Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Immunologic and virologic characterization of the primary infiltrating cells in the aqueous humor of human T-cell leukemia virus type-1 uveitis. Accumulation of the human T-cell leukemia virus type-1-infected cells and constitutive expression of viral and interleukin-6 messenger ribonucleic acids.

PURPOSE To characterize immunologically and virologically the infiltrating cells in the aqueous humor of patients with human T-cell leukemia virus type-1 (HTLV-1) uveitis (HU). METHODS With their informed consent, patients had 0.1 ml of the aqueous humor in the anterior chamber collected with a needle under an operating microscope. An aliquot of the collected sample from patients without steroid therapy was examined by May-Giemsa staining and immunocytochemically. The presence of the HTLV-1-infected cells was investigated by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) using the gag and pol regions of the provirus genome. The population of the infected cells was compared by PCR testing the amplification of the virus genome from 60 cells, or determining the endpoint of successful amplification of the twofold dilution series of the samples, collected from the aqueous humor and peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs), which were obtained at the same time. Expression of viral and cytokine genes was studied by reverse transcriptase-PCR (RT-PCR). The interleukin-6 (IL-6) level in the aqueous humor of patients with HU and control subjects was measured by a high-sensitivity enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay kit. RESULTS The number of the infiltrating cells ranged from 475 to 3563 (mean = 2111) per 0.1 ml of aqueous humor, and all the identifiable cells were lymphocytes. Most of them were CD3-positive T cells (mean = 78%), whereas CD4-positive cells constituted less than half (mean = 35.3%). HTLV-1 provirus was detected by PCR in the infiltrating cells of 36 of 38 patients with HU tested, whereas it was detected in 1 of 4 seropositive patients with other entities of uveitis. A higher population of the infected cells in the aqueous humor than in the PBMC was found in seven of nine patients with HU by two independent approaches. Expression of HTLV-1 env or pX genes or both was shown in all 12 patients with HU tested by RT-PCR. IL-6 messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) was detected by RT-PCR in 10 of these 12 patients, whereas those of interleukin-1 alpha, interleukin-2, interleukin-4, and tumor-necrosis factor-alpha were not, and that of interferon-gamma was detected in only 1 patient. The IL-6 level was elevated significantly in the aqueous humor of nine patients with HU compared with that of five control subjects (520.2 +/- 841 pg/ml versus 2.77 +/- 1.59 pg/ml, P < 0.01 by Mann-Whitney test). CONCLUSIONS HU is characterized by lymphocytic infiltration with a predominance of T cells and by the presence and probable accumulation of HTLV-1-infected lymphocytes in the affected eye. Production of viral antigens and IL-6 by the infiltrating cells could be responsible for the development of HU.
Review: the Scientific Study of Campus Diversity and Students' Educational Outcomes

This essay evaluates the scientific quality of two studies of campus diversity. Both gained prominence prior to the Supreme Court's 2003 Grutter v. Bollinger and Gratz v. Bollinger decisions. Using different data and different research designs, the studies reached contrary conclusions about the efficacy of campus diversity. The evaluation centers on conception formation, the reliability of measures, nested data and level of analysis, the demonstration of cause and effect, and the appropriateness of certain types of survey questions. One study generally fares better than the other in terms of these scientific considerations, although many interesting and formidable challenges to the study of campus diversity remain. , upheld the right of universities to consider race in their admission procedures while at the same time placed limits on that right. During the year or so preceding those final decisions, social scientists used survey research findings to influence elite and public opinion. Two dueling surveys gained especially high profiles. Psychologist Patricia Gurin and colleagues published a prominent article in the Harvard Educational Review (2003; also see Hurtado et al. 1999) and also submitted their survey evidence supporting racial diversity directly, as part of a Supreme Court legal brief. 1 About the same time, political scientist Stanley Rothman and colleagues published an article in the International Journal of responded. Carefully and thoughtfully written, the Gurin et al. comments clarified points of confusion and identified several misstatements. I appreciate the highly professional manner in which these scholars communicated their thoughts and reactions.
Protein 14-3-3ζ Binds to Protein Phosphatase PP1γ2 in Bovine Epididymal Spermatozoa1

Abstract The protein phosphatase PP1γ2 is critical in the regulation of sperm motility and fertility. Its activity is regulated by its binding proteins and by phosphorylation. We have recently shown that PP1γ2 is phosphorylated and that the amount of phosphorylated PP1γ2 increases during sperm epididymal maturation (Huang et al., Biol Reprod 2004; 70:439–447). Microsequencing revealed that protein 14-3-3 coeluted with phosphorylated PP1γ2 during column chromatography of bovine sperm extracts. Western blot analyses confirmed the presence of protein 14-3-3 not only in bovine spermatozoa but also in spermatozoa of diverse species—bull, hamster, horseshoe crab, monkey, rat, turkey, and Xenopus. The binding between PP1γ2 and protein 14-3-3 was confirmed by coimmunoprecipitation experiments and in pull-down assays with recombinant GST-14-3-3. Western blot analysis and protein 14-3-3 immunoprecipitates with antibodies against the consensus binding domain of protein 14-3-3 reveal that, in addition to PP1γ2, at least two other protein 14-3-3 binding partners are present in spermatozoa. Fluorescence immunocytochemistry results indicate that phosphorylated PP1γ2 and protein 14-3-3 both localize to the postacrosomal region of the head and principal piece of bovine spermatozoa. Together, these results provide conclusive evidence that protein 14-3-3 is present in mature spermatozoa and that PP1γ2 is one of its binding partners.
The maximum sustainable yield management of an age-structured salmon population : Fishing vs . conservation

This paper develops a sustainable yield harvesting model for the wild Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar), where the population comprises different age classes. It is shown that the weight– fecundity relationship of the spawning population, comprising young and old fish, is crucial for the maximum sustainable yield fishing composition. First, the optimal harvest is found when fecundity is approximated by weight. Second, we analyze what happens when weight is an inaccurate approximation for fertility. Finally, the conservation perspective is taken into account when the maximum sustainable yield is maximized subject to a minimum viable size of the harvestable, or spawning, population. It is shown that the conservation perspective does not affect the qualitative structure of the optimal harvest policy in which the old mature fish are more aggressively targeted than the young mature population.
Children’s Recognition of Spectrally Degraded Cartoon Voices

Objectives: Although the spectrally degraded input provided by cochlear implants (CIs) is sufficient for speech perception in quiet, it poses problems for talker identification. The present study examined the ability of normally hearing (NH) children and child CI users to recognize cartoon voices while listening to spectrally degraded speech. Design: In Experiment 1, 5- to 6-year-old NH children were required to identify familiar cartoon characters in a three-alternative, forced-choice task without feedback. Children heard sentence-length utterances at six levels of spectral degradation (noise-vocoded utterances with 4, 8, 12, 16, and 24 frequency bands and the original or unprocessed stimuli). In Experiment 2, child CI users 4 to 7 years of age and a control sample of 4- to 5-year-old NH children were required to identify the unprocessed stimuli from Experiment 1. Results: NH children in Experiment 1 identified the voices significantly above chance levels, and they performed more accurately with increasing spectral information. Practice with stimuli that had greater spectral information facilitated performance on subsequent stimuli with lesser spectral information. In Experiment 2, child CI users successfully recognized the cartoon voices with slightly lower accuracy (0.90 proportion correct) than NH peers who listened to unprocessed utterances (0.97 proportion correct). Conclusions: The findings indicate that both NH children and child CI users can identify cartoon voices under conditions of severe spectral degradation. In such circumstances, children may rely on talker-specific phonetic detail to distinguish one talker from another.
Parameterization and Estimation of Surrogate Critical Surface Concentration in Lithium-Ion Batteries (PREPRINT)

Abstract : In this paper a surrogate electrochemical lithium-ion battery model, presented and discussed in (Di Domenico et al. - CCA, 2008) and (Di Domenico et al. - JDSMC, 2008), is parameterized and validated through experimental data by a 10 cell 37 V 6.8 Ah liion battery pack. Following past results (Zhang et al., 2000; Smith, 2010), the model is based on an approximate relationship between the electrode-averaged Butler-Volmer current and the solid-electrolyte interface concentration of a surrogate single particle for each cell electrode. Equally-spaced radially-discretized diffusion dynamics of the surrogate single particle for the positive electrode are then used to emulate the lithium concentration evolution in the cell. The surface concentration of the surrogate single particle, defined as surrogate Critical Surface Concentration (sCSC) is then used to predict the cell terminal voltage. The resulting model is as compact as an equivalent circuit model but its underpinnings are lumped lithium-ion diffusion dynamics. A few parameters of the lumped lithium concentration dynamics are tuned using an iterative optimization procedure with continuous and pulsed current profiles. The single particle lithium concentration profile and the surface concentration are then estimated using a 4th order Extended Kalman Filter (EKF) and the voltage predictions are compared with data.
A Platform for Nursing Research on Spirituality and Religiosity

Spirituality or religiousness is important across the health trajectory, from promoting health and preventing disease, to coping with illness and end of life. Research on the relationship of religiousness or spirituality to health spans more than one discipline and applies many definitions and measures. The purpose of this multidisciplinary work is to facilitate research by nurses who seek to investigate the relationship between health and religiousness or spirituality, and provide evidence-based guidance for nursing practice. Senior researchers summarize the history of inquiry on this topic, discuss particular and persistent challenges posed by definitions of religion and spirituality, describe selected measures that have enjoyed wide application, and make recommendations for consideration by nurse researchers. Use of existing knowledge to select variables, definitions, and measures, and to link research questions and findings to the larger body of current inquiry, will advance nursing practice closer to fulfilling Nightingale’s ideals for effective care.
Climate fluctuations during the Holocene in NW Iberia: high and low latitude linkages

Abstract. High resolution benthic foraminiferal oxygen and carbon stable isotopes (δ18O, δ13C) from core EUGC-3B are used here to infer rapid climatic changes for the last 8500 yr in the Ria de Muros (NW Iberian Margin). Benthic foraminiferal δ18O and δ13C potentially register migrations in the position of the hydrographic front formed between two different intermediate water masses: Eastern North Atlantic Central Water of subpolar origin (ENACWsp), and subtropical origin (ENACWsp). The isotopic records have been compared with two well established North Atlantic marine Holocene paleoceanographic records from low (Sea Surface Temperatures anomalies off Cape Blanc, NW Africa) and high latitudes (Hematite Stained Grains percentage, subpolar North Atlantic). This comparison clearly demonstrates that there is a strong link between high- and low-latitude climatic perturbations at centennial-millennial time scales during the Holocene. Spectral analyses also points at a pole-to-equator propagation of the so-called 1500 yr cycles. Our results demonstrate that during the Holocene, the NW Iberian Margin has undergone a series of cold episodes which are likely triggered at high latitudes in the North Atlantic and are rapidly propagated towards lower latitudes. Conceivably, the propagation of these rapid climatic changes involves a shift of atmospheric and oceanic circulatory systems and so a migration of the hydrographical fronts and water masses all along the North Atlantic area.
Whither Didst Thou Go? Retention, Reassignment, Migration, and Attrition of Special and General Education Teachers from a National Perspective

In view of the paucity of national data on teacher retention, transfer, and attrition in special education, and the importance of these phenomena to teacher demand and shortage, we sought to provide such data from a national probability sample of 4,798 public school teachers from the 1988–1989 Teacher Followup Survey (Faupel, Bobbitt, & Friedrichs, 1992). The analysis focused on two main teaching fields (special and general education) and various aspects of teacher turnover. Results showed higher annual turnover for special education teachers (SFTs) than for general education teachers (GETs), in terms of both attrition from public school teaching (SETs = 8%; GETs = 6%) and transfer among public schools (SETs = 13%; GETs = 7%). However, the SET-GET difference in attrition percentages was modest in absolute terms, and lower than those reported from several states. SETs and GETs who left teaching did not differ significantly in postteaching activities or plans to return to teaching. The relationships between teacher turnover and teacher demand, shortage, recruitment, retention, and preparation are discussed.
A Model of Interdomain Network Formation, Economics and Routing

The Internet at the interdomain level is highly dynamic, as autonomous networks change their connectivity to optimize either monetary cost, profit and/or performance. Internet Service Providers (ISPs), for example, are mainly concerned with maximizing their profits, and they attempt to do so by changing their set of providers or peers. It is not well understood, however, what the properties of the resulting internetwork are, in terms of topology, economics and performance. In this paper, we propose ITER, a first-principles model of interdomain network formation that incorporates the effects of economics, interdomain traffic flow, geography, pricing/cost structures and interdomain routing policies. We use an agent-based compuational method (treating networks as selfish agents) to find the equilibrium that results as each network uses a certain provider and peer selection strategy (such as “peer by traffic ratios” or “peer by necessity”). We study the properties of this equilibrium in terms of topology, traffic flow and economics. We also investigate the effect of factors such as the interdomain traffic matrix, geography, and customer preferences on the properties of the equilibrium network.
Hardware architectures for real-time video processing and view synthesis

Today, we consume video content on a variety of display devices. However, the resulting variety of display formats and standards conflicts with the rigid video acquisition process. Quality video content acquisition is expensive, both financially and technically, and is therefore typically produced for a very specific display format. The objective of this thesis is to close the gap between fixed-format content acquisition and variable-format content display using spatially-varying warping and smart acquisition. Instead of generating and transmitting video content in various formats, e.g., aspect ratio or number of views, the spatially-varying warping framework transforms the video based on meta-information, scene analysis results, and display requirements. A first part of this thesis is therefore concerned with extracting information from the scene in real-time. In particular, we provide efficient hardware architectures for visual importance estimation and depth from high-definition stereoscopic video. In a second part, we analyze and develop real-time techniques to generate a deformation grid based on scene information and display requirements. To this end, we provide FPGA implementations of sparse solvers for systems of equations in the order of 10 to 10 unknowns. In a final part, we analyze non-linear, spatially-varying warping and develop an adaptive resampling algorithm as well as several VLSI architectures for warping high-definition and high-quality video in real-time. The different steps of the spatially-varying warping framework are put together to provide real-time hardware architectures for automatic display adaptation applications such as aspect ratio retargeting or stereoscopic remapping. The efficient algorithms and architectures are
Privacy Preserving Clustering by Hybrid Data Transformation Approach

Numerous organizations collect and share large amounts of data due to the proliferation of information technologies and internet. The information extracted from these databases through data mining process may reveal private information of individuals. Privacy preserving data mining is a new research area, which allows sharing of privacy-sensitive data for analysis purpose. In this paper a hybrid data transformation method is proposed for privacy preserving clustering in centralized database environment by taking the advantage of two existing techniques Principle Component Analysis (PCA) and Non negative Matrix Factorization (NMF). The experimental results proved that the proposed hybrid method protects private data of individuals and also providing valid clustering results.
Carboxypeptidase M Is Identical to the MAX.1 Antigen and Its Expression Is Associated with Monocyte to Macrophage Differentiation (*)

The two monoclonal antibodies MAX.1 and MAX.11 recognize cell surface antigens that are almost undetectable on monocytes but highly expressed on differentiated macrophages. Biochemical characterization revealed that both antibodies detect the same 58-64-kDa glycoprotein anchored to the plasma membrane by glycosyl-phosphatidylinositol linkage. We purified the MAX.1/11 antigen by immunoaffinity chromatography using monoclonal antibody MAX.11. The NH2-terminal amino acid sequence was determined and turned out to be identical to the NH2-terminal sequence of the membrane-bound carboxypeptidase M. By precipitation with antibodies MAX.1 and MAX.11, membrane preparations of macrophages and placental microvilli were almost completely depleted of enzyme activity, indicating that the two antibodies indeed recognize carboxypeptidase M. Immunoreactivity of both antibodies correlates with the reported tissue distribution of enzyme activity. Expression of carboxypeptidase M on mRNA level and enzymatic activity markedly increase during in vitro differentiation of monocytes, according to the described increase in MAX.1 and MAX.11 antigen expression. Moreover, in vitro differentiated macrophages show the highest specific activity yet described in any tissue. In addition, carboxypeptidase M expression could be detected in HL-60, U937, and THP-1 myeloid cell lines. Vitamin D3-induced monocytic differentiation resulted in an increased carboxypeptidase M expression in all three cell lines. Further studies are needed to elucidate the functional role of carboxypeptidase M during monocytic differentiation and activation.
Income and democracy: a comment on Acemoglu, Johnson, Robinson, and Yared (2008)

Acemoglu, Johnson, Robinson, and Yared (2008) demonstrate that estimation of the standard adjustment model with country-fixed and time-fixed effects removes the statistical significance of income as a causal factor of democracy. We argue that their empirical approach must produce insignificant income effects and that a small change in the estimation process immediately reveals the strong effect of income on democracy.
An End-to-end 3D Convolutional Neural Network for Action Detection and Segmentation in Videos

In this paper, we propose an end-to-end 3D CNN for action detection and segmentation in videos. The proposed architecture is a unified deep network that is able to recognize and localize action based on 3D convolution features. A video is first divided into equal length clips and next for each clip a set of tube proposals are generated based on 3D CNN features. Finally, the tube proposals of different clips are linked together and spatio-temporal action detection is performed using these linked video proposals. This top-down action detection approach explicitly relies on a set of good tube proposals to perform well and training the bounding box regression usually requires a large number of annotated samples. To remedy this, we further extend the 3D CNN to an encoder-decoder structure and formulate the localization problem as action segmentation. The foreground regions (i.e. action regions) for each frame are segmented first then the segmented foreground maps are used to generate the bounding boxes. This bottom-up approach effectively avoids tube proposal generation by leveraging the pixel-wise annotations of segmentation. The segmentation framework also can be readily applied to a general problem of video object segmentation. Extensive experiments on several video datasets demonstrate the superior performance of our approach for action detection and video object segmentation compared to the state-of-the-arts.
Censorship in a Different Name: Press “Supervision” in Wartime Japanese American Camps 1942–1943

When the federal government in 1942 forced Japanese Americans into “relocation centers,” camp officials allowed them to publish newspapers “freely,” under “supervision,” without “censorship. ” In reality, however, the camp press was hardly “free. ” Newspapers published under governmental auspices were inevitably subject to various types of editorial interference. The camp authority's “supervision” took various forms, including pre- and post-publication reviews, selective staff employment, convocation of “meetings,” supplying of news and propaganda material, and even direct and coercive editorial interference that officials themselves admitted to be “censorship. ” Camp officials also elicited self-restraint from staffers, making strict supervision or censorship unnecessary.
A Dichotomy of Necessary Behaviors and Implementation of Constructivism in Urban Schools

Classrooms are expected to be environments that are conducive for knowledge construction. Educators are admonished that students should be engaged in learning and collaborating in a respectful learning community. To facilitate this process, an accommodating structure must be established in the classroom. In this paper I will argue that behaviorism and constructivism are not polar opposites. In public, urban classrooms, portions of each theoretical framework are needed to ease the imbalance that takes place in learning, while propelling students toward constructing meaning based on the sum of their experiences.