Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Involvement of Arachidonic Acid in Nonimmunologic Production of Superoxide in Mast Cells

Background: A number of different molecules are known to be involved in the signal pathway to release histamine from mast cells, among which arachidonic acid (AA) is one of the key mediators. On the other hand, we found that the application of compound 48/80, a typical histamine liberator, generated superoxide in mast cells. In the present study, we investigated the mechanism of superoxide production in mast cells with respect to AA signaling in conjunction with a fine structural analysis. Methods: Superoxide production was monitored by chemiluminescence in rat peritoneal mast cells and their subfractions after various treatments. For scanning electron micrography, the conditions for fixation and freeze-fracture were optimized to get natural fine images. Results: Compound 48/80 induced superoxide production in the isolated mast cells and some of their subfractions possibly through intracellular increase in Ca2+ concentration, activation of cytosolic phospholipase A2, and release of AA. Discussion: The present results indicate the critical role of AA in the signal pathway to generate superoxide from mast cells in response to compound 48/80.
Finite State Machine Based Real Time Scheduling for Microchip

This paper proposes a novel real-time scheduling algorithm, named the Event-driven Dynamic-priority Scheduling Algorithm (EDSA for short), which is developed based on a non-blocking coding style and a Finite State Machine, for an embedded microchip, i.e., a single processor. Generally, with this algorithm, we only need a few lines of codes for a microchip before a real-time system can be generated, without requiring a commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) real-time operating system.
Assessing Generalization Ability of Majority Vote Point Classifiers

Classification algorithms have been traditionally designed to simultaneously reduce errors caused by bias as well by variance. However, there occur many situations where low generalization error becomes extremely crucial to getting tangible classification solutions, and even slight overfitting causes serious consequences in the test results. In such situations, classifiers with low Vapnik–Chervonenkis (VC) dimension can bring out positive differences due to two main advantages: 1) the classifier manages to keep the test error close to training error and 2) the classifier learns effectively with small number of samples. This paper shows that a class of classifiers named majority vote point (MVP) classifiers, on account of very low VC dimension, can exhibit a generalization error that is even lower than that of linear classifiers. This paper proceeds by theoretically formulating an upper bound on the VC dimension of the MVP classifier. Later, through empirical analysis, the trend of exact values of VC dimension is estimated. Finally, case studies on machine fault diagnosis problems and prostate tumor detection problem revalidate the fact that an MVP classifier can achieve a lower generalization error than most other classifiers.
Improved Features for Runtime Prediction of Domain-Independent Planners

State-of-the-art planners often exhibit substantial runtime variation, making it useful to be able to efficiently predict how long a given planner will take to run on a given instance. In other areas of AI, such needs are met by building so-called empirical performance models (EPMs), statistical models derived from sets of problem instances and performance observations. Historically, such models have been less accurate for predicting the running times of planners. A key hurdle has been a relative weakness in instance features for characterizing instances: mappings from problem instances to real numbers that serve as the starting point for learning an EPM. We propose a new, extensive set of instance features for planning, and investigate its effectiveness across a range of model families. We built EPMs for various prominent planning systems on several thousand benchmark problems from the planning literature and from IPC benchmark sets, and conclude that our models predict runtime much more accurately than the previous state of the art. We also study the relative importance of these features.
Concepts in in vivo siRNA delivery for cancer therapy

In vivo gene silencing using RNAi plays an important role in target validation and is advancing towards the development of RNAi‐based therapeutics. RNAs were thought to have just two broad functions in cells as messenger RNAs (mRNAs) and ribosomal RNAs, but recently the relevance of microRNAs is becoming more clearly understood. mRNA molecules transmit information between DNA and protein and, as such, are vital intermediaries for gene expression. Ribosomal and transfer RNAs have structural, catalytic, and information‐decoding roles in the process of protein synthesis, whereas microRNAs are regulators of gene expression. This review presents the early and intriguing successes of using siRNAs for in vivo gene silencing and its use as a possible cancer therapeutics. J. Cell. Physiol. 220: 285–291, 2009. © 2009 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
[Analysis of the risk factors of cognitive impairment in post-intensive care syndrome patient].

OBJECTIVE To investigate the risk factors of cognitive impairment in post-intensive care syndrome patient (PICS-CI). METHODS A retrospective study was conducted. The patient who transferred from post-intensive care unit (ICU) to the general ward for more than 7 days, and with the age ≥ 18 years old in the First Affiliated Hospital of Jinzhou Medical University from October 2015 to November 2016 were enrolled. The gender, age, marital status, education, occupation, salary, economic income, smoking, alcohol drinking, previous of history, mechanical ventilation, the length of ICU stay, sedative and delirium, and initial diagnosis were recorded. According to mini-mental state examination (MMSE), the patients were divided into cognitive impairment (CI) group and non-CI group. Univariate analysis was performed to identify the risk factors of PICS-CI, and variables with statistical difference were selected to do multivariate binary logistic regression analysis for the confirmable independence risk factors. RESULTS 104 of the 290 patients developed CI, and the incidence was 35.86%. Univariate analysis showed that the gender, age, education, financial situation, smoking, alcohol drinking, previous of history, mechanical ventilation, the length of ICU stay, sedative and delirium, and initial diagnosis were recorded of ICU were main predictors of PICS-CI patients. It was shown by multivariate binary logistic regression analysis that the age > 60 years old [odds ratio (OR) = 7.523, 95% confidence interval (95%CI) = 2.572-37.851, P = 0.001], mechanical ventilation (OR = 8.773, 95%CI = 2.588-36.344, P < 0.001), sedation (OR = 9.376, 95%CI = 2.661-42.011, P = 0.002), and delirium (OR = 13.201, 95%CI = 2.502-41.433, P < 0.001) were PICS-CI independence risk factors. CONCLUSIONS Nurse staffs should strength care and attention on ICU transferred out patients. In order to minimize PICS impairment, special precaution should be implemented according to different aspects.
A Survey of Affective Computing for Stress Detection: Evaluating technologies in stress detection for better health

As we become more aware of the connection between emotional states and physical health, affective computing continues to rise as a field of interest. Affective computing uses both hardware and software technology to detect the affective state of a person. It is an active research area that has seen much growth in technology geared toward affective state analysis. Its origin is credited to Dr. Rosalind Picard of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) when she published her 1995 article on affective computing [1]. It has since become a modern branch of computer science for human-computer interfaces [2], [3]. This stem of computer science has two main veins: 1) detection and recognition of emotional information and 2) simulation of emotion in computational devices. The focus of the current survey is the detection and recognition of emotions as affective states.
The Theoretical Framework of Earnings Management

The definition of earnings management has been inconsistent in the literature. Major problems with the definition include ambiguity and immeasurability. As a solution, this paper intends to develop a constructive definition of earnings management and discuss the conceptual distinctions between earnings management and its counterparts. The review of the literature provides evidence of the validity of the developed definitions. The results of the paper are important for both theoretical and empirical researches on earnings management, as well as for regulators, lawmakers, firms’ contracting parties and investors. Keywords: earnings, management, manipulation, fraud Resume: La definition du management des revenues a ete contradictoire dans la litterature. Les problemes majeurs sur la definition comprend l’ambiguete et immeasurabilite. En tant que solution, ce documentr a l’ambition de developper une definition constructive du management des revenues et de discuter sur les distinctions conceptionelles entre le management des revenues et ses contreparites. La revue de la litterature sert le temoingnage de la validite de definitions developpees.Les resultat de ce document sont importants pour les recherches theoriques et empiriques sur le management des revenues, aussi pour les regulateurs, legislateurs, les parties contractuelles et d’investissements des entreprises. Mots-cles: earnings,management,manipulation,fraud (GAAP) in the United States. Every country has its own
Variability of stencil computations for porous media

Many problems formulated in partial differential equations lead to stencil‐type structures after applying an appropriate structured discretization. On one hand, exploiting these stencil structures in simulations can lead to massive performance improvements, compared to forming a sparse matrix. On the other hand, the generality of the simulation is restricted, depending on the exact definition of the stencils. In this article, we discuss the variability of stencils in the domain of porous‐media applications and present a family of models that grows in complexity. To demonstrate the relation between equation and discretization on the resulting stencil used to simulate the equation, we consider 4 models from the porous media domain. This way, we describe the influence of design decisions made during the discretization on the shape of stencils, to give application engineers' information on the variability they have to consider. This leads us to 2 variability models that shall help application engineers to understand the complexity and choices of stencil computations in the porous media domain.
Increased gap junction assembly between cultured cells upon cholesterol supplementation.

Novikoff hepatoma cells provide an excellent model system for the study of gap junction assembly, a process that could be influenced by lipids and other factors at numerous points. Since it is possible to alter the cellular levels of cholesterol in these cells, it was added to the cells in serum-supplemented medium and changes in gap junction assembly were evaluated. Cells were dissociated and reaggregated following exposure to a range of cholesterol concentrations for 24 h. A five- to sixfold increase in the number of aggregated gap junction particles and a 50% increase in cellular cholesterol content were observed with 20 microM added cholesterol. A 1-h exposure to added cholesterol, during cell reaggregation, resulted in a fourfold increase in the number of aggregated gap junction particles, demonstrating that the effect was rapid. The number of aggregated gap junction particles and formation plaque areas were used as measures of junction assembly and assayed by quantitative freeze-fracture and electron microscopy. Junctional permeabilities were evaluated by means of dye transfer times following the intracellular microinjection of Lucifer Yellow. Increased dye transfer was observed between cholesterol-treated cells, which suggested that the increase in assembly was accompanied by an increase in junction permeability. Cells were treated with cycloheximide (100 micrograms ml-1) and actinomycin D (10 micrograms ml-1) to determine whether protein and RNA syntheses were involved in the enhanced gap junction assembly. Cycloheximide but not actinomycin D blocked the increased junction assembly observed with added cholesterol. These results suggested that protein synthesis, but not RNA synthesis, is necessary for the increased gap junction formation observed. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Hardiness as predictor of work readiness: a preliminary exploratory study

This study explored hardiness as a possible predictor of work readiness in cross-cultural settings. In order to explore which factors may elicit hardiness, the sub-scales were identified and explored. Participants were from two African countries, namely South Africa (n = 47; females = 57%) and Uganda (n = 45; females = 51%). They completed the Sense of Coherence (SOC), Psychological Capital (PSYCAP) and Dispositional Hardiness/Resilience Scale (DRS-15). The results showed a strong positive correlation between psychological capital and dispositional hardiness.
The K20 survey - III. Photometric and spectroscopic properties of the sample

The K20 survey is an ESO VLT optical and near-infrared spectroscopic survey aimed at obtaining spectral infor- mation and redshifts of a complete sample of about 550 objects to Ks 20:0 over two independent fields with a total area of 52 arcmin 2 . In this paper we discuss the scientific motivation of such a survey, we describe the photometric and spectroscopic properties of the sample, and we release the Ks-band photometric catalog. Extensive simulations showed that the sample is photometrically highly complete to Ks= 20. The observed galaxy counts and the R Ks color distribution are consistent with literature results. We observed spectroscopically 94% of the sample, reaching a spectroscopic redshift identification complete- ness of 92% to Ks 20:0 for the observed targets, and of 87% for the whole sample (i.e. counting also the unobserved targets). Deep spectroscopy was complemented with multi-band deep imaging in order to derive tested and reliable photometric red- shifts for the galaxies lacking spectroscopic redshifts. The results show a very good agreement between the spectroscopic and the photometric redshifts with = 0:01 and with a dispersion ofz= 0:09. Using both the spectroscopic and the photometric redshifts, we reached an overall redshift completeness of about 98%. The size of the sample, the redshift complete- ness, the availability of high quality photometric redshifts and multicolor spectral energy distributions make the K20 survey database one of the most complete samples available to date for constraining the currently competing scenarios of galaxy formation and for a variety of other galaxy evolution studies.
Results of adjuvant radiation therapy for locoregional perihilar cholangiocarcinoma after curative intent resection

Purpose This study sought to define the role of adjuvant radiation therapy (RT) for patients with curative intent resection of perihilar cholangiocarcinoma (pCCA). Patients and methods By using the Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results (SEER) registry, 1,917 patients with non-metastatic pCCA who underwent surgical resection from 1988 to 2009 were included in this study. Propensity score methods were used to compare the survival outcomes of patients treated with and without adjuvant RT after controlling for selection bias. Results Of the 1,917 patients, 762 (39.7%) received adjuvant RT. In the unmatched population, median overall survival (OS) for patients receiving adjuvant RT compared with those undergoing surgery alone was 23 versus 22 months (P=0.651). Patients who received adjuvant RT were younger (65 vs 68 years, P<0.001), had more regional diseases (86.0% vs 76.7%, P<0.001), and had more positive lymph nodes (43.8% vs 32.2%, P<0.001). In the matched population, adjuvant RT did not show better OS (22 vs 23 months, P=0.978) or cancer-specific survival (CSS) (17 vs 18 months, P=0.554). Conclusion Adjuvant RT is not associated with improved survival of patients with resected pCCA. These data suggest that adjuvant RT should not be routinely used to treat patients with pCCA outside research trials. Ideally, prospective randomized trials should be performed to verify the conclusion of this study.
A semantic approach to contextual advertising

Contextual advertising or Context Match (CM) refers to the placement of commercial textual advertisements within the content of a generic web page, while Sponsored Search (SS) advertising consists in placing ads on result pages from a web search engine, with ads driven by the originating query. In CM there is usually an intermediary commercial ad-network entity in charge of optimizing the ad selection with the twin goal of increasing revenue (shared between the publisher and the ad-network) and improving the user experience. With these goals in mind it is preferable to have ads relevant to the page content, rather than generic ads. The SS market developed quicker than the CM market, and most textual ads are still characterized by "bid phrases" representing those queries where the advertisers would like to have their ad displayed. Hence, the first technologies for CM have relied on previous solutions for SS, by simply extracting one or more phrases from the given page content, and displaying ads corresponding to searches on these phrases, in a purely syntactic approach. However, due to the vagaries of phrase extraction, and the lack of context, this approach leads to many irrelevant ads. To overcome this problem, we propose a system for contextual ad matching based on a combination of semantic and syntactic features.
Systematic Validation of RNF213 Coding Variants in Japanese Patients With Moyamoya Disease

Background A founder variant of RNF213, p.R4810K (c.14429G>A, rs112735431), was recently identified as a major genetic risk factor for moyamoya disease (MMD) in Japan. Although the association of p.R4810K was reported to be highly significant and reproducible, the disease susceptibility of other RNF213 variants remains largely unknown. In the present study, we systematically evaluated the coding variants detected in Japanese patients and controls for associations with MMD. Methods and Results To detect variants of RNF213, all coding exons were sequenced in 27 Japanese MMD patients without p.R4810K. We also validated all previously reported variants in our case–control samples and tested for associations in combination with previous Japanese study cohorts, including the 1000 Genomes Project data set, as population-based controls. Forty-six missense variants other than p.R4810K were identified among 370 combined patients and 279 combined controls in Japan. Sixteen of 46 variants were polymorphisms with minor allele frequency >1%, and, after conditioning on the p.R4810K genotype, were not associated with MMD. We conducted a variable threshold test using Combined Annotation-Dependent Depletion on the remaining 30 rare variants (minor allele frequency <1%), and the results showed that the frequency of potentially functional variants was significantly higher in patients than in controls (permutation, minimum P=0.045). Conclusions Not only p.4810K but also other functional missense variants of RNF213 conferred susceptibility to MMD. Our analysis also revealed that ≈20% of Japanese MMD patients did not harbor susceptibility variants of RNF213, indicating the presence of other susceptibility genes for MMD.
Preparation and Evaluation of Carvedilol Microsphere by Spray Drying Technique: Effect of Process Parameters on Formulation

The aim of this study was to preparation and evaluation of carvedilol microsphere using spray drying technique and to optimize the spray drying parameters to get the optimum formulation. The carvedilol microsphere were prepared by spray drying technique using ethyl cellulose and PEG 6000 as sustained release polymers. Nine batches were prepared by using ethyl cellulose and PEG 6000 in different polymer ratios and prepared microspheres were evaluated for the particle size, percentage drug entrapment and percentage drug release.Experimental designs were built to investigate the effects of five parameters on production yields and particle size of spray-dried microspheres of carvedilol. These factors concerned aspiration speed, flow rate, drug polymer ratio, temperature difference between inlet temperature and outlet temperature. Three formulations containing ethyl cellulose, PEG 6000 and carvedilol were tested. The aim of the study was to optimize the operating conditions to maximize production yields while minimizing the particle size. The characterization of microsphere revealed the poor flowability of the spray-dried products due to significant cohesiveness and very small size (less than 20µm).
sn-Glycerol-3-phosphate auxotrophy of plsB strains of Escherichia coli: evidence that a second mutation, plsX, is required

sn-Glycerol-3-phosphate auxotrophs defective in phospholipid synthesis contain a Km-defective sn-glycerol-3-phosphate acyltransferase. Detailed genetic analysis revealed that two mutations were required for the auxotrophic phenotype. One mutation, in the previously described plsB locus (sn-glycerol-3-phosphate acyltransferase structural gene), mapped near min 92 on the Escherichia coli linkage map. Isolation of Tn10 insertions cotransducible with the auxotrophy in phage P1 crosses revealed that a second mutation was required with plsB26 to confer the sn-glycerol-3-phosphate auxotrophic phenotype. This second locus, plsX, mapped between pyrC and purB near min 24 on the E. coli linkage map. Tn10 insertions near plsX allowed detailed mapping of the genetic loci in this region. A clockwise gene order putA pyrC flbA flaL flaT plsX fabD ptsG thiK purB was inferred from results of two- and three-factor crosses. Strains harboring the four possible configurations of the mutant and wild-type plsB and plsX loci were constructed. Isogenic plsB+ plsX+, plsB+ plsX50, and plsB26 plsX+ strains grew equally well on glucose minimal medium without sn-glycerol-3-phosphate. In addition, plsX or plsX+ had no apparent effect on sn-glycerol-3-phosphate acyltransferase activity measured in membrane preparations. The molecular basis for the plsX requirement for conferral of sn-glycerol-3-phosphate auxotrophy in these strains remains to be established.
Mechanical complications in chronic peritoneal dialysis.

BACKGROUND A significant number of complications and catheter failures in CAPD are due to mechanical problems. METHODS We reviewed 105 consecutive peritoneal dialysis catheters, generally implanted by blind insertion technique, in 80 patients over an 11-year period. 137 mechanical problems were collected and classified according to their etiologies into the following: those related to the insertion procedure (n = 21; 15.3%), those related to the presence of dialysate in peritoneum (n = 33; 24%), catheter-related malfunction (n = 28; 20.4%), secondaries to abdominal events (n = 3; 0.2%), catheter accidents (n = 37; 26.2%) and others (n = 15; 11%). RESULTS Removal of the catheter was performed in 86 of 105 catheters: mechanical complications accounted for 19 of them (21.8%) and 9 patients were definitively transferred to hemodialysis due to this problem. The most frequent complications were catheter accidents, although only a few of them required catheter removal. CONCLUSION The majority of the catheter removals were due to catheter displacement (31.5%), this problem being more frequent in straight than in Swan Neck catheters.