Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Teaching Hearing Parents to Read Effectively to Their Children Who are Deaf

In the report Becoming a N a ­ t i o n of Readers (U.S. Depart­ ment of Education, 1983), the authors conclude that read­ ing aloud to children builds the knowledge required to become a successful reader. Parents and teachers of hear­ ing children can easily incor­ porate reading aloud in the daily routine, but how can they effectively read aloud with children who are deaf? Deaf adults may provide the answer By examining strategies that deaf adults use during shared reading and adapting th.em, hearing parents (and teachers) of deaf children may discover a method for successful shared reading with their children who are deaf.
HIE-block latency insertion method for fast transient simulation of nonuniform multiconductor transmission lines

This paper describes a hybrid implicit-explicit block latency insertion method (HIE-block-LIM) for fast simulation of nonuniform multiconductor transmission lines. In the HIE-block-LIM, an implicit difference method is used with respect to the current variables in one direction, and an explicit method is adopted to update the other variables. The HIE-block-LIM can alleviate a time step size limitation of the existing block-LIM by taking both advantages of the explicit and implicit difference methods.
Syntaxin 1 A is transiently expressed in fetal lung mesenchymal cells : potential developmental roles

BRADLEY B. BRIMHALL,1 KRISTAN A. SIKORSKI,1 JOHN TORDAY,2 ALIAKBAR SHAHSAFAEI,1 KATHLEEN J. HALEY,3 AND MARY E. SUNDAY1 1Department of Pathology, Children’s Hospital, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, and Harvard Medical School, and 3Division of Pulmonary-Critical Care Medicine, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02115; and 2Division of Neonatology, Department of Pediatrics, Harbor-University of California, Los Angeles Medical Center, Torrance, California 90502
X-Ray Gas Density Profile of Clusters of Galaxies from the Universal Dark Matter Halo

The X-ray cluster gas density distribution in hydrostatic equilibrium is computed from the universal density profile of the dark matter halo proposed by Navarro, Frenk, & White in two recent studies. If one assumes the isothermality, the resulting distribution is well approximated by the conventional β-model. We predict the core radius rc, the β-parameter, and the X-ray luminosity of clusters as a function of the temperature TX of clusters in some representative cosmological models and compare them with observations and results of numerical simulations. The predicted size of rc is a factor of 3-10 smaller than the average of observed values. If both the universal density profile and the hydrostatic equilibrium are reasonable approximation to the truth, then this suggests either that the previous X-ray observations systematically overestimated the core radius of gas densities in clusters of galaxies or that some important physical mechanisms, which significantly increase the core radius, are still missing.
Optimal Relay Selection in IEEE 802.16j Multihop Relay Vehicular Networks

This paper examines the IEEE 802.16j multihop relay (MR) technology that improves vehicle-to-infrastructure communications. We study the selection of optimal relay station (RS) for a vehicular subscriber station (SS) that maximizes the end-to-end capacity, assuming that the locations of vehicular SSs are known. By incorporating a highway mobility model, the problem can be formulated into a nonlinear optimization problem and solved for the optimal locations of RSs that guarantee maximal end-to-end capacities to SSs. Numerical results from a case study show that the selection of the corresponding optimal RS increases the expected end-to-end capacity for individual SSs by 50%, as compared with the method without using relays.
Additional dynamics in transformed time-delay systems

In studying the stability of time-delay systems, many published results use a transformation to transform a system with single time-delay to a system with distributed delay. In this article, the inherent limitations of such approaches are studied. Specifically, it is shown that such a transformation incurs additional dynamics which can be characterized by appropriate additional eigenvalues. The critical delay values when such additional eigenvalues cross the imaginary axis can be explicitly calculated. If the smallest of such delays is the smallest of the stability delay limit of the original system, then any stability criteria obtained using such transformation will be conservative. Some examples are also included.
A geometry-based multiple bounce model for visible light communication channels

High performance of visible light communication (VLC) systems requires overcoming the limitations imposed by the optical wireless channel distortions resulting from path loss and temporal dispersion. In order to design techniques to combat the effects of channel distortions, an accurate VLC channel model is needed. In this paper, we propose a new regular-shaped geometry-based multiple bounce model (RS-GBMB) for VLC channels. The proposed model employs a combined two-ring model and ellipse model, where the received signal is constructed as a sum of the line-of-sight (LoS), single-, double-, and triple bounced rays of different powers. This makes the model sufficiently generic and adaptable to a variety of indoor scenarios. Based on the proposed RS-GBMB model, statistical properties are then investigated, such as the channel DC gain, mean excess delay, root mean square (RMS) delay spread, and Rician factor.
A recombinant amino terminal fragment of bactericidal/permeability‐increasing protein inhibits the induction of leukocyte responses by LPS

Bactericidal/permeability‐increasing protein (BPI) is a major component of the granules of polymorphonuclear neutrophils (PMNs) and is involved in the killing of gram‐negative bacteria. A 23‐kd recombinant protein, corresponding to the NH2‐terminal fragment of human BPI (rBPI23), has been shown to bind lipid A and antagonize some lipopolysaccharide (LPS)‐mediated effects. In this study the ability of rBPI23 to prevent a wide range of cellular responses to LPS was investigated. In vitro assays were carried out using human blood to more closely approximate in vivo conditions. The release of proinflammatory cytokines [tumor necrosis factor (TNF), interleukin‐1β (IL‐1β), IL‐6, IL‐8], induced by E. coli 0113 LPS, was markedly reduced by rBPl23 in a concentration‐dependent fashion. The production of the anti‐inflammatory protein IL‐lra (IL‐1 receptor antagonist) was triggered by lower LPS concentrations than those necessary for the other cytokines. Furthermore, prevention of IL‐lra release required higher rBPl23 concentrations than for other cytokines. The LPS‐induced production of oxygen‐derived free radicals by phagocytic cells (resulting in chemiluminescence) was also prevented by rBPl23· The inhibition was specific for LPS because the activation of leukocytes by phorbol myristate acetate, zymosan, or TNF was unaffected by BPI. The ability of rBPl23 to antagonize specifically the effects of endotoxin in the complex environment of human blood along with its bactericidal activity suggests that rBPI23 may be a novel therapeutic agent in the treatment of gram‐negative infections.
IGFBP-4 regulates adult skeletal growth in a sex-specific manner

Insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) and its binding proteins are critical mediators of skeletal growth. Insulin-like growth factor-binding protein 4 (IGFBP-4) is highly expressed in osteoblasts and inhibits IGF-1 actions in vitro. Yet, in vivo studies suggest that it could potentiate IGF-1 and IGF-2 actions. In this study, we hypothesized that IGFBP-4 might potentiate the actions of IGF-1 on the skeleton. To test this, we comprehensively studied 8- and 16-week-old Igfbp4−/− mice. Both male and female adult Igfbp4−/− mice had marked growth retardation with reductions in body weight, body and femur lengths, fat proportion and lean mass at 8 and 16 weeks. Marked reductions in aBMD and aBMC were observed in 16-week-old Igfbp4−/− females, but not in males. Femoral trabecular BV/TV and thickness, cortical fraction and thickness in 16-week-old Igfbp4−/− females were significantly reduced. However, surprisingly, males had significantly more trabeculae with higher connectivity density than controls. Concordantly, histomorphometry revealed higher bone resorption and lower bone formation in Igfbp4−/− females. In contrast, Igfbp4−/− males had lower mineralized surface/bone surface. Femoral expression of Sost and circulating levels of sclerostin were reduced but only in Igfbp4−/− males. Bone marrow stromal cultures from mutants showed increased osteogenesis, whereas osteoclastogenesis was markedly increased in cells from Igfbp4−/− females but decreased in males. In sum, our results indicate that loss of Igfbp4 affects mesenchymal stromal cell differentiation, regulates osteoclastogenesis and influences both skeletal development and adult bone maintenance. Thus, IGFBP-4 modulates the skeleton in a gender-specific manner, acting as both a cell autonomous and cell non-autonomous factor.
Understanding Developers’ Motives in Open Source Projects: A Multi-Theoretical Framework

The question of why so many developers dedicate time and effort into contributing to Open Source Projects (OSP) is one of the most intriguing questions in OS research. Several preliminary studies have theorized about and empirically examined this challenging question. They suggest a variety of reasons to explain this phenomenon but mostly rely on self-determination theory, with its extrinsic-intrinsic dichotomy, to explain the heterogeneous and complex nature of motivation in OS. This paper provides an alternative, theory-driven approach, where three different, yet complementary, theories of motivation are combined, to explain the participation and outcomes of developers in OSP. More specifically, our multi-theoretical framework is based upon, social exchange theory, goal-orientation and expectancy theory. An empirical test of the model is provided within the context of SourceForge.net. The results offer new theoretical and practical insights into developers’ motivation and how it affects their participation and outcomes.
Innate Immunity Together with Duration of Antigen Persistence Regulate Effector T Cell Induction

Proliferation of T cells is important for the expansion of specific T cell clones during immune responses. In addition, for the establishment of protective immunity against viruses, bacteria, and tumors, the expanded T cells must differentiate into effector T cells. Here we show that effector T cell generation is driven by activation of APCs and duration of antigenic stimulation. Adoptively transferred TCR-transgenic T cells extensively proliferated upon immunization. However, these T cells failed to differentiate into effector cells and died within 1 wk after immunization unless antigenic peptides persisted for >1 day or were presented by activated APCs. The induction of protective immunity in a nontransgenic system was more stringent, since activation of APCs or prolonged Ag persistence alone was not sufficient to drive immunity. In contrast, Ag had to be presented for several days by activated APCs to trigger protective T cell responses. Thus, activation of APCs and duration of Ag presentation together regulate the induction of protective T cell responses.
Ontology-based personalized search and browsing 1

As the number of Internet users and the number of accessible Web pages grows, it is becoming increasingly difficult for users to find documents that are relevant to their particular needs. Users must either browse through a large hierarchy of concepts to find the information for which they are looking or submit a query to a publicly available search engine and wade through hundreds of results, most of them irrelevant. The core of the problem is that whether the user is browsing or searching, whether they are an eighth grade student or a Nobel prize winner, the identical information is selected and it is presented the same way. In this paper, we report on research that adapts information navigation based on a user profile structured as a weighted concept hierarchy. A user may create his or her own concept hierarchy and use them for browsing Web sites. Or, the user profile may be created from a reference ontology by ‘watching over the user’s shoulder’ while they browse. We show that these automatically created profiles reflect the user’s interests quite well and they are able to produce moderate improvements when applied to search
In Vitro Hb Production in B-thalassemia Patients Is Not a Predictor of Clinical Responsiveness to Hydroxyurea

Background: The hematologic response to hydroxyurea (HU) is varied among β-thalassemia (BT) patients. The BCL11A and SOX6 genes are involved in response to HU. This study aimed to investigate the in-vitro responsiveness of HU among BT major patients homozygote for IVSII-1G>A mutation and XmnI single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) in order to find whether the in-vitro Hb concentration is a predictor of clinical (HU) responsiveness. Methods: In this case-control study, twenty BT patients homozygote for IVSII-1G>A mutation and XmnI SNP from Thalassemia Research Center, Sari, Iran in 2015 were selected and categorized into two groups of 10 Responder (R) and 10 Non-Responder (NR) according to their clinical HU response. Ten healthy individuals as a control group were also selected. Hematopoietic erythroid progenitors were expanded from peripheral blood. Hb concentration was measured using photometry method. The flow cytometry and real-time PCR methods were applied for the analysis of cell surface markers (CD71 and CD235a) and gene expression (BCL11A and SOX6), respectively. Results: R and NR groups produced higher amount of Basic Hb than C group in cell culture medium at day 14 (P<0.05). After HU treatment, in R group, Hb levels was significantly elevated in comparison to NR and C group (P<0.05). BCL11A expression was decreased after exposure to HU in all groups while SOX6 expression was only down-regulated in C group, and its expression was increased in R and NR groups after HU treatment. Conclusion: Since different factors including wide networks of intracellular factors and individual differences between patients can affect response to HU in patients, the increasing Hemoglobin on culture medium alone cannot predict clinical responsiveness to that drug.
The “Missing” Patient

and a build-up of primitive cells in the submucosa. The final result is ulceration of the entire intestinal tract including the colon. I do not think other antimetabolites have been much studied along these lines. Professor HARRISON: This case would in fact be unique in world history if it were so; it would have produced a carcinoma in a human being in under two months ! Professor MCMICHAEL: Well, I am glad to have that possibility excluded. We do not like to see damage from our therapeutic efforts.
The apeE Gene of Salmonella enterica Serovar Typhimurium Is Induced by Phosphate Limitation and Regulated by phoBR

ABSTRACT Mutations in apeR, a regulatory locus of the outer membrane esterase apeE from Salmonella entericaserovar Typhimurium, were shown to be alleles of thepstSCAB-phoU high-affinity phosphate transport operon. Expression of apeE was induced by phosphate limitation, and this induction required the phoBR phosphate regulatory system.
Should the Poor Really Own Stocks ? Optimal Portfolio Analysis with Wage-Indexed Social Security

We extend the literature of life-cycle portfolio allocation modeling by introducing a wage-indexed Social Security system to attempt to explain the stock non-participation puzzle. We solve a partial equilibrium with said retirement program, uninsurable labor income, liquidity constraints, and fixed cost of entry to the stock market. Participation in the retirement program presents the investor with implicit holdings of two noninsurable assets: human capital and retirement wealth. The computation of benefits as a function of lifetime wages creates a correlation between these assets. Theoretically, such correlation would further decrease the demand for stocks. We hypothesize that this may help shed some light in market non-participation, particularly for households whose welfare thrives in a booming economy and who rely on Social Security as a big portion of their retirement wealth.
Correction for Substrate Selectivity of Epidermal Growth Factor-Receptor Ligand Sheddases and their Regulation by Phorbol Esters and Calcium Influx

Signaling via the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), which has critical roles in development and diseases such as cancer, is regulated by proteolytic shedding of its membrane-tethered ligands. Sheddases for EGFR-ligands are therefore key signaling switches in the EGFR pathway. Here, we determined which ADAMs (a disintegrin and metalloprotease) can shed various EGFR-ligands, and we analyzed the regulation of EGFR-ligand shedding by two commonly used stimuli, phorbol esters and calcium influx. Phorbol esters predominantly activate ADAM17, thereby triggering a burst of shedding of EGFR-ligands from a late secretory pathway compartment. Calcium influx stimulates ADAM10, requiring its cytoplasmic domain. However, calcium influx-stimulated shedding of transforming growth factor alpha and amphiregulin does not require ADAM17, even though ADAM17 is essential for phorbol ester-stimulated shedding of these EGFR-ligands. This study provides new insight into the machinery responsible for EGFR-ligand release and thus EGFR signaling and demonstrates that dysregulated EGFR-ligand shedding may be caused by increased expression of constitutively active sheddases or activation of different sheddases by distinct stimuli.
Topick: Accurate Topic Distillation for User Streams

Users of today's information networks need to digest large amounts of data. Therefore, tools that ease the task of filtering the relevant content are becoming necessary. One way to achieve this is to identify the users who generate content in a certain topic of interest. However, due to the diversity and ambiguity of the shared information, assigning users to topics in an automatic fashion is challenging. In this demo, we present Topick, a system that leverages state of the art techniques and tools to automatically distill high-level topics for a given user. Topick exploits both the user stream and her profile information to accurately identify the most relevant topics. The results are synthesised as a set of stars associated to each topic, designed to give an intuition about the topics encompassed in the user streams and the confidence in the results. Our prototype achieves a precision of 70% or more, with a recall of 60%, relative to manual labeling. Topick is available at http://topick.alexandra. olteanu.eu.
Evidence for dual mode of action of a thiosemicarbazone, NSC73306: a potent substrate of the multidrug resistance–linked ABCG2 transporter

Multidrug resistance due to reduced drug accumulation is a phenomenon predominantly caused by the overexpression of members of the ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporters, including ABCB1 (P-glycoprotein), ABCG2, and several ABCC family members [multidrug resistance–associated protein (MRP)]. We previously reported that a thiosemicarbazone derivative, NSC73306, is cytotoxic to carcinoma cells that overexpress functional P-glycoprotein, and it resensitizes these cells to chemotherapeutics. In this study, we investigated the effect of NSC73306 on cells overexpressing other ABC drug transporters, including ABCG2, MRP1, MRP4, and MRP5. Our findings showed that NSC73306 is not more toxic to cells that overexpress these transporters compared with their respective parental cells, and these transporters do not confer resistance to NSC73306 either. In spite of this, we observed that NSC73306 is a transport substrate for ABCG2 that can effectively inhibit ABCG2-mediated drug transport and reverse resistance to both mitoxantrone and topotecan in ABCG2-expressing cells. Interactions between NSC73306 and the ABCG2 drug-binding site(s) were confirmed by its stimulatory effect on ATPase activity (140–150 nmol/L concentration required for 50% stimulation) and by inhibition of [125I]iodoarylazidoprazosin photolabeling (50% inhibition at 250–400 nmol/L) of the substrate-binding site(s). Overall, NSC73306 seems to be a potent modulator of ABCG2 that does not interact with MRP1, MRP4, or MRP5. Collectively, these data suggest that NSC73306 can potentially be used, due to its dual mode of action, as an effective agent to overcome drug resistance by eliminating P-glycoprotein–overexpressing cells and by acting as a potent modulator that resensitizes ABCG2-expressing cancer cells to chemotherapeutics. [Mol Cancer Ther 2007;6(12):3287–96]
Distinct Domains in the ARC Region of the Potato Resistance Protein Rx Mediate LRR Binding and Inhibition of Activation[W]

Plant nucleotide binding and leucine-rich repeat (NB-LRR) proteins contain a region of homology known as the ARC domain located between the NB and LRR domains. Structural modeling suggests that the ARC region can be subdivided into ARC1 and ARC2 domains. We have used the potato (Solanum tuberosum) Rx protein, which confers resistance to Potato virus X (PVX), to investigate the function of the ARC region. We demonstrate that the ARC1 domain is required for binding of the Rx N terminus to the LRR domain. Domain-swap experiments with Rx and a homologous disease resistance gene, Gpa2, showed that PVX recognition localized to the C-terminal half of the LRR domain. However, inappropriate pairings of LRR and ARC2 domains resulted in autoactive molecules. Thus, the ARC2 domain is required to condition an autoinhibited state in the absence of elicitor as well as for the subsequent elicitor-induced activation. Our data suggest that the ARC region, through its interaction with the LRR, translates elicitor-induced modulations of the C terminus into a signal initiation event. Furthermore, we demonstrate that physical disruption of the LRR–ARC interaction is not required for signal initiation. We propose instead that this activity can lead to multiple rounds of elicitor recognition, providing a means of signal amplification.
Effect of Signal Compounds and Incubation Conditions on the Culturability of Freshwater Bacterioplankton

ABSTRACT The effect of signal compounds and of different incubation conditions on the culturability (i.e., the fraction of all cells capable of growth) of natural bacterioplankton from the eutrophic lake Zwischenahner Meer was investigated over a period of 20 months. Numbers of growing cells were determined by the most-probable-number technique in liquid media containing low concentrations (10 μM) of the signal compounds N-(oxohexanoyl)-dl-homoserine lactone, N-(butyryl)-dl-homoserine lactone, cyclic AMP (cAMP), or ATP. cAMP was the most effective signal compound, leading to significantly increased cultivation efficiencies of up to 10% of the total bacterial counts. Microautoradiography with [2,8-3H]cAMP, combined with fluorescence in situ hybridization, demonstrated that cAMP was taken up by 18% of all cells. The bacterial cAMP uptake systems had a very low Km value of ≤1 nM. Analysis of the cultured bacteria by 16S rRNA gene fingerprinting showed that different bacterial phylotypes were recovered in the presence and in the absence of cAMP. Consequently, the addition of cAMP caused a stimulation of otherwise nonculturable bacteria. Phylogenetically different bacteria were also recovered at different temperatures and oxygen partial pressures. Throughout the study period, mainly members of the β-subclass of the Proteobacteria were cultivated. In addition, some members of the Actinomycetales were enriched. Quantification by culture-independent fluorescence in situ hybridization demonstrated that β-Proteobacteria and Actinomycetales also dominated the natural bacterioplankton assemblage. Sequence comparison revealed that two members of the Actinomycetales which reached high numbers in the natural bacterioplankton assemblage could actually be enriched by our cultivation approach.