Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
BRS1 Function in Facilitating Lateral Root Emergence in Arabidopsis

The BRS1 (BRI1 Suppressor 1) gene encodes a serine carboxypeptidase that plays a critical role in the brassinosteroid signaling pathway. However, its specific biological function remains unclear. In this study, the developmental role of BRS1 was investigated in Arabidopsis thaliana. We found that overexpressing BRS1 resulted in significantly more lateral roots in different Arabidopsis ecotypes (WS2 and Col-0) and in brassinosteroid mutants (bri1-5 and det2-28). Further research showed that BRS1 facilitates the process whereby lateral root primordia break through the endodermis, cortex, and epidermis. Consistent with this, BRS1 was found to be highly expressed in the root endodermis and accumulated in the extracellular space around the dome of the lateral root primordia. Taken together, these results highlight the role of BRS1 in the process of lateral root emergence and provide new insight into the role of serine carboxypeptidases in plant root development.
A Framework for Neural Net Specification

A notation for the specification of neural nets is proposed. The aim is to produce a simple mathematical framework for use in specifying neural nets essentially by defining their transfer functions and connections. Nets are specified as interacting processing elements (nodes), communicating via instant links. Dynamics and adaptation are defined at the processing elements themselves, and all interaction is explicitly specified by directed arcs. Specifications can be built up hierarchically by turning a specification into a generator for a node, or they can be developed top-down. The use of the system is illustrated. >
Early Detection System of Vascular Disease and Its Application Prospect

Markers of imaging, structure, and function reflecting vascular damage, integrating a long time accumulation effect of traditional and unrecognized cardiovascular risk factors, can be regarded as surrogate endpoints of target organ damage before the occurrence of clinical events. Prevention of cardiovascular disease requires risk stratification and treatment of traditional risk factors, such as smoking, hypertension, hyperlipidemia, and diabetes. However, traditional risk stratification is not sufficient to provide accurate assessment of future cardiovascular events. Therefore, vascular injury related parameters obtained by ultrasound or other noninvasive devices, as a surrogate parameter of subclinical cardiovascular disease, can improve cardiovascular risk assessment and optimize the preventive treatment strategy. Thus, we will summarize the research progress and clinical application of early assessment technology of vascular diseases in the present review.
Isolated mitochondria infusion mitigates ischemia-reperfusion injury of the liver in rats: mitotracker probes and mitochondrial membrane potential.

In the recent article by Lin et al. (1), the authors demonstrate protective effects of splenic infusion of isolated mitochondria against hepatic ischemia/reperfusion injury in a rat model. One of their conclusions is that the isolated mitochondria from donor animals maintained an intact membrane potential in the livers of recipient animals even at 4 hours after infusion, as assessed by Mito-Tracker Orange CMTMRos staining. Cationic fluorophores like rhodamine 123 and tetramethylrhodamine methylester (TMRM) are readily sequestered in the matrix space of polarized mitochondria, and these probes are released once mitochondria experience a loss in membrane potential. MitoTracker dyes are also cationic fluorophores that accumulate electrophoretically into mitochondria in response to the highly negative mitochondrial membrane potential. However, unlike TMRM and rhodamine 123, MitoTracker dyes possess a reactive chloromethyl group that forms a covalent bond with thiols on proteins and peptides, which traps MitoTracker dyes within mitochondria. Thus, mitochondria retain MitoTracker dyes like MitoTracker Orange CMTMRos after loss of their membrane potential (2;3). Hence, retention of MitoTracker staining does not signify that infused mitochondria remain polarized, as was concluded in (1). Indeed, high serum free Ca2+ concentration, which is 10,000 times greater than cytosolic free Ca2+, will lead quickly to mitochondrial Ca2+ overload, respiratory inhibition and mitochondrial dysfunction from onset of the mitochondrial permeability transition with loss of the mitochondrial membrane potential (4;5).
DOGS, HISTORY, AND AGENCY†

Drawing on posthumanist theories from geography, anthropology, and science and technology studies (STS), this article argues that agency is shared unevenly between humans and nonhumans. It proposes that conceptualizing animals as agents allows them to enter history as active beings rather than static objects. Agency has become a key concept within history, especially since the rise of the “new” social history. But many historians treat agency as a uniquely human attribute, arguing that animals lack the cognitive abilities, self-awareness, and intentionality to be agents. This article argues that human levels of intentionality are not a precondition of agency. Furthermore, it draws on research into canine psychology to propose that dogs display some degree of intentionality and self-directed action. The aim is not to turn dogs, or any other animals, into human-style agents nor to suggest that they display the same levels of skill, intentionality, and intelligence as humans. Instead, the objective is to show how dogs are purposeful and capable agents in their own way and to explore how they interact with human agents. The article particularly considers the agency of militarized dogs, especially those on the Western Front (1914–1918), to suggest how historians can use primary sources to uncover how individuals in the past have treated dogs as capable creatures and to capture some sense of dogs’embodied and purposeful agency.
Linear receivers for multi-cell MIMO transmission in LTE-advanced downlink

The LTE-A (Long Term Evolution Advanced) was ratified as 4G (fourth generation) standard. In order to achieve the target of the LTE-A, efficient receivers have become one of the hot research topics. In this paper, we study some common linear receivers in LTE-A DL (downlink). Focusing on the multi-cell network, we derive the receive matrices and review them. The contribution of this paper is to offer elementary knowledge and thorough derivation of the common linear receivers. The link level simulation results are provided to illustrate the comparison between these linear receivers. The equivalence of ZF (Zero-Force) and MRC (maximal ratio combining) receivers is presented by the simulation results. While the interference is strong at the objective UE (user equipment), the interference-aware receivers, such as MMSE (Minimum Mean Square) receiver and IRC (interference rejection combining) receiver, outperform ZF receiver and MRC receiver. The simulation results show that a maximum throughput gain of approximately 300% is achieved by the IRC receiver compared to the MRC receiver.
Two Studies on Autobiographical Narratives about an Emotional Event by Preschoolers: Influence of the Emotions Experienced and the Affective Closeness with the Interlocutor

This paper presents a study of the relationship between emotions and autobiographical narratives by preschoolers (aged three to five years). We designed a laboratory situation in which the children actively participated in a short scenario (the Geneva Emotion-Eliciting Scenario). This scenario's central theme is the separation of two friends, which is an emotionally salient event for children of this age. Two emotional variables were studied: (i) emotions experienced by the child throughout the scenario; and (ii) "affective closeness" between the child and its interviewer, either an experimenter or the child's mother. The coding of children narratives was based on a content analysis. Results showed that: (i) the expression of emotions congruent to the events encountered throughout the scenario is not related to the content of the narrative, apart from in the case of the specific "separation" event; and (ii) narratives are longer and their emotional content more elaborate when the interviewer is the child's mother rather than an experimenter.
Fifth Phase of the Epidemiologic Transition : The Age of Obesity and Inactivity

Supplementary material http://jama.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/full/2009.2014/DC1 eFigures Correction Contact me if this article is corrected. Citations Contact me when this article is cited. This article has been cited 3 times. Topic collections Contact me when new articles are published in these topic areas. Public Health; Obesity; Public Health, Other; Statistics and Research Methods CME course Online CME course available. CME course Online CME course available. the same issue Related Articles published in
Teaching critical management skills: the role of problem-based learning

This paper explores problem-based learning (PBL) as a vehicle for developing critical management skills and preparing students for their future careers. Using student reflections and facilitator observations the paper presents the nature of individuals’ experiences with learning and teaching in a PBL setting in the management discipline. The study investigates: (1) how students engage in and experience the learning process in a PBL context, particularly in relation to the development of group processes; and (2) the skills developed through both learning and assessments in a PBL course. The paper concludes that, for management educators, successful PBL requires adequate structure and support to ensure that students move through the PBL cycle identified by Hmelo-Silver.
Preclinical overview of sorafenib, a multikinase inhibitor that targets both Raf and VEGF and PDGF receptor tyrosine kinase signaling

Although patients with advanced refractory solid tumors have poor prognosis, the clinical development of targeted protein kinase inhibitors offers hope for the future treatment of many cancers. In vivo and in vitro studies have shown that the oral multikinase inhibitor, sorafenib, inhibits tumor growth and disrupts tumor microvasculature through antiproliferative, antiangiogenic, and/or proapoptotic effects. Sorafenib has shown antitumor activity in phase II/III trials involving patients with advanced renal cell carcinoma and hepatocellular carcinoma. The multiple molecular targets of sorafenib (the serine/threonine kinase Raf and receptor tyrosine kinases) may explain its broad preclinical and clinical activity. This review highlights the antitumor activity of sorafenib across a variety of tumor types, including renal cell, hepatocellular, breast, and colorectal carcinomas in the preclinical setting. In particular, preclinical evidence that supports the different mechanisms of action of sorafenib is discussed. [Mol Cancer Ther 2008;7(10):3129–40]
Model checking and modular verification

We describe a framework for compositional verification of finite-state processes. The framework is based on two ideas: a subset of the logic CTL for which satisfaction is preserved under composition, and a preorder on structures which captures the relation between a component and a system containing the component. Satisfaction of a formula in the logic corresponds to being below a particular structure (a tableau for the formula) in the preorder. We show how to do assume-guarantee-style reasoning within this framework. Additionally, we demonstrate efficient methods for model checking in the logic and for checking the preorder in several special cases. We have implemented a system based on these methods, and we use it to give a compositional verification of a CPU controller.
How do different types of schools prepare students for life at Cambridge?

Twenty students from different educational backgrounds within the UK were interviewed to investigate how well they considered their secondary school education had prepared them for the educational and social demands of an ‘elite’ university and life within its most traditional colleges. The study asked them how they perceived students from different educational backgrounds and how they thought they were perceived. Entering a traditional Cambridge college was found to be easiest for students from prestigious ‘public schools’ within the private educational sector. State school students were more likely to experience anxiety, and those who adapted successfully were likely to have strong independent learning skills and a robust sense of self-efficacy. The study suggests that students coming from state schools to Cambridge are making a more difficult academic and social transition than students from private schools, for which they are given no special support.
OCR for Handwritten Gurmukhi Script using Daubechies Wavelet Transforms

This paper presents an OCR (Optical Character Recognition) for handwritten Gurmukhi characters. Gurmukhi script is used for Punjabi language, which is the world‟s 14th most widely spoken language. The scanned images of the handwritten characters are used as input to this OCR system and the output is the computer editable format. The proposed method uses different Daubechies Discrete Wavelet Transforms for extraction of features and back propagation for recognition task. In this paper, approximately four hundred samples of first five characters of Gurmukhi script are used to train the back propagation neural network and approximately one hundred samples are used for testing. The recognition rates achieved using different Daubechies Discrete Wavelet Transforms are compared. An average accuracy of 93.41% is achieved. General Terms Gurmukhi script, features, back propagation, recognition rates.
The growth of the written lexicon in Catalan: From childhood to adolescence

The lexicon, a complex storage device of units of language use, is a central component of linguistic knowledge closely tied to grammar and has a strong influence on demanding cognitive tasks and academic achievement. This study aims at tracking the growth of the Catalan written lexicon of children and adolescents throughout compulsory schooling, a time when the lexicon is assumed to experience an exponential growth. 2,436 participants from 5 to 16 years attending compulsory school in Catalonia took part in the study. They were asked to write as many linguistic expressions as possible in five different semantic fields: Food, Clothing, Leisure activities, Personality traits, and Natural phenomena. Although both the task and the provided examples primed the production of single words, participants produced a variety of constructions. The 242,404 lexical forms that were produced were lemmatized into 8,498 different lemmas and coded according to different linguistic dimensions. The size and the conceptual underpinning of the lexicon grow significantly throughout compulsory school and show an increase in the use of correct Catalan forms, a reduction in deviant forms, and a steady use of words and constructions in other languages. The use of multiword constructions as a mechanism for word generation questions the separability between lexicon and syntax. The corpus, which is of public access (http://clic.ub.edu/es/cesca), provides a picture of the state of a language developing in a multilingual environment in terms of frequency of use of words and constructions and range of orthographic and linguistic variants in five semantic fields.
Dual Influences of Moderating Variables in the Dissatisfaction Process: Theory and Evidence

ABSTRACT This article highlights the dual influences of two moderating variables—concern for face (CFF) and belief in fate (BIF)—at two junctures of the dissatisfaction process: (1) formation of dissatisfaction and (2) response to dissatisfaction. The results of an empirical study support the dual-influence hypotheses. Specifically, consumers higher in CFF (BIF) are more (less) dissatisfied with service failures, and the effect is stronger for process (outcome) failures. For a given level of dissatisfaction, moreover, consumers higher in CFF have a lower intention to complain to the firm but a higher intention to complain to family and friends, whereas consumers higher in BIF have a lower intention to engage in both types of complaining behavior. These results are rich in theoretical and managerial implications.
Optimization and experimental validation of medium-frequency high power transformers in solid-state transformer applications

High power isolated DC-DC converters are likely to provide solutions for many technical challenges associated with power density, efficiency and reliability in potential applications such as offshore wind farms, inter-connection of DC grids, MVDC in data centers and in future solid state transformer applications. The high power medium frequency transformer (HPMFT) is one of the key elements of such a converter to realize the voltage adaption, isolation requirements, as well as high power density. This paper describes a design and optimization methodology taking into account the loss calculation, isolation requirements and thermal management. Incorporating this design methodology, an optimization process with a wide range of parameter variations is applied on a 50 kW, 1 / 3 kV, 5 kHz transformer to find the highest power density while the efficiency, isolation, thermal and leakage inductance requirements are all met. The optimized transformers are then manufactured and will be presented in this paper.
A Flexible Count Data Regression Model Using SAS

Count data regression models are used when the dependent variables are non-negative integers. The standard count data models are limited in their ability in handling the data distributions. Poisson and negative binomial distributions are commonly used in count models. Poisson distributions assumes equi- dispersed data (variance equals to the mean); and negative binomial regression models over-dispersed data (variance greater than the mean). While there are studies (Liu and Cela 2008; Tin 2008) provide zero-inflated and hurdle count data models in SAS, no study has provided a SAS program that allows for a comprehensive list of data distributions and modeling strategies. This paper presents a SAS ® macro program that allows for a wide variety of count data distributions which can be used to model both under- and over-dispersed data. In addition, our SAS ® macro program can handle data that has excess zeros (zero-inflated) in the sample. This SAS ® macro is flexible in allowing one to estimate a variety of count regression models including: zero-inflated, hurdle, censored, truncated, finite mixture, semi-parametric, squared polynomial expansion, and generalized heterogeneous. We demonstrate this SAS ® macro procedure by applying it to the number of takeover bids received by targeted firms. We also evaluate count models performance using goodness-of-fit test, Vuong's test, and information criteria test.
Symptomatic and asymptomatic secondary transmission of Cryptosporidium parvum following two related outbreaks in schoolchildren

SUMMARY Two related outbreaks (in 2009 and 2012) of cryptosporidiosis in Norwegian schoolchildren during a stay at a remote holiday farm provided us with a natural experiment to investigate possible secondary transmission of Cryptosporidium parvum IIa A19G1R1. After the children had returned home, clinical data and stool samples were obtained from their household contacts. Samples were investigated for the presence of Cryptosporidium oocysts by immunofluorescence antibody test. We found both asymptomatic and symptomatic infections, which are likely to have been secondary transmission. Laboratory-confirmed transmission rate was 17% [4/23, 95% confidence interval (CI) 7·0–37·1] in the 2009 outbreak, and 0% (95% CI 0–16·8) in the 2012 outbreak. Using a clinical definition, the probable secondary transmission rate in the 2012 outbreak was 8% (7/83, 95% CI 4·1–16·4). These findings highlight the importance of hygienic and public health measures during outbreaks or individual cases of cryptosporidiosis. We discuss our findings in light of previous studies reporting varying secondary transmission rates of Cryptosporidium spp.
A Top-Down Design Methodology for Ultrahigh-Performance Hashing Cores

Many cryptographic primitives that are used in cryptographic schemes and security protocols such as SET, PKI, IPSec, and VPNs utilize hash functions, which form a special family of cryptographic algorithms. Applications that use these security schemes are becoming very popular as time goes by and this means that some of these applications call for higher throughput either due to their rapid acceptance by the market or due to their nature. In this work, a new methodology is presented for achieving high operating frequency and throughput for the implementations of all widely used-and those expected to be used in the near future-hash functions such as MD-5, SHA-1, RIPEMD (all versions), SHA-256, SHA-384, SHA-512, and so forth. In the proposed methodology, five different techniques have been developed and combined with the finest way so as to achieve the maximum performance. Compared to conventional pipelined implementations of hash functions (in FPGAs), the proposed methodology can lead even to a 160 percent throughput increase.
Loopy Belief Propogation and Gibbs Measures

We address the question of convergence in the loopy belief propagation (LBP) algorithm. Specifically, we relate convergence of LBP to the existence of a weak limit for a sequence of Gibbs measures defined on the LBP's associated computation tree. Using tools from the theory of Gibbs measures we develop easily testable sufficient conditions for convergence. The failure of convergence of LBP implies the existence of multiple phases for the associated Gibbs specification. These results give new insight into the mechanics of the algorithm.
A Cross-Lingual ILP Solution to Zero Anaphora Resolution

We present an ILP-based model of zero anaphora detection and resolution that builds on the joint determination of anaphoricity and coreference model proposed by Denis and Baldridge (2007), but revises it and extends it into a three-way ILP problem also incorporating subject detection. We show that this new model outperforms several baselines and competing models, as well as a direct translation of the Denis/Baldridge model, for both Italian and Japanese zero anaphora. We incorporate our model in complete anaphoric resolvers for both Italian and Japanese, showing that our approach leads to improved performance also when not used in isolation, provided that separate classifiers are used for zeros and for explicitly realized anaphors.
Common Educational Proficiency Assessment (CEPA) in English

The Common Educational Proficiency Assessment (CEPA) is a large-scale, high-stakes, English language proficiency/placement test administered in the United Arab Emirates to Emirati nationals in their final year of secondary education or Grade 12. The purpose of the CEPA is to place students into English classes at the appropriate government institution. The first administration of the CEPA began in 2002 as a joint venture between the National Admissions and Placement Office (NAPO) in the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research, and the three federal higher education institutions in the UAE, namely the Higher Colleges of Technology (HCT), the United Arab Emirates University (UAEU), and Zayed University (ZU). Currently, the CEPA office has full-time staff dedicated to the development, scoring, and administration of the exam. In addition to CEPA English, students can also sit CEPA Mathematics upon request.