Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Influence of Egr-1 in Cardiac Tissue-Derived Mesenchymal Stem Cells in Response to Glucose Variations

Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) represent a promising cell population for cell therapy and regenerative medicine applications. However, how variations in glucose are perceived by MSC pool is still unclear. Since, glucose metabolism is cell type and tissue dependent, this must be considered when MSCs are derived from alternative sources such as the heart. The zinc finger transcription factor Egr-1 is an important early response gene, likely to play a key role in the glucose-induced response. Our aim was to investigate how short-term changes in in vitro glucose concentrations affect multipotent cardiac tissue-derived MSCs (cMSCs) in a mouse model of Egr-1 KO (Egr-1−/−). Results showed that loss of Egr-1 does not significantly influence cMSC proliferation. In contrast, responses to glucose variations were observed in wt but not in Egr-1−/− cMSCs by clonogenic assay. Phenotype analysis by RT-PCR showed that cMSCs Egr-1−/− lost the ability to regulate the glucose transporters GLUT-1 and GLUT-4 and, as expected, the Egr-1 target genes VEGF, TGFβ-1, and p300. Acetylated protein levels of H3 histone were impaired in Egr-1−/− compared to wt cMSCs. We propose that Egr-1 acts as immediate glucose biological sensor in cMSCs after a short period of stimuli, likely inducing epigenetic modifications.
Cognitive-Affective Verbal Learning Test: An Integrated Measure of Affective and Neutral Words

Despite growing affective-memory research, only 2 potential clinical measures have been published, each with limitations. We describe the development and piloting of an integrated memory measure for neutral and affectively valenced words, the Cognitive-Affective Verbal Learning Test (C-AVLT). The C-AVLT and mood self-report measures were administered to 124 healthy university students in Study 1, with readministration to 40 students after 1 week. In Study 2, the C-AVLT and other neuropsychological measures of memory and emotion were administered to 61 patients referred for polysomnogram evaluation of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). Study 1 supported the C-AVLT’s internal and test–retest reliabilities, as well as concurrent validity, that is, the affective-bias scores but not performance scores correlated with self-reported mood. In Study 2, convergent, criterion (specifically cross-sectional concurrent validity), and incremental validity were supported with regard to both performance and affective-bias scores within the OSA sample. We demonstrated the C-AVLT is a reliable and clinically useful measure of both memory and affective-processing bias in 2 samples. Future clinical and research recommendations for the C-AVLT are discussed, including broadening normative data and criterion validity data in psychiatric and neurological samples.
It all starts at home: Male adolescent violence to mothers

Whilst adolescent violence toward parents is an emerging trend internationally, little research has been undertaken in Australia that examines male adolescent violence to their mothers. This research examined male adolescents’ abuse and violence to their sole parent mothers. It gathered qualitative data from ten women, from a range of cultural backgrounds to gain a comprehensive understanding of their experiences of the abuse and violence from their sons. The women had a total of fourteen male children, between thirteen and nineteen years of age; twelve of these were identified as violent. The research highlighted intra-generational and intergenerational issues relating to family violence. Most women and their ex-partners had grown up in families where they had experienced harsh discipline and/or the abuse of women and children. The sons’ violence towards their mothers, siblings and others included physical, emotional, verbal, psychological and financial abuse. The impact of sons’ abuse and violence to siblings was profound and severe.
Conditional Density Estimation using Finite Mixture Models with an Application to Astrophysics

Conditional density estimation (CDE) is a statistical technique that allows for a better understanding of the relationship between a response variable and a set of covariates, in comparison with usual regression methods. Therefore, this technique is of great importance to many scientific fields where knowledge about conditional means, obtained by regression methods, is not enough to draw valuable conclusions about the problem at hand. There are a variety of conditional density estimators, but most of them lack generality or ease of interpretation. We present a solution to this problem by modeling the conditional density of Y given X using finite mixture models and estimating the parameter functions using local likelihood estimation. We use the proposed estimator to analyze the relationship between galaxy evolution and local density.
A growth arrest-specific (gas) gene codes for a membrane protein

A set of growth arrest-specific (gas) genes whose expression is negatively regulated by serum has recently been identified. We report on the detailed analysis of one of these genes (gas3). The kinetics of regulation by the presence and absence of serum were investigated, and it was found that this gene is regulated at the post-transcriptional level. The encoded protein deduced from the nucleotide sequence showed some similarity to a mitochondrial oxyreductase, and in vitro translation established that the protein product is a transmembrane glycoprotein.
LABORATORY-ACQUIRED INFECTIONS

Although numerous individual case reports and a few instances of institutional outbreaks of laboratory-acquired infections had appeared in the literature, the magnitude of this problem as it relates to the occupational health of laboratory workers did not become evident until the results of an extensive survey conducted in 1950 became available. Prior to that time only an occasional report concerned itself with consideration of the need for adequately protecting personnel who come in daily contact with disease-producing agents. By means of a questionnaire circularized to several laboratories in the United States, Meyer and Eddie (26) in 1941 assembled pertinent information regarding laboratory infections due to brucellae. From published reports and personal communications, Sulkin and Pike (34) in 1949 collected data regarding the occurrence of viral infections contracted in laboratories in the United States and elsewhere in the hope that such information would indicate where the greatest need for caution exists in work with viruses. To obtain more information regarding the occurrence of laboratory infections, the National Institutes of Health sponsored a survey which was conducted about 10 years ago. Questionnaires mailed to nearly 5,000 laboratories in the United States revealed over 1,300 instances of presumed laboratory-acquired infection, with 39 deaths (35). Since that time an effort has been made to maintain a file of laboratory-acquired infections as they are reported in the literature and as they are called to our attention. A section on this subject in Diagnostic Procedures and Reagents, published by the American Public Health Association, contains a summary of 2,262 cases with 96 deaths (36). Since that manuscript was prepared, 86 additional cases (with 11 deaths) have come to our attention bringing the total to 2,348 cases, with 107 fatalities.
Neurophysiological testing correlates with clinical examination according to fibre type involvement and severity in sensory neuropathy

Objective: To investigate a comprehensive battery of neurophysiological tests for objective evaluation of sensory neuropathies including fibre type involvement and severity, and to determine the relation between neurophysiological data and clinical examination. Methods: 45 patients referred for sensory neuropathy were studied using a standardised clinical evaluation of large and small fibre symptoms and an original neurophysiological battery. Clinical evaluation included: assessment of tactile, vibratory, and pin sensation; tendon reflexes; toe position sense; ataxia score; pain level; and presence of trophic, vasomotor, or sudomotor abnormalities. The neurophysiological battery included: recording of large fibre and small fibre components of the sural sensory nerve action potential; somatosensory evoked cortical potentials and soleus H reflex following tibial nerve electrical stimulation; laser evoked potentials following Nd:YAG laser stimulation of the foot; and plantar sympathetic skin response to median nerve stimulation. Neuropathy was classified according to the predominantly affected fibre type, and a severity score was established based on clinical and neurophysiological abnormalities. Results: On clinical examination there were 22 patients with large fibre sensory neuropathy (LFSN), 18 with mixed sensory neuropathy (MSN), and five with small fibre sensory neuropathy (SFSN). Neurophysiological classification identified 25 patients with LFSN, 13 with MSN, and seven with SFSN. Clinical and neurophysiological classifications and severity scores were correlated, whatever the type of neuropathy. Conclusions: The correlation between clinical examination and the results of an original neurophysiological test battery offers a comprehensive clinical and neurophysiological approach to the objective assessment of peripheral neuropathies according to fibre type involvement and overall severity.
Communities and Consequences: An Inquiry into Ideology and Practice in Teachers’ Professional Work

This article challenges vague and underconceptualized notions of teacher professional community prevalent in both the theoretical and policy-oriented reform literatures. The findings from a close examination of two schools’teacher professional communities suggest that current models obscure significant differences in beliefs and practices. Whereas one school’s professional community emphasizes teachers’ individual autonomy, rights, and responsibilities to colleagues, the other’s is driven by a strong collective mission. A provisional model for examining teacher professional communities, which distinguishes between liberal and collective commitments, is presented.
POSSLT: A Korean to English Spoken Language Translation System

The POSSLT is a Korean to English spoken language translation (SLT) system. Like most other SLT systems, automatic speech recognition (ASR), machine translation (MT), and text-to-speech (TTS) are coupled in a cascading manner in our POSSLT. However, several novel techniques are applied to improve overall translation quality and speed. Models used in POSSLT are trained on a travel domain conversational corpus.
Kinetic studies on immune hemolysis. III. Description of a terminal process which follows the Ca++ and Mg++ reaction steps in the action of complement on sensitized erythrocytes.

Summary It has been shown that the two successive C′ reaction steps requiring Ca ++ and Mg ++ , respectively, are followed by a third process which we have termed the terminal intrinsic transformation reaction, in the course of which intact cells release their hemoglobin and become ghosts. The terminal reaction proceeds at an appreciable rate even at 0°C. It is not influenced by changes in ionic strength, or reaction volume, nor do citrate or EDTA in moderate concentration have any effect.
What Drives FDI from Non-traditional Sources? A Comparative Analysis of the Determinants of Bilateral FDI Flows

Abstract Non-traditional source countries of FDI play an increasingly important role, notably in developing host countries. This raises the question of whether the location choices differ systematically between traditional and non-traditional source countries. We perform Logit and Poisson Pseudo Maximum Likelihood estimations to assess the determinants of bilateral FDI flows. We find that economic geography variables are more relevant for FDI from nontraditional sources. The risk aversion of non-traditional investors is not consistently weaker than that of traditional investors. Resource abundance and superior technology in the host countries represent minor pull factors of FDI from non-traditional sources.
Primal and Dual Pricing of Multiple Exercise Options in Continuous Time

In this paper we study the pricing problem of multiple exercise options in continuous time on a finite time horizon. For the corresponding multiple stopping problem, we prove, under quite general assumptions, the existence of the Snell envelope, a reduction principle as nested single stopping problems, and a Doob-Meyer-type decomposition for the Snell envelope. The main technical difficulty arises from the fact that the price process of a multiple exercise option typically exhibits discontinuities from the right-hand side, even if the payoff process of the option is right-continuous. We also derive a dual minimization problem for the price of the multiple exercise option in terms of martingales and processes of bounded variation. Moreover, we explain how the primal and dual pricing formulas can be applied to compute confidence intervals on the option price via Monte Carlo methods, and we present a numerical example.
Parsing Chinese With an Almost-Context-Free Grammar

We describe a novel parsing strategy we are employing for Chinese. We believe progress in Chinese parsing technology has been slowed by the excessive ambiguity that typically arises in pure context-free grammars. This problem has inspired a modified formalism that enhances our ability to write and maintain robust large grammars, by constraining productions with left/right contexts and/or nonterminal functions. Parsing is somewhat more expensive than for pure context-free parsing, but is still efficient by both theoretical and empirical analyses. Encouraging experimental results with our current grammar are described.
An evolutionary approach to behavioural morphometrics

In this short paper, we briefly outline the design of a new framework, BOODLE (BiOlOgical DeveLopment Environment), that empowers biologists to retrace developmental processes at the intercellular level. This framework allows one to import volumetric data as retrieved by micro-CT scanners. Meta-information such as labels of specific regions can be imported or annotated interactively in the virtual simulation environment. Consistently labelled series of multiple embryonic scans that have been recorded at different times capture developmental processes. In order to generate models to retrace the underlying dynamics, we deploy a Genetic Algorithm (GA). The GA optimises the parameters of physics-based virtual cells to retrace the captured processes in a simulation. In particular, the fitness of a set of parameters is calculated based on comparisons between the emerging geometric shapes and the real-world information. The real-world data is provided by said annotations or inferred from grey values captured by the CT scans. To support effective evolutionary optimisation, the user interface supports the user during the import and refinement of CT-data sets, the editing of landmarks, the popluating of imported volumetric data with virtual cells, and the configuration of the Genetic Algorithm.
Etiological aspects of solitary bone cysts: comments regarding the presence of the disease in two brothers. Is the genetic theory sustainable or is it pure coincidence? – Case report

Beginning the study of benign tumors of the bone in children and adolescents, a group of diseases that have in common the clinical aspects, evolution, and surgical treatment, genetic theory in the etiology of the solitary bone cyst, can be sustained by some cases of siblings with the same disease. This paper presents the particular case of two brothers, treated in our clinic for the same condition: solitary bone cyst of the proximal humerus. The two brothers were admitted with the same symptoms, the localization was the same. Because of the genetic studies regarding this condition, we think that it is an interesting aspect of this pathology. This study also tried to find the most appropriate approach in the treatment of these tumors.
Estimation of the Amplitude Square Using the Interpolated Discrete Fourier Transform

To improve the estimation of active power, the possibility of estimating the amplitude square of a signal component using the interpolation of the squared amplitude discrete Fourier transform (DFT) coefficients is presented. As with an energy-based approach, the amplitude square can be estimated with the squared amplitude DFT coefficients around the component peak and a suitable interpolation algorithm. The use of the Hann window, for which the frequency spectrum is well known, and the three largest local amplitude DFT coefficients gives lower systematic errors in squared interpolated approach or in better interpolated squared approach than the energy-based approach, although the frequency has to be estimated in the first step. All investigated algorithms have almost the same noise propagation and the standard deviations are about two times larger than the Cramer-Rao lower bound.
On the Definition of Extended Norms and Co-norms to Aggregate Fuzzy Bipolar Conditions

Fuzzy queries addressed to a relational database management system are based on the expression of user preferences which leads to obtain more appropriate answers. Fuzzy set theory provides powerful tools to define such conditions (fuzzy conditions). In this context, it is possible to consider fuzzy bipolar conditions which are made of two fuzzy sets to describe user's preferences: i) a fuzzy constraint to represent a mandatory requirement, ii) a fuzzy wish to represent an optional requirement. A Fuzzy constraint is mandatory in the sense that it must be fulfilled (and it can be used to discard elements). A fuzzy wish is optional since it cannot be used to discard elements (but its satisfaction brings a bonification). This paper is devoted to the aggregation of fuzzy bipolar conditions and to the definition of extended norms and co-norms. Keywords— flexible querying, fuzzy bipolar condition, relational
A New Modular Multiplication Method in Public Key Cryptosystem

Modular multiplication is an important operation in several public key cryptosystems. This paper brings a novel idea based on the idea in the exponentiation computation. In this paper a new algorithm for modular multiplication for public key cryptosystem is presented. This proposed method is based on the following two ideas. (i) The remainder in regard to n can be constructed from the remainder with modulus ( 2n+1 ) and the remainder with modulus ( 2n+2 ). (ii) It often happens that 2n+1 and 2n+2 can easily be factorized, even if n is a prime number or difficult to be factorized into prime factors. The performance of new algorithm using estimation of the computational complexity is observed, and it is shown that the procedure is much faster than the previous algorithms.
Parallel cachelets

A low-latency and high-bandwidth level-1 data cache is crucial for achieving high performance in future superscalar microprocessors. The parallel cachelets (PC) proposed in this paper provide bandwidth close to that of a multi-ported cache with implementation efficiency close to that of a multi-banked cache. In the PC scheme, the traditional level-1 data cache is replaced by a set of parallel single-ported independent caches, or cachelets. Similar to the interleaved multi-banked design, the cachelets can be concurrently accessed to provide bandwidth. However, instead of mapping data elements to the banks in an interleaved fashion based on address bits, they are dynamically assigned to cachelets based on the pattern of concurrent accesses, thus many bank conflicts can be eliminated. Furthermore, the PC scheme exhibits the attribute of implicit set associativity that allows it to outperform a direct-mapped multi-ported cache for some benchmarks. The PC scheme outperforms the multi-banked scheme by an average of 6% (IPC) across a set of SPEC95 benchmarks, and comes very close to matching the performance of the multi ported scheme. When cache access latency is taken into account, the PC scheme even outperforms the multi ported scheme by 6.4%.
Retrieval-Induced Forgetting of Emotional Autobiographical Memories

Retrieval-induced forgetting is a phenomenon in which the retrieval of an item from memory causes the forgetting of other related or competing items. This forgetting is thought to be the consequence of inhibitory processes that act to prevent unwanted competing responses from coming to mind when attempting to retrieve a target response. While Barnier, Hung, and Conway (2004) demonstrated that autobiographical events can be forgotten using a retrieval-induced forgetting paradigm, they failed to control for output order. The current study replicated Barnier et al. (2004) while controlling for output order to test whether the forgetting they observed was merely due to blocking-based output interference. After recalling positive and negative autobiographical memories using word cues, participants were asked to retrieve a subset of their originally reported memories. They were then tested on their ability to retrieve initially recalled memories. We predicted similar results to Barnier et al. (2004), such that people would show retrieval-induced forgetting for autobiographical memories that are followed by the retrieval of other, related memories. Results supported this hypothesis; people recalled positive and negative unpracticed memories from practiced cue word sets at a lower rate than unpracticed positive and negative memories from unpracticed cue word sets. By demonstrating forgetting while controlling for output interference it is clear that other mechanisms, such as inhibition, may be responsible for autobiographical retrieval-induced forgetting.
A fine-grained evaluation of SPARQL endpoint federation systems

The Web of Data has grown enormously over the last years. Currently, it comprises a large compendium of interlinked and distributed datasets from multiple domains. Running complex queries on this compendium often requires accessing data from different endpoints within one query. The abundance of datasets and the need for running complex query has thus motivated a considerable body of work on SPARQL query federation systems, the dedicated means to access data distributed over the Web of Data. However, the granularity of previous evaluations of such systems has not allowed deriving of insights concerning their behavior in different steps involved during federated query processing. In this work, we perform extensive experiments to compare state-of-the-art SPARQL endpoint federation systems using the comprehensive performance evaluation framework Fed- Bench. In addition to considering the tradition query runtime as an evaluation criterion, we extend the scope of our performance evaluation by considering criteria, which have not been paid much attention to in previous studies. In particular, we consider the number of sources selected, the total number of SPARQL ASK requests used, the completeness of answers as well as the source selection time. Yet, we show that they have a significant impact on the overall query runtime of existing systems. Moreover, we extend FedBench to mirror a highly distributed data environment and assess the behavior of existing systems by using the same performance criteria. As the result we provide a detailed analysis of the experimental outcomes that reveal novel insights for improving current and future SPARQL federation systems.
Simulation of SAR images of a forested area based on a 3-D full-wave model of wave scattering

A coherent 3D model of wave scattering by a forested area is used to produce the data necessary to construct SAR images of the given field. Based on a domain integral representation of the scattered field, the model is applied, in VHF band, to a configuration where the separation between the trees is such that the coupling between the latters is weak. The computed backscattered field is used as an input to classical algorithms of SAR image reconstruction