Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Viral and nonviral delivery systems for gene delivery

Gene therapy is the process of introducing foreign genomic materials into host cells to elicit a therapeutic benefit. Although initially the main focus of gene therapy was on special genetic disorders, now diverse diseases with different patterns of inheritance and acquired diseases are targets of gene therapy. There are 2 major categories of gene therapy, including germline gene therapy and somatic gene therapy. Although germline gene therapy may have great potential, because it is currently ethically forbidden, it cannot be used; however, to date human gene therapy has been limited to somatic cells. Although numerous viral and nonviral gene delivery systems have been developed in the last 3 decades, no delivery system has been designed that can be applied in gene therapy of all kinds of cell types in vitro and in vivo with no limitation and side effects. In this review we explain about the history of gene therapy, all types of gene delivery systems for germline (nuclei, egg cells, embryonic stem cells, pronuclear, microinjection, sperm cells) and somatic cells by viral [retroviral, adenoviral, adeno association, helper-dependent adenoviral systems, hybrid adenoviral systems, herpes simplex, pox virus, lentivirus, Epstein-Barr virus)] and nonviral systems (physical: Naked DNA, DNA bombardant, electroporation, hydrodynamic, ultrasound, magnetofection) and (chemical: Cationic lipids, different cationic polymers, lipid polymers). In addition to the above-mentioned, advantages, disadvantages, and practical use of each system are discussed.
The Effects of a Supportive Communication Training Workshop on the Verbal Behavior of Behavior Analysts

This study evaluated the effectiveness of a workshop designed to train behavior analysts to use supportive verbal behavior during distressing situations. Participants were trained to provide descriptive, empathetic and hopeful statements using instructions, rationales, modeling, roleplay, feedback, and rehearsal. A pre-post design was used to analyze the effects of the training on verbal and non-verbal behaviors of four females during simulation scenarios. Results indicate all four participants provided maximum support statements above pre-training levels during post-training simulation and written assessments. The importance of behavior analysts engaging in supportive behavior, as well as the difficulties involved in measuring constructs such as intent and timing of verbal responses, is discussed.
Are Immigrant Youth Less Violent? Specifying the Reasons and Mechanisms

In this article, the authors present an overview of the relationship between immigrant households and crime and violence, drawing on sociological and public health literature. They present a critique of popular culture perspectives on immigrant families and youth violence, showing that crime and violence outcomes are if anything better for youth in immigrant families than one would expect given the social disadvantages that many immigrant households find themselves living in. They examine the extent to which exposure to violence among immigrant youth is comparably lower than among nonimmigrants living in similar social contexts and the extent to which social control and social learning frameworks can account for the apparent lower prevalence of violence exposure among immigrant youth. Their analyses show a persistent lower rate of violence exposure for immigrant youth compared to similarly situated nonimmigrant youth—and that these differences are not meaningfully understood by observed social control or social learning mechanisms. The authors focus then on the apparent paradox of why youth living in immigrant households in relative disadvantage have lower violence exposure compared to nonimmigrants living in similar social contexts. The answers, they argue, can be viewed from an examination of the effects that living in poverty and underclass neighborhoods for generations has on nonimmigrants in American cities.
Hierarchical RSS-Based Indoor Positioning Using a Markov Random Field Model

Locating indoor object's position is a fundamental application in many industries. As a low cost and universal implementation in wireless sensor networks (WSN), received signal strength (RSS) based positioning faces challenges of interfered measurements introduced by multiple sources. In order to improve the location prediction accuracy, we proposed a Markov random field model for indoor positioning applications. A conditional distribution is adopted to quantify the RSS measurement quality used in prediction. A hierarchical algorithm is presented to lower the computational complexity. Experiments illustrated that the proposed approach rendered promising positioning accuracy.
Change and invariance in EU aggregate financial statement data

Aggregate accounting data from the BACH data base for European manufacturing companies is used to explore the nature of the differences in financial structure between eleven countries in the European Union over the period 1986-1999. The analysis relies on scaling methods, which visualise the most important features of the data and their dynamic evolution. It is found that there is a geographical divide in the EU, which appears to be related to company profitability and staff cost structure. The differences between countries are influenced by the economic cycle, being more accentuated in periods of low economic activity.
Eddy‐current probe impedance due to a volumetric flaw

Eddy current induced in a metal by a coil carrying an alternating current may be perturbed by the presence of any macroscopic defects in the material, such as cracks, surface indentations, or inclusions. In eddy‐current nondestructive evaluation, defects are commonly sensed by a change of the coil impedance resulting from perturbations in the electromagnetic field. This paper describes theoretical predictions of eddy‐current probe responses for surface cracks with finite opening. The theory expresses the electromagnetic field scattered by a three‐dimensional flaw as a volume integral with a dyadic kernel. Probe signals are found by first solving an integral equation for the field at the flaw. The field equation is approximated by a discrete form using the moment method and a numerical solution found using conjugate gradients. The change in probe impedance due to a flaw is calculated from the flaw field. Predictions of the theory are compared with experimental impedances due to eddy‐current interaction with a rectangular surface breaking slot. Good agreement is found between predictions and the measurements.
Effects of two physical education programmes on health- and skill-related physical fitness of Albanian children

Abstract This study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of two school-based physical education (PE) programmes (exercise-based and games-based) compared with traditional PE, on health- and skill-related physical fitness components in children in Tirana, Albania. Participants were 378 first-grade (6.8 years) and 389 fourth-grade (9.8 years) children attending four randomly selected schools in Tirana. Twenty-four school classes within these schools were randomly selected (stratified by school and school grade) to participate as exercise group (EG), games group (GG) and control group (CG). Both EG and GG intervention programmes were taught by professional PE teachers using station/circuit teaching framework while CG referred to traditional PE school lessons by a general teacher. All programmes ran in parallel and lasted 5 months, having the same frequency (twice weekly) and duration (45 min). Heart rate (HR) monitoring showed that intensity during PE lessons was significantly higher in the intervention groups compared with control (P < 0.001). Both PE exercise- and games programmes significantly improved several health- and skill-related fitness indicators compared with traditional PE lessons (e.g. gross motor skill summary score: 9.4 (95% CI 7.9; 10.9) for exercise vs. control and 6.5 (95% CI 5.1; 8.1) for games vs. control, cardiorespiratory fitness: 2.0 ml O2 · min−1 · kg−1 (95% CI 1.5; 2.4) for exercise vs. control and 1.4 ml O2 · min−1 · kg−1 (95% CI 1.0; 1.8) for games vs. control). Furthermore, compared to games-based PE, exercise-based PE showed more positive changes in some gross motor coordination skills outcomes, coordination skills outcomes and cardiorespiratory fitness. The results from this study show that exercise- and games-based PE represents a useful strategy for improving health- and skill-related physical fitness in Albanian elementary school children. In addition, the study shows that exercise-based PE was more effective than games-based PE in improving gross motor function and cardiorespiratory fitness.
Macrophage oxygen-dependent antimicrobial activity. I. Susceptibility of Toxoplasma gondii to oxygen intermediates

A sensitive method for evaluating extracellular parasite viability was used to determine the in vitro susceptibility of virulent Toxoplasma gondii to selected oxygen intermediates. By acridine orange fluorescent staining criteria, toxoplasmas were resistant to up to either 10(-3) M reagent H2O2 or H2O2 generated by glucose-glucose oxidase. In keeping with a lack of sensitivity to H2O2, toxoplasmas contained endogenous catalase (5.7 x 10(-4) Baudhuin units/10(6) organisms). The addition of a peroxidase and halide, however, markedly accelerated killing and lowered the H2O2 requirement by 1,000-fold. In contrast, toxoplasmas were promptly killed after exposure to products generated by xanthine (1.5 x 10(-4) M) and xanthine oxidase (50 micrograms). The inhibition of this system's microbicidal activity by scavengers of O2- (superoxide dismutase) and H2O2 (catalase) indicated that although neither O2- nor H2O2 were toxoplasmacidal, their interaction was required for parasite killing. Quenching OH. and 1O2, presumed products of O2--H2O2 interaction, by mannitol, benzoate, diazabicyclooctane, and histidine, also inhibited toxoplasma killing by xanthine-xanthine oxidase. These findings suggested that O2- and H2O2 functioned in precursor roles and that OH. and 1O2 were toxoplasmacidal. The capacity of normal peritoneal macrophages to pinocytose an oxygen intermediate scavenger, soluble catalase, was also demonstrated. Appreciable extraphagosomal concentrations of catalase were achieved by exposing macrophages to 1 mg/ml of the enzyme for 3 h. Maintenance of high intracellular levels required constant exposure because interiorized catalase was rapidly degraded.
Creating a collaborative leadership network: an organic view of change

This study investigated the value of the West Alabama Learning Coalition, a multiinstitutional organization in rural Alabama, as perceived by its members, a diverse group of professionals in schools, universities, community colleges, businesses, and social service agencies. Documents, observations, and interviews were the data collection tools in this qualitative research study. Factors that motivated members to join and remain involved in the network are reported. The analysis resulted in a view of the coalition as a dynamic and organic creative entity that fosters synergy, empowered and shared leadership, and personal and organizational transformation.
Introduction to the Major Contribution

This article introduces the Major Contribution, which focuses on online counseling. Several acronyms and terms are presented to familiarize the reader with distance-communication technology, including a definition of online counseling. The authors show how counseling psychology provides a framework for specific questions related to the theory, research, and practice of online counseling. In addition, they discuss counseling psychology’s emphasis on the scientist-practitioner model, history of process and outcome research, and unifying themes to provide a context for the succeeding articles on the research and practice of online counseling.
thesis for the degree of doctor of philosophy Influence of Electron Charge States in Nanoelectronic Building Blocks

The continued efforts to improve performance and decrease size of semiconductor logic devices are facing serious challenges. In order to further develop one of the most important nanoelectronic building blocks, the metal-oxide-semiconductor fieldeffect-transistor (MOSFET), several major problems have to be solved. This thesis deals with the influence of charge states on two specific issues related to the continued scaling of the MOSFET, the increasing source/drain resistance and the need for a high-k oxide in the MOS gate stack. A silicon nanowire with Schottky source/drain contacts is fabricated on a siliconon-insulator substrate using electron-beam lithography. It is shown analytically and experimentally how the introduction of positive charge in the oxide surrounding the wire lowers the effective Schottky barrier due to the added dipole potentials. By using the backside as a gate and measuring the current through the wire as a function of temperature, effective barrier heights of the source and drain contacts can be extracted. The Al/HfO2/Si MOS structure has been studied in detail using electrical characterization methods primarily based on capacitance and conductance measurements. In particular, the properties of charge traps at the HfO2/Si interface have been studied and it is shown that they resemble the traps found for SiO2/Si interfaces, pointing to the existence of Pb centers also for high-k oxides. It has also been found that an interlayer exists between the HfO2 and Si regions. This transition region is an SiOx-like material with a graded composition which can explain the occurrence of Pb-like traps at the interface. Furthermore the classical conductance method for investigations of oxide-semiconductor interfaces is extended in order to more accurately determine the energy dependence of capture cross sections. For traps at the interface, it is found that two different capture mechanisms dominate in different energy intervals: phonon cascade capture close to the conduction band and multi-phonon capture for deeper states.
Impact of Optimized Operations AB, AC and AB + CD in Scalar Multiplication over Binary Elliptic Curve

A scalar multiplication over a binary elliptic curve consists of a sequence of hundreds of multiplications, squarings and additions. This sequence of ﬁeld operations often involves a large amount of operations of type AB, AC and AB + CD . In this paper, we modify classical polynomial multiplication algorithms to obtain optimized algorithms which perform these particular operations AB, AC and AB + CD . We then present software implementation results of scalar multiplication over binary elliptic curve over two platforms: Intel core 2 duo and Intel core i5. These experimental results show some signiﬁcant improvements due to the proposed optimizations and our results are better than the recently published implementation results [12] of double-and-add scalar multiplication.
Nitric oxide serves as an endogenous regulator of neuronal adenosine A1 receptor expression

Nitric oxide (NO) radicals are produced during normal cellular function, after tissue injury, and in response to immune system activation during infection. The transformation of NO to peroxynitrite is essential for mediating some of its physiological and/or cytotoxic actions. As the expression of the adenosine A1 receptor (A1AR) is regulated by oxidative stress, we evaluated the role of NO in the regulation of A1AR expression, a G protein‐coupled receptor involved in cytoprotection in the central nervous system. Administration of the NO donor, S‐nitrosylpenicillamine (SNAP), to pheochromocytoma 12 (PC12) cells increased A1AR protein in a time‐ and dose‐dependent manner, with maximal induction observed with 20 µm SNAP at 24 h. The response to SNAP was attenuated by the NO scavenger 2‐(4‐carboxyphenyl)‐4,4,5,5‐tetramethylimidazoline‐1‐oxyl‐3 oxide (C‐PTIO), and by the inhibition of nuclear factor‐κB (NF‐κB), implicating this transcription factor in the regulatory process. In addition SNAP also increased the degradation of Inhibitory κB‐α (IκB‐α), a marker of NF‐κB activation. Furthermore, the induction of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) by lipopolysaccharide increased A1AR in PC12 cells and in mice, whereas the inhibition of NOS activity suppressed this response. We conclude that NO, via the activation of NF‐κB, serves as an endogenous regulator of A1AR, and speculate that the induction of the A1AR could counteract the cytotoxicity of NO.
Growing an n-gram language model

Traditionally, when building an n-gram model, we decide the span of the model history, collect the relevant statistics and estimate the model. The model can be pruned down to a smaller size by manipulating the statistics or the estimated model. This paper shows how an n-gram model can be built by adding suitable sets of n-grams to a unigram model until desired complexity is reached. Very high order n-grams can be used in the model, since the need for handling the full unpruned model is eliminated by the proposed technique. We compare our growing method to entropy based pruning. In Finnish speech recognition tests, the models trained by the growing method outperform the entropy pruned models of similar size.
A Cooperative School Model to Promote Intercultural Dialogue between Citizens-to-Be

This article introduces the European comparative results of the national report written by the author for the international project supported by the European Commission, ‘Strategies for Supporting Schools and Teachers in Order to Foster Social Inclusion’, It focuses on one of the main issues and the specific methodology of the French report. The development of international exchanges has led to both growing inequality between citizens from the same country and a growing number of new immigrant populations arriving for economic or political reasons. No European Union member state can be quite as irrational as to ignore them or to neglect the debate on how we can live together on the same soil. Although European countries have chosen the same type of market economy and democratic society, they do not have the same view about the kind of society and schools that will best serve their goals. In particular, their education and social policies are not inspired by the same paradigms and concepts with regard to social exclusion, education or citizenship within the state. Through research results and case studies, this research develops a cooperative school model based on teachers' initiatives and ‘community development’ to prepare citizens-to-be to support citizens in a free and equal community. Intercultural dialogue is a key factor for achieving such a target.
Entropy and temperature of black 3-branes.

We consider slightly nonextremal black 3-branes of type IIB supergravity and show that their Bekenstein-Hawking entropy agrees, up to a mysterious factor, with an entropy derived by counting non-BPS excitations of the Dirichlet 3-brane. These excitations are described in terms of the statistical mechanics of a (3+1)-dimensional gas of massless open string states. This is essentially the classic problem of blackbody radiation. The blackbody temperature is related to the temperature of the Hawking radiation. We also construct a solution of type IIB supergravity describing a 3-brane with a finite density of longitudinal momentum. For extremal momentum-carrying 3-branes the horizon area vanishes. This is in agreement with the fact that the BPS entropy of the momentum-carrying Dirichlet 3-branes is not an extensive quantity. {copyright} {ital 1996 The American Physical Society. }
A simple solution for the non perspective three point pose problem

Non-Perspective Three Point Pose (NP3P) problem is a generalization of the classical three point pose problem for the case of multi-camera that have no common projection center. In this paper, we develop a simple, minimal algebraic solution to the NP3P problem where the projection rays of three points may have arbitrary but known directions. This problem is known to have a maximum of eight solutions. The problem is formulated mathematically as the solution of three multivariate polynomials. The technique of Sylvester matrix resultants of two equations is used to obtain an eighth order polynomial that can be solved to yield the pose parameters. The accuracy and computational cost of the new method is compared to other methods reported in the literature and it was found to have comparable accuracy with less computational cost.
CLASS B0445+123: a new two-image gravitational lens system

A new two-image gravitational lens system has been discovered as a result of the Cosmic Lens All-Sky Survey. Radio observations with the Very Large Array (VLA), the MultiElement Radio Linked Interferometer Network and the Very Long Baseline Array at increasingly higher resolutions all show two components with a flux density ratio of similar to7 : 1 and a separation of 1.34 arcsec. Both components are compact and have the same spectral index. Follow-up observations made with the VLA at 8.4 GHz show evidence of a feature to the south-east of the brighter component and a corresponding extension of the weaker component to the north-west. Optical observations with the William Herschel Telescope show similar to1.7-arcsec extended emission aligned in approximately the same direction as the separation between the radio components with an R -band magnitude of 21.8 +/- 0.4.
Two Paths Diverged

This research examines the antecedents that motivate and prepare social entrepreneurs to begin social ventures. Drawing from in-depth interviews with 20 social entrepreneurs, this research reveals that there are two paths to social entrepreneurship: the activist path and the business path. Both activist and business social entrepreneurs were motivated by a family legacy or a transformative early adulthood experience as the moral basis for forming a social venture, and both suggested that prior work experience was instrumental in helping them launch their social venture. However, activist social entrepreneurs were likely to form their social venture as a continuation of their ongoing work on a social issue. In contrast, business social entrepreneurs’ first activity on a social issue was to form a social venture. This research suggests that these two different paths to social entrepreneurship result in different types of social ventures.
Pricing for Utility-Driven Resource Management and Allocation in Clusters

Users perceive varying levels of utility for each different job completed by the cluster. Therefore, there is a need for existing cluster resource management systems (RMS) to provide a means for the user to express its perceived utility during job submission. The cluster RMS can then obtain and consider these user-centric needs such as Quality-of-Service requirements in order to achieve utility-driven resource management and allocation. We advocate the use of computational economy for this purpose. In this paper, we describe an architectural framework for a utility-driven cluster RMS. We present a user-level job submission specification for soliciting user-centric information that is used by the cluster RMS for making better resource allocation decisions. In addition, we propose a dynamic pricing function that the cluster owner can use to determine the level of sharing within a cluster. Finally, we define two user-centric performance evaluation metrics: Job QoS Satisfaction and Cluster Profitability for measuring the effectiveness of the proposed pricing function in realizing utility-driven resource management and allocation.