Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Spatial Constancy of Surface-Embedded Layouts across Multiple Environments

We introduce a layout manager that exploits the robust sensing capabilities of next-generation head-worn displays by embedding virtual application windows in the user's surroundings. With the aim of allowing users to find applications quickly, our approach leverages spatial memory of a known body-centric configuration. The layout manager balances multiple constraints to keep layouts consistent across environments while observing geometric and visual features specific to each locale. We compare various constraint weighting schemas and discuss outcomes of this approach applied to models of two test environments.
ON GETTING BETTER AND WORKING HARD: USING IMPROVEMENT AS A HEURISTIC FOR JUDGING EFFORT

There is a strong conceptual association between improvement and effort. Therefore, we propose that people tend to use improvement as a heuristic for judging effort in others. Hence, they would perceive greater effort in improved performance records than in nonimproved records with superior overall performance. To examine whether people use improvement as a heuristic for effort, we compared judgments of effort investments and trait effort in improved and consistently-strong performance profiles with equivalent recent performance. Across six empirical studies, participants thought that those with improved profiles exerted more effort and were more hardworking than those with consistently-strong profiles, and this resulted in a preference for improved candidates when making decisions (e.g., selecting among candidates for a promotion). Even when we introduced manipulations that highlighted strengths of the consistent profiles, participants still made effort judgements in favour of improvement (Studies 2 and 3). Moreover, participants had a greater tendency to mention effort as a reason for selecting an improved (vs. consistently-strong) candidate for an award (Study 4). Furthermore, two studies (Studies 5 and 6) showed that the use of improvement as a heuristic for effort was restricted to contexts with considerable ambiguity. Finally, we examined the overall effects using meta-analyses (Study 7). Overall, the results provided converging evidence that people use improvement as a heuristic for judging effort, particularly in contexts that are relatively ambiguous, and that these judgments can have implications for important
Copper‐dependent iron transport in coastal and oceanic diatoms

We investigated the presence of plasmalemma‐bound copper‐containing oxidases associated with the inducible iron (Fe) transport system in two diatoms of the genus Thalassiosira. Under Fe‐limiting conditions, Thalassiosira oceanica, an oceanic isolate, was able to enzymatically oxidize inorganic Fe(II) extracellularly. This oxidase activity was dependent on copper (Cu) availability and diminished by exposure to a multi‐Cu oxidase (MCO) inhibitor. The rates of Fe uptake from ferrioxamine B by Fe‐limited T. oceanica were also dependent on Cu availability in the growth media. The effects of Cu limitation on Fe(II) oxidation and Fe uptake from ferrioxamine B were partially reversed after a short exposure to a Cu addition, indicating that the putative oxidases contain Cu. Limited physiological experiments were also performed with the coastal diatom Thalassiosira pseudonana and provided some evidence for putative Cu‐containing oxidases in the high‐affinity Fe transport system of this isolate. To support these preliminary physiological data, we searched the newly available T. pseudonana genome for a multi‐Cu‐containing oxidase gene and, using real‐time polymerase chain reaction (PCR), quantified its expression under various Fe and Cu levels. We identified a putative MCO gene with predicted transmembrane domains and found that transcription levels of this gene were significantly elevated in Fe‐limited cells relative to Fe‐replete cells. These data collectively suggest that putative MCOs are part of the inducible Fe transport system of Fe‐limited diatoms, which act to oxidize Fe(II) following reductive dissociation of Fe(III) from strong organic complexes.
Exploring the Electrophysiological Correlates of the Default-Mode Network with Intracerebral EEG

While functional imaging studies allow for a precise spatial characterization of resting state networks, their neural correlates and thereby their fine-scale temporal dynamics remain elusive. A full understanding of the mechanisms at play requires input from electrophysiological studies. Here, we discuss human and non-human primate electrophysiological data that explore the neural correlates of the default-mode network. Beyond the promising findings obtained with non-invasive approaches, emerging evidence suggests that invasive recordings in humans will be crucial in order to elucidate the neural correlates of the brain's default-mode function. In particular, we contend that stereotactic-electroencephalography, which consists of implanting multiple depth electrodes for pre-surgical evaluation in drug-resistant epilepsy, is particularly suited for this endeavor. We support this view by providing rare data from depth recordings in human posterior cingulate cortex and medial prefrontal cortex that show transient neural deactivation during task-engagement.
Models, Paradigms or Cultures of Vocational Education.

The aim of this paper is to question the role of educational researchers and educational history as joint constitutors of political and practical discourses of vocational education. The globalisation of the economy and utilisation of human labour are challenging the patterns and practices of developing occupational competences and identities, which have been constituted in the contexts of building national political, industrial and occupational orders. Policies responding to challenges on improving competitiveness, mobility, transferability and flexibility commonly take ‘countries’ as their starting point. Common criteria, single frameworks and principles for developing VET and good practices for implementation are searched across countries. (White Paper, 1995; EU, 2002). When countries are compared, the patterns and practices of VET are interpreted as systems. When high quality and good practices are recognised, they are attributed to the VET system of a country. However, the dissemination of good practices and adoption of single frameworks raises the question of why countries differ and what can be done to improve systems. This is where the discourse on ‘models’ enters the picture. The connection of education and history to political or cultural programmes is less transparent at the transnational than at national level. By recognising and making visible certain phenomena, changes and continuities in VET, researchers are its co-definers. As long as the possibilities of cross-cultural collaborative historical research on VET are marginal, there are temptations to adopt universalising interpretations of occupational work and VET, even if they were developed from certain, selected cultural frameworks.
An “Anaplastic” Kaposi's Sarcoma Mimicking a Stewart-Treves Syndrome. A Case Report and a Review of Literature

Cutaneous angiosarcoma (AGS) developing in a lymphedematous arm, after lymphadenectomy in the context of breast cancer, is the definition of the classical Stewart-Treves syndrome. Like AGS, many tumors such as Kaposi's sarcoma (KS) could develop in chronic lymphedema. We describe the case of a 50-year-old woman who presented with several nodules on the left lymphedematous arm evocative of a Stewart-Treves syndrome, 2 years after a left mastectomy and a homolateral lymphadenectomy. The histological examination revealed an atypical vascular proliferation suggesting AGS, but endothelial atypical cells nuclei were strongly stained by herpes human virus 8 antibody. The final diagnosis was an “anaplastic” KS mimicking a Stewart-Treves syndrome. The total regression of the lesion was obtained by elastic contention and intradermic liposomal doxorubicin. “Anaplastic” KS is a rare histological form of nodular KS, which mimics a cutaneous AGS but classically expresses herpes human virus 8. It is essential to know about this entity, particularly in a lymphedematous arm, to avoid aggressive treatment such as amputation.
A Comparison of Web Service Interface Similarity Measures

Web service technology allows access to advertised services despite of their location and implementation platform. However, considerable differences on structural, semantical and technical levels along with the growing number of available web services makes their discovery a significant challenge. Keyword-based matchmaking methods can help users to locate quickly the set of potentially useful services, but they are insufficient for automatic retrieval. On the other hand, the high cost of formal ontology-based methods alienates service designers from their use in practice. Several information retrieval approaches to assess the similarity of web services have been proposed. In this paper we proceed with such a study. In particular, we examine advantages of using Vector-Space Model, WordNet and semantic similarity metrics for this purpose. A matching algorithm relying on the above techniques is presented and an experimental study to choose the most effective approach is provided.
The evolving role of expectations in long-term user experience

Pre-use expectations are believed to influence user experience evaluations. The goal of this study is to understand the role of expectations and emotions in the evaluation of a product -- a mobile phone -- over a five-month period of use in a real-life setting. The results show that expected enjoyment has long-lasting effects on product evaluations and on behavioral intentions, e.g., recommending the product to friends. High enjoyment expectations boosted enjoyment during the first days of use, but the effect of expectations changed over time depending on initial level of expected enjoyment and whether expectations were exceeded, confirmed or disconfirmed. The results suggest that subjective evaluations after short-term usability testing may not reliably predict future satisfaction, and it is critical to measure expectations as a benchmark for interpreting the meaning of subjective evaluations. Furthermore, longer use trials are required to estimate future product success, as users need several days of usage experience in order to evaluate whether their expectations are confirmed.
Prediction of helix–helix contacts and interacting helices in polytopic membrane proteins using neural networks

Despite rapidly increasing numbers of available 3D structures, membrane proteins still account for less than 1% of all structures in the Protein Data Bank. Recent high‐resolution structures indicate a clearly broader structural diversity of membrane proteins than initially anticipated, motivating the development of reliable structure prediction methods specifically tailored for this class of molecules. One important prediction target capturing all major aspects of a protein's 3D structure is its contact map. Our analysis shows that computational methods trained to predict residue contacts in globular proteins perform poorly when applied to membrane proteins. We have recently published a method to identify interacting α‐helices in membrane proteins based on the analysis of coevolving residues in predicted transmembrane regions. Here, we present a substantially improved algorithm for the same problem, which uses a newly developed neural network approach to predict helix–helix contacts. In addition to the input features commonly used for contact prediction of soluble proteins, such as windowed residue profiles and residue distance in the sequence, our network also incorporates features that apply to membrane proteins only, such as residue position within the transmembrane segment and its orientation toward the lipophilic environment. The obtained neural network can predict contacts between residues in transmembrane segments with nearly 26% accuracy. It is therefore the first published contact predictor developed specifically for membrane proteins performing with equal accuracy to state‐of‐the‐art contact predictors available for soluble proteins. The predicted helix–helix contacts were employed in a second step to identify interacting helices. For our dataset consisting of 62 membrane proteins of solved structure, we gained an accuracy of 78.1%. Because the reliable prediction of helix interaction patterns is an important step in the classification and prediction of membrane protein folds, our method will be a helpful tool in compiling a structural census of membrane proteins. Proteins 2009. © 2008 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
A deep ROSAT survey – XV. The average QSO spectrum and its evolution

Using a sample of 165 X-ray selected QSOs from seven deep ROSAT fields f(0.5–2.0 keV)≳4×10−15 erg cm−2 s−1], we investigate the X-ray spectral properties of an ‘average’ radio-quiet broad-line QSO as a function of redshift. The QSO stacked spectra, in the observer's 0.1–2 keV band, in five redshift bins over the range 0.1z3. 2, apparently harden from an equivalent photon index of Γ∼2.6 at z=0.4 to Γ∼2.1 at z=2.4 as seen in other QSO samples. In contrast, the spectra in the 0.5–2 keV band show no significant variation in spectral index with redshift. This suggests the presence of a spectral upturn at low energies ( 1.0) the single power-law model gives an acceptable fit to the data over the full energy band, at lower redshifts the spectra need a second component at low energies, a ‘soft excess’. Inclusion of a simple model for the soft excess, i.e. a blackbody component (kT∼100 eV), results in a significant improvement to the model fit, and yields power-law slopes of Γ∼1.8–1.9, for all redshift bins. This power law is not inconsistent, within the error bars, with those of nearby active galactic nuclei (AGN) in the 2–10 keV band, suggesting that the same intrinsic power-law slope may continue from 10 keV down to below ∼0.5 keV. We caution that there is a possibility that the spectral upturn observed may not represent a real physical component, but could be caused by co-adding spectra with a large dispersion in spectral indices. Regardless of the origin of the soft excess, the average QSO spectrum has important consequences for the origin of the X-ray background: the average spectra of a typical, faint, high-redshift QSO are significantly steeper than the spectrum of the X-ray background, extending the spectral paradox into the soft 0.1–2 keV X-ray band.
A Novel DNMT3B Splice Variant Expressed in Tumor and Pluripotent Cells Modulates Genomic DNA Methylation Patterns and Displays Altered DNA Binding

DNA methylation is an epigenetic mark essential for mammalian development, genomic stability, and imprinting. DNA methylation patterns are established and maintained by three DNA methyltransferases: DNMT1, DNMT3A, and DNMT3B. Interestingly, all three DNMTs make use of alternative splicing. DNMT3B has nearly 40 known splice variants expressed in a tissue- and disease-specific manner, but very little is known about the role of these splice variants in modulating DNMT3B function. We describe here the identification and characterization of a novel alternatively spliced form of DNMT3B lacking exon 5 within the NH2-terminal regulatory domain. This variant, which we term DNMT3B3Δ5 because it is closely related in structure to the ubiquitously expressed DNMT3B3 isoform, is highly expressed in pluripotent cells and brain tissue, is downregulated during differentiation, and is conserved in the mouse. Creation of pluripotent iPS cells from fibroblasts results in marked induction of DNMT3B3Δ5. DNMT3B3Δ5 expression is also altered in human disease, with tumor cell lines displaying elevated or reduced expression depending on their tissue of origin. We then compared the DNA binding and subcellular localization of DNMT3B3Δ5 versus DNMT3B3, revealing that DNMT3B3Δ5 possessed significantly enhanced DNA binding affinity and displayed an altered nuclear distribution. Finally, ectopic overexpression of DNMT3B3Δ5 resulted in repetitive element hypomethylation and enhanced cell growth in a colony formation assay. Taken together, these results show that DNMT3B3Δ5 may play an important role in stem cell maintenance or differentiation and suggest that sequences encoded by exon 5 influence the functional properties of DNMT3B. (Mol Cancer Res 2009;7(10):1622–34)
Cyclic fatigue resistance of Mtwo NiTi rotary instruments used by experienced and novice operators – an in vivo and in vitro study

Summary Background The aim of the present study was to evaluate the cyclic fatigue resistance of Mtwo NiTi rotary instruments after clinical use by 1 experienced and 1 novice operator. Material/Methods Cyclic fatigue testing of instruments was performed on tapered artificial canals with a 5 mm radius of curvature and 60° angle of curvature. Twenty Mtwo instruments for each size were selected and divided into 2 groups: group A consisted of 10 instruments of each size used for shaping 10 root canals in molar teeth of patients by an experienced operator; group B consisted of 10 instruments of each size used for shaping 10 root canals in molar teeth of patients by a novice operator. Instruments were rotated until fracture occurred and the numbers of cycles to failure (NCF) were recorded. Data obtained were subjected to an independent sample t-test to determine statistical differences. The significance was determined at a 95% confidence level. Results No statistically significant difference (P<0.05) was noted between the instruments of groups A and B for all sizes. More instruments with visible signs of plastic deformation were identified for the novice operator. Conclusions The clinical use of Mtwo NiTi rotary instruments by a novice operator did not significantly affect the cyclic fatigue resistance when compared with the control group of the same instrument sizes used by an experienced operator. It can be concluded that novice operators can use these instruments safely under the recommended technical guidelines.
Agent-based Distributed Group Key Establishment in Wireless Sensor Networks

Wireless sensor networks are comprised of a vast number of ultra-small autonomous computing, communication and sensing devices, with restricted energy and computing capabilities, that co-operate to accomplish a large sensing task. Such networks can be very useful in practice, e.g. in the local monitoring of ambient conditions and reporting them to a control center. In this paper we propose a distributed group key establishment protocol that uses mobile agents (software) and is particularly suitable for energy constrained, dynamically evolving ad-hoc networks. Our approach totally avoids the construction and the maintenance of a distributed structure that reflects the topology of the network. Moreover, it trades-off complex message exchanges by performing some amount of additional local computations in order to be applicable at dense and dynamic sensor networks. The extra computations are simple for the devices to implement and are evenly distributed across the participants of the network leading to good energy balance. We evaluate the performance of our protocol in a simulated environment and compare our results with existing group key establishment protocols. The security of the protocol is based on the Diffie-Hellman problem and we used in our experiments its elliptic curve analog. Our findings basically indicate the feasibility of implementing our protocol in real sensor network devices and highlight the advantages and disadvantages of each approach given the available technology and the corresponding efficiency (energy, time) criteria.
Matrix metalloproteinase-1 contribution to sarcoma cell invasion

Matrix metalloproteinase‐1 (MMP‐1) activity has been linked to numerous disease processes from arthritis to ulcer. Its proteolytic activity has been implicated inconsistently in different steps of tumourigenesis and metastasis. The discrepancies may be attributable to our limited understanding of MMP‐1 production, cellular trafficking, secretion and local activation. Specifically, regulation of MMP‐1 directional delivery versus its general extracellular matrix secretion is largely unknown. Inhibition of prenylation by farnesyl transferase inhibitor (FTI‐276) decreased extracellular MMP‐1 and subsequently reduced invasiveness by 30%. Parallel, stable cell line RNAi knockdown of MMP‐1 confirmed its role in cellular invasiveness. The prenylation agonist farnesyl pyrophosphate (FPP) partially normalized FTI‐276 inhibited extracellular MMP‐1 levels and invasion capacity while transiently delayed its cellular podia distribution. MMP‐1 directional delivery to these structures were confirmed by combination of a MMP‐1–specific fluorogenic substrate, a MMP1‐Ds‐Red fusion protein construct expression and DQ‐collagen degradation, which demonstrated coupling of directional delivery and activation. MetaMorph analysis of cellular lamellipodia structures indicated that FTI‐276 inhibited formation and delivery to these structures. Farnesyl pyrophosphate partially restored lamellipodia area but not MMP‐1 delivery under the time frame investigated. These results indicate that MMP‐1 directional delivery to podia structures is involved in the invasive activity of sarcoma cells, and this process is prenylation sensitive.
Dealing with Similarity Relations in Fuzzy Ontologies

Crisp ontologies become less suitable in all domains in which the concepts to be represented have imprecise definitions. Fuzzy ontologies are developed to overcome this problem. Determining similarity relations among fuzzy ontology components is essential for many reuse subprocesses, for query rewriting as well as for fuzzy ontology modeling. Denning similarity relations within fuzzy context may be realized basing on the linguistic similarity among ontology components or may be deduced from their intensional definitions. The later approach needs to be dealt with differently in crisp and fuzzy ontologies. In the first case, two ontology components are related by a given similarity relation or not. In the second one, two ontology components have a degree to be related by a given similarity relation. This is the scope of this paper.
Subcurative radiation significantly increases cell proliferation, invasion, and migration of primary glioblastoma multiforme in vivo

Tumor cell proliferation, infiltration, migration, and neovascularization are known causes of treatment resistance in glioblastoma multiforme (GBM). The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of radiation on the growth characteristics of primary human GBM developed in a nude rat. Primary GBM cells grown from explanted GBM tissues were implanted orthotopically in nude rats. Tumor growth was confirmed by magnetic resonance imaging on day 77 (baseline) after implantation. The rats underwent irradiation to a dose of 50 Gy delivered subcuratively on day 84 postimplantation (n = 8), or underwent no radiation (n = 8). Brain tissues were obtained on day 112 (nonirradiated) or day 133 (irradiated). Immunohistochemistry was performed to determine tumor cell proliferation (Ki-67) and to assess the expression of infiltration marker (matrix metalloproteinase-2, MMP-2) and cell migration marker (CD44). Tumor neovascularization was assessed by microvessel density using von-Willebrand factor (vWF) staining. Magnetic resonance imaging showed well-developed, infiltrative tumors in 11 weeks postimplantation. The proportion of Ki-67-positive cells in tumors undergoing radiation was (71 ± 15)% compared with (25 ± 12)% in the nonirradiated group (P = 0.02). The number of MMP-2-positive areas and proportion of CD44-positive cells were also high in tumors receiving radiation, indicating great invasion and infiltration. Microvessel density analysis did not show a significant difference between nonirradiated and irradiated tumors. Taken together, we found that subcurative radiation significantly increased proliferation, invasion, and migration of primary GBM. Our study provides insights into possible mechanisms of treatment resistance following radiation therapy for GBM.