Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Official Language and Education Policies. In Monolingual Iceland and Multilingual Luxembourg

This thesis describes the official language and language education policies of monolingual Iceland and multilingual Luxembourg. These policies are then compared and contrasted and their practical implementations examined. Iceland places emphasis on the preservation of its national language, Icelandic, to stem possible linguistic influences and domain loss of the language due to globalization and the rise of the English language at all levels of the Icelandic society. Therefore Iceland’s language policy can be seen as taking a monolingual stance. But English and various other foreign languages are offered in the Icelandic school system with some schools even starting formal English language courses before the official instruction in 4 grade. As Luxembourg is situated in the heart of Europe, its neighbours’ languages influence its official language policies. Luxembourg has three official languages and consequently its school system is multilingual as well, putting a lot of emphasis on French and German language instruction but not as much on its national language, Luxembourgish. There can be advantages and disadvantages to both a monolingual and multilingual language policy and culture. The preservation of one’s national language in all domains of society as it is done in Iceland is important for the preservation of the country’s culture and linguistic past but it is also important to be able to communicate outside of one’s own country or with foreigners inside one’s country. With a high percentage of foreigners living and working in Luxembourg it is evident that a multicultural society is created and the need for multiple languages is a necessity as well as a great asset for all residents. Nevertheless it is also important to keep the national language in this kind of multicultural society as active as possible.
OH formation by HONO photolysis during the BERLIOZ experiment

[1] The photolysis of nitrous acid (HONO) in the early morning hours is an important source of OH radicals, the most important daytime oxidizing species. Although the importance of this mechanism has been recognized for many years, no accurate quantification of this OH source is available, and the role of HONO photolysis is often underestimated. We present measurements of HONO and its precursor NO2 by Differential Optical Absorption Spectroscopy (DOAS) during the Berliner Ozonexperiment (BERLIOZ) field campaign in July/August 1998 at Pabstthum near Berlin, Germany. HONO concentrations, formation rates, and simultaneously measured HONO photolysis frequencies are used to calculate the total amount of OH formed by HONO photolysis during a full diurnal cycle. A comparison with the OH formation by photolysis of O3 and HCHO and by the reaction of alkenes with ozone shows that HONO photolysis contributed up to 20% of the total OH formed in a 24 hour period during this campaign. In the morning hours, HONO photolysis was by far the most important OH source during BERLIOZ. INDEX TERMS: 0365 Atmospheric Composition and Structure: Troposphere—composition and chemistry; 0345 Atmospheric Composition and Structure: Pollution—urban and regional (0305); 0394 Atmospheric Composition and Structure: Instruments and techniques; KEYWORDS: HONO, photochemistry, OH, photolysis, HCHO, ozone
Open | SpeedShop: An open source infrastructure for parallel performance analysis

Over the last decades a large number of performance tools has been developed to analyze and optimize high perfor- mance applications. Their acceptance by end users, however, has been slow: each tool alone is often limited in scope and comes with widely varying interfaces and workflow constraints, requiring different changes in the often complex build and execution infrastructure of the target application. We started the Open|SpeedShop project about 3 years ago to overcome these limitations and provide efficient, easy to apply, and integrated performance analysis for parallel systems. Open|SpeedShop has two different faces: it provides an interoperable tool set covering the most common analysis steps as well as a comprehensive plugin infrastructure for building new tools. In both cases, the tools can be deployed to large scale parallel applications using DPCL/Dyninst for distributed binary instrumentation. Further, all tools developed within or on top of Open|SpeedShop are accessible through multiple fully equivalent interfaces including an easy-to-use GUI as well as an interactive command line interface reducing the usage threshold for those tools.
Involvement of Microglial Receptor for Advanced Glycation Endproducts (RAGE) in Alzheimer's Disease: Identification of a Cellular Activation Mechanism

Receptor-mediated interactions with amyloid beta-peptide (Abeta) could be important in the evolution of the inflammatory processes and cellular dysfunction that are prominent in Alzheimer's disease (AD) pathology. One candidate receptor is the receptor for advanced glycation endproducts (RAGE), which can bind Abeta and transduce signals leading to cellular activation. Data are presented showing a potential mechanism for Abeta activation of microglia that could be mediated by RAGE and macrophage colony-stimulating factor (M-CSF). Using brain tissue from AD and nondemented (ND) individuals, RAGE expression was shown to be present on microglia and neurons of the hippocampus, entorhinal cortex, and superior frontal gyrus. The presence of increased numbers of RAGE-immunoreactive microglia in AD led us to further analyze RAGE-related properties of these cells cultured from AD and ND brains. Direct addition of Abeta(1-42) to the microglia increased their expression of M-CSF. This effect was significantly greater in microglia derived from AD brains compared to those from ND brains. Increased M-CSF secretion was also demonstrated using a cell culture model of plaques whereby microglia were cultured in wells containing focal deposits of immobilized Abeta(1-42). In each case, the Abeta stimulation of M-CSF secretion was significantly blocked by treatment of cultures with anti-RAGE F(ab')2. Treatment of microglia with anti-RAGE F(ab')2 also inhibited the chemotactic response of microglia toward Abeta(1-42). Finally, incubation of microglia with M-CSF and Abeta increased expression of RAGE mRNA. These microglia also expressed M-CSF receptor mRNA. These data suggest a positive feedback loop in which Abeta-RAGE-mediated microglial activation enhances expression of M-CSF and RAGE, possibly initiating an ascending spiral of cellular activation.
Infant Death Scene Investigation

ABSTRACT The sudden unexpected death of an infant is a tragedy to the family, a concern to the community, and an indicator of national health. To accurately determine the cause and manner of the infant’s death, a thorough and accurate death scene investigation by properly trained personnel is key. Funding and resources are directed based on autopsy reports, which are only as accurate as the scene investigation. The investigation should include a standardized format, body diagrams, and a photographed or videotaped scene recreation utilizing doll reenactment. Forensic nurses, with their basic nursing knowledge and additional forensic skills and abilities, are optimally suited to conduct infant death scene investigations as well as train others to properly conduct death scene investigations. Currently, 49 states have child death review teams, which is an idea avenue for a forensic nurse to become involved in death scene investigations.
Genetics of panic disorder on the Faroe Islands: a replication study of chromosome 9 and panic disorder

Objective The population of the Faroe Islands in the North Atlantic Ocean is likely to have the same ancestry as the Icelandic population. An Icelandic study on Panic Disorder has found some evidence for a loci on chromosome 9. Methods On the Faroe Islands we have an ongoing genetic project concerning panic disorder among other psychiatric disorders. We searched for shared alleles and haplotypes in distantly related cases from the isolated and recently found population of the Faroe Islands, using 26 more or less evenly distributed microsatellite markers on chromosome 9, with emphasis on the candidate region identified in the Icelandic study. Results We have not been able to replicate the Icelandic results. Owing to the study design and sample size, we would not be able to detect areas with small impact
Mesenchymal Stem Cells Remain Host-Derived Independent of the Source of the Stem-Cell Graft and Conditioning Regimen Used

Background. Human bone marrow contains hematopoietic stem cells and stroma cells known as mesenchymal stem cells (MSC). MSC are cells with the morphological features of fibroblasts, which, in addition to their nursing function for hematopoietic stem cells, retain the ability to differentiate into cartilage, bone, fat, muscle, and tendon and have an important immunmodulatory function. To understand in more detail hematopoietic engraftment and immune modulation after hematopoietic cell transplantation, we investigated the ability of donor MSC to engraft after hematopoietic cell transplantation in dependency to the conditioning regimen (myeloablative vs. reduced intensity) and source of the graft (bone marrow vs. peripheral blood). Methods. Bone marrow MSC of 12 patients were analyzed, a median of 23.4 (range 0.9–137.8) months after human leukocyte antigen matched but gender mismatched bone marrow transplantation after myeloablative conditioning (n=4) or peripheral blood cell transplantation after myeloablative (n=4) or reduced intensity conditioning (n=4). MSC were characterized by morphology, positivity for CD 105+, CD73+, CD 44+, and CD 90+, and by their capacity to differentiate into adipocytic and osteogenic cells. Recipient and donor origins were determined by fluorescent in situ hybridization for sex chromosomes. Results. While overall blood and bone marrow chimerism was 100% donor type, MSC remained in all patients of recipient origin (>96%). There was no difference between patients receiving bone marrow and peripheral blood grafts, nor was any difference observed between patients receiving full intensity in comparison with reduced intensity conditioning. Conclusions. We conclude that MSC remain of host type irrespective of the conditioning regimen and graft source.
Tumor microvascular permeability is a key determinant for antivascular effects of doxorubicin encapsulated in a temperature sensitive liposome

Previous data have demonstrated that doxorubicin (DOX) released from a lysolecithin-containing thermosensitive liposome (LTSL) can shut down blood flow in a human tumor xenograft (FaDu) in mice when the treatment is combined with hyperthermia (HT), suggesting that LTSL-DOX is a potential antivascular agent. To further understand mechanisms of the treatment, we investigated effects of LTSL-DOX (5 mg/kg body weight) plus HT (42°C, 1 h) on microcirculation in another tumor (a murine mammary carcinoma, 4T07) implanted in mouse dorsal skin-fold chambers and dose responses of tumor (FaDu and 4T07) and endothelial cells to LTSL-DOX or free DOX with or without HT. We observed that LTSL-DOX-HT could significantly reduce blood flow and microvascular density in 4T07 tumors. The antivascular efficacy of LTSL-DOX-HT could be enhanced through increasing tumor microvascular permeability of liposomes by using platelet activating factor (PAF). We also observed that the dose responses of FaDu and 4T07 to DOX in vitro were similar to each other and could be enhanced by HT. Taken together, these data suggested that tumor microvascular permeability was more critical than the sensitivity of tumor cells to DOX in determining the antivascular efficacy of LTSL-DOX-HT treatment.
Use of Pulsed-Field Gel Electrophoresis in the Analysis of Recurrent Staphylococcus aureus Infections in Patients on Continuous Ambulatory Peritoneal Dialysis

Background/Aim: The purpose of this study was to evaluate pusled-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) for distinguishing between relapse and reinfection of Staphylococcus aureus infections in patients on continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (CAPD). Methods: Between July 1993 and May 1997, 4 patients with recurrent CAPD-associated infections caused by S. aureus we enrolled in this study. There were nine episodes of peritonitis, one episode of temporary double lumen catheter infection, and one episode of Hickman catheter infection. A total of eleven S. aureus isolates were collected from peritoneal fluid (n = 9) and blood (n = 2). PFGE typing was applied. Results: In our study, from PFGE typing, the 11 S. aureus isolates were classified into seven patterns. Antibiogram profiling classified only four patterns. Patient A had a reinfection by another strain of S. aureus, and patient B had three episodes of peritonitis caused by the same strain of S. aureus due to exit site infections. Patient C had two episodes of CAPD peritonitis caused by two different strains, respectively. Patient D had four episodes of S. aureus infection (three CAPD peritonitis and one bacteremia); the first two episodes of peritonitis were caused by an identical strain of S. aureus, whereas the subsequent two infections were caused by other organisms. Conclusion: PFGE has a high discriminatory power and can be an assistant method to antibiogram profiling for distinguishing relapse from reinfection in CAPD-associated peritonitis.
Dynamics of Ongoing Activity: Explanation of the Large Variability in Evoked Cortical Responses

Evoked activity in the mammalian cortex and the resulting behavioral responses exhibit a large variability to repeated presentations of the same stimulus. This study examined whether the variability can be attributed to ongoing activity. Ongoing and evoked spatiotemporal activity patterns in the cat visual cortex were measured with real-time optical imaging; local field potentials and discharges of single neurons were recorded simultaneously, by electrophysiological techniques. The evoked activity appeared deterministic, and the variability resulted from the dynamics of ongoing activity, presumably reflecting the instantaneous state of cortical networks. In spite of the large variability, evoked responses in single trials could be predicted by linear summation of the deterministic response and the preceding ongoing activity. Ongoing activity must play an important role in cortical function and cannot be ignored in exploration of cognitive processes.
Peptidoglycan N-Acetylglucosamine Deacetylases from Bacillus cereus, Highly Conserved Proteins in Bacillus anthracis*

The genomes of Bacillus cereus and its closest relative Bacillus anthracis contain 10 polysaccharide deacetylase homologues. Six of these homologues have been proposed to be peptidoglycan N-acetylglucosamine deacetylases. Two of these genes, namely bc1960 and bc3618, have been cloned and expressed in Escherichia coli, and the recombinant enzymes have been purified to homogeneity and further characterized. Both enzymes were effective in deacetylating cell wall peptidoglycan from the Gram(+) Bacillus cereus and Bacillus subtilis and the Gram(–) Helicobacter pylori as well as soluble chitin substrates and N-acetylchitooligomers. However, the enzymes were not active on acetylated xylan. These results provide insight into the substrate specificity of carbohydrate esterase family 4 enzymes. It was revealed that both enzymes deacetylated only the GlcNAc residue of the synthetic muropeptide N-acetyl-d-glucosamine-(β-1,4)-N-acetylmuramyl-l-alanine-d-isoglutamine. Analysis of the constituent muropeptides of peptidoglycan from B. subtilis and H. pylori resulting from incubation of the enzymes BC1960 and BC3618 with these polymers and subsequent hydrolysis by Cellosyl and mutanolysin, respectively, similarly revealed that both enzymes deacetylate GlcNAc residues of peptidoglycan. Kinetic analysis toward GlcNAc2–6 revealed that GlcNAc4 was the favorable substrate for both enzymes. Identification of the sequence of N-acetychitooligosaccharides (GlcNAc2–4) following enzymatic deacetylation by using 1H NMR revealed that both enzymes deacetylate all GlcNAc residues of the oligomers except the reducing end ones. Enzymatic deacetylation of chemically acetylated vegetative peptidoglycan from B. cereus by BC1960 and BC3618 resulted in increased resistance to lysozyme digestion. This is the first biochemical study of bacterial peptidoglycan N-acetylglucosamine deacetylases.
Single-Locus Latitudinal Clines and Their Relationship to Temperate Adaptation in Metabolic Genes and Derived Alleles in Drosophila melanogaster

We report a study in Drosophila melanogaster of latitudinal clines for 23 SNPs embedded in 13 genes (Pgi, Gapdh1, UGPase, Pglym78, Pglym87, Eno, Men, Gdh, Sod, Pgk, Mdh1, TreS, Treh) representing various metabolic enzymes. Our samples are from 10 populations spanning latitude from southern Florida to northern Vermont. Three new clines with latitude were detected. These are the amino acid polymorphisms in the NAD-dependent glutamate dehydrogenase (Gdh) and trehalase (Treh) genes, and a silent site polymorphism in the UDP-glucose pyrophosphorylase gene (UGPase). The result, when combined with the overall incidence and pattern of reports for six other genes (Adh, Gpdh, Pgm, G6pd, 6Pgd, Hex-C), presents a picture of latitudinal clines in metabolic genes prevalent around the branch point of competing pathways. For six of the seven amino acid polymorphisms showing significant latitudinal clines in North America, the derived allele is the one increasing with latitude, suggesting temperate adaptation. This is consistent with a model of an Afrotropical ancestral species adapting to temperate climates through selection favoring new mutations.
News vs. Sentiment: Predicting Stock Returns from News Stories

The authors used a dataset of more than 900,000 news stories to test whether news can predict stock returns. They measured sentiment with a proprietary Thomson Reuters neural network and found that daily news predicts stock returns for only one to two days, confirming previous research. Weekly news, however, predicts stock returns for one quarter. Positive news stories increase stock returns quickly, but negative stories receive a long-delayed reaction. Much of the delayed response to news occurs around the subsequent earnings announcement.
Contrasting molecular composition and channel properties of AMPA receptors on chick auditory and brainstem motor neurons

1 Neurons in the brainstem auditory pathway exhibit a number of specializations for transmitting signals reliably at high rates, notably synaptic AMPA receptors with very rapid kinetics. Previous work has not revealed a common structural pattern shared by the AMPA receptors of auditory neurons that could account for their distinct functional properties. 2 We have used whole‐cell patch‐clamp recordings, mRNA analysis, immunofluorescence, Western blots and agonist‐evoked cobalt uptake to compare AMPA receptors on the first‐, second‐ and third‐order neurons in the chick ascending auditory pathway with those on brainstem motor neurons of the glossopharyngeal/vagal nucleus, which have been shown to have very slow desensitization kinetics. 3 The results indicate that the AMPA receptors of the cochlear ganglion, nucleus magnocellularis and nucleus laminaris share a number of structural and functional properties that distinguish them from the AMPA receptors of brainstem motor neurons, namely a lower relative abundance of glutamate receptor (GluR)2 transcript and much lower levels of GluR2 immunoreactivity, higher relative levels of GluR3 flop and GluR4 flop, lower relative abundance of the C‐terminal splice variants GluR4c and 4d, less R/G editing of GluR2 and 3, greater permeability to calcium, predominantly inwardly rectifying I–V relationships, and greater susceptibility to block by Joro spider toxin. 4 We conclude that the AMPA receptors of auditory neurons acquire rapid kinetics from their high content of GluR3 flop and GluR4 flop subunits and their high permeability to Ca2+ from selective post‐transcriptional suppression of GluR2 expression.
Role of habenula and amygdala dysfunction in Parkinson disease patients with punding

Objective: To assess whether a functional dysregulation of the habenula and amygdala, as modulators of the reward brain circuit, contributes to Parkinson disease (PD) punding. Methods: Structural and resting-state functional MRI were obtained from 22 patients with PD punding, 30 patients with PD without any impulsive-compulsive behavior (ICB) matched for disease stage and duration, motor impairment, and cognitive status, and 30 healthy controls. Resting-state functional connectivity of the habenula and amygdala bilaterally was assessed using a seed-based approach. Habenula and amygdala volumes and cortical thickness measures were obtained. Results: Compared to both healthy controls and PD cases without any ICB (PD–no ICB), PD-punding patients showed higher functional connectivity of habenula and amygdala with thalamus and striatum bilaterally, and lower connectivity between bilateral habenula and left frontal and precentral cortices. In PD-punding relative to PD–no ICB patients, a lower functional connectivity between right amygdala and hippocampus was also observed. Habenula and amygdala volumes were not different among groups. PD-punding patients showed a cortical thinning of the left superior frontal and precentral gyri and right middle temporal gyrus and isthmus cingulate compared to healthy controls, and of the right inferior frontal gyrus compared to both controls and PD–no ICB patients. Conclusions: A breakdown of the connectivity among the crucial nodes of the reward circuit (i.e., habenula, amygdala, basal ganglia, frontal cortex) might be a contributory factor to punding in PD. This study provides potential instruments to detect and monitor punding in patients with PD.
Inaccuracy of the 'derived' fibrinogen measurement.

The 'derived' fibrinogen method is commonly used for the measurement of plasma fibrinogen. This method is not a direct quantitation of plasma fibrinogen, but an estimation of the fibrinogen concentration from the clotting curve of the prothrombin time on automated photo-optical coagulometers. An increasing number of laboratories are now routinely using this method to cope with increasing demands for fibrinogen testing. To study the suitability of this method for routine laboratory use a total of 58 samples, 20 healthy normals and 38 from other patient groups were tested by the 'derived' and Clauss fibrinogen methods on the ACL 300R. The results clearly demonstrated that 'derived' fibrinogen assay values were significantly higher than the Clauss measurements. The discrepancy between 'derived' and Clauss fibrinogen levels was greater in certain patient groups, e.g. patients receiving oral anticoagulants, than in normal controls. Some patients with documented hypodysfibrinogenaemia with low fibrinogen levels by Clauss assay gave normal 'derived' fibrinogen values. Although the 'derived' fibrinogen assay is rapid, economical and easily available to laboratories with suitable instruments, this study shows that it lacks standardization and is inaccurate compared with the Clauss assay.