Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
3D Cell Culture Systems: Advantages and Applications

Cell cultures are important material of study for the variety of advantages that they offer. Both established continuous cell lines and primary cell cultures continue to be invaluable for basic research and for direct applications. Technological advancements are necessary to address emerging complex challenges and the way cells are cultured in vitro is an area of intense activity. One important advancement in cell culture techniques has been the introduction of three dimensional culture systems. This area is one of the fastest growing experimental approaches in life sciences. Augmented with advancements in cell imaging and analytical systems, as well as the applications of new scaffolds and matrices, cells have been increasingly grown as three dimensional models. Such cultures have proven to be closer to in vivo natural systems, thus proving to be useful material for many applications. Here, we review the three dimensional way of culturing cells, their advantages, the scaffolds and matrices currently available, and the applications of such cultures in major areas of life sciences. J. Cell. Physiol. 230: 16–26, 2015. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
An Integrated Chemical Biology Approach Identifies Specific Vulnerability of Ewing's Sarcoma to Combined Inhibition of Aurora Kinases A and B

Ewing's sarcoma is a pediatric cancer of the bone that is characterized by the expression of the chimeric transcription factor EWS-FLI1 that confers a highly malignant phenotype and results from the chromosomal translocation t(11;22)(q24;q12). Poor overall survival and pronounced long-term side effects associated with traditional chemotherapy necessitate the development of novel, targeted, therapeutic strategies. We therefore conducted a focused viability screen with 200 small molecule kinase inhibitors in 2 different Ewing's sarcoma cell lines. This resulted in the identification of several potential molecular intervention points. Most notably, tozasertib (VX-680, MK-0457) displayed unique nanomolar efficacy, which extended to other cell lines, but was specific for Ewing's sarcoma. Furthermore, tozasertib showed strong synergies with the chemotherapeutic drugs etoposide and doxorubicin, the current standard agents for Ewing's sarcoma. To identify the relevant targets underlying the specific vulnerability toward tozasertib, we determined its cellular target profile by chemical proteomics. We identified 20 known and unknown serine/threonine and tyrosine protein kinase targets. Additional target deconvolution and functional validation by RNAi showed simultaneous inhibition of Aurora kinases A and B to be responsible for the observed tozasertib sensitivity, thereby revealing a new mechanism for targeting Ewing's sarcoma. We further corroborated our cellular observations with xenograft mouse models. In summary, the multilayered chemical biology approach presented here identified a specific vulnerability of Ewing's sarcoma to concomitant inhibition of Aurora kinases A and B by tozasertib and danusertib, which has the potential to become a new therapeutic option. Mol Cancer Ther; 10(10); 1846–56. ©2011 AACR.
Uncertainty in drug development: insights from a Portuguese firm

Our study identified and analysed risks and uncertainties associated with the Drug Development Process (DDP) and managerial practices/methods to reduce them. Our approach was two-fold. First, we developed a theoretical model of risks/uncertainties and methods. Second, we performed an in-depth case study in a Portuguese firm to validate and enrich that model. We explain differences between theoretical and empirical insights and address key issues from the empirical study. Our final model has nine risk areas (divided in internal and external) and 15 methods (divided in outward and inward), and represents a significant instrument for further validation within pharmaceutical firms.
Performance of electron reconstruction and selection with the CMS detector in proton-proton collisions at √s = 8 TeV

The performance and strategies used in electron reconstruction and selection at CMS are presented based on data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 19.7 fb−1, collected in proton-proton collisions at √s = 8 TeV at the CERN LHC. The paper focuses on prompt isolated electrons with transverse momenta ranging from about 5 to a few 100 GeV. A detailed description is given of the algorithms used to cluster energy in the electromagnetic calorimeter and to reconstruct electron trajectories in the tracker. The electron momentum is estimated by combining the energy measurement in the calorimeter with the momentum measurement in the tracker. Benchmark selection criteria are presented, and their performances assessed using Z, Υ, and J/ψ decays into e+ + e− pairs. The spectra of the observables relevant to electron reconstruction and selection as well as their global efficiencies are well reproduced by Monte Carlo simulations. The momentum scale is calibrated with an uncertainty smaller than 0.3%. The momentum resolution for electrons produced in Z boson decays ranges from 1.7 to 4.5%, depending on electron pseudorapidity and energy loss through bremsstrahlung in the detector material.
Automatized connection of the layers of planar transformers with parallel windings to improve the component behavior

Transformers with parallel windings are commonly used to reduce the losses in the windings. Windings losses depend on the winding positioning and the frequency effects because each winding affects the current sharing of itself and the neighboring windings. In this paper a methodology for determining the connections of the parallel windings that reduces the power losses (and temperature) in the windings of multi-winding transformers is presented. Other applications of the method, such as balanced current sharing and voltage drop reduction are also explored. In this paper a methodology for determining the connections of the parallel windings that reduces the power losses (and temperature) in the windings of multi-winding transformers is presented. Other applications of the method, such as balanced current sharing and voltage drop reduction are also explored.
Regulating labour management in small firms

There is a relative paucity of evidence on the management of labour in smaller firms. Research that has been undertaken, while recognising the heterogeneity of the sector, does note the prevalence of informality regarding employee relations. Such informality could be challenged by the increasing regulation of the employment relationship following the election of successive Labour governments since 1997. To illuminate this discussion further, evidence drawn from a study of employment regulation is offered. A number of smaller firm owners and their employees were interviewed to ascertain their views on the impact of regulation on the employment relationship. Owners were largely resistant to it but felt they could accommodate changes with relatively little disruption to their existing approach to labour management. Meanwhile, most employees felt the effect of regulation would be muted due to their position as smaller firm labour.
Gender and Ethnicity - Married Immigrants in Britain

In this paper we investigate economic activity of female immigrants and their husbands in Britain. We distinguish between two immigrant groups: foreign born females who belong to an ethnic minority group and their husbands, and foreign born females who are white and their husbands. We compare these to native born white women and their husbands. Our analysis deviates from the usual mean analysis and investigates employment, hours worked and earnings for males and females, as well as their combined family earnings, along the distribution of husbands' economic potential. We analyse the extent to which economic disadvantage may be reinforced on the household level. We investigate to what extent disadvantage can be explained by differences in observable characteristics. We analyse employment assimilation for all groups over the migration cycle. Our main results are that white female immigrants and their husbands are quite successful, with an overall advantage in earnings over white native born both individually and at the household level. On the other hand, minority immigrants and their husbands are less successful, in particular at the lower end of the husband's distribution of economic potential. This is mainly due to low employment of both genders, which leads to disadvantage in earnings, intensified at the household level. Only part of this differential can be explained by observable characteristics. Over the migration cycle, the data suggests that employment differentials are large at entry for white immigrant females, and even larger for minority females, but the gap to the native born closes. Assimilation is more rapid for white females.
Contemporary Phase of Globalization: Does It Have a Serious Downside?

Abstract There are many who logically or illogically regard the contemporary phase of economic globalization as a negative, harmful, destructive, marginalizing and malevolent influence. Notwithstanding its positive welfare implications, it has been a serious source of national, regional and global economic problems for many economies, both developing and advance industrial ones. Partial blame for the fall 2008 meltdown of the global financial market does justly go to globalization. It is also blamed for uneven distribution of income within and between countries. Consequently global policy environment has turned globalization-unfriendly. Without negating the affirmative aspects of globalization and its welfare-enhancing contributions, this article focuses on the negative aspects of the contemporary phase of economic globalization.
Medium chain acyl‐CoA dehydrogenase deficiency detected among Hispanics by New Jersey newborn screening

In the follow‐up of New Jersey newborn screens suggestive of medium chain acyl‐CoA dehydrogenase deficiency (MCADD) during a 30‐month period, we identified five patients of Hispanic American ethnicity. With information provided by the New Jersey Department of Health and Human Services Newborn Screening program we calculated an overall cumulative incidence of approximately 7.20/100,000 for MCADD; 7.58/100,000 among Hispanic Americans and 7.08/100,000 among non‐Hispanic Americans. Among the five Hispanic American infants who screened positive, a common variant (c.443G>A [p.R148K]) was identified which accounted for 30% of the alleles; c.799G>A (p.G267R) and c.985A>G (p.K329E) each accounted for an additional 20%; and a novel variant c.302G>A (p.G101E) was identified in one patient. Although treated prospectively during interim illnesses to prevent unwanted sequelae; till date, none of the patients carrying the c.443G>A variant have been symptomatic. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
QMM A Quarterly Macroeconomic Model of the Icelandic Economy

This Handbook contains an updated version of the Quarterly Macroeconomic Model of the Central Bank of Iceland (qmm). qmm and the underlying quarterly database have been under construction since 2001 at the Research and Forecasting Division of the Economics and Monetary Policy Department at the Bank and was ? rst implemented in the forecasting round for the Monetary Bulletin 2006/1 in March 2006. qmm is used by the Bank for forecasting and various policy simulations and therefore plays a key role as an organisational framework for viewing the medium-term future when formulating monetary policy at the Bank. This paper is mainly focused on the short and medium-term properties of qmm. Steady state properties of the model are documented in a paper by Danielsson (2009).
A Parsimonious Description of Individual Differences in Financial Analyst Judgment

This paper investigates the characteristics and properties of financial analyst judgment in a portfolio decision context. By adopting a research strategy which allowed for the emergence of different types of judges, the disagreement evident in subject response distributions was shown to reflect the characteristic styles by which financial analysts perceive and evaluate security prospects. These characteristic styles or categories of financial analyst decision behavior were subsequently explained by systematic differences in subject cue utilization strategies and subject demographic information.
Estimating the Impact of Globalization on International Competitiveness: A Multidimensional Approach

This paper examines the effects of globalization on international competitiveness (IC). The aggregated and disaggregated indices of IC (World Economic Forum) and globalization (KOF) for 132 countries in 2008 are used for the estimation of regression functions. The results show that globalization positively influences IC at the highest aggregation levels of the indices used. Social and political globalization affect IC at intermediate aggregation levels, whereas, economic globalization has no impact on IC. At the lowest aggregation levels, personal contacts, cultural proximity, and political globalization are the primary factors affecting IC’s pillars, although the impact of economic restrictions on some of the IC pillars is also observed.
Analysis of Access to Cars from the 1991 UK Census Samples of Anonymised Records: A Case Study of the Elderly Population of Sheffield

This study demonstrates how analysis of new British Census data (the Samples of Anonymised Records) may enhance other data sets for transport and planning purposes. The study uses logistic regression with categorical and dichotomous socio-economic independent variables to investigate access to cars amongst the elderly population in Sheffield. The method can be applied to any UK metropolitan or county area. The conclusions have implications for policies on sustainable transport and social integration.
Small-size CPW-fed Quasi-Yagi antenna with round-ended bow-tie CPW-to-slotline transition

A compact and wideband CPW-fed Quasi-Yagi antenna is proposed and experimentally demonstrated in this paper. Impedance, radiation, and gain characteristics of this antenna are presented, and a prototype antenna is fabricated and measured. The measured impedance bandwidth, defined by -10dB reflection coefficient, can reach an operating bandwidth of 97% from 3.41 to 9.84GHz, over which the antenna exhibits excellent end-fire radiation with a front-to-back ratio of greater than 14dB and a moderate gain of better than 4.24dBi. Moreover, the overall size of the proposed antenna is only 27 × 30 mm2. In contrast to traditional microstrip CPW-fed quasi-Yagi antenna design, our proposed antenna features a smaller size and wider bandwidth.
PENSIONS AND SOCIAL INCLUSION IN THREE EX-YUGOSLAV COUNTRIES: SLOVENIA, CROATIA AND SERBIA

Building upon the research by Meyer et al. (2007), this study employs risk biographies to evaluate how three ex-Yugoslav pension systems cope with the social exclusion of the elderly. The article simulates pension entitlements in Slovenia, Croatia and Serbia and comes to two broad conclusions. First, the three pension systems that originated from a common legislative base, albeit in countries with marked differences in economic development, now diverge in almost every aspect. Hence, further research should analyse the entire retirement microcosm of the former Yugoslavia and delve deeper into the mechanisms of pension system evolution. Second, the study expounds the pros and cons of the three schemes and argues that none can avoid further reforms. Slovenian public pensions are excessively generous and consequently require fiscal cuts, the Croatian funded tier is too small to complement lower public benefits, and the Serbian arrangements should be a temporary sacrifice to cope with fiscal austerity. The paper complements a traditional overview of the three systems by analysing the problems of each risk biography. It concludes by giving a number of prescriptive recommendations for the future well-being of the elderly in the region.
Platelet Serotonin Level and Impulsivity in Human Self-destructive Behavior: A Biological and Psychological Study

ABSTRACT Context: Suicide is a disease and a global public health problem. Suicidology has come to become a topic of study for intervention and research. The serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine [5HT]) system has remained a prime area of investigation. The neurons and platelets display structural and functional similarities. Ninety-nine percent of 5HT is contained in platelets, which shares similar 5HT uptake and release mechanisms with 5HT neurons. Aims: This study aims to study human self-destructive behavior (HSDB). Objectives: Exploring the biological (serotonin levels in platelets) and psychological aspects (impulsivity) of attempted suicide or HSDB. Settings and Design: Thirty-one patients, above the age of 18 years, with a recent history of HSDB, were studied and given an International Classification of Diseases-10 diagnosis, after a detailed interview. Subjects and Methods: For the platelet 5HT estimation, blood samples were collected, and enzyme immunometric assay carried out. Detailed assessment of the impulsivity was done by the 25-item structured diagnostic interview for borderlines by Zanarini et al. Statistical Analysis Used: We obtained both categorical and continuous data. Chi-square test, Fisher's test, Student's t-test, and Pearson's product moment correlation were used. Results: Female subjects outnumbered males by 2:1. Major depression, adjustment disorder, personality disorder were predominant diagnoses. The mean platelet serotonin concentration for males = 57.3 ng/ml, that of females = 56.05 ng/ml (P > 0.05). Platelet 5HT levels were found to be negatively correlated with impulsivity scores (P < 0.05). Conclusions: Platelet serotonin levels in our study sample were quite low when compared with those reported in published literature. Low serotonin levels were inversely related to impulsivity, but only in males.
Birth Order and Risk Taking in Athletics: A Meta-Analysis and Study of Major League Baseball

According to expectations derived from evolutionary theory, younger siblings are more likely than older siblings to participate in high-risk activities. The authors test this hypothesis by conducting a meta-analysis of 24 previous studies involving birth order and participation in dangerous sports. The odds of laterborns engaging in such activities were 1.48 times greater than for firstborns (N = 8,340). The authors also analyze performance data on 700 brothers who played major league baseball. Consistent with their greater expected propensity for risk taking, younger brothers were 10.6 times more likely to attempt the high-risk activity of base stealing and 3.2 times more likely to steal bases successfully (odds ratios). In addition, younger brothers were significantly superior to older brothers in overall batting success, including two measures associated with risk taking. As expected, significant heterogeneity among various performance measures for major league baseball players indicated that older and younger brothers excelled in different aspects of the game.
What Is the Relationship between Hate Radio and Violence? Rethinking Rwanda's “Radio Machete”

The importance of hate radio pervades commentary on the Rwandan genocide, and Rwanda has become a paradigmatic case of media sparking extreme violence. However, there exists little social scientific analysis of radio's impact on the onset of genocide and the mobilization of genocide participants. Through an analysis of exposure, timing, and content as well as interviews with perpetrators, the article refutes the conventional wisdom that broadcasts from the notorious radio station RTLM were a primary determinant of genocide. Instead, the article finds evidence of conditional media e fects, which take on significance only when situated in a broader context of violence.
Turkey in the EU's Enlargement Process: Obstacles and Challenges

The European Union (EU) has embarked on an ambitious programme of enlargement. In this process, Turkey, as one of the candidates, has a particularly difficult position. This article argues that Turkey's relationship with the Union should not be treated as bilateral, but rather should be placed in the larger framework of EU enlargement. In this context, the main proposition is that Turkey's EU candidacy and its negotiations for accession are affected by four factors: the Copenhagen criteria, the EU's institutional set-up, member state preferences (and related to that, Turkey's population) and public opinion within the EU. The article analyses the interplay between these factors and discusses Turkey's future with the European Union in a multilateral perspective.
Familistic welfare capitalism in crisis: social reproduction and anti-social policy in Greece

Familistic welfare capitalism is a model of national political economy prevalent in many regions in the world (Southern Europe, Latin America, and Asia), where the family plays a double role as the key provider of welfare and a key agent in the model's socio-economic and political reproduction. The article offers a new approach to the study this model by adopting an expanded concept of social reproduction to capture its historical evolution, using Greece as a case study. Our empirical analysis of austerity measures on employment and pensions demonstrates, how, in the Greek case, a crisis of social reproduction of the traditional form of familistic welfare capitalism was already underway prior to the well-known sovereign-debt crisis. And further we show how the adoption of austerity measures and pro-market reforms is deepening this crisis by severely undermining the key pillars of familial welfare security while rapidly transforming the model into a political economy of generalised insecurity.
Improved Automated Detection of Diabetic Retinopathy on a Publicly Available Dataset Through Integration of Deep Learning.

Purpose To compare performance of a deep-learning enhanced algorithm for automated detection of diabetic retinopathy (DR), to the previously published performance of that algorithm, the Iowa Detection Program (IDP)-without deep learning components-on the same publicly available set of fundus images and previously reported consensus reference standard set, by three US Board certified retinal specialists. Methods We used the previously reported consensus reference standard of referable DR (rDR), defined as International Clinical Classification of Diabetic Retinopathy moderate, severe nonproliferative (NPDR), proliferative DR, and/or macular edema (ME). Neither Messidor-2 images, nor the three retinal specialists setting the Messidor-2 reference standard were used for training IDx-DR version X2.1. Sensitivity, specificity, negative predictive value, area under the curve (AUC), and their confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated. Results Sensitivity was 96.8% (95% CI: 93.3%-98.8%), specificity was 87.0% (95% CI: 84.2%-89.4%), with 6/874 false negatives, resulting in a negative predictive value of 99.0% (95% CI: 97.8%-99.6%). No cases of severe NPDR, PDR, or ME were missed. The AUC was 0.980 (95% CI: 0.968-0.992). Sensitivity was not statistically different from published IDP sensitivity, which had a CI of 94.4% to 99.3%, but specificity was significantly better than the published IDP specificity CI of 55.7% to 63.0%. Conclusions A deep-learning enhanced algorithm for the automated detection of DR, achieves significantly better performance than a previously reported, otherwise essentially identical, algorithm that does not employ deep learning. Deep learning enhanced algorithms have the potential to improve the efficiency of DR screening, and thereby to prevent visual loss and blindness from this devastating disease.