Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Cyclooxygenase 2 Plays a Pivotal Role in the Resolution of Acute Lung Injury1

Acute lung injury (ALI) is a severe illness with excess mortality and no specific therapy. In its early exudative phase, neutrophil activation and accumulation in the lung lead to hypoxemia, widespread tissue damage, and respiratory failure. In clinical trials, inhibition of proinflammatory mediators has not proven effective. In this study, we pursued a new investigative strategy that emphasizes mediators promoting resolution from lung injury. A new spontaneously resolving experimental murine model of ALI from acid aspiration was developed to identify endogenous proresolving mechanisms. ALI increased cyclooxygenase 2 (COX-2) expression in murine lung. Selective pharmacologic inhibition or gene disruption of COX-2 blocked resolution of ALI. COX-2-derived products increased levels of the proresolving lipid mediators lipoxin A4 (LXA4) and, in the presence of aspirin, 15-epi-LXA4. Both LXA4 and 15-epi-LXA4 interact with the LXA4 receptor (ALX) to mediate anti-inflammatory actions. ALX expression was markedly induced by acid injury and transgenic mice with increased ALX expression displayed dramatic protection from ALI. Together, these findings indicate a protective role in ALI for COX-2-derived mediators, in part via enhanced lipoxin signaling, and carry potential therapeutic implications for this devastating clinical disorder.
Scheduling and Pricing of Coupled Energy and Primary, Secondary, and Tertiary Reserves

Current practice in some electricity markets is to schedule energy and various reserve types sequentially, first clearing the energy market, followed by the reserves needed. Since distinct reserve services can in fact be strongly coupled, and the heuristics required to bridge the various sequential markets can ultimately lead to loss of social welfare, simultaneous energy/reserves market-clearing procedures have been proposed and are in use. However, they generally schedule reserve services subject to exogenous rules and parameters that do not relate to actual operating conditions. The weaknesses of the current approaches warrant the investigation of alternatives. In that regard, we present a different methodology to the simultaneous market clearing of energy and reserve services. This approach avoids the pitfalls of the sequential procedures, while at the same time its basis for scheduling reserve services does no longer rely on some rules of thumb. The salient feature of the proposed approach is that, under marginal pricing, it yields a single price for all reserve types scheduled at a bus, unlike the current approaches. We show that this common price is given by the nodal marginal cost of security. We present two specific implementations of a simultaneous security-constrained market-clearing procedure, one deterministic and one probabilistic. An example of joint market clearing of energy with reserves required for primary and tertiary regulation illustrates how their strong coupling affects their schedule and prices.
Rapid Microsphere Assay for Identification of Cryptosporidium hominis and Cryptosporidium parvum in Stool and Environmental Samples

ABSTRACT Cryptosporidium hominis and Cryptosporidium parvum are associated with massive disease outbreaks worldwide. Because these two species have different transmission cycles, identification of these parasites to the species level in clinical samples may provide laboratory data of crucial importance in epidemiologic investigations. To date, the most reliable way to differentiate C. hominis and C. parvum is based on DNA sequencing analysis of PCR amplicons. Although this approach is very effective for differentiation of Cryptosporidium species, it is labor-intensive and time-consuming compared with methods that do not require DNA sequencing analysis as an additional step and that have been successfully used for specific identification of a number of pathogens. In this study, we describe a novel Luminex-based assay that can differentiate C. hominis from C. parvum in a rapid and cost-effective manner. The assay was validated by testing a total of 143 DNA samples extracted from clinical specimens, environmental samples, or samples artificially spiked with Cryptosporidium oocysts. As few as 10 oocysts per 300 μl of stools could be detected with this assay. The assay format includes species-specific probes linked to carboxylated Luminex microspheres that hybridize to a Cryptosporidium microsatellite-2 region (ML-2) where C. hominis and C. parvum differ by one nucleotide substitution. The assay proved to be 100% specific when samples that had been characterized by direct fluorescent antibody test (DFA) and DNA sequencing analysis were tested. In addition, the assay was more sensitive than DFA and provided species identification, which is an advantage for epidemiologic studies.
Modeling viral kinetics and treatment outcome during alisporivir interferon‐free treatment in hepatitis C virus genotype 2 and 3 patients

Alisporivir (ALV) is a cyclophilin inhibitor with pan‐genotypic activity against hepatitis C virus (HCV). Here, we characterize the viral kinetics observed in 249 patients infected with HCV genotypes 2 or 3 and treated for 6 weeks with different doses of ALV with or without ribavirin (RBV). We use this model to predict the effects of treatment duration and different doses of ALV plus RBV on sustained virologic response (SVR). Continuous viral decline was observed in 214 (86%) patients that could be well described by the model. All doses led to a high level of antiviral effectiveness equal to 0.98, 0.96, and 0.90 in patients treated with 1,000, 800, and 600 mg of ALV once‐daily, respectively. Patients that received RBV had a significantly faster rate of viral decline, which was attributed to an enhanced loss rate of infected cells, δ (mean δ = 0.35 d−1 vs. 0.21 d−1 in patients ± RBV, respectively; P = 0.0001). The remaining 35 patients (14%) had a suboptimal response with flat or increasing levels of HCV RNA after 1 week of treatment, which was associated with ALV monotherapy, high body weight, and low RBV levels in patients that received ALV plus RBV. Assuming full compliance and the same proportion of suboptimal responders, the model predicted 71% and 79% SVR after ALV 400 mg with RBV 400 mg twice‐daily for 24 and 36 weeks, respectively. The model predicted that response‐guided treatment could allow a reduction in mean treatment duration to 25.3 weeks and attain a 78.6% SVR rate. Conclusion: ALV plus RBV may represent an effective IFN‐free treatment that is predicted to achieve high SVR rates in patients with HCV genotype 2 or 3 infection. (Hepatology 2014;59:1706–1714)
A transformerless generator-converter concept making feasible a 100 kV low weight offshore wind turbine Part II - The converter

A transformerless wind power generator concept with the potential to achieve 100 kV DC output is introduced in this work. The work is presented in two papers. Part I: The Generator, describes the electrical machine properties of the special, 10 MW generator. This part, Part II, presents a modular AC/DC-converter system suitable for this wind turbine drive train solution. A conceptual description of the system is given and the synthesis of the control system is presented. The control system robustness against parameter- and operating point variations is studied through frequency domain analysis. The theoretical studies are supported by simulations of the full system in EMTDC/PSCAD. The results from both the analysis and simulations show good performance for the wind turbine system.
Middle tumor antigen of polyomavirus transformation-defective mutant NG59 is associated with pp60c-src

We have found that lysis of mouse embryo cells infected with the polyomavirus host range transformation-defective (hr-t) mutant NG59 under gentle conditions that avoid ionic detergents results in detectable NG59-encoded middle tumor antigen (MTAg) associated with pp60c-src. This MTAg-pp60c-src complex could be immunoprecipitated from NG59-infected cell lysates by either sera from animals bearing polyomavirus-induced tumors or by monoclonal antibodies directed against MTAg. Immune complex kinase assays revealed that, whereas the pp60c-src associated with NG59 MTAg possessed tyrosyl kinase activity, the NG59 MTAg in this complex was not phosphorylated in these in vitro reactions. These results demonstrate that the point insertion mutation found in this transformation-deficient strain of polyomavirus encodes MTAg molecules capable of associating with pp60c-src and defines a limited region within MTAg which appears to be critical for stable MTAg-pp60c-src interactions.
An ensemble feature extraction classifier for the analysis of integrated data of HCV-HCC related DNA microarray

Hepatocellular Carcinoma (HCC) is the one of leading causes of cancer related deaths worldwide. In most cases, the patients are first infected with Hepatitis C virus (HCV) which then progresses to HCC. HCC is usually diagnosed in its advanced stages and is more difficult to treat or cure at this stage. Early diagnosis increases survival rate as treatment options are available for early stages. Therefore, accurate biomarkers of early HCC diagnosis are needed. DNA microarray technology has been widely used in cancer research. Scientists study DNA microarray gene expression data to identify cancer gene signatures which helps in early cancer diagnosis and prognosis. Most studies are done on single data sets and the biomarkers are only fit to work with these data sets. When tested on any other data sets, classification is poor. In this paper, we combined four different data sets of liver tissue samples (100 HCV-cirrhotic tissues and 61 HCV-cirrhotic tissues from patients with HCC). Differently expressed genes were studied by use of high-density oligonucleotide arrays. By analyzing the data, an ensemble feature extraction-classifier was constructed. The classifier was used to distinguish HCV samples from HCV-HCC related samples. We identified a generic gene signature that would predict whether an HCV tissue also infected with HCC or not.
From adversity to leadership: U.S. women who pursued leadership development despite the odds

Psychological resilience theory and the capacity to cope with adversity, trauma, tragedy, and threats (Anthony & Koupernik, 1974; Garmezy, 1973; Masten, Best, & Garmezy, 1990; Werner, 1982) has received growing recognition as an area of considerable theoretical and applied importance. This sequential explanatory mixed methods study seeks to advance the discussion regarding how some women who experienced one or more Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) (Felitti et al., 1998) coped with adversity. Specifically, the study looked at how these women decided to pursue a path to leadership. The study was divided into two phases. Initially, women who were in leadership programs or leadership roles were asked to take an electronic survey which included the existing Psychological Capital Questionnaire for Research, (Luthans, Youssef, & Avolio, 2007) combined with a shortened version of the ACE questionnaire (Felitti et al., 1998). The first phase measured individual psychological capital, identified whether ACEs existed, and revealed whether leadership training or education was pursued. Women who self-identified as being willing to be interviewed were asked to participate in the qualitative phase of the study using Giele’s (2002) life-course themes: “identity, relational style, drive and motivation, and adaptive style” to further probe the data collected. Findings included key influencers cited by the women that helped them move from adversity to leadership. The development of a conceptual model grounded in the research was also proposed adding additional findings to overcoming adversity, positive adaptation, resiliency and leadership.
Putting Parties in Their Place: Inferring Party Left-Right Ideological Positions from Party Manifestos Data

The left-right ideological positions of political parties play a central role in theorizing about many different aspects of democratic processes. Unfortunately, scholars are hindered in their ability to test existing theories by the limited availability of data that is comparable over time and across countries. This paper describes a simple 'vanilla' method for using manifestos data to estimate party leftright positions. It then tests this method and four existing ones by regressing a variety of accepted survey-based measures of left-right party positions on the estimates of party positions generated by the various techniques. Finally, analysis of the residuals from these regressions identifies the extent to which there are systematic sources of errors in using manifestos data to estimate party left-right positions. The vanilla method consistently produces the best estimates of party positions, and these estimates are quite good (less than one point, on average, from the estimates of other accepted approaches). Manifestos data, however, tend to locate extreme parties closer to the ideological center than do other survey-based approaches. he left-right ideological positions of political parties play a central role in theorizing many different aspects of democratic processes. Scholars employ the left-right positions of parties in theoretical arguments and empirical tests on such topics as macro-economic policymaking, legislative institutional choice, electoral competition, voting behavior, political representation, and cabinet stability. Thus, evaluation of a wide range of theoretical arguments in comparative politics requires reliable measures of the left-right positions of political parties. A practical problem facing scholars, however, is the limited availability of appropriate measures. There are two common sources of data on leftright party locations. One consists of expert surveys on specific party systems, where experts are asked to provide estimates of party left-right positions in these systems. Castles and Mair (1984) published the first such survey in a large number of countries, and results from a similar, subsequent survey are presented in Huber and Inglehart (1995). ' Although these surveys are widely used to measure party positions, they suffer important limitations: they have been administered infrequently, in different formats, and only over the last fifteen years. A second source of data is the left-right positions of party supporters as reported in mass surveys such as the Eurobarometer or the World Values Survey. These surveys have been administered more frequently, but only over the last two decades and for a limited number of countries. Thus, scholars are frequently forced to limit their
Functional Characterization of Drosophila Translin and Trax

The vertebrate RNA and ssDNA-binding protein Translin has been suggested to function in a variety of cellular processes, including DNA damage response, RNA transport, and translational control. The Translin-associated factor X (Trax) interacts with Translin, and Trax protein stability depends on the presence of Translin. To determine the function of the Drosophila Translin and Trax, we generated a translin null mutant and isolated a trax nonsense mutation. translin and trax single and double mutants are viable, fertile, and phenotypically normal. Meiotic recombination rates and chromosome segregation are also not affected in translin and trax mutants. In addition, we found no evidence for an increased sensitivity for DNA double-strand damage in embryos and developing larvae. Together with the lack of evidence for their involvement in DNA double-strand break checkpoints, this argues against a critical role for Translin and Trax in sensing or repairing such DNA damage. However, Drosophila translin is essential for stabilizing the Translin interaction partner Trax, a function that is surprisingly conserved throughout evolution. Conversely, trax is not essential for Translin stability as trax mutants exhibit normal levels of Translin protein.
Grasping and guiding a human with a humanoid robot

This paper presents a novel approach for tightly-coupled human-robot interaction that consists of a robot actively grasping and guiding a human being. We propose a multi-stage procedure that particularly considers exceptional conditions which allow the human to quit the interaction at any stage. The system comprises a combination of different sensor modalities to supervise the grasping and guiding procedure and to guarantee a safe human-robot interaction. In particular, a capacitive sensor in the palm of the robot hand allows a contactless detection of the human while approaching. Finally, experimental results are presented.
Compression of Large‐Scale Terrain Data for Real‐Time Visualization Using a Tiled Quad Tree

The aim of the rapid world modeling project is to implement a system to visualize the topography of the entire world on consumer‐level hardware. This presents a significant problem in terms of both storage requirements and rendering speed. This paper presents the ‘Tiled Quad Tree’, a technique and format for the storage of digital terrain models, to work as part of an integrated system for the visualization of global terrain data. We show how this format efficiently stores and compresses elevation data, in a way that allows the data to be read very rapidly from hard disk or similar storage medium, to facilitate real‐time rendering. The results of compressing several distinct data sets are presented.
Angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors reduce long-term aortic events in patients with acute type B aortic dissection.

BACKGROUND Medical therapy gives excellent short-term outcomes for patients with Stanford type B acute aortic dissection. However, the affected aorta is often compromised by aneurysmal dilatation and rupture, resulting in poor long-term outcome. The present study investigated which antihypertensive treatment may prevent long-term aortic events in these patients. METHODS AND RESULTS The study group comprised 78 consecutive patients with Stanford type B acute aortic dissection who were treated medically and followed-up for an average of 873+/-548 days. The optimal hypertensive drug regimen to reduce aortic events was determined by multivariate analyses. Of the 78 patients, 73 (94%) were discharged from hospital with medical therapy, and aortic events occurred in 13 (18%) of them (aortic rupture/recurrent dissection in 2 (3%); aortic expansion >or=60 mm in 7 (10%), rapid aortic expansion >or=10 mm/year in 3 (4%), and development of visceral/limb ischemia in 1 (1%)) during follow-up. By multivariate analysis, patients given angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor (ACEI) were less likely to have long-term aortic events than those without (odds ratio: 0.18, 95% confidence interval: 0.04-0.85). CONCLUSIONS Use of ACEI is associated with a reduced risk of long-term aortic events in patients with medically treated type B aortic dissection.
Entrepreneurial Exploration and Exploitation in Family Business

In entrepreneurship, entrepreneurial exploration and exploitation have been considered central activities for the survival, growth, and renewal of businesses. In this review we systematically examine research on these topics in family business. Our review comprises 59 publications examining exploration and/or exploitation in family firms published between 2001 and 2015 in 32 publications. The article highlights the contributions of family business in this area and reveals additional areas where a stronger connection between these concepts and the family business field could be developed. We suggest several new research directions that may enhance the understanding of these entrepreneurial activities in family business.
Reduced-order H2/H∞ distributed observer for sensor networks

This paper presents a procedure to construct distributed observers for a system consisting in a perturbed linear time-invariant plant being observed by a network of sensor nodes. Based on local measurements of the plant and the information of its neighbours, every node builds an estimation of the plant states. Remarkably, each node can be designed to estimate a subspace of the plant, either because the observation attributes of the node impose a physical restriction or because of a free-design criterion. This relaxes the usual requirement of collective observability. The method presents features of suboptimal H2/H∞ performance, as the upper bound of a cost index is minimised, given a prescribed disturbance attenuation level. The computational cost as well as energy and bandwidth usage are reduced compared to existing solutions. Simulation results are presented to show the applicability of the results.
Combining Information Technology and Decentralized Workplace Organization: SMEs versus Larger Firms

Abstract This paper examines whether information technology (IT) and decentralized and incentive-based workplace organization are complementary only for large firms or also for smaller firms. Previous empirical evidence suggesting complementarity between IT and decentralization is mainly based on large firms. Using data from a sample of 3,288 small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and 595 larger firms from the manufacturing and service sector in Germany, it appears that SMEs with decentralized and incentive-based work practices tend to use IT more intensively. Moreover, for the sample of SMEs, IT and workplace organization are individually associated with higher productivity, but the combination of IT and decentralization does not yield a productivity premium. In contrast, the productivity of IT depends positively on decentralization for large firms. The findings suggest that combining IT and decentralized workplace organization seems only to be a successful strategy for larger firms.
Optical backplane system using waveguide-embedded PCBs and optical slots

As discussed in this paper, a practical optical backplane system was demonstrated, using a waveguide-embedded optical backplane board, processing boards, and optical slots for board-to-board interconnection. A metal optical bench was used as a packaging die for the optical devices and the integrated circuit chips in both the transmitter and the receiver processing boards. The polymer waveguide was produced by means of a hot-embossing technique and was then embedded following a conventional lamination processes. The average propagation loss of these waveguides was approximately 0.1 dB/cm at 850 nm. The dimension and optical properties of the waveguide in an optical backplane board were unchanged after lamination. As connection components between transmitter/receiver processing boards and an optical backplane board, optical slots were used for easy and repeatable insertion and extraction of the boards with a micrometer-scale precision. A 1/spl times/4 850-nm vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser array was used with 2 dBm of output power for the transmitter and a p-i-n photodiode array for the receiver. This paper successfully demonstrates 8 Gb/s of data transmission between the transmitter processing board and the optical backplane board.