Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
P2X7 Receptor-Dependent Blebbing and the Activation of Rho-Effector Kinases, Caspases, and IL-1β Release1

In response to ATP binding, the P2X7R facilitates cation channel activation, nonspecific pore formation, rapid changes in plasma membrane morphology, and secretion of IL-1β from LPS-primed macrophages. To investigate the relationship between the P2X7R-dependent changes in plasma membrane organization and the release of IL-1β, we generated time-lapse movies of ATP-stimulated BAC1 murine macrophages in conjunction with biochemical analyses of IL-1β release. Similar image analyses in human embryonic kidney 293 cells expressing recombinant P2X7R (HEK-P2X7) permitted comparison of P2X7R-dependent effects in macrophage vs nonmacrophage backgrounds. Whereas HEK-P2X7 cells exhibit zeiotic blebbing within 5 min of ATP treatment, BAC1 macrophages initiated a distinct “tethered” blebbing 10 min after ATP addition. This blebbing was comparably induced by the P2X7R-selective agonist BzATP and was blocked by P2X7R inhibitors KN-62 and oxidized ATP. Blebbing was initiated at ATP concentrations ≥3 mM, but optimal IL-1β release occurred at 1 mM ATP. P2X7R-dependent blebbing was abrogated in the presence of Rho-effector kinase inhibitors Fasudil and Y-27632, but ATP-induced IL-1β release was unaffected. ATP-induced activation of RhoA could be detected in both HEK-P2X7 cells and BAC1 murine macrophages. Thus, P2X7R activation signals distinct, novel membrane blebbing events (dependent on RhoA activation and Rho-effector kinase activity) and simultaneously initiates release of IL-1β. Our observations that blebbing and IL-1β release are dissociable suggest these events occur via parallel rather than convergent signaling pathways.
A Controlled Trial of a Short Course to Improve Residents' Communication With Patients at the End of Life

Purpose High-quality palliative care requires physicians who communicate effectively, yet many do not receive adequate training. Leading efforts to demonstrate the effectiveness of such training have involved time-intensive programs that included primarily attending physicians, which have been conducted outside of the United States. The goal was to evaluate the effect of a short course to improve residents' communication skills delivering bad news and eliciting patients' preferences for end-of-life care. Method This prospective trial enrolled internal medicine residents at Duke University Medical Center from 1999 to 2001. The course consisted of small-group teaching with lecture, discussion, and role-play. The outcome measure was observed communication skills delivering bad news and eliciting patients' preferences for end-of-life treatment, assessed via audio-recorded standardized patient encounters before and after receiving the intervention. Results Thirty-seven residents received the intervention and 19 were in the control group. Residents attending the course demonstrated statistically significant increases in their overall skill ratings in the delivery of bad news, with improvement in the specific areas of information giving and responding to emotional cues. Although cumulative scores for discussions about patient preferences for treatment did not increase, residents demonstrated enhanced specific skills including discussing probability, presenting clinical scenarios, and asking about prior experience with end-of-life decision making. Conclusion A relatively short, intensive course can improve the end-of-life communication skills of U.S. medical residents.
Using the Competing Values Framework to identify the ideal culture profile for TQM: a UK perspective

There is growing concern about why some organisations fail in their attempts to implement TQM and so few gain the benefits of such implementation. The literature often points to the constraining effects of an organisation's culture as a major barrier. Few studies, however, link organisational culture and TQM implementation. In short, understanding the relationship between an organisation's culture and TQM philosophy can provide a greater insight into the TQM implementation process. A well known framework for an organisational model, the Competing Values Framework (CVF), was used to identify the ideal cultural profile for TQM implementation. A questionnaire using the CVF, was sent to "Quality Experts" in the UK to help identify the ideal cultural characteristics that they believed would support the TQM philosophy and facilitate its implementation. The findings indicated that the ideal cultural characteristics in the context of TQM can be classified as a group and developmental culture. Its characteristics tend to be flexible and customer oriented which emphasises participation, innovation, concern for human resource development and an attempt to decentralise decision making. This paper shows that the CVF can be a useful tool in helping organisations study the change needed to reach a desired quality culture.
Anisotropic two-dimensional electron gas transport in N-polar GaN/AlGaN heterostructures grown on vicinal substrates

In this work, we present results of a magneto-transport study of two-dimensional electron gas transport in N-polar GaN/AlGaN heterostuctures grown on misoriented sapphire substrates. It is shown that the multi-atomic “steps” resulting from epitaxial growth on misoriented substrates leads to significantly lower average two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG) mobility in the direction perpendicular to the interfacial steps which is accompanied by significant broadening of the 2DEG mobility distribution.
Development and Performance Evaluation of MMSE MacroDiversity Reception System With Delay Difference Correction

We have been developing a minimum-mean-square-error macrodiversity (MMSE-MD) reception system using distributed remote antennas and radio-on-fiber (RoF) links for use in live broadcasts of road races. The system selects remote antennas with good signal quality and combines their signals based on the MMSE algorithm to combat both small-scale and large-scale fading. For the system to be feasible, we have to consider propagation delay differences among diversity branches due to the RoF links and radio propagation. This paper describes a practical delay difference correction (DDC) technique that can keep signal continuity in any situation, the hardware implementation of an MMSE-MD receiver embodying the technique, and indoor and outdoor performance evaluations. Our prototype receiver perfectly corrected the propagation delay differences among diversity branches without losing signal continuity and maintained MD reception without signal outage across a wide area on an actual road-race course.
Association between dietary calcium intake and arterial stiffness according to dietary vitamin D intake in men

Studies on the associations of dietary Ca and vitamin D intakes with arterial stiffness are scarce. In the present study, these associations were evaluated in Japanese men. Data from a total of 535 eligible men, aged 35–69 years, who participated in the baseline survey of a cohort study in Tokushima Prefecture, Japan, and underwent brachial–ankle pulse wave velocity (ba-PWV) measurements were analysed. ba-PWV is a measure of arterial stiffness and is recognised as a marker of atherosclerotic vascular damage. Information regarding the cohort's lifestyle characteristics including dietary behaviour over the past year was obtained from a structured self-administered questionnaire. Dietary Ca and vitamin D intakes were adjusted for total energy intake using the residual method and divided into quartiles; the highest quartile was used as the reference. General linear models were used to evaluate the associations between dietary Ca and vitamin D intakes and ba-PWV values adjusted for probable covariates. The association between dietary Ca intake and ba-PWV was further evaluated using similar general linear models stratified by dietary vitamin D intake (median or below/above median). Dietary Ca intake was found to be significantly inversely associated with ba-PWV after adjusting for probable covariates (P for trend = 0·020). However, no such association was observed between dietary vitamin D intake and ba-PWV. The inverse association between dietary Ca intake and ba-PWV was striking in subjects with higher dietary vitamin D intake. However, no association was found in subjects with lower dietary vitamin D intake. These results indicate that adequate dietary Ca and vitamin D intakes may be protective against the development of arterial stiffness in Japanese men.
Interest Rate Volatility and Sudden Stops: An Empirical Investigation

Using a multi-country regime-switching vector autoregressive (VAR) model we document the existence of two regimes in the volatility of interest rates at which emerging economies borrow from international financial markets, and study the statistical relationship of such regimes with episodes of sudden stops. Periods of high volatility tend to be persistent and are associated with high interest rates, the occurrence of sudden stops in external financing, and large declines in economic activity. Most strikingly, we show that regime switches drive the countercyclicality of interest rates in emerging markets documented in previous literature (Neumeyer and Perri, 2005) and that high-volatility regimes forecast sudden stops 6 and 12 months ahead.
Chinese QA and CLQA: NTCIR-5 QA Experiments at UNT

This paper describes our participation in the NTCIR-5 CLQA task. Three runs were officially submitted for three subtasks: Chinese Question Answering, English-Chinese Question Answering, and Chinese-English Question Answering. We expanded our TREC experimental QA system EagleQA this year to include Chinese QA and Cross-Language QA capabilities. Various information retrieval and natural language processing tools were incorporated with our home-built programs such as Answer Type Identification, Sentence Extraction, and Answer Finding to find answers to the test questions. Future development will focus on investigating effective question translation and answer finding solutions.
Hardware Implementation of Motion Estimation Technology Using High Level Synthesis and Investigations into Techniques for Improvements

Due to the trend to increasingly large screen sizes and resolutions, the volume of data required by recent video images is enormous. Video coding technology improves every year, but a pressing issue is that processing times are also increasing. With this as a motivation, the current study targeted the motion estimation technology that is a key part of the H.264/AVC (Advanced Video Coding) standard, implemented it as hardware using high-level synthesis technology, and investigated improvements. An EPZS (Enhanced Predictive Zonal Search) algorithm was implemented instead of a Full Search algorithm, and the results evaluated to understand the effectiveness of the high-level synthesis technology and of the speedup techniques that were adopted.
Altération de la morphologie astrocytaire et du développement vasculaire chez les souris Ko-Dp71 : implications dans la barrière hémato rétinienne interne

La dystrophine Dp71, issue du gene DMD implique dans la dystrophie musculaire de Duchenne intervient dans le maintien de l'homeostasie retinienne et de la barriere hemato-retinienne. Nous avons mis en evidence une localisation retinienne jusque-la meconnue de la Dp71 au sein des astrocytes retiniens. Nous avons egalement etudie l'effet in vivo de l'absence de Dp71, sur le developpement vasculaire et observe une plus faible densite et une morphologie astrocytaire differente comparativement aux souris controles, a l'origine d'un developpement vasculaire retarde. Compte tenu de la specificite du reseau vasculaire retinien dont l'etancheite des parois est maintenue en partie par les pieds des CGM et des astrocytes, nous avons emis l'hypothese, etant donne l'implication de la Dp71 dans la stabilisation de ces cellules, d'une alteration de cette proteine dans les phenomenes de rupture de la BHR. Ainsi dans un modele transitoire de rupture de la BHR in vivo relativement " pur ", sans ischemie ni injection de VEGF, nous avons observe une diminution de l'expression de la dystrophine Dp71 ainsi que du canal aqueux AQP4 et une delocalisation du canal potassique Kir4.1 dans les CGM. L'injection intra-vitreenne de Dexamethasone dans ce modele a permis de prevenir les modifications d'expression et de localisation de ces proteines.
A guide to direct measures of patient satisfaction in clinical practice

W hen asked, most patients report that they are satisfied with their health care. Does this tell us anything about the technical quality of care, or do satisfaction ratings reflect, instead, the interpersonal skills of clinical staff? For that matter, is it worth measuring patient satisfaction at all? We discuss some major concepts and issues relating to research in patient satisfaction and provide a practical guide for using information on patient satisfaction in clinical settings.
GNSS Carrier Phase Anomaly Detection and Validation for Precise Land Vehicle Positioning

A carrier phase anomaly detection and validation method is proposed for precise vehicle positioning in dynamic environments. Given that carrier phase measurement is affected by satellite and user dynamics as well as unexpected anomalies, we propose four sequential processes to detect and identify an anomaly: 1) dynamics separation; 2) anomaly detection; 3) validation; and 4) position domain test. First, terms related to the satellite and user dynamics are estimated individually and removed from the carrier phase measurement to yield an error term, which possibly includes an anomaly and should be detected. The error term is examined with respect to a threshold level, and the measurement values are divided into anomaly candidates and normal candidates. Anomaly candidates are reexamined and validated one-by-one using a normal measurement set and the anomaly is determined. Finally, the position domain is evaluated so that position errors can be used as additional criteria for detecting the anomaly attributed to satellite deployment. The proposed algorithm is verified by simulation analyses and an experimental test. The proposed methods can be effective in detecting anomalies and increasing the reliability of precise vehicle positioning.
Regulatory Mechanisms in the Retinal and Choroidal Circulation

The retina receives its nutrients from two separate circulations: retinal and choroidal circulation. This short overview describes the determinants in the regulation of these circulations. Retinal circulation is characterized by a low blood flow while flow in the choroid is high. The choroidal circulation is mainly controlled by sympathetic innervation and is not autoregulated. Retinal circulation lacks autonomic innervation, shows an efficient autoregulation and is mainly influenced by local factors. Local mediators released by endothelial cells and surrounding retinal tissue also have a substantial role in the regulation of retinal circulation.
Semantic similarity and the generation of referring expressions: a first report

The past decade, has witnessed renewed interest in the Generation of Referring Expressions (GRE) [23, 24, 8, 9, 10, 12, 22]. Broadening the scope beyond earlier work [3, 4, 5], recent proposals involve algorithms that refer to sets as well as individuals, using operations such as set union (‘the cat and the dogs’) and complementation (‘the dog that is not black’). As a consequence, it has become more difficult for a generator to choose among alternative expressions that may be coextensive. This paper is part of a concerted effort to shed some empirical light on the question of expressive choice. The focus is on reference to sets, where a referring expression is built by unifying two or more singletons. Starting with descriptions of the form ‘the N1 and (the) N2’, we investigate whether the semantic similarity of N1 and N2 is relevant in determining the acceptability of the generated NP. Suppose that, in a given domain, an entity e1 can be referred to as either ‘the postgraduate’ or ‘the psychologist’; similarly, e2 can be referred to as either ‘the undergraduate’ or ‘the man on the first floor’. Various alternatives exist for an expression referring to {e1, e2}, e.g.: (i) ‘the postgraduate and the man on the first floor’, (ii) ‘the postgraduate and the undergraduate’, (iii) ‘the psychologist and the undergraduate’. Here, (ii) is arguably better than (i) or (iii). Intuitively, this is because the conjuncts in (ii) are more semantically similar or ‘related’. Moreover, expression (iii) violates the Gricean maxims. The choice of two equally specific [2] but semantically unrelated descriptors, ‘psychologist’ for e1 versus ‘undergraduate’ for e2, might give rise to (false) implicatures, such as that the two entities have nothing in common, thus violating the Gricean Cooperative Principle, and resulting in a description which is less coherent than it might be. Suppose further that e1 and e2, as well as a third entity e3 referred to as ‘the book’, were introduced in a discourse. Subsequent reference to a pair of these entities might be made via a coordinate construction, or some other structure. Considerations of semantic similarity may guide the choice between alternatives; in particular, referring to the set {e1, e2} using an NP conjunction is more felicitous than a similar reference to {e1, e3} (‘the psychologist and the book’). In the latter case, it may be more felicitous to refer to these two entities using different phrases. A third consideration has to do with a user’s comprehension of a generated text. If a description gave rise to false implicatures, or simply sounded odd as a result of an infelicitous choice of descriptors, the quality of the text and its comprehensibility would be reduced. We next describe a correlational study which investigated the relationship of semantic similarity and perceived acceptability of conjoined NPs. Our study is closely related in spirit to [13], which also
Apparel Design for Global Market: Kansei Engineering Perspective

Apparel is the single largest export commodity in Sri Lanka. Over the recent years, the country has become the high-end producer for some of the world's top fashionable brands, where design plays a key role when it comes to marketing. This paper looks at how Kansei Engineering can be introduced for Sri Lankan apparel designers.
A Novel Test for Detecting SNP–SNP Interactions in Case-Only Trio Studies

Epistasis plays a significant role in the genetic architecture of many complex phenotypes in model organisms. To date, there have been very few interactions replicated in human studies due in part to the multiple-hypothesis burden implicit in genome-wide tests of epistasis. Therefore, it is of paramount importance to develop the most powerful tests possible for detecting interactions. In this work we develop a new SNP–SNP interaction test for use in case-only trio studies called the trio correlation (TC) test. The TC test computes the expected joint distribution of marker pairs in offspring conditional on parental genotypes. This distribution is then incorporated into a standard 1 d.f. correlation test of interaction. We show via extensive simulations under a variety of disease models that our test substantially outperforms existing tests of interaction in case-only trio studies. We also demonstrate a bias in a previous case-only trio interaction test and identify its origin. Finally, we show that a previously proposed permutation scheme in trio studies mitigates the known biases of case-only tests in the presence of population stratification. We conclude that the TC test shows improved power to identify interactions in existing, as well as emerging, trio association studies. The method is publicly available at www.github. com/BrunildaBalliu/TrioEpi.
Efficacy and Safety of Duloxetine on Osteoarthritis Knee Pain: A Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials.

OBJECTIVES The aim of this meta-analysis was to evaluate the efficacy and safety of duloxetine for management of osteoarthritis knee (OAK) pain. METHODS A systematic literature search of articles for management of OAK using duloxetine were performed in PubMed, EBSCO, EMBASE, ScienceDirect, MEDLINE, ClinicalTrials.gov, Google Scholar, and Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials from the available date of inception until the latest issue (October 2013). Potentially relevant randomized controlled trials (RCTs) regarding to comparison of efficacy and safety of duloxetine with placebo for managing OAK pain were included. Also, studies with specific data regarding to pain reductions and response rate, Patient Global Impression of Improvement (PGI-I), functional improvement, Western Ontario and McMaster Osteoarthritis Index (WOMAC), adverse events (AEs), treatment-emergent AEs (TEAEs), mortality were included and analyzed, and those with confounding conditions were excluded. Studies were assessed for quality using the Jadad five-point score for RCTs. Finally, a meta-analysis of all RCTs eligible for inclusion criteria was performed using Review Manager 5.1 meta-analysis software. RESULTS Three RCTs that enrolled 1,011 patients were included in our meta-analysis. There were statistically significant differences between patients taking duloxetine and those taking placebo with regard to the reductions in pain intensity (992 patients, mean difference [MD] = -0.88, 95% confidence interval [CI] -1.11--0.65, P < 0.0001), a moderate improvement in pain intensity (>= 30% response rate; 989 patients, risk ratio [RR] = 1.49, 95% CI 1.31-1.70, P < 0.0001), a substantial improvement in pain intensity (>=50% response rate; 989 patients, RR = 1.69, 95% CI 1.27-2.25, P = 0.0004). Statistically significant differences in PGI-I (976 patients, MD = -0.47, 95% CI -0.63 to -0.30, P < 0.0001) and WOMAC-physical function subscale (977 patients, MD = -4.25, 95% CI -5.82 to -2.68, P < 0.0001) were observed. Similarly, more AEs, TEAEs, and discontinuations for any reason were associated with the use of duloxetine than with placebo (1,011 patients, RR = 2.15, 95% CI 1.48-3.11, P < 0.0001; 1,011 patients, RR = 1.32, 95% CI 1.16-1.49, P < 0.0001; 1,011 patients, RR = 1.43, 95% CI 1.14-1.78, P = 0.002, respectively). However, differences in serious AEs were not significantly statistically different. Moreover, no deaths occurred during these three studies. CONCLUSION This analysis suggests duloxetine (60/120 mg quaque die (QD)), compared with placebo control, resulted in a greater reduction in pain, improved function and patient-rated impression of improvement, and acceptable adverse effects for the treatment of OAK pain after approximately 10-13 weeks of treatment.
1 NADPH oxidases as therapeutic targets in chronic myeloid leukemia

NADPH oxidases as therapeutic targets in chronic myeloid leukemia Authors: Beatriz Sánchez-Sánchez, Sara Gutiérrez-Herrero, Guillermo López-Ruano, Rodrigo Prieto-Bermejo, Marta Romo-González, Marcial Llanillo, Atanasio Pandiella, Carmen Guerrero, Jesús F. San Miguel , Fermín Sánchez-Guijo, Consuelo del Cañizo, and Angel Hernández-Hernández Affiliations: Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Salamanca, Salamanca, Spain Instituto de Investigación Biomédica de Salamanca (IBSAL), Salamanca, Spain. CIC, Centro de Investigación del Cáncer, CSIC, Salamanca. Spain Hospital Universitario de Salamanca, Salamanca, Spain. Corresponding author: Dr. Angel Hernández-Hernández Edificio Departamental, Lab. 122 Plaza Doctores de la Reina s/n 37007 Salamanca. Spain Tel: +34923 294 781 Fax: +34-923 294 579 E-mail: angelhh@usal.es Running Title: NADPH oxidase inhibitors and BCR-ABL inhibitors synergize