Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Conditional and inducible transgene expression in mice through the combinatorial use of Cre-mediated recombination and tetracycline induction

Here we describe a triple transgenic mouse system, which combines the tissue specificity of any Cre-transgenic line with the inducibility of the reverse tetracycline transactivator (rtTA)/tetracycline-responsive element (tet-O)-driven transgenes. To ensure reliable rtTA expression in a broad range of cell types, we have targeted the rtTA transgene into the ROSA26 locus. The rtTA expression, however, is conditional to a Cre recombinase-mediated excision of a STOP region from the ROSA26 locus. We demonstrate the utility of this technology through the inducible expression of the vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF-A) during embryonic development and postnatally in adult mice. Our results of adult induction recapitulate several different hepatic and immune cell pathological phenotypes associated with increased systemic VEGF-A protein levels. This system will be useful for studying genes in which temporal control of expression is necessary for the discovery of the full spectrum of functions. The presented approach abrogates the need to generate tissue-specific rtTA transgenes for tissues where well-characterized Cre lines already exist.
Regulation of macula densa Na:H exchange by angiotensin II.

BACKGROUND Angiotensin II (Ang II) is a positive modulator of tubuloglomerular feedback (TGF). At the present time, the site(s) at which Ang II interacts with the signal transmission process remains unknown. In certain renal epithelia, Ang II is known to stimulate apical Na:H exchange. Since macula densa cells possess an apical Na:H exchanger and Ang II subtype I receptors (AT1-receptors), we tested the possibility that Ang II might stimulate exchanger activity in these cells. METHODS Using the isolated perfused thick ascending limb with attached glomerulus preparation dissected from rabbit kidney, macula densa intracellular pH (pHi) was measured with fluorescence microscopy using BCECF. RESULTS Control pHi, during perfusion with 25 mM NaCl and 150 mM NaCl in the bath, averaged 7.22 +/- 0.02 (N = 24). Increasing luminal [NaCl] to 150 mM elevated pHi by 0.54 +/- 0.04 (N = 7, P < 0.01). Ang II (10(-9) M), added to the bath in the same paired experiments, significantly elevated baseline pHi by 0.17 +/- 0.04, increased the magnitude of change in pHi (delta = 0.71 +/- 0.05) and initial rate of alkalinization (by 69%) to increased luminal [NaCl]. Ang II produced similar effects when added exclusively to the luminal perfusate. In addition, low-dose Ang II (10(-9) M) stimulated while high-dose Ang II (10(-6) M) inhibited Na-dependent pH-recovery from an acid load. AT1 blockade prevented the stimulatory but not the inhibitory effects of Ang II. CONCLUSION Through the AT1, Ang II may influence macula densa Na transport and regulate cell alkalinization via the apical Na:H exchanger. Thus, Ang II may modulate the TGF signal transmission process, at least in part, through a direct effect on macula densa cell function.
On partial discharge measurement in dielectric liquids

Partial discharge detection in dielectric liquids requires particular PD measurement techniques and instruments. Simultaneous partial discharge (PD) measurements that are employed on insulating liquids, using dual narrow/wide band detectors, are described. Narrow band PD detectors, which are of the integrating type are suitable for the measurement of the total charge transfer in pC of the overall discharge event. Wide band measurement techniques permit the acquisition of the discrete PD pulses in dielectric liquids, that comprise the overall PD pulse burst signal. These PD pulse bursts are comprised of discrete high frequency pulses of usually ascending magnitude charge transfers. The time position of these pulses within the pulse burst is determined by the times at which the Paschen's minima occur across the expanding cavity due to the small size of the microcavities. In order for them to undergo discharge requires enormously high internal pressures (ca 10 MPa) to ensure a sufficient number of charge carriers. The life duration of these cavities is of the order of several's, with the cavity collapsing, when its size reaches dynamic instability.
Dynamics in grammar : comment on Ladd and Ernestus & Baayen *

The derivational view of phonetics-phonology (Ladd, this volume) expresses an intuition that seems valid, namely, that there is a distinction to be made between quantitative and qualitative aspects of phonetics-phonology. Incomplete neutralization (Ernestus and Baayen, this volume) and other phenomena like it indicate that the specific way of drawing that distinction is too rigid. At the same time, these phenomena underscore the need for a different formal language, where discrete and continuous aspects of phonetics-phonology can interact. A way of reconciling the core intuition of the derivational view with phenomena like incomplete neutralization is proposed using the mathematics of nonlinear dynamics. This allows one to integrate the continuous and the discrete without the additional postulate that phonology is derivationally antecedent to phonetics.
Modeling and Decoupling Control for Two-Wheeled Self-Balancing Robot

Dynamic modeling and state feedback control are presented for the two-wheeled self-balancing control robot (TWSBR) which is high-order, nonlinear, heavy couple and unstable. Firstly, Newtonian dynamics method is derived to obtain the dynamics equations of TWSBR nearby the equilibrium point. Secondly, some important performances are analyzed to manifest that TWSBR is heavy coupling and two decoupling controller are designed to constitute a decoupling control system. Finally, state feed-back controller is designed on the basis of linear quadratic optimal control, to realize the balancing and motion control. Simulation and experiment results manifest the effectiveness and feasibility of the designed methods to deal with such under-actuated TWSBR system.
Middle School Students' Perceptions of Effective Motivation and Preparation Factors for High-Stakes Tests

This mixed-methods study examines young adolescents' perceptions of strategies implemented before a state-mandated “high-stakes” test. Survey results for Grade 8 students (N = 215) are analyzed by sex, academic group, and preparation team. Letters to the principal are reviewed for convergence and additional themes. Although students were most motivated by extrinsic rewards, those whose teachers developed students' self-efficacy and positively used attribution theory were less influenced. Letters revealed parental impact on students' attitudes and performance. Implications are addressed.
The real world significance of performance prediction

In recent years, the educational data mining and user modeling communities have been aggressively introducing models for predicting student performance on external measures such as standardized tests as well as within-tutor performance. While these models have brought statistically reliable improvement to performance prediction, the real world significance of the differences in errors has been largely unexplored. In this paper we take a deeper look at what reported errors actually mean in the context of high stakes test score prediction as well as student mastery prediction. We report how differences in common error and accuracy metrics on prediction tasks translate to impact on students and depict how standard validation methods can lead to overestimated accuracies in these prediction tasks. Two years of student tutor use and corresponding student state test scores are used for the analysis of test prediction while a simulation study is conducted to investigate the correspondence between performance prediction error and latent knowledge prediction.
Penetration of Meropenem and Cefepim into Pancreatic Tissue During the Course of Experimental Acute Pancreatitis

Introduction Recent data from experimental and clinical studies suggest that the antibiotics showing good penetration into the pancreas may reduce mortality by preventing pancreatic infection, which is the most important prognostic factor in acute pancreatitis. Aim To determine and compare pancreatic tissue concentrations of meropenem and cefepime at different stages of acute necrotizing pancreatitis in an animal model that has been shown to closely mimic severe human pancreatitis. Methodology Acute necrotizing pancreatitis was induced in rats by a standardized intraductal infusion of glycodeoxycholic acid and intravenous cerulein. Six hours (n = 30) and 48 hours (n = 30) after induction of pancreatitis, the rats were randomized to receive an intravenous 20 mg/kg injection of either meropenem or cefepime. Blood and the head of the pancreas were collected for determining antibiotic concentrations by high-performance liquid chromatography. Results Meropenem concentrations in the pancreas at 6 hours of acute pancreatitis increased significantly and decreased at 48 hours of the disease, but were still higher than that in controls. Concentrations of cefepime in necrotic pancreatic tissue were significantly low either during the initial or later phase, but lower in latter, in which the necrosis was more evident. Tissue/serum concentration ratios of meropenem were significantly higher than those of cefepime. However, tissue concentrations of both antibiotics are much higher than the minimum inhibitory concentration values for the common microorganisms involved in pancreatic infections. Conclusion Although both antibiotics penetrate into the necrotic tissue in sufficient therapeutic concentrations, penetration of meropenem is much better than cefepime. However, good tissue penetration may not solely indicate efficacy of that antibiotic. Therefore, further experimental and clinical studies are needed to determine the therapeutic and prognostic efficacy of these agents.
A new optic disc detection method in retinal images based on concentric circular mask

Because of the retinal lesions, non-uniform illumination, contrast and other effects, it is a challenging task to accurately detect and localize the optic disc in retinal image. The optic disc is a region of circular or elliptical shape with a higher luminance, and its size is substantially fixed. This paper presents a simple and effective algorithm for the detection of the optic disc by using a concentric circular convolution mask with varying size. We do the convolution by fast Fourier transform. Besides, image enhancement and vascular segmentation are not required in the retinal image preprocessing, so it takes less time. We validated the proposed algorithm in three public datasets, with the accuracy rate of 95%, 98.88% and 100%. For the retinal fundus image with a resolution of 565 ∗ 584, the average running time is 1.1s.
Evaluation of a Rapid One-step Real-time PCR Method as a High-throughput Screening for Quantification of Hepatitis B Virus DNA in a Resource-limited Setting

Virological monitoring is the best predictor for the management of chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infections. Consequently, it is important to use the most efficient, rapid and cost-effective testing systems for HBV DNA quantification. The present study compared the performance characteristics of a one-step HBV polymerase chain reaction (PCR) vs the two-step HBV PCR method for quantification of HBV DNA from clinical samples. A total of 100 samples consisting of 85 randomly selected samples from patients with chronic hepatitis B (CHB) and 15 samples from apparently healthy individuals were enrolled in this study. Of the 85 CHB clinical samples tested, HBV DNA was detected from 81% samples by one-step PCR method with median HBV DNA viral load (VL) of 7.50 × 103 lU/ml. In contrast, 72% samples were detected by the two-step PCR system with median HBV DNA of 3.71 × 103 lU/ml. The one-step method showed strong linear correlation with two-step PCR method (r = 0.89; p < 0.0001). Both methods showed good agreement at Bland-Altman plot, with a mean difference of 0.61 log10 IU/ml and limits of agreement of -1.82 to 3.03 log10 IU/ml. The intra-assay and interassay coefficients of variation (CV%) of plasma samples (4-7 log10 IU/ml) for the one-step PCR method ranged between 0.33 to 0.59 and 0.28 to 0.48 respectively, thus demonstrating a high level of concordance between the two methods. Moreover, elimination of the DNA extraction step in the one-step PCR kit allowed time-efficient and significant labor and cost savings for the quantification of HBV DNA in a resource limited setting. How to cite this article Rashed-Ul Islam SM, Jahan M, Tabassum S. Evaluation of a Rapid One-step Real-time PCR Method as a High-throughput Screening for Quantification of Hepatitis B Virus DNA in a Resource-limited Setting. Euroasian J Hepato-Gastroenterol 2015;5(1):11-15.
Memory Performance and Cache Coherency Effects on an Intel Nehalem Multiprocessor System

Today's microprocessors have complex memory subsystems with several cache levels. The efficient use of this memory hierarchy is crucial to gain optimal performance, especially on multicore processors. Unfortunately, many implementation details of these processors are not publicly available. In this paper we present such fundamental details of the newly introduced Intel Nehalem microarchitecture with its integrated memory controller, Quick Path Interconnect, and ccNUMA architecture. Our analysis is based on sophisticated benchmarks to measure the latency and bandwidth between different locations in the memory subsystem. Special care is taken to control the coherency state of the data to gain insight into performance relevant implementation details of the cache coherency protocol. Based on these benchmarks we present undocumented performance data and architectural properties.
An Automatic Cache Generator for Stratix FPGAs

Caches have been used to successfully alleviate the degradation in performance caused by accessing slow storage components, and hence have become a prominent part of memory hierarchy. In this thesis, a cache generator is proposed which can produce a variety of different caches with different sizes. This allows designers to effortlessly create, alter, and examine different caches in order to best meet the needs of their target system. The target of these cache designs is for FPGA designs, specifically, Altera's Stratix FPGA. Analysis of the area and speed of the generated designs demonstrated that the designs can meet a wide range of design specifications and are in general fast and low-cost cache designs. iii Acknowledgements
Interests and Structure in Dualist Social Theory

This article evaluates the structural conception of interests developed by Margaret Archer as part of her dualist version of critical realism. It argues that this structural analysis of interests is untenable because, first, Archer’s account of the causal influence of interests on agents is contradictory and, second, Archer fails to offer a defensible account of her claim that interests influence agents by providing reasons for action. These problems are explored in relation to Archer’s theoretical and empirical work. I argue for an alternative account of interests that focuses on agents’ understandings of their interests and problems with these understandings.
Analysis of Detection and Prevention Techniques Against SQL Injection Vulnerabilities

SQL injection attacks create a serious security hazard to Web applications they allow attackers to obtain unrestricted access to the databases underlying the applications and to the potentially sensitive information these databases contain. In the last few months application-level vulnerabilities have been exploited with serious consequences by the hackers have tricked e-commerce sites into shipping goods for no charge, usernames and passwords have been harvested and confidential information such as addresses and credit-card numbers has been leaked. The reason for this occurrence is that web applications and detection systems do not know the attacks thoroughly and use limited sets of attack patterns during evaluation. Although researchers and practitioners have proposed various methods to address the SQL injection problem, current approaches either fail to address the full scope of the problem or have limitations that prevent their use and adoption. Many researchers and practitioners are familiar with only a subset of the wide range of techniques available to attackers who are trying to take advantage of SQL injection vulnerabilities. As a consequence, many solutions proposed in the literature address only some of the issues related to SQL injection. To address this problem, we present an extensive review of the different types of SQL injection attacks. We also present and analyze existing detection and prevention techniques against SQL injection attacks
Statistical challenges with modeling motor vehicle crashes: Understanding the implications of alternative approaches

There has been considerable research conducted over the last 20 years focused on predicting motor vehicle crashes on transportation facilities. The range of statistical models commonly applied includes binomial, Poisson, Poisson-gamma (or Negative Binomial), Zero-Inflated Poisson and Negative Binomial Models (ZIP and ZINB), and Multinomial probability models. Given the range of possible modeling approaches and the host of assumptions with each modeling approach, making an intelligent choice for modeling motor vehicle crash data is difficult at best. There is little discussion in the literature comparing different statistical modeling approaches, identifying which statistical models are most appropriate for modeling crash data, and providing a strong justification from basic crash principles. In recent years, for example, it has been suggested that the motor vehicle crash process can successfully be modeled by assuming a dual-state data generating process, which implies that entities (e.g., intersections, road segments, pedestrian crossings, etc.) exist in one of two states—perfectly safe and unsafe. As a result the ZIP and ZINB are two models that have been applied to account for the preponderance of “excess” zeros frequently observed in crash count data. The objective of this study is to provide defensible guidance on how to appropriate model crash data. We first examine the motor vehicle crash process using theoretical principles and a basic understanding of the crash process. It is shown that the fundamental crash process follows a Bernoulli trial with unequal probability of independent events, also known as Poisson trials. We examine the evolution of statistical models as they apply to the motor vehicle crash process, and indicate how well they statistically approximate the crash process. We also present the theory behind dual-state process count models, and note why they have become popular for modeling crash data. A simulation experiment is then conducted to demonstrate how crash data give rise to “excess” zeroes frequently observed in crash data. It is shown that the Poisson and other mixed probabilistic structures are approximations assumed for modeling the motor vehicle crash process. Furthermore, it is demonstrated that under certain (fairly common) circumstances excess zeroes are observed—and that these circumstances arise from low exposure and/or inappropriate selection of time/space scales and not an underlying dual state process. In conclusion, carefully selecting the time/space scales for analysis, including an improved set of explanatory variables and/or unobserved heterogeneity effects in count regression models, or applying small area statistical methods (observations with low exposure) represent the most defensible modeling approaches for datasets with a preponderance of zeros.
Quality model based on ISO/IEC 9126 for internal quality of MATLAB/Simulink/Stateflow models

In a model-based approach, models are considered as the prime artefacts for the software specification, design and implementation. Quality assurance for program codes has been discussed a lot, however equivalent methods for model quality assessment remain rareness. Assessing quality is of particular importance for technical models (e.g. MATLAB/Simulink/Stateflow models), since they are often used for production code generation. Our main contribution is a quality model based on ISO/IEC 9126, which defines the internal model quality as well as measures for the assessments. Our quality model shall not only show improvement potentials in model, but also provide evidence about quality evolution of a model.
Development and evaluation of a leaflet for concerned family members and friends: ‘It’s safe to talk about suicide’

Objectives: Significant others can play a key role in suicide prevention, but little attention has been given to the resources they may need in order to do so effectively. Based on previous qualitative research and working in partnership with suicide prevention charities, we developed a simple educational leaflet to help family members and friends recognise and respond to a possible suicidal crisis. We disseminated 15,000 copies through a wide range of community agencies within one English local authority. This paper describes the development, distribution and evaluation of the leaflet. The aim of the evaluation was to assess how the distribution strategy was working, whether the leaflet was regarded as useful and acceptable, how it was being used and whether there were any concerns about its content. Design: Interview study. Methods: We conducted two rounds of semi-structured telephone interviews with every agency on the distribution list and in-depth qualitative interviews with a purposefully selected sub-sample. Results: The leaflet was seen as filling an important gap. It was eagerly embraced by staff in frontline agencies, who passed it on to clients, used it for their own personal/professional development and to support clients or colleagues, or used it as a teaching aid. No concerns were raised about its content. Conclusion: Findings reveal a deep-seated fear of talking about suicide among frontline staff. They were using the leaflet in ways we had not anticipated, demonstrating lateral thinking and a real commitment to suicide prevention in agencies that are not typically associated with it.
The Generative Capacity of Digital Artifacts: A Mapping of the Field

The concept of generativity as the capacity of a technology or a system to be malleable by diverse groups of actors in unanticipated ways has recently gained considerable traction in information systems research. We review a sample of the body of knowledge and identify that scholars commonly investigated generativity in conjunction with digital infrastructures and digital platforms, both of which are complex, networked, and evolving socio-technical systems. Interestingly, other types of digital artifacts have been neglected, despite our initial assumption that the distinct attributes (e.g., reprogrammability, distributedness) of any digital artifact match well with generativity. The literature review also reveals that innovation brought about heterogeneous groups of actors is universally regarded as the goal of generativity, discounting the possibility of exploiting generative systems towards other valuable ends such as organizational agility. Furthermore, scholars commonly discuss generativity in conjunction with the logic of modularity, leading to unresolved questions on how these two concepts might complement each other. Another important contribution of this paper is the systematization of various meanings of generativity, spanning from the philosophical - e.g., generative mechanisms in critical realist research - to a more literal understanding, for instance generativity as synonym to ‘creation of a particular solution'.