Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A Multifunctional Hot Structure Heat Shield Concept for Planetary Entry

A multifunctional hot structure heatshield concept is being developed to provide technology enhancements with significant benefits compared to the current state-of-the-art heatshield technology. These benefits can potentially enable future planetary missions. The concept is unique in integrating the function of the thermal protection system with the primary load carrying structural component. An advanced carbon-carbon material system has been evaluated for the load carrying structure, which will be utilized on the outer surface of the heatshield, and thus will operate as a hot structure exposed to the severe aerodynamic heating associated with planetary entry. Flexible, highly efficient blanket insulation is sized for use underneath the hot structure to maintain required operational internal temperatures. The approach followed includes developing preliminary designs to demonstrate feasibility of the concept and benefits over a traditional, baseline design. Where prior work focused on a concept for an Earth entry vehicle, the current efforts presented here are focused on developing a generic heatshield model and performing a trade study for a Mars entry application. This trade study includes both structural and thermal evaluation. The results indicate that a hot structure concept is a feasible alternative to traditional heatshields and may offer advantages that can enable future entry missions.
Expression and antimicrobial character of cells transfected with human β-defensin-3 against periodontitis-associated microbiota in vitro

Periodontitis is an oral chronic inflammatory disease induced by microorganisms that can destroy tooth-supporting structures. Human β-defensin-3 (HBD-3) is a type of endogenous antimicrobial peptide that inhibits a broad spectrum of microorganisms. The objectives of the present study were to transfect human periodontal ligament cells (HPDLCs) and human bone marrow stromal cells (HBMSCs) with lentivirus containing the HBD-3 gene, determine the transfection efficiency, and investigate the antimicrobial activity of the experimental cells against periodontal pathogens. Fluorescence microscopy was used to calculated the transfection efficiency. Western blot analysis and ELISA were conducted to confirm the expression of HBD-3 at the protein level. The effect of the HBD-3 gene on the antimicrobial activity of the cells were demonstrated by antimicrobial tests. The results of the present study demonstrated that the transfected HPDLCs and HBMSCs stably expressed HBD-3. In addition, periodontal pathogens and caries-causing bacteria were susceptible to the antimicrobial activity of the cells. Both HPDLCs and HBMSCs hold potential for use as seeding cells in cell- and gene-based therapies for periodontal disease. The lentiviral vector containing HBD-3 resulted in broad-spectrum antimicrobial activity against a variety of oral organisms, and could potentially be applied in the treatment of oral infectious diseases, including periodontitis.
Structure and substance in functional discourse grammar: the case of the binominal noun phrase

Abstract This paper discusses the relevance of the distinctions made by Hjelmslev ([1943] 1961), between purport, substance and structure on the one hand, and content and expression on the other, for the theory of Functional Discourse Grammar (FDG). It is shown that FDG, as a form-oriented theory, shares a number of aspects with Hjelmslev’s model; at the same time, however, it is argued that, as a function-to-form theory, FDG assigns a much more important role to the notion of substance. Three major differences between the two approaches are identified, concerning (i) directionality in the model (between substance and structure), (ii) motivation (of structure on the basis of substance) and (iii) the difference between “structure” (in the form of more or less stable primitives) and “structuring” (as a process). Subsequently, a corpus-based, diachronic analysis of the use, form and development of a number of related binominal noun phrases with the head noun beast (e.g. a beast of a party) is offered to illustrate the FDG interpretation of the distinction between substance and structure, and to justify the greater importance attributed to the notion of substance. It is concluded that compared to Hjelmslev’s model, FDG is better equipped, both diachronically and synchronically, to deal with the specific features of and relations between the four types of binominal construction discussed in the paper.
The Future of Education for All as a Global Regime of Educational Governance

The article considers the future of Education for All (EFA) understood as a global regime of educational governance. The article sets out an understanding of global governance, world order, power, and legitimacy within which EFA is embedded. It explains what is meant by EFA as a regime of global governance and as part of a “regime complex” along with other regimes that affect education and development. The article traces the genealogy of EFA, focusing on key tensions and contradictions. The emphasis is on understanding the effects of different kinds of power linked to broader global interests within a changing world order. The article concludes by considering the future of EFA. It is suggested that EFA since the Incheon Declaration and Framework for Action is giving way to a new global regime of educational governance in which education and in particular learning is linked to sustainable development, albeit in contradictory ways.
Antisense transcription in Pseudomonas aeruginosa

A large number of antisense transcripts have been detected in diverse microbial genomes and considerable effort has been devoted to elucidating the functional role of antisense transcription. In this study, we reanalysed extensive RNA sequencing data from the opportunistic pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa and found that the majority of genes have a propensity for antisense transcription. Although antisense transcripts were found in more than 80 % of the genes of the P. aeruginosa genome, the majority of sequencing reads were mapping sense and only a minority (<2 %) were mapping antisense to genes. Similarly to the sense expression levels, the antisense expression levels varied under different environmental conditions, with the sense and antisense expression levels often being inversely regulated and modulated by the activity of alternative sigma factors. Environment-modulated antisense transcription showed a bias towards being antisense to genes within regions of genomic plasticity and to those encoding small regulatory RNAs. In the future, the validation and functional characterization of antisense transcripts, and novel transcripts that are antisense to small regulatory RNAs in particular, have the potential to contribute to our understanding of the various levels of transcriptional regulation and its dynamics in the bacterial pathogen P. aeruginosa.
Testing reliability of medical software

In this paper, we present some important aspects of software testing. We explain why software reliability is important, especially for medical software products. The automation of testing procedures is important in order to achieve the desired reliability level. For this purpose, intelligent systems can be used to identify potentially dangerous software modules. We present an evolutionary decision-tree approach to the identification of dangerous software modules in a real-world medical application.
DNA methylation as a mediator of the association between prenatal adversity and risk factors for metabolic disease in adulthood

DNA methylation mediates the association of prenatal famine exposure with higher adult BMI and serum triglyceride levels. Although it is assumed that epigenetic mechanisms, such as changes in DNA methylation (DNAm), underlie the relationship between adverse intrauterine conditions and adult metabolic health, evidence from human studies remains scarce. Therefore, we evaluated whether DNAm in whole blood mediated the association between prenatal famine exposure and metabolic health in 422 individuals exposed to famine in utero and 463 (sibling) controls. We implemented a two-step analysis, namely, a genome-wide exploration across 342,596 cytosine-phosphate-guanine dinucleotides (CpGs) for potential mediators of the association between prenatal famine exposure and adult body mass index (BMI), serum triglycerides (TG), or glucose concentrations, which was followed by formal mediation analysis. DNAm mediated the association of prenatal famine exposure with adult BMI and TG but not with glucose. DNAm at PIM3 (cg09349128), a gene involved in energy metabolism, mediated 13.4% [95% confidence interval (CI), 5 to 28%] of the association between famine exposure and BMI. DNAm at six CpGs, including TXNIP (cg19693031), influencing β cell function, and ABCG1 (cg07397296), affecting lipid metabolism, together mediated 80% (95% CI, 38.5 to 100%) of the association between famine exposure and TG. Analyses restricted to those exposed to famine during early gestation identified additional CpGs mediating the relationship with TG near PFKFB3 (glycolysis) and METTL8 (adipogenesis). DNAm at the CpGs involved was associated with gene expression in an external data set and correlated with DNAm levels in fat depots in additional postmortem data. Our data are consistent with the hypothesis that epigenetic mechanisms mediate the influence of transient adverse environmental factors in early life on long-term metabolic health. The specific mechanism awaits elucidation.
Analog-to-Digital Compression: A New Paradigm for Converting Signals to Bits

Processing, storing, and communicating information that originates as an analog signal involves converting this information to bits. This conversion can be described by the combined effect of sampling and quantization, as shown in Figure 1. The digital representation is achieved by first sampling the analog signal to represent it by a set of discretetime samples and then quantizing these samples to a finite number of bits. Traditionally, these two operations are considered separately. The sampler is designed to minimize the information loss due to sampling based on characteristics of the continuoustime input. The quantizer is designed to represent the samples as accurately as possible, subject to a constraint on the number of bits that can be used in the representation. The goal of this article is to revisit this paradigm by illuminating the dependency between these two operations. In particular, we explore the requirements of the sampling system subject to the constraints on the available number of bits for storing, communicating, or processing the analog information.
SENSITIVITY TO PUNISHMENT IN THE ACADEMIC CONTEXT : IT ’ S RELATIONSHIP WITH LOCUS OF CONTROL , GENDER AND GRADE LEVEL ( AKADEMİK BAĞLAMDA CEZA HASSASİYETİ : DENETİM ODAĞI

Sensitivity to punishment can be defined as the sensitivity that results in being over sensitive to punishment and punishment stimuli, fear, anxiety, inhibition, and reactivity that is not functional. Despite the fact that punishment practices are frequently encountered in academic contexts, the review of literature has not revealed a measurement tool towards measuring students' sensitivity to punishment in the academic context. For this reason, in this study, the "Scale of Punishment Sensitivity in the Academic Context (SPSAC) for Middle School Students" to be used for measuring middle school students' sensitivity to punishment in the academic context was firstly developed. It was then determined whether internal-external locus of control was a variable predicting sensitivity to punishment in the academic context, and whether sensitivity to punishment differed based on gender and grade level variables. The population of this study consisted of the students studying at middle schools in the central districts of Eskisehir province. This study used the data gathered from 741 students of fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth grade studying at five middle schools selected using simple random sampling method among these schools. As a result of EFA, which was performed for construct validity, three factors having an eigenvalue higher than 1 and explaining 66% of the total variance were revealed. The goodness-of-fit indexes [χ2 =41.03, p<. 01, χ2/sd=1.75, GFI=0.96, AGFI=0.93, NFI=0.95, NNFI=0.97, SRMR=0.05, RMSEA=0.05, CFI=0.98] for the CFA model showed a good model-data fit. The split-half reliability coefficient for the SPSAC total scores was . 83, the Alpha reliability coefficient was . 80, and the test-retest reliability was . 80. The analyses showed that the SPSAC scores significantly differed based on the gender and grade level variables, and internal-external locus of control was an important predictor of sensitivity to punishment (R = 0.545, R2 = 0.297, p<.01).
Irradiation for Quarantine Control of Coffee Berry Borer, Hypothenemus hampei (Coleoptera: Curculionidae: Scolytinae) in Coffee and a Proposed Generic Dose for Snout Beetles (Coleoptera: Curculionoidea)

Abstract Coffee berry borer (CBB), Hypothenemus hampei (Ferrari) (Coleoptera: Curculionidae: Scolytinae), is the most serious insect pest of coffee worldwide. Green coffee used in blending and roasting is traded between countries and may be subjected to fumigation for disinfestation of CBB. For example, green coffee shipped to Hawaii from the U.S. mainland must be treated with methyl bromide. Irradiation is an alternative disinfestation treatment option. Dose-response tests were conducted with adult beetles to identify a sterilizing dose, followed by large-scale confirmatory tests with adults infesting coffee berries at 100 Gy (measured doses 84–102 Gy). In total, 6,598 adult CBBs naturally infesting dried coffee berries were irradiated at 100 Gy and produced no viable offspring, whereas 1,033 unirradiated controls produced 327 eggs, 411 larvae, and 58 pupae at 3 wk post treatment. This is the first study to develop a postharvest irradiation treatment for a scolytine bark beetle and supports other studies suggesting 150 Gy is sufficient to prevent reproduction in snout beetles in the superfamily Curculionoidea.
Insights into molecular mechanisms of drug metabolism dysfunction of human CYP2C9*30

Cytochrome P450 2C9 (CYP2C9) metabolizes about 15% of clinically administrated drugs. The allelic variant CYP2C9*30 (A477T) is associated to diminished response to the antihypertensive effects of the prodrug losartan and affected metabolism of other drugs. Here, we investigated molecular mechanisms involved in the functional consequences of this amino-acid substitution. Molecular dynamics (MD) simulations performed for the active species of the enzyme (heme in the Compound I state), in the apo or substrate-bound state, and binding energy analyses gave insights into altered protein structure and dynamics involved in the defective drug metabolism of human CYP2C9.30. Our data revealed an increased rigidity of the key Substrate Recognition Sites SRS1 and SRS5 and shifting of the β turn 4 of SRS6 toward the helix F in CYP2C9.30. Channel and binding substrate dynamics analyses showed altered substrate channel access and active site accommodation. These conformational and dynamic changes are believed to be involved in the governing mechanism of the reduced catalytic activity. An ensemble of representative conformations of the WT and A477T mutant properly accommodating drug substrates were identified, those structures can be used for prediction of new CYP2C9 and CYP2C9.30 substrates and drug-drug interactions.
Supervising Nyström Methods via Negative Margin Support Vector Selection

The Nystr\"om methods have been popular techniques for scalable kernel based learning. They approximate explicit, low-dimensional feature mappings for kernel functions from the pairwise comparisons with the training data. However, Nystr\"om methods are generally applied without the supervision provided by the training labels in the classification/regression problems. This leads to pairwise comparisons with randomly chosen training samples in the model. Conversely, this work studies a supervised Nystr\"om method that chooses the critical subsets of samples for the success of the Machine Learning model. Particularly, we select the Nystr\"om support vectors via the negative margin criterion, and create explicit feature maps that are more suitable for the classification task on the data. Experimental results on six datasets show that, without increasing the complexity over unsupervised techniques, our method can significantly improve the classification performance achieved via kernel approximation methods and reduce the number of features needed to reach or exceed the performance of the full-dimensional kernel machines.
The Role of Adult Day Services in Supporting the Occupational Participation of People with Dementia and Their Carers: An Integrative Review

The increasing numbers of people with dementia places considerable stress on health and aged care services and has resulted in the development of community adult day services. Aim: The aim of this integrative review is to determine the extent to which these services support the occupational participation of people with dementia, and how they impact their primary carers. Method: The mixed-methods appraisal tool (MMAT) was used to identify relevant studies in the period 2011–2016. Results: Nine databases were searched and yielded 16 articles with a variety of research designs for inclusion in the review. Conclusions: Findings indicate that adult day services use a range of approaches to support attendees and their carers. In spite of these efforts, there appears to be a lack of interest in utilizing these services while a person is in the early stages of dementia. This suggests that policies in aged care, such as aging-in-place, need to consider the pressure and stress they exert on carer’s quality of life. Another consideration is to better promote the benefits of participating in adult day services in the early stages of dementia for both the attendees and their carers, thereby delaying the tendency towards early institutionalization.
Free energy landscape for the binding process of Huperzine A to acetylcholinesterase

Drug-target residence time (t = 1/koff, where koff is the dissociation rate constant) has become an important index in discovering better- or best-in-class drugs. However, little effort has been dedicated to developing computational methods that can accurately predict this kinetic parameter or related parameters, koff and activation free energy of dissociation (). In this paper, energy landscape theory that has been developed to understand protein folding and function is extended to develop a generally applicable computational framework that is able to construct a complete ligand-target binding free energy landscape. This enables both the binding affinity and the binding kinetics to be accurately estimated. We applied this method to simulate the binding event of the anti-Alzheimer’s disease drug (−)−Huperzine A to its target acetylcholinesterase (AChE). The computational results are in excellent agreement with our concurrent experimental measurements. All of the predicted values of binding free energy and activation free energies of association and dissociation deviate from the experimental data only by less than 1 kcal/mol. The method also provides atomic resolution information for the (−)−Huperzine A binding pathway, which may be useful in designing more potent AChE inhibitors. We expect this methodology to be widely applicable to drug discovery and development.
Extraintestinal virulence is a coincidental by-product of commensalism in B2 phylogenetic group Escherichia coli strains.

The selective pressures leading to the evolution and maintenance of virulence in the case of facultative pathogens are quite unclear. For example, Escherichia coli, a commensal of the gut of warm-blooded animals and humans, can cause severe extraintestinal diseases, such as septicemia and meningitis, which represent evolutionary dead ends for the pathogen as they are associated to rapid host death and poor interhost transmission. Such infectious process has been linked to the presence of so-called "virulence genes. " To understand the evolutionary forces that select and maintain these genes, we focused our study on E. coli B2 phylogenetic group strains that encompass both commensal and pathogenic (extra- and intraintestinal) strains. Multilocus sequence typing (MLST), comparative genomic hybridization of the B2 flexible gene pool, and quantification of extraintestinal virulence using a mouse model of septicemia were performed on a panel of 60 B2 strains chosen for their genetic and ecologic diversity. The phylogenetic history of the strains reconstructed from the MLST data indicates the emergence of at least 9 subgroups of strains. A high polymorphism is observed in the B2 flexible gene pool among the strains with a good correlation between the MLST-inferred phylogenetic history of the strains and the presence/absence of specific genomic regions, indicating coevolution between the chromosomal background and the flexible gene pool. Virulence in the mouse model is a highly prevalent and widespread character present in all subgroups except one. Association studies reveal that extraintestinal virulence is a multigenic process with a common set of "virulence determinants" encompassing genes involved in transcriptional regulation, iron metabolism, adhesion, lipopolysaccharide (LPS) biosynthesis, and the recently reported peptide polyketide hybrid synthesis system. Interestingly, these determinants can also be viewed as intestinal colonization and survival factors linked to commensalism as they can increase the fitness of the strains within the normal gut environment. Altogether, these data argue for an ancestral emergence of the extraintestinal virulence character that is a coincidental by-product of commensalism. Furthermore, the phenotypic and genotypic markers identified in this work will allow further epidemiological studies devoted to test the niche specialization hypothesis for the B2 phylogenetic subgroups.
A MODEL FOR RECALIBRATING CREDIBILITY IN DIFFERENT CONTEXTS AND LANGUAGES - A TWITTER CASE STUDY

Due to the growing dependence on the WWW UserGenerated Content (UGC) as a primary source for information and news, the research on web credibility is becoming more important than ever before. In this paper we review previous efforts to evaluate information credibility, focusing specifically on microblogging. In particular, we provide a comparison of different systems for automatic assessment of information credibility based on the used techniques and features, and we classify the Twitter credibility surveys based on the features considered. We then propose a general model to assess information credibility on UGC different platforms, including Twitter, which employs a contextual credibility approach that examines the effect of culture, situation, topic variations, and languages on assessing credibility, using Arabic context as an example. We identify several factors that users may consider in determining credibility, and argue that the importance of each factor may vary with a context. Future work will include both a user study and machine learning techniques to evaluate the effectiveness of various factors for information credibility classification in different contexts.