Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Perspectives and issues

The centre of global economic activity is shifting rapidly towards Asia, driven by a combination of the economic dynamism of China, India and other middle-income Asian countries, and sluggish growth in the OECD economies. The rapid growth and rising global prominence has raised a range of major challenges for Asia and for the rest of the world. This comprehensive, forward-looking book examines these issues through in-depth studies of major Asian economies and an analysis of the key development policy options.
Profile of Aberrant CpG Island Methylation along Multistep Gastric Carcinogenesis

The stomach is one of the organs whose epithelial cells frequently undergo aberrant methylation of CpG islands. To date, several reports on the methylation of various genes in gastric cancer (GC) have been published. However, most of these studies have focused on cancer tissues or a single gene only and gave no information about the methylation status of specific genes in the premalignant stages or the concurrent methylation of other genes in specific lesions. We attempted to investigate methylation of multiple genes in a large sample collection of GC (n = 80), gastric adenoma (GA) (n = 79), intestinal metaplasia (IM) (n = 57), and chronic gastritis (CG) (n = 74). We determined the methylation frequency of 12 genes, including APC, COX-2, DAP-kinase, E-cadherin, GSTP1, hMLH1, MGMT, p16, p14, RASSF1A, THBS1, and TIMP3, by methylation-specific PCR. Five different classes of methylation behaviors were found: (a) genes methylated in GC only (GSTP1 and RASSF1A), (b) genes showing low methylation frequency (<12%) in CG, IM, and gastric adenoma (GA) but significantly higher methylation frequency in GC (COX-2, hMLH1, p16), (c) a gene with low and similar methylation frequency (8.8–21.3%) in four-step lesions (MGMT), (d) genes with high and similar methylation frequency (53–85%) in four-step lesions (APC and E-cadherin), and (e) genes showing an increasing tendency with or without fluctuation of the methylation frequency along the progression (DAP-kinase, p14, THBS1, and TIMP-3). The average number of methylated genes was 2.7, 3.6, 3.4, and 5.2 per 12 tested genes in CG, IM, GA, and GC, respectively. Aberrant methylation at multiple loci in the same lesions suggests an overall deregulation of the methylation control, which occurs early in multistep gastric carcinogenesis. Our results suggest that tumor-suppressor genes show a gene-type specific methylation profile along the multistep carcinogenesis and that aberrant CpG island methylation tend to accumulate along the multistep carcinogenesis.
Surgical Ablation for Atrial Fibrillation in Cardiac Surgery a Consensus Statement of the International Society of Minimally Invasive Cardiothoracic Surgery (ISMICS) 2009

Objective This purpose of this consensus conference was to determine whether surgical atrial fibrillation (AF) ablation during cardiac surgery improves clinical and resource outcomes compared with cardiac surgery alone in adults undergoing cardiac surgery for valve or coronary artery bypass grafting. Methods Before the consensus conference, the consensus panel reviewed the best available evidence, whereby systematic reviews, randomized trials, and nonrandomized trials were considered in descending order of validity and importance. Evidence-based statements were created, and consensus processes were used to determine the ensuing recommendations. The American Heart Association/American College of Cardiology system was used to label the level of evidence and class of recommendation. Results The consensus panel agreed on the following statements in patients with AF undergoing cardiac surgery concomitant surgical ablation: 1. Improves the achievement of sinus rhythm at discharge and 1 year (level A); this effect is sustained up to 5 years (level B). Does not reduce the use of antiarrhythmic drugs at 12 months after surgery (level A; 36.0% vs. 45.4%), although trials were not designed to answer this question. 2. Does not increase the requirement for permanent pacemaker implantation (4.4% vs. 4.8%; level A). 3. Does not increase the risk of perioperative mortality (level A), stroke (level A), myocardial infarction (level B), cardiac tamponade (level A), reoperative bleeding (level A), esophageal injury (level B), low cardiac output (level A), intraaortic balloon (level B), congestive heart failure (level B), ejection fraction (EF; level B), pleural effusion (level A), pneumonia (level A), renal dysfunction (level B), and mediastinitis (level A). The incidence of esophageal injury remains to be low (level B). 4. Does not reduce mortality at 1 year (level A). There is a possible reduction in mortality beyond 1 year (level B), but no difference in stroke (level A), myocardial infarction (level A), and heart failure (level B). EF is increased (+4.1% more than control; level A). 5. Has been shown to improve exercise tolerance at 1 year (level A), but no impact on quality of life at 3 months and 1 year (level A); however, the methodology used and the number of trials studying these outcomes are insufficient. 6. Increases cardiopulmonary bypass and cross-clamp times (level A), with no difference in intensive care unit and hospital length of stay (level A). Overall costs were not reported. Conclusions Given these evidence-based statements, the consensus panel stated that, in patients with persistent and permanent AF undergoing cardiac surgery, concomitant surgical ablation is recommended to increase incidence of sinus rhythm at short- and long-term follow-up (class 1, level A); to reduce the risk of stroke and thromboembolic events (class 2a, level B); to improve EF (class 2a, level A); and to exercise tolerance (class 2a, level A) and long-term survival (class 2a, level B).
A Stochastic Estimated Version of the Italian Dynamic General Equilibrium Model (IGEM)

We estimate with Bayesian techniques the Italian dynamic General Equilibrium Model (IGEM), which has been developed at the Italian Treasury Department, Ministry of Economy and Finance, to assess the effects of alter-native policy interventions. We analyze and discuss the estimated effects of various shocks on the Italian economy. Compared to the calibrated version used for policy analysis, we find a lower wage rigidity and higher adjustment costs. The degree of prices and wages indexation to past inflation is much smaller than the indexation level assumed in the calibrated model. No substantial difference is found in the estimated monetary parameters. Estimated fiscal multipliers are slightly smaller than those obtained from the calibrated version of the model.
Expression of Emotions in Dance: Relation between Arm Movement Characteristics and Emotion

This study was designed to investigate the relations between emotional expression and the movement characteristics. For this purpose, we used kinematic data related to three factors of the movement characteristics: Speed, Force, and Directness. In Exp. 1, we examined how the dancers expressed emotions when they used a certain body action and body part, and how they altered the movement characteristics. In Exp. 1, 10 female dancers were instructed to express three emotions, joy, sadness, and anger, by altering arm-movement characteristics. Analysis of variance indicated that the three exhibited emotional expressions had different movement characteristics. Discriminant analysis indicated that kinematic data for evaluation of movement characteristics are useful for discrimination of the three emotional expressions in dance. In Exp. 2, we investigated how naive observers perceived the type of emotion from the arm-movement characteristics. Analysis of variance showed that 22 observers accurately perceived each emotion distinguished from other emotions. Multiple regression analysis showed that specific movement characteristics influenced the perception of particular emotion.
More and more together : Legal family formats for same-sex and different-sex couples in European countries – Comparative analysis of data in the LawsAndFamilies Database

This report (edited by Kees Waaldijk) includes contributions by Daniel Damonze, Marie Digoix, Marina Franchi, Natalie Nikolina, Jose Ignacio Pichardo Galan, Giulia Selmi, Matias de Stefano Barbero, Matthias Thibeaud, Jose A.M. Vela, Kees Waaldijk, and Giuseppe Zago. This report offers a comparative analysis of legal and other data concerning same-sex (and different-sex) families, in marriage, in registered partnership, and in cohabitation. These data (from a legal survey among legal experts in 21 European countries, from sociological interviews with same-sex families in four European countries, and from a statistical survey of twelve European countries) have been brought together in the LawsAndFamilies Database – Aspects of legal family formats for same-sex and different-sex couples (www.LawsAndFamilies.eu). The report presents the database and the methodology of the legal survey, followed by an overview and analysis of the main results of that survey for the different countries in light of European minimum standards, plus five comparative cases studies on specific legal issues for which the database now provides detailed information, and a synthesis of the findings from the qualitative interviews. The conclusion highlights the main findings on the situation of same-sex couples, including gender aspects, and offers recommendations for further research and for legal policy; it connects legal and sociological findings, and presents correlations between laws, public attitudes, and statistics. The general theme of the report is increasing legal equality for increasing diversity of families. The text of the legal LawsAndFamilies questionnaire, plus the text of the guidance document provided to legal experts answering this questionnaire, is available at http://www.familiesandsocieties. eu/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/WP64-Waaldijketal2016.pdf.
Starting from here: Challenges in planning for better health care in Tanzania

Health sectors are social and economic institutions. They reflect the broader political economy of their country, and contain within them the economic characteristics, power relations and hierarchies of the broader society – while also, strikingly, providing a location for redistributing resources, responding to need, and contesting disadvantage and exclusion. This chapter addresses the challenges facing Tanzanian health planners in seeking to move to universal health coverage from the current state of Tanzanian health care. It aims to contribute to building understandings of the scope for developmental planning for better health that is context- and place-specific in strategy while focused on practical problem-solving.
Structure of human aldose reductase holoenzyme in complex with Statil: An approach to structure‐based inhibitor design of the enzyme

Aldose reductase, a monomeric NADPH‐dependent oxidoreductase, catalyzes the reduction of a wide variety of aldehydes and ketones to their corresponding alcohols. The X‐ray structure of human aldose reductase holoenzyme in complex with statil was determined at a resolution of 2.1 Å. The carboxylate group of statil interacted with the conserved anion binding site located between the nicotinamide ring of the coenzyme and active site residues Tyr48, His110, and Trp111. Statil's hydrophobic phthalazinyl ring was bound in an adjacent pocket lined by residues Trp20, Phe122, and Trp219, with the bromo‐fluorobenzyl group penetrating the “specificity” pocket. The interactions between the inhibitor's bromo‐fluorobenzyl group and the enzyme include the stacking against the side‐chain of Trp111 as well as hydrogen bonding to residues Leu300 and Thr113. Based on the model of the ternary complex, the program GRID was used in an attempt to design novel potential inhibitors of human aldose reductase with enhanced binding energies of the complex. Molecular modeling calculations suggested that the replacement of the fluorine atom of statil with a carboxylate functional group may enhance the binding energies of the complex by 33%. Proteins 2003;50:230–238. © 2002 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
HEMOXCell, a New Oxygen Carrier Usable as an Additive for Mesenchymal Stem Cell Culture in Platelet Lysate‐Supplemented Media

Human mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are promising candidates for therapeutic applications such as tissue engineering. However, one of the main challenges is to improve oxygen supply to hypoxic areas to reduce oxygen gradient formation while preserving MSC differentiation potential and viability. For this purpose, a marine hemoglobin, HEMOXCell, was evaluated as an oxygen carrier for culturing human bone marrow MSCs in vitro for future three-dimensional culture applications. Impact of HEMOXCell on cell growth and viability was assessed in human platelet lysate (hPL)-supplemented media. Maintenance of MSC features, such as multipotency and expression of MSC specific markers, was further investigated by biochemical assays and flow cytometry analysis. Our experimental results highlight its oxygenator potential and indicate that an optimal concentration of 0.025 g/L HEMOXCell induces a 25%-increase of the cell growth rate, preserves MSC phenotype, and maintains MSC differentiation properties; a two-fold higher concentration induces cell detachment without altering cell viability. Our data suggest the potential interest of HEMOXCell as a natural oxygen carrier for tissue engineering applications to oxygenate hypoxic areas and to maintain cell viability, functions and "stemness. " These features will be further tested within three-dimensional scaffolds.
Dominant Inheritance of a Trait Lacking β-conglycinin Detected in a Wild Soybean Line

The QT2 Iine, which lacks β-conglycinin in the seed storage protein, was detected from our wild soybean germplasm collection. Although induced mutant lines lacking β-conglycinin were reported to be non viable in previous studies, the QT2 Iine grew normally and produced successive generations. To distinguish it from the non viable β-conglycinin-lacking line, this pheno-type was referred to as the “QT2-type”. In these studies, we investigated the mode of inheritance of the QT2-type and the genetic relationships between the QT2-type and some other soybean storage proteins. In spite of the fact that β-conglycinin was composed of three major subunits, genetic analysis of the QT2 Iine indicated that the QT2-type was controlled by one single dominant gene. The new genetic symbol of Scg was assigned to the QT2 type in this report. Furthermore, the mode of inheritance of the QT2-type was independent of that of the α'-subunit of β-conglycinin and seed lipoxygenases. The QT2-type hybrids, even without the presence of seed lipoxygenases, did not show any physiological abnormalities. These results indicate that the QT2 Iine is a suitable gene source to breed soybean varieties lacking β-conglycinin.
Effect of latitude and longitude on bounding sigma at low-latitude stations for GBAS applications

In modern satellite based navigation systems for aviation applications, Ground Based Augmentation System (GBAS) is set to become an important part of the systems for ensuring safe and reliable Precision Approach (PA) and landing of aircrafts. The performance of GBAS is limited by spatial decorrelation of ionospheric delays (spatial gradients). No significant work has been done on this aspect at low and equatorial latitude regions, especially in the context of LAAS. In our statistical analysis of spatial gradients, TEC data from Indian Space Based Augmentation System (SBAS), namely GAGAN stations is used. Probability Density Function (PDF) of ionospheric gradients is compared with one-sigma Gaussian curve, to compute the bounding sigma, which in turn will be used in the estimation of Protection Levels (PLs) by the aircraft. Variation of gradients with respect to two key parameters namely latitude and longitude have been analyzed. Our results show that, the bounding sigma is high at low latitudes and varies drastically as latitude changes. But for a given latitude, longitudinal variations do not have much effect on the bounding sigma. Results presented in this paper helps to design and develop an efficient GBAS for low-latitude regions.
Facial development disorders due to inhibition to endochondral ossification of mandibular condyle process caused by malnutrition.

OBJECTIVE To analyze the effect of protein restriction on histomorphometric parameters of bone remodeling in mandibular condyle process and its possible influence in facial development in growing rats. MATERIALS AND METHODS Wistar rats weaned at the age of 21 days were assigned to one of the following groups: control (fed a regular hard diet ad libitum) and protein restricted (PR) (fed a hard diet lacking in protein ad libitum). The animals were euthanized on day 35 after the onset of the experiment. Mandibles were resected, fixed in 10% formalin, hemisected at the symphysis, and then radiographed in order to perform cephalometric studies of the condylar process length and the height of the lower alveolar process. Mandibles were then processed for light microscopy, and histomorphometric determinations were performed on histologic sections of the condylar process subchondral bone. RESULTS The PR group showed a significantly lower body weight than control group at the end of the experiment. The length of the condylar process was lower in the PR group; however, the diet used in this study did not affect the height of the lower alveolar process. The histomorphometric analysis showed that the PR group exhibited a statistically significant decrease in bone formation and bone volume in condylar process subchondral bone. CONCLUSION Protein restriction inhibits bone formation and longitudinal growth in the mandibular condylar process. This result suggest that protein restriction can alter normal facial development.
Fault Detection and Diagnosis of Valve Actuators in Discharge Air Temperature (DAT) Systems, using Interactive Unscented Kalman Filter Estimation

Nowadays monitoring and controlling the modern and sophisticated heating ventilation air conditioning (HVAC) building systems under a wide variety of occupancy and load related operating conditions is becoming a difficult and challenging task. Their complexity drastically increases and the control becomes more difficult task due to the several control loops that interact between them. Among these control loops the discharge air temperature (DAT) loop, the static pressure loop (SP), and the variable air volume (VAV) terminal unit loop are the candidate loops requiring frequent re-tuning. Equipment failures and loss of control leading to less than acceptable indoor environment conditions is a common problem reported in these systems. In our paper we consider the degradation in the DAT loop performance caused by a gradual increase in backlash of the valve actuator. The main objective of this paper is to describe the application of an interactive multiple model (IMM) based on the unscented Kalman filter (UKF) estimation algorithm (IMMUKF) to the problem of fault detection diagnosis and isolation (FDDI) of the valve actuator failures in DAT loop of the HVAC systems. The proposed algorithm is an alternative to the interactive multiple model (IMM) developed in the literature based on the extended Kalman filter standard technique, the most popular estimation technique used in the last 40 years. The main advantage of the proposed algorithm is the less computation, consequently more faster, high accuracy, robustness and eliminates completely the linearization of the system dynamics
Follicular dendritic cell dedifferentiation reduces scrapie susceptibility following inoculation via the skin

Transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs) are a group of subacute infectious neurodegenerative diseases that are characterized by the accumulation in affected tissues of PrPSc, an abnormal isoform of the host prion protein (PrPc). Following peripheral exposure, TSE infectivity and PrPSc usually accumulate in lymphoid tissues prior to neuroinvasion. Studies in mice have shown that exposure through scarified skin is an effective means of TSE transmission. Following inoculation via the skin, a functional immune system is critical for the transmission of TSEs to the brain, but until now, it has not been known which components of the immune system are required for efficient neuroinvasion. Temporary dedifferentiation of follicular dendritic cells (FDCs) by treatment with an inhibitor of the lymphotoxin‐β receptor signalling pathway (LTβR‐Ig) 3 days before or 14 days after inoculation via the skin, blocked the early accumulation of PrPSc and TSE infectivity within the draining lymph node. Furthermore, in the temporary absence of FDCs before inoculation, disease susceptibility was reduced and survival time significantly extended. Treatment with LTβR‐Ig 14 days after TSE inoculation also significantly extended the disease incubation period. However, treatment 42 days after inoculation did not affect disease susceptibility or survival time, suggesting that the infection may have already have spread to the nervous system. Together these data show that FDCs are essential for the accumulation of PrPSc and infectivity within lymphoid tissues and subsequent neuroinvasion following TSE exposure via the skin.
Giant vacuum forces via transmission lines

Significance Quantum theory states that at zero temperature and in the absence of any radiation, there still exist fluctuations of the electromagnetic field, the so-called vacuum fluctuations. These fluctuations give rise to the well-known van der Waals (vdW) or Casimir forces between neutral objects, which underlie diverse phenomena in physics and chemistry. We find that these forces can be drastically enhanced for neutral particles near a transmission line (TL), the standard workhorse of electronic signal transmission. The vacuum fluctuations are then confined to propagate along the TL axis, resulting in a giant long-range vdW force. This dramatic effect would have profound implications on vdW and Casimir phenomena and may find novel applications in emerging quantum technologies. Quantum electromagnetic fluctuations induce forces between neutral particles, known as the van der Waals and Casimir interactions. These fundamental forces, mediated by virtual photons from the vacuum, play an important role in basic physics and chemistry and in emerging technologies involving, e.g., microelectromechanical systems or quantum information processing. Here we show that these interactions can be enhanced by many orders of magnitude upon changing the character of the mediating vacuum modes. By considering two polarizable particles in the vicinity of any standard electric transmission line, along which photons can propagate in one dimension, we find a much stronger and longer-range interaction than in free space. This enhancement may have profound implications on many-particle and bulk systems and impact the quantum technologies mentioned above. The predicted giant vacuum force is estimated to be measurable in a coplanar waveguide line.