Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
DAF-16-dependent and independent expression targets of DAF-2 insulin receptor-like pathway in Caenorhabditis elegans include FKBPs.

The daf-2 insulin-like receptor pathway regulates development and life-span in Caenorhabditis elegans. Reduced DAF-2 signaling leads to changes in downstream targets via the daf-16 gene, a fork-head transcription factor which is regulated by DAF-2, and results in extended life-span. Here, we describe the first identification of genes whose expression is controlled by the DAF-2 signaling cascade. dao-1, dao-2, dao-3, dao-4, dao-8 and dao-9 are down-regulated in daf-2 mutant adults compared to wild-type adults, whereas dao-5, dao-6 and dao-7 are up-regulated. The latter genes are negatively regulated by DAF-2 signaling and positively regulated by DAF-16. Positive regulation by DAF-2 on dao-1, dao-4 and dao-8 was mediated by DAF-16, whereas daf-16 mediates only part of DAF-2 signaling for dao-2 and dao-9. Regulation by DAF-2 is most likely DAF-16 independent for dao-3 and hsp-90. RNA levels of dao-5 and dao-6 showed elevated expression in daf-2 adults, as well as being strongly expressed in dauer larvae. In contrast, hsp-90 transcript levels are low in daf-2 mutant adults though they are enriched in dauer larvae, indicating overlapping but not identical mechanisms of efficient life maintenance in stress-resistant dauer larvae and long-lived daf-2 mutant adults. dao-1, dao-8 and dao-9 are homologs of the FK506 binding proteins that interact with the mammalian insulin pathway. dao-3 encodes a putative methylenetetrahydrofolate dehydrogenase. DAO-5 shows 33 % identity with human nucleolar phosphoprotein P130. dao-7 is similar to the mammalian ZFP36 protein. Distinct regulatory patterns of dao genes implicate their diverse positions within the signaling network of DAF-2 pathway, and suggest they have unique contributions to development, metabolism and longevity.
Overlap of anxiety and depression in a managed care population: Prevalence and association with resource utilization.

OBJECTIVE To characterize the diagnosis of anxiety and depression within a large managed care population and to measure the impact of having both of these conditions on treatment patterns, health care utilization, and cost. Further, to compare the impact of having both conditions with having neither or either condition alone. METHOD A retrospective, cross-sectional analysis of population-level anxiety-related and depression-related utilization over a 12-month study period was conducted. Data were from the PharMetrics Patient-Centric database, which is composed of medical and pharmaceutical claims for approximately 36 million patients from 61 health plans across the United States. Patients 18 years and older were included as cases in the analysis if they had a diagnosis of depression or anxiety during 2002. Four groups were identified based on the presence of anxiety and/or depression diagnosis: anxiety only, depression only, anxiety and depression, and controls. Controls were matched to the anxiety and depression cohort using a 4:1 ratio, based on patient age, gender, and similarity of health coverage. Cohorts were compared with respect to patient demographics, comorbid diagnoses, medication use, specialist care, utilization of health care services, and treatment costs, using both univariate and multivariate statistics. RESULTS Significant differences in comorbid diagnoses, medication use, health care utilization, and treatment costs existed between the study groups. Specifically, patients with both anxiety and depression tended to have more somatic complaints such as abdominal pain, malaise, or chest pain than patients with either condition alone or the control group. Antidepressant use was highest among the anxiety and depression cohort, while anxiolytic use was as prevalent in the anxiety and depression cohort as in the anxiety only cohort. Patients in the anxiety only, depression only, or anxiety plus depression groups had a higher number of anxiety- and/or depression-related visits as well as visits not related to depression or anxiety than the control group, with the anxiety and depression cohort incurring the highest utilization of medical services. Similarly, in terms of cost, the disease cohorts incurred significantly higher cost than their control counterparts, with the anxiety and depression cohort incurring higher cost than those with either condition alone, even after accounting for differences in patient characteristics. CONCLUSIONS Combination of anxiety and depression is fairly common in a managed care population as evidenced by diagnosis and treatment. The combination of both diagnoses appears to increase the complexity of these patients with respect to comorbid conditions as well as increases the economic cost to payers.
Upper gastrointestinal bleeding and surrogate end points

In their paper, Hawkey et al ( Gut 2001; 49 :372–9) report on the use of blood in the stomach as a surrogate of hard end points such as rebleeding, need for surgery, and death in a group of patients with upper gastrointestinal bleeding randomised to placebo, tranexamic acid, lansoprazole, or both lansoprazole and tranexamic acid. Using logistic regression analyses, they found that blood in the stomach was predictive of clinical outcome and that the active medications decreased the gastric pool size at endoscopy. The authors suggest that although the medications did not significantly improve the rates of clinical outcomes, they would probably do so in a trial of sufficient sample size given the effect achieved on the surrogate endoscopic end point. These conclusions should be viewed with caution, if not with skepticism, for several reasons. Firstly, it is interesting that the authors chose the presence of blood in the stomach as a substitute end point based on a previous study in which no statistical difference was found for the prevalence of this endoscopic sign alone between patients randomised to placebo and omeprazole.1 Rather, …
Estimation of chirp radar signals in compound-Gaussian clutter: a cyclostationary approach

Signal detection of known (within a complex scaling) rank one waveforms in non-Gaussian distributed clutter has received considerable attention. We expand on published solutions to consider the case of rank one waveforms that have some unknown parameters, i.e., signal amplitude, initial phase, Doppler shift, and Doppler rate of change. The contribution of this paper is the derivation and performance analysis of two joint estimators of Doppler shift and Doppler rate-the chirp embedded in correlated compound-Gaussian clutter. One solution is based on the maximum likelihood (ML) principle and the other one on target signal second-order cyclostationarity. The hybrid Cramer-Rao lower bounds (HCRLBs) and a large sample closed-form expression for the mean square estimation error (only for the Doppler shift) are also derived. Numerical examples are provided to show the behavior of the proposed estimator under different non-Gaussian clutter scenarios.
PROLIFERATION OF NAIVE T LYMPHOCYTES AND T LYMPHOBLASTS IN THE PRESENCE OF TISSUE SPECIFIC MACROPHAGES

In this study the antigen-presenting ability of tissue specific macrophages isolated from bone marrow, spleen, peritoneal cavity and lungs was analyzed. Murine macrophages were isolated by a one-step adherence procedure (for 24 hours) and pretreated with mytomycin C. The antigen-presenting ability of the macrophages was tested in T cell proliferation assays. The ability of macrophages to support antigenspecific proliferation of T lymphoblasts was investigated when sheep red blood cell (SRBC)-specific T blasts were stimulated in vitro by antigen in the presence of different numbers of tissue specific macrophages. On the other hand, the abilities of macrophages to induce proliferation of naive T cells were analyzed in allogeneic and syngeneic mixed leukocyte reactions (MLRs). It was demonstrated that tissue specific macrophages supported antigen specific proliferation of T lymphoblasts in vitro. They also induced the activation of allogeneic and syngeneic T cells. Increasing the number of macrophages co-cultured with T cells, led to a certain inhibitory effect on T cell proliferation.
Ambient temperature influences tolerance to plant secondary compounds in a mammalian herbivore

Growing evidence suggests that plant secondary compounds (PSCs) ingested by mammals become more toxic at elevated ambient temperatures, a phenomenon known as temperature-dependent toxicity. We investigated temperature-dependent toxicity in the desert woodrat (Neotoma lepida), a herbivorous rodent that naturally encounters PSCs in creosote bush (Larrea tridentata), which is a major component of its diet. First, we determined the maximum dose of creosote resin ingested by woodrats at warm (28–29°C) or cool (21–22°C) temperatures. Second, we controlled the daily dose of creosote resin ingested at warm, cool and room (25°C) temperatures, and measured persistence in feeding trials. At the warm temperature, woodrats ingested significantly less creosote resin; their maximum dose was two-thirds that of animals at the cool temperature. Moreover, woodrats at warm and room temperatures could not persist on the same dose of creosote resin as woodrats at the cool temperature. Our findings demonstrate that warmer temperatures reduce PSC intake and tolerance in herbivorous rodents, highlighting the potentially adverse consequences of temperature-dependent toxicity. These results will advance the field of herbivore ecology and may hone predictions of mammalian responses to climate change.
The silent language in overseas business

With few exceptions, Americans aro relative newcomers on the international business scene. Totlay, as in Mark Twain's time, we are all too often "innocents abroad," in an era when naivete antl blundering in foreign business dealings may have serious political repercussions. \A'hen the /Vmerioan executive travels abroad to do business, he is frequently shocked to tliscovor to what extent tho many variables of foreign behavior and custom ctmiplicate his efforts. /Although the American bas recognized, certainly, that even tlio man next door has many minor traits which make him somewhat peculiar, for some reason ho has failod to appreciate how tlid'orent foreign busincssnion antl tlioir practices will seem to him. Ho should undorstand that the various peoples around tho world have vvorkod out and intogratcd into their subconscious literally thousands of behavior patterns that they tako for grantod in each other. ^ Then, whon the stranger
NTU at TREC 2007 Blog Track

We participated in the Opinion Retrieval Task and the Polarity Subtask. An SVM classifier was used to determine the opinion polarities of documents. We found that the opinion mean average precisions for the runs using the SVM classifier is better than the opinion mean average precisions for the runs produced solely by the TFIDF retrieval model. The Blog track offers several tasks this year. We participated in the Opinion Retrieval Task and the Polarity Subtask. The Opinion Retrieval Task requires us to retrieve documents which are both relevant to a topic and contain opinions. The Polarity Subtask requires us to label the opinion polarities of documents. The possible polarities are negatively opinionated, positively opinionated and mixed polarity. Our approach to solving these two problems is to use the TFIDF retrieval model to retrieve topic-relevant documents and then apply a support vector machine (SVM) classifier on these documents to identify their polarities. We used the data from TREC 2006 Blog Track’s Opinion Retrieval Task as the training data. Our results show that the opinion mean average precisions (MAP) for runs not classified by the SVM classifier are slightly lower than the MAP for their corresponding runs classified by SVM classifiers.
Improving Police Recruitment and Retention

M aintaining the police workforce level is continually one of the greatest challenges facing law-enforcement agencies. One indication of this challenge is the recent appropriation of $1 billion to the federal Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) to help stabilize law-enforcement positions. The program received more than 7,000 applications requesting more than $8 billion to support nearly 40,000 sworn-officer positions. To help address these challenges and provide lessons for the law-enforcement community, the COPS office asked the RAND Center on Quality Policing to summarize information on promising practices for police recruitment and retention. (This information is also available at the Police Recruitment and Retention Clearinghouse website: http://www.rand.org/ise/centers/ quality_policing/cops/).
Viabilidade de Sclerotinia sclerotiorum aps a solarizao do solo na presena de cobertura morta

The effects of temperatures and crop mulch on topsoil in the inactivation of the sclerotia of Sclerotinia sclerotiorum were studied by oven heating in three field experiments during three months. Field experiments were performed in Piracicaba and in Brasilia. Sclerotia were produced in a carrot+cornmeal medium, incorporated into the soil (oven-heating), conditioned in nylon bags, and buried in the soil at 5, 10 and 30 cm (field). The soil treatments in the field were: solarization (S), non-solarization (NS), and solarized soil added to crop mulch (PS). Sclerotia samples were collected every 30 days to observe the viability and presence of contaminants in NEON medium. The oven heating of the soil at 50 and 60o C and the use of diverse crop mulch inactivated the sclerotia, which had a higher incidence of contaminants. In the field, the effect of soil solarization was significant. The sclerotia were killed in S after 90 days at three depths in the first experiment and in PS after 60 days at 5 and 10 cm in the other two experiments. The incidence of contaminants in sclerotia in solarized soils was significantly higher in S, followed by PS; however, a greater variability of contaminants was observed in PS. Temperatures of the soil in PS were higher when compared to the other treatments at the same depth. This factor reduced the inactivating time of the sclerotia from 90 days in S, to 60 days in PS.
Simultaneous multislice readout‐segmented echo planar imaging for accelerated diffusion tensor imaging of the mandibular nerve: A feasibility study

To assess the feasibility of diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) using simultaneous multislice (SMS) acquisition with blipped controlled aliasing in parallel imaging (CAIPI) for accelerated readout‐segmented echo planar imaging (rs‐EPI) of the mandibular nerves. DTI of the mandibular nerves using EPI is challenging due to susceptibility artifacts. Rs‐EPI is less prone to artifacts but associated with longer scan durations.
Salmonella Biofilm Development Depends on the Phosphorylation Status of RcsB

ABSTRACT The Rcs phosphorelay pathway is a complex signaling pathway involved in the regulation of many cell surface structures in enteric bacteria. In response to environmental stimuli, the sensor histidine kinase (RcsC) autophosphorylates and then transfers the phosphate through intermediary steps to the response regulator (RcsB), which, once phosphorylated, regulates gene expression. Here, we show that Salmonella biofilm development depends on the phosphorylation status of RcsB. Thus, unphosphorylated RcsB, hitherto assumed to be inactive, is essential to activate the expression of the biofilm matrix compounds. The prevention of RcsB phosphorylation either by the disruption of the phosphorelay at the RcsC or RcsD level or by the production of a nonphosphorylatable RcsB allele induces biofilm development. On the contrary, the phosphorylation of RcsB by the constitutive activation of the Rcs pathway inhibits biofilm development, an effect that can be counteracted by the introduction of a nonphosphorylatable RcsB allele. The inhibition of biofilm development by phosphorylated RcsB is due to the repression of CsgD expression, through a mechanism dependent on the accumulation of the small noncoding RNA RprA. Our results indicate that unphosphorylated RcsB plays an active role for integrating environmental signals and, more broadly, that RcsB phosphorylation acts as a key switch between planktonic and sessile life-styles in Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium.
An arrhythmia detector and heart rate estimator for overnight polysomnography studies

We present an algorithm for automatic on-line analysis of the ECG channel acquired during overnight polysomnography (PSG) studies. The system is independent of ECG morphology, requires no manual initialization, and operates automatically throughout the night. It highlights likely occurrences of arrhythmias and intervals of bad signal quality while outputting a continual estimate of heart rate. Algorithm performance is validated against standard ECG databases and PSG data. Results demonstrate a minimal false negative rate and a low false positive rate for arrhythmia detection, and robustness over a wide range of noise contamination.
A System Layout for Cognitive Service Robots

In this paper we discuss a system layout for cognitive service robots. The goal is to sketch components and their interplay needed for cognitive robotics as introduced by Ray Reiter. We are particularly interested in applications in domestic service robotics where we focus on integrating qualitative reasoning and human-robot interaction. The overall objective is to build and maintain a knowledge-based system and agent specification.
Modeling Behavioral Risk

Contracts with embedded prepayment/extension options are subject to behavioral risk, due to the unpredictable exercise strategy followed by the option holder. Empirical data show that, in many situations and for different reasons, investors do not act purely on the strength of financial convenience and do not take full advantage of the option owned. When seen from the viewpoint of the option seller, such behavior results in a lower option value and an additional source of uncertainty in future cash flows. In this paper, we propose a general framework to model behavioral risk by exploiting a parallel with credit risk modeling. Early redemption probabilities are assimilated to default probabilities and investor decisions to default events. Our approach is micro-structural, meaning that the aggregate prepayment rate derives from individual decisions. It also combines some features of intensity-based and option-based models, which have been reported in literature.
Risk of Parkinson’s disease after hospital contact for head injury: population based case-control study

Objective To determine whether a hospital contact for a head injury increases the risk of subsequently developing Parkinson’s disease. Design Population based case-control study. Setting Denmark. Participants 13 695 patients with a primary diagnosis of Parkinson’s disease in the Danish national hospital register during 1986-2006, each matched on age and sex to five population controls selected at random from inhabitants in Denmark alive at the date of the patient’s diagnosis (n=68 445). Main outcome measures Hospital contacts for head injuries ascertained from hospital register; frequency of history of head injury. Results An overall 50% increase in prevalence of hospital contacts for head injury was seen before the first registration of Parkinson’s disease in this population (odds ratio 1.5, 95% confidence interval 1.4 to 1.7). The observed association was, however, due almost entirely to injuries that occurred during the three months before the first record of Parkinson’s disease (odds ratio 8.0, 5.6 to 11.6), and no association was found between the two events when they occurred 10 or more years apart (1.1, 0.9 to 1.3). Conclusions The steeply increased frequency of hospital contacts for a head injury during the months preceding the date at which Parkinson’s disease was first recorded is a consequence of the evolving movement disorder rather than its cause.
Synchronization of Coupled Reaction-Diffusion Neural Networks with Time-Varying Delays via Pinning-Impulsive Controller

In this paper, global exponential synchronization stability in an array of linearly diffusively coupled reaction-diffusion neural networks with time-varying delays is investigated by adding impulsive controller to a small fraction of nodes (pinning-impulsive controller). In order to overcome the difficulty resulting from the fact that the impulsive controller affects only the dynamical behaviors of the controlled nodes, a new analysis method is developed. By using the developed method, two known lemmas on stability of delayed functional differential equation with and without impulses, and Lyapunov stability theory, several novel and easily verified synchronization criteria guaranteeing the whole network will be pinned to a homogenous solution are derived. Moreover, the effects of the pinning-impulsive controller and the dynamics of the uncontrolled nodes and the diffusive couplings on the synchronization process are explicitly expressed in the obtained criteria. Our results also show that we can always de.
Enablers and barriers to academic's acceptance of technology: can 'individual differences' make a difference?

With the advances in technology the higher education sector is rapidly evolving. While some researchers are predicting the University of the Future to be more virtual, many academics at the coal face are still struggling to embrace emerging technologies. This paper reports the first stage of a project aimed at identifying the enablers and barriers for adopting new technology among Australian Higher Education academics. In this pilot study, academics who have integrated Tablet PCs in their teaching were surveyed. For a richer understanding of the enablers and barriers of technology uptake, focus groups will follow. The next stages of this research will be a wider survey open to all academics across universities. The ultimate goal of this project is to generate recommendations for universities in better managing the technological change.
A Review on Nanoparticles in Targeted Drug Delivery System

To improve the pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamics activity of the drug medication system like nanoparticles has made a break through by means of physical application. By means of targeted drug delivery system the targeted drug delivery will be achieved quickly. To maintain a controlled and sustain the rate of drug exposure on the site of action nanoparticles are used. That’s the reason why the nanotechnology became as the most advanced in the field of medicine by maintaining the therapeutic benefits. Scientists performing many trails in the field of nanotechnology to reformulate the existing essential drugs to minimize the adverse effects and to increase the therapeutic effects. Some of the innovative concepts like nano-delivery, sustain release, etc have already became a breakthrough. The main concept of the paper is to elevate the basic concepts to use in the field of nanoparticles preparation and advantages.