Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Serum miRNA Signature in Moyamoya Disease

Moyamoya disease (MMD) is a cerebrovascular disease characterized by progressive stenosis of the intracranial internal carotid arteries and their proximal branches. However, the etiology of this rare disease remains unknown. Serum microRNA (miRNA) profiles have been screened to identify novel biomarkers of prognostic values. Here, we identified serum miRNAs that might play an important role in the pathogenesis of MMD. A genome-wide miRNA array analysis of two pooled serum samples from patients with MMD and controls revealed 94 differentially expressed serum miRNAs, including 50 upregulated and 44 downregulated miRNAs. In an independent MMD cohort, real-time PCR confirmed that miR-106b, miR-130a and miR-126 were significantly upregulated while miR-125a-3p was significantly downregulated in serum. GO analysis showed that the differentially expressed serum miRNAs were enriched in metabolic processes, transcription and signal transduction. Pathway analysis showed that the most enriched pathway was mTOR signaling pathway with 16 potential, functional targets. Finally, we found that 16 and 13 aberrant serum miRNAs coordinately inhibited RNF213 and BRCC3 protein expression at the posttranscriptional level, respectively, resulting in defective angiogenesis and MMD pathogenesis. To our knowledge, this is the first study to identify a serum miRNA signature in MMD. Modulation of the mechanism underlying the role of serum miRNAs in MMD is a potential therapeutic strategy and warrants further investigations.
New Multi-Objective Constrained Optimization Evolutionary Algorithm

In this paper, a new evolutionary algorithm (EA) to solve multi-objective constrained optimization problem (MCOP) is proposed. First, the rank of the individual and the scalar constraint violation of the individual are defined. Then, based on the rank and the scalar constraint violation of the individual, a new fitness function and a switch selection operator are presented. Accordingly, when the individuals are evaluated or ranked, it doesn't need to care about the feasibility of individuals, therefore it is a penalty-parameterless constraint-handling approach for multi-objective constrained optimization problem. Finally, the computer simulations demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm.
Near-Inertial Wave Wake of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita over Mesoscale Oceanic Eddies

Abstract Tropical cyclones (TCs) Katrina and Rita moved as major hurricanes over energetic geostrophic ocean features in the Gulf of Mexico. Increased and reduced oceanic mixed layer (OML) cooling was measured following the passage of both storms over cyclonic and anticyclonic geostrophic relative vorticity ζg, respectively. This contrasting thermal response is investigated here in terms of the evolution of the storms’ near-inertial wave wake in geostrophic eddies. Observational data and ray-tracing techniques in realistic geostrophic flow indicate that TC-forced OML near-inertial waves are trapped in regions of negative ζg, where they rapidly propagate into the thermocline. These anticyclonic-rotating regimes coincided with the distribution of reduced OML cooling because rapid downward dispersion of near-inertial energy reduced the amount of kinetic energy available to increase vertical shears at the OML base. By contrast, TC-forced OML near-inertial waves were stalled in upper layers of cyclonic circula.
Disasters, Death, and Destruction— Making Sense of Recent Calamities

INTRODUCTION A disaster happens when an extreme event occurs in the context of societal vulnerability. Nowhere is the meeting of vulnerability and extreme more tangible than where the land meets the sea. This was horrifi cally apparent on 26 December 2004 when a powerful earthquake under the eastern Indian Ocean caused a massive tsunami that killed more than 280,000 people and caused billions of dollars (all dollars in this article refer to U.S. dollars) in damage. Other disasters at the ocean-land boundary are similarly fresh in our minds—the U.S. hurricane seasons of 2004 and 2005 resulted in hundreds of billions of dollars in damage and more deaths than in the previous 35 years combined. We do not have to look too far back in time to recall other tragedies, such as Hurricane Jeanne, which killed several thousand people in Haiti in 2004; the Venezuelan coastal landslides in 1999, which killed upwards of 30,000 people; and Hurricane Mitch in 1998, which killed more than 10,000 people, mainly in Nicaragua and Honduras (Taft, 2004; Pielke et al., 2003). In 1991, perhaps 150,000 people died in Bangladesh as the result of storm surge and fl ooding from a tropical cyclone (Pielke and Pielke, 1997). The recent spate of disasters has created two common perceptions among decision-makers and the general public. First, there is a sense that the economic impacts associated with extreme events have increased in recent years. Second, given that a human infl uence on the climate system has been well established, a perception exists that the recent increase in weather-related disasters like fl oods and hurricanes is in some way related to changes in climate. These perceptions beg two questions: • Have loss of life and damages associated with extreme weather events actually increased in recent years? • What factors account for observed trends in the impacts of weather on society? The answers to these questions are more than simply idle speculations—they help shape how we think about policy options with important social, economic, and political ramifi cations (such as disaster preparation, insurance, international climate-change negotiations) and how we set priorities for the funding of scientifi c research. Because policy is based in part on the perceptions that policy-makers hold about weather and climate, it is worth determining the answers to the two questions in a scientifi cally rigorous manner. This lecture discusses trends B Y R O G E R A . P I E L K E , J R . S E V E N T H A N N U A L R O G E R R E V E L L E C O M M E M O R AT I V E L E C T U R E
Effects of credit card usage on young Brazilians’ compulsive buying

Purpose – The purpose of this study is to assess the moderating and mediating roles of credit card usage in the relationship between money attitudes (i.e. power-prestige, retention-time, distrust and anxiety) and compulsive buying behaviour. Design/methodology/approach – The research design comprised a cross-sectional survey and two focus-group interviews. A structured questionnaire was completed by 365 young credit card users in Sao Paulo in Brazil, and two focus group discussions were conducted comprising six participants each. Findings – Results showed that misuse of credit cards significantly increased compulsive buying among individuals with high levels of anxiety. Credit card usage partially mediates the relationship between compulsive buying and three variables established in the literature: power-prestige, retention-time and anxiety. Credit card usage did not significantly mediate the effect of distrust (or price sensitivity) on compulsive buying behaviour. Respondents’ price sensitivity did not b.
The Ethics of Reading the Short Story: Literary Humanitarianism in "The Gold Vanity Set"

When trying to empathize with suffering textual characters, the reader should not only be conscious of his or her relationship to the sufferer, but also of his or her relationship to the text that tells the sufferer's story. In evaluating the latter relationship, I look to the short story genre to show how when one breaks down assumptions about form a greater reflective space, fewer representational characters, and a resistance to textual "mastery" can develop. I locate my exploration in an early twentieth-century work by Mexican-American writer, Maria Cristina Mena, entitled "The Gold Vanity Set. " I explore the various ways that one might achieve a more ethical relationship to the text through the deconstruction of literary assumptions that can impede the realization of human rights and social justice for subaltern groups.
Effect of GIS Learning on Spatial Thinking

A spatial-skills test is used to examine the effect of GIS learning on the spatial thinking ability of college students. Eighty students at a large state university completed pre- and post- spatial-skills tests administered during the 2003 fall semester. Analysis of changes in the students' test scores revealed that GIS learning helped students think spatially. These improvements were the result of the connection between students' GIS activities and experiences and the tested spatial thinking skills. Strong correlations were observed between the participants' spatial thinking and their achievement in the GIS course.
Automated security hardening for evolving UML models

Developing security-critical software correctly and securely is difficult. To address this problem, there has been a significant amount of work over the last 10 years on providing model-based development approaches based on the Unified Modeling Language which aim to raise the trustworthiness of security-critical systems, some of them including tools allowing the user to check whether a UML model satisfies the relevant security requirements. However, when the requirements are not satisfied by a given model, it can be challenging for the user to determine which changes to do to the model so that it will indeed satisfy the security requirements. Also, the fact that software continues to evolve on an ongoing basis, even after the implementation has been shipped to the customer, increases the challenge since in principle, the software has to be re-verified after each modification, requiring significant efforts. We present work on automated tool-support that exploits recent work on secure software evolution in the Secure Change project in order to support the security hardening of evolving UML models (within the context of the UML security extension UMLsec).
RANKED SEMANTIC EXPANSION SEARCH OVER ENCRYPTED CLOUD DATA

In recent years, cloud computing has become an advanced area, particularly due to its potential merits and applications. In order to realize the cloud computing, many constraints are associated out of which ranked semantic expansion based search over encrypted cloud data is one of them. To practice better data utilization search over encrypted cloud data has been a great challenge. In this paper, some deficiencies are evaluated like, our solutions could not return only the exactly matched files but also the files including the terms semantically related to the query keyword . This deficiency can be recovered by making metadata set for each file. With the construction of metadata set the files are secured more than before. SRL is build on the cloud server which finds out the keyword that are semantically related to the query keyword . Ranked keyword search over encrypted cloud data is also used to enhance the retrieved results. Different encryption schemes are discussed to enhance the security of cloud data.
VCore-based design methodology

The VCore [1](*) based design methodology, which has been developed at the VCDS (**) Project, is a SoC design methodology using VCores. A VCore is a reusable, high level abstracted design component. We have developed the VCore based design methodology and the VCDS tool prototype. We used the developed tool and did a trial SoC design. The design result showed that SoC design productivity improved using the proposed methodology.VCDS: Virtual Core based Design SystemVCore: Virtual Core
PET Imaging of Serotonin Transporters with 4-[18F]-ADAM in a Parkinsonian Rat Model with Porcine Neural Xenografts

Parkinson's disease (PD) is a neurodegenerative disease characterized by a loss of dopaminergic neurons in the nigrostriatal pathway. Apart from effective strategies to halt the underlying neuronal degeneration, cell replacement now offers novel prospects for PD therapy. Porcine embryonic neural tissue has been considered an alternative source to human fetal grafts in neurodegenerative disorders because its use avoids major practical and ethical issues. This study was undertaken to evaluate the effects of embryonic day 27 (E27) porcine mesencephalic tissue transplantation in a PD rat model using animal positron emission tomography (PET) coupled with 4-[18F]-ADAM, a serotonin transporter (SERT) imaging agent. The parkinsonian rat was induced by injecting 6-hydroxydopamine into the medial forebrain bundle (MFB) of the right nigrostriatal pathway. The apomorphine-induced rotation behavioral test and 4-[18F]-ADAM/animal PET scanning were carried out following 6-OHDA lesioning. At the second week following 6-OHDA lesioning, the parkinsonian rat rotates substantially on apomorphine-induced contralateral turning. In addition, the mean striatal-specific uptake ratio (SUR) of 4-[18F]-ADAM decreased by 44%. After transplantation, the number of drug-induced rotations decreased markedly, and the mean SUR of 4-[18F]-ADAM and the level of SERT immunoreactivity (SERT-ir) in striatum were partially restored. The mean SUR level was restored to 71% compared to that for the contralateral intact side, which together with the abundant survival of tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) neurons accounted for functional recovery at the fourth week postgraft. In regard to the extent of donor-derived cells, we found the neurons of the xenografts from E27 transgenic pigs harboring red fluorescent protein (RFP) localized with TH-ir cells and SERT-ir in the grafted area. Thus, transplanted E27 porcine mesencephalic tissue may restore dopaminergic and serotonergic systems in the parkinsonian rat. The 4-[18F]-ADAM/animal PET can be used to detect serotonergic neuron loss in PD and monitor the efficacy of therapy.
Limits to Freedom of Expression? considerations arising from the Danish cartoons affair

The distress and anger caused by the publication in a Danish newspaper of cartoons containing satirical depictions of the Prophet Mahommed is the starting point for an exploration of the dimensions of the right to freedom of expression contained in the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights. Related rights and duties to the community are examined alongside the explicit limitations on freedom of expression contained in the Declaration. The principles of harm and of offence as set out respectively by Mill and Feinberg are applied to the problem, and the concept of proportionality in interpreting laws, and the exercise of decorum in satirical comedy are also discussed. The need for librarians to adopt policies for controversial materials, which defend freedom of expression and freedom of access to information whilst respecting community sensitivities is reasserted.
The Hot and Energetic Universe: The missing baryons and the warm-hot intergalactic medium

The backbone of the large-scale structure of the Universe is determined by processes on a cosmological scale and by the gravitational interaction of the dominant dark matter. However, the mobile baryon population shapes the appearance of these structures. Theory predicts that most of the baryons reside in vast unvirialized filamentary structures that connect galaxy groups and clusters, but the observational evidence is currently lacking. Because the majority of the baryons are supposed to exist in a large-scale, hot and dilute gaseous phase, X-rays provide the ideal tool to progress our understanding. Observations with the Athena+ X-ray Integral Field Unit will reveal the location, chemical composition, physical state and dynamics of the active population of baryons.
Young Vocation to Ordained Ministry: A Qualitative Study

Abstract Drawing on two significant traditions of empirical research concerning clergy in England spanning three decades, a quantitative tradition and a qualitative tradition, this study was designed to illuminate a set of issues currently of practical importance to the Church of England, namely nurturing and responding to "young vocations" among individuals under the age of thirty. Qualitative data were provided by 39 ordinands and recently ordained clergy in their twenties to an open-ended online questionnaire (61% response rate). These data were analysed to illuminate five key areas: the influences that had encouraged vocations, including individuals, groups and other factors; their own ideas about vocation and how these ideas had developed and changed; the extent to which the counter-cultural nature of the Christian faith had supported or frustrated the sense of vocation; how they perceived the differences between those who responded to a call to vocation when young and those whose vocations were shaped later in life; and whether and how young vocations should or could be encouraged by the Church. On the basis of these data, recommendations are advanced both for further research and for church practice.
Dystroglycan is selectively cleaved at the parenchymal basement membrane at sites of leukocyte extravasation in experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis

The endothelial cell monolayer of cerebral vessels and its basement membrane (BM) are ensheathed by the astrocyte endfeet, the leptomeningeal cells, and their associated parenchymal BM, all of which contribute to establishment of the blood–brain barrier (BBB). As a consequence of this unique structure, leukocyte penetration of cerebral vessels is a multistep event. In mouse experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE), a widely used central nervous system inflammatory model, leukocytes first penetrate the endothelial cell monolayer and underlying BM using integrin β1-mediated processes, but mechanisms used to penetrate the second barrier defined by the parenchymal BM and glia limitans remain uninvestigated. We show here that macrophage-derived gelatinase (matrix metalloproteinase [MMP]-2 and MMP-9) activity is crucial for leukocyte penetration of the parenchymal BM. Dystroglycan, a transmembrane receptor that anchors astrocyte endfeet to the parenchymal BM via high affinity interactions with laminins 1 and 2, perlecan and agrin, is identified as a specific substrate of MMP-2 and MMP-9. Ablation of both MMP-2 and MMP-9 in double knockout mice confers resistance to EAE by inhibiting dystroglycan cleavage and preventing leukocyte infiltration. This is the first description of selective in situ proteolytic damage of a BBB-specific molecule at sites of leukocyte infiltration.
Pregnancy in renal transplant recipients: a UK national cohort study.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES Most reports of pregnancy outcome in women with kidney transplants are single-center, retrospective, and include small numbers and few are compared with controls. The aim of this study was to collect information about pregnancy outcomes among all kidney transplant recipients in the United Kingdom, managed with current antenatal and nephrologic care, and to compare these data with a contemporaneous control group. DESIGN, SETTING, PARTICIPANTS, & MEASUREMENTS Pregnant women with a kidney transplant were identified through the UK Obstetric Surveillance System (UKOSS) between January 1, 2007 and December 31, 2009. Data on a comparison cohort were obtained from the UKOSS database, containing information on comparison women identified in previous studies. Outcomes were also compared with national data. RESULTS There were 105 pregnancies identified in 101 recipients. Median prepregnancy creatinine was 118 μmol/L. Preeclampsia developed in 24% compared with 4% of the comparison group. Median gestation at delivery was 36 weeks, with 52% of women delivering at <37 weeks, significantly higher than the national rate of 8%. Twenty-four infants (24%) were small for gestational age (<10th centile). There were two (2%) cases of acute rejection. Potential predictive factors for poor pregnancy outcome included >1 previous kidney transplant (P=0.03), first trimester serum creatinine >125 μmol/L (P=0.001), and diastolic BP >90 mmHg in the second (P=0.002) and third trimesters (P=0.05). CONCLUSIONS Most pregnancies in the United Kingdom in women with kidney transplants are successful but rates of maternal and neonatal complications remain high.
Antifouling Activities against Colonizer Marine Bacteria of Extracts from Marine Invertebrates Collected in the Colombian Caribbean Sea and on the Brazilian Coast (Santa Catarina)

The growth inhibition of 12 native marine bacteria isolated from Aplysina sponge surfaces, the shell of a bivalve, and Phytagel™ immersed for 48 h in sea water were used as indicator of the antifouling activity of the extracts of 39 marine organisms (octocorals, sponges, algae, and zoanthid) collected in the Colombian Caribbean Sea and on the Brazilian coast (Santa Catarina). Gram-negative bacteria represented 75% of the isolates; identified strains belonged to Oceanobacillus iheyensis, Ochrobactrum pseudogrignonense, Vibrio campbellii, Vibrio harveyi, and Bacillus megaterium species and seven strains were classified at genus level by the 16S rRNA sequencing method. The extracts of the octocorals Pseudopterogorgia elisabethae, four Eunicea octocorals, and the sponges Topsentia ophiraphidites, Agelas citrina, Neopetrosia carbonaria, Monanchora arbuscula, Cliona tenuis, Iotrochota imminuta, and Ptilocaulis walpersii were the most active, thus suggesting those species as antifoulant producers. This is the first study of natural antifoulants from marine organisms collected on the Colombian and Brazilian coasts.
Filtering search: A new approach to query-answering

We introduce a new technique for solving problems of the following form: preprocess a set of objects so that those satisfying a given property with respect to a query object can be listed very effectively. Among well-known problems to fall into this category we find range query, point enclosure, intersection, near-neighbor problems, etc. The approach which we take is very general and rests on a new concept called fitering search. We show on a number of examples how it can be used to improve the complexity of known algorithms and simplify their implementations as well. In particular, filtering search allows us to improve on the worst-case complexity of the best algorithms known so far for solving the problems mentioned above.
Translating Allusions: When Minimum Change is Not Enough

Abstract: This paper presents a systematization of translation strategies for key-phrase allusions, in the form of a hierarchical decision process. Actual translatorial practice in Finland, judging by seven translations of novels, favours the strategy of minimum change. This low-effort strategy is useful when allusions are transcultural, but will often lead to flat translations and loss of connotations in the case of unfamiliar allusions, even resulting in a failure to convey the message, as evidenced by reader responses. Adoption of a more creative and reader-oriented translatorial role would offer a wider variety of translation strategies and lead to a decrease of "culture bumps" in translations.Resume: L'article presente une systematisation sous forme d'un processus de decision des strategies de traduction des allusions sans noms propres. La pratique traduisante en Finlande, a en juger par sept traductions de romans, favorise la strategie du moindre changement. Cette strategie fonctionne bien quand les allusions sont communes aux deux cultures, mais, dans le cas des allusions peu connues, elle entraine souvent des traductions plates et des pertes de connotations, et peut meme empecher la transmission du message, comme le montrent les reactions de lecteurs. Un role plus creatif et plus oriente vers le lecteur permettrait au traducteur d'avoir un plus grand choix entre differentes strategies de traduction, diminuant ainsi le nombre de "collisions culturelles".