Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Differential Gene Expression after Zinc Supplementation and Deprivation in Human Leukocyte Subsets

An individual’s zinc status has a significant impact on the immune system, and zinc deficiency, as well as supplementation, modulates immune function. To investigate the effects of zinc on different leukocyte subsets, we used microarray technology to analyze and compare the changes in mRNA expression in cell culture models of monocytes (THP-1), T cells (Jurkat), and B cells (Raji), in response to supplementation for 40 h with 50 µM zinc or 2.5 µM of the membrane-permeant zinc chelator TPEN [N,N,N′,N′- tetrakis-(2-pyridyl-methyl)ethylenediamine], respectively. In each cell type, several hundred genes were identified to be zinc sensitive, but only a total of seven genes were commonly regulated in all three cell lines. The majority of those genes were involved in zinc homeostasis, and none in immune function. Nevertheless, further analysis revealed that zinc affects entire functional networks of genes that are related to proinflammatory cytokines and cellular survival. Although the zinc-regulated activities are similar throughout the gene networks, the specific genes that are affected vary significantly between different cell types, a situation that helps to elucidate the disparity of the effects that zinc has on different leukocyte populations.
The Appliance Repairman

White-collar crime victimization is a pervasive but little-researched phenomenon in criminology, because of the difficulties, among others, both in proving the occurrence of a crime and in identifying the victims. This case study of complaining victims of appliance repair fraud pro vides an opportunity to examine victim-offender interaction, victim- responsiveness, and impact of victimization. Contrasting the victim sam ple with a comparison sample on relevant variables reveals that the only significant difference between groups is in reporting of past victimiza tion. Both the victim complaint patterns and criminal justice in adequacies revealed by this study must be addressed if programs of social action are to deal effectively with white-collar crime victimization.
Neutrophils contribute to hepatic ischemia‐ reperfusion injury by a CD18‐independent mechanism

Hepatic ischemia‐reperfusion injury is reported to be modulated by neutrophils (PMNs). The adhesion and emigration of PMNs that precede tissue inflammation and necrosis in other organs are mediated, in part, by the leukocyte adhesion complex CD11/CD18. In this study, the role of PMN adhesion via CD11/CD18 in isolated liver ischemia‐reperfusion injury was examined in rabbits using a blocking monoclonal antibody (mAb 60.3) specific for the GDI 8 receptor. Vinblastine‐ induced neutropenia provided significant protection, confirming participation of neutrophils in the pathogenesis of hepatic injury. Inhibition of PMN adherence with mAb 60.3 did not ameliorate injury, as measured by aminotransferase concentrations or a histologic scoring system for injury severity. Histologic sections were scored for pattern and extent of injury as well as neutrophil association with injury. These results suggest a CD18‐ independent mechanism of neutrophil adhesion in the evolution of isolated hepatic ischemia‐reperfusion injury.
CEAL: a C-based language for self-adjusting computation

Self-adjusting computation offers a language-centric approach to writing programs that can automatically respond to modifications to their data (e.g., inputs). Except for several domain-specific implementations, however, all previous implementations of self-adjusting computation assume mostly functional, higher-order languages such as Standard ML. Prior to this work, it was not known if self-adjusting computation can be made to work with low-level, imperative languages such as C without placing undue burden on the programmer. We describe the design and implementation of CEAL: a C-based language for self-adjusting computation. The language is fully general and extends C with a small number of primitives to enable writing self-adjusting programs in a style similar to conventional C programs. We present efficient compilation techniques for translating CEAL programs into C that can be compiled with existing C compilers using primitives supplied by a run-time library for self-adjusting computation. We implement the proposed compiler and evaluate its effectiveness. Our experiments show that CEAL is effective in practice: compiled self-adjusting programs respond to small modifications to their data by orders of magnitude faster than recomputing from scratch while slowing down a from-scratch run by a moderate constant factor. Compared to previous work, we measure significant space and time improvements.
MODELING AND CONTROL OF INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINES USING INTELLIGENT TECHNIQUES

This article will compare two different fuzzy-derived techniques for controlling small internal combustion engine and modeling fuel spray penetration in the cylinder of a diesel internal combustion engine. The first case study is implemented using conventional fuzzy-based paradigm, where human expertise and operator knowledge were used to select the parameters for the system. The second case study used an adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system (ANFIS), where automatic adjustment of the system parameters is affected by a neural networks based on prior knowledge. The ANFIS model was shown to achieve an improved accuracy compared to a pure fuzzy model, based on conveniently selected parameters. Future work is concentrating on the establishment of an improved neuro-fuzzy paradigm for adaptive, fast and accurate control of small internal combustion engines.
MiRNA-26b inhibits cellular proliferation by targeting CDK8 in breast cancer.

OBJECTIVES MicroRNA-26b (miR-26b) has been reported to be down-regulated in a wide range of malignant tumors, However, the mechanism by which miR-26b is implicated in breast cancer tumorigenesis is incompletely understood. This study was undertaken to evaluate the expression pattern of miR-26b and characterize its biological role in human breast cancer. METHODS Reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) was used to quantify the expression levels of miR-26b in breast cancer and adjacent non-cancerous breast tissues. MTT, colony formation assay and cell cycle assay were carried out to characterize the miR-26b function. Finally, to validate the target gene of miR-26b, luciferase reporter assay was employed, followed by RT-PCR and Western blot confirmation. RESULTS Here, we found that miR-26b expression was relatively downregulated in breast cancer specimens (P<0.01). Overexpression of miR-26b dramatically suppressed cell proliferation, colony formation and induced G0/G1 cell cycle arrest of MDA-MB-231 and Mcf-7 cells. Luciferase assays revealed that miR-26b directly targeted the 3'UTR of CDK8. Overexpression of miR-26b led to the downregulation of CDK8 and β-catenin expression. Similarly, CDK8 knockdown by siRNA suppressed cell growth and subsequent β-catenin expression. CONCLUSIONS These findings suggest that miR-26b exerts a tumor suppressive role in breast cancer and the miR-26b-mediated growth inhibition is achieved through suppression of a new target gene CDK8.
HIV prevention research: taking stock and the way forward

Previous papers in this supplement have reviewed the evidence of the effectiveness of alternative HIV prevention methods from randomized controlled trials and other studies. This paper draws together the main conclusions from these reviews. A conceptual framework is presented that maps the proximal and distal determinants of sexual HIV transmission and helps to identify the stages in the causal pathway at which each intervention approach acts. The advances, gaps and challenges emerging from the reviews of individual intervention methods are summarized and cross-cutting themes identified. Approximately 90% of HIV prevention trials have found no effect on HIV incidence and we explore the alternative explanations for the large number of ‘flat’ trials. We conclude that there is no single explanation for these flat results, which may be due to interventions that are ineffective or inappropriately targeted or implemented, or to factors related to the design or conduct of trials. We examine the lessons from these flat results and provide recommendations on what should be done differently in future trials. HIV prevention remains of critical importance in an era of expanded delivery of antiretroviral therapy. In future HIV prevention research, it is important that resources are used as efficiently as possible to provide rigorous evidence of the effectiveness of a wider array of complementary prevention tools.
Face Recognition Using LBP Eigenfaces

In this paper, we propose a simple and efficient face representation feature that adopts the eigenfaces of Local Binary Pattern (LBP) space, referred to as the LBP eigenfaces, for robust face recognition. In the proposed method, LBP eigenfaces are generated by first mapping the original image space to the LBP space and then projecting the LBP space to the LBP eigenface subspace by Principal Component Analysis (PCA). Therefore, LBP eigenfaces capture both the local and global structures of face images. In the experiments, the proposed LBP eigenfaces are integrated into two types of classification methods, Nearest Neighbor (NN) and Collaborative Representation-based Classification (CRC). Experimental results indicate that the classification with the LBP eigenfaces outperforms that with the original eigenfaces and LBP histogram. key words: LBP, eigenfaces, PCA, face recognition
Marriage and Family Therapists' Comfort Level Working With Gay and Lesbian Individuals, Couples, and Families

As professionals, therapists should be prepared to work with a diverse population. The purpose of this study was to explore predictors of American Association of Marriage and Family Therapy Clinical Members' comfort level in working with gay and lesbian individuals, couples, and families. Results indicated that therapists' scores on the Support for Lesbian and Gay Human Rights Scale predicted their comfort level in working with gay and lesbian individuals, couples, and families. The challenge for training programs is to assist therapists-in-training and supervisors with self-exploration and to increase opportunities for interactions with gays and lesbians.
The Ideologically Driven Critique1

It is clear from the outset that Wacquant has a particular “theoretical” ax to grind—one with an ideological blade—and that in doing so he seriously misreads Code of the Street, distorting its findings to fit his polemical purposes. At best, he seriously misunderstands my work; at worst, he willfully misrepresents it in his review. Regardless, Wacquant fails to engage the main thrust of the book: As a result of the breakdown or weaknesses of civil law in the most distressed inner-city communities, a survival strategy with implications for local public order has emerged—a “code of the street” that relies on “street justice,” whose transactions involve a currency of reputation, respect, retribution, and retaliation. Because civil law has been so compromised and eroded locally, people often rely on themselves and their reputations for protection, a situation that leads to high rates of urban violence. A legacy of institutionalized racism, joblessness, and alienation suffuses distressed inner-city neighborhoods and exacerbates these conditions. In some of Philadelphia’s most distressed ghetto areas, the community divides itself into two opposing status groups—“decent” and “street” —each with its own value orientation. “Decency” is most often associated with the wider, conventional society, whereas “street”—or its own descriptive analogue, “ghetto”—is often used as an epithet (especially by those identifying themselves as decent) and strongly associated with the most troublesome aspects of ghetto life. In the name of “keeping it real,”
The Effect of Social Skills Training Program on the Emotional and Behavioral Problems of Adolescent Girls in a High School

Objective: School-based interventions (such as life skills training) have become the mainstay for prevention of some behavioral problems. This study was conducted to evaluate the efficacy of a social skills training program on a group of students who were in the first grade of high school in an urban area of Tehran, Iran. Method: In a before-after study, a kind of social skill education program named Right Choices' was used for high school female students. The entire studentsof a class in a high school participated in the study. The students' age ranged from 14-16 years. All of the participants lived in an urban area. Demographic characteristics were recorded in a designed questionnaire and included the name, age, educational level of the students and their parents, and prior history of psychiatric and medical condition. The total problem score and each of the subscale scores of the students before and after the study were calculated and compared. Results: The mean age of the 33 participants in the study whose SDQ answer sheets were completed was equal to 15.156. 2 years (14 to 17 years). The mean total problem score of the participants in the beginning of the program was equal to 14.35. After the program, the students' total problem score and all of the subscale scores improved, however, the differences between pre- and post intervention scores were not statistically significant. Conclusion: Social skills training program may impact the problem behaviorsof the adolescent girls.
Oral vocabulary and reading comprehension: An intricate affair

Resume Un nombre important de recherches actuelles observe des relations -de moderees a fortes- entre les mesures de vocabulaire oral et de celles de comprehension en lecture. Cette recherche a pour objectif de preciser notre comprehension des interactions entre le langage oral et le langage ecrit en examinant la nature du lien entretenu par le vocabulaire oral et la comprehension en lecture avec des definitions et des mesures plus precises de differents composants du vocabulaire qui sont egalement motives theoriquement. Differents composants du systeme de vocabulaire oral ont ainsi ete definis et evalues separement a partir de modeles du lexique qui distinguent le nombre d’entrees lexicales (l’etendue du vocabulaire) et l’etendue des connaissances semantiques (profondeur du vocabulaire). Le concept de profondeur du vocabulaire a ete developpe de sorte a inclure a la fois des mesures de definition de mots et de conscience des associations entre mots ; cette derniere mesure etant destinee a evaluer l’organisation du systeme lexico-semantique. Des tests de connaissances en vocabulaire ainsi que des tests de conscience phonemique, de lecture de mots et de comprehension en lecture ont ete administres a 100 eleves de 6e annee. Les resultats ont montre que les performances de comprehension en lecture sont influencees directement par celles de conscience phonemique, de lecture de mots et d’etendue du vocabulaire et, indirectement, par celles relatives a l’organisation lexico-semantique qui predisent une part unique de variance en lecture de mots. Ces resultats refletent la complexite des relations entretenues par le vocabulaire oral et la comprehension de textes ecrits, et soulignent la pertinence des mesures d’etendue et de profondeur du vocabulaire dans l’explication des differences individuelles en lecture.
Physical activity among adolescents in New South Wales (Australia): 1997 and 2004.

PURPOSE To examine secular trends, seasonal and socioeconomic differences in physical activity participation among Australian adolescents in 1997 and 2004. METHODS Repeat cross-sectional school survey, conducted in 1997 and 2004. School students were randomly selected from grades 8 and 10 in New South Wales Australia (1997, N = 2026; 2004 N = 1771). Time spent in moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) was assessed by self-reported participation in organized and nonorganized physical activity separately for summer and winter by sex, grade, and socioeconomic status (SES). RESULTS Between survey periods, the proportion of students reporting > or = 60 min.d(-1) of MVPA increased, except among grade 10 boys during winter. MVPA (min.d(-1)) increased among all groups during summer school terms, during winter school terms, MVPA was relatively stable between surveys for grade 8 students but inconsistent among grade 10 students. Organized MVPA increased among all groups in both summer (19-49 min.d(-1)) and winter (7-21 min.d(-1)) school terms. Participation in nonorganized MVPA increased only during summer school terms (4-32 min.d(-1)) and decreased during winter school terms (7-17 min.d(-1)). MVPA increased consistently among students in the high-SES group compared with other SES groups, independent of season, and in some cases MVPA decreased in low-SES groups during winter school terms. CONCLUSION Overall, the patterns of change were similar for boys and girls, with substantial increases in summer school terms and insubstantial changes during winter school terms (with the exception of a decrease among grade 10 boys). There was a direct association between change in participation in MVPA and SES, indicating that interventions are required to focus on the needs of less-advantaged students.
qiRNApredictor: A Novel Computational Program for the Prediction of qiRNAs in Neurospora crassa

Recently, a new type of small interfering RNAs (qiRNAs) of typically 20~21 nucleotides was found in Neurospora crassa and rice and has been shown to regulate gene silencing in the DNA damage response. Identification of qiRNAs is fundamental for dissecting regulatory functions and molecular mechanisms. In contrast to other expensive and time-consuming experimental methods, the computational prediction of qiRNAs is a conveniently rapid method for gaining valuable information for a subsequent experimental verification. However, no tool existed to date for the prediction of qiRNAs. To this purpose, we developed the novel qiRNA prediction software package qiRNApredictor. This software demonstrates a promising sensitivity of 93.55% and a specificity of 71.61% from the leave-one-out validation. These studies might be beneficial for further experimental investigation. Furthermore, the local package of qiRNApredictor was implemented and made freely available to the academic community at Supplementary material.
DLMSearch: diversified landmark search by photo

This paper focuses on the problem of searching for diversified landmarks with photos. More particularly, we propose a system called DLMSearch which handles image query, searches for diversified landmarks and provides representative visual summaries. DLMSearch allows a user to upload a query photo and searches for landmarks with high relevance and diversity in real time. Then DLMSearch presents a delicate photo summary for each returned landmark, considering both visual representativeness and diversity. Quantative evaluations on a web-scale landmark photo collection demonstrate the effectiveness of the DLMSearch system. Experimental results verify the merits of the proposed system.
Tri-section stepped-impedance resonators for design of dual-band bandstop filter

In this paper, we present the dual-band bandstop filter design using tri-section stepped-impedance resonators. The proposed tri-section stepped-impedance resonator has the features of dual-band and size reduction due to its nonuniform impedance characteristic. There are two degrees of freedom in the proposed synthesis equations, which can be used for circuit miniaturization and changing impractical impedances into more realizable ones. An experimental bandstop filter was verified by circuit implementation. It showed good agreement between the simulated and measured results. Compared with the conventional parallel-connected λ/4 stubs, the proposed tri-section stepped-impedance structures can achieve more than 23.6% size reduction.
Functional expression, purification, and characterization of 3alpha-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase/carbonyl reductase from Comamonas testosteroni.

3alpha-Hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase (3alpha-HSD) catalyzes the oxidoreduction at carbon 3 of steroid hormones and is postulated to initiate the complete mineralization of the steroid nucleus to CO(2) and H(2)O in Comamonas testosteroni. By this activity, 3alpha-HSD provides the basis for C. testosteroni to grow on steroids as sole carbon and energy source. 3alpha-HSD was cloned and overexpressed in E. coli and purified to homogeneity by an affinity chromatography system as His-tagged protein. The recombinant enzyme was found to be functional as oxidoreductase toward a variety of steroid substrates, including androstanedione, 5alpha-dihydrotestosterone, androsterone, cholic acid, and the steroid antibiotic fusidic acid. The enzyme also catalyzes the carbonyl reduction of nonsteroidal aldehydes and ketones such as metyrapone, p-nitrobenzaldehyde and a novel insecticide (NKI 42255), and, based on this pluripotent substrate specificity, was named 3alpha-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase/carbonyl reductase (3alpha-HSD/CR). It is suggested that 3alpha-HSD/CR contributes to important defense strategies of C. testosteroni against natural and synthetic toxicants. Antibodies were generated in rabbits against the entire 3alpha-HSD/CR protein, and may now be used for evaluating the pattern of steroid induction in C. testosteroni on the protein level. Upon gel permeation chromatography the purified enzyme elutes as a 49.4 kDa protein revealing for the first time the dimeric nature of 3alpha-HSD/CR of C. testosteroni.
Mining microblogs to infer music artist similarity and cultural listening patterns

This paper aims at leveraging microblogs to address two challenges in music information retrieval (MIR), similarity estimation between music artists and inferring typical listening patterns at different granularity levels (city, country, global). From two collections of several million microblogs, which we gathered over ten months, music-related information is extracted and statistically analyzed. We propose and evaluate four co-occurrence-based methods to compute artist similarity scores. Moreover, we derive and analyze culture-specific music listening patterns to investigate the diversity of listening behavior around the world.
NIST form-based handprint recognition system (release 2.0)

The National Institute of Standards and T echnology (NIST) has developed a new release of a standard reference form-based handprint recognition system for evaluating optical character recognition. As with the first release, NIST is making the new recognition system freely available to the general public on CD-ROM. This source code testbed, written entirely in C, contains both the original and the new recognition systems. New utilities are provided for conducting generalized form registration, intelligent form removal with character stroke preservation, robust text-line isolation in handprinted paragraphs, adaptive character segmentation based on writing style, and sophisticated MultiLayer Perceptron (MLP) neural network classification. A software implementation of the machine learning algorithm used to train the new MLP is included in the test-bed, enabling recipients to train the neural network for pattern recognition applications other than character classification. A host of data structures and low-level utilities are also provided. These include the application of spatial histograms, af fine image transformations, simple image morphology , skew correction, connected components, Karhunen Loève feature extraction, dictionary matching, and many more. The software test-bed has been successfully compiled and tested on a host of UNIX workstations including computers manufactured by Digital Equipment Corporation, Hewlett Packard, IBM, Silicon Graphics Incorporated, and Sun Microsystems. 1 Approximately 25 person-years have been invested in this software test-bed, and it can be obtained free of char ge on CD-ROM by sending a letter of request via postal mail or F AX to NIST. This report documents the new recognition software test-bed in terms of its installation, or ganization, and functionality .