Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Relevance of light , fluorescence and transmission electron microscopy techniques to differential diagnoses of kidney allograft rejection

and Reis MA 3 . Federal University of Triângulo Mineiro, Biological Sciences Cell Biology, Uberaba, Minas Gerais, Brasil. Frei Paulino Street, # 30, ZIP CODE: 38025-180. TEL 0055 (xx34) 3318.5207. Federal University of Triângulo Mineiro, Biological Sciences Embriology, Uberaba, Minas Gerais, Brasil. Frei Paulino Street, # 30, ZIP CODE: 38025-180. TEL 0055 (xx34) 3318.5449. Federal University of Triângulo Mineiro, Biological Sciences – Pathology Nephropatology Center, Uberaba, Minas Gerais, Brasil. Frei Paulino Street, # 30, ZIP CODE: 38025-180. TEL 0055 (xx34) 3318.5428.
Implementing Design Patterns Using Advanced Separation of Concerns

Design patterns have been recognized to be very important and useful. Especially, for software reuse and evolution, they have strong potential. In order to utilize design patterns in real software development, we need appropriate implementation techniques of them. Ordinary implementation of design patterns, however, is not always enough. One of the most typical ways is based on the inheritance mechanism. This makes applications quite dependent on patterns and reduces reusability of the application core part. In addition, it is difficult to exchange patterns once a system is designed. In this paper, we introduce a way to implement design patterns more flexibly, applying the concept of separation of concerns. It is realized by separating design patterns, as explicit concerns, from the application core that is responsible for the primary functionalities. This approach improves the reusability of both the design pattern part and the application core part of a system, and it provides the possibility to switch patterns using the very same application core classes. The new implementation technologies that support the advanced separation of concerns such as ApsectJ and Hyper/J help with coding this kind of design. We show that the introduced implementation of design patterns can be coded in reality using these new language/environment, and compare the two language/environment. Furthermore, we show the applicability of this method to the GoF’s patterns.
Synchrotron X-ray studies suggest that the core of the transthyretin amyloid fibril is a continuous beta-sheet helix.

BACKGROUND Amyloid diseases, which include Alzheimer's disease and the transmissible spongiform encephalopathies, are characterized by the extracellular deposition of abnormal protein fibrils derived from soluble precursor proteins. Although different precursors seem to generate similar fibrils, no adequate molecular structure of amyloid fibrils has been produced using modern techniques. Knowledge of the fibril structure is essential to understanding the molecular mechanism of amyloid formation and could lead to the development of agents to inhibit or reverse the process. RESULTS The structure of amyloid fibrils from patients with familial amyloidotic polyneuropathy (FAP), which are derived from transthyretin (TTR) variants, has been investigated by fibre diffraction methods using synchrotron radiation. For the first time a significant high-angle diffraction pattern has been observed showing meridional reflections out to 2 A resolution. This pattern was fully consistent with the previously reported cross-beta structure for the fibril, but also reveals a new large scale fibre repeat of 115 A. We interpret this pattern as that of a repeating unit of 24 beta strands, which form a complete helical turn of beta sheet about an axis parallel to the fibre axis. This structure has not been observed previously. We have built a model of the protofilament of the FAP amyloid fibril based on this interpretation, composed of four beta sheets related by a single helix axis coincident with the fibre axis, and shown that it is consistent with the observed X-ray data. CONCLUSIONS This work suggests that amyloid fibrils have a novel molecular structure consisting of beta sheets extended in regular helical twists along the length of the fibre. This implies that the polypeptide chains in the fibres are hydrogen-bonded together along the entire length of the fibres, thereby accounting for their great stability. The proposed structure of the FAP fibril requires a TTR building block that is structurally different from the native tetramer. This is likely to be either a monomer or dimer with reorganized or truncated beta sheets, suggesting that amyloid formation may require significant structural change in precursor proteins.
Activation of Heat Shock Gene Transcription by Heat Shock Factor 1 Involves Oligomerization, Acquisition of DNA-Binding Activity, and Nuclear Localization and Can Occur in the Absence of Stress

The existence of multiple heat shock factor (HSF) genes in higher eukaryotes has promoted questions regarding the functions of these HSF family members, especially with respect to the stress response. To address these questions, we have used polyclonal antisera raised against mouse HSF1 and HSF2 to examine the biochemical, physical, and functional properties of these two factors in unstressed and heat-shocked mouse and human cells. We have identified HSF1 as the mediator of stress-induced heat shock gene transcription. HSF1 displays stress-induced DNA-binding activity, oligomerization, and nuclear localization, while HSF2 does not. Also, HSF1 undergoes phosphorylation in cells exposed to heat or cadmium sulfate but not in cells treated with the amino acid analog L-azetidine-2-carboxylic acid, indicating that phosphorylation of HSF1 is not essential for its activation. Interestingly, HSF1 and HSF2 overexpressed in transfected 3T3 cells both display constitutive DNA-binding activity, oligomerization, and transcriptional activity. These results demonstrate that HSF1 can be activated in the absence of physiological stress and also provide support for a model of regulation of HSF1 and HSF2 activity by a titratable negative regulatory factor.
Semi-analytical loss model for rotary transformers

In modern drive systems, electrically excited machines (ESM) have become an interesting alternative to those excited by permanent magnets. The excitation winding is normally supplied by a slip ring system that (in automotive applications) has to be protected against environmental influences like wetness, oil and dust. To increase the power density of ESM, brushless excitation systems based on rotationally symmetric transformers (fig. 1 b) begin to replace slip rings. Their insusceptibility to environmental influences is their major advantage compared to slip rings. To allow the movement of the secondary against the primary side, air gaps are needed. With the focus on vehicle drive applications, they must be designed with (air) gap widths between 0.5 mm and 1.0 mm, or accommodation of tolerances.
Iterative decremented step-size scanning-based MPPT algorithms for photovoltaic systems

Iterative decremented step-size scanning-based maximum power point tracking (MPPT) algorithms are presented in this paper. The change of partial shading conditions is a main problem in photovoltaic systems. Power curves of the systems will contain some local maximum power points, beside a global maximum power point. The curves also change depending on environmental climates, which affect the partial shading conditions. Three iterative scanning-based MPPT algorithms are proposed to solve the problem, i.e. decremented window scanning, peak bracketing (PB) method and PB with initial scanning. A photovoltaic system coupled with a DC/DC converter is modeled in SPICE for verification and simulation purposes. The simulation results have presented that, for some cases, those MPPT algorithms can find out effectively the global maximum power points of the considered photovoltaic system. They also required efficiently with relatively small number perturb-and- observe steps to reach global maximum power points.
Two Independent Signaling Pathways Mediate the Antiapoptotic Action of Macrophage-Stimulating Protein on Epithelial Cells

ABSTRACT In addition to its effects on macrophage function, macrophage-stimulating protein (MSP) is a growth and motility factor for epithelial cells. The growth and survival of epithelial cells generally require two signals, one generated by interaction with extracellular matrix via integrins, the other initiated by a growth factor. Therefore we investigated the effect of MSP on epithelial cell survival. Survival of epithelial cells cultured overnight in serum-free medium was promoted by adhesion, which activated both the phosphatidylinositol 3′-kinase (PI3-K)/AKT and mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathways, operating independently of one another. The number of apoptotic cells resulting from inhibition of either pathway alone was approximately doubled by simultaneous inhibition of both pathways. This shows that each pathway made a partial contribution to the prevention of apoptosis. In the presence of an inhibitor of either pathway, MSP increased the activity of the other pathway so that the single uninhibited pathway alone was sufficient to prevent apoptosis. In contrast to the results with adherent cells, although MSP also prevented apoptosis of cells in suspension (anoikis), its effect was mediated only by the PI3-K/AKT pathway. Despite activation of MAPK by MSP, anoikis was not prevented in suspended cells with a blocked PI3-K/AKT pathway. Thus, activation of MAPK alone is not sufficient to mediate MSP antiapoptotic effects. Cell adhesion generates an additional signal, which is essential for MSP to use MAPK in an antiapoptotic pathway. This may involve translocation of MSP-activated MAPK from the cytoplasm into the nucleus, which occurs only in adherent cells. Our results suggest that there is cross talk between cell matrix adhesion and growth factors in the regulation of cell survival via the MAPK pathway. Growth factors induce MAPK activation, and adhesion mediates MAPK translocation from the cytoplasm into the nucleus.
Public attitudes to sex offenders in New Zealand

Abstract Sexual offending is a topic that often invokes heated debate and strong opinions among individuals from all walks of life. Generally, those who commit crimes of a sexual nature are uniformly abhorred, especially those who sexually abuse children. While the presence of these views is widely acknowledged, little is known about what these views are or how they develop. This study aimed to answer this question by conducting focus groups in various centres around New Zealand. The results showed that the news media was identified as the most important source of information on sexual offenders, although there was some scepticism in regard to the veracity of such information. Some of the views expressed were consistent with current understandings of sexual offending while some appeared to be borne of a lack of information. The results are considered in light of current research and the implications and future directions for further research are discussed briefly.
Bullying victimization and later anxiety and depression among pre‐adolescents in Switzerland

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationship between bullying victimization at age 8 and anxiety and depression at age 11 in a large and ethnically heterogeneous sample from Zurich, Switzerland.Design/methodology/approach – The authors present new analyses from the Zurich Project on the Social Development of Children and Youth (z‐proso) on the relationship between bullying victimization at age 8 and anxiety and depression at age 11.Findings – Different measures of bullying victimization significantly predicted later anxiety and depression. Differences existed between measures of anxiety and depression from different informants.Originality/value – First, the paper provides readers with an overview of the victimization data collected in z‐proso among an ethnically heterogeneous population sample of children in Zurich, Switzerland. Second, it provides results of bivariate and multivariate analyses on the relationship between bullying victimization and internalizing behavior. Third, .
QoE-Driven Channel Allocation Schemes for Multimedia Transmission of Priority-Based Secondary Users over Cognitive Radio Networks

With the fast growing of multimedia communication applications, cognitive radio networks have gained the popularity as they can provide high wireless bandwidth and support quality-driven wireless multimedia services. In multimedia applications such as video conferences over the cognitive radio, the Quality of Experience (QoE) that directly measures the satisfaction of the end users cannot be easily realized due to the limited spectrum resources. The opportunistic spectrum access cognitive radio (CR) is an efficient technology to address this issue. However, the unstable channels allocated to the multimedia secondary users (SUs) can be re-occupied by the primary users (PUs) at any time, which makes the CR difficult to meet the QoE requirements. Therefore, it is important to study how to allocate frequency or spectrum resources to SUs according to their QoE requirements. This paper proposes a novel QoE-driven channel allocation scheme for SUs and cognitive radio networks (CRN) base station (BS). The historical QoE data under different primary channels (PCs) are collected by the SUs and delivered to a Cognitive Radio Base Station (CRBS). The CRBS will allocate available channel resources to the SUs based on their QoE expectations and maintain a priority service queue. The modified ON/OFF models of PCs and service queue models of SUs are jointly investigated for this channel allocation scheme. The performance of multimedia transmission of images and H.264 videos under our CR channel allocation scheme is studied, the results show that the proposed channel allocation approach can significantly improve the QoE of the priority-based SUs over the cognitive radio networks.
The influence of Ratee Gender on Ratings of Organizational Citizenship Behavior1

Two studies were conducted to examine discrepancies in the evaluation of men and women regarding the performance of organizational citizenship behavior (OCB). In Study 1, base-rate differences in the perceived frequency and value of citizenship behaviors performed by males and females were investigated. A gender by job type interaction was found indicating that women were perceived to engage in OCB more frequently than were men in gender-neutral and male-typed jobs. No gender differences were found regarding the value associated with citizenship behaviors. In Study 2, undergraduates rated videotaped male and female instructors who exhibited different levels of OCB. Results revealed a gender by OCB interaction such that more accurate behavioral observations were made when observing males exhibiting OCB and females exhibiting no OCB than when observing males who did not exhibit OCB and females who did exhibit OCB. No gender by OCB interactions were found with regard to ratings of overall performance evaluation or reward recommendations.
A Review on Networking and Multiplayer Computer Games

Networking forms an essential part of multiplayer computer games. In this paper, we review the techniques developed for improving networking in distributed interactive real-time applications. We present a survey of the relevant literature concentrating on the research done on military simulations, networked virtual environments, and multiplayer computer games. We also discuss on resource management, consistency and responsiveness, and networking on the application level.
Differential effect of NAT2 on the association between active and passive smoke exposure and breast cancer risk.

BACKGROUND Polymorphisms in the N-acetyltransferase 2 (NAT2) gene influence the rate of metabolism of aromatic and heterocyclic amines present in tobacco smoke. Because the physicochemical composition of mainstream and sidestream smoke differ, we conducted a case-control study to assess a possible differential effect of NAT2 genotype on the relationship between active/passive smoke exposure and breast cancer risk. METHODS Breast cancer patients diagnosed by 50 years of age and population-sampled controls were interviewed to obtain detailed lifetime active and passive smoking history. NAT2 genotype was determined in 422 breast cancer patients and 887 controls. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was performed to estimate breast cancer risk in relation to smoking history by acetylator status and interaction effects. RESULTS Compared with women never regularly exposed to tobacco smoke, odds ratios (ORs) for current smoking and ex-smoking were 1.7 [95% confidence interval (CI): 1.0-2.9] and 1.2 (95% CI, 0.7-2.0) in slow acetylators, and not increased in rapid acetylators. Active smoking variables, such as pack-years, duration of smoking, and time since cessation, showed significant dose-response relationships with breast cancer risk among slow acetylators but not rapid acetylators. In contrast, passive smoking was associated with higher risk in rapid than in slow acetylators, with ORs of 2.0 (95% CI, 1.0-4.1) and 1.2 (95% CI, 0.7-2.0), respectively. CONCLUSIONS Our results suggest that the NAT2 status has a differential effect on the association of active and passive smoking with breast cancer and demonstrate the need to consider possible different mechanisms associated with exposure to main- and sidestream tobacco smoke.
IL-17A Promotes the Migration and Invasiveness of Colorectal Cancer Cells Through NF-κB-Mediated MMP Expression

Interleukin-17A (IL-17A) plays a significant role in many inflammatory diseases and cancers. The aim of this study is to investigate the effect of IL-17A on the invasiveness of colorectal cancer. In the study, we found that IL-17A could promote the migration and invasion of colorectal cancer cells. Furthermore, after being treated with IL-17A, the expression and activity of matrix metalloproteinase 2 (MMP-2) and MMP-9 were upregulated. Moreover, the nuclear/overall fractions and DNA-binding activity of p65 and p50 were dramatically elevated by IL-17A. Pretreatment with a nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB) inhibitor (PDTC) or PI3K/AKT inhibitor (LY294002) was proven to abolish the promoting effect of IL-17A on the invasion ability of colorectal cancer cells and upregulation of MMP-2/9. In conclusion, our findings demonstrated that IL-17A could promote the invasion of colorectal cancer cells by activating the PI3K/AKT/NF-κB signaling pathway and subsequently upregulating the expression of MMP-2/9. Our results suggest that IL-17A could serve as a promising therapeutic target for colorectal cancer.
Parallel LLL-reduction for bounding the integral solutions of elliptic Diophantine equations

Stroeker and Tzanakis gave convincing numerical and heuristic evidence for the fact that in their ellog method a certain parameter A plays a decisive role in the size of the final bound for the integral points on elliptic curves. Furthermore, they provided an algorithm to determine the Mordell-Weil basis of the curve which corresponds to the optimal choice of A. In this paper we show that working with more Mordell-Weil bases simultaneously, the final bound for the integral points can be further decreased.
Understanding Lignin-Degrading Reactions of Ligninolytic Enzymes: Binding Affinity and Interactional Profile

Previous works have demonstrated that ligninolytic enzymes mediated effective degradation of lignin wastes. The degrading ability greatly relied on the interactions of ligninolytic enzymes with lignin. Ligninolytic enzymes mainly contain laccase (Lac), lignin peroxidase (LiP) and manganese peroxidase (MnP). In the present study, the binding modes of lignin to Lac, LiP and MnP were systematically determined, respectively. Robustness of these modes was further verified by molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. Residues GLU460, PRO346 and SER113 in Lac, residues ARG43, ALA180 and ASP183 in LiP and residues ARG42, HIS173 and ARG177 in MnP were most crucial in binding of lignin, respectively. Interactional analyses showed hydrophobic contacts were most abundant, playing an important role in the determination of substrate specificity. This information is an important contribution to the details of enzyme-catalyzed reactions in the process of lignin biodegradation, which can be used as references for designing enzyme mutants with a better lignin-degrading activity.
Professional Integrity in Higher Education: A Study of Administrative Staff Ethics in Student Affairs

This study examined administrative staff perceptions of professional ethics in a student affairs division at one university. Indepth interviews were conducted with 12 staff members (six assistant/associate vice presidents and six directors) and analyzed using the constant comparative method. Participants described three dimensions of professional ethicality: regulatory, situated, and collective. Discussion focuses on the inadequacy of personal or professional values alone to guide complex ethical reasoning in higher education, as well as the need for creating and sustaining ethical environments in student affairs through ethical modeling and relational leadership.
Career management in transition: HRD themes from the Estonian civil service

Purpose – To explore, through a case study, some of the key career‐related HRD issues that senior managers are currently facing in the Estonian civil service.Design/methodology/approach – Presents primary empirical research into career management in the Estonian civil service since 1991, that is, in the post‐Soviet era. The research involved in‐depth interviews with a group of 12 senior staff employed by the Estonian civil service.Findings – The interview data reveal the ways in which downsizing and de‐layering in the Estonian public sector have led to shortened career paths, increased functional flexibility, increased spans of control and shifts towards open job systems.Research limitations/implications – The research explored career‐related issues solely within the Estonian civil service. Further research would be needed in a wider range of organisations and countries before the transferability of the findings could be established to transitional economies more generally.Practical implications – Provide.
The Research of Ant Colony and Genetic Algorithm in Grid Task Scheduling

Task scheduling is one of the core problems in grid computing. How to accomplish tasks quickly and efficiently to meet users' requirements has always been being a hot issue in the fileds of theoretical and applied research. The algorithm presented in this paper is based on the ant colony algorithm and genetic algorithm. It realizes scheduling optimization for grid tasks by studying and exploring optimization grouping of four parameters in ant colony algorithm with the quick global search randomly in genetic algorithm. In order to evaluate the performance, we design a simulating program to validate it after finishing the Gridsim study. Simulation results show that optimization grouping of parameters not only improve the efficiency of task distributing and scheduling but also balance the load. At last, further research direction is bringing forward.