Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Discovery of a Potential Plasma Protein Biomarker Panel for Acute-on-Chronic Liver Failure Induced by Hepatitis B Virus

Hepatitis B virus (HBV)-associated acute-on-chronic liver failure (HBV-ACLF), characterized by an acute deterioration of liver function in the patients with chronic hepatitis B (CHB), is lack of predicting biomarkers for prognosis. Plasma is an ideal sample for biomarker discovery due to inexpensive and minimally invasive sampling and good reproducibility. In this study, immuno-depletion of high-abundance plasma proteins followed by iTRAQ-based quantitative proteomic approach was employed to analyze plasma samples from 20 healthy control people, 20 CHB patients and 20 HBV-ACLF patients, respectively. As a result, a total of 427 proteins were identified from these samples, and 42 proteins were differentially expressed in HBV-ACLF patients as compared to both CHB patients and healthy controls. According to bioinformatics analysis results, 6 proteins related to immune response (MMR), inflammatory response (OPN, HPX), blood coagulation (ATIII) and lipid metabolism (APO-CII, GP73) were selected as biomarker candidates. Further ELISA analysis confirmed the significant up-regulation of GP73, MMR, OPN and down-regulation of ATIII, HPX, APO-CII in HBV-ACLF plasma samples (p < 0.01). Moreover, receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis revealed high diagnostic value of these candidates in assessing HBV-ACLF. In conclusion, present quantitative proteomic study identified 6 novel HBV-ACLF biomarker candidates and might provide fundamental information for development of HBV-ACLF biomarker.
Learning from New Orleans: The Social Warrant of Hostile Privatism and Competitive Consumer Citizenship

“Rethinking American Culture” was a forum featuring the work of George Lipsitz in a dialogue between American Studies and anthropology about the ways in which “new forms of commercial patterns and practices, new movements of people and products, and new communications technologies are producing new ways of studying culture. ” This dialogue addresses the struggles over the social warrants of U.S. culture in the 21st century and how historians and anthropologists might best describe and analyze such warrants and reconstitute these fields, both of which are under pressure in a present “moment of danger” made all the more visible by the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans, Louisiana.
How To Search for Complex Patterns Over Streaming and Stored Data

The colossal amount of digitized information available has resulted in overloading users who need to navigate this information for their routine requirements. Information filtering deals with monitoring text streams to detect patterns and retrieval of documents by searching for patterns over stored data. Although information filtering systems and search engines have been effective in reducing this information overload, they support only keyword searches and queries that use Boolean operators. Consider searching a full text patent database for documents containing more than n occurrences of a particular pattern, or for documents that have a particular pattern followed by another pattern within a specified distance. Such complex patterns involving pattern frequency and sequence of patterns as well as patterns involving proximity, structural boundaries and synonyms are not supported by current filtering systems and search engines. Expressive pattern detection over text streams have far reaching applications such as tracking information flow among terrorist outfits, web parental control, continuous monitoring of rival web sites in e-commerce, and so forth. In this paper, we discuss a novel approach that provides an expressive pattern search over text streams as well as stored data. Our system consists of two main components: InfoFilter, a content-based information filtering module that detects complex patterns over text streams and InfoSearch that retrieves stored documents based on expressive patterns.
Domain logic programming : theory and applications to scientific knowledge representation

Scienti c Knowledge Representation deals with systems {real or abstract{ that are representable by mathematical models. The eld is very rich, encompassing problems from the realms of physics, engineering and economics, among others. These problems demand both mathematical knowledge of object or situation behaviour as well as knowledge about the applicability and interaction of these various behaviours. Traditional Arti cial Intelligence (AI) techniques stumble on the inability of existing AI tools to deal with mathematics. On the other hand the existing algebraic manipulation tools, although powerful enough in their mathematical capabilities, provide little means for encoding the non-mathematical knowledge occuring in the problems. We develop a variant of First Order Logic and an associated computational scheme suited for Scienti c Knowledge Representation. We call the scheme domain logic programming to re ect the central rôle of the mathematical domains of discourse. The scheme is an extension of Logic Programming (LP) in the spririt of Constraint Logic Programming (CLP). It allows direct algebraic manipulation of mathematical terms by means of special purpose solvers associated with each domain while still retaining model-theoretic semantics. Unlike CLP, minimal restrictions are imposed on the nature of the domains in order to support the wide range of mathematical domains required. Following on from a study of the structure of scienti c problems, the thesis presents the general Domain Logic Programming scheme. It then focuses on one particular instance, the programming language Euclid, which provides embedded mathematical knowledge of reals, intervals, vectors and real symbolic functions. A number of examples are used to demonstrate the suitability of Euclid for Scienti c Knowledge Representation. The examples are also used as a platform for comparison with the existing approaches and techniques.
Immunoelectron microscopic localization of neural cell adhesion molecules (L1, N-CAM, and MAG) and their shared carbohydrate epitope and myelin basic protein in developing sciatic nerve

The cellular and subcellular localization of the neural cell adhesion molecules L1, N-CAM, and myelin-associated glycoprotein (MAG), their shared carbohydrate epitope L2/HNK-1, and the myelin basic protein (MBP) were studied by pre- and post-embedding immunoelectron microscopic labeling procedures in developing mouse sciatic nerve. L1 and N-CAM showed a similar staining pattern. Both were localized on small, non-myelinated, fasciculating axons and axons ensheathed by non- myelinating Schwann cells. Schwann cells were also positive for L1 and N-CAM in their non-myelinating state and at the onset of myelination, when the Schwann cell processes had turned approximately 1.5 loops. Thereafter, neither axon nor Schwann cell could be detected to express the L1 antigen, whereas N-CAM was found in the periaxonal area and, more weakly, in compact myelin of myelinated fibers. Compact myelin, Schmidt-Lanterman incisures, paranodal loops, and finger-like processes of Schwann cells at nodes of Ranvier were L1-negative. At the nodes of Ranvier, the axolemma was also always L1- and N-CAM-negative. The L2/HNK-1 carbohydrate epitope coincided in its cellular and subcellular localization most closely to that observed for L1. MAG appeared on Schwann cells at the time L1 expression ceased. MAG was then expressed at sites of axon-myelinating Schwann cell apposition and non-compacted loops of developing myelin. When compaction of myelin occurred, MAG remained present only at the axon-Schwann cell interface; Schmidt- Lanterman incisures, inner and outer mesaxons, and paranodal loops, but not at finger-like processes of Schwann cells at nodes of Ranvier or compacted myelin. All three adhesion molecules and the L2/HNK-1 epitope could be detected in a non-uniform staining pattern in basement membrane of Schwann cells and collagen fibrils of the endoneurium. MBP was detectable in compacted myelin, but not in Schmidt-Lanterman incisures, inner and outer mesaxon, paranodal loops, and finger-like processes at nodes of Ranvier, nor in the periaxonal regions of myelinated fibers, thus showing a complementary distribution to MAG. These studies show that axon-Schwann cell interactions are characterized by the sequential appearance of cell adhesion molecules and MBP apparently coordinated in time and space. From this sequence it may be deduced that L1 and N-CAM are involved in fasciculation, initial axon-Schwann cell interaction, and onset of myelination, with MAG to follow and MBP to appear only in compacted myelin. In contrast to L1, N- CAM may be further involved in the maintenance of compact myelin and axon-myelin apposition of larger diameter axons.
The Effects of a Caffeine Placebo and Experimenter Expectation on Blood Pressure, Heart Rate, Well-Being, and Cognitive Performance

We studied the effect of experimenter expectations and different instructions in a balanced placebo design. 157 subjects were randomized into a 2 × 4 factorial design. Two experimenters were led to expect placebos either to produce physiological effects or not (pro- vs. antiplacebo). All subjects except a control group received a caffeine placebo. They were either made to expect coffee, no coffee, or were in a double-blind condition. Dependent measures were blood pressure, heart rate, well-being, and a cognitive task. There was one main effect on the instruction factor (p = 0.03) with the group “told no caffeine” reporting significantly better well-being. There was one main effect on the experimenter factor with subjects instructed by experimenter “proplacebo” having higher systolic blood pressure (p = 0.008). There was one interaction with subjects instructed by experimenter “proplacebo” to receive coffee doing worse in the cognitive task than the rest. Subjects instructed by experimenter “antiplacebo” w.
Graphical Models: An Extension to Random Graphs, Trees, and Other Objects

In this work, we consider an extension of graphical models to random graphs, trees, and other objects. To do this, many fundamental concepts for multivariate random variables (e.g., marginal variables, Gibbs distribution, Markov properties) must be extended to other mathematical objects; it turns out that this extension is possible, as we will discuss, if we have a consistent, complete system of projections on a given object. Each projection defines a marginal random variable, allowing one to specify independence assumptions between them. Furthermore, these independencies can be specified in terms of a small subset of these marginal variables (which we call the atomic variables), allowing the compact representation of independencies by a directed graph. Projections also define factors, functions on the projected object space, and hence a projection family defines a set of possible factorizations for a distribution; these can be compactly represented by an undirected graph. The invariances used in graphical models are essential for learning distributions, not just on multivariate random variables, but also on other objects. When they are applied to random graphs and random trees, the result is a general class of models that is applicable to a broad range of problems, including those in which the graphs and trees have complicated edge structures. These models need not be conditioned on a fixed number of vertices, as is often the case in the literature for random graphs, and can be used for problems in which attributes are associated with vertices and edges. For graphs, applications include the modeling of molecules, neural networks, and relational real-world scenes; for trees, applications include the modeling of infectious diseases, cell fusion, the structure of language, and the structure of objects in visual scenes. Many classic models are particular instances of this framework.
Residential father family type and child well-being: Investment versus selection

This research links residence with biological and nonbiological married and unmarried parents to the cognitive achievement and behavioral problems of children aged 3–12, controlling for factors that make such families different. The data were drawn from the 1997 Child Development Supplement to the Panel Study of Income Dynamics. Achievement differences were not associated with father family structure per se, but with demographic and economic factors that differ across families. In contrast, behavioral problems were linked to family structure even after controls for measured and unmeasured factors were included. Children in all family types except the married-biological-parent family showed higher levels of behavioral problems. Paternal and maternal engagement time explained some of the differences in behavioral problems across families. Although children in blended families tended to achieve at lower levels than those not in blended families, stepchildren in blended families achieved at levels comparable to those of half-siblings. Finally, children in blended families tended to have fewer behavioral problems than those not in blended families.
Skinning cubic Bézier splines and Catmull-Clark subdivision surfaces

Smooth space deformation has become a vital tool for the animation and design of 2D and 3D shapes. Linear methods, under the umbrella term of "linear blend skinning", are the de facto standard for 3D animations. Unfortunately such approaches do not trivially extend to deforming vector graphics, such as the cubic Bézier splines prevalent in 2D or subdivision surfaces in 3D. We propose a variational approach to reposition the control points of cubic Bézier splines and Catmull-Clark subdivision surfaces---or any linear subdivision curves or surfaces---to produce curves or surfaces which match a linear blend skinning deformation as closely as possible. Exploiting the linearity of linear blend skinning, we show how this optimization collapses neatly into the repeated multiplication of a matrix per handle. We support C0, C1, G1, and fixed-angle continuity constraints between adjacent Bézier curves in a spline. Complexity scales linearly with respect to the number of input curves and run-time performance is fast enough for real-time editing and animation of high-resolution shapes.
Psychological Adjustment to Chronic Illness: The Role of Prototype Evaluation in Acceptance of Illness

Acceptance of chronic illness refers to psychological adjustment to the chronic illness. We propose that patients' prototype evaluations provide patients with information to evaluate themselves and to accept their illness. In cross-sectional Study 1 (n = 149), diabetic patients' prototype evaluations predicted self-evaluations and acceptance, explaining about 10% and 20%, respectively. Study 2 was a field experiment (n = 255) among diabetic patients designed to test whether prototype evaluations are causally related to acceptance, and whether this relation is moderated by individual differences. The results showed that the effects of positive prototype information on acceptance depended on the individual's prototype evaluation at pretest and on the individual's social comparison orientation. These results support the idea that prototype perceptions play a role in the psychological adjustment to a chronic illness.
DNA supercoiling suppresses real-time PCR: a new approach to the quantification of mitochondrial DNA damage and repair

As a gold standard for quantification of starting amounts of nucleic acids, real-time PCR is increasingly used in quantitative analysis of mtDNA copy number in medical research. Using supercoiled plasmid DNA and mtDNA modified both in vitro and in cancer cells, we demonstrated that conformational changes in supercoiled DNA have profound influence on real-time PCR quantification. We showed that real-time PCR signal is a positive function of the relaxed forms (open circular and/or linear) rather than the supercoiled form of DNA, and that the conformation transitions mediated by DNA strand breaks are the main basis for sensitive detection of the relaxed DNA. This new finding was then used for sensitive detection of structure-mediated mtDNA damage and repair in stressed cancer cells, and for accurate quantification of total mtDNA copy number when all supercoiled DNA is converted into the relaxed forms using a prior heat-denaturation step. The new approach revealed a dynamic mtDNA response to oxidative stress in prostate cancer cells, which involves not only early structural damage and repair but also sustained copy number reduction induced by hydrogen peroxide. Finally, the supercoiling effect should raise caution in any DNA quantification using real-time PCR.
The Influence of Regulatory Fit on Persuasion Under Different Military Operations: The Moderating Effects of Need for Cognition

On the basis of regulatory focus theory (Higgins, 1997), two experiments were conducted to explore the effects of regulatory fit on persuasion under different military operations. It is proposed that appeals presented in promotion focus frames are more persuasive in promotion focus military operations (e.g., offensive), while prevention focus–framed appeals are more persuasive in prevention focus military operations (e.g., defensive). In study one, 99 military personnel were randomly assigned to either of 2 (messages: promotion vs. promotion focus frame) × 2 (operations: offensive vs. defensive) conditions. No significant results were found. In study two, 53 military cadets were randomly assigned to either of 2 (messages: promotion vs. promotion focus frame) × 2 (operations: offensive with superior forces vs. defensive with inferior forces) conditions. The results indicate that need for cognition (NFC) moderates the effects of regulatory fit on persuasiveness. For high-NFC subjects, promotion focus–framed appeals are more persuasive in numerical superiority attacking operations, whereas prevention ones are more persuasive in numerical inferiority defending operations. This interaction effect was not found for low-NFC subjects.
Demand for Children in Low Income Countries

Microeconomic theories of the demand for children emphasize several features of children in the context of a simplified model of family choice. The cost of children is heavily affected by the opportunity cost of the time of mothers, who in most societies contribute a disproportionate share of their time to child rearing. Increasing women's schooling and wage opportunities is consequently associated with lower demand for children. Children are an important vehicle for human capital investment; these dimensions of child "quality" appear to be substitutes for the numbers of children demanded by parents, and consequently rising returns to human capital depress fertility. Other factors in the environment of families affect the relative cost or labor productivity of children, which includes prevailing production technologies and the exogenous component of child mortality. This paper surveys a variety of approaches to the economic determinants of fertility and then summarizes the empirical literature that seeks to explain mostly cross-sectional differences in individual/family data. Differences between countries at one point in time, and changes within countries over time in fertility and child mortality during the last several decades are also shown to be consistent with these microeconomic approaches to fertility. This century has seen both a remarkable acceleration and deceleration in population growth, and beneath these enormous changes in societies, numerous behavioral puzzles remain that might be better understood with the judicious use of Microeconomics.
A career in teaching: decisions of the heart rather than the head

There is a growing body of research and scholarship highlighting the importance of teachers and teaching to children's learning and life opportunities (Bransford, Darling-Hammond and LePage 2005). More specifically what teachers do in classrooms is a function of many things (e.g., content knowledge, pedagogical knowledge) including their belief about students, the subject, and the teaching process (Calderhead 1996). The focus of this research was to understand why young people in Ireland are attracted to teaching physical education and what factors contribute to their decision to enter a teacher education programme. A cohort of 75 physical education teacher candidates wrote brief narratives summarising key factors that influenced their decision to be teachers of physical education. Most of these students chose teaching as a career because of their interests in sport and physical education, love of working with children, and the a number of significant others telling them they would be good at teaching. Their leadership roles on teams (captaincy) and their personal athletic success also promoted a keen sense of wanting to help others be as successful as they had been. While a number of the teacher candidates wrote about negative experiences in physical education or receiving negative comments about a teaching career from teachers, they wanted to be physical education teachers as they believed they could provide positive experiences for pupils when they became teachers. A number of implications for teacher education programme design and delivery are discussed.
Everyday multiculturalism: catching the bus in Darwin, Australia

Following acts of violence in major cities, the future of multiculturalism as a philosophy and a state-sponsored policy to promote peace and interdependence in white majority societies seem uncertain. Ethnographic research that explores the lived experience of multiculturalism in shared public spaces, however, offers the possibility to explore emotional stress as well as possibilities for change in culturally diverse cities. Within this literature, however, there is little grounded research that explores Indigenous–ethnic minority relationships. This paper foregrounds and describes a seemingly mundane event such as catching a bus that entangles my body with an Aboriginal woman and a migrant woman from Fiji in Darwin, Australia. The paper demonstrates how injury, anger, shame and discomfort unfolds when bodies of colour are sites of stress. I explore the emergence of this bodily stress that has outcomes for the capacity of racially differentiated bodies of colour to respond ethically in encounters with strangers. I argue that thick descriptions of events, conceptualisations of agency as distributed and broader understandings of the social have the potential to contribute to anti-racist agendas in Euro-colonial societies with separate Indigenous and multicultural policy frameworks in ways that do not require bodies to ‘accumulate’ or ‘inhabit’ whiteness.
Learning Shared Latent Structure for Image Synthesis and Robotic Imitation

We propose an algorithm that uses Gaussian process regression to learn common hidden structure shared between corresponding sets of heterogenous observations. The observation spaces are linked via a single, reduced-dimensionality latent variable space. We present results from two datasets demonstrating the algorithms's ability to synthesize novel data from learned correspondences. We first show that the method can learn the nonlinear mapping between corresponding views of objects, filling in missing data as needed to synthesize novel views. We then show that the method can learn a mapping between human degrees of freedom and robotic degrees of freedom for a humanoid robot, allowing robotic imitation of human poses from motion capture data.