Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Knockdown of Cyclophilin D Gene by RNAi Protects Rat from Ischemia/ Reperfusion-Induced Renal Injury

Background/Aims: Mitochondrial permeability transition has a critical role in ischemia/reperfusion (I/R)-induced kidney injury. It is thought that mitochondrial permeability transition occurs after the opening of the permeability transition pore, a channel which putatively consists of a voltage-dependent anion channel, adenine nucleotide translocator and cyclophilin D (CypD). Much evidence shows that CypD plays an important role in I/R-induced injury. Methods: To evaluate the role of CypD following I/R renal injury, we tested the hypothesis that knockdown of CypD gene by RNA interference (RNAi) protects rat from I/R-induced renal injury. Results: Our data show that knockdown of CypD by RNAi protects normal rat kidney cell line from hypoxia-induced necrotic death. Infection of lentivirus expressing CypD RNAi sequence produces a significant reduction of CypD at both mRNA and protein levels. Both pathologic and biochemical analyses show that knockdown of CypD by RNAi protects rat kidney from I/R-induced renal injury. Conclusion: Our study provides the evidence that CypD may be a potential target for protecting I/R-induced renal injury.
Demystifying Thai EFL Learners’ Perceptual Learning Style Preferences

Language learning styles are considered one of the affective factors contributing to learners’ learning outcome. The objectives of this study are twofold: to identify Thai learners’ English learning style preferences and to determine the impact of three variables: gender, field of study and learning experiences on preferred learning styles. 262 Thai university students studying English as a foreign language randomly selected, participated in this study. A 30-item Perceptual Learning-Style Preference Questionnaire was administered to elicit information for the study. The results indicated that Thai EFL learners preferred auditory learning most, followed by kinesthetic, group, tactile, visual and individual learning, respectively. Among these three variables, field of study is the most significant factor affecting the choice of learning styles. However, no statistically significant difference was found in learning experience, or between the mean scores of male and female students in all of the six learning styles. The results have significant implications in that the description of language learning style contributes to a better understanding of how Thai learners learn English. Pedagogically, to be successful in English language teaching, teaching styles should be matched to students’ learning styles. Materials and classroom activities should also be compatible with their learning styles to help learners improve learning outcome. In addition, the three variables identified were highlighting, shedding light on pedagogical implications and the awareness of individual differences in learning and teaching a language.
Impact of Environmental and Genetic Factors on the Scale Shape of Zebrafish, Danio rerio (Hamilton 1822): A Geometric Morphometric Study

Intraspecific morphological variability may reflect either genetic divergence among groups of individuals or response of individuals to environmental circumstances within the frame of phenotypic plasticity. Several studies were able to discriminate wild fish populations based on their scale shape. Here we examine whether the variations in the scale shape in fish populations could be related to genetic or environmental factors, or to both of them. In the first experiment, two inbred lines of zebrafish, Danio rerio (Hamilton 1822) reared under identical environmental conditions were compared. Secondly, to find out what effect environmental factors might have, offsprings were divided into two groups and reared on different diets for 12 weeks. Potential recovery of scales from an environmental effect was also assessed. Experimental groups could successfully be distinguished according to the shape of scales in both experiments, and the results showed that both genetic and environmental factors may notably influence scale shape. It was concluded that scale shape analysis might be used as an explanatory tool to detect potential variability of environmental influences impacting genetically homogeneous groups of fish. However, due to its sensitivity to environmental heterogeneity, the applicability of this technique in identifying intraspecific stock membership of fish could be limited.
The Security Proof of a Link-state Routing Protocol for Wireless Sensor Networks

In this paper, we present a flexible and mathematically rigorous modeling framework for analyzing the security of sensor network routing protocols. Then, we demonstrate the usage of this framework by formally proving that INSENS (Intrusion-Tolerant Routing in Wireless Sensor Networks), which is a secure sensor network routing protocol proposed in the literature independently of our work, can be proven to be secure in our model.
Netnography: observing and interacting with celebrity in the digital world

Netnography is an interpretive, qualitative research method that was introduced to consumer research by Robert Kozinets. Netnography adapts social science ethnographic research techniques such as non-participative and participative observation, photographs, unstructured and structured interviews, and so forth, to explore the activities of cultures and communities that materialise in the online world through computer-mediated systems of information exchange. In my research, I have used participative netnography to explore the online self-presentation strategies of female fashion bloggers on social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter. These women form a core part of the online Kate Middleton community and are ordinary individuals who employ ‘micro-celebrity’ strategies to establish and maintain a loyal group of online followers. Kate Middleton, Her Royal Highness Catherine Duchess of Cambridge, is the wife of Prince William and the mother of Prince George of the UK. Kate has an unprecedented effect on the British economy as the fashion brands she wears instantaneously sell out online. By outlining Kozinets’ guidelines and drawing on my own experiences of using netnography, I will demonstrate how social media content can be collected and analysed to provide a deep understanding of the cultural logic of celebrity.
Cosmic ray-induced stratospheric aerosols: A possible connection to polar ozone depletions

Abstract. The model calculations of altitude distribution of CN (condensation nuclei), plausible centers of sulfate aerosol formation after the occurrence of GLE, are presented. Events with relativistic solar protons (i.e. protons with energies >450MeV) are observed at ground level by neutron monitors and called ground-level events (GLEs) (Shea and Smart, 2001). Analysis of experimental data and model calculations permits us to explain some distinctions observed in ozone total content (OTC) variations during several GLEs. For example, model simulations show a significant CN concentration enhancement during the May 1990 GLEs of relatively "moderate" magnitude, when polar ozone "mini-holes" (OTC depletions up to 20%) have been observed, while no OTC variations and considerable aerosol enhancements were seen during more powerful GLEs (4 August 1972, 2 May 1998, 14 July 2000) (Reagan et al., 1981; Shumilov et al., 1995, 2003). Our results demonstrate that "moderate" GLEs may increase aerosol content significantly and cause ozone "mini-hole" creation.
Multigrid Finite Element Methods for Electromagnetic Field Modeling (Zhu, Y. and Cangellaris, A.; 2006) [Reviews and Abstracts]

This book is an outcome of the doctoral work at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) of the first author, Dr. Zhu, under the supervision of Dr. Cangellaris, the second author. This is a research monograph, not an introductory-level textbook. As such, there are no exercises or problems. Although the central thrust of this book is multigrid methods, both geometric and algebraic, it provides an excellent overview of the current state of the art in many aspects of the Finite-Element Methods (FEM) applied to full-wave electromagnetics. The book has twelve chapters and one appendix. Each chapter concludes with an extensive list of references. The book is an excellent reference for serious students of the FEM in electromagnetics, and represents a most worthwhile addition to one's library.
Exploiting Word Internal Structures for Generic Chinese Sentence Representation

We introduce a novel mixed characterword architecture to improve Chinese sentence representations, by utilizing rich semantic information of word internal structures. Our architecture uses two key strategies. The first is a mask gate on characters, learning the relation among characters in a word. The second is a maxpooling operation on words, adaptively finding the optimal mixture of the atomic and compositional word representations. Finally, the proposed architecture is applied to various sentence composition models, which achieves substantial performance gains over baseline models on sentence similarity task.
Integrated Bioprocessing for the pH-Dependent Production of 4-Valerolactone from Levulinate in Pseudomonas putida KT2440

ABSTRACT Enzymes are powerful biocatalysts capable of performing specific chemical transformations under mild conditions, yet as catalysts they remain subject to the laws of thermodynamics, namely, that they cannot catalyze chemical reactions beyond equilibrium. Here we report the phenomenon and application of using extracytosolic enzymes and medium conditions, such as pH, to catalyze metabolic pathways beyond their intracellular catalytic limitations. This methodology, termed “integrated bioprocessing” because it integrates intracellular and extracytosolic catalysis, was applied to a lactonization reaction in Pseudomonas putida for the economical and high-titer biosynthesis of 4-valerolactone from the inexpensive and renewable source levulinic acid. Mutant paraoxonase I (PON1) was expressed in P. putida, shown to export from the cytosol in Escherichia coli and P. putida using an N-terminal sequence, and demonstrated to catalyze the extracytosolic and pH-dependent lactonization of 4-hydroxyvalerate to 4-valerolactone. With this production system, the titer of 4-valerolactone was enhanced substantially in acidic medium using extracytosolically expressed lactonase versus an intracellular lactonase: from <0.2 g liter−1 to 2.1 ± 0.4 g liter−1 at the shake flask scale. Based on these results, the production of 4-hydroxyvalerate and 4-valerolactone was examined in a 2-liter bioreactor, and titers of 27.1 g liter−1 and 8.2 g liter−1 for the two respective compounds were achieved. These results illustrate the utility of integrated bioprocessing as a strategy for enabling production from novel metabolic pathways and enhancing product titers.
A Sub-Character Architecture for Korean Language Processing

We introduce a novel sub-character architecture that exploits a unique compositional structure of the Korean language. Our method decomposes each character into a small set of primitive phonetic units called jamo letters from which character- and word-level representations are induced. The jamo letters divulge syntactic and semantic information that is difficult to access with conventional character-level units. They greatly alleviate the data sparsity problem, reducing the observation space to 1.6% of the original while increasing accuracy in our experiments. We apply our architecture to dependency parsing and achieve dramatic improvement over strong lexical baselines.
El efecto Cajal: análisis bibliométrico del Programa Ramón y Cajal en la Universidad de Granada

We analyze the contribution of the Ramón y Cajal Program to the scientific output of the University of Granada. We present the situation of Ramón y Cajal researchers at the University of Granada within the national context and analyze their output and impact according to the Web of Science. The results show that 79% of the Ramón y Cajal researchers obtained permanent positions at the University of Granada. Although representing only 4% of the research staff, they submitted 10% of papers. They produce an average of 2.29 articles per year compared with an average of 0.66 articles per year produced by the rest of the University’s PhD staff. Ramón y Cajal researchers publish in higher impact journals and have higher citation averages. Finally, we conclude thet fewer teaching responsibilities and the rigorous evaluation process of the Ramón y Cajal Program, are factors that determine the best performance of this reserch collective.
Erythropoietin Receptor Signaling Is Membrane Raft Dependent

Upon erythropoietin (Epo) engagement, Epo-receptor (R) homodimerizes to activate JAK2 and Lyn, which phosphorylate STAT5. Although recent investigations have identified key negative regulators of Epo-R signaling, little is known about the role of membrane localization in controlling receptor signal fidelity. Here we show a critical role for membrane raft (MR) microdomains in creation of discrete signaling platforms essential for Epo-R signaling. Treatment of UT7 cells with Epo induced MR assembly and coalescence. Confocal microscopy showed that raft aggregates significantly increased after Epo stimulation (mean, 4.3±1.4(SE) vs. 25.6±3.2 aggregates/cell; p≤0.001), accompanied by a >3-fold increase in cluster size (p≤0.001). Raft fraction immunoblotting showed Epo-R translocation to MR after Epo stimulation and was confirmed by fluorescence microscopy in Epo stimulated UT7 cells and primary erythroid bursts. Receptor recruitment into MR was accompanied by incorporation of JAK2, Lyn, and STAT5 and their activated forms. Raft disruption by cholesterol depletion extinguished Epo induced Jak2, STAT5, Akt and MAPK phosphorylation in UT7 cells and erythroid progenitors. Furthermore, inhibition of the Rho GTPases Rac1 or RhoA blocked receptor recruitment into raft fractions, indicating a role for these GTPases in receptor trafficking. These data establish a critical role for MR in recruitment and assembly of Epo-R and signal intermediates into discrete membrane signaling units.
Clearing the Global Health Fog: A Systematic Review of the Evidence on Integration of Health Systems and Targeted Interventions

A longstanding debate on health systems organization relates to benefits of integrating health programs that emphasize specific interventions into mainstream health systems to increase access and improve health outcomes This paper is organized in five chapters. This introduction is followed by the methodology chapter, which includes a brief section on the conceptual framework used to analyze the studies retrieved and the programs presented within these to map the nature and extent of integration into critical health system functions. The results chapter includes: a summary of the outcomes for each study grouped by the disease area or the clinical problem the intervention seeks to address, including the reported success; for each program, analysis and mapping of the nature and extent of integration into critical health system functions; and an analysis of how contextual factors either created opportunities for introducing or integrating a program or influenced the desirability or feasibility of program integration. The discussion chapter provides an overview of the implication of findings for policy makers, practitioners and researchers. The final chapter draws conclusions.
Effects of Negative Middle Ear Pressure on Wideband Acoustic Immittance in Normal-Hearing Adults

Objectives: Wideband acoustic immittance (WAI) measurements are capable of quantifying middle ear performance over a wide range of frequencies relevant to human hearing. Static pressure in the middle ear cavity affects sound transmission to the cochlea, but few datasets exist to quantify the relationship between middle ear transmission and the static pressure. In this study, WAI measurements of normal ears are analyzed in both negative middle ear pressure (NMEP) and ambient middle ear pressure (AMEP) conditions, with a focus on the effects of NMEP in individual ears. Design: Eight subjects with normal middle ear function were trained to induce consistent NMEPs, quantified by the tympanic peak pressure (TPP) and WAI. The effects of NMEP on the wideband power absorbance level are analyzed for individual ears. Complex (magnitude and phase) WAI quantities at the tympanic membrane (TM) are studied by removing the delay due to the residual ear canal (REC) volume between the probe tip and the TM. WAI results are then analyzed using a simplified classical model of the middle ear. Results: For the 8 ears presented here, NMEP has the largest and most significant effect across ears from 0.8 to 1.9 kHz, resulting in reduced power absorbance by the middle ear and cochlea. On average, NMEP causes a decrease in the power absorbance level for low- to mid-frequencies, and a small increase above about 4 kHz. The effects of NMEP on WAI quantities, including the absorbance level and TM impedance, vary considerably across ears. The complex WAI at the TM and fitted model parameters show that NMEP causes a decrease in the aggregate compliance at the TM. Estimated REC delays show little to no dependence on NMEP. Conclusions: In agreement with previous results, these data show that the power absorbance level is most sensitive to NMEP around 1 kHz. The REC effect is removed from WAI measurements, allowing for direct estimation of complex WAI at the TM. These estimates show NMEP effects consistent with an increased stiffness in the middle ear, which could originate from the TM, tensor tympani, annular ligament, or other middle ear structures. Model results quantify this nonlinear, stiffness-related change in a systematic way, that is not dependent on averaging WAI results in frequency bands. Given the variability of pressure effects, likely related to intersubject variability at AMEP, TPP is not a strong predictor of change in WAI at the TM. More data and modeling will be needed to better quantify the relationship between NMEP, WAI, and middle ear transmission.
Intelligent Data Analysis for Real-Life Applications: Theory and Practice

Prompted by crater counts as the only available tool for measuring remotely the relative ages of geologic formations on planets, advances in remote sensing have produced a very large database of high resolution planetary images, opening up an opportunity to survey much more numerous small craters improving the spatial and temporal resolution of stratigraphy. Automating the process of crater detection is key to generate comprehensive surveys of smaller craters. Here, the authors discuss two supervised machine learning techniques for crater detection algorithms (CDA): identification of craters from digital elevation models (also known as range images), and identification of craters from panchromatic images. They present applications of both techniques and demonstrate how such automated analysis has produced new knowledge about planet Mars. DOI: 10.4018/978-1-4666-1806-0.ch008
Assessment of the power saving potential in dense enterprise WLANs

Due to the requirements to provision a proper Quality of Service level in enterprise WLANs supporting both voice and data services the typical densities in the deployment of access points (APs) may exceed 4000 APs per square kilometer. While such density is necessary under heavy traffic conditions, it is obviously superfluous during the time of lower load- and dramatically excessive at night periods, with only marginal traffic intensity. We present a novel, aggressive approach for adjusting the AP density to the actual traffic conditions. In the limiting case of a very low traffic, we postulate keeping operational only a skeleton deployment, sufficient just to recognize that there is a station attempting an association. In this case additional APs can be powered up, in order to assure the requested connectivity, locally in this area. Using data from commercially available APs we estimate the potential of power saving in such an operation mode and relate it to the best approaches proposed so far.
Hedging Our Bets: The Expected Contribution of Species to Future Phylogenetic Diversity

If predictions for species extinctions hold, then the ‘tree of life’ today may be quite different to that in (say) 100 years. We describe a technique to quantify how much each species is likely to contribute to future biodiversity, as measured by its expected contribution to phylogenetic diversity. Our approach considers all possible scenarios for the set of species that will be extant at some future time, and weights them according to their likelihood under an independent (but not identical) distribution on species extinctions. Although the number of extinction scenarios can typically be very large, we show that there is a simple algorithm that will quickly compute this index. The method is implemented and applied to the prosimian primates as a test case, and the associated species ranking is compared to a related measure (the ‘Shapley index’). We describe indices for rooted and unrooted trees, and a modification that also includes the focal taxon’s probability of extinction and which links two complementary approaches to conserving phylogenetic diversity.
Information Seeking with Social Signals: Anatomy of a Social Tag-based Exploratory Search Browser

Whereas for the fact-retrieval searches, optimal paths to the documents containing the required information are crucial, learning and investigation activities lead to a more continuous and exploratory process with the knowledge acquired during this “journey” being essential as well. Therefore, information seeking systems should focus on providing cues that might make these explorations more efficient. One possible solution is in building information seeking systems in which navigation signposts are provided by social cues provided by a large number of other people. One possible source for social cues is all of the social bookmarks on social tagging sites. Social tagging arose out of the need to organize found information that is worth revisiting. The collective behavior of users who tagged contents seems to offer a good basis for exploratory search interfaces, even for users who are not using social bookmarking sites. In this paper, we present the algorithm of a tag-based exploratory system based on this idea.
A hybrid packet clustering approach for NAT host analysis

For a number of reasons, including the shortage of IPv4 addresses, many hosts are connected to the Internet through NAT devices. NAT devices effectively anonymize the origin of communication traffic, and remove many identifying features, which makes it difficult to isolate web traffic into mutually disjoint same-host sets called packet groups. However, ISPs or network supervisors can do product suggestions, targeted advertising, and online criminal detection by analyzing the packet group of one host. In this paper, we provide a hybrid packet clustering approach that can cluster NAT host's packets into packet groups. Our hybrid approach could group an NAT host's traffic from visiting different websites and would not suffer from bad network communications or anonymizing behavior of NAT devices. We use our isolating method on datasets obtained from two local area networks and both of them can get good results that accuracy is more than 90% and coverage is more than 50%.