Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
In the Power of the Government: The Rise and Fall of Newsprint in Ontario, 1894–1932 by Mark Kuhlberg, and: Allied Power: Mobilizing Hydro-Electricity during Canada’s Second World War by Matthew Evenden (review)

history that specialists and non-specialists alike will appreciate. It elevates energy’s historical place and role in Canada and reassesses changes over time associated with energy. It also provides critical historical context for considering the energy challenges we face today. Collectively, then, it lays the groundwork for academic and public audiences to reflect much more on how and why energy has mattered and will continue to matter for Canada and Canadians. bret edwards University of Toronto
Identification of amyloidogenic peptide sequences using a coarse‐grained physicochemical model

Cross‐β amyloid is implicated in over 20 human diseases. Experiments suggest that specific sequence elements within amyloidogenic proteins play a major role in seeding amyloid formation. Identifying these seeding sequences is important for rationalizing the molecular mechanisms of amyloid formation and for elaborating therapeutic strategies that target amyloid. Theoretical techniques play an important role in facilitating the identification and structural characterization of putative seeding sequences; most amyloid species are not amenable to high resolution experimental structure techniques. In this study we have combined a coarse‐grained physicochemical protein model with a highly efficient Monte Carlo sampling technique to identify amyloidogenic sequences in four proteins for which respective experimental peptide fragmentation data exist. Peptide sequences were defined as amyloidogenic if the ensemble structure predicted for three interacting peptides described a stable and regular three‐stranded β‐sheet. For such peptides, free energies were calculated to provide a measure of amyloid propensity. The overall agreement between the experimental and predicted data is good, and we correctly identify several self‐recognition motifs proposed to define the cross‐β amyloid fibril architectures of two of the proteins. Our results compare very favorably with those obtained using atomistic molecular dynamics methods, though our simulations are 30–40 times faster. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Comput Chem 2009
Activating Mutations in the Nand Kras Oncogenes Differentially Affect the Growth Properties of the IL-6-dependent Myeloma Cell Line ANBL 6 '

Although the underlying genetic defect in multiple myeloma is un known, activating mutations in the Nand K-ras oncogenes are common. Recent studies have suggested that nsa mutations are associated with disease progression. We have introduced an activated N-rasl2, N-ras6l, or K-iusl2 cDNA into the interleukin 6 (IL-6)-dependent multiple myeloma cell line ANBL6 to determine the effect of Nand K-ms on the growth! death properties of ANBL6. All three transduced cell populations dem onstrate a growth advantage over the parent ANBL6 when propagated on normal human bone marrow stromal cells. In the absence of bone marrow stromal cells, augmentation of growth was observed in all three mutant rat-expressing populations at optimal and suboptimal concentrations of IL-6. Furthermore, in the absence of IL-6, all mutant ,@zspopulafions demonstrated an augmentation in DNA synthesis when compared to the parent ANBL6. However, growth ofthe K-rasl2 population in the absence of IL-6 was significantlyinhibitedwhencomparedto the mutantN-rear populations. This could be explained by the observation that in the absence of IL-6, N-rasl2 and N-ras6l Suppress apoptosis, whereas K-rasl2 does not. We also found that mutant ras expression could result in early protection from glucocorticoid-Induced apoptosis similar to that observed by the addition of IL-6. However, the combination of mutant ms and IL-6 could completely block the glucocorticold induction of apoptosis in long term cultures. These data suggest that mutations in different ras family members may have similar or distinct effects on myeloma tumor growth and death and may alter the response to glucocorticoid treatment.
La mandibule de l’adulte Qafzeh 25 (Paléolithique moyen, Basse Galilée). Reconstruction virtuelle 3D et analyse morphométrique

Au sein de l’echantillon d’individus de Qafzeh (Basse Galilee), dates du Paleolithique moyen, Qafzeh 25 est represente par des composants du squelette ayant ete serieusement alteres pendant la fossilisation, et tout particulierement le bloc crânio-facial et la mandibule compresses bilateralement. Grâce aux avancees methodologiques de l’imagerie 3D, nous proposons dans cette etude une reconstitution virtuelle de la mandibule a partir de CT-scans du fossile original. Cette restauration virtuelle realisee a l’aide du logiciel TIVMI permet de mener une premiere analyse morphometrique comparative avec les autres mandibules connues au Levant mediterraneen pour le Paleolithique et l’Epipaleolithique.
The protective effect of picroside II against hypoxia/reoxygenation injury in neonatal rat cardiomyocytes

Context: Picroside II, an iridoid glucoside found in the root of Picrorhiza scrophulariiflora Pennell (Scrophulariaceae), has been demonstrated to possess potent antioxidant activity. However, whether picroside II has a protective effect against hypoxia/reoxygenation (H/R)-induced cardiomyocyte injury is poorly understood. Objective: To explore the cardioprotective role of picroside II against oxidative stress induced by H/R injury in neonatal rat cardiacmyocytes. Materials and methods: The viability and cellular damage of cardiomyocytes were assessed by 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolim bromide (MTT) and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) assays, respectively. The activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD) and glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px), the levels of reduced (GSH) and oxidized glutathione (GSSG), and the contents of malondialdehyde (MDA) were determined by a colorimetric method. The levels of intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) and calcium were evaluated by flow cytometric analysis. Results: We analyzed the effective half-maximal concentration for protection from the dose-response curves and obtained the concentration of 50 µg/mL as EC50. Pretreated cardiomyocytes with picroside II (50–200 µg/mL), prior to H/R exposure, inhibited LDH activity in culture media and increased cell viability in a dose-dependent manner. This protective effect was accompanied by significantly increasing reduced GSH contents and the activities of SOD and GSH-Px and attenuating MDA and GSSG contents in response to H/R injury. Furthermore, treatment with picroside II also inhibited ROS production and calcium accumulation in cardiomyocytes. Discussion and conclusion: The present study demonstrates that picroside II protects cardiomyocytes against oxidative-stress injury induced by H/R through reduction of ROS production and calcium accumulation and enhancement of the activity of antioxidant defense.
Effect of Vitamin E on Oxaliplatin-induced Peripheral Neuropathy Prevention: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Background: Peripheral neuropathy is one of the most important limitations of oxaliplatin base regimen, which is the standard for the treatment of colorectal cancer. Evidence has shown that Vitamin E may be protective in chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy. The aim of this study is to evaluate the effect of Vitamin E administration on prevention of oxaliplatin-induced peripheral neuropathy in patients with colorectal cancer. Methods: This was a prospective randomized, controlled clinical trial. Patients with colorectal cancer and scheduled to receive oxaliplatin-based regimens were enrolled in this study. Enrolled patients were randomized into two groups. The first group received Vitamin E at a dose of 400 mg daily and the second group observed, until after the sixth course of the oxaliplatin regimen. For oxaliplatin-induced peripheral neuropathy assessment, we used the symptom experience diary questionnaire that completed at baseline and after the sixth course of chemotherapy. Only patients with a score of zero at baseline were eligible for this study. Results: Thirty-two patients were randomized to the Vitamin E group and 33 to the control group. There was no difference in the mean peripheral neuropathy score changes (after − before) between two groups, after sixth course of the oxaliplatin base regimen (mean difference [after − before] of Vitamin E group = 6.37 ± 2.85, control group = 6.57 ± 2.94; P = 0.78). Peripheral neuropathy scores were significantly increased after intervention compared with a base line in each group (P < 0.001). Conclusions: The results from this current trial demonstrate a lack of benefit for Vitamin E in preventing oxaliplatin-induced peripheral neuropathy.
Statistical Applications in Genetics and Molecular Biology Treatment of Uninformative Families in Mean Allele Sharing Tests for Linkage

Indranil Mukhopadhyay, Department of Human Genetics, Graduate School of Public Health, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA Eleanor Feingold, Departments of Human Genetics and Biostatistics, Graduate School of Public Health, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA Tao Wang, Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Case Western Reserve School of Medicine, Cleveland, OH Robert C. Elston, Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Case Western Reserve School of Medicine, Cleveland, OH Daniel E. Weeks, Departments of Human Genetics and Biostatistics, Graduate School of Public Health, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA
Electronic Retailing Strategies: A Case Study of Small Businesses in the Gifts and Collectibles Industry

The objective of this case study is to better our understanding of the strategic deliberations of managers and owners of small businesses as they pursue electronic retailing, since they face different barriers and constraints when dealing with electronic retailing issues than do their larger counterparts. Detailed phone interviews were conducted with four small businesses within the Gifts and Collectibles industry. Findings indicate that the development of a transactional website, which is often utilized by large retailers, is not the initial strategy, nor the primary strategy, that these businesses devise to generate online sales. Rather, owners and managers select strategies that are less intrusive to their present brickand-mortar operations while allowing them to maintain needed control of online sales levels. Contributions include a comparison of the electronic retailing strategies that are utilized, including the business owners’ perceptions of the technological capabilities that are needed for each strategy, and the identification of other factors that weigh heavily into their selection of a strategy. Interview excerpts from the owners and managers supplement the discussion.
Development of a force-assistant tele-rehabilitation system for the stroke

The goal of this study was to design a prototype of tele-rehabilitation system with force assistance that can be administered in both clinic and home therapy environments. A rehabilitation robotic device with its controller is designed to stretch and mobilize the impaired upper-limb safely and the interaction force and trajectory are sent to the server. The therapist in the hospital can control/monitoring the procedure and assess the effect of treatment remotely. Force-assistant tuning PID control scheme is introduced to adapt to different patient's status. VR-based training interface is developed to inspire the subject's motivation. Result shows that the robotic arm can track the predictive trajectory on the whole although there are interaction forces between the upper-limb and the rehabilitation system. Compared with the traditional hospital-based therapy, this system is more cost-efficient and more convenient for both the stroke patients and the clinicians. Further work in this area would involve experimentation with real patients to determine the efficacy of this system in a therapy.
FACTORS AFFECTING ORGANIZATIONAL COMMITMENT AMONG LECTURERS IN HIGHER EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTION IN MALAYSIA

A study was conducted to determine MARA Professional Colleges lecturers’ perception on organizational commitment. The study builds on social exchange theory and organizational model to identify the factors influencing the organizational commitment of these lecturers. The study analyzes whether or not there is a significant relationship between job satisfaction, job involvement, perceived organizational support and organizational commitment among lecturers in MARA Professional Colleges. Data were collected via questionnaires from 132 lecturers of three different MARA Professional Colleges. The study utilizes correlation and regression statistics to analyze the data. The findings of the survey show there is a significant relationship between job satisfaction (r=0.307), job involvement (r=0.536) and perceived organizational support (r=0.489). Job involvement contributed the most which is 28.8%, followed by perceived organizational support 23.9% and job satisfaction contributed 9.4% towards organizational commitment among MARA Professional College lectures. The study focuses on MARA Professional Colleges and concentrates only on the organizational commitment among academicians. The results suggest an improvement of social change by increasing job involvement, perceived organizational support and job satisfaction is an efficient way of obtaining highly committed human resource. The results of the study have valuable implications for policy makers in MARA Higher Education Division, college administrators and educators.
Covalent bonds against magnetism in transition metal compounds

Significance A mechanism by which orbital degrees of freedom can strongly affect magnetic properties of systems with correlated electrons is proposed. Using analytical treatment and numerical simulations, both in general and for some particular substances, we show that the formation of covalent bonds on part of the orbitals may strongly reduce magnetic moments and explain magnetic properties of different 4d and 5d transition metal oxides. In particular, orbital-selective effects may result in suppression of double exchange—one of the main mechanisms of ferromagnetism in transition metals and compounds, such as colossal magnetoresistance manganites or CrO2—the materials used in many devices. Magnetism in transition metal compounds is usually considered starting from a description of isolated ions, as exact as possible, and treating their (exchange) interaction at a later stage. We show that this standard approach may break down in many cases, especially in 4d and 5d compounds. We argue that there is an important intersite effect—an orbital-selective formation of covalent metal–metal bonds that leads to an “exclusion” of corresponding electrons from the magnetic subsystem, and thus strongly affects magnetic properties of the system. This effect is especially prominent for noninteger electron number, when it results in suppression of the famous double exchange, the main mechanism of ferromagnetism in transition metal compounds. We study this mechanism analytically and numerically and show that it explains magnetic properties of not only several 4d–5d materials, including Nb2O2F3 and Ba5AlIr2O11, but can also be operative in 3d transition metal oxides, e.g., in CrO2 under pressure. We also discuss the role of spin–orbit coupling on the competition between covalency and magnetism. Our results demonstrate that strong intersite coupling may invalidate the standard single-site starting point for considering magnetism, and can lead to a qualitatively new behavior.
Practical planning - extending the classical AI planning paradigm

1 Reasoning about Actions and Planning 2 Basic Assumptions and Limitations 3 SIPE and Its Representations 4 Hierarchical Planning as Differing Abstraction Levels 5 Constraints 6. The Truth Criterion 7 Deductive Causal Theories 8 Plan Critics 9 Resources: Reusable, Consumable, Temporal 10 Search 11 Replanning During Execution 12 Planning and Reactivity 13 Achieving Heuristic Adequacy 14 Comparison with Other Systems
Landscape‐mediated variation in diet is associated with egg size and maculation in a generalist forager

Human impacts alter landscapes with consequences for the distribution and availability of high‐quality food resources to populations inhabiting those landscapes, which may impact on the reproductive output of individuals in those populations. The sensitivity of wild populations to changes in food resources may vary among stages of the annual cycle. For example, in birds, effects are likely to be greater during costly stages such as egg production. Here we compare assimilated diet (from stable isotope analysis of chick feathers) and egg traits (egg size, shape, eggshell colour and maculation, using pattern‐analysis software) in Herring Gulls Larus argentatus, across seven colonies in southwest Scotland and Northern Ireland. The Herring Gull is an opportunistic, generalist forager on both marine and terrestrial resources which frequently exploits anthropogenic food sources such as fishery discards and human refuse. We found that larger eggs were laid in colonies where females consumed either a higher proportion of marine resources or terrestrial resources; smaller eggs were laid in colonies where females had an intermediate diet. In colonies where females consumed more marine items, they also laid eggs with higher maculation (intensity and size of spots) compared with colonies where females mainly consumed terrestrial food. We also found smaller and more pointed eggs, suggestive of resource shortages, in larger colonies. Generalist foragers are often thought to have the capacity to buffer themselves against changes in the food web, provided that enough alternative food is available. However, this study highlights that specializing on the most profitable or available resources has consequences for egg traits even in an opportunistic generalist forager exploiting a large range of habitats. If variation in egg traits is related to reproductive output, then understanding the impact of assimilated diet on reproduction early in the breeding season can provide important insights into how populations will respond to landscapes altered by human impact.
Space-Efficient Data Structures for Information Retrieval

The amount of data that people and companies store has grown exponentially over the last few years. Storing this information alone is not enough, because in order to make it useful we need to be able to efficiently search inside it. Furthermore, it is highly valuable to keep the historic data of each document stored, allowing to not only access and search inside the newest version, but also over the whole history of the documents. Grammar-based compression has proven to be very effective for repetitive data, which is the case for versioned documents. In this thesis we present several results on representing textual information and searching in it. In particular, we present text indexes for grammarbased compressed text that support searching for a pattern and extracting substrings of the input text. These are the first general indexes for grammar-based compressed text that support searching in sublinear time. In order to build our indexes, we present new results on representing binary relations in a space-efficient manner, and construction algorithms that use little space to achieve their goal. These two results have a wide range of applications. In particular, the representations for binary relations can be used as a building block for several structures in computer science, such as graphs, inverted indexes, etc. Finally, we present a new index, that uses on grammar-based compression, to solve the document listing problem. This problem deals with representing a collection of texts and searching for the documents that contain a given pattern. In spite of being similar to the classical text indexing problem, this problem has proven to be a challenge when we do not want to pay time proportional to the number of occurrences, but time proportional to the size of the result. Our proposal is designed particularly for versioned text, allowing the storage of a collection of documents with all their historic versions in little space. This is currently the smallest structure for such a purpose in practice.
Transrectal ultrasound in the evaluation of rhabdomyosarcoma involving the prostate.

OBJECTIVE To evaluate transrectal ultrasound as a means of diagnosis and of monitoring patients with rhabdomyosarcoma involving the prostate. PATIENTS AND METHODS Serial transrectal ultrasonography was utilized to evaluate prostatic rhabdomyosarcoma in three patients. RESULTS Unlike prostatic adenocarcinoma and transitional cell carcinoma involving the prostate, which are predominantly hypoechoic, the echogenicity of rhabdomyosarcoma is similar to that of the normal prostate. Transrectal ultrasound provided a simple means of monitoring prostate size and sampling tissue in these patients. CONCLUSION Transrectal ultrasound imaging can be useful in both diagnosis and evaluation of treatment response as well as provide easy access for biopsies in patients with rhabdomyosarcoma involving the prostate.
Dietary Protein and Fiber in End Stage Renal Disease

Prior to the availability of hemodialysis, dietary protein restriction played a large part in the treatment of uremia. This therapy was based on observations that uremic symptoms increased with high protein intake. Early investigators thus presumed that “uremic toxins” were derived from the breakdown of dietary protein; its restriction improved uremic symptoms but caused malnutrition. After the availability of hemodialysis, protein restriction was no longer recommended. Studies in healthy subjects have shown that an intake of 0.6–0.8 g/kg/day is adequate to prevent protein malnutrition. Guidelines for hemodialysis patients, however, currently recommend higher protein intakes of 1.2 g/kg/day. A downside to higher intake may be increased production of protein‐derived uremic solutes that caused the symptoms observed by early investigators. Some of these solutes are produced by colon microbes acting on protein which escapes digestion in the small intestine. Increasing dietary fiber may reduce the production of colon‐derived solutes in hemodialysis patients without adverse effects of protein restriction. Fiber comprises carbohydrates and related substances that are resistant to digestion in the small intestine. Upon delivery to the colon, fiber is broken down to short chain fatty acids, providing energy to both the microbes and the host. With an increased energy supply, the microbes can incorporate dietary protein for growth rather than breaking them down to uremic solutes. Increasing fiber intake in hemodialysis patients has been shown to reduce the plasma levels of selected colon‐derived solutes. Further studies are needed to test whether this provides clinical benefit.