Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Does the "Blindness" of Peer Review Influence Manuscript Selection Efficiency?

Although we find Blank's results compelling, it is difficult to draw solid conclusions from them. Perhaps this is what Ashenfelter meant when he referred to the "ambiguous" findings regarding the nature of any biases. The issue of scientific concern vis-a-vis type of review process employed by journal editors is the severity of type-I and type-II errors. Do editors employing a single-blind review process systematically publish more papers that have little or no impact on the profession and/or fail to publish more truly good papers than do editors of double-blind journals? Blank's findings do not provide certain relevant information with respect to the type-I/typeII error problem that arguably plagues single-blind reviewing but not double-blind reviewing.
Retirement Expectations of Older Self-Employed Workers in Korea: Comparison with Wage and Salary Workers

This paper explores how retirement expectations differ between the self-employed (SE) and wage and salary earners (WS) and why they differ. The results generally confirm the widely held belief that the SE expect to remain in the labor market longer than the WS. Differences in retirement incomes, health, productivity, job characteristics, and the presence of compulsory retirement in the workplaces of WS do not explain the observed disparity in the retirement expectations by employment status. This study suggests that the difference between the SE and WS in the quality of matching between the job and the worker is an important factor explaining the later retirement of the SE compared to the WS. Some implications of this study are discussed with regard to the causes of differences in labor force participation at an older age across times and countries, and the direction of labor-market reform in boosting the employment of the elderly population.
Effects of mild traumatic brain injury cannot be differentiated from substance abuse

Primary objective: Patients involved in litigation relating to mild traumatic brain injury (MTBI) typically undergo a forensic neuropsychological evaluation. However, if cognitive problems are identified, it is difficult to know whether these are related to the MTBI or other factors such as pre- and/or post-injury substance abuse. The purpose of this study was to compare the neuropsychological test performances of 73 patients with acute, uncomplicated MTBIs to a sample of 73 patients from an inpatient substance abuse programme. Methods and procedures: Patients were perfectly matched on age, education and gender. Ten cognitive measures were used that included the Trail Making Test (TMT) and selected sub-tests from the Wechsler Memory Scale-Revised. Main outcomes and results: Patients with MTBI demonstrated poorer performances on Digits Backwards (p < 0.028) and TMTA (p < 0.032). There were no significant differences between the two groups on the remaining cognitive measures. The clinical usefulness of these measures to differentiate between the groups, using discriminant function analysis, was very poor. Conclusions: Patients with uncomplicated MTBIs could not be reliably differentiated from patients with substance abuse problems on these measures of concentration, memory and processing speed.
Gynomimicry in the Dwarf Gwembe breed from Zambia

Sexual size dimorphism is a widespread phenomenon in different animal taxa, including the subfamily of goats and sheep. The purpose of this research was to study the sexual dimorphism of males and females of Gwembe Dwarf Goat based solely on cephalic indexes. Eleven indices were calculated for 30 dry skulls of adult Gwembe Dwarf Goat specimens aged 18 months and older. Sexes appeared no significatively different. This form of heterosexual mimicry must be viewed as simply as strongly human-selected for. The importance of controlled competition is capable of countering antagonist to peer competition, so no sexual competition appears. When the artificial nature of sexual competition is taken into account, Darwin's theory of sexual selection becomes not applicable to domestic goats -or at least to the Dwarf Gwembe breed-, which fail to develop the expected degree of sexual dimorphism. The breed can then described as a monomorphic and, more concretely, gynomimic - imitation of female secondary sexual characters by males-.
Ray-tracing in a Virtual Drive for mobile communications

The availability of mobile communications from and to vehicles is becoming a major criterion for the market success of future cars. Presently the required antenna installations are tested by road driving, a time and money consuming adventure. This paper proposes a Virtual Drive, by which not only the test but also an optimization of the car-integrated antenna systems can be performed. This is achieved by electromagnetically modeling the complete scene, i.e. driving the electromagnetically modeled antennas on the car through a coverage predicted by Ray-tracing. The obtained results are the complex output voltages at the different antennas, which allow for evaluating the antenna system suitability for communications applications with Diversity and MIMO techniques.
Ophiuroidea (Echinodermata) from coral reefs in the Mexican Pacific

Abstract There are numerous and important coral reefs in the Mexican Pacific, but scarce studies of brittle stars conducted in these ecosystems. In this regard, this work provides the first annotated checklist of brittle stars associated with coral communities and reefs in the Mexican Pacific and an illustrated key to identify the species. We also provide taxonomic descriptions, spatial and bathymetric distributions and some important remarks of the species. We report a total of 14 species of brittle stars belonging to nine genera and seven families. Ophiocnida hispida in Jalisco, Ophiophragmus papillatus in Guerrero, and Ophiothrix (Ophiothrix) spiculata and Ophiactis simplex in Colima are new distribution records. The record of O. papillatus is remarkable because the species has not been reported since its description in 1940. The brittle stars collected in this study, represent 22.2% of the total species previously reported from the Mexican Pacific. Presently, anthropogenic activities on the coral reefs of the Mexican Pacific have increased, thus the biodiversity of brittle stars in these ecosystems may be threatened.
“Pathogen-Mimicking” Nanoparticles for Vaccine Delivery to Dendritic Cells

A clinically relevant delivery system that can efficiently target and deliver antigens and adjuvant to dendritic cells (DCs) is under active investigation. Immunization with antigens and immunomodulators encapsulated in poly(D,L-lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA) nanoparticles elicits potent cellular immune responses; but understanding how this mode of delivery affects DCs and priming of naive T cells needs further investigation. In the current study, we assessed the extent of maturation of DCs after treatment with monophosphoryl lipid A (MPLA) encapsulated in PLGA nanoparticles and the generation of primary T-cell immune responses elicited by DCs loaded with antigens using this approach. Results indicated that DCs up-regulated the expression of surface maturation markers and demonstrated an enhanced allostimulatory capacity after treatment with MPLA containing PLGA nanoparticles. Treatment of DCs with MPLA containing nanoparticles released high amounts of proinflammatory and TH1 (T helper 1) polarizing cytokines and chemokines greater than that achieved by MPLA in solution. The delivery of ovalbumin in PLGA nanoparticles to DCs induced potent in vitro and in vivo antigen-specific primary TH1 immune responses that were furthermore enhanced with codelivery of MPLA along with the antigen in the nanoparticle formulation. Delivery of MUC1 lipopeptide (BLP25, a cancer vaccine candidate) and MPLA in PLGA nanoparticles to human DCs induced proliferation of MUC1 reactive T cells in vitro demonstrating the break in tolerance to self-antigen MUC1. These results demonstrated that targeting antigens along with toll-like receptor ligands in PLGA nanoparticles to DCs is a promising approach for generating potent TH1 polarizing immune responses that can potentially override self-tolerance mechanisms and become beneficial in the immunotherapy of cancer and infectious diseases.
Postoperative cognitive dysfunction.

BACKGROUND Older patients in particular are vulnerable to memory disturbances and other types of cognitive impairment after surgical operations. In one study, roughly 12% of patients over age 60 had postoperative cognitive dysfunction (POCD) three months after surgery. This is an important issue in perioperative care as extensive surgery on older patients becomes more common. METHOD Selective review of the literature. RESULTS POCD is usually transient. It is diagnosed by comparing pre- and postoperative findings on psychometric tests. Its pathogenesis is multifactorial, with the immune response to surgery probably acting as a trigger. Factors that elevate the risk of POCD include old age, pre-existing cerebral, cardiac, and vascular disease, alcohol abuse, low educational level, and intra- and postoperative complications. The findings of multiple randomized controlled trials indicate that the method of anesthesia does not play a causal role for prolonged cognitive impairment. POCD is associated with poorer recovery and increased utilization of social financial assistance. It is also associated with higher mortality (hazard ratio 1.63, 95% confidence interval 1.11-2.38). Persistent POCD enters into the differential diagnosis of dementia. CONCLUSION POCD can markedly impair postoperative recovery. The findings of pertinent studies performed to date are difficult to generalize because of heterogeneous patient groups and different measuring techniques and study designs. Further investigation is needed to determine which test instruments are best for clinical use and which preventive strategies might lessen the incidence of POCD.
Impact of sleep inertia on visual selective attention for rare targets and the influence of chronotype

Sleep inertia is affected by circadian phase, with worse performance upon awakening from sleep during the biological night than biological day. Visual search/selective visual attention performance is known to be sensitive to sleep inertia and circadian phase. Individual differences exist in the circadian timing of habitual wake time, which may contribute to individual differences in sleep inertia. Because later chronotypes awaken at an earlier circadian phase, we hypothesized that later chronotypes would have worse visual search performance during sleep inertia than earlier chronotypes if awakened at habitual wake time. We analysed performance from 18 healthy participants [five females (22.1 ± 3.7 years; mean ± SD)] at ~1, 10, 20, 30, 40 and 60 min following electroencephalogram‐verified awakening from an 8 h in‐laboratory sleep opportunity. Cognitive throughput and reaction times of correct responses were impaired by sleep inertia and took ~10–30 min to improve after awakening. Regardless whether chronotype was defined by dim light melatonin onset or mid‐sleep clock hour on free days, derived from the Munich ChronoType Questionnaire, the duration of sleep inertia for cognitive throughput and reaction times was longer for later chronotypes (n = 7) compared with earlier chronotypes (n = 7). Specifically, performance for earlier chronotypes showed significant improvement within ~10–20 min after awakening, whereas performance for later chronotypes took ~30 min or longer to show significant improvement (P < 0.05). Findings have implications for decision making immediately upon awakening from sleep, and are consistent with circadian theory suggesting that sleep inertia contributes to longer‐lasting impairments in morning performance in later chronotypes.
Sphingobium qiguonii sp. nov., a carbaryl-degrading bacterium isolated from a wastewater treatment system.

A Gram-staining-negative, catalase-positive, carbaryl-degrading, non-spore-forming, non-motile, rod-shaped bacterium, designated strain X23(T), was isolated from a wastewater treatment system. Phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequence indicated that the strain belongs to the genus Sphingobium. The highest 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity observed for the isolate was 96.6 % with the type strain of Sphingobium amiense. Chemotaxonomic data [major ubiquinone: Q-10; major polar lipids: diphosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylcholine, phosphatidylglycerol, sphingoglycolipid, phosphatidylethanolamine and unknown aminolipids and phospholipids; major fatty acids: summed feature 7 (C(18 : 1)ω7c, C(18 : 1)ω9t and/or C(18 : 1)ω12t), C(16 : 1)ω5c, C(14 : 0) 2-OH and C(16 : 0) 2-OH] as well as the inability to reduce nitrate and the presence of spermidine as the major polyamine supported the affiliation of the strain to the genus Sphingobium. Based on the phylogenetic analysis, whole-cell fatty acid composition and biochemical characteristics, the strain could be separated from all recognized species of the genus Sphingobium. Strain X23(T) should be classified as a novel species of the genus Sphingobium, for which the name Sphingobium qiguonii sp. nov. is proposed, with strain X23(T) (=CCTCC AB 208221(T) =DSM 21541(T)) as the type strain.
N-Acetylcysteine Derivative Inhibits CD40-Dependent Proinflammatory Properties of Human Pancreatic Duct Cells

Objectives: We recently observed that duct cells constitutively express CD40, a membrane molecule whose engagement results in duct cell activation and proinflammatory cytokine secretion. This observation suggests a potential role of this pathway in the pathogenesis of type 1 diabetes, islet graft rejection, or acute pancreatitis. In this article, we investigated whether a salt derivative of N-acetyl-l-cysteine, Nacystelyn, could modulate CD40 expression on duct cells and the response of activated duct cells to CD40 engagement. Methods: We assessed the effects of Nacystelyn on CD40 expression and function in human caucasian pancreatic adenocarcinoma, ATCC n° THB-80 (CAPAN-2) cells, a human pancreatic duct cell line. CD40 expression was analyzed by flow cytometry. To assess CAPAN-2 cell responses to CD40 engagement, we looked at nuclear factor-&kgr;B transcription factor activation using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and electrophoretic mobility shift assay and cytokine mRNA levels by quantitative real-time reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction. Results: We observed that Nacystelyn dose-dependently inhibited CD40 expression on CAPAN-2 cells as well as CD40-induced nuclear factor &kgr;B activation and proinflammatory cytokines up-regulation. Conclusions: Our data suggest that Nacystelyn could be considered as a useful tool to prevent immune and inflammatory responses in pancreatic disorders by interfering with the CD40 pathway in pancreatic duct cells.Abbreviations: NAL - Nacystelyn, NF-&kgr;B - nuclear factor &kgr;B, CD40L - CD40 ligand, EMSA - electrophoretic mobility shift assay, mAb - monoclonal antibody
Her-2/neu gene amplification in ductal carcinoma in situ of the breast.

This study evaluated the relative frequencies of HER-2/neu gene amplification in ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS)-associated invasive breast cancer and DCIS alone. We examined archival tissue samples of 100 DCIS lesions with an invasive component (cases) and 100 without an invasive component (controls), with cases and controls matched by pathologic nuclear grade. HER-2/neu gene amplification was determined by fluorescence in situ hybridization. We compared HER-2/neu gene amplification in DCIS lesions only, irrespective of the presence or absence of an invasive component. HER-2/neu gene amplification occurred significantly less frequently in the cases (26%) than in the controls (40%), with an odds ratio of 0.35 (95% confidence interval, 0.17-0.72; P < 0.004) after adjustment for pathologic and quantitative-image-analyzed morphometric nuclear grade. The HER-2/neu gene also was amplified more frequently in higher- than in lower-grade DCIS alone (56% versus 19%, respectively; P < 0.0001) or in higher- than in lower-grade DCIS with invasive cancer (44% versus 2%, respectively; P < 0.00001). Future studies should examine the potential roles of HER-2/neu and other biomarkers (e.g., p21 and Rb) as markers of the risk of DCIS patients for invasive breast cancer and as molecular targets of chemoprevention in breast intraepithelial neoplasia.
ANTIGENIC SUBSTANCES IN SOUND AND CARIOUS DENTIN

One of the more intriguing problems in caries research considers the role of immunological mechanisms in the initiation and progression of the carious lesion. The finding of gamma globulin (Ellison et al., 1960; Mandel and Ellison, 1961; Kraus and Sirisinha, 1962; Leach et al., 1963) and antibodies in oral fluids against a number of indigenous oral micro-organisms (Kraus and Konno, 1963) suggests the hypothesis that saliva may play an important role in modifying the carious process. In addition, others have shown that serum fractions may reach the ground substance of connective tissue, skin (Humphrey et al., 1957) and gingiva (Zwemer et al., 1959). Similar fractions could conceivably reach dentin by way of pulpal and periodontal tissues and provide another barrier. In view of these observations it occurred to us that an immunologic approach might yield additional information on aspects of the pathogenesis of dental canes. It was the intent of this investigation first to determine the antigenicity of human sound and carious dentin and then to characterize wherein possible the nature of some of the antigenic substances found therein. In this paper, we are reporting our procedures and some preliminary observations on the wide variety of substances which appear to be present in sound and carious dentin.
This item is the archived peer-reviewed author-version of: Tracing the origins of the semantic web

The Semantic Web has been criticized for not being semantic. This article examines the question: why and how has the Web of Data, expressed in RDF, come to be known as the Semantic Web? Contrary to previous papers, we deliberately take a descriptive stance and do not start from preconceived ideas about the nature of semantics. Instead, we mainly base our analysis on early design documents of the (Semantic) Web. The main determining factor is shown to be link typing, coupled with the influence of online metadata. Both factors are already present in early Web standards and drafts. Our findings indicate that the Semantic Web is directly linked to older AI work, despite occasional claims to the contrary. Because of link typing, the Semantic Web can be considered an example of a semantic network. Originally network representations of the meaning of natural language utterances, semantic networks have eventually come to refer to any networks with typed (usually directed) links. We discuss possible causes for this shift and suggest that it may be due to confounding paradigmatic and syntagmatic semantic relations.
A novel SDN based stealthy TCP connection handover mechanism for hybrid honeypot systems

Honeypots have been largely used to capture and investigate malicious behavior through deliberately sacrificing their own resources in order to be attacked. Hybrid honeypot architectures consisting of frontends and backends are widely used in the research area, specially due to the benefits of their high scalability and fidelity for detailed attacking data collection. A hybrid honeypot system often needs a facility aimed to tightly control the network traffic, for purposes such as redirecting the traffic from the frontends to the backends for in-depth attack analysis. However, the current traffic redirection approaches, particularly the TCP connection handover mechanisms, are not stealthy and they can be easily detected by attackers. This paper proposes an SDN based network data controller for hybrid honeypot systems that uses a transparent TCP connection handover mechanism and provides a traffic filtering approach based on the Snort alert functionality. The controller is implemented as an application based on the open-source Ryu SDN framework. It allows the users to configure their own network data control rules, which based on the Snort alert messages will forward or redirect the traffic to the corresponding honeypots. The experiments validate the proposed mechanism and the testing results show that the controller can efficiently perform the stealthy TCP connection handover as well.
Efficiency of Measles Virus Entry and Dissemination through Different Receptors

ABSTRACT The efficiency with which different measles virus (MV) strains enter cells through the immune cell-specific protein SLAM (CD150) or other receptors, including the ubiquitous protein CD46, may influence their pathogenicity. We compared the cell entry efficiency of recombinant MV differing only in their attachment protein hemagglutinin (H). We constructed these viruses with an additional gene expressing an autofluorescent reporter protein to allow direct detection of every infected cell. A virus with a wild-type H protein entered cells through SLAM two to three times more efficiently than a virus with the H protein of the attenuated strain Edmonston, whereas cell entry efficiency through CD46 was lower. However, these subtle differences were amplified at the cell fusion stage because the wild-type H protein failed to fuse CD46-expressing cells. We also proved formally that a mutation in H protein residue 481 (asparagine to tyrosine) results in improved CD46-specific entry. To define the selective pressure exerted on that codon, we monitored its evolution in different H protein backgrounds and found that several passages in CD46-expressing Vero cells were necessary to shift it in the majority of the MV RNA. To verify the importance of these observations for human infections, we examined MV entry into peripheral blood mononuclear cells and observed that viruses with asparagine 481 H proteins infect these cells more efficiently.
Analysis of a one-dimensional eight-unit conformal phased array

The radiating characteristic of the cylindrical rectangular patch is analyzed at first; then, some discussion and calculation are done to the straight linear array and the Chebyshev array's beam-scanning, which are made up of the patches under the above-mentioned conditions. And the two groups of results are compared and analyzed finally.