Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Role of vasoactive intestinal peptide in seasonal encoding by the suprachiasmatic nucleus clock

The neuropeptide vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP) is critical for the proper functioning of the neural circuit that generates circadian rhythms. Mice lacking VIP show profound deficits in the ability to generate many behavioral and physiological rhythms. To explore how the loss of VIP impacts on the intact circadian system, we carried out in vivo multiunit neural activity (MUA) recordings from the suprachiasmatic nucleus of freely moving VIP knockout (KO) mice. The MUA rhythms were largely unaltered in the VIP KO mice, with no significant differences being seen in the amplitude or phase of the rhythms in light–dark conditions. Robust differences between the genotypes were revealed when the mice were transferred from light–dark to constant darkness conditions. In addition, the ability of the VIP KO mice to encode changes in photoperiod was examined. Strikingly, the behavioral and physiological rhythms of VIP KO mice showed no adaptation to short or long photoperiods. The data indicate that the intact circadian system can compensate for some of the consequences of the loss of VIP, whereas this peptide is indispensable for endogenous encoding of seasonal information.
Minimum latency and energy efficiency routing with lossy link awareness in wireless sensor networks

This paper proposes two joint routing and scheduling algorithms which minimize the data delivery latency while enhancing the energy efficiency in wireless sensor networks (WSNs). In our algorithms, we first model the network as a directed graph Ginit orientating to the sink node on the basis of the location and lossy behavior of the wireless links. Next, we introduce two directed graphs Gres and Ghip taking into consideration the energy efficiency and latency, respectively. The scheduling algorithm is developed on the two graphs by solving an integer linear program (ILP) that minimizes energy consumption and mean latency in the network. Owing to the blacklist of links in the two graphs Gres, Ghop with respect to Ginit, the computation complexity of ILP is decreased considerably. Simulation results show that our proposed algorithms are highly effective in improving network performance.
An Animal Model of Hepatotoxicity Associated with Halothane Anesthesia

Hepatic necrosis was induced in rats by a single exposure to 1 per cent halothane in oxygen following pretreatment with a single dose of Aroclor 1254, a polychlorinated biphenyl. The hepatic lesion was centrilohular and multifocal, and morphologically similar to that reported to occur in man. In-vitro incubation with 14C-halothaane indicated an enhanced covalent binding of halothane metabolites to hepatic microsomal macromolecules, particularly lipids, following Aroclor 1254 pretreatment. Lipoperoxidation of microsomal unsaturated fatty acids was not observed with these animals.
Phenotype–genotype correlations in 17 new patients with an Xp11.23p11.22 microduplication and review of the literature

Array comparative genomic hybridization (array CGH) has proven its utility in uncovering cryptic rearrangements in patients with X‐linked intellectual disability. In 2009, Giorda et al. identified inherited and de novo recurrent Xp11.23p11. 22 microduplications in two males and six females from a wide cohort of patients presenting with syndromic intellectual disability. To date, 14 females and 5 males with an overlapping microduplication have been reported in the literature. To further characterize this emerging syndrome, we collected clinical and microarray data from 17 new patients, 10 females, and 7 males. The Xp11.23p11. 2 microduplications detected by array CGH ranged in size from 331 Kb to 8.9 Mb. Five patients harbored 4.5 Mb recurrent duplications mediated by non‐allelic homologous recombination between segmental duplications and 12 harbored atypical duplications. The chromosomal rearrangement occurred de novo in eight patients and was inherited in six affected males from three families. Patients shared several common major characteristics including moderate to severe intellectual disability, early onset of puberty, language impairment, and age related epileptic syndromes such as West syndrome and focal epilepsy with activation during sleep evolving in some patients to continuous spikes‐and‐waves during slow sleep. Atypical microduplications allowed us to identify minimal critical regions that might be responsible for specific clinical findings of the syndrome and to suggest possible candidate genes: FTSJ1 and SHROOM4 for intellectual disability along with PQBP1 and SLC35A2 for epilepsy. Xp11.23p11. 22 microduplication is a recently‐recognized syndrome associated with intellectual disability, epilepsy, and early onset of puberty in females. In this study, we propose several genes that could contribute to the phenotype. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Adaptation and validation for Spain of the Child-Oral Impact on Daily Performance (C-OIDP) for use with adolescents.

OBJECTIVES To linguistically and culturally adapt the Child-OIDP, an Oral Health-Related Quality of Life (OHRQoL) index, into Spanish for use among adolescents, and to validate it by evaluating the psychometric properties of the self-administered version. STUDY DESIGN Following a forward - backward translation procedure, the English version of the questionnaire was translated by independent translators and the reconciled version was then sent to three experts for assessment. A pilot study was conducted on a sub-sample of 30 adolescents aged between 11 - 12 years to assess their understanding of the questionnaire and its wording. The participants in the main study comprised 425 school children aged from 11 to 14 and pertaining to the oral health survey on school children in Navarre; these children were given a clinical examination and answered a structured questionnaire on oral health self-perception, satisfaction and perceived dental treatment needs. We evaluated the content validity, face validity, criterion validity, internal consistency and reliability. RESULTS With regard to the face validity, the experts' opinion was that the version was adequate. The pilot study indicated minor changes to the wording to better adapt it for the target population. Regarding criterion and construct validity, the association of the C-OIDP with the self-perception variables gave statistically significant results (p<0.01) in all cases. For the internal consistency analysis, no negative correlations were present in the correlations matrix nor were any of the values too high to become redundant; the majority were statistically significant (p<0.05). Cronbach's alpha value was 0.68, with corrected item-total values of between 0.20 and 0.56 and with no alpha if-item-deleted values greater than 0.68. The test-retest analysis gave an intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC)=0.98. CONCLUSION The Spanish version of the self-administered questionnaire for the C-OIDP for adolescents adequately demonstrated successful psychometric properties and, therefore, is a valid and reliable instrument for measuring the OHRQoL of adolescents.
Improving General Knowledge in Agile Software Organizations: Experiences with Job Rotation in Customer Support

For many organizations the transition to agile methods is problematic due to history of bureaucratization and subsequent extensive specialization of knowledge among people. Specialist knowledge inhibits self-organization and role interchangeability which are key elements of agile development. Knowing that bureaucracies are hard to counteract once established, how can development of general knowledge in software organizations be improved? Job rotation is a well-known practice often used to improve general knowledge. The reported action research evaluated job rotation among developers in customer support. The findings suggest that general knowledge is considered interesting and valuable among the participants. However, the findings also show that general knowledge acquisition can be found irrelevant and therefore counter-efficient for day-to-day work among participants if the perceived applicability to own projects is too low. Therefore, using job rotation to improve general knowledge requires careful considerations. Implications for research and practice are discussed.
The repeated sequence CATT(A/T) is required for granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor promoter activity

The hematopoietic growth factor GM-CSF (granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor) is expressed by activated but not resting T lymphocytes. Previously, we localized GM-CSF-inducible promoter activity to a 90-bp region of GM-CSF 5'-flanking sequences extending from bp -53 to +37. To more precisely identify the GM-CSF DNA sequences required for inducible promoter activity in T lymphocytes, we have performed mutagenesis within a region of GM-CSF 5'-flanking sequences (bp -57 to -24) that contains the repeated sequence CATT(A/T). Mutations that do not alter the repeated CATT(A/T) sequence do not eliminate inducible promoter activity, whereas mutation or deletion of either of the CATT(A/T) repeats eliminates all inducible promoter activity in T-cell lines and in primary human T lymphocytes. Thus, both copies of the direct repeat CATT(A/T) are required for mitogen-inducible expression of GM-CSF in T cells.
The Total Acquisition Number of Random Geometric Graphs

Let $G$ be a graph in which each vertex initially has weight 1. In each step, the weight from a vertex $u$ to a neighbouring vertex $v$ can be moved, provided that the weight on $v$ is at least as large as the weight on $u$. The total acquisition number of $G$, denoted by $a_t(G)$, is the minimum cardinality of the set of vertices with positive weight at the end of the process. In this paper, we investigate random geometric graphs $\mathcal{G}(n,r)$ with $n$ vertices distributed uniformally at random in $[0,\sqrt{n}]^2$ and two vertices being adjacent if and only if their distance is at most $r$. We show that asymptotically almost surely $a_t(\mathcal{G}(n,r)) = \Theta( n / (r \lg r)^2)$ for the whole range of $r=r_n \ge 1$ such that $r \lg r \le \sqrt{n}$. By monotonicity, asymptotically almost surely $a_t(\mathcal{G}(n,r)) = \Theta(n)$ if $r \sqrt{n}$.
Taking sustainable rural water supply services to scale : a discussion paper

Whereas many successful rural water supply (RWS) initiatives have been documented, few have evolved into sustained national programs. This paper reviews some of the issues associated with scaling up an effective RWS initiative, by which it is meant that it reaches (or is expected to reach) the vast majority of the target population with sustainable, improved services within a reasonable time frame (inclusion), and that a system of actors and institutions (public, private, and/or civic) is in place, having the necessary capacity and resources to carry out the RWS service delivery approach indefinitely (institutionalization). Four broad categories of constraints to scaling up in RWS are identified: insufficient resources, lack of knowledge/shared understanding, resistance, and untested implementation conditions. Drawing on relevant literature and empirical data from a limited number of cases, the paper offers some preliminary thoughts on these bottlenecks, and suggest an agenda for research that can yield guidelines for more scalable project design.
Comparative Analyses of N‐Acylated Homoserine Lactones Reveal Unique Structural Features that Dictate Their Ability to Activate or Inhibit Quorum Sensing

Bacterial quorum sensing is mediated by low molecular‐weight signals and plays a critical role in both the pathogenesis of infectious disease and beneficial symbioses. There is significant interest in the development of synthetic ligands that can intercept bacterial quorum sensing signals and modulate these outcomes. Here, we report the design and comparative analysis of the effects of ∼90 synthetic N‐acylated homoserine lactones (AHLs) on quorum sensing in three Gram negative bacterial species and a critical examination of the structural features of these ligands that dictate agonistic and antagonistic activity, and selectivity for different R protein targets. These studies have revealed the most comprehensive set of structure–activity relationships to date that direct AHL‐mediated quorum sensing and a new set of chemical probes with which to study this complex signaling process. Furthermore, this work provides a foundation on which to design next‐generation quorum sensing modulators with improved activities and selectivities.
Preservation of Vibrio fetus by freeze drying.

Summary. Vibrio fetus can be successfully freeze dried using the growth from thioglycollate blood agar. This medium is unsatisfactory for estimating the numbers of surviving organisms after freeze drying and storage. For this purpose a liquid medium containing 0.05% agar has been satisfactory. The long term storage of lyophilized preparations of V. fetus has not been fully investigated.
Ultra Fine-Grained Run-Time Power Gating of On-chip Routers for CMPs

This paper proposes an ultra fine-grained run-time power gating of on-chip router, in which power supply to each router component (e.g., VC queue, crossbar MUX, and output latch) can be individually controlled in response to the applied workload.As only the router components which are just transferring a packet are activated, the leakage power of the on-chip network can be reduced to the near-optimal level.However, a certain amount of wakeup latency is required to activate the sleeping components, and the application performance will be degraded.In this paper, we estimate the wakeup latency for each component based on circuit simulations using a 65nm process.Then we propose four early wakeup methods to overcome the wakeup latency.The proposed router with the early wakeup methods is evaluated in terms of the application performance, area, and leakage power.As a result, it reduces the leakage power by 78.9%, at the expense of the 4.3% area and 4.0% performance when we assume a 1GHz operation.
Receptor activator of NF-kappaB ligand, macrophage inflammatory protein-1alpha, and the proteasome: novel therapeutic targets in myeloma.

BACKGROUND The bone destruction in myeloma patients is largely responsible for the clinical features of the disease. However, only recently has attention focused on identifying and developing drugs targeted specifically at the osteolysis. Receptor activator of NF-kappaB ligand (RANKL), macrophage inflammatory protein (MIP)-1alpha, and proteasomal function have been implicated in the pathogenesis of myeloma and associated bone disease. We provide "proof of principle" in preclinical myeloma models that these are indeed valid molecular targets in development of novel therapeutics. METHODS The efficacy of antagonists of RANKL and MIP-1alpha bioactivities (RANK.Fc and neutralizing monoclonal anti-MIP-1alpha antibody) in ameliorating osteolysis and reducing tumor burden was evaluated in a mouse model in which murine myeloma 5TGM1 cells are injected intravenously into syngeneic mice. In addition, the activity of a petidyl aldehyde proteasome inhibitor (proteasome inhibitor-1 [PSI]) on tumor growth was tested in a murine 5TGM1 plasmacytoma model and in mice intravenously inoculated with 5TGM1 cells. RESULTS RANK.Fc and anti-MIP-1alpha antibody inhibited the development and progression of osteolytic lesions and significantly reduced tumor load assessed by serum monoclonal paraprotein titers. Intratumoral injections of PSI inhibited growth of 5TGM1 plasmacytomas and induced tumor regression in some cases. In addition, systemic administration of PSI significantly prolonged time to onset of paraplegia in tumor-bearing mice. CONCLUSIONS The results highlight the critical roles of RANKL and MIP-1alpha in the development and progression of myeloma and provide a basis for future evaluation in myeloma patients of novel therapeutics that disrupt interactions of RANKL and MIP-1alpha with their cognate receptors. The data also suggest that further studies in preclincal myeloma models aimed at identifying other proteasome inhibitors with antitumor efficacy would be worthwhile.
Joint Learning of Dialog Act Segmentation and Recognition in Spoken Dialog Using Neural Networks

Dialog act segmentation and recognition are basic natural language understanding tasks in spoken dialog systems. This paper investigates a unified architecture for these two tasks, which aims to improve the model’s performance on both of the tasks. Compared with past joint models, the proposed architecture can (1) incorporate contextual information in dialog act recognition, and (2) integrate models for tasks of different levels as a whole, i.e. dialog act segmentation on the word level and dialog act recognition on the segment level. Experimental results show that the joint training system outperforms the simple cascading system and the joint coding system on both dialog act segmentation and recognition tasks.
Events and Price Adjustment Accuracy: Evidence from Post-IPO Market

We use the post-IPO market to examine this accuracy of price adjustment to new information. The unique setting of immediate aftermarket allows us to assess subject after the trading has just begun and investors possess little information about stock return properties. They are, therefore, likely to misinterpret firm-specific information in the immediate aftermarket. As time since the IPO elapses, investors accumulate more information, and price reaction to new events becomes more accurate. We show that the accuracy of price adjustment increases by 14% in the first year of trading for all events, and by as much as 26% for public events. We conclude that the incorporation of new information into stock prices becomes more accurate as stocks season.
A Rare Case of Adrenal Insufficiency Induced by Inhaled Corticosteroids

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SHORT-TERM TRAFFIC FLOW PREDICTION: NEURAL NETWORK APPROACH

Much of the current activity in the area of intelligent vehicle-highway systems (IVHSs) focuses on one simple objective: to collect more data. Clearly, improvements in sensor technology and communication systems will allow transportation agencies to more closely monitor the condition of the surface transportation system. However, monitoring alone cannot improve the safety or efficiency of the system. It is imperative that surveillance data be used to manage the system in a proactive rather than a reactive manner. Proactive traffic management will require the ability to predict traffic conditions. Previous predictive modeling approaches can be grouped into three categories: (a) historical, data-based algorithms; (b) time-series models; and (c) simulations. A relatively new mathematical model, the neural network, offers an attractive alternative because neural networks can model undefined, complex nonlinear surfaces. In a comparison of a backpropagation neural network model with the more traditional approaches of an historical, data-based algorithm and a time-series model, the backpropagation model was clearly superior, although all three models did an adequate job of predicting future traffic volumes. The backpropagation model was more responsive to dynamic conditions than the historical, data-based algorithm, and it did not experience the lag and overprediction characteristics of the time-series model. Given these advantages and the backpropagation model's ability to run in a parallel computing environment, it appears that such neural network prediction models hold considerable potential for use in real-time IVHS applications.
California's forest products industry: a descriptive analysis.

Morgan, Todd A. ; Keegan, Charles E. , III; Dillon, Thale; Chase, Alfred L. ; Fried, Jeremy S. ; Weber, Marc N. 2004. California’s forest products industry: a descriptive analysis. Gen. Tech. Rep. PNW-GTR-615. Portland, OR: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station. 55 p. This report traces the flow of California’s 2000 timber harvest through the wood-using industries; provides a description of the structure, operations, and condition of California’s primary forest products industry; and briefly summarizes timber inventory and growth. Historical wood products industry changes are discussed, as well as trends in harvest, production, and sales. Employment and worker earnings in the state’s forest products industry also are examined, and an industry leaders’ assessment of past and future operating conditions is provided.
Acute Kidney Injury in Mechanically Ventilated Patients: The Risk Factor Profile Depends on the Timing of Aki Onset

Background: Acute kidney injury (AKI) is a frequent complication in patients under mechanical ventilation (MV). We aimed to assess the risk factors for AKI with particular emphasis on those potentially preventable. Study Design, Setting, and Participants: Retrospective analysis of a large, multinational database of MV patients with >24 h of MV and normal renal function at admission. AKI was defined according to creatinine-based KDIGO criteria. Risk factors were analyzed according to the time point at which AKI occurred: early (⩽48 h after ICU admission, AKIE) and late (day 3 to day 7 of ICU stay, AKIL). A conditional logistic regression model was used to identify variables independently associated with AKI. Results: Three thousand two hundred six patients were included. Seven hundred patients had AKI (22%), the majority of them AKIE (547/704). The risk factor profile was highly dependent upon the timing of AKI onset. In AKIE risk factors were older age; SAPS II score; postoperative and cardiac arrest as the reasons for MV; worse cardiovascular SOFA, pH, serum creatinine, and platelet count; higher level of peak pressure and Vt/kg; and fluid overload at admission. In contrast, AKIL was linked mostly to events that occurred after admission (lower platelet count and pH; ICU-acquired sepsis; and fluid overload). None ventilation-associated parameters were identify as risk factors for AKIL. Conclusions: In the first 48 h, risk factors are associated with the primary disease and the patient's condition at admission. Subsequently, emergent events like sepsis and organ dysfunction appear to be predictive factors making prevention a challenge.
Do Stock Prices Reflect Growth Forecasts?

In this paper we propose a new analysis of the association between the growth of the earnings per share (EPS) as reflected in analysts’ forecasts, the book value of equity, the EPS and the market value of equity. Specifically, we motivate and introduce a new specification of the dynamics of the growth in EPS and test its implications in equity valuation. Our empirical results support the predictions of the valuation model and appear consistent with the time varying level of association between the stock prices, the EPS and the growth in EPS.