Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Engineering Intracellularly Retained Gaussia Luciferase Reporters for Improved Biosensing and Molecular Imaging Applications.

Gaussia luciferase (GLUC) is a bioluminescent reporter protein of increasing importance. As a secretory protein, it has increased sensitivity in vitro and in vivo (∼20 000-fold, and ∼1000-fold, respectively) over its competitor, secreted alkaline phosphatase. Unfortunately, this same advantageous secretory nature of GLUC limits its usefulness for many other possible intracellular applications, e.g., imaging signaling pathways in intact cells, in vivo imaging, and in developing molecular imaging biosensors to study protein-protein interactions and protein folding. Hence, to widen the research applications of GLUC, we developed engineered variants that increase its intracellular retention both by modifying the N-terminal secretory signal peptide and by tagging additional sequences to its C-terminal region. We found that when GLUC was expressed in mammalian cells, its N-terminal secretory signal peptide comprising amino acids 1-16 was essential for GLUC folding and functional activity in addition to its inherent secretory property. Modification of the C-terminus of GLUC by tagging a four amino acid (KDEL) endoplasmic reticulum targeting peptide in multiple repeats significantly improved its intracellular retention, with little impact on its folding and enzymatic activity. We used stable cells expressing this engineered GLUC with KDEL repeats to monitor chemically induced endoplasmic reticulum stress on cells. Additionally, we engineered an apoptotic sensor using modified variants of GLUC containing a four amino acid caspase substrate peptide (DEVD) between the GLUC protein and the KDEL repeats. Its use in cell culture resulted in increased GLUC secretion in the growth medium when cells were treated with the chemotherapeutic drugs doxorubicin, paclitaxel, and carboplatin. We thus successfully engineered a new variant GLUC protein that is retained inside cells rather than secreted extracellularly. We validated this novel reporter by incorporating it in biosensors for detection of cellular endoplasmic reticulum stress and caspase activation. This new molecularly engineered enzymatic reporter has the potential for widespread applications in biological research.
Mobile Peer Support in Diabetes

As in other domains, there has been unprecedented growth in diabetesrelated social media in the past decade. Although there is not yet enough evidence for the clinical benefits of patient-to-patient dialogue using emergent social media, patient empowerment through easier access to information has been proven to foster healthy lifestyles, and to delay or even prevent progression of secondary illnesses. In the design of diabetes-related social media, we need access to personal health data for modelling the core disease-related characteristics of the user. We discuss design aspects of mobile peer support, including acquisition of personal health data, and design artefacts for a healthcare recommender system. We also explore mentoring models as a tool for managing the transient relationships among peers with diabetes. Intermediate results suggest acquiring health data for modelling patients' health status is feasible for implementing a personalized and mobile peer-support system.
Circulating MicroRNAs: Association with Lung Function in Asthma

Background MicroRNAs are key transcriptional and network regulators previously associated with asthma susceptibility. However, their role in relation to asthma severity has not been delineated. Objective We hypothesized that circulating microRNAs could serve as biomarkers of changes in lung function in asthma patients. Methods We isolated microRNAs from serum samples obtained at randomization for 160 participants of the Childhood Asthma Management Program. Using a TaqMan microRNA array containing 754 microRNA primers, we tested for the presence of known asthma microRNAs, and assessed the association of the individual microRNAs with lung function as measured by FEV1/FVC, FEV1% and FVC%. We further tested the subset of FEV1/FVC microRNAs for sex-specific and lung developmental associations. Results Of the 108 well-detected circulating microRNAs, 74 (68.5%) had previously been linked to asthma susceptibility. We found 22 (20.3%), 4 (3.7%) and 8 (7.4%) microRNAs to be associated with FEV1/FVC, FEV1% and FVC%, respectively. 8 (of 22) FEV1/FVC, 3 (of 4) FEV1% and 1 (of 8) FVC% microRNAs had functionally validated target genes that have been linked via genome wide association studies to asthma and FEV1 change. Among the 22 FEV1/FVC microRNAs, 9 (40.9%) remain associated with FEV1/FVC in boys alone in a sex-stratified analysis (compared with 3 FEV1/FVC microRNAs in girls alone), 7 (31.8%) were associated with fetal lung development, and 3 (13.6%) in both. Ontology analyses revealed enrichment for pathways integral to asthma, including PPAR signaling, G-protein coupled signaling, actin and myosin binding, and respiratory system development. Conclusions Circulating microRNAs reflect asthma biology and are associated with lung function differences in asthmatics. They may represent biomarkers of asthma severity.
Cav1.2, Cell Proliferation, and New Target in Atherosclerosis

Cav1.2 calcium channels are the principal proteins involved in electrical, mechanical, and/or signaling functions of the cell. Cav1.2 couples membrane depolarization to the transient increase in intracellular Ca2+ concentration that is a trigger for muscle contraction and CREB-dependent transcriptional activation. The CACNA1C gene coding for the Cav1.2 pore-forming α 1C subunit is subject to extensive alternative splicing. This review is the first attempt to follow the association between cell proliferation, Cav1.2 expression and splice variation, and atherosclerosis. Based on insights into the association between the atherosclerosis-induced molecular remodeling of Cav1.2, proliferation of vascular smooth muscle cells, and CREB-dependent transcriptional signaling, this review will give a perspective outlook for the use of the CACNA1C exon skipping as a new potential gene therapy approach to atherosclerosis.
A Test of a Model of Magazine Exposure and Appraisal in India.

Typically, studies of media exposure and appraisal have concentrated on loosely related characteristics of individuals. This study attempts to link directly individual evaluations of a particular medium to these two variables. Three independent variables are posited to determine exposure and appraisal: editorial tone, communication potential, and utility. The former two variables refer to message content attributes and the latter variable represents a respondent's direct judgment of the usefulness of a particular medium. The causal model that results from this framework is tested on two separate readership surveys of magazines conducted in India. While the causal model provides a good fit to the data in both tests, the results suggest that a contingency approach, based on specific attributes of the medium and situational factors, may be necessary to predict the directionality of specific paths.
Software architecture recovery of a program family

The concept of software architecture has gained a lot of attention and has found its way into the software development process in industry. Software architecture recovery focuses on the recovery of architectural information from existing systems. This paper presents a framework for recovering the software architecture of a program family. Based on the available system information architectural properties such as safety or system control are recovered using different reverse engineering methods and tools in combination with architectural descriptions. We describe our architecture recovery process and discuss the recovery of system structure as one example of the case study. The framework was developed while working on the recovery of the family architecture of a train control system.
Modifications in the surgical technique of Descemet stripping automated endothelial keratoplasty

Descemet stripping automated endothelial keratoplasty (DSAEK) has several advantages over penetrating keratoplasty. [1, 2] Surgical outcome, however, depends upon factors like atraumatic graft insertion and reducing dislocations. During our learning curve, we tried to overcome certain problems associated with various surgical steps by developing modifications in the standard technique. DSAEK was performed in four eyes of four patients with pseudophakic corneal oedema (n = 3) and Fuchs’ endothelial dystrophy (n = 1). An 8.0 mm donor lenticule was prepared using a microkeratome (Moria, Antony, France) using a 350 μm head. [3] The anterior corneal surface was marked using a 9 mm marker (Moria). A peritomy was fashioned in the superior quadrant, …
Distributed resource allocation in full-duplex relaying networks with wireless virtualization

Wireless network virtualization has attracted a lot of interests recently. Furthermore, recent advances of self-interference cancellation techniques enable full-duplex relaying (FDR) systems, which transmit and receive simultaneously in the same frequency band with high spectrum efficiency. In this paper, we propose a resource allocation scheme for virtualized FDR networks. The resource allocation problem is formulated as a mixed combinatorial and non-convex optimization problem, which involves high computational complexity. Therefore, we transfer the original problem to a convex optimization problem, which can be solved efficiently. In addition, with recent advances in alternating direction method of multipliers (ADMM), we develop an efficient ADMM-based distributed resource allocation algorithm. Extensive simulations are presented to verify the effectiveness of the proposed scheme.
NS1′ Colocalizes with NS1 and Can Substitute for NS1 in West Nile Virus Replication

ABSTRACT NS1′ is a C-terminally extended form of the NS1 protein produced only by encephalitic flaviviruses from the Japanese encephalitis virus serogroup. Here we show that West Nile virus (WNV) NS1′ and NS1 localize to the same cellular compartments when expressed from plasmid DNAs and also colocalize to viral RNA replication sites in infected cells. Using complementation analysis with NS1-deleted WNV cDNA, we demonstrated that NS1′ is able to substitute for the crucial function of NS1 in virus replication.
Next generation Ethernet access networks: GPON vs. EPON

Recently both ITU and IEEE have standardized solutions for Passive Optical Networks operating at gigabit per second line rates and optimized for the transport of packet-based traffic to improve the efficiency of previously standardized broadband PONs, which were based on ATM. The efficiency and performance of PON systems, depends mainly on the implemented medium access protocol. The latter is not part of the standards and left to the implementer, however the standards describe a set of control fields that constitute the tool-set for the MAC operation. In this paper we compare the efficiency and performance of the two systems under as close as possible MAC.
Contingency and Units in Interaction

Starting with Houtkoop and Mazeland’s (1985) study of discourse units, and touching upon recent studies aimed at detailing unit projection in interaction, this article argues that the drive toward abstract and discrete models for units and unit projection is potentially misleading. While it has been established that to engage in talk-in-interaction, as it unfolds in real time, participants rely on projectable units (Sacks et al., 1974, 1978), research aimed at defining units unintentionally backgrounds the contingency inherent in interaction. A central function of language for collaborative action is the management of simultaneously unfolding facets of action, sound production, gesture, and grammar – produced by multiple participants. This article draws upon classic and current data analyses foregrounding linguistic/interactional practices designed to manage local contingencies. It is argued that attention to participants’ regular methods for managing and exploiting contingencies be incorporated from the outset in our descriptions of language and the nature of unit building in interaction.
Time-Based K-nearest Neighbor Collaborative Filtering

Personalized recommendation technology has been developed rapidly and used more widely. LehuBT is one of the most popular Ipv6 website developed by Shanghai University. With the rapid development of users and torrents, an order to help the users to select their favors in numerous torrents, personalized recommendation technology should be added into the current LehuBT. The influence of time factor is more and more important as times go on in LehuBT, a torrent was downloaded by a user nearer to now, it's more important to indicate interesting of the user. However, time factor was not taken into account in traditional Collaborative Filtering. In this paper, a novel algorithm named TimeKNNCF (Time-based K-Nearest Neighbor Collaborative Filtering) is proposed, in which a new similarity function is proposed based on the concept of Importance Degree of Item named IDOI. For each torrents in the download list, the value of IDOI would be calculated based on the download time, the nearer the download time, the higher value of IDOI. The download list would be transformed to IDOI vector, and the similarity would be calculated based on IDOI vector. The experiments based on the real data of LehuBT show that TimeKNNCF provides better recommendations than the traditional collaborative filtering methods.
New Accelerator Mass Spectrometry (AMS) Ages Suggest a Revision of the Electron Spin Resonance (ESR) Middle Holocene Dates Obtained for a Toxodon platensis (Toxodontidae, Mammalia) from Southeast Brazil

In a paper published in Applied Radiation and Isotopes, Baffa et al. (2000) reported a Middle Holocene date (∼6.5 kyr BP) for a specimen of Toxodon platensis from Ribeira do Iguape, southeast Brazil, using the emergent technique electron spin resonance (ESR). Through an accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) procedure applied on tooth collagen, we provide a new set of dates to test the accuracy of the ages generated by ESR. We obtained 2 dates more than 4500 BP older than the previous one, suggesting a minimum Late Pleistocene age for the specimen.
Cognitive Praxis in Today's “International Education” Movement: A Case Study of Intents and Affinities

We report a qualitative case study of interpretive activity inside the current wave of the “international education” movement in U.S. schools. We used a sociological framework to examine how competing interpretations are mobilized in relation to one another and to the urgent discourses of Globalization and Terror. Data were gathered in interviews of a sample of movement intellectuals—activists positioned between powerbrokers and school practitioners. We found a diverse set of interpretations that were spread across a two-dimensional framework with four quadrants: intent (civic and enterprise) and affinity (national and global). We conclude that the cognitive praxis of this sample extends prior patterns—it is plural and contentious, and national security plays a central role. Within these tendencies, however, are features unique to the current wave. We end with implications for the social studies field.
Is Intracranial Pressure Monitoring of Patients With Diffuse Traumatic Brain Injury Valuable? An Observational Multicenter Study.

BACKGROUND Although intracranial pressure (ICP) monitoring of patients with severe traumatic brain injury (TBI) is recommended by the Brain Trauma Foundation, any benefits remain controversial. OBJECTIVE To evaluate the effects of ICP monitoring on the mortality of and functional outcomes in patients with severe diffuse TBI. METHODS Data were collected on patients with severe diffuse TBI (Glasgow Coma Scale [GCS] score on admission <9 and Marshall Class II-IV) treated from January 2012 to December 2013 in 24 hospitals (17 level I trauma centers and 7 level II trauma centers) in 9 Chinese provinces. We evaluated the impact of ICP monitoring on 6-month mortality and favorable outcome using propensity score-matched analysis after controlling for independent predictors of these outcomes. RESULTS ICP monitors were inserted into 287 patients (59.5%). After propensity score matching, ICP monitoring significantly decreased 6-month mortality. ICP monitoring also had a greater impact on the most severely injured patients on the basis of head computed tomography data (Marshall computed tomography classification IV) and on patients with the lowest level of consciousness (GCS scores 3-5). After propensity score matching, monitoring remained nonassociated with a 6-month favorable outcome for the overall sample. However, monitoring had a significant impact on the 6-month favorable outcomes of patients with the lowest level of consciousness (GCS scores 3-5). CONCLUSION ICP monitor placement was associated with a significant decrease in 6-month mortality after adjustment for the baseline risk profile and the monitoring propensity of patients with diffuse severe TBI, especially those with GCS scores of 3 to 5 or of Marshall computed tomography classification IV.
Spatial negative priming in early Alzheimer's disease: Evidence for reduced cognitive inhibition

Some studies of negative priming and other tasks assumed to reflect inhibitory functions suggest a decline in inhibitory processes in Alzheimer's disease. However, none of the measures used in previous studies can be interpreted as an unambiguous reflection of distractor inhibition. The present study investigates whether reductions in negative priming associated with Alzheimer's disease reflect reduced distractor inhibition, rather than perceptual review processes. Individuals with early Alzheimer's disease were predicted to show reduced negative priming on a spatial localization task designed to provide an unambiguous measure of distractor inhibition. Sixteen clinical participants showed significantly less negative priming than old and young healthy control groups, which is interpreted as evidence for reduced distractor inhibition in early dementia. A second analysis indicated that, within the clinical sample only, negative priming effect size was significantly correlated with prime trial response speed. Clinical participants showing the least negative priming were slower to respond to an initial stimulus. The results may mean that people with early Alzheimer's disease have a reduced capacity to use excitatory as well as inhibitory processes in selection. (JINS, 2006, 12, 416–423.)
Effect of production system on welfare traits, growth performance and meat quality of ducks

The effects of production system on welfare traits, growth performance and meat quality of ducks were explored. A total of 120 newly hatched ducklings were randomly assigned to three groups: i) floor-reared system (FRS); ii) welfare-reared system (WRS) and iii) net-reared system (NRS) (n = 8 ducklings/pen, 5 pens/group). In the FRS, ducks were reared on sawdust bedding that was changed every 2 - 3 days. The WRS was similar to the FRS, the difference being the addition of environmental enrichment devices such as perches, coloured balloons and ribbons. In the NRS, ducks were reared on plastic nets on a bamboo bed, and their droppings were cleaned daily with water. After 35 d, welfare traits, growth performance and meat quality of the ducks were measured. Moving and playing durations of WRS ducks were longer than FRS and NRS ducks. Bathing and feather pecking durations of NRS ducks were longer than FRS and WRS ducks. Duck feather quality was greater and gait defects were reduced in NRS system compared with FRS and WRS systems. Fluctuating asymmetry (FA) was not affected by the production system. Growth performance was not significantly different between FRS and WRS systems. Average daily weight gain of FRS ducks was higher than in NRS ducks. Feed conversion ratio of FRS ducks was lower than in NRS ducks. There was no difference in acidity, conductivity of pectoralis and leg muscle, and drip loss among the production systems. The conclusion was that NRS proved to be the best production system on welfare traits, while WRS and FRS were the best production systems on growth performance.
Diversity in the Psychology Curriculum: The Development of a Toolkit to Audit, Monitor and Enhance Responsiveness to Diversity in an Inclusive Curriculum

The recent implementation of the UK Equality Act should guarantee that all students have equality of opportunity within higher education (HE), and that HE institutions are responsive towards diversity in its broadest sense. This report describes the development of a diversity toolkit for auditing and monitoring academic departments' responsiveness to diversity, with a particular focus on undergraduate psychology programmes. The toolkit was the culmination of a two-year action research project conducted within one school of psychology in the United Kingdom, which was partly funded by the Higher Education Academy Psychology Network Departmental Teaching Enhancement Scheme.
Lung Nodule Classification Techniques for Low Dose Computed Tomography (LDCT) Scan Images as Survey

Image classification is one of the most complex areas in image processing. It is more complex and difficult to classify if it contain blurry and noisy content. Medical image Classification is an important task within the field of computer vision. Here, perform four type of lung nodules classification , i.e., well-circumscribed, vascularized, juxtapleural and pleural-tail, in low dose computed tomography (LDCT) scans images. The classification method combine the lung nodule and surrounding anatomical structures through contextual analysis. Here, presents a survey on the various techniques used for classifying image which is mainly based on object in the given image. The proposed method was classified on a publicly available dataset.
COUNTERPRODUCTIVE WORK BEHAVIORS, CONFUCIAN VALUES, AND PRODUCTION DEVIANCE: THE MEDIATING EFFECT OF JOB SATISFACTION

Production deviance is one of 5 dimensions of counterproductive work behaviors (CWB). Using data collected from 362 employees of Chinese enterprises, I examined the predictive effect of Confucian values on production deviance and the mediating effect of job satisfaction on the relationship between Confucian values and production deviance using structural equation modeling. I analyzed 3 factors of production deviance: work sabotage, slackness, and withdrawal. Confucian values were found to have a significant negative impact on these factors. Furthermore, job satisfaction was found to partially mediate the relationship between Confucian values with slackness and withdrawal, but not with work sabotage.
Implementing the democratic principles and practices of student-centred curriculum integration in primary schools

Student-centred curriculum integration (CI) is a concept underpinned by democratic education. It places students at the centre of learning, involving them in classroom decisions and curriculum planning. Most research on this approach has been situated in the middle years, but this study focuses on primary schooling. This project examined what happened when three teachers, located in three New Zealand schools, explored the democratic principles and practices inherent in student-centred curriculum integration. The project utilised participatory action research (PAR) methodology supported by multiple data sources. The findings indicated that this form of curriculum design provides relevant, engaging and equitable learning environments. The teachers found that by slowly increasing the level of student inclusion they gained the confidence and competence to collaboratively co-construct curriculum with students.