Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Hypoxia causes an increase in phagocytosis by macrophages in a HIF‐1α‐dependent manner

Phagocytosis is the process by which microbial pathogens are engulfed by macrophages and neutrophils and represents the first line of defense against bacterial infection. The importance of phagocytosis for bacterial clearance is of particular relevance to systemic inflammatory diseases, which are associated with the development of hypoxia, yet the precise effects of hypoxia on phagocytosis remain largely unexplored. We now hypothesize that hypoxia inhibits phagocytosis in macrophages and sought to determine the mechanisms involved. Despite our initial prediction, hypoxia significantly increased the phagocytosis rate of particles in vitro by RAW264.7 and primary peritoneal macrophages and increased phagocytosis of labeled bacteria in vivo by hypoxic mice compared with normoxic controls. In understanding the mechanisms involved, hypoxia caused no changes in RhoA‐GTPase signaling but increased the phosphorylation of p38‐MAPK significantly. Inhibition of p38 reversed the effects of hypoxia on phagocytosis, suggesting a role for p38 in the hypoxic regulation of phagocytosis. Hypoxia also significantly increased the expression of hypoxia‐inducible factor‐1α (HIF‐1α) in macrophages, which was reversed after p38 inhibition, suggesting a link between p38 activation and HIF‐1α expression. It is striking that small interfering RNA knockdown of HIF‐1α reversed the effects of hypoxia on phagocytosis, and overexpression of HIF‐1α caused a surprising increase in phagocytosis compared with nontransfected controls, demonstrating a specific role for HIF‐1α in the regulation of phagocytosis. These data indicate that hypoxia enhances phagocytosis in macrophages in a HIF‐1α‐dependent manner and shed light on an important role for HIF‐1α in host defense.
Measuring player experience on runtime dynamic difficulty scaling in an RTS game

Do players find it more enjoyable to win, than to play even matches? We have made a study of what a number of players expressed after playing against computer opponents of different kinds in an RTS game. There were two static computer opponents, one that was easily beaten, and one that was hard to beat, and three dynamic ones that adapted their strength to that of the player. One of these three latter ones intentionally drops its performance in the end of the game to make it easy for the player to win. Our results indicate that the players found it more enjoyable to play an even game against an opponent that adapts to the performance of the player, than playing against an opponent with static difficulty. The results also show that when the computer player that dropped its performance to let the player win was the least enjoyable opponent of them all.
An Investigation into the Ethical Ideology of Immigrant Entrepreneurs in South Africa

Abstract Corruption and other unethical practices are endemic in the business environment. An individual’s ethical ideology provides guidelines that can be used in evaluating ethically questionable behaviours and ultimately the decision to refrain or engage in them. The study investigated the ethical ideology of immigrant entrepreneurs in South Africa. In addition, the study examined whether there is a significant gender difference in the ethical ideology of immigrant entrepreneurs. The results showed that immigrant entrepreneurs are more idealistic than relativistic with respect to their ethical ideology. Most of the immigrant entrepreneurs can be classified as situationists. Female immigrant entrepreneurs are more idealistic and relativistic than males. However, the gender difference is not statistically significant. Recommendations to improve the ethical behaviour of immigrant entrepreneurs are suggested.
Progressive tetrahedral mesh using triangular face collapse

How to simplify and rebuild a large scale tetrahedral dataset in order to use in the real time rendering is of more importance. This paper introduces an novel approach using face collapse for rapid progressive simplification and reconstruction of tetrahedral mesh. We use the Maximum Triangular Area Stretch Ratio as the mainly criterion to decide whether the face can be collapsed. In our method, it will delete eleven tetrahedral mesh in every step on average, and the efficiency of simplification and reconstruction is very high in our experiments. Our method also can do well in preservation of the boundary of the tetrahedral mesh.
The young stellar population in the Serpens Cloud Core: An ISOCAM survey ⋆ ⋆⋆

We present results from an ISOCAM survey in the two broad band filters LW2 (5-8.5 μm) and LW3 (12-18 μm) of a 0.13 square degree coverage of the Serpens Main Cloud Core. A total of 392 sources were detected in the 6.7 μm band and 139 in the 14.3 μm band to a limiting sensitivity of ~2 mJy. We identified 53 Young Stellar Objects (YSOs) with mid-IR excess from the single colour index [14.3/6.7], and 8 additional YSOs from the H – K/K – m_(6.7) diagram. Only 32 of these 61 sources were previously known to be YSO candidates. Only about 50% of the mid-IR excess sources show excesses in the near-IR J – H/H – K diagram. In the 48 square arcmin field covering the central Cloud Core the Class I/Class II number ratio is 19/18, i.e. about 10 times larger than in other young embedded clusters such as ρ Ophiuchi or Chamaeleon. The mid-IR fluxes of the Class I and flat-spectrum sources are found to be on the average larger than those of Class II sources. Stellar luminosities are estimated for the Class II sample, and its luminosity function is compatible with a coeval population of about 2 Myr which follows a three segment power-law IMF. For this age about 20% of the Class IIs are found to be young brown dwarf candidates. The YSOs are in general strongly clustered, the Class I sources more than the Class II sources, and there is an indication of sub-clustering. The sub-clustering of the protostar candidates has a spatial scale of 0.12 pc. These sub-clusters are found along the NW-SE oriented ridge and in very good agreement with the location of dense cores traced by millimeter data. The smallest clustering scale for the Class II sources is about 0.25 pc, similar to what was found for ρ Ophiuchi. Our data show evidence that star formation in Serpens has proceeded in several phases, and that a “microburst” of star formation has taken place very recently, probably within the last 10^5 yrs.
How Persistent Are Shocks to World Commodity Prices?

This paper examines the persistence of shocks to world commodity prices, using monthly IMF data on primary commodities between 1957-98. We find that shocks to commodity prices are typically long-lasting and the variability of the persistence of price shocks is quite wide. The paper also discusses the implications of these findings for national and international schemes to stabilize earnings from commodity exports and finds that if price shocks are long-lived, then the cost of stabilization schemes will likely exceed any associated smoothing benefits.
Taming reflection: Aiding static analysis in the presence of reflection and custom class loaders

Static program analyses and transformations for Java face many problems when analyzing programs that use reflection or custom class loaders: How can a static analysis know which reflective calls the program will execute? How can it get hold of classes that the program loads from remote locations or even generates on the fly? And if the analysis transforms classes, how can these classes be re-inserted into a program that uses custom class loaders? In this paper, we present TamiFlex, a tool chain that offers a partial but often effective solution to these problems. With TamiFlex, programmers can use existing static-analysis tools to produce results that are sound at least with respect to a set of recorded program runs. TamiFlex inserts runtime checks into the program that warn the user in case the program executes reflective calls that the analysis did not take into account. TamiFlex further allows programmers to re-insert offline-transformed classes into a program. We evaluate TamiFlex in two scenarios: benchmarking with the DaCapo benchmark suite and analysing large-scale interactive applications. For the latter, TamiFlex significantly improves code coverage of the static analyses, while for the former our approach even appears complete: the inserted runtime checks issue no warning. Hence, for the first time, TamiFlex enables sound static whole-program analyses on DaCapo. During this process, TamiFlex usually incurs less than 10% runtime overhead.
Legal Interoperability: Making Open (Government) Data Compatible with Businesses and Communities

"Legal interoperability" could be defined as the possibility of legally mixing data coming from different sources (including governmental data, data generated by online communities and data held by private parties). Legal interoperability is similar to technical interoperability, since it is a prerequisite for mixing data and create new knowledge or services. But it also has its own peculiarities, for instance because it could be achieved simply choosing the appropriate licensing scheme, but also because self-help mechanisms which could - at a certain price - guarantee technical interoperability to third parties cannot (lawfully) solve legal interoperability issues. In the mid/long run, legal interoperability could be achieved thorough the evolution of legal frameworks in order to harmonize the landscape of Government Data. In the short term, the shortcomings generated by diversified legal frameworks may be alleviated through the careful choice of copyright licenses. The presentation will focus on the latter aspects, discussing existing public licenses (such as the Creative Commons and Open Data Commons ones), representing a de facto standard in this domain, and the main open data licenses developed by European governments (e.g. the Open Government Licenses in the UK, the French License Ouverte or the Italian Open Data License).
Cognitive and neural strategies during control of the anterior cingulate cortex by fMRI neurofeedback in patients with schizophrenia

Cognitive functioning is impaired in patients with schizophrenia, leading to significant disabilities in everyday functioning. Its improvement is an important treatment target. Neurofeedback (NF) seems a promising method to address the neural dysfunctions underlying those cognitive impairments. The anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), a central hub for cognitive processing, is one of the brain regions known to be dysfunctional in schizophrenia. Here we conducted NF training based on real-time functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) in patients with schizophrenia to enable them to control their ACC activity. Training was performed over 3 days in a group of 11 patients with schizophrenia and 11 healthy controls. Social feedback was provided in accordance with the evoked activity in the selected region of interest (ROI). Neural and cognitive strategies were examined off-line. Both groups learned to control the activity of their ACC but used different neural strategies: patients activated the dorsal and healthy controls the rostral subdivision. Patients mainly used imagination of music to elicit activity and the control group imagination of sports. In a stepwise regression analysis, the difference in neural control did not result from the differences in cognitive strategies but from diagnosis alone. Based on social reinforcers, patients with schizophrenia can learn to regulate localized brain activity. However, cognitive strategies and neural network location differ from healthy controls. These data emphasize that for therapeutic interventions in patients with schizophrenia compensatory strategies may emerge. Specific cognitive skills or specific dysfunctional networks should be addressed to train impaired skills. Social NF based on fMRI may be one method to accomplish precise learning targets.
A New Pentachrome Method for the Simultaneous Staining of Collagen and Sulfated Mucopolysaccharides

Collagen is one of the most common fibers in the extracellular matrix, where sulfated mucopolysaccharides are also located. In addition, sulfated mucopolysaccharides are present in some globet cells and secretory glands. The objective of this article is to develop a new staining method that detects these two macromolecules simultaneously in the same sample. The method described stains tissues in five fundamental colors: collagen in red; sulfated mucopolysaccharides in violet; red blood cells in yellow; muscle in orange; and nuclei in green. As a conclusion, it will be interesting in the future to evaluate whether this method could be used as a basic histological method, as a histology teaching tool, or even in histopathological and cytopathological studies.
Seeding the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning Garden

As summer settles into the North American continent, with trees and plants blooming all around us, we have been reminded of how plants and flowers grow, wane, and then renew all over again. As we discussed in a prior editorial, “Reframing ‘Conversation’ as an Editorial Responsibility” (Volume 40, Issue 5, pp. 483-488), journal editors have the opportunity to nurture the scholarship of teaching and learning (SOTL) conversation (our “garden”) in a variety of ways. For us, this year is no exception. First, there are the perennials, whose blooms are the result of seeds sown by others before us. We are delighted to share in this issue the recipients of the 2017 Lasting Impact Award. The Lasting Impact Award recognizes an article published in the Journal of Management Education (JME) at least 10 years prior that continues to have a significant impact on management education or educators, either conceptually or practically, since its publication. This year, we are pleased to honor two such articles:
Thr339-to-Serine Substitution in Rat P2X2 Receptor Second Transmembrane Domain Causes Constitutive Opening and Indicates a Gating Role for Lys308

P2X2 receptors are ATP-gated ion channels widely expressed by neurons. Thr339 lies in the second of the two transmembrane domains of the rat P2X2 receptor protein, and is likely to be close to the narrowest part of the pore. Single-channel and whole-cell recording after expression in human embryonic kidney 293 cells showed that P2X2[T339S] receptors had pronounced spontaneous channel openings that were never seen in wild-type P2X2 receptors. P2X2[T339S] receptors were 10-fold more sensitive than wild type to exogenous ATP, and αβmeATP also increased channel opening. Two conserved ectodomain lysine residues (Lys69 and Lys308) are critical for function and have been proposed to contribute to the ATP binding site of P2X receptors. The spontaneous opening of P2X2[K69A/T339S] receptors was not different than that seen in P2X2[T339S], but for P2X2[K308A/T339S] the spontaneous activity was absent. Suramin, which is a noncompetitive antagonist at wild-type P2X2 receptors, had a pronounced agonist action at both P2X2[T339S] and P2X2[K69A/T339S] receptors but not at P2X2[K308A/T339S]. 2′,3′-O-O-(2,4,6-Trinitrophenyl)-ATP (TNP-ATP), which is a competitive agonist at wild-type receptors, was also an agonist at P2X2[T339S] receptors, but not at either double mutant. The results indicate that the T339S mutation substantially destabilizes the closed channel and suggest an important role in channel gating. The correction of this gating defect, in the absence of any agonist, by the second mutation K308A shows that Lys308 is also involved in channel gating. A similar interpretation can account for the results with suramin and TNP-ATP.
The effects of intermittent isometric fatigue on concentric, eccentric, and isometric torque

The effects of intermittent isometric fatigue on concentric, eccentric, and isometric torque" (2013). Public Access Theses and Dissertations from the College of Education and Human Sciences. Paper 172. Fatiguing intermittent isometric (ISO) muscle actions of the leg extensors have been shown to result in a similar percent (%) decline in torque for concentric (CON), eccentric (ECC), and ISO muscle actions. However, the effects of intermittent ISO fatigue of the forearm flexors on CON, ECC, and ISO torque, have not been established. The purpose of this investigation was to determine the effects of 50 maximal, intermittent ISO forearm flexion muscle actions on CON, ECC, and ISO torque. Twenty adults (10 men (mean ± SD age = 21.9 ± 2.3 years) and 10 women (mean ± SD age = 22.7 ± 2.6 years) volunteered to perform 50 consecutive, intermittent ISO forearm flexion muscle actions. Before and after the fatiguing workbouts, peak torque (PT) was measured (randomly ordered) for CON, ECC, and ISO muscle actions. Polynomial regression analysis indicated a quadratic (R 2 = 0.97) pattern of responses during the 50 intermittent ISO muscle actions. There were no differences in mean % decline (29%) in torque values among the three types of muscle actions. The current findings indicate that the CON, ECC, and ISO muscle actions share a common mechanism of fatigue as a result of the fatiguing intermittent ISO workbout. DEDICATION I dedicate this thesis to my wife, Beatriz, who was willing to leave her career as a Pharmacist, her family, and her friends to support my education. Without her, I would not have realized my potential and this thesis would not have been possible. I also dedicate this thesis to my two children Robert, and Sebastian, who have not seen much of me during the completion of this project. It is through your smiling faces that I have found the strength to work the hardest I ever have. Everything I do is for the love of my wife and children. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This manuscript would not have been possible without the love, support, and understanding of my wife, Dr. I express a sincere gratitude to Dr. Terry Housh for his mentorship throughout this project. His willingness to take an active role in the entire process, for teaching me the meaning of true work ethic, for never allowing me to settle for mediocrity, and for instilling within me, a sense paying attention to …
Deposit Insurance in Developing Countries

This paper studies the link between television and divorce in Brazil by exploiting variation in the timing of availability of the signal of Rede Globo -the network that had a virtual monopoly on telenovelas in the countryacross municipal areas. Using three rounds of Census data (1970, 1980 and 1991) and controlling for area fixed effects and for time-varying characteristics, the paper finds that the share of women who are separated or divorced increases significantly after the Globo signal becomes available. The effect is robust to controlling for potential determinants of Globos entry strategy and is stronger for relatively smaller areas, where the signal reaches a higher fraction of the population.
The FlgT Protein Is Involved in Aeromonas hydrophila Polar Flagella Stability and Not Affects Anchorage of Lateral Flagella

Aeromonas hydrophila sodium-driven polar flagellum has a complex stator-motor. Consist of two sets of redundant and non-exchangeable proteins (PomA/PomB and PomA2/PomB2), which are homologs to other sodium-conducting polar flagellum stator motors; and also two essential proteins (MotX and MotY), that they interact with one of those two redundant pairs of proteins and form the T-ring. In this work, we described an essential protein for polar flagellum stability and rotation which is orthologs to Vibrio spp. FlgT and it is encoded outside of the A. hydrophila polar flagellum regions. The flgT was present in all mesophilic Aeromonas strains tested and also in the non-motile Aeromonas salmonicida. The A. hydrophila ΔflgT mutant is able to assemble the polar flagellum but is more unstable and released into the culture supernatant from the cell upon completion assembly. Presence of FlgT in purified polar hook-basal bodies (HBB) of wild-type strain was confirmed by Western blotting and electron microscopy observations showed an outer ring of the T-ring (H-ring) which is not present in the ΔflgT mutant. Anchoring and motility of proton-driven lateral flagella was not affected in the ΔflgT mutant and specific antibodies did not detect FlgT in purified lateral HBB of wild type strain.
A Theoretical Comparison of Monte Carlo Radiosity Algorithms

In this paper, we present a theoretical analysis of the error with three basic Monte Carlo radiosity algorithms, based on continuous collision shooting random walks, discrete collision shooting random walks and stochastic Jacobi iterations. We show that the variance of these three algorithms is in practice to very good approximation identical, explaining empirical results obtained before. The derivation in this paper can easily be adapted in order to calculate the variance of other Monte Carlo rendering algorithms, such as stochastic ray tracing and density estimation as well.
Depression and Intention to Seek Treatment Among Black and White Suicidal Military Members Who Are Not Engaged in Mental Health Care

ABSTRACT The current study is the first to examine racial differences in suicidal thoughts and behaviors, risk factors, and intention to seek treatment in a sample of Black and White Operation Enduring Freedom/Operation Iraqi Freedom suicidal military members who are not engaged in mental health care. Participants completed the 1-hour assessment by telephone. Compared to White military members, Black military members reported higher levels of perceived burdensomeness, depression, alcohol use, and intention to seek treatment. Conducting outreach and interventions that can be accessed from home may engage more military members in mental health care, thus potentially contributing to reducing rates of suicide.
Shifting carbon flow from roots into associated microbial communities in response to elevated atmospheric CO2

Rising atmospheric CO2 levels are predicted to have major consequences on carbon cycling and the functioning of terrestrial ecosystems. Increased photosynthetic activity is expected, especially for C-3 plants, thereby influencing vegetation dynamics; however, little is known about the path of fixed carbon into soil-borne communities and resulting feedbacks on ecosystem function. Here, we examine how arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) act as a major conduit in the transfer of carbon between plants and soil and how elevated atmospheric CO2 modulates the belowground translocation pathway of plant-fixed carbon. Shifts in active AMF species under elevated atmospheric CO2 conditions are coupled to changes within active rhizosphere bacterial and fungal communities. Thus, as opposed to simply increasing the activity of soil-borne microbes through enhanced rhizodeposition, elevated atmospheric CO2 clearly evokes the emergence of distinct opportunistic plant-associated microbial communities. Analyses involving RNA-based stable isotope probing, neutral/phosphate lipid fatty acids stable isotope probing, community fingerprinting, and real-time PCR allowed us to trace plant-fixed carbon to the affected soil-borne microorganisms. Based on our data, we present a conceptual model in which plant-assimilated carbon is rapidly transferred to AMF, followed by a slower release from AMF to the bacterial and fungal populations well-adapted to the prevailing (myco-)rhizosphere conditions. This model provides a general framework for reappraising carbon-flow paths in soils, facilitating predictions of future interactions between rising atmospheric CO2 concentrations and terrestrial ecosystems.
Congruence relations on some Shimura varieties

The main purpose of this paper is the generalization of the well-known Eichler-Shimura congruence relations for modular curves to Shimura varieties of PELtype whose Shimura group G is split over a fixed prime p. In particular we prove a conjecture of Blasius and Rogawski for these Shimura varieties. Further we give a formula for the cycle which is the reduction to positive characteristic of the Hecke operator Tp in terms of the root data of G and calculate this cycle in two examples. MSC Classification: 14K10 14L05, 20G25