Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Identification of an Enhancer Sequence within the First Intron Required for Cartilage-specific Transcription of the α2(XI) Collagen Gene*

Type XI collagen, a heterotrimer composed of α1(XI), α2(XI) and α3(XI), is primarily synthesized by chondrocytes in cartilage and is also present in some other tissues. Type XI collagen plays a critical role in collagen fibril formation and skeletal morphogenesis. We investigated a tissue-specific transcriptional enhancer in the first intron of the α2(XI) collagen gene (Col11a2). Transient transfection assays using reporter gene constructs revealed that a 60-base pair (bp) segment within intron 1 increased promoter activity of Col11a2 in rat chondrosarcoma cells but not in either BalB/3T3 cells or undifferentiated ATDC5 cells, suggesting that it contained cell type-specific enhancer activity. In transgenic mice, this 60-bp fragment was also able to target β-galactosidase expression to cartilage including the limbs and axial skeleton, with similar localization specificity as the full-length intron 1 fragment. Competition experiments in gel shift assays using mutated oligonucleotides showed that recombinant Sox9 bound to a 7-bp sequence, CTCAAAG, within the 60-bp segment. Anti-Sox9 antibodies supershifted the complex of the 60-bp segment with recombinant Sox9 or with rat chondrosarcoma cell extracts, confirming the binding of Sox9 to the enhancer. Moreover, a site-specific mutation within the 7-bp segment resulted in essentially complete loss of the enhancer activity in chondrosarcoma cells and transgenic mice. These results suggest that the 7-bp sequence within intron 1 plays a critical role in the cartilage-specific enhancer activity of Col11a2 through Sox9-mediated transcriptional activation.
Immortalized Fibroblast‐Like Cells Derived from Human Embryonic Stem Cells Support Undifferentiated Cell Growth

Human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) have the potential to generate multiple cell types and hold promise for future therapeutic applications. Although undifferentiated hESCs can proliferate indefinitely, hESC derivatives significantly downregulate telomerase and have limited replication potential. In this study we examine whether the replicative lifespan of hESC derivatives can be extended by ectopic expression of human telomerase reverse transcriptase (hTERT), the catalytic component of the telomerase complex. To this end, we have derived HEF1 cells, a fibroblast‐like cell type, differentiated from hESCs. Infection of HEF1 cells with a retrovirus expressing hTERT extends their replicative capacity, resulting in immortal human HEF1‐hTERT cells. HEF1‐hTERT cells can be used to produce conditioned medium (CM) capable of supporting hESC growth under feeder‐free conditions. Cultures maintained in HEF1‐CM show characteristics similar to mouse embryonic fibroblast CM control cultures, including morphology, surface marker and transcription factor expression, telomerase activity, differentiation, and karyotypic stability. In addition, HEF1‐hTERT cells have the capacity to differentiate into cells of the osteogenic lineage. These results suggest that immortalized cell lines can be generated from hESCs and that cells derived from hESCs can be used to support their own growth, creating a genotypically homogeneous system for the culture of hESCs.
Semantic Map Based Web Search Result Visualization

The problem of information overload has become more pressing with the emergence of the increasingly more popular Internet services. The main information retrieval mechanisms provided by the prevailing Internet Web software are based on either keyword search (e.g., Google and Yahoo) or hypertext browsing (e.g., Internet Explorer and Netscape). The research presented in this paper is aimed at providing an alternative concept-based categorization and search capability based on a combination of meta-search and self-organizing maps. Kohonen's self-organizing map is very well known as a clustering and dimension reduction tool. Clustering can be used for categorization of search results. Dimension reduction can be used for visualization and for reducing information in order to ease search.
A Start-Up Generation Approach For Teaching Entrepreneurship: An Overview Of Affective Learning Results

This study reports an analysis of the training objectives achieved by students with a heterogeneous educational background who attended a university entrepreneurial course. The course emphasized an experiential approach of a start-up creation. A pre-experimental design was followed to collect data on a sample of fourteen students who completed the six-month course. Findings, based on a non-parametric test, show significant differences between the pre and post-test. After the course, participants displayed a higher level of self-efficacy in making decisions, a higher level of probability of becoming entrepreneurs and a lower level of pessimism in projecting their future. Despite deserving to be corroborated with a more sophisticated research design, this study contributes to the extant literature by providing further empirical support about the role played by entrepreneurial courses in fostering harbinger variables of entrepreneurial behavior. Future research issues and practical implications are illustrated with respect to optimism and pessimism.
Variability in Sentence Ordering across Multiple Subjects : Disorder In Correlates with Disorder Out

We conduct an experiment wherein human subjects are asked to order sentences in short multi-document summaries. We perform statistical analyses of the results and present compelling quantitative evidence that when (a) the subjects are likely to do a significantly better job when starting from a reasonable initial order and, (b) there is a significant amount of variability among the reorderings that are produced.
A Paraphrase-Based Approach to Machine Translation Evaluation

We propose a novel approach to automatic machine translation evaluation based on paraphrase identification. The quality of machine-generated output can be viewed as the extent to which the conveyed meaning matches the semantics of reference translations, independent of lexical and syntactic divergences. This idea is implemented in linear regression models that attempt to capture human judgments of adequacy and fluency, based on features that have previously been shown to be effective for paraphrase identification. We evaluated our model using the output of three different MT systems from the 2004 NIST Arabic-to-English MT evaluation. Results show that models employing paraphrase-based features correlate better with human judgments than models based purely on existing automatic MT metrics.
Improving and evaluating robotic garment unfolding: A garment-agnostic approach

Current approaches for robotic garment folding require a full view of an extended garment, in order to successfully apply a model-based folding sequence. In this paper, we present a garment-agnostic algorithm that requires no model to unfold clothes and works using only depth data. Once the garment is unfolded, state of the art approaches for folding may be applied. The algorithm presented is divided into 3 main stages. First, a Segmentation stage extracts the garment data from the background, and approximates its contour into a polygon. Then, a Clustering stage groups regions of similar height within the garment, corresponding to different overlapped regions. Finally, a Pick and Place Points stage finds the most suitable points for grasping and releasing the garment for the unfolding process, based on a bumpiness value defined as the accumulated difference in height along selected candidate paths. Experiments for evaluation of the vision algorithm have been performed over a dataset of 30 samples from a total of 6 different garment categories with one and two folds. The whole unfolding algorithm has also been validated through experiments with an industrial robot platform over a subset of the dataset garments.
High-speed cycloid-scan atomic force microscopy

A key hurdle in achieving high scan speeds in atomic force microscopes is that the probe is required to be scanned over the sample in a zig-zag raster pattern. The fast axis of the AFM scanner must track a signal that contains frequencies beyond its mechanical bandwidth. Consequently, fast raster scans generate distortions in the resulting image. We propose a smooth cycloid-like scan pattern that allows us to achieve scan speeds much higher than a raster scan. We illustrate how the proposed method can be implemented on a commercial AFM with minimal modifications.
Age Variation in Mating Strategies and Mate Preferences: Beliefs versus Reality

We conducted three studies to (1) investigate individuals' beliefs about change in mating desires over the course of emerging adulthood and (2) determine whether those beliefs reflect actual variation in mating desires among emerging adults of varied ages (late teens through twenties). In Study 1, 103 men and women gave their thoughts on how college students change, if at all, in what they most desire in a relationship and relationship partner as they move from being incoming freshmen to graduating seniors. In Studies 2 and 3, using a college sample and then an internet sample (n s = 288 and 307), men and women between the ages of 18 and 26 completed mating strategies inventories and allotted a limited number of “mate dollars” to 10 mate characteristics. Findings suggest that although emerging adults believe that their peers' mating desires change systematically over time, emerging adults' self-reported mating desires vary little with age.
Metabolic engineering of Saccharomyces cerevisiae for polyhydroxybutyrate production

Establishing industrial biotechnology for the production of chemical compounds from the biosynthetic pathway has received a significant boost with the implementation of metabolic engineering. At present, metabolic engineering in Saccharomyces cerevisiae gains significant advantages of integration of knowledge acquired through a long history of use and data acquisition from novel –omics technologies hence enabling the development of a tailor-made S. cerevisiae with desired features for various industrial applications. With regard to environmentally friendly (eco-friendly) materials, engineering of biodegradable polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB) producing microbes has been studied as a potential alternative to petroleum-based thermoplastics. Heterologous expression of the bacterial PHB biosynthesis pathway in S. cerevisiae involves the utilization of acetyl-CoA, an intermediate of the central carbon metabolism, as precursor and NADPH, a redox cofactor used during anabolic metabolism, as a required cofactor for the catalyzing enzymes in the PHB biosynthesis pathway. Provision of acetyl-CoA and NADPH by alteration of the endogenous pathways and/or implementation of a heterologous gene/pathway was investigated with the aim to improve PHB production in S. cerevisiae. Since the specific growth rate and the type of carbon source (fermentable/non-fermentable) influence cell physiology and affect the growth of S. cerevisiae, PHB production was examined at different specific growth rates on different carbon sources. Overexpression of genes in the native ethanol degradation pathway and heterologous expression of a phosphoketolase pathway from Aspergillus nidulans aiming to increase the production of cytosolic acetyl-coA and chromosomal integration of gapN from Streptococcus mutans to enhance the availability of NADPH were evaluated for their possibility to promote PHB production in S. cerevisiae. The enhancement of acetyl-CoA and NADPH either by the combined strategies of the ethanol degradation pathway and gapN or utilization of the phosphoketolase pathway resulted in the improved PHB content from 4 mg/gDW in the reference strain to approximately 28 mg/gDW. It is difficult for S. cerevisiae to compete with other natural PHB producers like Ralstonia eutropha which benefit from native enzymes for the biosynthesis or with the engineered E. coli since the metabolism in S. cerevisiae is more complex and involves compartmentalization and shuttle systems for precursor and redox balancing. However, the strategies employed in this study involve both engineering of the central carbon and redox metabolism and it demonstrated that it is possible to substantially improve PHB production. Furthermore, the applied strategies may well be suitable also for improving the production of other chemicals, derived from acetyl-CoA and requires NADPH for its biosynthesis.
Statistical analysis of the social network and discussion threads in slashdot

We analyze the social network emerging from the user comment activity on the website Slashdot. The network presents common features of traditional social networks such as a giant component, small average path length and high clustering, but differs from them showing moderate reciprocity and neutral assortativity by degree. Using Kolmogorov-Smirnov statistical tests, we show that the degree distributions are better explained by log-normal instead of power-law distributions. We also study the structure of discussion threads using an intuitive radial tree representation. Threads show strong heterogeneity and self-similarity throughout the different nesting levels of a conversation. We use these results to propose a simple measure to evaluate the degree of controversy provoked by a post.
Effect of adjunctive systemic azithromycin with periodontal surgery in the treatment of chronic periodontitis in smokers: a pilot study.

BACKGROUND Along with conventional surgical therapy, systemic antibiotics may provide more effective treatment in smokers by targeting tissue-invasive bacteria. The aim of this randomized, placebo-controlled, double-masked clinical trial was to evaluate the adjunctive effects of systemic azithromycin (AZM) in combination with periodontal pocket reduction surgery in the treatment of chronic periodontitis in smokers. METHODS Thirty patients with a greater than one pack/day smoking habit and generalized moderate to severe chronic periodontitis were randomized to the test (surgery plus 3 days of AZM, 500 mg) or control group (surgery plus 3 days of placebo). Full-mouth probing depth (PD), clinical attachment level (CAL), bleeding on probing (BOP), gingival index (GI), plaque index, and wound healing indices (WHI) were assessed at baseline and at 2 weeks and 1, 3, and 6 months following surgical intervention. Plaque and gingival crevicular fluid were collected for trypsin-like enzyme activity (benzoyl-dl-arginine naphthylamine) and bone biomarker (crosslinked telopeptide of type I collagen [ICTP]) analyses, respectively, at baseline, 2 weeks, and 1, 3, and 6 months. RESULTS Surgical treatment of moderate (PD = 4 to 6 mm) and deep (PD > 6 mm) pockets significantly improved clinical parameters of treated and untreated teeth (CAL gain, PD reduction, and reduction of BOP). The additional use of AZM did not enhance this improvement nor did it promote reduction of ICTP levels. Compared to the control group, the test group had significantly better WHI scores at 1 month, significantly less GI at 2 weeks, and sustained reductions of red-complex bacteria with trypsin-like enzyme activity at 3 months. For non-surgery teeth, only the test group showed significant gains in overall CAL compared to baseline. CONCLUSIONS The findings of this pilot study demonstrated that in heavy smokers, adjunctive systemic AZM in combination with pocket reduction surgery did not significantly enhance PD reduction or CAL gain. However, the clinical value of adjunctive AZM may be appreciated by more rapid wound healing, less short-term gingival inflammation, and sustained reductions of periopathogenic bacteria. More expanded studies are recommended to better determine the clinical effects of adjunctive AZM in patients who smoke.
Overconfidence in Currency Markets

This paper tests the influential hypothesis, typically attributed to Friedman (1953), that irrational traders will be driven out of financial markets by trading losses. The paper’s main finding is that overconfident currency dealers are not driven out of the market. Traders with extensive experience are neither more nor less overconfident than their inexperienced colleagues. We first provide evidence that currency dealers are indeed overconfident, which is notable since they get daily trading practice and face intense financial incentives to accuracy.
Accumulating aerobic exercise for effective weight control

Purpose: To compare the effects of different patterns of regular treadmill walking and cycle ergometry on body weight, body composition, waist and hip circumferences in overweight adult Singaporean females. Methods: Thirty overweight (BMI > 23 kg/m2) Singaporean females, aged 42.2 ± 5.4 yr (mean ± SD), all spasmodically physically active, were randomly assigned to two different eight-week programmes of aerobic exercise. One programme involved walking and cycling on indoor exercise machines at a moderate, comfortable intensity until 400 kcals had been expended, five times a week, thus giving a total weekly energy expenditure of 2,000 kcal. The other programme involved the same type of exercise but expending 1,000 kcal per session on two days a week, thereby giving the same weekly energy expenditure. Body weight, body mass index, body composition, waist and hip circumferences were measured before and after each programme. Prior to commencement of the study all subjects attended a one hour seminar on nutrition, health and fitness where the project structure was explained. They were asked not to change their eating habits during the intervention period and food diaries were kept and monitored weekly. Results: All subjects completed the eight-week programmes of exercise. Both programmes significantly reduced body weight, body mass index, percentage body fat and waist circumference (all p<0.05). These reductions were identical in both the short-bout and long-bout programmes. No changes were observed in either group for hip circumference or lean body mass. Conclusion: These findings demonstrated the effectiveness of moderate aerobic exercise in reducing body weight, body fat percentage and waist circumference whilst maintaining lean body mass in moderately overweight Singaporean females. The study also demonstrated that whether the exercise is performed in a series of short bouts five times a week or in longer bouts twice a week, the results are identical, providing that the total weekly energy expenditure remains the same.
Sparse multi-label linear embedding nonnegative tensor factorization for automatic music tagging

In this paper, a robust framework for automatic music tagging is proposed. First, each music recording is represented by its auditory temporal modulations. Then, a multilinear subspace learning algorithm based on sparse label coding is proposed to effectively harness the multi-label information for dimensionality reduction. The proposed algorithm is referred to as Sparse Multi-label Linear Embedding Nonnegative Tensor Factorization. Finally, a recently proposed sparse representation-based method for multi-label data is employed to propagate the multiple labels of the training auditory temporal modulations to annotate the auditory temporal modulations extracted from a test music recording with the sparse ℓ1 reconstruction coefficients. The proposed framework outperforms both humans and state-of-the-art computer audition systems in the music tagging task, when applied to the CAL500 dataset.
Neogenesis vs. apoptosis as main components of pancreatic β cell mass changes in glucose‐infused normal and mildly diabetic adult rats

We have investigated in adult rats made mildly diabetic by a low dose of streptozotocin (35 mg/kg; STZ rats) and in nondiabetic rats (ND rats) the mechanisms leading to adaptive changes in the β cell mass, during glucose infusion and several days after stopping infusion. As early as 24 h of glucose infusion, the β cell mass was maximally increased in ND and STZ rats. In both groups, this increase was due mainly to a rapid activation of neogenesis of new endocrine cells rather than to an increase in β cell proliferation. Seven days after stopping glucose infusion, the β cell mass returned to basal values in both groups as a result of stimulation of β cell apoptosis and a decrease in β cell replication rate. In glucose‐infused ND rats, changes in the β cell mass were correlated to insulin secretion, whereas in STZ rats, insulin secretion in response to glucose was still impaired whatever the β cell mass. In conclusion, the data stress the impressive plasticity of the endocrine pancreas of adult rats. They also show that changes in β cell mass in ND and STZ rats resulted from a disruption in the balance between neogenesis and apoptosis. —Bernard, C. , Berthault, M. ‐F. , Saulnier, C. , Ktorza, A. Neogenesis vs. apoptosis as main components of pancreatic β cell mass changes in glucose‐infused normal and mildly diabetic adult rats. FASEB J. 13, 1195–1205 (1999)
Physiological Effects of an Acute Bout of Shallow Water Sprinting

The purpose of this study was to compare heart rate, blood lactate, flexibility, ratings of perceived exertion (RPE), and delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS) in males sprinting on land and in shallow water. Twenty recreationally active males participated in sprinting on land and in shallow water. Ten 9.1m sprints were performed during each condition. Heart rate, blood lactate, and range of motion were measured before and after each condition. RPE was evaluated immediately after exercise. DOMS was assessed at 24 h and 48 h postexercise. The results show that heart rate and range of motion increase similarly in both conditions. Blood lactate levels and RPE increase the most during sprinting in the water. Sprinting in shallow water elicits similar heart rate responses and range of motion following sprinting on land and in water. Higher lactate and RPE levels when sprinting in water suggest that the metabolic demands of shallow water sprinting are different than land sprinting of the same distance. Aquatic exercise can be used for rehabilitation or injury prevention. It can even be used as a supplemental training modality for athletes. When individuals are immersed in water, body weight is unloaded (Piotrowska-Calka & KarbownikKopacz, 2007). As a result, weight bearing impact is reduced and could therefore decrease the risk of injury and allow for physical activity to be performed during injury rehabilitation. In addition, the density of water is approximately 800 times higher than the density of air and creates a three-dimensional resistance that the individual must overcome during aquatic exercise (Piotrowska-Calka & KarbownikKopacz, 2007). To accomplish exercise in the water, antagonist muscle groups will be recruited in addition to the agonists. Walking and running are common aerobic exercise modalities and performing these exercises in water reduces loading as a result of the buoyancy effect. Deep water running eliminates about 90% of one’s body weight and it has been shown to improve cardiovascular fitness (Piotrowska-Calka, 2010). Shallow water walking and running reduces weight bearing activity by 70–75% of one’s body weight but allows contact forces to occur (Haupenthal, Rushcel, Hubert, de Brito Fontana, & Roesler, 2010). It has been shown that walking in water yields higher VO2, heart
Test cost efficiency exploration for CMT processors

Chip multi-threading (CMT) is an architecture that can achieve overall high performance by exploiting high bandwidth rather than high frequency, thus reduce hardware complexity and power. Test cost of this architecture also can be reduced by efficiently utilizing its communication channel bandwidth during test. Because CMT architectures are designed low-power in nature, its testing should also be conducted under stringent power constraints. This paper discusses these above problems and proposes a cost-efficient test scheme. Experimental results show that our test scheme can achieve very short test time and low test data volume under stringent power constraints with low area overhead.