Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Mission or money? Competitive challenges facing public sector nonprofit organisations in an institutionalised environment

This paper exposes the impact of competitive grant funding on public sector nonprofit volunteer organisations, using institutional theory to explain developments within this sector. A conceptual model is developed from which five propositions are derived. Bushcare units, in experiencing institutional pressures, respond in ways that affect their culture, structure and routines, resulting in the possibility that their mission will be compromised. In the process of targeting competitive grants, preparing grant applications, managing increased reporting requirements and recruiting volunteers, Bushcare units should apply a mission 'filter' to ensure their mission is not compromised in the pursuit of money. Bushcare New South Wales (NSW), an Australian environmental organisation, provides an empirical illustration of the proposed conceptual model.
A method for quantifying melanosome transfer efficacy from melanocytes to keratinocytes in vitro

Several different in vivo and in vitro bioassays are used to evaluate melanosome transfer efficacy from melanocytes to keratinocytes. However, these methods are complicated and time consuming. Here, we report on a simple, rapid, direct, and reliable in vitro method for observing the process of melanosome transfer from melanocytes to keratinocytes. First, we selected and tested a melanoma cell line RPMI‐7951 that can normally synthesize melanin and transfer from mature melanosomes to keratinocytes in vitro. We cocultured these cells with a human ovarian teratoma transformed epidermal carcinoma cell line, which is also capable of accepting melanosomes transferred from melanocytes, as in normal keratinocytes. The cells were cocultured for 24–72 h and double labeled with FITC‐conjugated antibody against the melanosome‐associated protein TRP‐1, and with Cy5‐conjugated antibody against the keratinocyte‐specific marker keratin 14. The cells were examined by fluorescence microscope and flow cytometry. Melanosome transfer from melanocytes to keratinocytes increased in a time‐dependent manner. To verify the accessibility of this method, the melanosome transfer inhibitor, a serine protease inhibitor, 4‐(2‐aminoethyl) benzenesulfonyl fluoride hydrochloride, and a melanosome transfer stimulator, α‐melanocyte‐stimulating hormone, were added. The serine protease inhibitor decreased melanosome transfer, and α‐melanocyte‐stimulating hormone increased melanosome transfer, in a dose‐dependent manner. In conclusion, this is a simple, rapid, and effective model system to quantify the melanosome transfer efficacy from melanocytes to keratinocytes in vitro.
Two-color multiplex assay for the identification of orthopox viruses with real-time LUX-PCR

The LUXe [Light Upon eXtension] is a real-time detection system that can be used for the detection and quantification of pathogens nucleic acids. In this study we used a universal LUXe approach, a variation of the LUXe detection system, for identifying Orthopoxvirus nucleic acids in real time. This approach enables the design of sequence-specific primer sets in high identity genome sequences. The assay described here is designed to allow simultaneous detection of Variola and other orthopox viruses in a multiplex format, with a limit of detection in the range of 50–100 copies of the Orthopoxvirus genome. Regression analysis showed that the assay was linear over seven orders of magnitude, with 0.97 correlation coefficient. The sensitivity and specificity of the assay, as determined from a panel of 100 samples that contained nucleic acids from a variety of bacteria and viral species, were rated at 98%. Thus, the assay offers a sensitive and specific tool for simultaneous identification and quantification of Variola and other orthopox viruses, and the approach allows more flexible sequence-specific primers design for pox viruses as well as other microbial pathogens. q 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Modifications of Uncertain Data: A Bayesian Framework for Belief Revision

The inherent uncertainty pervasive over the real world often forces business decisions to be made using uncertain data. The conventional relational model does not have the ability to handle uncertain data. In recent years, several approaches have been proposed in the literature for representing uncertain data by extending the relational model, primarily using probability theory. The aspect of database modification, however, has not been addressed in prior research. It is clear that any modification of existing probabilistic data, based on new information, amounts to the revision of one's belief about real-world objects. In this paper, we examine the aspect of belief revision and develop a generalized algorithm that can be used for the modification of existing data in a probabilistic relational database. The belief revision scheme is shown to beclosed,consistent, andcomplete.
Modelling of dry low emission gas turbine using black-box approach

Dry Low Emission (DLE) operation mode for gas turbine is introduced to reduce nitrogen oxide (NOx) emission and to meet current stringent environment regulation imposed on gas turbine. A good gas turbine model is essential for simulation study or fault prediction. However, there are no effort on modelling DLE gas turbine currently. Nonlinear Autoregressive with Exogenous Input (NARX), a black-box modelling approach has been identified as the suitable option for modelling gas turbine in DLE mode as it enables the development of good model without any assumptions. The results show that the developed NARX model can be used to represent the behavior of the DLE gas turbine with high accuracy and good generalization.
Inflammation and neuropeptides: the connection in diabetic wound healing

Abnormal wound healing is a major complication of both type 1 and type 2 diabetes, with nonhealing foot ulcerations leading in the worst cases to lower-limb amputation. Wound healing requires the integration of complex cellular and molecular events in successive phases of inflammation, cell proliferation, cell migration, angiogenesis and re-epithelialisation. A link between wound healing and the nervous system is clinically apparent as peripheral neuropathy is reported in 30–50% of diabetic patients and is the most common and sensitive predictor of foot ulceration. Indeed, a bidirectional connection between the nervous and the immune systems and its role in wound repair has emerged as one of the focal features of the wound-healing dogma. This review provides a broad overview of the mediators of this connection, which include neuropeptides and cytokines released from nerve fibres, immune cells and cutaneous cells. In-depth understanding of the signalling pathways in the neuroimmune axis in diabetic wound healing is vital to the development of successful wound-healing therapies.
Combining similarity in time and space for training set formation under concept drift

Concept drift is a challenge in supervised learning for sequential data. It describes a phenomenon when the data distributions change over time. In such a case accuracy of a classifier benefits from the selective sampling for training. We develop a method for training set selection, particularly relevant when the expected drift is gradual. Training set selection at each time step is based on the distance to the target instance. The distance function combines similarity in space and in time. The method determines an optimal training set size online at every time step using cross validation. It is a wrapper approach, it can be used plugging in different base classifiers. The proposed method shows the best accuracy in the peer group on the real and artificial drifting data. The method complexity is reasonable for the field applications.
Effect of Photoperiod on Developmental Fitness in Ophraella communa (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae)

ABSTRACT Ophraella communa LeSage (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae) is an important biological control agent of the common ragweed, Ambrosia artemisiifolia L. , in China. Development and fecundity of O. communa, and hatch rate of progeny eggs were studied at five photoperiods (8:16, 10:14, 12:12, 14:10, and 16:8 [L:D] h). The highest survival rate of eggs was 92% at the photoperiod of 16:8 (L:D) h, and those of both larvae and pupae were observed at the photoperiod of 14:10 (L:D) h (85 and 96%). The shortest developmental durations of larvae and pupae were observed at photoperiods of 14:10 and 16:8 (L:D) h. Fecundity was 1,159–1,976 eggs per female from photoperiods of 8:16 to 16:8 (L:D) h. The hatch rates of progeny eggs were 67–92% from photoperiods of 8:16 to 16:8 (L:D) h, and photoperiods did not affect developmental duration of progeny eggs. The intrinsic rate for increase (r), the net reproductive rate (R0), and the finite rate of increase (λ) reached the maximum values at 16:8 (L:D) h (0.2219 d-1, 721 hatched eggs and 1.2484 d-1, respectively) and 14:10 (L:D) h (0.2133 d-1,605.6 hatched eggs and 1.2378 d-1, respectively). Their minimum values were observed at the photoperiod of 8:16 (L:D) h, which were 0.1731 d-1, 212.2 hatched eggs and 0.1890 d-1, respectively. The shortest T value was 29.7 d at a photoperiod of 16:8 (L:D) h and the longest was 31.4 d at a photoperiod of 12:12 (L:D) h. Our study shows that O. communa could survive and reproduce successfully at different photoperiods, thus may expand its distribution to regions with different photoperiods.
An intervention to overcome clinical inertia and improve diabetes mellitus control in a primary care setting: Improving Primary Care of African Americans with Diabetes (IPCAAD) 8.

BACKGROUND Although clinical trials have shown that proper management of diabetes can improve outcomes, and treatment guidelines are widespread, glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) levels in the United States are rising. Since process measures are improving, poor glycemic control may reflect the failure of health care providers to intensify diabetes therapy when indicated--clinical inertia. We asked whether interventions aimed at health care provider behavior could overcome this barrier and improve glycemic control. METHODS In a 3-year trial, 345 internal medicine residents were randomized to be controls or to receive computerized reminders providing patient-specific recommendations at each visit and/or feedback on performance every 2 weeks. When glucose levels exceeded 150 mg/dL (8.33 mmol/L) during visits of 4038 patients, health care provider behavior was characterized as did nothing, did anything (any intensification of therapy), or did enough (if intensification met recommendations). RESULTS At baseline, residents did anything for 35% of visits and did enough for 21% of visits when changes in therapy were indicated, and there were no differences among intervention groups. During the trial, intensification increased most during the first year and then declined. However, intensification increased more in the feedback alone and feedback plus reminders groups than for reminders alone and control groups (P<.001). After 3 years, health care provider behavior in the reminders alone and control groups returned to baseline, whereas improvement with feedback alone and feedback plus reminders groups was sustained: 52% did anything, and 30% did enough (P<.001 for both vs the reminders alone and control groups). Multivariable analysis showed that feedback on performance contributed independently to intensification and that intensification contributed independently to fall in HbA1c (P<.001 for both). CONCLUSIONS Feedback on performance given to medical resident primary care providers improved provider behavior and lowered HbA1c levels. Similar approaches may aid health care provider behavior and improve diabetes outcomes in other primary care settings.
On the capacity of TDMA cellular systems with dynamic channel assignment, power control and adaptive modulation

This paper investigates three techniques for optimising the capacity of cellular communication schemes: power control, dynamic channel assignment and adaptive modulation and coding. Each scheme, and combination of schemes, is investigated under the same assumptions for channel model, number of cells and quality of service provision; and simulation is used to derive the number of simultaneous users that can be supported in each case. It is shown that the additional complexity of adaptive modulation and coding is rarely justified, and that the facility for intracell handoffs is the most important technique to include in an efficient resource allocation algorithm.
Biomarkers to enhance the accuracy and precision of prediction of short-term and long-term outcome after spontaneous intracerebral haemorrhage : a prospective cohort study View project Genetic Basis of stroke in India View project

Mobile phones emit electromagnetic radiations that are classified as possibly carcinogenic to humans. Evidence for increased risk for brain tumours accumulated in parallel by epidemiologic investigations remains controversial. This paper aims to investigate whether methodological quality of studies and source of funding can explain the variation in results. PubMed and Cochrane CENTRAL searches were conducted from 1966 to December 2016, which was supplemented with relevant articles identified in the references. Twenty-two case control studies were included for systematic review. Meta-analysis of 14 case– control studies showed practically no increase in risk of brain tumour [OR 1.03 (95% CI 0.92–1.14)]. However, for mobile phone use of 10 years or longer (or[1640 h), the overall result of the meta-analysis showed a significant 1.33 times increase in risk. The summary estimate of government funded as well as phone industry funded studies showed 1.07 times increase in odds which was not significant, while mixed funded studies did not show any increase in risk of brain tumour. Metaregression analysis indicated that the association was significantly associated with methodological study quality (p\ 0.019, 95% CI 0.009–0.09). Relationship between source of funding and log OR for each study was not statistically significant (p\ 0.32, 95% CI 0.036–0.010). We found evidence linking mobile phone use and risk of brain tumours especially in long-term users (C10 years). Studies with higher quality showed a trend towards high risk of brain tumour, while lower quality showed a trend towards lower risk/protection.
Streptococcal M protein: molecular design and biological behavior

M protein is a major virulence determinant for the group A streptococcus by virtue of its ability to allow the organism to resist phagocytosis. Common in eucaryotes, the fibrillar coiled-coil design for the M molecule may prove to be a common motif for surface proteins in gram-positive organisms. This type of structure offers the organism several distinct advantages, ranging from antigenic variation to multiple functional domains. The close resemblance of this molecular design to that of certain mammalian proteins could help explain on a molecular level the formation of epitopes responsible for serological cross-reactions between microbial and mammalian proteins. Many of the approaches described in the elucidation of the M-protein structure may be applied for characterizing similar molecules in other microbial systems.
Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-ligands suppress fibronectin gene expression in human lung carcinoma cells : involvement of both CRE and Sp 1

Han, ShouWei, Jeffrey D. Ritzenthaler, Hilda N. Rivera, and Jesse Roman. Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptorligands suppress fibronectin gene expression in human lung carcinoma cells: involvement of both CRE and Sp1. Am J Physiol Lung Cell Mol Physiol 289: L419–L428, 2005. First published May 20, 2005; doi:10.1152/ajplung.00002. 2005. —Lung carcinoma often occurs in patients with chronic lung disease such as tobacco-related emphysema and asbestos-related pulmonary fibrosis. These diseases are characterized by dramatic alterations in the content and composition of the lung extracellular matrix, and we believe this “altered” matrix has the ability to promote lung carcinoma cell growth. One extracellular matrix molecule shown to be altered in these lung diseases is fibronectin (Fn). We previously reported increased growth and survival of non-small cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC) cells exposed to Fn. Thus Fn may serve as a mitogen/survival factor for NSCLC and therefore represents a novel target for anti-cancer strategies. To this end, we studied the effects of the PPAR ligands 15d-PGJ2, rosiglitazone (BRL49653), and troglitazone on Fn expression in NSCLC cells and found that they were able to inhibit Fn gene transcription. Inhibition of Fn expression by BRL49653 and troglitazone, but not by 15d-PGJ2, was prevented by the specific PPAR antagonist GW-9662 and by PPAR small interfering RNA. Working with Fn deletion and mutated promoter constructs, we found that the region between 170 and 50 bp downstream from the transcriptional start site of the promoter was involved in PPAR ligand inhibition. PPAR ligands also diminished the phosphorylation of CREB, diminished Sp1 nuclear protein expression, and prevented the binding of these transcription factors to CRE and Sp1 sites, respectively, within the Fn promoter. In summary, our results demonstrate that PPAR ligands inhibit Fn gene expression in NSCLC cells through PPAR -dependent and -independent pathways that affect both CREB and Sp1.
Purification of Radiolabeled RNA Products Using Denaturing Gel Electrophoresis

This unit discusses a basic method for purification of radiolabeled RNAs using denaturing polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. The method consists of a number of experimental procedures, including total RNA preparation from yeast cells, isolation of a specific RNA from total yeast RNA, RNA 3′‐terminal labeling using nucleotide (5′ [32P]pCp) addition (via ligation), denaturing (8 M urea) polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, and RNA extraction from the gel slice. Key points for achieving good electrophoretic separation of RNA are also discussed. Curr. Protoc. Mol. Biol. 105:4.20. 1‐4.20. 13. © 2014 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Men in His Category Have a 50% Likelihood, but Which Half Is He in? Comments on Berlin, Galbreath, Geary, and McGlone

When scientiﬁc methods are applied to various questions, the body of knowl-edgegeneratedinevitablybecomesmoreelaborateandspecialized.Thisprocessofspecialization usually occurs hand in hand with rapid empirical progress. A goodexample is provided by the recent explosion in genetics. Not very long ago, myfreshman course in biology permitted me to follow the gist of the scientiﬁc work inmolecular genetics. Such is not the case now. Without very extensive preparation,I could not attempt to participate in this ﬁeld, even as a commentator.Berlin, Galbreath, Geary, and McGlone (this issue) have provided what isessentially a layperson’s commentary on the recent research in the ﬁeld of riskassessment. One assumes they did so because they believe most readers of SexualAbuse are nonspecialists (i.e., laypersons with respect to this ﬁeld). Unfortunately,the commentary by Berlin et al. suffers from mistakes due to the authors’ unfa-miliarity with the specialized ﬁeld that risk assessment research has become.While not so explosive as genetics, there have been recent advances in re-search on the assessment of risk among serious offenders and sexual aggressors.These recent advances were facilitated by statistical technologies that have pro-vided the means to characterize the accuracy of assessment, select and combinepredictor items, and deal with differential opportunity to reoffend. At the sametime, progress in research on risk assessment has been facilitated by statisticaltechniques to permit the combination of results from different studies to arrive atconclusive statements about the existence and size of hypothesized relationships.As well, research has attempted to ascertain the best way to measure outcomesfor sex offender recidivism. Among researchers, some consensus has emerged on
The Influence of Familiarization on Non-Verbal Feedback Behavior

Familiarity has proven to play a role in conversational behavior between humans. Therefore, to model realistic conversational agents, we need to understand how the aspects of familiarity and familiarization affect conversations. This study will test some hypotheses about how familiarity affects a conversation, specifically the feedback and backchanneling behavior in a conversation, on a corpus containing recordings of conversations in which a speaker is receiving feedback from different listeners with varying familiarity. Additionally, some open-ended analysis of this corpus to search for new findings will be done. It is concluded that although not enough significance is reached in respect with smiling time and familiarization, there still could be a link since the data is showing it clearly. Another finding is that the generation of non-verbal backchannels overlapping with the speaker’s speech is independent of familiarization. Finally a strong link between a decrease in head gestures with higher familiarity is found.
Predictors of transfusion of packed red blood cells in coronary artery bypass grafting surgery.

OBJECTIVES Finding predictors of blood transfusion may facilitate the most efficient approach for the use of blood bank services in coronary artery bypass grafting procedures. The aim of this retrospective study is to identify preoperative and intraoperative patient characteristics predicting the need for blood transfusion during or after CABG in our local cardiac surgical service. METHODS 435 patients undergoing isolated first-time CABG were reviewed for their preoperative and intraoperative variables and analyzed postoperative data. Patients were 255 males and 180 females, with mean age 62.01 ± 10.13 years. Regression logistic analysis was used for identifying the strongest perioperative predictors of blood transfusion. RESULTS Blood transfusion was used in 263 patients (60.5%). The mean number of transfused blood products units per patient was 2.27 ± 3.07 (0-23) units. The total number of transfused units of blood products was 983. Univariate analysis identified age >65 years, weight <70 Kg, body mass index <25 Kg/m2, hemoglobin <13mg/dL, hematocrit < 40% and ejection fraction <50%, use of cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB), not using an internal thoracic artery as a bypass, and multiple bypasses as significant predictors. The strongest predictors using multivariate analysis were hematocrit < 40% (OR 2.58; CI 1.62-4.15; P<0.001), CPB use (OR 2.00; CI 1.27-3.17; P=0.003) and multiple bypasses (OR 2.31; CI 1.31-4.08; P=0.036). CONCLUSIONS The identification of these risk factors leads to better identification of patients with a greater probability of using blood, allocation blood bank resources and cost-effectiveness use of blood products.