Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Site-specific Phosphorylation of CXCR4 Is Dynamically Regulated by Multiple Kinases and Results in Differential Modulation of CXCR4 Signaling*

The chemokine receptor CXCR4 is a widely expressed G protein-coupled receptor that has been implicated in a number of diseases including human immunodeficiency virus, cancer, and WHIM syndrome, with the latter two involving dysregulation of CXCR4 signaling. To better understand the role of phosphorylation in regulating CXCR4 signaling, tandem mass spectrometry and phospho-specific antibodies were used to identify sites of agonist-promoted phosphorylation. These studies demonstrated that Ser-321, Ser-324, Ser-325, Ser-330, Ser-339, and two sites between Ser-346 and Ser-352 were phosphorylated in HEK293 cells. We show that Ser-324/5 was rapidly phosphorylated by protein kinase C and G protein-coupled receptor kinase 6 (GRK6) upon CXCL12 treatment, whereas Ser-339 was specifically and rapidly phosphorylated by GRK6. Ser-330 was also phosphorylated by GRK6, albeit with slower kinetics. Similar results were observed in human astroglia cells, where endogenous CXCR4 was rapidly phosphorylated on Ser-324/5 by protein kinase C after CXCL12 treatment, whereas Ser-330 was slowly phosphorylated. Analysis of CXCR4 signaling in HEK293 cells revealed that calcium mobilization was primarily negatively regulated by GRK2, GRK6, and arrestin3, whereas GRK3, GRK6, and arrestin2 played a primary role in positively regulating ERK1/2 activation. In contrast, GRK2 appeared to play a negative role in ERK1/2 activation. Finally, we show that arrestin association with CXCR4 is primarily driven by the phosphorylation of far C-terminal residues on the receptor. These studies reveal that site-specific phosphorylation of CXCR4 is dynamically regulated by multiple kinases resulting in both positive and negative modulation of CXCR4 signaling.
CAD-Directed SEU Susceptibility Reduction in FPGA Circuits Designs

This paper presents a SEU-mitigative placement and route of circuits in the FPGAs which is based on the popular placement and route tool. The tool is modified so that during placement and routing, decisions are taken with awareness of SEU-mitigation and no redundancies during the placement and routing are used but the algorithms are based on the SEU avoidance. We have investigated the effect of this tool on several MCNC benchmarks and the results of the placement and routing have been compared to the traditional one. The evaluations of results show that placement and routing can decrease the SEU rate of circuits implemented on FPGAs about 22%. However, it increases critical path delay and power consumptions of the circuits.
Single session email consultation for parents: an evaluation of its effect on empowerment

This study evaluated the effect of single session email consultation (SSEC) on empowerment of parents. Practitioners in a control group (n = 19) received no training and practitioners in an experimental group (n = 21) were trained to use empowerment-oriented techniques in online consultation. Parental empowerment was measured (n = 96) through a questionnaire based on the Family Empowerment Scale before and after receiving advice from a trained or a non-trained practitioner. Parents showed a significant increase in the subscale of self-confidence (Cohen's d = 0.33). Study findings lend support to the feasibility of SSEC as a brief intervention to improve self-confidence of parents. A training for practitioners did not influence the outcomes.
Gender differences in inappropriate use of urinary catheters among hospitalized older patients

ABSTRACT This study investigated the incidence, rationales, and associated factors of inappropriate urinary catheter use among hospitalized older patients by gender. A longitudinal study of 321 patients with urinary catheter was conducted. Demographic factors, present health factors, urinary catheter factors, and indications of catheter use were collected. A total of 53.7% of urinary catheter-days were inappropriate. For both men and women, there was no significant difference in the incidence and common rationales of inappropriate use. Women, however, have another associated factor with inappropriate use. More tailored alternatives are needed for women to increase comfort to avoid inappropriate catheter use.
"One With A Gun Gets You Two": Mandatory Sentencing and Firearms Violence in Detroit

Mandatory sentences for crimes committed with a gun are a popular policy because they promise a reduction in gun violence at a relatively low cost. In this article we present some results of a study of the implementa tion of such a law in Detroit, Michigan. Two major questions are discussed: (1) what effect did the Michigan gun law have on the certainty and severity of sentences; and (2) did the gun law reduce the number of serious violent crimes in Detroit? We find that, although the law required a two-year mandatory sentence for felonies committed with a gun and the prosecutor followed a strict policy of not reducing the gun law charge, there was little change in the certainty or severity of sentences that could be attributed to the effects of the gun law. Only in the case of assault was there a significant change in the expected sentence. Also serious violent crimes—murder, robbery, and assault—follow patterns over time that lead us to conclude that the gun law did not significantly alter the number or type of serious crimes in Detroit.
Mapping and monitoring clear-cuts in Swedish forest using ALOS PALSAR satellite images

This study presents results for observing forest changes m Sweden using multi-temporal L-band satellite data and is a part of the JAXA's ALOS Kyoto and Carbon Initiative. An extensive dataset of images acquired by the Advanced Land Observing Satellite Phased Array type L-band Synthetic Aperture Radar (ALOS PALSAR) is investigated for clear-cut detection m boreal forests m northern Sweden (Lat. 64°14' N, Long. 19°50' E). Strong forest/non-forest contrast and temporal consistency were found for the Fine Beam Dual HV-polanzed backscatter during unfrozen conditions. Thus, a simple thresholding algorithm that exploits the temporal consistency of pair-wise HV-backscatter measurements has been developed for clear-cut detection. When applied to an image pair acquired during favorable weather conditions, the detection algorithm identified 76% of the clear-cut pixels within a reference layer, with zero erroneously detected pixels. With further refinement the developed methodology can be an option to present operational alternatives for clear-cut detection.
Motives for the Enlistment and Demobilization of Illegal Armed Combatants in Colombia

This study explores and compares the motives for the enlistment and demobilization of illegal armed combatants in Colombia, members of guerrillas, and paramilitary groups. An exploratory principal-axis factor analysis was conducted on survey responses of 682 ex-combatants. Four factors emerged for the enlistment: fun and adventure, economic safety, retaliation, and promises. Six first-order factors explained demobilization: survival, physical–psychological safety, civilian safety, justice, self-determination, and belongingness. Factoring of first-order demobilization factors yielded two higher order factors: safety and social relationships. Logistic regression analyses revealed significant group differences in economic safety, promises, physical–psychological safety, justice, and self-determination. Implications for the prevention of enlistment and the promotion of demobilization are discussed.
Decentralized modular control of concurrent Fuzzy Discrete Event Systems

In order to analyze the event driven complex systems with uncertainties in their events and state transitions, Fuzzy Discrete Event Systems (FDES) has been proposed as an extension to the formal Discrete Event Systems theory (DES). In this paper we investigate the decentralized modular supervisory control problem of FDES with partial observation for systems which are composed of concurrently operating, multiple interacting modules with uncertainties in their events and states. The modular decentralized fuzzy supervisor consists of set of local fuzzy supervisors, one for each module and each with its own sensing and acting capabilities. Moreover, the communication is not allowed between the local fuzzy supervisors. The notion of separability for fuzzy languages is introduced and the property of a fuzzy language specification which is called separably - controllable - observable that is required for verifying the existence of modular fuzzy supervisors is defined. Some examples are presented to realize the theoretical developments.
Presence of water in residential environments - value for money?

The role of water in the locational bundle of residential value and choice determinants is multiple. Relevant attributes pertain to water quality, proximity and length of water frontage, view, size of water body, coastal development costs, and costs caused by flooding. They also pertain to different types of water: the sea, lake, river and so on. This is a systematic literature review of the influence of water proximity and use factors on property prices and area attractiveness within a spatial cost-benefit setting. According to the studies that were reviewed the composite effect for water quality, proximity and view generate a price premium up to ca 60% for seaside property, 25% for lakeside property, and up to 40% for a variety of other inland water bodies. In addition, few studies estimate the on-site potential for a coastal area with development restrictions as a net effect of the positive amenity benefits and negative opportunity costs to vary in the range from +21.5 to 14.5%. On balance these figures point to substantial benefits of water location. However, the price impact of flood risk was quantified separately as up to 22%, and may be deducted from these figures, given a localised tendency for such hazard. Thus, it may be concluded that for the attractiveness potential of a site the environmental externalities play a large role. Furthermore, when allocating housing claims spatially using an operational model where all land uses are covered extra costs to overcome conflict and scarcity situations may arise.
WEST NILE VIRUS SURVEILLANCE IN EAST BATON ROUGE PARISH, LOUISIANA

ABSTRACT West Nile virus (WNV) was detected for the first time in Louisiana in the fall of 2001. Surveillance data collected from East Baton Rouge Parish in 2002 were examined to establish baseline data on WNV activity, to support the current design of disease surveillance programs, and to target vector control efforts in the parish. The first indications of WNV activity were from a dead Northern Cardinal collected in February and from a live male cardinal sampled on 14 March. In mosquito pools, WNV was first detected on June 11. The onset of the first human case and the first detection of WNV in sentinel chickens occurred concurrently on June 24. The number of reported human cases and minimum infection rates in mosquitoes peaked in July. WNV prevalence in wild birds increased in late August and was highest in December. WNV-positive wild birds and mosquito pools were detected an average of 31 and 59 days in advance of the onset date of reported human cases, respectively, within 5 km of the residence of a human case. Antibodies to WNV were detected in sera from 7 (Northern Cardinal, House Sparrow, Northern Mockingbird, Blue Jay, Hermit Thrush, Yellow-rumped Warbler, and White-throated Sparrow) of the 42 wild bird species tested. Wild bird serology indicated WNV activity during the winter. Out of 18 mosquito species tested, the only species found positive for WNV was Culex quinquefasciatus, a result suggesting that this species was the primary epizootic/epidemic vector.
Utilising Ontological Structure for Reasoning with Preferences

The ability to model preferences and exploit preferential information to assist users in searching for items has become an important issue in knowledge representation. On the one hand, accurately eliciting preferences from the user in the form of a query can result in a coarse recommendation mechanism with numerous results returned. The problem lies in the user’s knowledge concerning the items among which they are searching. Unless the user is a domain expert, their preferences are likely to be expressed in a vague manner and so vague results (in the form of numerous alternatives) are returned. In this paper we remedy this problem by exploiting ontological information regarding the domain at hand. This ontological information can be provided by a domain expert and need not concern the user. However, we show that it can prove useful in focusing query results and providing more meaningful and useful recommendations.
Quantitative Analysis of Service-Oriented Architectures

In this article we address the integration of functional models with non-functional models in the context of service-oriented enterprise architecture. Starting from the observation that current approaches to model-driven development have a strong focus on functionality, we argue the necessity of including non-functional aspects as early as possible in the service design process. We distinguish two modelling spaces, the design space and the analysis space, which can be integrated by means of model transformations. Quantitative results obtained in the analysis space, using special-purpose analysis techniques, can be related back to the design models by means of a reverse transformation. This provides a framework for incorporating non-functional analysis into methodological support for e-service development. While, for detailed design models, performance analysis is more or less covered by existing techniques, there is still a gap at the architectural overview level. Therefore, we propose an approach for performance analysis of layered, service-oriented architecture models, which consists of two phases: a ‘‘top-down’’ propagation of workload parameters, and a “bottom-up’’ propagation of performance or cost measures. By means of an example, we demonstrate the application of the approach and show that a seamless integration with detailed performance analysis methods (e.g., queueing analysis) can be achieved.
Proposal for the clinical detection and management of patients and their family members with familial myelodysplastic syndrome/acute leukemia predisposition syndromes

As with most genetic cancer predisposition syndromes, inherited susceptibility to myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) and acute leukemia (AL) is likely to be more common than previously appreciated. As next-generation sequencing technologies become integrated into clinical practice, we anticipate that the number of cases of familial MDS/AL identified will increase. Although the existence of syndromes predisposing to MDS/AL has been known for some time, clinical guidelines for the screening and management of suspected or confirmed cases do not exist. Based on our collective experience caring for families with these syndromes, we propose recommendations for genetic counseling, testing, and clinical management. We welcome discussion about these proposals and hope that they will catalyze an ongoing dialog leading to optimal medical and psychosocial care for these patients.
Mothers’ human papilloma virus knowledge and willingness to vaccinate their adolescent daughters in Lagos, Nigeria

Introduction Human papillomavirus (HPV) is one of the most common sexually transmitted infections in sexually active adolescents and young women and has been implicated as a cause of the majority of cases of cervical cancer, which is the second most common cancer in women in Nigeria. HPV is preventable with the use of HPV vaccines. Objectives The objective of this study was to assess mothers’ HPV knowledge and their willingness to vaccinate their adolescent daughters in Lagos, Nigeria. Materials and methods This study was a community-based, descriptive cross-sectional study carried out in July, 2012 in Shomolu Local Government Area (LGA) of Lagos State, Nigeria. Multistage sampling method was employed to select the 290 respondents who participated in the study. Structured, pretested, interviewer-administered questionnaires were used for data collection. Data was analyzed with Epi Info™ version 7. Results The study revealed low awareness of HPV (27.9%) and HPV vaccines (19.7%) among the mothers that participated. There was a high awareness for cervical cancer but little knowledge of its link to HPV. Awareness and utilization of HPV vaccines increased with increasing educational level (P < 0.05). There was a high willingness and intention among the mothers to vaccinate their girls (88.9%) and to recommend the vaccine to others (91.0%). Accessibility and affordability of the HPV vaccines were found to be possible barriers to future utilization of the vaccines. Conclusion Despite low knowledge about HPV and HPV vaccines, mothers were willing to vaccinate their daughters. We recommend improving mothers’ knowledge by education and the possible inclusion of the vaccine in the national immunization schedule to eliminate the financial barrier.
D-ADMM based distributed MPC with input-output models

This article presents a distributed model predictive controller (MPC) based on linear models that use input/output plant data and D-ADMM optimization. The use of input/output models has the advantage of not requiring a Kalman filter to estimate the plant state. The D-ADMM algorithm solves the optimization problem associated to a cost function that is the sum of the control agents private costs, being a modification of the Alternating Direction of Multipliers (ADMM) algorithm that requires no central node and implies a significant reduction in the communication among adjacent nodes. The distributed MPC is obtained for the special case of a linear graph. An application to distributed control of a water delivery canal is presented to illustrate the algorithm.
Database of Structural Motifs in Proteins

SUMMARY The database of structural motifs in proteins (DSMP) contains data relevant to helices, beta-turns, gamma-turns, beta-hairpins, psi-loops, beta-alpha-beta motifs, beta-sheets, beta-strands and disulphide bridges extracted from all proteins in the Protein Data Bank primarily using the PROMOTIF program and implemented as a web-based network service using the SRS. The data corresponding to the structural motifs includes; sequence, position in polypeptide chain, geometry, type, unique code, keywords and resolution of crystal structure. This data is available for a representative data set of 1028 protein chains and also for all 10 213 proteins in the Protein Data Bank. The three-dimensional coordinates for all structural motifs (except sheet and disulphide bridge) are also available for the representative data set. Using features in SRS, DSMP can be queried to extract information from one or more structural motifs that may be useful for sequence-structure analysis, prediction, modelling or design. AVAILABILITY http://www. cdfd.org. in/dsmp.html
A Multi-hop Routing Protocol Based on Fixed Radio Wave in Wireless Sensor Network

Recently, in order to improve the energy efficiency of WSN(Wireless Sensor Network), widely research have been carried on. But, up to the present, all presented methods are based on direct communication between CH(cluster head) and sink node, and based on the assumption that node can intelligent regulate signal energy according to the distance between nodes. So it’s hard to implement those methods. Based on the theory that node has fixed radio wave radius, this paper present a multi leveling routing protocol from one sink node to all other nodes. According to the simulation of the presented protocol, we have proved the energy saving efficiency and the implementation in real WSN.
Oleanolic acid exerts an osteoprotective effect in ovariectomy-induced osteoporotic rats and stimulates the osteoblastic differentiation of bone mesenchymal stem cells in vitro

ObjectiveOleanolic acid (OA) and its glycosides have been reported to prevent bone loss by inhibiting the formation of osteoclasts. However, because bone formation and resorption are balanced processes in bone metabolism, no studies have described the effect of OA on osteogenesis. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the osteoprotective effect of OA in rats with ovariectomy (OVX)-induced osteoporosis and to search for the molecular targets of OA in bone mesenchymal stem cells (bMSCs). MethodsTwo-month-old female mice that underwent OVX were treated with OA (20 mg/kg a day). After 2 weeks and after 3 months, bone mass was evaluated by micro-CT, morphometry, and immunohistochemical detection. In addition, the expression of 256 genes was measured via microarray and confirmed by real-time reverse transcription–polymerase chain reaction. The effects of OA on the activities of bMSCs were also observed in vitro using alkaline phosphatase and cell proliferation assays. ResultsMicro-CT displayed only a tendency for bone loss at 2 weeks but a decrease in bone mass at 3 months after OVX. OA treatment increased osteoblast number, increasing osteocalcin and runt-related protein 2 protein levels in vivo and facilitating the osteoblastic differentiation of bMSCs in vitro at doses of 10−6 and 10−5 M. Gene expression profile analysis revealed that OVX caused a marked dysregulation of gene expression, especially at 2 weeks, some of which was rescued by OA. Few of these genes overlapped, but their functions were involved in the Notch signaling pathway between two phases of the osteoporotic process. ConclusionsOA exerts an osteoprotective effect in OVX-induced osteoporotic rats and stimulates the osteoblastic differentiation of bMSCs in vitro. The molecular mechanism of this effect might be related to the Notch signaling pathway and requires further investigation.
Messen Konzentrationstests Konzentration? Eine Analyse der Komponenten von Konzentrationsleistungen

Zusammenfassung. In zwei Untersuchungen mit N = 117 und N = 90 Studierenden wurde die Struktur von Konzentrationstestleistungen mit Hilfe von konfirmatorischen Faktorenanalysen untersucht. Die Probanden bearbeiteten insgesamt 11 bzw. 10 Tests zur Erfassung von Konzentration und verwandten Konstrukten (z.B. Informationsverarbeitungsgeschwindigkeit) sowie weitere Tests zur Validierung der Konzentrationsfaktoren. In Untersuchung 1 wurde ein Modell mit einem allgemeinen Konzentrationsfaktor praferiert. Der Faktor wurde durch den Zahlen-Symbol-Test (BIS-ZS) markiert und erwies sich als weitgehend unabhangig von der Intelligenz. Die ubrige Konzentrationstestvarianz wurde durch verbale, figurale und numerische Fahigkeiten sowie zum Teil durch Merkfahigkeit erklart. Der Konzentrationsfaktor wurde in Untersuchung 2, in der zum Teil andere Tests eingesetzt worden waren, repliziert. Der Zahlen-Symbol-Test (BIS-ZS) zeigte wieder eine hohe Ladung. Der Faktor konnte von numerischen und figuralen Fahigkeiten, von der In.
A Hierarchical Multi-Attribute System Approach to Personnel Selection

In this paper, an approach to decision making in managing human resources that integrates multi-attribute decision making techniques with expert systems is described. The approach is based on the explicit articulation of qualitative decision knowledge which is represented by a tree of attributes and decision rules. The decision making process is supported by DEXi, a specialized expert system shell for interactive construction of the knowledge base, evaluation of options, and explanation of the results. Practical use of the shell is illustrated by an application in the field of personnel selection for a top manager position.