Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Mycoplasma infection transforms normal lung cells and induces bone morphogenetic protein 2 expression by post‐transcriptional mechanisms

Bone morphogenetic protein 2 (BMP2) is an essential growth factor and morphogen, whose pattern and level of expression profoundly influences development and physiology. We present the novel finding that mycoplasma infection induces BMP2 RNA production in six cell lines of diverse types (mesenchymal, epithelial, and myeloid). Mycoplasma infection triggered the expression of mature secreted BMP2 protein in BEAS‐2B cells (immortalized human bronchial epithelial cells), which normally do not express BMP2, and further increased BMP2 production in A549 cells (lung adenocarcinoma cells). Indeed, mycoplasma is as strong an experimental inducer as inflammatory cytokines and retinoic acid. Second, we showed that post‐transcriptional mechanisms including regulation of RNA stability, rather than transcriptional mechanisms, contributed to the increased BMP2 expression in mycoplasma‐infected cells. Furthermore, a novel G‐rich oligonucleotide, AS1411 that binds the post‐transcriptional regulator nucleolin induced BMP2 exclusively in infected cells. Finally, BMP2 stimulated proliferation in BEAS‐2B cells transformed by chronic mycoplasma infection, as demonstrated by treatment with Noggin, a BMP2 antagonist. These findings have important implications regarding the effects of mycoplasma on BMP2‐regulated processes, including cell proliferation, differentiation, and apoptosis. J. Cell. Biochem. 104: 580–594, 2008. © 2007 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Terahertz pulsed imaging of basal cell carcinoma ex vivo and in vivo

Background Terahertz radiation lies between the infrared and microwave regions of the electromagnetic spectrum and can be used to excite large amplitude vibrational modes of molecules and probe the weak interactions between them. Terahertz pulsed imaging (TPI) is a noninvasive imaging technique that utilises this radiaton.
MxiJ, a lipoprotein involved in secretion of Shigella Ipa invasins, is homologous to YscJ, a secretion factor of the Yersinia Yop proteins

Shigella flexneri causes bacillary dysentery by invading epithelial cells of the colonic mucosa. The invasion process requires the synthesis and secretion of the virulence plasmid-encoded Ipa proteins. Using TnphoA mutagenesis, we have identified two virulence plasmid genes, mxiJ and mxiM, that encode proteins exported by the general export pathway. Analysis of the MxiJ and MxiM deduced amino acid sequences suggested that mxiJ and mxiM might encode lipoproteins, which was confirmed by [3H]palmitate labeling of MxiJ:PhoA and MxiM:PhoA fusion proteins. A mxiJ mutant was unable to invade HeLa cells, to induce the formation of plaques on confluent monolayers of HeLa cells, and to provoke keratoconjunctivitis in guinea pigs. In addition, secretion of seven polypeptides, including IpaA, IpaB, and IpaC, was abolished in the mxiJ mutant. Sequence comparisons indicated that MxiJ and MxiH, which is encoded by a gene located upstream from mxiJ, are homologous to the Yersinia enterocolitica YscJ and YscF proteins, respectively.
Étude bilingue de l’acquisition et de la validation automatiques de paraphrases sous-phrastiques [Automatic acquisition and validation of sub-sentential paraphrases : a bilingual study]

RÉSUMÉ. Dans ce travail nous présentons une étude détaillée de la tâche d’acquisition de paraphrases sous-phrastiques à partir de corpus monolingues parallèles. Nous démontrons empiriquement que ces corpus, bien qu’extrêmement rares, constituent le type de ressources le mieux adapté pour cette étude. Nos expériences mettent en jeu cinq techniques d’acquisition, représentatives de différentes approches et connaissances, en anglais et en français. Aﬁn d’améliorer la performance en acquisition, nous réalisons la combinaison des paraphrases pro-duites par ces techniques par une validation reposant sur un classiﬁeur automatique biclasse. Un résultat important de notre étude est l’identiﬁcation de paraphrases qui déﬁent actuellement les techniques étudiées, lesquelles sont classées et quantiﬁées en anglais et français. ABSTRACT. This work uses parallel monolingual corpora for a detailed study of the task of sub-sentential paraphrase acquisition. We argue that the scarcity of this type of resource is compensated by the fact that it is the most suited type for studies on paraphrasing. We propose a large exploration of this task with experiments on two languages with ﬁve different acquisition techniques, selected for their complementarity, and their combinations. We report a signiﬁcant gain over all techniques by validating candidate paraphrases using a maximum entropy clas-siﬁer. An important result of our study is the identiﬁcation of difﬁcult-to-acquire paraphrase pairs, which are classiﬁed and quantiﬁed in a bilingual typology.
An Empirical Analysis of Communication on Trust Building in Virtual Teams

This research aims to analyze the communication on trust building in virtual teams. Ten teams consisting of three workers (an editor, a designer, and a coder) were asked to create a sample web page in one week. All workers were in remote environment and a text-only communication tool was provided to all teams. In addition, five teams could use a non-text communication tool through which one can see other member’s situation with a web camera image and a short text message. All communication logs were collected and classified into three types: formal communication, informal communication, and awareness communication. All participated workers answered the questionnaire about trust before and after the task was completed. The analysis results based on the questionnaire and communication log data are discussed at the end. The result shows the use of non-text communication tool did not affect trust building; however, amount of awareness communication affected trust building. Log-in to the communication system at the same time also affected trust building. The findings of this study showed the tendency of awareness communication helping team building trust in the remote environment.
Analysis of surface electromyogram signals using integrated bispectrum

In surface electromyography, electrodes are placed on skin surface above the muscles being monitored, to record the electrical potentials generated in the muscles when an activity is performed. These signals are useful in wearable electronic devices such as those used for human-machine interface, health monitoring and prosthetic limb control. High-order spectra, such as bispectrum, have been used to analyze surface electromyography since they have been shown to be non-Gaussian in nature. We propose the evaluation of mean frequency from axial integrated bispectrum for analysis of electromyography signals. The proposed parameter is tested on surface electromyography signals recorded from two muscular locations on hand for three pairs of opposite activities. As compared to the conventional technique of evaluating mean frequency from the power spectral density of the signal, the proposed parameter provides better distinction between the considered activities.
Speak! Paradoxical Effects of a Managerial Culture of ‘Speaking Up’

We explore the intrinsic ambiguity of speaking up in a multinational healthcare subsidiary. A culture change initiative, emphasizing learning and agility through encouraging employees to speak up, gave rise to paradoxical effects. Some employees interpreted a managerial tool for improving effectiveness as an invitation to raise challenging points of difference rather than as something &#8216;beneficial for the organization&#8217;. We show that the process of introducing a culture that aims to encourage employees to speak up can produce tensions and contradictions that make various types of organizational paradoxes salient. Telling people to &#8216;speak up! &#8217; may render paradoxical tensions salient and even foster a sense of low PsySafe.
Endoscopic characteristics and levodopa responsiveness of swallowing function in progressive supranuclear palsy

Dysphagia is a frequent and early symptom in progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP) predisposing patients to aspiration pneumonia. Fiberoptic endoscopic evaluation of swallowing (FEES®) has emerged as a valuable apparative tool for objective evaluation of neurogenic dysphagia. This is the first study using FEES® to investigate the nature of swallowing impairment in PSP. Eighteen consecutive PSP patients (mean age 69.7 ± 9.0 years) were included. The salient findings of FEES® in PSP patients were compared with those of 15 patients with Parkinson's disease (PD). In 7 PSP patients, a standardized FEES® protocol was performed to explore levodopa (L‐dopa) responsiveness of dysphagia. Most frequent abnormalities detected by FEES® were bolus leakage, delayed swallowing reflex, and residues in valleculae and piriformes. Aspiration events with at least one food consistency occurred in nearly 30% of PSP patients. Significant pharyngeal saliva pooling was observed in 4 PSP patients. We found no difference of salient endoscopic findings between PSP and PD patients. Endoscopic dysphagia severity in PSP correlated positively with disease duration, clinical disability, and cognitive impairment. No correlation was found with dysarthria severity. In early PSP patients, swallowing dysfunction was solely characterized by liquid leakage with the risk of predeglutitive aspiration during the oral phase of swallowing. Two PSP patients showed relevant improvement of swallowing function after L‐dopa challenge. Chin tuck—maneuver, hard swallow, and modification of food consistency were identified as the most effective therapeutic interventions. In conclusion, FEES® assessment can deliver important findings for the diagnosis and refined therapy of dysphagia in PSP patients. © 2010 Movement Disorder Society
Preparation of Mouse Embryonic Fibroblast Cells Suitable for Culturing Human Embryonic and Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells

In general, human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) and human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs)1 can be cultured under variable conditions. However, it is not easy to establish an effective system for culturing these cells. Since the culture conditions can influence gene expression that confers pluripotency in hESCs and hiPSCs, the optimization and standardization of the culture method is crucial. The establishment of hESC lines was first described by using MEFs as feeder cells and fetal bovine serum (FBS)-containing culture medium2. Next, FBS was replaced with knockout serum replacement (KSR) and FGF2, which enhances proliferation of hESCs3. Finally, feeder-free culture systems enable culturing cells on Matrigel-coated plates in KSR-containing conditioned medium (medium conditioned by MEFs)4. Subsequently, hESCs culture conditions have moved towards feeder-free culture in chemically defined conditions5-7. Moreover, to avoid the potential contamination by pathogens and animal proteins culture methods using xeno-free components have been established8. To obtain improved conditions mouse feeder cells have been replaced with human cell lines (e.g. fetal muscle and skin cells9, adult skin cells10, foreskin fibroblasts11-12, amniotic mesenchymal cells13). However, the efficiency of maintaining undifferentiated hESCs using human foreskin fibroblast-derived feeder layers is not as high as that from mouse feeder cells due to the lower level of secretion of Activin A14. Obviously, there is an evident difference in growth factor production by mouse and human feeder cells. Analyses of the transcriptomes of mouse and human feeder cells revealed significant differences between supportive and non-supportive cells. Exogenous FGF2 is crucial for maintaining self-renewal of hESCs and hiPSCs, and has been identified as a key factor regulating the expression of Tgfβ1, Activin A and Gremlin (a BMP antagonist) in feeder cells. Activin A has been shown to induce the expression of OCT4, SOX2, and NANOG in hESCs15-16. For long-term culture, hESCs and hiPSCs can be grown on mitotically inactivated MEFs or under feeder-free conditions in MEF-CM (MEF-Conditioned Medium) on Matrigel-coated plates to maintain their undifferentiated state. Success of both culture conditions fully depends on the quality of the feeder cells, since they directly affect the growth of hESCs. Here, we present an optimized method for the isolation and culture of mouse embryonic fibroblasts (MEFs), preparation of conditioned medium (CM) and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) to assess the levels of Activin A within the media.
Sonar-based obstacle avoidance using a path correction method for autonomous control of a biped robot for the learning stratification and performance

In this paper, a simple path correction and obstacle avoidance method with a bipedal robot for the learning stratification and performance, using an ultrasonic sensor and electronic compass sensor, is proposed. This bipedal robot was comprised using the Lego NXT Intelligent Bricks. The proposed method is implemented on an autonomous humanoid robot (the ARSR). One ultrasonic sensor and one electronic compass sensor are installed on the ARSR to detect environmental information including obstacles, the distance to the obstacle, and the directional angle of the robot. Based on the obtained information, an obstacle avoidance and path correct method is proposed to decide the ARSR's behavior so that it can avoid obstacles and move effectively to the destination area. Obstacle avoidance experiments are carried out to confirm the effectiveness of the proposed method and confirm the learning stratification and performance.
Physics-Based Analysis and Simulation of $\hbox{1}/f$  Noise in MOSFETs Under Large-Signal Operation

This paper presents a study on 1/f noise in MOSFETs under large-signal (LS) operation, which is important in CMOS analog and RF integrated circuits. The flicker noise is modeled with noise sources as a perturbation in the semiconductor equations employing McWhorter's oxide-trapping model and Hooge's empirical 1/f noise model. Numerical results are shown for 1/f noise in the MOSFET in both small-signal operation and periodic LS operation. It is shown that McWhorter's model does not give any significant 1/f noise reduction when the oxide traps are distributed uniformly in energy and space. In contrast, Hooge's model gives almost 6-dB 1/f noise reduction as the gate off-voltage decreases below the threshold voltage. It is found that both models fall short of explaining the noise reduction by more than 6 dB, as observed experimentally in the literature. However, when only one active oxide trap is considered, which generates random telegraph signal (RTS) in drain current, the LS operation gives more than 6-dB low-frequency RTS noise reduction.
SystemC-AMS modeling and simulation of digitally controlled DC-DC converters

In this paper, an innovative method to model and simulate DC-DC converters with a digital or mixed-signal control loop is proposed using the SystemC-AMS hardware-description language. The proposed method was employed to model a specific test case, consisting of a Buck converter with a digital PID regulator. The reliability of the model was checked by comparing the results with MATLAB/Simulink simulations. The SystemC-AMS approach was found to be well suited to model the proposed system and very efficient from a computational point of view, since the simulation time can be strongly reduced with respect to other solutions (e.g. MATLAB/Simulink).
Late presentation of HIV infection in the country of Georgia: 2012-2015

Late presentation for HIV care has important individual and population implications. The objective of this study was to explore the problem of late presentation in the country of Georgia. Data on adult persons newly diagnosed with HIV in Georgia between 2012 and 2015 were extracted from the national AIDS Health Information System. Late presenter was defined as a person diagnosed with HIV with a CD4 cell count <350 cells/mm3 or an AIDS defining illness regardless of the CD4 cell count in the six months after HIV diagnosis. Late presenter with advanced disease was defined as a person diagnosed with HIV with a CD4 cell count <200 cells/mm3 or an AIDS defining illness, regardless of CD4 cell count in the six months after HIV diagnosis. Among 2267 adults diagnosed with HIV in Georgia in 2012–2015, 1987 (87.6%) had CD4 cell count measured within 6 months of HIV diagnosis and were included in the analysis. Among them 1260 (63.4%) patients were classified as late presenters and 870 (43.8%) as late presenters with advanced disease. The proportion of late presenters declined from 71.1% in 2012 to 55.5% in 2015 (p<0.0001), while presentation late with advanced disease decreased from 56.6% in 2012 to 34.5% in 2015 (p<0.0001). Late presentation was most common among people who inject drugs (77.7%). Overall 186 patients died over the studied period. Mortality was higher both among late presenters (6.74 per 100 person-years vs. 1.08 per 100 person-years, p<0.0001) and late presenters with advanced disease (8.93 per 100 person-years vs. 1.34 per 100 person-years, p<0.0001). High prevalence of late presentation in Georgia reflects insufficiency in HIV testing services. Better testing strategies are needed to improve earlier diagnosis and disease outcomes.
Perspectives: Knowledge Development in International Marketing

© Journal of International Marketing Vol. 6, No.2, 1998, p. 103-112 ISSN 1069-031X It is imperative for scholars to reflect periodically on the development of their academic discipline as a field of inquiry and take stock of what has been accomplished and what new frontiers ought to be explored. Questions must be raised about the generation of new knowledge, what new research issues and constructs to investigate, and how research methods and procedures should be modified in view of contemporary developments. Only through such soul-searching can we expect to arrive at a better explanation of the complex and dynamic world around us.
A review on electrospinning design and nanofibre assemblies

Although there are many methods of fabricating nanofibres, electrospinning is perhaps the most versatile process. Materials such as polymer, composites, ceramic and metal nanofibres have been fabricated using electrospinning directly or through post-spinning processes. However, what makes electrospinning different from other nanofibre fabrication processes is its ability to form various fibre assemblies. This will certainly enhance the performance of products made from nanofibres and allow application specific modifications. It is therefore vital for us to understand the various parameters and processes that allow us to fabricate the desired fibre assemblies. Fibre assemblies that can be fabricated include nonwoven fibre mesh, aligned fibre mesh, patterned fibre mesh, random three-dimensional structures and sub-micron spring and convoluted fibres. Nevertheless, more studies are required to understand and precisely control the actual mechanics in the formation of various electrospun fibrous assemblies.
Generalized localization model of relaxation in glass-forming liquids.

Glassy solidification is characterized by two essential phenomena: localization of the solidifying material's constituent particles and a precipitous increase in its structural relaxation time τ. Determining how these two phenomena relate is key to understanding glass formation. Leporini and coworkers have recently argued that τ universally depends on a localization length-scale (the Debye-Waller factor) in a way that depends only upon the value of at the glass transition. Here we find that this 'universal' model does not accurately describe τ in several simulated and experimental glass-forming materials. We develop a new localization model of solidification, building upon the classical Hall-Wolynes and free volume models of glass formation, that accurately relates τ to in all systems considered. This new relationship is based on a consideration of the the anisotropic nature of particle localization. The model also indicates the presence of a particle delocalization transition at high temperatures associated with the onset of glass formation.
Structural Nonrealism and Quantum Information

The article introduces a new concept of structure, defined, echoing J. A. Wheeler's concept of "law without law," as a "structure without law," and a new philosophical viewpoint, that of structural nonrealism, and considers their applications to quantum theory in general and quantum information theory in particular. It takes as its historical point of departure W. Heisenberg's discovery of quantum mechanics, which, the article argues, could, in retrospect, be considered in quantum-informational terms. The article takes advantage of the circumstance that any quantum information is a structure, an organization of elements, ultimately bits, of classical information, manifested in measuring instruments. While, however, this organization can, along with the observed behavior of measuring instruments, be described by means of classical physics, it cannot be predicted by means of classical physics, but only, probabilistically or statistically, by means of quantum mechanics, or in high-energy physics, by means of quantum field theory (or possibly, some alternative theories within each scope). By contrast, the emergence of this information and of this structure cannot, in the present view, cannot be described not only by classical but also by quantum theory, or possibly by any other means, which leads to the concept of "structure without law" and the viewpoint of structural nonrealism. The article also considers, from this perspective, some recent work in quantum information theory.