Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Functional Analysis of a Novel cis-Acting Regulatory Region within the Human Ankyrin Gene (ANK-1) Promoter

ABSTRACT The characterization of atypical mutations in loci associated with diseases is a powerful tool to discover novel regulatory elements. We previously identified a dinucleotide deletion in the human ankyrin-1 gene (ANK-1) promoter that underlies ankyrin-deficient hereditary spherocytosis. The presence of the deletion was associated with a decrease in promoter function both in vitro and in vivo establishing it as a causative hereditary spherocytosis mutation. The dinucleotide deletion is located in the 5′ untranslated region of the ANK-1 gene and disrupts the binding of TATA binding protein and TFIID, components of the preinitiation complex. We hypothesized that the nucleotides surrounding the mutation define an uncharacterized regulatory sequence. To test this hypothesis, we generated a library of more than 16,000 ANK-1 promoters with degenerate sequence around the mutation and cloned the functional promoter sequences after cell-free transcription. We identified the wild type and three additional sequences, from which we derived a consensus. The sequences were shown to be functional in cell-free transcription, transient-transfection, and transgenic mouse assays. One sequence increased ANK-1 promoter function 5-fold, while randomly chosen sequences decreased ANK-1 promoter function. Our results demonstrate a novel functional motif in the ANK-1 promoter.
Focus on technology misses the mark

We all know that people make things happen and while technology brings some truly great advances it is still just a facilitator. We need to move from the technology and information revolutions to the people's revolution. We need to work far more effectively through the process of implementing significant change in the workplace because the major cause of the failure of so many change initiatives can only be poor management. Many people in the workforce do not know what is expected of them – what they were required to do. They turn‐off. These are the people that management has failed because the ultimate responsibility for lack of effective leadership in any organisation rests with the senior executive management. While much has been and is being said and written about intellectual capital and knowledge management the recording and retention of the knowledge and experience of people who leave is increasing in importance to organisations around the world. During a period when there is great pressure to reduce enterprise overhead costs we are seeing the creation of yet another corporate role – that of knowledge manager. Whether this is a transitional role or one of long term substances remains to be seen.
Cortical fields participating in spatial frequency and orientation discrimination: Functinal anatomy by positron emission tomography

With the purpose of localising those anatomical structures participating in the discrimination of spatial frequencies and orientations of gratings, we measured regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) changes with positron emission tomography (PET) and 15O‐butanol as tracer in ten healthy young male volunteers. The subjects performed two‐alterative forced‐choice discriminations of pairs of squarewave gratings regarding their spatial frequencies or orientations (spatial frequency and orientation tasks) or pairs of a grating and a two‐dimensional random noise pattern regarding the presence or absence of grating pattern (reference task). In both the spatial frequency and orientation discrimination tasks a widely distributed network of functional fields is activated in the occipital, temporal, parietal, and frontal cortices and in the cerebellum. Spatial frequency discrimination required the activation of more cortical fields than orientation discrimination, and whereas the total volume of activated fields in temporal and frontal lobes were similar in the two tasks, the volumes of activated fields in the occipital lobes as well as in the parietal lobes were about two and a half times larger in spatial frequency discrimination than in orientation discrimination. The two networks of cortical fields were partially overlapping in the two tasks. The findings indicate that the discrimination of spatial frequency and orientation signals engages functional networks of cortical fields widely distributed in the human brain. Whereas both the occipito‐temporal and occipito‐parietal visual pathways are involved in both tasks, the processing and analysis of spatial frequency information activates occipital and parietal lobe regions more extensively than those of orientation information. © 1995 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Speech Analysis and Feature Extraction using SCILAB

† With the advent of latest technologies, speech analysis has changed the potential in many security and confidential systems. Such systems are employed in automatic recognisation system who is speaking on the basis of individual information included in speech waves. This technique enhances the chances of identity and control access to services such as voice dialing, banking by telephone, telephone shopping, database access services, information services, voice mail, security control for confidential information areas, and remote access to computers. Many systems have been made which costs a lot due to expensive software which checks the voice characteristics of the input utterance, using an automatic speaker recognition system. This paper depicts analysis side of the system implemented using freeware language SCILAB. The synthesis side includes speech production with the extraction of MFCC parameters employing articulation algorithm. The digital filters have been implemented for extraction feature . The signal processing application of SCILAB has become boon in comparison to MATLAB for all programmers.
Elevated gene expression levels distinguish human from non-human primate brains

Little is known about how the human brain differs from that of our closest relatives. To investigate the genetic basis of human specializations in brain organization and cognition, we compared gene expression profiles for the cerebral cortex of humans, chimpanzees, and rhesus macaques by using several independent techniques. We identified 169 genes that exhibited expression differences between human and chimpanzee cortex, and 91 were ascribed to the human lineage by using macaques as an outgroup. Surprisingly, most differences between the brains of humans and non-human primates involved up-regulation, with ≈90% of the genes being more highly expressed in humans. By contrast, in the comparison of human and chimpanzee heart and liver, the numbers of up- and down-regulated genes were nearly identical. Our results indicate that the human brain displays a distinctive pattern of gene expression relative to non-human primates, with higher expression levels for many genes belonging to a wide variety of functional classes. The increased expression of these genes could provide the basis for extensive modifications of cerebral physiology and function in humans and suggests that the human brain is characterized by elevated levels of neuronal activity.
Cooperative conflict-solving during adolescence: Relationships with cognitive-behavioural and predictor variables

Abstract The purpose of the study was to analyse the existence of sex differences in three styles of interpersonal conflict resolution, to explore the relationships between cooperative and aggressive conflict resolution with diverse cognitive-behavioural variables, and to identify predictor variables of cooperative interpersonal conflict resolution. The sample included 313 adolescents, aged 15 to 17 years. Descriptive and correlational methodology was used, and 6 assessment instruments were administered. The ANOVAs showed significantly higher scores for the females in cooperative conflict resolution, and for the males in aggressive conflict resolution. Pearson coefficients confirmed that adolescents of both sexes who used a cooperative conflict-solving style also had a high self-concept, many positive cognitions and empathy towards victims of violence, a high consideration of prosocial values and behaviours, high empathy, many positive and few aggressive social behaviours. Regression analysis identified 3 predictor variables of the use of a “cooperative resolution” style: many behaviours of social sensitivity, a good self-concept and a high level of empathetic concern.
From Sense to Print: Towards Automatic 3D Printing from 3D Sensing Devices

In this paper, we introduce the From Sense to Print system. It is a system where a 3D sensing device connected to the cloud is used to reconstruct an object or a human and generate 3D CAD models which are sent automatically to a 3D printer. In other words, we generate ready-to-print 3D models of objects without manual intervention in the processing pipeline. Our proposed system is validated with an experimental prototype using the Kinect sensor as the 3D sensing device, the KinectFusion algorithm as our reconstruction algorithm and a fused deposition modeling (FDM) 3D printer. In order for the pipeline to be automatic, we propose a semantic segmentation algorithm applied to the 3D reconstructed object, based on the tracked camera poses obtained from the reconstruction phase. The segmentation algorithm works with both inanimate objects lying on a table/floor or with humans. Furthermore, we automatically scale the model to fit in the maximum volume of the 3D printer at hand. Finally, we present initial results from our experimental prototype and discuss the current limitations.
Efficacy of TCH/TEC neoadjuvant chemotherapy for the treatment of HER-2-overexpressing breast cancer

The aim of the present study was to observe the efficacy of neoadjuvant trastuzumab combined with docetaxel and carboplatin (TCH), and docetaxel, epirubicin and cyclophosphamide (TEC) chemotherapy in human epidermal growth factor receptor-2 (HER-2)-overexpressing breast cancer. The total cohort of 64 cases of HER-2-overexpressing breast cancer patients was divided into two groups according to their treatment preferences: The TCH group, consisting of 39 patients, and the TEC group, consisting of 25 patients. The neoadjuvant chemotherapy was continued for six cycles prior to comparison of the treatment efficacy. The TCG and TEC groups exhibited an overall response rate of 94.9 and 72.0% (37/39 and 18/25 cases; P<0.05), respectively, and a pathological complete response (pCR; defined as the presence of no invasive or in situ residual tumors in the breast) rate of 69.2 and 32.0% (27/39 and 8/25 cases; P<0.05), respectively. Furthermore, no significant differences were identified between the two groups of patients in terms of adverse reactions, such as cardiac dysfunction, bone marrow suppression and liver function impairment. In the present study, the treatment of HER-2-overexpressing breast cancer patients with TCH neoadjuvant chemotherapy demonstrated more favorable efficacy and a higher pCR rate when compared with the TEC-treated group.
Positive Perspectives on the Profession: Reframing through Appreciative Inquiry

Change theories and Organization Development strategies have long followed the problem-solving approach of looking at organizations, identifying the weaknesses and introducing interventions to “stop doing the wrong things. ” In its simplest form, this approach has been successful in a variety of situations and has a popular following. Consultants or internal reviewers look for the problems, identify the cause of the problem, and introduce the intervention (new rule) to eliminate the opportunity for the repetition of the “problem. ” Problem-solving is a popular perspective through which change is initiated in politics, academia, and in social media. Eliminate the “bad” and pay attention to what we have been doing wrong to improve. This article first reviews the problems posed in past Hanna lectures to some major themes: (a) the need to address societal concerns, (b) the need to reduce sub-disciplinary fragmentation, (c) the problems inherent on university campuses as a result of politics and the economy, (d) the need to re-examine the over-reliance on the scientific research paradigm at the cost of phenomenological understandings, and (e) the framing of problems to be solved by professionals in our field. The introduction of Appreciative Inquiry and is then provided as an alternative approach to examine current contextual setting with the primary emphasis away from “What problems are you having? ” and toward “What is working around here? ”. This alternative suggests that in all organizations there is some positive force that is moving the organization forward, and the identification of that force (what works) can lay the ground work for doing more of “what works. ” Finally, three examples of Appreciative Inquiry opportunities in action from our discipline are offered for consideration.
Designing an Environment for Annotating and Grading Student Assignments

A number of software tools are available to annotate documents with digital ink. However, they only partly solve the problem of annotating and grading student assignments, this task requires digital annotation capabilities, recognition of digital ink and support for workflow practices. We are particularly interested in marking student programming assignments. Programs differ from essays and reports in that they: often need to be examined non-sequentially, exist in multiple files and are usually compiled and executed as a part of the marking process. In this paper we describe the design process for our initial design of such a paperless environment, describe the design decisions we have made and our first prototype, ‘Penmarked’. We discuss how this work may inform others designing pen-based applications and conclude with future work.
A longitudinal reflection of blended/reflexive enterprise and entrepreneurial education

This article seeks to investigate the experiences, aspirations and outcomes of participants on the MA Business and Enterprise Development (MA BED) programme at the Newport Business School as interpreted through their own reflective practice. The development of an enterprise programme within the Newport Business School arose from the need to provide relevant enterprise-related education and support to students seeking to develop their enterprise skills and entrepreneurial aspirations; it also complemented government policy at the time. The investigation takes a longitudinal approach and further seeks to explore the pedagogic success (or not) of a blended enterprise education and entrepreneurship education masters programme from the participants’ standpoint. Results suggest that a blended/reflective pedagogic approach to enterprise and entrepreneurship education has value in developing a wider range of skills within participants and also has a greater effect on aspiration. In this case ‘aspiration’ appears to be closely linked to an individual’s confidence (a likelihood that they will be positively predisposed to negative circumstances) which in turn has a disproportionate (positive) effect on their ability to identify and rationalise opportunity. The latter reference to rationalisation appears linked to the higher-level thinking (reflective practice: both reflection and reflexivity) and analytical skills developed throughout the masters programme.
Developing Clinical Reasoning Strategies: Cognitive Shortcuts

Incorporating decision support research and technology, such as computerized "best practice" clinical pathways, into patient care management is recommended for decreasing cognitive demands on nurses. Criticized for not representing "real-time" patient care, these standardized approaches may be used in concert with strategies for developing nurses' own clinical reasoning. Real-time clinical information processing activities are offered for staff educators to augment the development of clinical reasoning for both experienced and less-experienced nurses' decision making.
Disclosure Policies of Investment Funds

We examine voluntary and mandated disclosure of portfolio holdings by investment funds in a model where funds are characterized as having a stream of investment ideas and as providing liquidity to investors through redemption. We show that the greater is the fund's liquidity provision role, the more aggressively the fund trades on its ideas, the stronger is its preference to disclose information about its holdings voluntarily, and the weaker is its performance. We also show that mandatory disclosure can decrease information available in securities markets by crowding out the acquisition of private information that, through funds' trading, would be reflected in prices. Our model provides an explanation for why hedge funds and mutual funds differ in their resistance to public disclosure, and is consistent with stylized facts regarding how funds' investment decisions respond to poor performance and how differences in disclosure policies affect the future performance of well versus poorly performing funds.
Predicting Underachievement in Business Statistics

The influence of students' race and gender on their academic achievement has been the subject of numerous studies along with the development of a number of models to predict students' performance in a particular area of study (e.g., mathematics). These models, even though generally useful, tend to lose their validity when applied to a specific course. In the current investigation, a model has been developed to predict students' success and failure in a particular course (i.e., the first business statistics course). Through the use of discriminant analysis, this model was able to predict students' success and failure with approximately 72% accuracy. The model can be used to identify potential underachievers from the beginning of semesters. With such information, students who have been categorized as possible under-achievers can be monitored closely and provided with additional help in the form of tutorials and special classes, or workshops to improve their performance.
Framework for Electroencephalography-based Evaluation of User Experience

Measuring brain activity with electroencephalography (EEG) is mature enough to assess mental states. Combined with existing methods, such tool can be used to strengthen the understanding of user experience. We contribute a set of methods to estimate continuously the user's mental workload, attention and recognition of interaction errors during different interaction tasks. We validate these measures on a controlled virtual environment and show how they can be used to compare different interaction techniques or devices, by comparing here a keyboard and a touch-based interface. Thanks to such a framework, EEG becomes a promising method to improve the overall usability of complex computer systems.
Acoustic source tracking using multiple weighted peaks of the localization function

In the presence of strong noise or reverberation, the acoustic source localization and tracking problem is confronted with severe challenges. One of them is that the maximal peak of the localization function may not be generated by the real source. In this paper, the stochastic region contraction (SRC) is adopted to search for multiple peaks of the localization function rather than the maximal one only, so as to provide sufficient pseudo-measurement information. A mixed distribution model is used to describe the pseudo-measurement likelihood function within the particle filter framework, where the mixing weight is evaluated based on the idea of probability data association (PDA) by incorporating the dynamic information of the sound source. Simulation results demonstrate that the proposed approach can effectively improve the ability of anti-noise and anti-reverberation of the acoustic target tracking system.
Metasurfaces Based on Phase-Change Material as a Reconfigurable Platform for Multifunctional Devices

Integration of phase-change materials (PCMs) into electrical/optical circuits has initiated extensive innovation for applications of metamaterials (MMs) including rewritable optical data storage, metasurfaces, and optoelectronic devices. PCMs have been studied deeply due to their reversible phase transition, high endurance, switching speed, and data retention. Germanium-antimony-tellurium (GST) is a PCM that has amorphous and crystalline phases with distinct properties, is bistable and nonvolatile, and undergoes a reliable and reproducible phase transition in response to an optical or electrical stimulus; GST may therefore have applications in tunable photonic devices and optoelectronic circuits. In this progress article, we outline recent studies of GST and discuss its advantages and possible applications in reconfigurable metadevices. We also discuss outlooks for integration of GST in active nanophotonic metadevices.
A Solution Quality Assessment Method for Swarm Intelligence Optimization Algorithms

Nowadays, swarm intelligence optimization has become an important optimization tool and wildly used in many fields of application. In contrast to many successful applications, the theoretical foundation is rather weak. Therefore, there are still many problems to be solved. One problem is how to quantify the performance of algorithm in finite time, that is, how to evaluate the solution quality got by algorithm for practical problems. It greatly limits the application in practical problems. A solution quality assessment method for intelligent optimization is proposed in this paper. It is an experimental analysis method based on the analysis of search space and characteristic of algorithm itself. Instead of “value performance,” the “ordinal performance” is used as evaluation criteria in this method. The feasible solutions were clustered according to distance to divide solution samples into several parts. Then, solution space and “good enough” set can be decomposed based on the clustering results. Last, using relative knowledge of statistics, the evaluation result can be got. To validate the proposed method, some intelligent algorithms such as ant colony optimization (ACO), particle swarm optimization (PSO), and artificial fish swarm algorithm (AFS) were taken to solve traveling salesman problem. Computational results indicate the feasibility of proposed method.
Sensitivity based Proper Orthogonal Decomposition for nonlinear parameter dependent systems

Parameter dependent systems are found in many complex coupled systems. When applying optimization techniques, using full order models for the solution of parameter dependent systems may simply be intractable. Therefore we investigate methods for generating reduced order models that can be applied to nonlinear parameter dependent systems. The development of these reduced order models is made possible by sensitivity analysis of the basis functions. We also introduce a new method using piecewise cubic Hermite interpolating polynomials of the basis functions.