Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Characterization of the Acid Stability of Glycosidically Linked Neuraminic Acid

The glycosidic linkage of sialic acids is much more sensitive to acid hydrolysis than those of other monosaccharides in vertebrates. The commonest sialic acids in nature are neuraminic acid (Neu)-based and are typicallyN-acylated at the C5 position. Unsubstituted Neu is thought to occur on native gangliosides of certain tumors and cell lines, and synthetic de-N-acetyl-gangliosides have potent biological properties in vitro. However, claims for their natural existence are based upon monoclonal antibodies and pulse-chase experiments, and there have been no reports of their chemical detection. Here we report that one of these antibodies shows nonspecific cross-reactivity with a polypeptide epitope, further emphasizing the need for definitive chemical proof of unsubstituted Neu on naturally occurring gangliosides. While pursuing this, we found that α2–3-linked Neu on chemically de-N-acetylated GM3 ganglioside resists acid hydrolysis under conditions where the N-acetylated form is completely labile. To ascertain the generality of this finding, we investigated the stability of glycosidically linked α- and β-methyl glycosides of Neu. Using NMR spectroscopy to monitor glycosidic linkage hydrolysis, we find that only 47% of Neuα2Me is hydrolyzed after 3 h in 10 mm HCl at 80 °C, whereas Neu5Acα2Me is 95% hydrolyzed after 20 min under the same conditions. Notably, Neuβ2Me is hydrolyzed even slower than Neuα2Me, indicating that acid resistance is a general property of glycosidically linked Neu. Taking advantage of this, we modified classical purification techniques for de-N-acetyl-ganglioside isolation using acid to first eliminate conventional gangliosides. We also introduce a phospholipase-based approach to remove contaminating phospholipids that previously hindered efforts to study de-N-acetyl-gangliosides. The partially purified sample can then be N-propionylated, allowing acid release and mass spectrometric detection of any originally existing Neu as Neu5Pr. These advances allowed us to detect covalently bound Neu in lipid extracts of a human melanoma tumor, providing the first chemical proof for naturally occurring de-N-acetyl-gangliosides.
Torres, Anália Cardoso (org.), Francisco Vieira da Silva, Teresa Líbano Monteiro, Miguel Cabrita, Homens e mulheres entre família e trabalho

Homens e mulheres entre familia e trabalho e um trabalho coordenado por Analia Cardoso Torres, uma autora que e uma importante referencia no âmbito dos estudos sobre a familia, e em particular sobre a conjugalidade. Esta obra, cuja base empirica mais importante e um inquerito por ques­tionario aplicado em 1999, procura anali­sar as diferentes dimensoes da divisao se­xual e familiar do trabalho pago e nao pago, abrindo caminho a melhor com­preensao das praticas que neste plano tem lugar no ter.
Optimization and Control of a Pendulum-driven Cart-pole System

This paper investigates the motion generation for a pendulum-driven cart-pole system. The dynamic model of this system is developed by using the Newton's law. A six-step motion strategy is simulated by using MATLAB/SIMULINK. The pendulum is driven by an open-loop controller to track the desired pendulum angular velocity profile. The optimal configuration which based on the profile is addressed under some specified conditions.
Deep Learning for Fatigue Estimation on the Basis of Multimodal Human-Machine Interactions

The new method is proposed to monitor the level of current physical load and accumulated fatigue by several objective and subjective characteristics. It was applied to the dataset targeted to estimate the physical load and fatigue by several statistical and machine learning methods. The data from peripheral sensors (accelerometer, GPS, gyroscope, magnetometer) and brain-computing interface (electroencephalography) were collected, integrated, and analyzed by several statistical and machine learning methods (moment analysis, cluster analysis, principal component analysis, etc.). The hypothesis 1 was presented and proved that physical activity can be classified not only by objective parameters, but by subjective parameters also. The hypothesis 2 (experienced physical load and subsequent restoration as fatigue level can be estimated quantitatively and distinctive patterns can be recognized) was presented and some ways to prove it were demonstrated. Several "physical load" and "fatigue" metrics were proposed. The results presented allow to extend application of the machine learning methods for characterization of complex human activity patterns (for example, to estimate their actual physical load and fatigue, and give cautions and advice).
A robust open ascending-price multi-unit auction protocol against false-name bids

This paper presents a new ascending-price multi-unit auction protocol. As far as the authors are aware, this is the first protocol that has an open format, and in which sincere bidding is an equilibrium strategy, even if the marginal utilities of each agent can increase and agents can submit false-name bids. As ever-increasing numbers of companies and consumers are trading on Internet auctions, a new type of cheating called "false-name bids" has been noticed. Specifically, there may be some agents with fictitious names such as multiple e-mail addresses. The VCG is not an open format, and truth-telling is no longer a dominant strategy if agents can submit false-name bids and the marginal utilities of each agent can increase. The Iterative Reducing (IR) protocol with a sealed-bid format is robust against false-name bids, although it requires the auctioneer to carefully pre-determine a reservation price for one unit. Open format protocols, such as the Ausubel auction, outperform sealed-bid format protocols in terms of the simplicity and privacy-preservation. These two advantages are said to encourage more agents to bid sincerely and to provide the seller with higher revenue. We extend the Ausubel auction to our proposed protocol which can handle the cases where the marginal utilities of each agent can increase. Moreover, it is robust against false-name bids and does not require the auctioneer to set a reservation price. Our simulation result indicates that our protocol herein obtains a social surplus close to Pareto efficient and that it outperforms the IR with respect to the social surplus and the seller's revenue.
Re-authoring narratives in a divorce recovery ministry

This study began from the pain of a woman going through divorce and experiencing invisibility in the church. Through conversations with divorced people in a small research group and a participatory research process, the study brings together the narratives of literature, narrative therapy and pastoral care to challenge the dominant discourses of divorce and its influence and effects on people's lives and the communities in which they live and worship. From the study has grown a healing ministry with people who are divorced, which has begun to tum around their experience of invisibility and isolation into an experience of community, inclusion and care. Sue Skidmore. M Th -specialising in Pastoral Narrative Therapy. CHAPTER ONE THE RESEARCH STUDY Sue Skidmore. A4. Th. ·specialising in Pastoral Narrative Therapy.
Mental disorder and violent victimization in a total birth cohort.

OBJECTIVE We examined the association between mental disorder and violent victimization in a general population sample. METHODS We performed a multivariate analysis of violent victimization in a 12-month period on a total birth cohort with follow-up data that assessed, during their 21st year, males and females born in Dunedin, New Zealand, in the early 1970s. RESULTS Compared with people with no mental disorder, (1) people with anxiety disorders experienced more sexual assaults, (2) people with schizophreniform disorders experienced more threatened and completed physical assaults, (3) people with alcohol dependence disorders experienced more completed physical assaults, and (4) people with marijuana dependence disorders experienced more attempted physical assaults. These results held after control for psychiatric comorbidity, demographic characteristics, and the study participants' own violent behavior. CONCLUSION Mentally disordered young adults tend to experience more violent victimization in the community than those without a mental disorder.
The aesthetics of rapidly-exploring random trees

Rapidly-Exploring Random Trees (RRTs) have been introduced as an algorithmic concept for the rapid exploration of configuration spaces targeting fast path planning, mainly applied in the field of robotics. Typically, such structured space organizations are only used on an algorithmic level but not for direct visual representation. In this paper, we illustrate the aesthetics of such RRTs by displaying them in a visual form that serves as a basis to generate algorithmic art. Apart from the visual encoding of such space-filling node-link diagrams, we demonstrate how these trees grow in the configuration space for RRT layouts with and without incremental distances from the initial point. Additionally, RRTs can be visually enhanced by several inherent tree metrics such as tree depth, subtree size, and branching factors to make the diagrams more aesthetically appealing and readable. We provide examples of different tree sizes and illustrate the effect of changes to several control parameters such as color coding, line segment thickness, layouts, and shape constraints.
Unchanged anaerobic and aerobic performance after short-term intermittent hypoxia.

INTRODUCTION Repeated short-term exposures to a severe degree of hypoxia, alternated with similar intervals of normoxia, are recommended for performance enhancement in sports. However, scientific evidence for the efficiency of this method is controversial with regard to anaerobic performance. Therefore, we conducted a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study to investigate the effects of this new method on both anaerobic and aerobic performance. METHODS During 15 consecutive days, 20 endurance-trained men (V O2max (mean +/- SD) 60.2 +/- 6.8 mL x kg(-1) x min(-1)) were exposed each day to breathing (through mouthpieces) either a gas mixture (11% O2 on days 1-7 and 10% O2 on days 8-15; hypoxia group, N = 10) or compressed air (control group, N = 10), six times for 6 min, followed by 4 min of breathing room air for a total of six consecutive cycles. Before and after the treatment, an incremental cycle ergometer test to exhaustion and the Wingate anaerobic test were performed to assess aerobic and anaerobic performance. RESULTS Hypoxic treatment did not improve peak power or mean power during the Wingate anaerobic test, nor did it affect maximal oxygen uptake (V O2max), maximal power output (Pmax), lactate threshold or levels of heart rate (HR), minute ventilation (V E), oxygen uptake (V O2), or blood lactate concentration at the submaximal workloads during the ergometer test. Maximal lactate concentration (Lamax) after the tests and HRmax and maximal respiratory exchange ratio (RERmax) during the ergometer test were not significantly different between groups at any time. CONCLUSION The results of this study demonstrated that 1 h of intermittent hypoxic exposure for 15 consecutive days has no effect on aerobic or anaerobic performance.
No Blacks Allowed: Segregated Gifted Education in the Context of Brown v. Board of Education

Abstract:This article examines the under-representation of Black students in gifted education, asserting that social inequalities (e.g., prejudice and discrimination) contribute to segregated gifted education programs. Under-representation trends are presented for gifted education, along with methods for calculating under-representation and then inequity goals. Philosophically, this article is grounded in disparate impact discourse, where outcome is more cogent than intent. Denying access to gifted education based on race is immoral and illegal. Pragmatically, under-representation is couched under the larger and more comprehensive achievement gaps and inequities in school settings with implications for de jure segregation. We discuss the under-representation of Black students in gifted education with Brown v. Board of Education as the legal foundation and then focus briefly on a recent court case in gifted education (McFadden v. Board of Education for Illinois School District U–46) for a contemporary point of discussion. Recommendations for desegregating gifted education for Black students regarding attitudes, instruments, and policies and procedures are provided.
Decentralized Adaptive Stabilization of Large-Scale Nonlinear Time-Delay Systems With Unknown High-Frequency-Gain Signs

In this technical note, we propose a decentralized adaptive output-feedback stabilizer for a class of large-scale nonlinear time-delay systems without a priori knowledge of subsystem high-frequency-gain signs. The time delays can be in the outputs of subsystems and in the interconnections among subsystems. Global asymptotic stabilization results have been proved and a simulation example is given. The note enlarges the class of large-scale nonlinear systems for which global decentralized adaptive stabilizer can be designed.
Temporal and Spatial Development of Axonal Maturation and Myelination of White Matter in the Developing Brain

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) has been widely used to investigate the development of white matter (WM). However, information about this development in healthy children younger than 2 years of age is lacking, and most previous studies have only measured fractional anisotropy (FA). This study used FA and radial and axonal diffusivities in children younger than 2 years of age, aiming to determine the temporal and spatial development of axonal maturation and myelination of WM in healthy children. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 60 healthy pediatric subjects were imaged by using a 3T MR imaging scanner. They were divided into 3 groups: 20 at 3 weeks, 20 at 1 year of age, and 20 at 2 years of age. All subjects were imaged asleep without sedation. FA and axial and radial diffusivities were obtained. Eight regions of interest were defined, including both central and peripheral WM for measuring diffusion parameters. RESULTS: A significant elevation in FA (P < .0001) and a reduction in axial and radial diffusivities (P < .0001) were observed from 22 days to 1 year of age, whereas only radial diffusivity showed significant changes (P = .0014) from 1 to 2 years of age. The region-of-interest analysis revealed that FA alone may not depict the underlying biologic underpinnings of WM development, whereas directional diffusivities provide more insights into the development of WM. Finally, the spatial development of WM begins from the central to the peripheral WM and from the occipital to the frontal lobes. CONCLUSIONS: With both FA and directional diffusivities, our results demonstrate the temporal and spatial development of WM in healthy children younger than 2 years of age.
CORONARY ARTERY DISEASE Original Studies Incidence and Angiographic Characteristics of Patients With Apical Ballooning Syndrome (Takotsubo/Stress Cardiomyopathy) in the HORIZONS-AMI Trial: An Analysis From a Multicenter, International Study of ST-elevation Myocardial Infarction

Objectives: To determine the incidence, clinical characteristics, and the coronary angiographic features of patients with apical ballooning syndrome (ABS) among those recruited into a large, prospective, international, multicenter trial. Background: ABS is an important entity in the differential diagnosis of ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI). Current data regarding ABS are limited to single center registries. Methods: Patients with ABS were identified, based on the Mayo Clinic diagnostic criteria, from those enrolled into the HORIZONSAMI trial. Quantitative angiography was performed by a core laboratory to identify the frequency and severity of coronary artery disease. Results: Among the 2,648 patients who had left ventriculography in addition to coronary angiography, 12 patients were identified with ABS. All patients were female and they were compared to the remaining 571 female patients with STEMI. Compared with patients with STEMI (97.9% of our cohort), patients with ABS (2.1%) had a lower prevalence (42% vs. 100%, P < 0.05) and severity (number of plaques measuring >30% diameter stenosis per patient: 0.58 6 0.90 vs. 4.13 6 2.68, P < 0.0001) of coronary artery disease. There were no in-hospital deaths or major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) in the ABS group vs. 2.1% and 3.7% respectively in the STEMI group, nor at 2-year follow up (death: 0% vs. 5.5%, MACE: 0% vs. 19.4%), but these differences were not statistically significant. Conclusions: In HORIZONS-AMI, ABS was identified exclusively in women (2.1% of female patients, 0.5% of all patients) and MACE were absent in this uncommon but important group of patients. Coronary artery disease was often present in patients with ABS, but its prevalence and severity was significantly less compared with STEMI patients. VC 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
RpoS role in virulence and fitness in enteropathogenic Escherichia coli

Enteropathogenic Escherichia coli (EPEC) is a diarrheagenic pathogen that afflicts infants in developing countries. The most important virulence trait of EPEC is its ability to intimately adhere to cells in the small intestine, and to elicit diarrhea. The alternative sigma factor RpoS is involved in the virulence of several bacterial species. RpoS coordinates the general stress response and accumulates in cells under stress or in the stationary phase. RpoS levels differ across E. coli strains. High-RpoS strains are highly resistant to environmental stresses, but usually display low nutritional competence, while low-RpoS strains show the opposite phenotype. Here we investigated whether RpoS plays a role in the virulence and fitness of two different EPEC strains, E2348/69 and LRT9. A rpoS null mutation had a small positive effect on LRT9 adherence to epithelial cells, but the expression of the EPEC adhesins BfpA and intimin was not significantly affected by the mutation. E2348/69 adherence was not significantly affected by the rpoS mutation. The intrinsic level of RpoS was higher in LRT9 than in E2348/69 while the latter adhered more strongly and expressed higher levels of the adhesin BfpA than the former. Knockout of rpoS strongly impaired resistance to oxidative, osmotic and acid stress in both E2348/69 and LRT9. However, strain E2348/69 was significantly more sensitive to oxidative stress than LRT9. Finally, competition assays showed that the rpoS mutant of LRT9 displayed higher fitness under continuous culture than its isogenic wild-type strain, while E2348/69 outcompeted its rpoS mutant. In conclusion, RpoS plays mostly a positive role in EPEC biology and at least in the case of strain E2348/69 it is not constrained by the trade-off between vegetative growth and stress resistance.
Safe at Any Speed: Fast, Safe Parallelism in Servers

Many applications take advantage of parallelism to increase performance. Servers are a particularly common case as they must multiplex resources across many simultaneous users. Unfortunately, writing concurrent applications is difficult and prone to subtle and non-deterministic bugs that are difficult to reproduce. We advocate an approach to developing concurrent programs that is safe by default. Conservative static analysis determines when two code segments may safely run in parallel, and a runtime scheduler respects these constraints. We have built an analyzer for event-driven servers that discovers data sharing to find safe parallelism among event handlers. As a prototype, the analysis currently considers only global data, assuming that request-specific data structures passed to event handlers are completely independent. We have also begun work on a runtime system that schedules event handler execution within the constraints determined by the analyzer. For performance reasons, the scheduler makes additional conservative assumptions about contention. We have analyzed thttpd, an event-driven web server. We show how our system can be used to increase performance without complex synchronization schemes.
Model Vestibular Nuclei Neurons Can Exhibit a Boosting Nonlinearity Due to an Adaptation Current Regulated by Spike-Triggered Calcium and Calcium-Activated Potassium Channels

In vitro studies have previously found a class of vestibular nuclei neurons to exhibit a bidirectional afterhyperpolarization (AHP) in their membrane potential, due to calcium and calcium-activated potassium conductances. More recently in vivo studies of such vestibular neurons were found to exhibit a boosting nonlinearity in their input-output tuning curves. In this paper, a Hodgkin-Huxley (HH) type neuron model, originally developed to reproduce the in vitro AHP, is shown to produce a boosting nonlinearity similar to that seen in vivo for increased the calcium conductance. Indicative of a bifurcation, the HH model is reduced to a generalized integrate-and-fire (IF) model that preserves the bifurcation structure and boosting nonliearity. By then projecting the neuron model’s phase space trajectories into 2D, the underlying geometric mechanism relating the AHP and boosting nonlinearity is revealed. Further simplifications and approximations are made to derive analytic expressions for the steady steady state firing rate as a function of bias current, μ, as well as the gain (i.e. its slope) and the position of its peak at μ = μ*. Finally, although the boosting nonlinearity has not yet been experimentally observed in vitro, testable predictions indicate how it might be found.
Probiotics as an adjuvant treatment in Helicobacter pylori eradication therapy

Over 80% of individuals infected with Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) are asymptomatic. Increased resistance to antibiotics and decreased compliance to the therapeutic regimens have led to the failure of eradication therapy. Probiotics, with direct and indirect inhibitory effects on H. pylori in both animal models and clinical trials, have recently been used as a supplementary treatment in H. pylori eradication therapy. Probiotics have been considered useful because of the improvements in H. pylori eradication rates and therapy‐related side effects although treatment outcomes using probiotics are controversial due to the heterogeneity of species, strains, doses and therapeutic duration of probiotics. Thus, despite the positive role of probiotics, several factors need to be further considered during their applications. Moreover, adverse events of probiotic use need to be noted. Further investigations into the safety of adjuvant probiotics to H. pylori eradication therapy are required.