Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Osteoprotegerin-Mediated Homeostasis of Rank+ Thymic Epithelial Cells Does Not Limit Foxp3+ Regulatory T Cell Development

In the thymus, medullary thymic epithelial cells (mTEC) regulate T cell tolerance via negative selection and Foxp3+ regulatory T cell (Treg) development, and alterations in the mTEC compartment can lead to tolerance breakdown and autoimmunity. Both the receptor activator for NF-κB (RANK)/RANK ligand (RANKL)/osteoprotegerin (OPG) axis and expression of the transcriptional regulator Aire are involved in the regulation of thymus medullary microenvironments. However, their impact on the mechanisms controlling mTEC homeostasis is poorly understood, as are the processes that enable the thymus medulla to support the balanced production of mTEC-dependent Foxp3+ Treg. In this study, we have investigated the control of mTEC homeostasis and examined how this process impacts the efficacy of Foxp3+ Treg development. Using newly generated RANK Venus reporter mice, we identify distinct RANK+ subsets that reside within both the mTEChi and mTEClo compartments and that represent direct targets of OPG-mediated control. Moreover, by mapping OPG expression to a subset of Aire+ mTEC, our data show how cis- and trans-acting mechanisms are able to control the thymus medulla by operating on multiple mTEC targets. Finally, we show that whereas the increase in mTEC availability in OPG-deficient (Tnfrsf11b−/−) mice impacts the intrathymic Foxp3+ Treg pool by enhancing peripheral Treg recirculation back to the thymus, it does not alter the number of de novo Rag2pGFP+Foxp3+ Treg that are generated. Collectively, our study defines patterns of RANK expression within the thymus medulla, and it shows that mTEC homeostasis is not a rate-limiting step in intrathymic Foxp3+ Treg production.
Dynamic Travel Path Optimization System Using Ant Colony Optimization

This paper demonstrates that ant colony optimization can efficiently improve the traffic situation in an urban environment. A Dynamic Travel Path Optimization System (DTPOS) based on Ant Colony Optimization (ACO) is proposed for the prediction of the best path to a given destination. In DTPOS, traffic factors such as average travel speed, average waiting time of cars and number of stopped cars in queue are taken into consideration. The proposed method is modeled in Net Logo. The simulation results demonstrate that the DTPOS model can greatly reduce the average travel time of cars in urban cases and improves the mean travel time by 47 percent when compared to similar models where the cars select their path without ACO. It has also been shown that the results can be further improved by 56 percent when the Previous Path Replacement (PPR) method is applied to the DTPOS results.
School transitions as a turning point for gang status

Abstract The study of gangs corresponds well with life course perspectives of crime as the onset, persistence, and desistance from crime parallel the stages of gang membership. This literature commonly draws on turning points to explain the onset and desistance from criminal behavior, which are often synonymous with life transitions such as marriage, military duty, employment –even gang membership itself. In this study we draw on life course perspectives to examine the impact of a specific life transition that is common during adolescence, school transitions, on a youth’s gang status as well as variables associated with a turning point in the life course. Specifically, we focus on two competing relationships that school mobility can serve as the impetus for joining a gang, or alternatively, act as a ‘hook for change’ and facilitate gang leaving. We use a mixed-methods approach by first drawing on qualitative data that examined desisted gang members and their interpretation of their school transition experiences. Second, consistent with a grounded theory approach, we examined these relationships quantitatively using a panel study of youth followed over a five-year period.
ICIGA: Improved Cryptography Inspired by Genetic Algorithms

This work is a contribution to cryptography. We have developed a symmetrical blocks ciphering system, that is an improvement of our cryptosystem inspired from genetic algorithm published in AMSE periodical. His complexity is o(n) because all operations used are simple and they are applied randomly in ciphering. Furthermore, in our system the user can choose the size blocks and the length key
Calcium plus vitamin D supplementation and the risk of incident diabetes mellitus in the Women ’ s Health Initiative

Objective: Experimental and epidemiologic studies suggest that calcium and vitamin D may reduce the risk of developing diabetes mellitus. We examined the effect of calcium plus vitamin D supplementation on the incidence of drug-treated diabetes in postmenopausal women. Research Design And Methods: The Women’s Health Initiative calcium/vitamin D trial randomly assigned postmenopausal women to receive 1000 mg of elemental calcium plus 400 IU of vitamin D3 daily, or placebo, in a double-blind fashion. Among 33,951 participants without self-reported diabetes at baseline, we ascertained by treatment assignment new diagnoses of diabetes treated with oral hypoglycemic agents or insulin. Effects of the intervention on fasting measurements of glucose, insulin, and insulin resistance were examined among a subset of participants. Results: Over a median follow-up time of 7 years, 2,291 women were newly diagnosed with diabetes. The hazard ratio for incident diabetes associated with calcium/vitamin D treatment was 1.01 (95% confidence interval 0.94, 1.10) based on intention to treat. This null result was robust in subgroup analyses, efficacy analyses accounting for nonadherence, and analyses examining change in laboratory measurements. Conclusions: Calcium plus vitamin D3 supplementation did not reduce the risk of developing diabetes over seven years of follow-up in this randomized, placebo-controlled trial. Higher doses of vitamin D may be required to affect diabetes risk, and/or associations of calcium and vitamin D intake with improved glucose metabolism observed in nonrandomized studies may be the result of confounding or of other components of foods containing these nutrients.
Challenges to Information Systems Implementation and Organisational Change Management: Insights from the Health Sector in Ecuador

Major challenges remain in Latin American countries experiencing Healthcare Reform. Among these challenges, the implementation of decentralised organisation and management seems to be a central problem. Besides top‐down, prescribed initiatives for reorganisation such as decentralised organisational structures, the organisational challenge of implementing information systems and strengthening the management capacity of district health providers and district health authorities remains neglected, or at least undervalued. The objective of this paper is to illustrate a substantive process theory of IS implementation, situated within the context of a case study. The case study is based on a national information systems initiative to support the decentralisation and modernisation of management functions in health districts of the Ministry of Public Health in Ecuador
Mass-loss rates for hot luminous stars: the influence of line branching

The effect of photon frequency redistribution by line branching on mass-loss rates for hot luminous stars is investigated. Monte Carlo simulations are carried out for a range of OB star models which show that previous mass-loss calculations which neglect non-resonance line scattering overestimate mass-loss rates for luminous O stars by ∼20 per cent. For luminous B stars the effect is somewhat larger, typically ∼50 per cent. A Wolf-Rayet star model is used to investigate line branching in the strong wind limit. In this case the effect of line branching is much greater, giving mass-loss rates that are smaller by a factor ∼3 from computations which neglect branching.
Some Guidelines for the Conception of Domain-Specific Modelling Languages

While the potential prospects of domain-specific modelling languages (DSML) are undisputed, the design of a DSML faces specific challenges that have raised only little attention so far. They relate to the boundaries between a DSML and corresponding models as well as to the question how specific a DSML should be. Addressing these challenges does not only contribute to the development of meta modelling methods, it also relates to judging the economics of a DSML. This paper suggests guidelines to support typical decisions that occur with the design of a DSML. They mainly concern the level of abstraction a potential language concept should be defined on. The guidelines are not intended to serve as recipes for design, but rather to improve the transparency of design decisions.
Characterization of Nestin, a Selective Marker for Bone Marrow Derived Mesenchymal Stem Cells

Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are multipotent cells capable of differentiating into multiple cell lineages and contributing to tissue repair and regeneration. Characterization of the physiological function of MSCs has been largely hampered by lack of unique markers. Nestin, originally found in neuroepithelial stem cells, is an intermediate filament protein expressed in the early stages of development. Increasing studies have shown a particular association between Nestin and MSCs. Nestin could characterize a subset of bone marrow perivascular MSCs which contributed to bone development and closely contacted with hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs). Nestin expressing (Nes+) MSCs also play a role in the progression of various diseases. However, Nes+ cells were reported to participate in angiogenesis as MSCs or endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) in several tissues and be a heterogeneous population comprising mesenchymal cells and endothelial cells in the developing bone marrow. In this review article, we will summarize the progress of the research on Nestin, particularly the function of Nes+ cells in bone marrow, and discuss the feasibility of using Nestin as a specific marker for MSCs.
Efficient analysis of variability impact on interconnect lines and resistor networks

Continued technology scaling coupled with limited lithographic capabilities is a leading cause of increased design variability. In the nanometer regime lithography tools have failed to keep pace with Moore's Law and printed feature sizes are a small fraction of the wavelength of light used in current processes. Such sub-wavelength printing makes features highly susceptible to perturbations in the lithographic process conditions which leads to printed designs exhibiting increased variability. Such variability directly affects design behavior and performance in multiple ways. One of the areas of concern is power grid (PG) design, where lithographic errors may locally modify the wire widths. These variations, that may affect any and all wires in the grid, have a critical impact on the power distribution across the chip, introducing considerable current fluctuations which are a potential cause for electromigration effects. To analyze and account for the impact of these errors requires a complete extraction of the PG, which generates a large resistive network, potentially with several million elements, whose simulation is computationally challenging. This paper proposes a fast and accurate variability analysis of very large resistor networks, such as PG extracted netlists, that allows estimating the effects of multiple parameter settings in reasonable time. The proposed model can be easily combined with Litho/CMP simulators in order to boost much needed design-aware lithography.
The Interplay of Web Aggregation and Regulation

The development of web technology has led to the emergence of web aggregation, a service that collects existing web data and turns them into more useful information. We review the development of both comparison and relationship aggregation and discuss their impacts on various stakeholders. The aggregator’s capability of transparently extracting web data has raised challenging issues in database and privacy protection. Consequently, new regulations are introduced or being proposed. We analyze the interactions between aggregation and related policies and provide our insights about the implications of new policies on the development of web aggregation.
Social inclusion and active citizenship under the prism of neoliberalism: A critical analysis of the European Union’s discourse of lifelong learning

Abstract The aim of this article is to investigate the impact neoliberalism has in shaping the discourse of the European Union’s policy of Lifelong Learning. The literature review initially presents the theoretical framework of neoliberalism as the dominant ideological and economic paradigm of our time. Thereafter, it takes a view on how neoliberalism perceives the four objectives of the European Union’s Lifelong Learning policy, namely employability/adaptability, personal fulfillment, social inclusion, and active citizenship. Through the analysis of European Commission’s policy documents on Lifelong Learning, this article explores whether these objectives, with focus on social inclusion and active citizenship, can be realized within the ideological, political, and economic framework set by the neoliberal paradigm. The data underwent Qualitative Analysis using the methods of Critical Discourse Analysis and Qualitative Content Analysis as well as Quantitative Analysis of textual data. The results indicate that only employability and adaptability seem to be compatible with the neoliberal rhetoric since the flexible and adaptable employee better serves the needs of the markets. The role neoliberalism holds for the individual is that of the consumer, product user, and voter. Therefore, the non-economic objectives of Lifelong Learning cannot be equally developed as they constitute the complete antithesis of neoliberalism’s basic principles.
Web Based Collaboration-Aware Synthetic Environments

This short paper describes the Shastra collaborative Web substrate and presents four synthetic environments that are under development, and take advantage of this substrate. The Shastra substrate provides an environment which streamlines the creation, experimentation and testing of Web based collaborative applications. The applications provide useful interactions in collaborative geometric design prototyping, battle eld training, networked learning, and multi-user business simulations.
Relational Spirituality and Grief: A Qualitative Analysis of Bereaved Parents

Relational spirituality has been proposed as a theoretical model of spirituality. Until now, relational spirituality has not been considered in contemporary grief research. Through deductive qualitative content analysis, this research explores the primary research question, How does individuals’ relational spirituality impact their grief response? Relational spirituality, described in light of current research, and the paradigm of attachment to God are employed to explicate specific relational qualities. Grief is understood in light of Bonanno’s work, which is altering the norms of grief constructs by asserting there are three common responses to loss: chronic grief, recovery, and resilience. Deductive analysis demonstrates secure attachments to God and grief responses characterized by recovery and resilience are related. This analysis also draws attention to how individuals make meaning in light of their relational spirituality.
Automated Generation of Adaptive Test Plans for Self-Adaptive Systems

Self-adaptive systems (SAS) can reconfigure at run-time to mitigate uncertainties posed by environments for which they may not have been explicitly designed. High-assurance SAS applications must continually deliver acceptable behavior for critical services, enabling the need for run-time validation techniques. To this end, run-time testing can provide additional assurance that an SAS will continue to behave as expected while executing under unknown conditions. This paper introduces Proteus, a framework for adaptive run-time testing on an SAS. Proteus facilitates both execution and adaptation of run-time testing activities to ensure that the SAS continues to execute according to its requirements and that both test plans and test cases continually remain relevant to changing operating conditions. We demonstrate our approach by applying it to a simulated self-adaptive remote data mirroring network that must efficiently diffuse data while experiencing adverse operating conditions. Experimental results suggest that Proteus can reduce the number of executed irrelevant, false positive, and false negative test cases at run time to ensure that online testing activities remain relevant as the SAS encounters uncertainty.
Rest-Frame Ultraviolet to Near-Infrared Observations of an Interacting Lyman Break Galaxy at z = 4.42

We present the rest-frame ultraviolet through near-infrared spectral energy distribution for an interacting Lyman break galaxy at a redshift z = 4.42, the highest redshift merging system known with clearly resolved tidal features. The two objects in this system, HDF-G4 and its previously unidentified companion, are both B435-band dropouts, have similar V606 − i775 and i775 − z850 colors, and are separated by 1″, which at z = 4.42 corresponds to 7 kpc projected nuclear separation; these are all indicators of an interacting system. Fits to stellar population models indicate a stellar mass of M⋆ = 2.6 × 1010 M☉, an age of τ⋆ = 720 Myr, and an exponential star formation history, with an e-folding time τ0 = 440 Myr. Using these derived stellar populations as constraints, we model the HDF-G4 system using hydrodynamical simulations, and find that it will likely evolve into a quasar by z ∼ 3.5, and a quiescent, compact spheroid by z ∼ 2.5, similar to those observed at z≳ 2. The existence of such an object supports galaxy formation models in which major mergers drive the high-redshift buildup of spheroids and black holes.
Standardization of a Call-By-Value Lambda-Calculus

We study an extension of Plotkin's call-by-value lambda-calculus by means of two commutation rules (sigma-reductions). Recently, it has been proved that this extended calculus provides elegant characterizations of many semantic properties, as for example solvability. We prove a standardization theorem for this calculus by generalizing Takahashi's approach of parallel reductions. The standardization property allows us to prove that our calculus is conservative with respect to the Plotkin's one. In particular, we show that the notion of solvability for this calculus coincides with that for Plotkin's call-by-value lambda-calculus.
Suppression of the n − n̄ Oscillation in Nuclei

The problem of nuclear decays occurring due to the neutron-antineutron oscillation is analyzed in the optical potential model and within the field-theoretic S-matrix approach. The result of the optical potential model for the nuclear decay width is rederived within the field-theoretic S-matrix approach. The n-¯ n oscillation in nuclei is suppressed drastically. We discuss an example for the spin precession of an atom, in which analogous suppression takes place due to transparent physical reasons.
An algorithm of monocular vision for spatial position based on the mirror image

In this paper a new algorithm of monocular vision for spatial position is presented. The feature points of the object and its symmetrical image in the mirror are occurred in the same picture by the principle of prospective geometry. So the accurate position of feature points in the three-dimension space can be calculated. This algorithm solves the problem that location of depth of field is difficult in the space of monocular vision. It can not only obtain the high precision of position, but also avoid the difficult problem of matching from the way of binocular vision. The algorithm is feasible and has less calculation on the computer by the experimental verification.
Burocracias Profissionais Ampliam Capacidade Estatal para Implementar Políticas? Governos, Burocratas e Legislação em Municípios Brasileiros

Do Professional Bureaucracies Expand the State Capacity for Implementing Policies? Governments, Bureaucrats, and Legislation in Brazilian Municipalities This article develops an analysis of data on the professional status and educational background of public servants working in the core administration of 5.5 thousand Brazilian municipalities. Taking “public servants with higher education” as a proxy for identifying professional bureaucrats, we sought to determine the scale of participation in the municipal public service and the extent to which a greater proportion of servants recruited by means of an entrance exam, involving job stability and further education, may be associated with a greater chance of implementing an agenda of urban policies. The results indicate that even when controlled by demographic or electoral variables, the presence of professional bureaucracy served as a reliable link to an increased chance of introducing regulatory legislation on the urban space in Brazilian municipalities. Immune to electoral and governmental cycles, professional bureaucrats may utilize various technical and informative resources as well as political and organizational incentives for offsetting the decisions based on heavy political pressure generated by this kind of legislation.
Assessing the Costs and Benefits of Brokers in the Mutual Fund Industry

Many investors purchase mutual funds through intermediated channels, paying brokers or financial advisors for fund selection and advice. This article attempts to quantify the benefits that investors enjoy in exchange for the costs of these services. We study broker-sold and direct-sold funds from 1996 to 2004, and fail to find that brokers deliver substantial tangible benefits. Relative to direct-sold funds, broker-sold funds deliver lower risk-adjusted returns, even before subtracting distribution costs. These results hold across fund objectives, with the exception of foreign equity funds. Further, broker-sold funds exhibit no more skill at aggregate-level asset allocation than do funds sold through the direct channel. Our results are consistent with two hypotheses: that brokers deliver substantial intangible benefits that we do not observe and that there are material conflicts of interest between brokers and their clients.
SIS : A System for Sequential Circuit Synthesis

SIS is an interactive tool for synthesis and optimization of sequential circuits. Given a state transition table, a signal transition graph, or a logic-level description of a sequential circuit, it produces an optimized net-list in the target technology while preserving the sequential input-output behavior. Many different programs and algorithms have been integrated into SIS, allowing the user to choose among a variety of techniques at each stage of the process. It is built on top of MISII [5] and includes all (combinational) optimization techniques therein as well as many enhancements. SIS serves as both a framework within which various algorithms can be tested and compared, and as a tool for automatic synthesis and optimization of sequential circuits. This paper provides an overview of SIS. The first part contains descriptions of the input specification, STG (state transition graph) manipulation, new logic optimization and verification algorithms, ASTG (asynchronous signal transition graph) manipulation, and synthesis for PGA’s (programmable gate arrays). The second part contains a tutorial example illustrating the design process using SIS.