Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Matricellular “Cysteine-Rich Protein 61” Is Released From Activated Platelets and Increased in the Circulation During Experimentally Induced Sepsis

ABSTRACT Sepsis and sepsis-induced organ dysfunction remain lethal and common conditions among intensive care patients. Accumulating evidence suggests that the matricellular Cyr61/CCN1 (cysteine-rich, angiogenic-inducer, 61) protein is involved in the regulation of inflammatory responses and possesses organ-protective capabilities in diseases of an inflammatory etiology. However, its regulation in sepsis remains largely unexplored. The present study provides a comprehensive description of CCN1 regulation in the circulation and vital organs during experimentally induced sepsis with developing organ dysfunction. Female CD-1 mice served as baseline controls or were subjected to cecal ligation and puncture (CLP) for 18 to 96 h, and CCN1 regulation was analyzed in selected organs and in the circulation. A 5-, 5-, and 3-fold increases in circulating CCN1 protein were observed at 18, 48, and 96 h after CLP, respectively. Hepatic and pulmonary CCN1 mRNA expression was down-regulated by 80%, 60%, and 55% and 85%, 80%, and 65% at 18, 48, and 96 h after CLP and undetectable in circulating white blood cells. To identify a potential source for the circulating protein, mouse and human platelets were explored and revealed to contain CCN1. Human platelets were stimulated by thrombin and a specific PAR1 agonist (SFLLRN) in vitro. Both agonists induced an instant CCN1 release, and the effect of SFLLRN was blocked by the specific antagonist RWJ56110. The current study demonstrates that experimental sepsis is associated with a robust increase in circulating CCN1 protein levels and a paradoxical downregulation of CCN1 mRNA expression in vital organs. It provides evidence that CCN1 is released from activated platelets, suggesting that platelets constitute a novel source for CCN1 release to the circulation during sepsis.
An extended nonlinear Hicks model of the cycle for a semi-open economy: Application to the USA (1960–2008)

This paper presents both an extended nonlinear Hicks model of the cycle for a semi-open economy and a method for deriving estimators based on Nonlinear Least Squares as a Numerical Optimization Problem. Hicks thought that fluctuations in investment, caused by nonlinear changes in autonomous investment and the acceleration principle governing induced investment, led to an adjustment process taking place throughout many periods. An empirical application for the US economy (1960-2008), demonstrates the validity of the model and its almost ideal fit to real world data.
Testing the Association between Foreclosure and Nearby House Values: Can Differences Deceive?

Given their powerful position in presidential cabinets, technocrats are an important transmission mechanism for explaining economic policy choices, but have received less attention compared to other wellestablished channels such as elections or democratic tenure. I incorporate the role of technocratic advisors into a domestic policymaking framework. Specifcally, I contend that left governments tend to appoint technocrats, or ministers with mainstream economics training, to signal their commitment to sound governance to the electorate. This partisan technocratic pattern, however, is conditioned by a countryâ€™s place in its business cycle. During periods of high growth, left governments are more likely to align with their partisan preferences and appoint heterodox advisors that drift from scal discipline. Employing an originally constructed data index, the Index of Economic Advisors, I conduct a statistical test of 16 Latin American countries from 1960 to 2011, finding partisan shifts in technocratic appointments and fiscal governance that are conditioned by national business cycles.
Noradrenergic Pathology in Psychiatric Disorders: Postmortem Studies

ABSTRACT In this paper, we review research utilizing postmortem brain tissue in order to investigate the potential neuropathology of the noradrenergic system in psychiatri disorders. The postmortem tissue approach to the study of the noradrenergic system has been used primarily in investigations of the biology of suicide and depression. Findings from postmortem studies provide data generally consisten with the hypothesis that a norepinephrine deficiency exist depression, and possibly in the victims of suicide. However postmortem studies do not presently provide irrefutable evidence of noradrenergic neuropathology. Technical shortcomings, issues of reproducibility, and the strengths postmortem research are reviewed. More rigorously performed postmortem research is needed to aid researchers in pinpointing specific neuropathologies associated with psychiatric disease.
Dynamic expression of neurogenic markers in the developing chick olfactory epithelium

Neurogenesis in the olfactory epithelium begins in early embryos and proceeds throughout life. A comparison of neurogenic marker expression at different developmental stages and at different axes of the olfactory epithelium has not been reported in a coordinated way. In this study, we have in detail compared the temporal and spatial expression patterns of the precursor markers Hes5, Cash1, Ngn1, and the neuronal markers Gap43, HuC/D, Lhx2 in the developing olfactory placode and epithelium in chick embryos from HH10 to HH34. We show that Hes5 starts to be expressed in cells of the prospective olfactory placode at HH10, earlier then previously reported. During olfactory pit stages, the expression of Hes5, Cash1, Ngn1, Gap43, HuC/D, and Lhx2 varies throughout the anterior‐posterior and superior‐inferior axis of the olfactory epithelium. By HH34, expression of the precursor and neuronal markers show the first signs of apical‐basal stratification of the epithelium. Developmental Dynamics 238:1617–1625, 2009. © 2009 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Diaphragmatic Hernia after Ivor-Lewis Esophagectomy Manifested as Lower Gastrointestinal Bleeding

Diaphragmatic hernia after esophageal resection is a recognized but rare complication. Parahiatal hernias may result from manipulation and extension of the crura during surgery. This can lead to a wide array of symptoms depending on the extent and organ that is herniated. A high index of suspicion is required because there is no one symptom that is specific for herniation. This report represents the first case of a patient presenting with lower gastrointestinal bleed from a parahiatal hernia after esophageal resection.
Toward development of a two-state brain–computer interface based on mental tasks

A recently collected EEG dataset is analyzed and processed in order to evaluate the performance of a previously designed brain–computer interface (BCI) system. The EEG signals are collected from 29 channels distributed over the scalp. Four subjects completed three sessions each by performing four different mental tasks during each session. The BCI is designed in such a way that only one of the mental tasks can activate it. One important advantage of this BCI is its simplicity, since autoregressive modeling and quadratic discriminant analysis are used for feature extraction and classification, respectively. The autoregressive order which yields the best overall performance is obtained during a fivefold nested cross-validation process. The results are promising as the false positive rates are zero while the true positive rates are sufficiently high (67.26% average).
Development of Vermont Assessment of Sex Offender Risk-2 (VASOR-2) Reoffense Risk Scale

The present study aimed to revise the Vermont Assessment of Sex Offender Risk (VASOR) Reoffense Risk Scale, a commonly used sex offender risk assessment tool. The revised tool was named the VASOR-2. Among models tested to revise the scale, a logistic regression model showed the best balance between simplicity of use, goodness of fit, and internal validity (as tested with K-10 cross-validation), and maximized predictive accuracy. Predictive accuracy was tested using four meta-analytically combined data sets drawn from Canada and Vermont (N = 1,581). At 5-year fixed follow-up, the predictive accuracy for sexual recidivism for VASOR-2 (AUC = .74) was similar to the VASOR (AUC = .71). The findings show the VASOR-2 is well calibrated with observed recidivism rates for all but the highest risk sex offenders. The instrument showed good interrater reliability (ICC = .88). An advantage of the VASOR-2 is that it has fewer items and simpler scoring instructions than the VASOR. Norms are presented for a contemporary, nonselected, routine sample of Vermont sex offenders (n = 887).
Comparison of two algorithms modifications of projective-invariant recognition of the plane boundaries with the one concavity

In this paper we present two algorithms modifications of projective-recognition of the plane boundaries with one concavity. The input images are created with orthographic pinhole camera with a fixed focal length. Thus variety of the possible projective transformations is limited. The first modification considers the task more generally, the other uses prior information about camera model. A hypothesis that the second modification has better accuracy is being checked. Results of around 20000 numeral experiments that confirm the hypothesis are included.
Thermal model of battery for high capacity energy storage systems cell scale model and experimental validation

This paper deals with thermal model of a lithium ion battery cell used for the high capacity and power storage application. A lumped model is used to simulate the thermal behavior in the battery and to reproduce the external thermal exchanges. Methodology is presented here to identify the thermal parameters without need to open the cell. The model which is presented here has been validated with a relative error below two percent on the temperature profile.
The calmodulin‐dependent protein phosphatase catalytic subunit (calcineurin A) is an essential gene in Aspergillus nidulans.

The gene encoding the homologue of the catalytic subunit of the Ca2+/calmodulin‐regulated protein phosphatase 2B (calcineurin A) has been isolated from Aspergillus nidulans. This gene, cnaA+, is essential in this fungal system. Analysis of growth‐arrested cells following gene disruption by homologous recombination reveals that they are blocked early in the cell cycle. The cnaA+ gene encodes a 2.5 kb mRNA and the deduced protein sequence is highly homologous to the calcineurin A subunit of other species. The mRNA varies in a cell cycle‐dependent manner with maximal levels found early in G1 and considerably before the G1/S boundary. As calmodulin is also essential for A. nidulans cell cycle progression and levels rise before the G1/S boundary, our data suggest that calcineurin may represent a primary target for calmodulin at this cell cycle transition point.
Multi hypothesis Kalman Filter for indoor pedestrian navigation based on topological maps

Location-Based Services (LBS) require the knowledge of a user's position for manifold purposes in indoor and outdoor environments. For those applications several methods can be used, such as a Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) or a wireless localization system. In this paper a topological map is used to implement a indoor localization system for smartphone users. Benefit of this kind of map is that the position is reduced to one dimension, which simplifies the localization process in a considerable way. The map consists of vertices, which could be important points such as crossings or a ending point of a path, and edges, which represent ways between the vertices. The localization process utilizes different sensors of the smartphone, such as the accelerometer, the pressure sensor, Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) and the integrated rotation sensor. To combine all of these information an Extended Kalman Filter (EKF) is introduced. To overcome crucial sensor information and thus to increase the robustness of the localization a multi hypotheses approach is implemented. Here different possible user positions on the topological map are instantiated and weighted. The implemented Kalman Filter is evaluated in several experiments which are recorded in an office building.
New Arrival Students: Mitigating Factors on the Culture of the Computing Learning Environment

Over the past decade Australian and New Zealand educational institutions have experienced a rapid increase in the numbers of "New Arrivals" - immigrant and international students who leave their home country and study abroad. Studies have found that many of these students encounter problems adjusting to living and studying in their host country as well as experiencing difficulties in their learning environment. A significant number of New Arrival students enrol in computing programmes and have traditionally formed a minority subgroup in their learning milieu. Females are another minority subgroup in computing and research shows that the culture of the computing learning environment has been influential in many of them feeling alienated and contributing to the disproportionate female representation and retention in tertiary computing programmes compared with males. At the same time that New Arrival students are coping with living and studying in a new culture, they will also face adjustment to the computing culture. What are their perceptions of their learning climate? This paper reports results of semi-structured interviews that examine how New Arrival tertiary students studying first-year programming perceive their computing learning environment. The study was conducted at three tertiary institutions in Wellington. It was found that the majority of students perceived their learning milieu positively. They were satisfied with the personalised teacher-student relationship and made favourable comparisons of their New Zealand learning milieu with that which they had experienced in their home countries. The maturity and experience of these students, together with the context within which computing was taught, appeared to be positive mitigating factors on the culture of the computing learning environment. However for the few younger students who did not enjoy the same personalisation and had difficulties with the English language and culture, there are implications for educators and administrative staff of institutions interested in providing a positive learning experience for New Arrivals.
Long-Term Behavioral Recovery in Parkinsonian Rats by an HSV Vector Expressing Tyrosine Hydroxylase

One therapeutic approach to treating Parkinson's disease is to convert endogenous striatal cells into levo-3,4-dihydroxyphenylalanine (L-dopa)-producing cells. A defective herpes simplex virus type 1 vector expressing human tyrosine hydroxylase was delivered into the partially denervated striatum of 6-hydroxydopamine-lesioned rats, used as a model of Parkinson's disease. Efficient behavioral and biochemical recovery was maintained for 1 year after gene transfer. Biochemical recovery included increases in both striatal tyrosine hydroxylase enzyme activity and in extracellular dopamine concentrations. Persistence of human tyrosine hydroxylase was revealed by expression of RNA and immunoreactivity.
"Combinatorial Strategy": A Highly Efficient Method for Cloning Different Vectors with Various Clone Sites

In this study, we generalized the “Combinatorial Strategy” for efficient cloning of different vectors with various clone sites. 1) Using originally existed clone sites from circular plasmids to prepare the inserts, if no appropriate sites available, performing SDM to create compatible sites, could achieve maximal correct digestion of the inserts. 2) Different vectors were digested with various restriction endonucleases, and then dephosphorylated after digestion. 3) Top10 competent cells were used for transformation to increase the transformant colonies. Our results showed that, when either blunt-sites or Xba I site was adopted for ligation, the percentages of positive clones were about 50%. Whereas, when different sites, including one blunt and another Pst I sites, Not I and Xho I sites, were used, the percentages of positive clones were nearly 100%. With this strategy, most vectors could be successfully cloned through “one ligation, one transformation, three to five minipreps”.
Neutralizing Antibodies Do Not Mediate Suppression of Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 1 in Elite Suppressors or Selection of Plasma Virus Variants in Patients on Highly Active Antiretroviral Therapy

ABSTRACT Neutralizing antibodies (NAb) against autologous virus can reach high titers in human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1)-infected patients with progressive disease. Less is known about the role of NAb in HIV-1-infected patients with viral loads of <50 copies/ml of plasma, including patients on effective highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) and elite suppressors, who control HIV-1 replication without antiretroviral therapy. In this study, we analyzed full-length env sequences from plasma viruses and proviruses in resting CD4+ T cells of HAART-treated patients, elite suppressors, and untreated HIV-1-infected patients with progressive disease. For each patient group, we assessed plasma virus neutralization by autologous, contemporaneous plasma. The degree of env diversity, the number of N-linked glycosylation sites, and the lengths of variable loops were all lower in elite suppressors than in HAART-treated and untreated viremic patients. Both elite suppressors and HAART-treated patients had lower titers of NAb against HIV-1 lab strains than those of untreated viremic patients. Surprisingly, titers of NAb against autologous, contemporaneous plasma viruses were similarly low in chronic progressors, elite suppressors, and HAART-treated patients. In elite suppressors and HAART-treated patients, titers of NAb against autologous plasma viruses also did not differ significantly from titers against autologous proviruses from resting CD4+ T cells. These results suggest that high-titer NAb are not required for maintenance of viral suppression in elite suppressors and that NAb do not select plasma virus variants in most HAART-treated patients. Both drug-mediated and natural suppression of HIV-1 replication to levels below 50 copies/ml may limit the stimulation and maintenance of effective NAb responses.
Precision length measurement using an all-digital phasemeter for heterodyne laser interferometry

We report on an all-digital radio-frequency phasemeter for application in precision length measurements using heterodyne laser interferometry [1]. Our phasemeter has a phase sensitivity of 200 nrad/√Hz at signal frequencies of 0.2 Hz and above. We demonstrate the use of our phasemeter in an optical heterodyne interferometric configuration, using an active Sagnac interferometer test-bed. In our low-noise Sagnac test-bed, we demonstrate more than 70 dB of laser frequency noise suppression to achieve an optical phase sensitivity of 5 μrad/√Hz, and a corresponding displacement sensitivity of 0.5 pm/√Hz at signal frequencies above 10 Hz. In addition, our phasemeter has the ability to follow full fringe signals accurately at 100 Hz and to track large signal excursions in excess of 105 fringes without cycle slipping. Finally, we measure a cyclic error of ≤ 1 pm/√Hz.
KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT ROLE IN MOTIVATING EMPLOYEES THROUGH SUPERVISORY CONTROL AND PERCEIVED ORGANIZATIONAL SUPPORT AND ITS IMPACT ON KNOWLEDGE SHARING IN RED CRESCENT SOCIETY OF GUILAN PROVINCE

According to economic theory and the social sciences, using supervisory control and perceived organizational support is one of the most valuable experiences and learning that affect effort and frequency of employee involvement to organizational useful knowledge sharing as motivational factors. The main objective of this study is knowledge management role in motivating employees through supervisory control and perceived organizational support and its impact on knowledge sharing in Guilan Province Red Crescent Society (Iran). Data collecting tools derived from questionnaires King and et al (2008) that among the 145 employees through convenience non-probability sampling is distributed and collected. Research method is descriptive and applied. Multiple regression test is used for data analysis. The findings indicate that supervisory control has a significant impact ratio of perceived organizational support on sharing effort and sharing frequency in useful knowledge sharing of organization. These results to justify extrinsic motivation based on economic theories in knowledge management system is a good support and has been less support than perceived organizational support compared to our belief that we have it.
Ground-state and finite-temperature signatures of quantum phase transitions in the half-filled Hubbard model on a honeycomb lattice

We investigate ground state and finite temperature properties of the half-filled Hubbard model on a honeycomb lattice using quantum Monte Carlo and series expansion techniques. Unlike the square lattice, for which magnetic order exists at $T=0$ for any nonzero $U$, the honeycomb lattice is known to have a semimetal phase at small $U$ and an antiferromagnetic one at large $U$. We investigate the phase transition at $T=0$ by studying the magnetic structure factor and compressibility using quantum Monte Carlo simulations and by calculating the sublattice magnetization, uniform susceptibility, spinwave, and single hole dispersion using series expansions around the ordered phase. Our results are consistent with a single continuous transition at ${U}_{c}∕t$ in the range 4\char21{}5. Finite-temperature signatures of this phase transition are seen in the behavior of the specific heat, $C(T)$, which changes from a two-peaked structure for $Ug{U}_{c}$ to a one-peaked structure for $Ul{U}_{c}$. Furthermore, the $U$ dependence of the low temperature coefficient of $C(T)$ exhibits an anomaly at $U\ensuremath{\approx}{U}_{c}$.
FK 506 salvage of renal allografts with ongoing rejection failing cyclosporine immunosuppression.

FK 506 is an experimental immunosuppressive drug that has been used with encouraging results as primary therapy in early clinical trials of renal transplantation.1,2 In an early randomized trial comparing FK 506 and cyclosporine (CyA)-based immunosuppression, the major advantage of FK 506 appeared to be the ability to taper steroids, permitting FK 506 monotherapy, with no additional risk of rejection episodes in 60% of patients.2 This is usually not possible with CyA-based immunosuppression because of both increased risk of rejection and nephrotoxicity.3 The superior results observed with FK 506 may be due in part to its greater immunosuppressive potency compared to Cy A.4 These observations led us to evaluate FK 506 as a salvage agent to “rescue” renal allografts failing CyA-based therapy. We previously reported that FK 506 is unlikely to salvage renal allografts with chronic rejection or CyA toxicity.5 However, conversion from CyA to FK 506 in failing grafts with ongoing acute rejection appeared to be much more promising, with graft salvage in 17 of 24 (71%) such cases.5 We report herein our expanded experience with FK 506 conversion as “rescue” therapy for renal allografts with ongoing rejection failing CyA therapy.