Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Extension and measurements on multicomponent phospholipid vesicles by use of dual-beam optical tweezers

A micrometer-sized giant vesicle is studied by extending from the inside by using dual-beam optical tweezers in order to measure mechanical properties such as bending rigidity and surface tension of the membrane. As a micrometer-sized vesicle is extended, its shape gradually changes from a sphere to a lemon-shape, and discretely the lemon-shape deforms into a shape of a tube beside a sphere or a lemon part. The surface tension and the bending rigidity of the lipid membrane are obtained from the measured force-extension curve. In the one-phase vesicle, it is found that the surface tension is increasing as the charged component increasing, but the bending rigidity remains almost constant. In the phase-separated vesicle, the characteristic deformation different from one in the one-phase vesicle has been observed.
The Danish Centre for Strategic Research in Type 2 Diabetes (DD2) study: expected outcome from the DD2 project and two intervention studies

The overall aim of the Danish Centre for Strategic Research in Type 2 Diabetes (DD2) is to near-normalize metabolic control in newly diagnosed patients with type 2 diabetes (T2D) using an individualized treatment approach. We hypothesize that this will not only prevent complications and improve quality of life for T2D patients but also result in increased cost efficiency compared with current treatment modalities. This paper provides an overview of the expected outcomes from DD2, focusing on the two main intervention studies. The main data for the DD2 project are collected during patient enrollment and stored using the individual civil registration number. This enables subsequent linking to other national databases where supplemental data can be obtained. All data will be used for designing treatment guidelines and continuously monitoring the development of diabetic complications, thereby obtaining knowledge about predictors for the long-term outcome and identifying targets for new interventions. Further data are being collected from two intervention studies. The aim of the first intervention study is to improve T2D treatment using an individualized treatment modality optimizing medication according to individual metabolic responses and phenotypic characteristics. The aim of the second intervention study is to develop an evidence-based training protocol to be implemented as a treatment modality for T2D and used for initiating lifelong changes in physical activity levels in patients with T2D. An initial pilot study evaluating an interval-based walking protocol is ongoing, and preliminary results indicate that this protocol is an optimal “free-living” training intervention. An initial health-economic analysis will also be performed as a basis for analysis of the data collected during the project. A cost-benefit analysis of the two intervention studies will be conducted. The DD2 project is expected to lead to improved treatment modalities and increased knowledge about existing treatment guidelines, and will also provide a solid base for health-economic decision-making.
A Shape Ontology Framework for Bird Classification

Current research on shape based classification has been generally aimed at utilising various visual features. Previous research has shown that the existing knowledge in a specific domain can assist in understanding the image content. Ontologies are currently being used for explicit representation of the domain knowledge. In this paper, two contributions are presented: 1) a shape ontology framework which constitutes both domain and shape ontologies and in which domain and shape ontologies are mapped to each other. 2) A new approach for automatic construction of shape ontology. The experimental results are promising. Future work will focus on validating the framework and automatic method of the shape ontology construction for a much larger dataset.
Design for Reuse in Business Process: Method and Experiments

When modeling a business process or when updating an existing one, a business analyzer is available to reuse business parts already operational. Indeed, to minimize time of creation and to reduce cost and complexity, a solution can be given by the reuse of some existing business parts. The need to reuse of some business parts to fulfill companies' requirements leads to the need of extracting business fragments from the business process model. The aim of this paper is to propose a method which enables to obtain a business fragments from a business process. The main idea is to decompose a business process into small fragments. These fragments have the ability to be reused for building a new business process or updating an existing one. The method the authors propose is presented as guidelines that allow the decomposition of business process to enable having a reusable business fragments, their method is based on variability in business process modeled in BPMN. The method also takes into account the business goal of each extracted fragment. The proposed method is presented as a process along with a meta-model to facilitate the understanding of the concepts related to BPMN. An algorithm that illustrates their method is also presented in order to use it for a further implementation. The paper also includes users' experiments to validate our method.
Regional and global protective effects of tissue kallikrein gene delivery to the peri-infarct myocardium.

BACKGROUND The kallikrein-kinin system participates in the maintenance of the cardiovascular phenotype. We previously demonstrated that human tissue kallikrein gene (hTK) transfer promotes the healing of ischemic limbs. The present investigation aimed to test the original hypothesis that hTK delivery to the peri-infarct myocardium would prevent post-ischemic heart failure. METHODS AND RESULTS Myocardial infarction (MI) was induced in anesthetized mice by permanently occluding the left coronary descendant. hTK was delivered to the peri-infarct myocardium via an adenoviral vector (Ad.hTK). Controls received Ad.Null or saline. Survival rate was similar among groups. Ad.hTK increased the number of circulating endothelial progenitor cells and promoted the growth of capillaries and arterioles in the peri-infarct myocardium. In addition, Ad.hTK increased the abundance of cardiac progenitor cells (CPCs) in the peri-infarct and suppressed the apoptotic death of peri-infarct cardiomyocytes in vivo and ex vivo. As a consequence of these beneficial effects, at 5 weeks from MI, hTK-transduced hearts were protected from post-MI ventricular dilatation and showed better systolic and diastolic functions. CONCLUSIONS Ad.hTK benefits the neovascularization and viability of peri-infarct myocardium and increases CPC abundance, thereby decreasing ventricular dysfunction. Our study significantly adds to the knowledge of the protective effects of TK gene transfer on ischemic diseases and opens new avenues for the treatment of post-MI cardiac failure.
Adolescents' Perceived Ability to Say "No" to Unwanted Sex

Although violent sexual assaults occur in adolescence, lessfrequently recognized are the more subtle forms of sexual coercion. This investigation focused on adolescents'perceived ability to say no to pressures from a partner to engage in unwanted sex. With a sample of 2,472 10th-grade White, Hispanic, and Black adolescents, which adolescents may have had a more difficult time saying no to unwanted sex was examined. Results indicated that females were more likely than males to believe that they could say no to unwanted sex, but no consistent differences were found among the racial and ethnic groups. Multivariate analyses revealed several other predictors of the perceived ability to say no, including a less-permissive attitude toward sex, the low importance of peer influence and, for females, a generalized sense of self-efficacy. Implications of these results for intervention andfuture research are discussed.
Atomic Control of Strain in Freestanding Graphene

In this study, we describe a new experimental approach based on constant-current scanning tunneling spectroscopy to controllably and reversibly pull freestanding graphene membranes up to 35 nm from their equilibrium height. In addition, we present scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) images of freestanding graphene membranes with atomic resolution. Atomic-scale corrugation amplitudes 20 times larger than the STM electronic corrugation for graphene on a substrate were observed. The freestanding graphene membrane responds to a local attractive force created at the STM tip as a highly-conductive yet flexible grounding plane with an elastic restoring force. We indicate possible applications of our method in the controlled creation of pseudo-magnetic fields by strain on single-layer graphene.
The profile of gender equality issue attention in Western Europe

This article investigates the factors which drive governments to pay attention to gender equality issues and place them upon executive agendas. In line with studies of the dynamics of issue attention, which demonstrate the importance of investigating variability in the attention policy makers give to issue demands across policy domains, this article argue that policy issues related to gender equality are multi dimensional and patterns in executive attention vary across the different types of gender issues. Multidimensionality of gender equality issues reflects different dynamics in agenda setting as different issues invoke contrasting constellations of political representation, institutional friction and veto points. To investigate this variation, this article proposes a two-fold distinction between Class based and Status based gender equality issues and assesses the validity of three sets of explanations for when gender issues succeed in reaching executive agendas: women in politics, party ideology and economic performance. Drawing on governmental attention datasets from the Comparative Agendas Project we conduct a systematic comparative quantitative analysis of the determinants of gender equality issue attention in five Western European countries. The main findings confirm that the mechanisms through which different types of gender equality issues gain executive attention differ according to the kind of the gender equality demand. Costly class based gender equality issues are more likely to receive executive attention when the economy is performing well, when there is a strong presence of Social Democrats and when there is a high proportion of female MPs. In contrast, economic performance, party politics and women’s parliamentary presence do not seems to exert any impact on status based issues. Instead, critical actors in the government seem to be the strongest driver for attention over this second type of gender equality issue. This study contributes a gendered dimension to the policy agendas scholarship, adding theoretical and empirical depth to the understanding of how non-core issues secure their place on full governmental agendas. By focusing on how to secure governmental attention for gender equality issues, we make a major contribution to understanding the initial genesis of gender equality policies.
Reactive oxygen species mediates disialoganglioside GD3‐induced inhibition of ERK1/2 and matrix metalloproteinase‐9 expression in vascular smooth muscle cells

Sialic acid containing glycosphingolipids (gangliosides) are thought to play important roles in the function of various biological phenomena such as atherosclerosis. We have previously shown that the overexpression of the disialoganglioside (GD3) synthase gene effectively suppresses cell proliferation, cell cycle progression, and MMP‐9 expression in vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMC). However, the issue of how the overexpression of GD3 synthase gene results in the inhibition of cellular responses in VSMC remains unclear. The findings herein demonstrate that overexpression of the GD3 synthase gene suppresses VSMC responses through the generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS). Superoxide and hydrogen peroxide were generated at increased levels in GD3 synthase gene transfectants in comparison with empty vector (EV) ‐transfected VSMC. This phenomenon was blocked by antioxidants such as N‐acetyl‐L‐cysteine (NAC) and pyrrolidine dithiocarbamate (PDTC). Increased ROS generation was associated with a decreased endogenous antioxidant activity, increased lipid peroxidation, and mitochondrial DNA damage. Further studies revealed that the blockade of ROS function with antioxidants reversed the effect of GD3 synthase gene overexpression on VSMC proliferation and cell cycle regulation in response to platelet‐derived growth factor (PDGF). In addition, we found that treatment with antioxidants reversed the decreased matrix metalloproteinase‐9 (MMP‐9) expression in response to TNF‐α as determined by zymography and immunoblot in GD3 synthase gene transfectants. This recovery effect was characterized by the up‐regulation of MMP‐9 promoter activity, which was transcriptionally regulated at NF‐κB and activation protein‐1 (activating protein (AP) ‐1) sites in the MMP‐9 promoter. These findings suggest that ROS may play a role in GD3 synthase gene‐mediated VSMC phenotypic changes that may contribute to plaque instability in atherosclerosis. —Moon, S. ‐K. , Kang, S. ‐K. , Kim, C. ‐H. Reactive oxygen species mediates disialoganglioside GD3‐induced inhibition of ERK1/2 and matrix metalloprotein‐ase‐9 expression in vascular smooth muscle cells. FASEB J. 20, 1387–1395 (2006)
Sequence-to-sequence neural network models for transliteration

Transliteration is a key component of machine translation systems and software internationalization. This paper demonstrates that neural sequence-to-sequence models obtain state of the art or close to state of the art results on existing datasets. In an effort to make machine transliteration accessible, we open source a new Arabic to English transliteration dataset and our trained models.
Action research at the school level: possibilities and problems

Abstract In this paper it is argued that it is necessary to understand the improvement of the quality of education as a responsibility for school communities as a whole. It is not sufficient to regard such improvement as simply the aggregate improvement of the work of individual teachers. It is further argued that action research offers a set of principles upon which the work of improving the learning environment of a school can proceed. Some examples of whole school action research initiatives are examined and some possibilities and problems associated with school level action research are explored, particularly those associated with state initiated action research projects.
Developing Effective Practice Learning for Tomorrow's Social Workers

This paper considers some of the changes in social work education in the UK, particularly focusing on practice learning in England. The changes and developments are briefly identified and examined in the context of what we know about practice learning. The paper presents some findings from a small scale qualitative study of key stakeholders involved in practice learning and education in social work and their perceptions of these anticipated changes, which are revisited at implementation. The implications for practice learning are discussed.
“The Bitter With the Sweet”

This research adds to recent discussions of intergenerational ambivalence by analyzing accounts of relations with adult children from focus group interviews with older parents. When discussing their adult children, participants reveal strong desires for both autonomy and connection, leading to ambivalence about receiving assistance from them. They define themselves as independent but hope that children’s help will be available if needed. They are annoyed by children’s over protectiveness but appreciate the concern it expresses. They use a variety of strategies to deal with their ambivalent feelings, such as minimizing the help they receive, ignoring or resisting children’s attempts to control, withholding information from children to maintain clear boundaries, seeking others as confidants, and rationalizing children’s unavailability. They actively strive for a balance in their relationships with children. The authors interpret their findings in relation to their children’s styles of offering help and discuss implications for practitioners.
Human glutamate pyruvate transaminase (GPT): localization to 8q24.3, cDNA and genomic sequences, and polymorphic sites.

Two frequent protein variants of glutamate pyruvate transminase (GPT) (E.C.2.6.1.2) have been used as genetic markers in humans for more than two decades, although chromosomal mapping of the GPT locus in the 1980s produced conflicting results. To resolve this conflict and develop useful DNA markers for this gene, we isolated and characterized cDNA and genomic clones of GPT. We have definitively mapped human GPT to the terminus of 8q using several methods. First, two cosmids shown to contain the GPT sequence were derived from a chromosome 8-specific library. Second, by fluorescence in situ hybridization, we mapped the cosmid containing the human GPT gene to chromosome band 8q24.3. Third, we mapped the rat gpt cDNA to the syntenic region of rat chromosome 7. Finally, PCR primers specific to human GPT amplify sequences contained within a "half-YAC" from the long arm of chromosome 8, that is, a YAC containing the 8q telomere. The human GPT genomic sequence spans 2,7 kb and consists of 11 exons, ranging in size from 79 to 243 bp. The exonic sequence encodes a protein of 495 amino acids that is nearly identical to the previously reported protein sequence of human GPT-1. The two polymorphic GPT isozymes are the results of a nucleotide substitution in codon 14, coding for a histidine in GPT-1 and an asparagine in GPT-2, which causes a gain or loss of an NlaIII restriction site. In addition, a cosmid containing the GPT sequence also contains a previously unmapped, polymorphic microsatellite sequence, D8S421. The cloned GPT gene and associated polymorphisms will be useful for linkage and physical mapping of disease loci that map to the terminus of 8q, including atypical vitelliform macular dystrophy (VMD1) and epidermolysis bullosa simplex, type Ogna (EBS1). In addition, this will be a useful system for characterizing the telomeric region of 8q. Finally, determination of the molecular basis of the GPT isozyme variants will permit PCR-based detection of this world-wide polymorphism.
Automated lesion detection methods for 2D and 3D chest X-ray images

The purpose of this work is to present some technical approaches of our computer-aided detection (CAD) system for chest radiograms and helical CT scans, and also evaluate that by using three databases. The CAD includes some methods to detect lesions and to eliminate false-positive findings. The detection methods consist of template matching and artificial neural network approaches. A genetic algorithm (GA) was employed in template matching to select a matched image from various reference patterns. Artificial neural networks (ANN) were also applied to eliminate the false-positive candidates. The sensitivity and the number of false-positives were 73% and 11 FP per image on chest radiogram CAD and 77% with 2.6 FP per image on helical CT scan CAD. These preliminary results imply that the GA and ANN-based detection methods may be effective in indicating lesions on chest radiograms and helical CT scans.
The Brown Algae Pl.LSU/2 Group II Intron-Encoded Protein Has Functional Reverse Transcriptase and Maturase Activities

Group II introns are self-splicing mobile elements found in prokaryotes and eukaryotic organelles. These introns propagate by homing into precise genomic locations, following assembly of a ribonucleoprotein complex containing the intron-encoded protein (IEP) and the spliced intron RNA. Engineered group II introns are now commonly used tools for targeted genomic modifications in prokaryotes but not in eukaryotes. We speculate that the catalytic activation of currently known group II introns is limited in eukaryotic cells. The brown algae Pylaiella littoralis Pl.LSU/2 group II intron is uniquely capable of in vitro ribozyme activity at physiological level of magnesium but this intron remains poorly characterized. We purified and characterized recombinant Pl.LSU/2 IEP. Unlike most IEPs, Pl.LSU/2 IEP displayed a reverse transcriptase activity without intronic RNA. The Pl.LSU/2 intron could be engineered to splice accurately in Saccharomyces cerevisiae and splicing efficiency was increased by the maturase activity of the IEP. However, spliced transcripts were not expressed. Furthermore, intron splicing was not detected in human cells. While further tool development is needed, these data provide the first functional characterization of the PI.LSU/2 IEP and the first evidence that the Pl.LSU/2 group II intron splicing occurs in vivo in eukaryotes in an IEP-dependent manner.
Culture and Democracy

This book is about democracy and communication. The media and popular culture are often identified as bearing primary responsibility for the decline of active citizenship and the decay of democratic institutions. Media culture is charged with eroding the capacity of citizens to trust in public institutions and with encouraging widespread civic disengagement. In Culture and Democracy, Clive Barnett critically evaluates the conceptual underpinnings of such widespread judgements. In doing so he provides an innovative and theoretically informed exploration of the interface between culture, political economy, and public life. Through a triangulation of the ideas of Derrida, Foucault, and Habermas, he argues that deconstruction, poststructuralism, and critical theory converge around shared concerns for the possibilities of democratic public life in a globalising age. Drawing on cultural and media studies, human geography, political philosophy and social theory, and research on media policy and politics in the United States, Europe and South Africa, he demonstrates the indispensability of concepts of the public sphere, representation, and spatiality to the analysis of the politics of cultural democratisation. This book combines critical conceptualisation with policy analysis, and connects cultural studies to normative political theory. Clive Barnett demonstrates the importance of developing theoretical arguments in connection with case studies for understanding the contemporary interactions between media, culture and democracy.
PRIMAL ERROR BOUNDS BASED ON THE AUGMENTED LAGRANGIAN AND LAGRANGIAN RELAXATION ALGORITHMS

For a given iterate generated by the augmented Lagrangian or the Lagrangian relaxation based method, we derive estimates for the distance to the primal solution of the underlying optimization problem. The estimates are obtained using some recent contributions to the sensitivity theory, under appropriate rst or second order sucient optimality conditions. The given estimates hold in situations where known (algorithm-independent) error bounds may not apply. Examples are provided which show that the estimates are sharp.
Starting out: Personality and online support effects on career agency and occupational engagement in young adults

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