Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Combined gene therapy of siRNA and apoptosis inducing factor generated from a single transcriptional event

shaping the way I approach scientific research and acting as a mentor to provide me lots of suggestion and advice about life. I feel very lucky to have worked under his direction and to have enjoyed the intelligent freedom to study a novel approach of siRNA delivery system from a plasmid vector that utilizes the RNA splicing system. I am also thankful to my thesis committee members, Drs. X i a o Xiao and Moo Cho for facilitating the progress of this research project with their insightful suggestions and expertise. Also, thanks goes to the entire Huang lab: Dr. Feng Liu's excellent work in maintaining the lab in a good condition and many perspicacious scientific discussions; Lisa Shollenberger's intelligent suggestions and help in teaching me how to use many pieces of lab equipment; also all other members in the lab for support and help. As to the administration part of the Division, I would like to thank Angela Lyght, Kathryn Fiscelli, and Lee Daub, especially for Angela's always ready help in taking care of miscellaneous matters. I would also like to thank Taiwan government for awarding me 3 years scholarship and giving me the opportunity to come to the US to study. Special thanks to Dr. Anthony iv Hickey for always listening, advising and continuous encouragement. Finally, I would like to appreciate my parents, Shan-Nan Hung and Li-Fang Yie for their always warm support, also Dr. Biao Dong, Becky, Grace, Thomas and all the friends for their invaluable friendship and ever-present love. v ABSTRACT Hsin-I (Cindy) Hung The goal of this project is to test the hypothesis that a single transcriptional event driven by RNA polymerase II promoter driven siRNA expression plasmid that utilized RNA splicing mechanism. During this event, a specific siRNA to a target oncogene, forms from the spliced intron; meanwhile a therapeutic protein is established after rejoining of the exon fragments. In this case, the well-known, strong RNA polymerase II (CMV) promoter was used to produce an siRNA against several well known oncogenes and a therapeutic protein, Apoptosis Inducing Factor (AIF), as a dual therapeutic to induce tumor cells apoptosis simultaneously from a single plasmid construct. By using this splicing approach with 2 different targeting mechanisms (i.e., oncogene inhibition by siRNA and therapeutic protein expression), we expect to see a synergistic effect from our novel RNA polymerase II promoter-driven plasmid. It was demonstrated that the plasmid construct …
Prostaglandin D Synthase (β-Trace) in Human Arachnoid and Meningioma Cells: Roles as a Cell Marker or in Cerebrospinal Fluid Absorption, Tumorigenesis, and Calcification Process

Glutathione-independent prostaglandin D synthase (PGDS) is an enzyme responsible for biosynthesis of prostaglandin D2 in the CNS and is identical to a major cerebrospinal fluid protein, β-trace. Although PGDS has been identified recently in rat leptomeninges, little information is available about human meninges or meningiomas. Here, we report PGDS to be expressed consistently in 10 human arachnoid and arachnoid villi and in 21 meningiomas by immunohistochemistry, Western blot, and reverse transcription (RT)-PCR analyses. In arachnoid, PGDS immunoreactivity was seen in arachnoid barrier cells but was negligible in arachnoid trabecula and pia mater. In contrast, in arachnoid villi, PGDS was seen in core arachnoid cells rather than in the cap cell cluster or arachnoid cell layer. Meningioma cells also showed intense immunoreactivity in the perinuclear region, and it was often concentrated within meningocytic whorls and around calcifying psammoma bodies. Immunoelectron microscopic data, when compared with the ultrastructure, showed that PGDS was localized at rough endoplasmatic reticulum of arachnoid and meningioma cells. Western blot showed a 29 kDa immunoreactive band indicating PGDS, but the extent of expression was variable from case to case, which was compatible with immunohistochemical data. RT-PCR revealed PGDS gene expression in all meningiomas studied, regardless of histological subtypes, and also in human arachnoid villi. Because human arachnoid and meningioma cells exclusively express PGDS, it can be considered their specific cell marker. These results show functional differences in various types of meningeal cells attributable to differences in PGDS expression.
Quality of Life Measurement and Its Application in Indonesia

markdownabstractThis Ph.D. thesis entitled ‘Quality of life measurement and its application in Indonesia’ sets out to provide valid and reliable HRQOL measurement tools, namely EQ-5D-5L and WHOQOL-BREF to be used in Indonesia, including their population norms and a national value set for EQ-5D-5L. A standardized data collection procedure (EuroQol Valuation Technology/EQ-VT) and state-of-the-art quality control (QC) tool were implemented to obtain data from a representative sample of the Indonesian general population. Six main findings of this thesis are the following: (i) comprehensive training before and during the study, and individual feedback on the basis of a QC tool would increase the validity of values obtained; (ii) the two EQ-5D-5L health states elicitation techniques employed in the EQ-VT: Time Trade-Off (TTO) and Discrete Choice Experiments (DCE) have different results concerning their test-retest reliability: the TTO is stable over time, while for DCE the relative values of the dimensions shift; (iii) the Indonesian EQ-5D-5L value set was estimated by combining TTO and DCE data using so-called a ‘hybrid regression model’. It was shown that the preference of the Indonesian people were most affected by the mobility dimension and least by the pain/discomfort dimension and health states values were ranged from -0.865 for the worst state (‘55555’) to 1.00 for the health state with no problems in all dimensions (health state ‘11111’); (iv) the EQ-5D-5L descriptive system and the WHOQOL-BREF questionnaire have acceptable test-retest reliability scores; (v) the two questionnaires were able to differentiate between different sociodemographic characteristics: i.e., residence (urban/rural), gender, level of education, and income; and (vi) the two questionnaires can differentiated the health status and quality of life of people living on the riverbanks of a highly polluted river and the Indonesian general population. The EQ-5D-5L and WHOQOL-BREF, together with its value set and population norms are now available in Indonesia and will promote and facilitate health economic evaluations and HRQOL research in Indonesia.
Web Site Description Based on Genres and Web Design Patterns

In our paper we are looking for such Web site descriptionthat can be used for simple visualization and reasoningabout Web sites similarity from the views of users, developersand owners. For this description we use objects closely related toWeb genres and Web design patterns. We detect these objects onsingle page using our own Pattrio method. Web site descriptionthen comes from the frequency of these objects on individualpages. An experiment proving usability of our approach andpossible direction for further research is also included.
Spatial Regulation of Membrane Fusion Controlled by Modification of Phosphoinositides

Membrane fusion plays a central role in many cell processes from vesicular transport to nuclear envelope reconstitution at mitosis but the mechanisms that underlie fusion of natural membranes are not well understood. Studies with synthetic membranes and theoretical considerations indicate that accumulation of lipids characterised by negative curvature such as diacylglycerol (DAG) facilitate fusion. However, the specific role of lipids in membrane fusion of natural membranes is not well established. Nuclear envelope (NE) assembly was used as a model for membrane fusion. A natural membrane population highly enriched in the enzyme and substrate needed to produce DAG has been isolated and is required for fusions leading to nuclear envelope formation, although it contributes only a small amount of the membrane eventually incorporated into the NE. It was postulated to initiate and regulate membrane fusion. Here we use a multidisciplinary approach including subcellular membrane purification, fluorescence spectroscopy and Förster resonance energy transfer (FRET)/two-photon fluorescence lifetime imaging microscopy (FLIM) to demonstrate that initiation of vesicle fusion arises from two unique sites where these vesicles bind to chromatin. Fusion is subsequently propagated to the endoplasmic reticulum-derived membranes that make up the bulk of the NE to ultimately enclose the chromatin. We show how initiation of multiple vesicle fusions can be controlled by localised production of DAG and propagated bidirectionally. Phospholipase C (PLCγ), GTP hydrolysis and (phosphatidylinsositol-(4,5)-bisphosphate (PtdIns(4,5)P2) are required for the latter process. We discuss the general implications of membrane fusion regulation and spatial control utilising such a mechanism.
The Speech Sounds of Arabic Language and their Effect on Learning English Pronunciation : A Contrastive Analysis

The main purpose of this qualitative and descriptive study is to investigate the effect of the Arabic language speech sounds on learning English language pronunciation. In this contrastive analysis, the researcher described the speech sounds system of the Arabic language in comparison with their counterparts of English. The researcher used the direct observation as an instrument to observe and register notes about the students' pronunciation of both languages. However ,the results showed that there are speech sounds in the Arabic language that have counterparts in the English language and vice versa. Thus, these similarities between the speech sounds of the two languages facilitate and have positive effects on the process of learning the English language. The results also revealed that Arab EFL learners encounter many problems with learning English pronunciation especially with unfamiliar speech sounds that do not exist on their mother tongue since there are speech sounds in the Arabic language that do not have counterparts in the English language e.g. glottal stops. To sum up, due to these differences in the speech sounds of both languages, one can conclude that they have negative effects on the process of learning the English language and learners face difficulty in pronouncing these sounds correctly. Accordingly, mother tongue interference and overgeneralization rules affect the pronunciation and spelling of some English words. Finally, based on the results of this research, some suggestions and recommendations are presented which may help students and teachers in reducing Arab EFL learners' difficulties in improving their English pronunciation.
Invariance controlled balance of legged robots

A balance control approach for legged robots is presented that is based on Zero Moment Point manipulation. Therefore the invariance control method is used, where an output of the system is kept in an admissible region by switching between two controllers, the nominal controller and the corrective controller. The nominal controller is designed to achieve the main control objective whereas the corrective controller is used to keep the system in the admissible region whenever a constraint violation is about to occur. The corrective control signal is chosen as close as possible to the nominal control signal to enable the return to the nominal task after correction is not necessary any more. The control system for balance control comprises the mechanical robot model and a simplified model of the motor dynamics. The method is demonstrated in simulation experiments of a single joint robot and a planar eight degree of freedom legged robot.
Square Root Graphical Models: Multivariate Generalizations of Univariate Exponential Families that Permit Positive Dependencies

We develop Square Root Graphical Models (SQR), a novel class of parametric graphical models that provides multivariate generalizations of univariate exponential family distributions. Previous multivariate graphical models (Yang et al., 2015) did not allow positive dependencies for the exponential and Poisson generalizations. However, in many real-world datasets, variables clearly have positive dependencies. For example, the airport delay time in New York-modeled as an exponential distribution-is positively related to the delay time in Boston. With this motivation, we give an example of our model class derived from the univariate exponential distribution that allows for almost arbitrary positive and negative dependencies with only a mild condition on the parameter matrix-a condition akin to the positive definiteness of the Gaussian covariance matrix. Our Poisson generalization allows for both positive and negative dependencies without any constraints on the parameter values. We also develop parameter estimation methods using node-wise regressions with ℓ1 regularization and likelihood approximation methods using sampling. Finally, we demonstrate our exponential generalization on a synthetic dataset and a real-world dataset of airport delay times.
A new prediction approach based on linear regression for collaborative filtering

Recommender systems using collaborative filtering help users filter information based on previous knowledge of users' preferences. Most of existing recommender systems make predictions using weighted average method. This paper introduces a new prediction approach based on an effective linear regression model. One fundamental idea behind this approach is that there exist patterns among different users' preferences. And we propose a linear regression model to characterize the inner relationships among different users' rating habits. The major contribution of this approach is that it can make more accurate predictions via utilizing the exact linear correlation indicated by Pearson Correlation Coefficient directly. The preliminary experiments show that our approach can improve the accuracy of prediction thus make recommendations more appealing to users.
Ag2S-Sensitized Thermal Cell

Sensitized thermal cells (STCs) are a new green power generation system operated by heating without a cooling temperature part. Here, we suggest Ag2S-sensitized thermal cells working at a low temperature (below 200 °C) and have a stylish sheet form. TiO2 was used for the electron transport layer, and ferrocene/ferricinium ions dissolved in dimethyl sulfoxide was selected for the redox couple ions. The Ag2S STCs generated power under light irradiation and at 90 °C in the dark. Electrochemical measurements and ICP-MS (inductively coupled plasma–mass spectrometry) indicated that thermally excited carriers caused the redox reaction and power generation occurred with heating. This result is an example of the first STC where the semiconductor part is less than a micrometer in size, not only improving the volume density of STC but also showing the possibility of STC with design awareness including flexibility.
The Medical Module For Disaster Information Systems

The aim of this study is to improve a medical module providing data flow between data center and prehospital disciplines like nearby hospitals, field hospital, temporary inhabiting areas such as tent city and vehicles for transportation by using the internet. This study is conducted by using Microsoft Access database and SQL query to inform database applications so that the real-time information flow between health care experts and health care team in the disaster area is provided. System has been created on Microsoft . Net platform using C# language. MMDIS can be used kind of a field like all the pre-hospital processes. Web application enables access to database. On the other hand, the professionals who use this application have different permissions to access this database. The professionals’ duties specify those permissions. Interfaces have been created to access the database that enables data entry, data query, data storage, delete data etc. The users’ access to the web application is provided by www.afmedinfo. com. The real-users tests are organized to evaluate this application's achievements. These tests include the experiences of 13 users who are volunteers. The body language, hands and eyes movements of the users are being recorded with a camera. It will be measured how much and how long these duties will have been achieved by the end of April. The results obtained from these tests will be used for the reengineering of web applications. After that, these tests will be reapplied and obtained results will give the last form of this web application. Finally, new awareness that how disaster-based information systems are used in the field of health is improved with this study. This awareness provides not only the disaster information system which is an early warning system but also data flow which manages the process about victims in the disaster area. In addition to this, subjects and the differences of the health care practices of disaster information systems are uncovered. Keywords—Disaster Information System, Medical Module, Disaster, Medical Informatics
EXPERIENCES OF PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES IN STARTING AND MAINTAINING SEXUAL RELATIONSHIPS IN AFRICAN UNIVERSITIES

Despite discrimination, isolation and marginalization, many African University students with disabilities engage in sexual relationships. Some of these relationships involve only those with disability and others are between those with and those without disability. This paper discusses the opportunities, experiences, challenges and strategies that University students with hearing, physical and visual disabilities have to start and maintain sexual relationships at Kyambogo University, Uganda. Results show that their sexual behaviours are shaped by their perceptions, the environment and African culture and traditions rooted in African Ubuntu philosophy. The conclusion is that the university provided opportunities and challenges to their sexual relationships and that those with positive attitudes enjoy healthy sexual relationships and were also better able to deal with relationship pressures that might negatively affect their relationships.
Structural Analysis of Drosophila Merlin Reveals Functional Domains Important for Growth Control and Subcellular Localization

Merlin, the product of the Neurofibromatosis type 2 (NF2) tumor-suppressor gene, is a member of the protein 4.1 superfamily that is most closely related to ezrin, radixin, and moesin (ERM). NF2 is a dominantly inherited disease characterized by the formation of bilateral acoustic schwannomas and other benign tumors associated with the central nervous system. To understand its cellular functions, we are studying a Merlin homologue in Drosophila. As is the case for NF2 tumors, Drosophila cells lacking Merlin function overproliferate relative to their neighbors. Using in vitro mutagenesis, we define functional domains within Merlin required for proper subcellular localization and for genetic rescue of lethal Merlin alleles. Remarkably, the results of these experiments demonstrate that all essential genetic functions reside in the plasma membrane– associated NH2-terminal 350 amino acids of Merlin. Removal of a seven–amino acid conserved sequence within this domain results in a dominant-negative form of Merlin that is stably associated with the plasma membrane and causes overproliferation when expressed ectopically in the wing. In addition, we provide evidence that the COOH-terminal region of Merlin has a negative regulatory role, as has been shown for ERM proteins. These results provide insights into the functions and functional organization of a novel tumor suppressor gene.
A dynamic statistical model for geospatial data access laws based on cloud computing

The strategy of storage and organization can be adjusted utilizing the access and distribution law of the spatial data, which will significantly improve system performance of spatial data services. The access and distribution law of the spatial data based on Hotmap and Zipf-like are statics, and can not reflect its global information real-time. A dynamic statistical method based on collaborative cloud is proposed in this paper to resolve above-mentioned problems. The nodes service capabilities are calculated in our algorithm. The node agents with good service capabilities are chosen preferentially in the group to fuse dynamic statistical information. The experimental results show that the performance of our algorithm can be improved by about 29% compared with the algorithm of random nodes. The algorithm can meet the need of dynamic statistics in large scale cloud mode with high efficiency.
The role of the superior order GLCM in improving the automatic diagnosis of the hepatocellular carcinoma based on ultrasound images

The hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the most frequent malignant liver tumor. The golden standard for HCC diagnosis is the needle biopsy, but this is an invasive, dangerous method. We aim to develop computerized, non-invasive techniques for the automatic diagnosis of HCC, based on information obtained from ultrasound images. The texture is an important property of the internal organs tissue, able to provide subtle information about the pathology. We previously defined the textural model of HCC, consisting in the exhaustive set of the relevant textural features, appropriate for HCC characterization and in the specific values of these features. In this work, we analyze the role that the superior order Gray Level Cooccurrence Matrices (GLCM) and the associated parameters have in the improvement of HCC characterization and automatic diagnosis. We also determine the best spatial relation between the pixels that leads to the highest performances, for the third and fifth order GLCM.
Improved range estimation method in WSN for human intruder localization

Considering wide applications of Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) this paper presents an improved range estimation method which can be used in WSNs to improve their efficiency while keeping low system requirements. Generally three range estimation methods are used Time of Arrival (ToA), Angle of Arrival (AoA) and Received signal strength Indicator (RSSI). RSSI requires minimum system requirement when compared with ToA and AoA but on the same time lacks in accuracy. In this research accuracy of RSSI in increased by introducing Virtual Reference Tags (VRTs) in the surveillance area. VRTs are previously used in Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) systems to increase their accuracy. Using Ultra Wide Band (UWB) frequencies, when VRTs are used with RSSI, the accuracy of localization increases from 2-4 meters to 0.2-0.4 meters. The integration of RSSI with VRTs, its design and accuracy are discussed in this research.