Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A latent class typology of young women smokers.

AIMS Despite aggressive anti-smoking campaigns, smoking rates are increasing among young women, suggesting the need for new approaches to reach this population. Segmenting audiences can facilitate targeting interventions to specific populations, based on association of smoking behaviors with other health behaviors and psychological and social antecedents. Using latent class analysis, we sought to profile patterns of behavioral, attitudinal and cognitive variables related to tobacco use among young women. DESIGN This study is part of an ongoing Midwestern longitudinal self-report survey of the natural history of cigarette smoking. PARTICIPANTS Participants were 18-25-year-old women smokers (n = 443). MEASUREMENTS Variables included a comprehensive range of demographic characteristics, smoking-related variables and general attitudinal variables. FINDINGS Three distinct classes emerged with the following characteristics: (1) working women who tended to smoke daily but reported high levels of positive affect and life satisfaction (n = 212); (2) light-smoking college students who exercised regularly, began smoking after high school and quit successfully at follow-up 5 years later (n = 86); and (3) heavy smokers who were more likely to have children, report high levels of negative affect and smoke for addictive reasons, for stimulation and to control affect (n = 145). Differences in smoking cessation at a 5-year follow-up were significant across the classes (18.1%, 34.4% and 13.0% had quit for at least 6 months, respectively). CONCLUSIONS The psychosocial and behavioral profiles of these classes can potentially be used to tailor smoking interventions more effectively within this population.
State-of-the-Art Technology in Implant Dentistry: CAD/CAM

Implant dentistry has come a long way since 1982 when Per-Ingvar Branemark first presented his work on osseointegration of endosseous dental implants (Branemark & Albrektsson, 1982). In the last three decades, the use of dental implants has increased exponentially (Friberg B & Jemt T, 2010; Turkyilmaz et al., 2010). Initially, very few specialists were trained in surgical placement and subsequent restoration. As the treatment became more predictable, the benefits of therapy became evident. The tremendous demand for implants has fueled a rapid expansion of the market. Presently, general dentists and multiple specialists offer implants as a solution to partial and complete edentulism. The field is evolving and expanding, from surgical techniques to types of restorations available. Whereas early implant restorations were primarily indicated for rehabilitation of function, increasing consideration is being placed on esthetics in modern implant dentistry.
Seasonal changes in the Plasmodium falciparum population in individuals and their relationship to clinical malaria: a longitudinal study in a Sudanese village

Residents of Daraweesh village in Sudan were monitored for Plasmodium falciparum infection and malaria morbidity in 3 malaria seasons from 1993 to 1996. Malaria parasites were detected microscopically and by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) in a series of cross-sectional surveys. PCR revealed submicroscopical infections during the dry season, particularly among individuals who had recovered from a malaria episode following successful drug treatment. Clinical and subclinical infections were contrasted by assaying for allelic polymorphism at 2 gene loci, MSP-1 and GLURP and 2 hypotheses examined with reference to these data: that clinical malaria is associated with infection with novel parasite genotypes not previously detected in that host, or alternatively, that clinical malaria episodes are associated with an increased number of clones in an infection. We detected more mixed infections among clinical isolates, but people carrying parasites during the dry season were not found to have an increased risk of disease in the following malaria season. There was a clear association of disease with the appearance of novel parasite genotypes.
The Influence of Smallpox on the Public Administration and the Corresponding Measures Undertaken by the Early Qing Dynasty

In the Qing Dynasty, the prevalence of smallpox not only endangered people's life seriously but also influenced the administration of imperial court greatly. In order to avoid and reduce the adverse effect of smallpox to the administration, the rulers of the Qing Dynasty made all sorts of efforts and made corresponding measures, which were formed as some special contents of the country's management. Social historical phenomenon is not merely the people's social activity. Its formation and result are still under the influence of natural factors including calamity and epidemic disease. While people's able behavior changes this kind of influence as well. People who specialize in history should notice it.
Android ransomware detection using reduced opcode sequence and image similarity

Nowadays Ransomwares are not limited to personal computers. Increasing the number of people accessing cell phones, availability of mobile phone application markets along with lack of an effective way for identifying Ransomwares have accelerated their growth and expansion in the field of mobile phones and IOT. In the following article, an optimal approach is presented that transforms the sequence of executable instructions into a grayscale image and then LDA is used in two phases. LDA is a statistical method that is used for separating two or more classes along with dimension reduction. In the first phase, because the image size is large and it contains information that reduces accuracy rate, its best features are exploited using LDA. In the next phase, LDA is fit to train data and the sample tests are feeded for prediction. The experimental results on two well-known Ransomware families and an unknown group of Ransomwares show that the suggested method is capable of identifying with 97 percent of accuracy.
Expression of small heat shock protein (sHSP) genes in the garden pea (Pisum sativum) under slow horizontal clinorotation

Plant cells respond to stress conditions, such as high temperatures, by synthesizing small heat shock proteins (sHSPs). sHSPs are molecular chaperones that assist in protein folding and prevent irreversible protein aggregation. Although many sHSP genes are temperature-inducible, other variables, such as altered gravity, can induce significant changes in plant cell gene expression. Furthermore, not all subfamilies of sHSP genes share the same expression pattern. The objective of our research was to determine the effect of simulated microgravity (clinorotation) on the expression of sHSP gene subfamilies with different subcellular locations in etiolated pea (Pisum sativum) seedlings. sHSP gene expression levels were examined using quantitative real-time RT-PCR (qPCR). qPCR results demonstrated that sHSP genes were constitutively expressed in seedlings. High temperatures increased the expression of sHSP genes by several thousand-fold. However, simulated microgravity did not have any significant effects on sHSP gene expression.
Effective Teaching Practices in Online Higher Education

In the context of continuing growth in online higher education in the United States, students are struggling to succeed, as evidenced by lower course outcomes and lower retention rates in online courses in comparison with face-to-face courses. The problem identified for investigation is how university instructors can ensure that effective teaching and learning is happening in their online courses. The research questions were: 1. What are the best practices of effective online teaching in higher education according to current research? 2. How do exemplary online instructors enact teaching presence in higher education? 3. What are the best practices of effective online teaching in higher education? The purpose of this descriptive case study was to understand and describe the teaching practices of exemplary online faculty, and “exemplary” was defined as recognized with a national award for effective online teaching form a non-profit organization within the last five years. A purposeful sampling strategy identified four exemplary online instructors, who taught in different disciplines at different institutions in the United States. Data collection included a pre-interview written reflection, a semi-structured telephone interview, examination of a course syllabus and other course materials, and observation of a course. Data analysis included repeated close reading and coding of all data collected and then reducing the codes to a manageable number of themes. Two key themes emerged in the findings: human connection and organized structure. Exemplary online instructors seek to connect with students so students know and feel the care, support, and respect of the instructor. Exemplary online instructors also maintain a clearly structured environment that is logically organized, delivered in small chunks, and sufficiently repetitive to keep each student focused on the content. These results contribute to the body of knowledge by allowing online faculty to learn from the best online faculty. First-time online faculty as well as online faculty who seek to improve their online pedagogy may be able to enhance teaching and learning in their courses, which in turn will hopefully yield higher student satisfaction and lower attrition in online education.
MOLECULAR IDENTIFICATION AND SEQUENCE CHARACTERIZATION OF MYCOPLASMAS IN FREE-LIVING BIRDS OF PREY

Abstract Mycoplasma spp. have been detected in birds of prey, but their prevalence in free living raptors and their significance to birds' health need further investigation. Molecular techniques have been increasingly used to identify mycoplasmas in various avian species, due to the fastidious nature of these pathogens hampering traditional bacteriologic tests. This study reports the identification of 23 novel mycoplasma sequences during the monitoring of 62 birds of prey on admission to wildlife centers in Sardinia, Italy. Molecular investigation performed on pharyngeal swabs revealed 26 birds positive to Mycoplasma (42%). Sequence analysis based on 16S rRNA, 16S-23S rRNA intergenic spacer, and RNA polymerase β subunit (rpoB) gene highlighted cluster assignment and phylogenetic relationships among the identified types, classified within the hominis group. Additionally, Ornithobacterium rhinotracheale, associated with respiratory disease in poultry, was identified in 17 birds (27%). Potential coinfection and mycoplasma opportunistic nature present implications for raptor species conservation.
Coffee consumption and risk of colorectal cancer: A systematic review and meta‐analysis of prospective cohort studies

An inverse association between coffee consumption and the risk of colorectal cancer has been found in several case‐control studies, but such an association was not consistent in prospective cohort studies. We conducted a systematic meta‐analysis of prospective cohort studies on coffee consumption and colorectal cancer published up to June 2008. We combined relative risks (RR) for colorectal cancer comparing high vs. low categories of coffee consumption using random‐effects models. We identified 12 eligible cohort studies, which included 646,848 participants and 5,403 cases for colorectal cancer. The summarized result of the meta‐analysis comparing high‐ vs. low‐consumption categories showed no significant effect of coffee consumption on colorectal cancer risk (RR = 0.91; 95% confidence intervals [CI]: 0.81–1.02). The RR was 0.93 (95% CI: 0.71–1.22) when considering 4 studies conducted in the United States of America, 0.91 (95% CI: 0.76–1.10) for 5 studies from Europe, and 0.83 (95% CI: 0.62–1.10) for 3 Japanese studies. No significant differences by sex and cancer‐site were found, but there was a slight suggestion of an inverse association between coffee consumption and colon cancer in women (RR = 0.79; 95% CI: 0.60–1.04), especially Japanese women (RR = 0.62; 95% CI: 0.37–1.05). The suggestive inverse associations were slightly stronger in studies that controlled for smoking and alcohol, and in studies with shorter follow‐up times. Information on coffee type, its serving size, or brewing method may provide a better understanding of this reassuring result and the real role of coffee on colorectal cancer risk. © 2008 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Pattern detection and recognition in SAR images

Synthetic aperture radar (SAR) is a powerful tool for remote sensing of the Earth surface. In the paper, several applications of pattern detection and recognition algorithms for extraction of information from SAR images are discussed. In particular, an idea of usage of optical flow techniques for automatic estimation of the moving target displacements from a sequence of single-look SAR images is proposed. It is shown, how this technique can be adopted for SAR imagery. In addition, it is demonstrated that local feature descriptors can be used for automatic SAR panorama creation without information about reference platform orientation. Finally, a problem of automatic target recognition is analyzed. It is shown, that a fusion of azimuth and range profiles of the ground target allows to achieve a competitive accuracy using quite compact feature vectors.
Multisystemic Therapy : Clinical Overview , Outcomes , and Implementation Research

Multisystemic therapy (MST) is an evidence-based treatment originally developed for youth with serious antisocial behavior who are at high risk for out-of-home placement and their families; and subsequently adapted to address other challenging clinical problems experience by youths and their families. The social-ecological theoretical framework of MST is presented as well as its home-based model of treatment delivery, defining clinical intervention strategies, and ongoing quality assurance/quality improvement system. With more than 100 peer-reviewed outcome and implementation journal articles published as of January 2016, the majority by independent investigators, MST is one of the most extensively evaluated family based treatments. Outcome research has yielded almost uniformly favorable results for youths and families, and implementation research has demonstrated the importance of treatment and program fidelity in achieving such outcomes.
ERK1/2 and p38 MAP kinases control prion protein fragment 90–231‐induced astrocyte proliferation and microglia activation

Astrogliosis and microglial activation are a common feature during prion diseases, causing the release of chemoattractant and proinflammatory factors as well as reactive free radicals, involved in neuronal degeneration. The recombinant protease‐resistant domain of the prion protein (PrP90–231) displays in vitro neurotoxic properties when refolded in a β‐sheet‐rich conformer. Here, we report that PrP90–231 induces the secretion of several cytokines, chemokines, and nitric oxide (NO) release, in both type I astrocytes and microglial cells. PrP90–231 elicited in both cell types the activation of ERK1/2 MAP kinase that displays, in astrocytes, a rapid kinetics and a proliferative response. Conversely, in microglia, PrP90–231‐dependent MAP kinase activation was delayed and long lasting, inducing functional activation and growth arrest. In microglial cells, NO release, dependent on the expression of the inducible NO synthase (iNOS), and the secretion of the chemokine CCL5 were Ca2+ dependent and under the control of the MAP kinases ERK1/2 and p38: ERK1/2 inhibition, using PD98059, reduced iNOS expression, while p38 blockade by PD169316 inhibited CCL5 release. In summary, we demonstrate that glial cells are activated by extracellular misfolded PrP90–231 resulting in a proliferative/secretive response of astrocytes and functional activation of microglia, both dependent on MAP kinase activation. In particular, in microglia, PrP90–231 activated a complex signalling cascade involved in the regulation of NO and chemokine release. These data argue in favor of a causal role for misfolded prion protein in sustaining glial activation and, possibly, glia‐mediated neuronal death. © 2007 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Drug—target interaction prediction with a deep-learning-based model

Drug-target interaction identification is of highly importance in drug research and development. The traditional experimental paradigm is costly, while the previous in silico prediction paradigm remains a challenge because of diversified data production platforms and data scarcity. In this paper, we modeled drug-target interaction prediction as a binary classification task based on transcriptome data of drug stimulation and gene knockout from LINCS project and developed a framework with a deep-learning-based model to predict potential interactions. The evaluation results showed that not only did our framework fit data with better accuracy than other classical methods, but predicted more credible drug-target interactions. What's more, the prediction has high percentage of overlap interactions across other platforms.
The Biological Impact of the Human Master Regulator p53 Can Be Altered by Mutations That Change the Spectrum and Expression of Its Target Genes

ABSTRACT Human tumor suppressor p53 is a sequence-specific master regulatory transcription factor that targets response elements (REs) in many genes. p53 missense mutations in the DNA-binding domain are often cancer associated. As shown with systems based on the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, p53 mutants can alter the spectra and intensities of transactivation from individual REs. We address directly in human cells the relationship between changes in the p53 master regulatory network and biological outcomes. Expression of integrated, tightly regulated DNA-binding domain p53 mutants resulted in many patterns of apoptosis and survival following UV or ionizing radiation, or spontaneously. These patterns reflected changes in the spectra and activities of target genes, as demonstrated for P21, MDM2, BAX, and MSH2. Thus, as originally proposed for “master genes of diversity,” p53 mutations in human cells can differentially influence target gene transactivation, resulting in a variety of biological consequences which, in turn, might be expected to influence tumor development and therapeutic efficacy.
Identification of the tip-encoded receptor in bacterial sensing

A chemotaxis gene encoding a protein with receptorlike properties has been identified in Salmonella typhimurium and termed tip for taxis-involved protein. Based on the stringency of DNA hybridization, the tip gene has about 75% homology with a region of the tar gene encoding the cytoplasmic domain of the aspartate receptor. Introduction of the tip gene into a smooth-swimming Escherichia coli receptor mutant (tar tsr tap) restored both chemotaxis ability on soft-agar-tryptone plates and a wild-type swimming phenotype. We have shown, by overexpressing the CheY protein, that shifting of the mutant swimming bias in the absence of receptors is insufficient to restore chemotaxis ability. This suggests that in addition to resetting the swimming bias, the tip gene product functions as a receptor. By functional criteria, we found that Tip is not a duplicate aspartate (Tar) or serine (Tsr) receptor gene. Based on behavioral properties, the S. typhimurium Tip receptor provides functional features similar to those of the E. coli Tap receptor.
Modeling of reverse osmosis system powered by photovoltaic energy

Tunisia has a considerable saline water resources and a so important solar potential. Therefore, the desalination of brackish water by reverse osmosis using the photovoltaic energy presents a reliable solution to produce drinking water so solving the shortage problem of the healthy water. For our study, we have chosen to work in the tourism sector which is considered among the big consumers of water by the SONEDE (National Society of Exploitation and Distribution of Waters). In this context, our research work is situated its objective is the optimization and the modeling of an autonomous station for desalination of brackish water by reverse osmosis powered by a photovoltaic generator to produce water to a hotel situated in the Djerba Island.
Efficiency Robust Tests for Mapping Quantitative Trait Loci Using Extremely Discordant Sib Pairs

In 1972, Haseman and Elston proposed a pioneering regression method for mapping quantitative trait loci using randomly selected sib pairs. Recently, the statistical power of their method was shown to be increased when extremely discordant sib pairs are ascertained. While the precise genetic model may not be known, prior information that constrains IBD probabilities is often available. We investigate properties of tests that are robust against model uncertainty and show that the power gain from further constraining IBD probabilities is marginal. The additional linkage information contained in the trait values can be incorporated by combining the Haseman-Elston regression method and a robust allele sharing test.
Relevance of qualitative subjective visual attributes to signal categorization

Signals represented by their proper (in the sense of Nyquist-Shannon theorem) sampled values as time-series are commonly categorized by objective features such as amplitude and frequency distribution. The paper presents a novel signal classification method based on full difference expansion, mapping this expansion to qualitative space and extraction of subjective visual attributes from the qualitative space. The full qualitative difference expansion yields a vector that conveys total information on the variation of the particular signal represented by time-series and can be seen as a single point in n-dimensional discrete-space. From such a discrete-space, symbolic and numeric features are subjectively extracted and used for the decision tree construction that is consequently used in signal classification. The proposed method was tested in the context of the standard control chart pattern data, which are time-series used in statistical process control. The results are compared with other similar methods.
Characterization of phosphoglycan-containing secretory products of Leishmania

SUMMARY This article presents an overview on phosphoglycan-containing components secreted by the insect and mammalian stages of several species of Leishmania, the causative agents of leishmaniasis in the Old and New World. Firstly, promastigotes of all three species considered, L. mexicana, L. donovani and L. major, shed lipophosphoglycan (LPG) into the culture medium possibly by release of micelles from the cell surface. Like the cell-associated LPG, culture supernatant LPG is arhphiphilic and composed of a lysoalkylphosphatidylinositol-phosphosaccharide core connected to species-specific phosphosaccharide repeats and oligosaccharide caps. Secondly, all three species release hydrophilic phosphoglycan. Thirdly, all three species appear to secrete proteins covalently modified by phosphosaccharide repeats and oligosaccharide caps. In the case of promastigotes of L. mexicana, these components are organized as two filamentous polymers released from the flagellar pocket: the secreted acid phosphatase (sAP) composed of a 100 kDa phosphoglycoprotein and a protein- containing high-molecular-weight-phosphoglycan (proteo-HMWPG) and fibrous networks likewise composed of phosphoglycan possibly linked to protein. Structural analyses and gene cloning suggest that the parasites can covalently modify protein regions rich in serine and threonine residues by the attachment of phosphosaccharide repeats capped by oligosaccharides. We propose that the networks formed in vitro correspond to fibrous material previously demonstrated in the digestive tract of infected sandflies. In the case of L. donovani, the sAP is also modified by phosphoglycans but contains neither proteo-HMWPG nor does it aggregate to filaments. Finally, L. mexicana amastigotes release proteo-HMWPG via the flagellar pocket into the parasitophorous vacuole of infected macrophages. This material appears to be released into the tissue of the infected mammal upon rupture of infected macrophages during lesion development. This secretory product may contribute to the pathology of lesion development.