Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Molecular and Functional Characterization of Hv1 Proton Channel in Human Granulocytes

Voltage-gated proton current (IHv) has been characterized in several cell types, but the majority of the data was collected in phagocytes, especially in human granulocytes. The prevailing view about the role of IHv in phagocytes is that it is an essential supporter of the intense and sustained activity of Nox2 (the core enzyme of the phagocyte NADPH oxidase complex) during respiratory burst. Recently Hv1, a voltage-gated proton channel, was cloned, and leukocytes from Hv1 knockout mice display impaired respiratory burst. On the other hand, hardly anything is known about Hv1 in human granulocytes. Using qPCR and a self made antibody, we detected a significant amount of Hv1 in human eosinophil and neutrophil granulocytes and in PLB-985 leukemia cells. Using different crosslinking agents and detergents in reducing and non-reducing PAGE, significant expression of Hv1 homodimers, but not that of higher-order multimers, could be detected in granulocytes. Results of subcellular fractionation and confocal imaging indicate that Hv1 is resident in both plasmalemmal and granular membrane compartments of resting neutrophils. Furthermore, it is also demonstrated that Hv1 accumulates in phagosome wall during zymosan engulfment together with, but independently of Nox2. During granulocytic differentiation early and parallel upregulation of Hv1 and Nox2 expression was observed in PLB-985 cells. The upregulation of Hv1 or Nox2 expression did not require the normal expression of the other molecule. Using RNA interference, we obtained strong correlation between Hv1 expression and IHv density in PLB-985 cells. It is also demonstrated that a massive reduction in Hv1 expression can limit the Nox2 mediated superoxide production of PLB-985 granulocytes. In summary, beside monomers native Hv1 forms stable proton channel dimer in resting and activated human granulocytes. The expression pattern of Hv1 in granulocytes is optimized to support intense NADPH oxidase activity.
A Defense of a Non-Computational, Interactive Model of Visual Observation

If a computational account of visual perception were correct, then perception would involve at least two sorts of rule-guided inference processes: inference from primitive input to complex perceptual output (constructional inference) and inference from perceptual content to the organism's environment (representational inference). Psychologist J.J. Gibson argues that such accounts are circular. Fodor and Pylyshyn argue that Gibson's alternative account, though intended to be non-inferential, actually requires the above two sorts of inference. But their arguments for the necessity of inference work only if (1) complex properties cannot be transduced, and (2) we assume a signal transmission model of perception. The force of their arguments is weakened once we see that (1) their criterion for non-transducibility is itself problematic, and (2) an interactive model of visual perception does not require signal transmission.
Fast fourier transform based ip traffic classification system for SIPTO at H(e)NB

3GPP has recently introduced LIPA(Local IP Access) and SIPTO(Selected IP Traffic Offload) to offload traffic from the core network, which brings new challenge to on-line traffic classification, because of the large amount of data and the difference of mobile network from wired network, such as high bit error rates(BER) and temporary disconnections. Therefore, other proposed schemes which aim at ether LIPA at H(e)NB or SIPTO at macro network could not get high accuracy and high speed at the same time, and traffic classification methodologies in wired IP network are not applicable. This paper proposes a fast fourier transform(FFT) based IP traffic classification system for SIPTO at H(e)NB, which focuses on classifying each packet at H(e)NB by extracting the application layer payload pattern using FFT. Pattern extraction and classification using machine learning algorithms are simulated, and results show that our system outperforms existing methods by offering about 3%-6% improvement in classification accuracy with about 7% time. Simulation of SIPTO shows good reduction of press to the core network and low false rates.
Performance analysis of a hierarchical shipboard Wireless Sensor Network

Wireless Sensor Networks (WSN) have recently gained a great attention in several applications such as environmental monitoring and target tracking. Applying this technology to shipboard monitoring systems may be a cost-effective solution to reduce the cost of wires installation and maintenance. However, wireless communications on board ships may be severely obstructed by the metallic structure of bulkheads. In this paper, we analyze the efficiency of a shipboard WSN by measurement and simulation. A measurement campaign is conducted to study the radio wave propagation and to verify the feasibility of a WSN on board a ship. Based on the measurement results, a hierarchical group-based topology for a large-scale shipboard WSN is proposed. A realistic simulation model of the ship, taking into account the environment particularities, is then performed using OPNET network simulator. Performance of the WSN architecture is evaluated using the ZigBee model. Measurement results show the feasibility of WSN technology on board ships, while simulation results show significant performance of proposed architecture in terms of end-to-end delay and packet delivery ratio.
What’s in a frame? A comparative content analysis of American, British, French, and Russian news articles

Drawing on the agenda-setting and framing literature, this quantitative content analysis examines how le Figaro, the Daily Telegraph, the New York Times, and the Moscow Times covered the Syrian war before and after the chemical weapon attack of 21 August 2013. Overall, the nationalization frame was most frequent, followed by the responsibility and conflict frames. Despite the large impact of the conflict, the morality, human interest, and economic impact frames were hardly present. Although all newspapers followed a similar pattern, the Daily Telegraph was the most heavily framed. Moreover, the stories barely provided any context while discussing several solutions largely in keeping with the suggestions of the governments. These findings raise questions about the neutrality of the newspapers and their impact on public opinion.
Early Graft Failure in Lateral Column Lengthening

One hundred thirty feet in 96 children (47 girls, 49 boys) treated with lateral column lengthening to correct planovalgus foot deformities were retrospectively reviewed. Sixty-nine feet had lengthening through the neck of the calcaneus (39 allografts, 30 autografts) and 61 feet had calcaneocuboid joint lengthening and arthrodesis (58 allografts, 3 autografts). Radiographic evaluation before surgery, after surgery, and at follow-up was used to determine loss of correction, graft lucencies or fragmentation, and apparent loss of graft length. Collapse (loss of correction with concomitant loss of graft length) was observed between 0.3 and 1.3 years after surgery. Seventeen (29.3%) of the 58 calcaneocuboid joint allografts demonstrated collapse. None of the 69 intracalcaneal grafts (39 allografts, 30 autografts) and none of the 3 calcaneocuboid autografts collapsed. This series suggests that lateral column lengthening through the neck of the calcaneus may provide a more durable correction than lengthening with calcaneocuboid joint fusion.
Engineering optimization with particle swarm

The paper presents a modified particle swarm optimization (PSO) algorithm for engineering optimization problems with constraints. PSO is started with a group of feasible solutions and a feasibility function is used to check if the newly explored solutions satisfy all the constraints. All the particles keep only those feasible solutions in their memory. Several engineering design optimization problems were tested and the results show that PSO is an efficient and general approach to solve most nonlinear optimization problems with inequity constraints.
An Outbreak of Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus Infections Related to Central Venous Catheters for Hemodialysis

Abstract Objectives: To determine risk factors for hemodialysis catheter-related bloodstream infections (HCRBSIs) and investigate whether use of maximal sterile barrier precautions would prevent HCRBSIs. Setting: Tertiary-care medical center hemodialysis unit. Design: Open trial with historical comparison and case-control study of risk factors for HCRBSIs. Methods: Prospective surveillance was used to compare HCRBSI rates for 1 year before and after implementation of maximal sterile barrier precautions. A case–control study compared 50 case-patients with HCRBSI with 51 randomly selected control-patients. Results: The HCRBSI rate was 1.6% per 100 dialysis runs (CI95, 1.1%–2.3%) in the first year and 0.77% (CI95, 0.5%–1.1%) in the second year (P = .0106). The most frequent cause of HCRBSI was MRSA in the first year (15 of 32) and MSSA in the second year (13 of 18). Ten MRSA blood isolates in the first year were identical by PFGE. Diabetes mellitus was a risk factor for HCRBSI. Age, gender, site of hemodialysis central venous catheter (CVC), other underlying diseases, coma score, APACHE II score, serum albumin level, and cholesterol level were not associated with HCRBSI and did not change between the 2 years. Hospital stay was prolonged for case-patients (32.78 ± 20.96 days) versus control-patients (22.75 ± 17.33 days), but mortality did not differ. Conclusions: Use of maximal sterile barrier precautions during the insertion of CVCs reduced HCRBSIs in dialysis patients and seemed cost-effective. Diabetes mellitus was associated with HCRBSI. An outbreak of MRSA in the first year was likely caused by cross-infection via medical personnel.
Teacher resistance to engage with ‘alternative’ perspectives of difficult histories: the limits and prospects of affective disruption

ABSTRACT This paper discusses teacher resistance to recognizing some perspectives of difficult histories. The paper focuses on the following question: How does affect contribute not only to the formation of teacher resistance, but also to its disruption in ways that enable the productive reclaiming of teachers’ engagement with traumatic histories? To address this question, the paper first revisits the notion of difficult knowledge, highlighting its affective dimensions and its relevance to teacher resistance. Then, it argues that the role of affect in resistance demands a different way of conceptualizing ‘teacher resistance’ to acknowledge how affect is entangled with both the micro- and macro-political dimensions of resistance. In the light of this reconceptualized notion of teacher resistance, the paper theorizes the notion of ‘affective disruption’ by using Judith Butler's social theory. Finally, the notion of ‘pedagogy of discomfort’ is revisited to demonstrate the new openings created by a reconceptualized notion of teacher resistance in the context of teacher professional learning.
Rule-based Approach to Pronominal Anaphora Resolution Applied on the Prague Dependency Treebank 2 . 0 Data

In this paper, we present a rule-based approach to resolution of anaphora links, as annotated in the Prague Dependency Treebank 2.0. The created system consists of handwritten rules developed and tested using the Treebank data, which contain more than 45,000 coreference links in almost 50,000 manually annotated Czech sentences. The F-measure of our system is 74.2%.
Creating , Filling , and Using a Repository of Reusable Learning Objects for Database Courses 1

When you take a look at courses on database management systems taught by different instructors at different types of universities for different target audiences, you will notice that there are quite a number of topics that are part of nearly every (or at least a large number of) courses. These topics include, to name but a few, database design methods, query languages, transaction management and so on. The production of highquality learning materials is a time consuming and expensive process. Nevertheless, it is done over and over again for these topics more or less anew for each new course. Reuse of material happens sometimes by its author, but even that is rather scarce. Why is it that material is not reused more often? One reason of course are copyright restrictions, however, more often than not, authors are more than willing to allow others to reuse their material. In our experience, gained within the Vikar project [14], the main obstacle to widespread reuse of learning material is the lack of modularization of the existing material. Courses are large, monolithic entities, which makes it hard to adjust them to differing needs. Learning material should be offered for reuse in small, well described building blocks that can be freely combined. Our SCORE (System for Courseware Reuse) system [11] is a platform that allows for the generation of such a repository of modularized learning materials and supports the usage of these materials to generate new courses. In this paper, we will show how the repository is created, how existing material can be fed into it, and how a new course can be build using the existing and new materials. As an example, we have chosen one of the topics that occur frequently in database courses, normalization. The remainder of the paper is structured as follows. In Section 2, we give a brief overview of the process, Section 3 explains how the repository is generated and filled, while Section 4 describes its usage. A brief overview of related work is given in Section 5. The paper ends with a conclusion in Section 6. Throughout most of the paper, we have used a two-column style, where the left column contains explaining text, while the right one shows figures taken from the example scenario.
A reduced gastric corpus microvascular blood flow during Ivor-Lewis esophagectomy detected by laser speckle contrast imaging technique

Abstract Background: Reduced microvascular blood flow is related to anastomotic insufficiency following esophagectomy, emphasizing a need for intraoperative monitoring of the microcirculation. This study evaluated if laser speckle contrast imaging (LSCI) was able to detect intraoperative changes in gastric microcirculation. Methods: Gastric microcirculation was assessed prior to and after reconstruction of gastric continuity in 25 consecutive patients operated for adenocarcinoma with open Ivor-Lewis esophagectomy while hemodynamic variables were recorded. Results: During upper laparotomy, microcirculation at the corpus decreased by 25% from baseline to mobilization of the stomach (p = .008) and decreased further (to a total decrease of 40%) following gastric pull to the thorax (p = .013). On the other hand, microcirculation at the antrum did not change significantly after gastric mobilization (p = .091). The decrease in corpus microcirculation took place unrelated to central cardiovascular variables. Conclusion: Using LSCI technique, we identified a reduced microcirculation at the corpus area during open Ivor-Lewis esophagectomy. LSCI provides an option for real-time assessment of gastric microcirculation and could form basis for intraoperative stabilization of the microcirculation.
Cardiac surgery-associated acute kidney injury

Cardiac surgery-associated acute kidney injury (CSA-AKI) is a well-recognized complication resulting with the higher morbid-mortality after cardiac surgery. In its most severe form, it increases the odds ratio of operative mortality 3–8-fold, length of stay in the Intensive Care Unit and hospital, and costs of care. Early diagnosis is critical for an optimal treatment of this complication. Just as the identification and correction of preoperative risk factors, the use of prophylactic measures during and after surgery to optimize renal function is essential to improve postoperative morbidity and mortality of these patients. Cardiopulmonary bypass produces an increased in tubular damage markers. Their measurement may be the most sensitive means of early detection of AKI because serum creatinine changes occur 48 h to 7 days after the original insult. Tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase-2 and insulin-like growth factor-binding protein 7 are most promising as an early diagnostic tool. However, the ideal noninvasive, specific, sensitive, reproducible biomarker for the detection of AKI within 24 h is still not found. This article provides a review of the different perspectives of the CSA-AKI, including pathogenesis, risk factors, diagnosis, biomarkers, classification, postoperative management, and treatment. We searched the electronic databases, MEDLINE, PubMed, EMBASE using search terms relevant including pathogenesis, risk factors, diagnosis, biomarkers, classification, postoperative management, and treatment, in order to provide an exhaustive review of the different perspectives of the CSA-AKI.
Parent Educators in Early Intervention: Insights From Evaluations

In 1 state's Part C early intervention (EI) program, families are afforded a unique opportunity to connect with parent educators (PEs), parents of children who have received EI services, and who are trained to support EI families and staff with a range of tailored duties. In an effort to continually reflect and improve upon the role of PEs, the authors conduct an annual PE program evaluation with input from 4 groups of stakeholders including EI coordinators, service coordinators, parents in EI, and the PEs themselves. Findings from 3 consecutive annual evaluations are presented in this article. Although there continues to be primarily positive feedback and appreciation for the PE model, the evaluation process allows certain areas in need of improvement to be acknowledged and subsequently addressed. Considerations for evaluating a statewide initiative as well as incorporating a PE model are discussed.
The Relationship between Semantic Similarity and Subcategorization Frames in English: A Stochastic Test Using ICE-GB and WordNet

In this paper, we test a working hypothesis that there is a significant relationship between semantic similarity and subcategorization frames in English. This paper is under the assumption that if a group of verbs form a cluster sharing a similar meaning, they tend to share subcategorization frames. In the process, we propose a statistical method to test this assumption, making use of two language resources, namely, ICE-GB and WordNet. We come to the conclusion that the proposed hypothesis holds true to the degrees of 42~73%, based on our stochastic analysis.
Delay fairness aware ARQ protocol for two-user cooperative networks

In this paper, the fairness issue of delay performance for the ARQ protocol in two-user cooperative system is investigated. Relay policy between users are constrained by their own delay performance. When the delay for two users vary greatly, the system will reduce to three-node cooperation networks. Short-delay user will always provide relay service to the long-delay user if necessary to quicken the transmission of that user. The calculation for optimal queue length thresholds to schedule relay service is also given and numerical results show that the proposed delay-aware ARQ can maintain delay fairness between two users significantly with only a small delay increase to the short-delay user.
Concentrated Disadvantage and Beliefs about the Causes of Poverty: A Multi-Level Analysis

Studies of beliefs about social stratification have generally focused on how individual-level factors shape people's explanations of poverty and inequality. In this article, the authors contribute to this literature by adding a community-level measure of “concentrated disadvantage” (poverty and associated conditions) to models predicting support for individualistic (person-centered) and structuralist (system-challenging) beliefs about the causes of poverty. Using data from two Los Angeles County surveys and the 1990 Census, multi-level linear and logistic regression models reveal that higher levels of concentrated disadvantage are associated with increased support for both individualist and structuralist explanations of poverty—a “dual consciousness” pattern the authors attribute to increased exposure to social conditions that simultaneously foster sympathetic and antagonistic attitudes toward the poor. These findings add useful information to our knowledge of stratification beliefs and contribute to a growing body of studies showing that “place-level” factors can be important determinants of beliefs and attitudes net of individual-level covariates.
Genetic mediators of neurocognitive outcomes in survivors of childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia.

PURPOSE Survivors of childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) are at increased risk for neurocognitive problems, with significant interindividual variability in outcome. This study examined genetic polymorphisms associated with variability in neurocognitive outcome. PATIENTS AND METHODS Neurocognitive outcomes were evaluated at the end of therapy in 243 survivors treated on an institutional protocol featuring risk-adapted chemotherapy without prophylactic cranial irradiation. Polymorphisms in genes related to pharmacokinetics or pharmacodynamics of antileukemic agents, drug metabolism, oxidative stress, and attention problems in noncancer populations were examined as predictors of outcome, using multiple general linear models and controlling for age at diagnosis, sex, race, and treatment intensity. RESULTS Compared with national norms, the cohort demonstrated significantly higher rates of problems on direct assessment of sustained attention (P = .01) and on parent ratings of attention problems (P = .02). Children with the A2756G polymorphism in methionine synthase (MS) were more likely to demonstrate deficits in attentiveness (P = .03) and response speed (P = .02), whereas those with various polymorphisms in glutathione S-transferase demonstrated increased performance variability (P = .01) and reduced attentiveness (P = .003). Polymorphisms in monoamine oxidase (T1460CA) were associated with increased attention variability (P = .03). Parent-reported attention problems were more common in children with the Cys112Arg polymorphism in apoliopoprotein E4 (P = .01). CONCLUSION These results are consistent with our previous report of association between attention problems and MS in an independent cohort of long-term survivors of childhood ALL treated with chemotherapy only. The results also raise the possibility of an impact from genetic predispositions related to oxidative stress and CNS integrity.