetal, se preparo la solucion madre, asi como medios de cultivo para MOBs, despues se identifico la flora microbiana benefica. (iii) Tercera: en la etapa de campo, se inoculo en el suelo un consorcio microbiano, con cuatro repeticiones por cada piso altitudinal; posteriormente se planto fresa. En los medios de cultivo se constato la presencia de levaduras, Bacillus spp. , Lactobacillus spp. , y actinomicetos. Se comprobo que, segun la procedencia, los microorganismos presentan efectos heterogeneos en el desarrollo de las plantas. Se concluye que en cada piso altitudinal existen microorganismos beneficos de acuerdo a la especie vegetal, que su inoculacion en el suelo incrementa el numero de hojas, asi como tambien favorece el desarrollo longitudinal, diametral y de raices, de las plantas de fresa.
No evidence for genetic differentiation in juvenile traits between Belgian and French populations of the invasive tree Robinia pseudoacacia

Background – The role of evolution in biological invasion studies is often overlooked. In order to evaluate the evolutionary mechanisms behind invasiveness, both quantitative and population genetics studies are underway on Robinia pseudoacacia L. , one of the worst invasive tree species in Europe. Methods – A controlled experiment was set up using 2000 seeds from ten populations in Southern France and ten populations in Belgium. Seedlings were cultivated in two climatic chambers set at 18°C and 22°C. Early development life history traits (e.g.seedling phenology) and functional traits (e.g.growth rates) were monitored. Genotyping using SNP markers was used to evaluate the genetic differentiation among the populations and a QST – FST comparison was done in order to test for the role of selection. Results – Populations exhibited a strong plasticity to temperature for all measured traits, the warmer environment being generally more suitable, irrespective of their origin. No significant departure from neutral evolution was evidenced by the QST – FST comparisons, although we found a slightly significant differentiation at the molecular level. Conclusion – Plasticity for the functional and life history traits was evidenced but no genetic interaction suggesting no possible evolution of plasticity at those traits. Moreover, no support for genetic differentiation and local adaptation was found among studied populations within invasive range, raising two main questions: first, what is the role of selection on functional and life-history traits; and second, is the elapsed time since first introduction sufficient to allow evolution and local adaptation?
Comparing cell‐free circulating tumor DNA mutational profiles of disease‐free and nonresponders patients with oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma

The purpose of this study was to investigate whether somatic nonsynonymous variants in tumor tissue can potentially be identified in circulating cell‐free DNA (cfDNA) of head and neck oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma (OPSCC) patients using next‐generation sequencing and can predict recurrence or persistence disease.
Teamwork Quality and Team Success in Software Development: A Non-exact Replication Study

Background: Teamwork is central component of any software development organization. Therefore, the assessment of teamwork quality is important for team management in practice. TWQ (Teamwork Quality) is a measure of the quality of intra-team interactions developed specifically for software development teams. Aims: To perform a differentiated replication of previous studies on TWQ to expand the contexts in which TWQ has been applied, to refine the measurement instrument, increasing its reliability and validity, and to identify possibilities for future research on software teams. Method: We performed a cross-sectional survey collecting data from all 18 teams in one single software organization and from all members of each team, totaling 123 participants. Results: First, we refined the measurement instrument, achieving a more reliable and parsimonious instrument. Second, our results confirmed findings from previous studies when individual level data was used, but almost no confirmation was found when data was aggregated at team level. Conclusions: Our results partially supported previous studies but raised questions about the validity of the aggregation of individual data to team level measures of the studied constructs.
Analysing the impact of COVID-19 on over-the-top media platforms in India

The outbreak of COVID-19 saw a robust increase in viewership of over-the-top (OTT) media platforms. This study aims to investigate the impact of COVID-19 on OTT platforms in India, as it has led to reshaping consumer content preferences. ,The authors have conducted primary research by doing a survey and focus group discussion. The first study has focused on the impact of various factors such as time, content, convenience, satisfaction and work from home (WFH) on OTT platforms during the COVID-19 crisis and the second study has focused on change in behavior of people before and during lockdown using visual representation. ,The findings of this study show that lockdown has played a major role in the increase in viewership of OTT platforms, as people working from home are also using OTT platforms more. The average hours spent on OTT have increased from 0–2 to 2–5 h and average spending that users are willing to make on OTT platforms is Rs 100–300 (per month). The satisfaction level of customers is directly related to space to watch with family, time to use OTT platforms, the quality of content on OTT platforms and preference of OTT platform over television. Also, factors such as age group, occupation, city and income groups also determine the usage of the OTT platform. ,The main contribution of this paper is to analyze the customer needs that impact their satisfaction level.
DEVELOPMENT OF SYNBIOTIC LASSI WITH HONEY AS PREBIOTIC

Shruti Sharma, M.Tech (DM), 2010 . ABSTRACT DEVELOPMENT OF SYNBIOTIC LASSI WITH HONEY AS PREBIOTIC Name of Student Name of Major Advisor Shruti Sharma Dr. J.B. Prajapati Department of Dairy Microbiology, SMC College of Dairy Science, Anand Agricultural University, Anand – 388 110, India ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Lassi (stirred yoghurt) is a popular fermented milk product of Indian subcontinent. It can be one of the most appropriate vehicles to carry scientifically proven probiotic bacteria and prebiotic ingredients. On the other hand, there are many natural plant materials, which have proven health benefits and presence of oligosaccharides, which can act as prebiotic. Honey is one of them and hence, the present investigation was designed to develop a synbiotic lassi with honey. In the initial phase, three raw and processed honey samples were analyzed for microbial profile. The average microbial counts showed; standard plate count 3.32, Lactobacilli count 1.96, Streptococci count 2.18, Enterococci count 1.24 and yeast and mould count 1.74 log CFU/g. Level of addition of honey was decided by incorporating honey at 0, 3, 5 and 7% and comparing the quality of lassi based on chemical, microbiological and sensory attributes. The lassi was prepared from toned milk fermented by our own isolates of Streptococcus thermophilus MTCC 5460 and a probiotic culture Lactobacillus helveticus MTCC 5463 as per the protocol standardized earlier. Overall there were non significant difference in microbiological counts and sensory scores, but product with 5% honey showed relatively better acceptance, better viable count of lactobacilli and optimum level of acid production. Finally, two products namely a synbiotic lassi with 5% honey (T) and probiotic lassi without honey referred as control ( C ) were prepared and their shelf -life were studied at refrigeration temperature (5±20C).
Simple and secure device authentication mechanism for smart environments using Internet of things devices

Enormous growth in digital electronics technology has paved path for the development of advanced networks, and smart environment is one among them. Smart environment is a network of smart devices connected to provide comfort, security, remote access and many more to end‐users. Devices in smart environments usually collect very sensitive data of the end‐users and disseminate it as required. The privacy of the end‐user has to be ensured in these applications, and security becomes a prime concern. The security system in smart environments has to ensure privacy and need to be more resource‐aware. An efficient authentication mechanism can ensure the privacy of end users and secrecy of the sensitive data; it may avoid unauthorized access of data and resources, ensuring privacy and security. In this paper, we proposed a mechanism for device authentication which enables smart devices to mutually authenticate each other. The proposed mechanism enables smart devices to acquire security credentials from the server and use these credentials to authenticate each other. The mechanism used exclusive OR (XOR), concatenation, one‐way hash, and symmetric key encryption techniques. The security analysis of the mechanism is done and proved that the mechanism is secure. The performance analysis proved that the computational and communications overheads are 8% less than existing mechanisms and storage overhead is also least.
Workforce participation of parents of children and youth with mental health difficulties: the impact of community services and supports

ABSTRACT This study explored the effects of demands related to caring for children and youth with mental health difficulties and of resources in community ecologies including health services, schools, neighborhoods, and social supports, on parental workforce participation. Through secondary analysis of U.S. data from the 2016 National Survey of Children’s Health, we found that when children’s mental health issues were more severe, parents experienced frustration with their ability to get services and spent more time providing health care, they were less likely to be employed. Community factors were critical: employed parents reported more frequent contact from the school system, and fewer days that their child missed school. When family members spent more time providing and arranging for health care, were frustrated in their attempts to get services, and reported children missing more school, they cut back their work hours or stopped working. We concluded that parent workforce disengagement patterns were related to demands of exceptional care and to the lack of available community resources. As employers struggle to retain talented workforces, the diversity of employees raising a child or youth with a disabling health condition must be acknowledged, and community supports strengthened.
Citations Beyond Self Citations: Identifying Authors, Affiliations, and Nationalities in Scientific Papers

The question of the utility of the blind peer-review system is fundamental to scientific research. Some studies investigate exactly how “blind” the papers are in the double-blind review system by manually or automatically identifying the true authors, mainly suggesting the number of self-citations in the submitted manuscripts as the primary signal for identity. However, related work on the automated approaches are limited by the sizes of their datasets and the restricted experimental setup, thus they lack practical insights into the blind review process. In this work, we train models that identify the authors, their affiliations, and their nationalities through real-world, large-scale experiments on the Microsoft Academic Graph, including the cold start scenario. Our models are accurate; we identify at least one of authors, affiliations, and nationalities of held-out papers with 40.3%, 47.9% and 86.0% accuracy respectively, from the top-10 guesses of our models. However, through insights from the model, we demonstrate that these entities are identifiable with a small number of guesses primarily by using a combination of self-citations, social, and common citations. Moreover, our further analysis on the results leads to interesting findings, such as that prominent affiliations are easily identifiable (e.g. 93.8% of test papers written by Microsoft are identified with top-10 guesses). The experimental results show, against conventional belief, that the self-citations are no more informative than looking at the common citations, thus suggesting that removing self-citations is not sufficient for authors to maintain their anonymity.