Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Glycoxidated ferritin induces the release of microparticles positive for Toll-like receptors derived from peripheral blood CD14+ cells

Both increased serum ferritin levels and Toll-like receptor (TLR) activation show independent association with the inflammatory processes. During inflammation, cell activation and apoptosis are accompanied by the release of membrane-derived microparticles (MPs), which are considered to be mediators of intercellular communication as they induce specific responses in target cells. The aim of this study was to determine whether glycated and glycoxidated ferritin induce in vitro release TLR microparticles from CD14+ peripheral blood mononuclear cells. Peripheral blood mononuclear cells were stimulated with glycated, glycoxidated and native ferritin. The release of microparticles from CD14+ cells, the presence of TLR2+ and TLR4+ on the microparticles surface and the presence of interleukins-6 and -8 (IL-6 and IL-8) inside the microparticles after stimulation were determined by flow cytometry. The role of nuclear factor κB (NF-κB) was evaluated by pretreatment of the cells with the Bay 11-7085 inhibitor. Glycated and glycoxidated ferritin induced the release of microparticles from CD14+ cells, the majority of which expressed TLR2+ and TLR4+ on their surface and contained IL-6 and IL-8. These effects were dependent on NF-κB activation. Our findings show that glycated and glycoxidated ferritin might be involved in the release of microparticles and stimulation of inflammatory responses. https://doi.org/10.2298/ABS160614106L Received: June 14, 2016; Revised: August 20, 2016; Accepted: August 22, 2016; Published online: October 31, 2016 How to cite: Lopez-Soto LF, Galvan-Moroyoqui JM, Martinez-Soto JM, Almada-Balderrama M, Rosales-Ruiz AP, Alvarez-Hernandez G, Camacho Villa AY, Bolado Martinez E, Soto-Guzman JA, Candia-Plata MDC. Glycoxidated ferritin induces the release of microparticles positive for toll-like receptors derived from peripheral blood CD14+ cells. Arch Biol Sci. 2017;69(3):383-90.
Competition for resources is ameliorated by niche differentiation between Solidago virgaurea life-history stages in the Arctic

Aims competition has been shown to modify the niche breadth of coexisting species, but within-species interactions have received little attention. Establishing small juvenile individuals and established, larger, sexually reproducing adult individuals represent two life-history stages within species. We investigated the nitrogen and carbon resource use of adult and juvenile individuals and similarity of symbiotic fungal community composition in these two plant life stages. We used the plant Solidago virgaurea growing in a simplified system in the low Arctic as model species. Methods Isotopic signatures (foliar δ15N and foliar δ13c) were analysed to characterize nitrogen acquisition and water-use efficiency of the plants. Symbiotic root fungal community composition was estimated by cloning and sequencing small subunit ribosomal RNA gene. Important Findings The isotopic signatures differed significantly between the life stages, indicating that the establishing juvenile cohort used relatively more amino acids or gained N through mycorrhizal symbiosis in comparison to the established adult plants. Symbiotic fungal communities did not differ between the two plant cohorts suggesting a possibility that the plants shared the same mycorrhizal network. We conclude that competition-mediated differences in plant resource use may create niche differentiation between the two life-history stages and enable them to coexist.
Stochastic precession of the polarization in a polariton laser

Microcavity polaritons in the lasing regime undergo a spontaneous symmetry-breaking transition resulting in coherent emission with a well-defined polarization. The order parameter is thus a vector describing both the laser global phase and its polarization. Using an ultrafast single-shot detection technique, we show that polariton lasing in GaAs-based microcavities presents a high degree of second-order coherence [g(2)(τ=0)≈1] above threshold, and that the initial polarization is stochastic, taking any possible direction in the Poincare sphere (linear, elliptical, or circular). Once the polarization direction is established, subsequent oscillations of the emission probability witness the presence of an intrinsic polarization splitting. These results show the intricate polarization dynamics in the onset of polariton lasers.
Lichens of wooden barns and Pinus sylvestris snags in Dalarna, Sweden

In Sweden, old wooden barns often host a diverse and threatened lichen flora including eight red-listed species, but this kind of barn has declined over the past 100 years. The barns have traditionally been made out of Pinus sylvestris, and it could be hypothesized that pine snags are the natural habitat for many lichens occurring on anthropogenic wood. We compared the lichen flora on old wooden barns in the village of Gardsjo, Dalarna with that on snags of P. sylvestris. At a level, both species richness and lichen abundance were highest on snags, and for both substrates the north aspects had more species and higher abundance than E, S and W aspects. Overall species richness was similar on the substrates, with a slight tendency for higher g-level diversity on barns. NMS ordination showed clear compositional differences between barns and snags, and also indicated a more heterogeneous vegetation on barns. Implications for conservation measures are discussed.
Isolation and Identification of Plant Growth-Promoting Rhizobacteria (PGPR) from the Rhizosphere of Sugarcane in Saline and Non-Saline Soil

Salinity challenge is one of the major problems that reduce productivity of fertile lands. Salinity affects not only plant production but also the biodiversity (Fernandez et al., 2010). High levels of salinity (more than 4 dS/m) are created usually due to salts in irrigation water and fertilizers, low rainfall, high temperature, inappropriate management practices and long-term drop irrigation (Yao et al., 2010). In Iran over 32 million hectares of soils are affected by salinity that covers nearly 30 percent of the entire country (34 million hectares) and 55% of arable lands (Paziraand Homaee, 2010). Sugarcane culture in Khuzestan has a significant role in providing sugar. Nowadays, this industry developed in the region and produces more than half of the country's sugar. Salinity of soil under sugarcane cultivation due International Journal of Current Microbiology and Applied Sciences ISSN: 2319-7706 Volume 5 Number 10 (2016) pp. 1072-1083 Journal homepage: http://www.ijcmas. com
Electrical properties of ZnO:Al thin films fabricated by pulsed laser deposition method

The possibility of the high quality AZO thin films fabrication by the PLD method using the second harmonic of the Q-switched YAG:Nd3+ laser is demonstrated. The investigations of dependence of the AZO thin films properties on the PLD conditions (concentration of Al in the target, buffer gas pressure) have been conducted. The optimum conditions of the ZnO:Al thin films deposition have been defined.
Toward a new generation of land use transport interaction models

: Land use transport interaction (LUTI) models are often developed to model the interaction between the land use and transport systems for relatively large-scale spatial developments, like new residential or office areas, new main roads, or railway lines. In this paper I argue that we need a next generation of LUTI models that model trends such as peak car; decline in population, shops, services, etc.; impact of information and communications technology (ICT) on activity patterns and travel; and cycling policies. The current generation of LUTI models cannot adequately answer the policy questions raised by these trends. However, a major problem is that the future of these trends is uncertain, and we lack empirical research into the dynamics between these trends and their wider impact on land use and transport systems. Nevertheless, LUTI models can, by utilizing what-if calculations, help explore future trends and their implications. Other challenges for LUTI models include the calculation of a wider set of accessibility indicators, the inclusion of interactions between key actors in the transport and land-use system—serious gaming may prove a useful way to explore these interactions—and the development of dynamic visualizations.
A Suitable Initialization Procedure for Speeding a Neural Network Job-Shop Scheduling

Artificial neural network models have been successfully applied to solve a job-shop scheduling problem (JSSP) known as a Nonpolynomial (NP-complete) constraint satisfaction problem. Our main contribution is an improvement of the algorithm proposed in the literature. It consists in using a procedure optimizing the initial value of the starting time. The aim is to speed a Hopfield Neural Network (HNN) and therefore reduce the number of searching cycles. This new heuristic provides several advantages; mainly to improve the searching speed of an optimal or near optimal solution of a deterministic JSSP using HNN and reduce the make span. Simulation results of the proposed method have been performed on various benchmarks and for the simulation results the proposed heuristic method is used , and this method is efficient with respect to the resolution speed, quality of the solution, and the reduction of the computation time.
Stock Selection Skills of Indian Mutual Fund Managers during 2000-2012

Mutual funds work on the basis of two maxims maximization of returns and diversification of risk, the attainment of which requires healthy operational practices and efficient investment management. Now, systematic investment management involves a wide variety of activities among which selectivity plays the pivotal role in the return generation process. This study is an attempt to evaluate the investment management of Indian mutual funds in terms of selectivity skills of fund managers during May 31, 2000 to March 31, 2012. The results pertaining to the selectivity skills of fund managers, as found in the study, has revealed that although majority of the schemes have shown positive alpha they are not statistically significant. Only some of the fund managers (around twenty five percent) possess superior selectivity skills based on both unconditional and conditional Jensen model. Conditioning on public information however improves the coefficient of determination. JEL classification: G11; G23
THE COS-HALOS SURVEY: RATIONALE, DESIGN, AND A CENSUS OF CIRCUMGALACTIC NEUTRAL HYDROGEN

We present the design and methods of the COS-Halos survey, a systematic investigation of the gaseous halos of 44 z = 0.15–0.35 galaxies using background QSOs observed with the Cosmic Origins Spectrograph aboard the Hubble Space Telescope. This survey has yielded 39 spectra of zem ≃ 0.5 QSOs with S/N ∼10–15 per resolution element. The QSO sightlines pass within 150 physical kpc of the galaxies, which span early and late types over stellar mass log M*/M☉ = 9.5–11.5. We find that the circumgalactic medium exhibits strong H i, averaging ≃ 1 Å in Lyα equivalent width out to 150 kpc, with 100% covering fraction for star-forming galaxies and 75% covering for passive galaxies. We find good agreement in column densities between this survey and previous studies over similar range of impact parameter. There is weak evidence for a difference between early- and late-type galaxies in the strength and distribution of H i. Kinematics indicate that the detected material is bound to the host galaxy, such that ≳ 90% of the detected column density is confined within ±200 km s−1 of the galaxies. This material generally exists well below the halo virial temperatures at T ≲ 105 K. We evaluate a number of possible origin scenarios for the detected material, and in the end favor a simple model in which the bulk of the detected H i arises in a bound, cool, low-density photoionized diffuse medium that is generic to all L* galaxies and may harbor a total gaseous mass comparable to galactic stellar masses.
The European Consumer: United in Diversity?

The ongoing unification which takes place on the European political scene, along with recentadvances in consumer mobility and communication technology, raises the question whether theEuropean Union can be treated as a single market to fully exploit the potential synergy effectsfrom pan-European marketing strategies. Previous research, which mostly used domain-specificsegmentation bases, has resulted in mixed conclusions. In this paper, a more generalsegmentation base is adopted, as we consider the homogeneity in the European countries’Consumer Confidence Indicators. Moreover, rather than analyzing more traditional staticsimilarity measures, we adopt the concepts of dynamic correlation and cohesion betweencountries. The short-run fluctuations in consumer confidence are found to be largely countryspecific. However, a myopic focus on these fluctuations may inspire management to adopt multicountrystrategies, foregoing the potential longer-run benefits from more standardized marketingstrategies. Indeed, the Consumer Confidence Indicators become much more homogeneous asthe planning horizon is extended. However, this homogeneity is found to remain inversely relatedto the cultural, economic and geographic distances among the various Member States. Hence,pan-regional rather pan-European strategies are called for.
Has the introduction of S&P 500 ETF options led to improvements in price discovery of SPDRs?

This study sets out to investigate trading in Standard and Poor's Depository Receipt Trust Series I (SPDR) options and the impact on the price-discovery process of SPDRs. The empirical results reveal a significant rise in liquidity within the SPDR market following the introduction of SPDR options. Furthermore, the results also show that the introduction of SPDR options has led to a significant improvement in the information share of SPDRs, and that the contribution of SPDRs to price discovery has become very close to that of E-mini index futures. These findings imply that developments in the derivatives market can lead to improvements in market quality, including the level of liquidity and price discovery of the underlying securities. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Jrl Fut Mark 32:683–711, 2012
Trajectory of Earnings Growth Influences Cost of Equity Capital, and Optimal Time to Sell

Living individuals and populations of individuals follow an S-shaped growth curve (also known as logistic) from birth to death. A long-term perspective on business firms suggests that they are not exempt from the pattern of a slow growth phase, followed by one of linear to expo-nential growth, and finally a steady state or growth decline phase. Growth depends on a number of things. Two that are important to the trajectory of growth are the size of the market for the firm’s products and the saturation level already reached by its products. New or markedly improved products may, in effect, reset the growth pattern and begin the trajectory once again. That is analo-gous to a star baseball player continuing to hit 400 or better year after year. This paper models the effects and implications of logistic growth by corporation earnings, and it suggests there is an optimal time for investors to bail out of a particular company’s shares. This also has implications for estimating the firm’s cost of capital. In contrast to the enduring and popular dividend capitalization model, the analysis presented here is applicable to firms that do not pay dividends. Microsoft provides focus to demonstrate application of the theory developed in the paper on a widely held and followed company.
The Analysis of the Van-Ercis Earthquake, October 23, 2011 Turkey, for the Transportation Systems in the Region

This paper investigates the effect of the Van-Ercis, Turkey, (Mw: 7.2)earthquake occurring on 23rd of October, 2011 on the transportation networks in the region. The basic incentivefor this research is to conceptualise the reliability and performance of the networks after the earthquake through the operational and topological analysis of the system. The demand and composition of the traffic along with the behaviour of the pedestrians were taken into account to evaluate the performance of the networks. In addition, the general structure of the cities and towns, as far as planning is concerned, is also paid attention and regarded as one of the main elements for the appraisal. The outcomes obtained are thought very important to be guidance for the expected Istanbul earthquake in the near future.
Co-training based algorithm for gender detection from emotional speech

Automatic recognition of gender from spoken data is an important prerequisite for many practical applications. In this paper we consider the problem of automatic gender recognition from emotional speech. Analyzing emotional speech adds to the complexity of the problem due to the variability of the speech signal which is driven by the speakers’ emotional state. The ever-present and dominating bottleneck in automatic analysis of spoken language is the scarcity of labeled data. Here we investigate the possibility of applying a co-training style algorithm in order to reduce the human effort needed for data labeling. We apply several co-training settings: random split of features, natural split of features, majority vote of several co-training classifiers and Random Split Statistic Algorithm (RSSalg) we have developed earlier in order to boost cotraining performance and enable its application on singleview datasets. We test the performance of the competing settings on IEMOCAP, a large, publicly available emotional speech database. In order to test the robustness of the compared method, in the conducted experiments we vary the amount of available labeled data. In our experiments a random feature split yielded a better performance of cotraining than the feature split that can be considered as natural. The best performing settings proved to be the majority vote of co-training classifiers and RSSalg. These settings also proved to be the most robust ones considering the amount of the available labeled data.
An Examination of Inverse Demand Models: An Application to the U. S. Crawfish Industry

This study analyzes quantity impacts of imported crawfish tailmeat on Louisiana crawfish tailmeat prices, and demonstrates the statistical validity and proper interpretation of cross substitution within inverse demand systems. Among five inverse demand systems, the Differential Inverse National Bureau of Research (DINBR) model shows no violation of econometric assumptions for the data analyzed. By using Allais coefficients proposed by Barten and Bettendorf (1989), we show substitutability among the five fish species.
Modelling the role of credit rating agencies - Do they spark off a virtuous circle?

In this paper, we propose a model of credit rating agencies using the global games framework to incorporate information and coordination problems. We introduce a refined utility function of a credit rating agency that, additional to reputation maximization, also embeds aspects of competition and feedback effects of the rating on the rated firms. Apart from hinting at explanations for several hypotheses with regard to agencies' optimal rating assessments, our model suggests that the existence of rating agencies may decrease the incidence of multiple equilibria. If investors have discretionary power over the precision of their private information, we can prove that public rating announcements and private information collection are complements rather than substitutes in order to secure uniqueness of equilibrium. In this respect, rating agencies may spark off a virtuous circle that increases the efficiency of the market outcome.
Applying an extended E-S-Qual scale to assess the effects of e-service quality on online loyalty with customer satisfaction and perceived value as mediators

The newly developed E-S-Qual scale was criticized by lacks of iterms referring to hedonic service elements. In order to establish a comprehensive and effective service quality scale in an online loyalty model, this study incorporated both utilitarian and hedonic e-service quality elements in the model. Hence, this study adds hedonic dimension to E-S-Qual scale to investigate e-service quality effect on e-loyalty. With an empirical data set including 234 valid cases collected on online survey, the proposed model was examined and used to test the effects of service quality on loyalty with customer satisfaction and perceived value as mediators. Our findings reveal that service quality not only directly affects loyalty, but also indirectly affects loyalty through customer satisfaction and perceived value. In addition, perceived value only has indirect effect on online loyalty.
Liczna symetryczna tłuszczakowatość (choroba Madelunga) — opis przypadku i przegląd piśmiennictwa

Multiple Symmetrical Lipomatosis (MSL), known also as Madelung’s disease or Launois-Bensaude syndrome, is a sporadically occurring metabolic disease of unknown etiology, encountered mainly in middleaged, chronically alcohol-abusing males. Non-encapsulated fatty masses developing symmetrically in the region of the head, the neck, the shoulders, the arms, the back and the chest contribute to the characteristic pseudoathletic body appearance, often wrongly suggesting simple obesity. Apart from the appearance and aesthetic considerations, it is difficulties in swallowing and breathing as well as head and neck motion that constitute the main complaints deciding on the need for hospitalisation and treatment. Surgical debulking of fat masses or liposuction in the case of small lesions seem to be the only, though not fully effective, method of treatment in Madelung’s disease. The recurrence of the disease is, however, frequent, irrespective of the treatment applied. We believe that the diagnostics and treatment related problems encountered in Madelung’s disease presented here on the basis of the case we describe will contribute to better knowledge of the principles of management and clinical problems to be met in patients in this sporadically occurring and not yet fully recognised disease.
Protecting cookies against cross-site scripting attacks using cryptography

XSS attacks are the number one attacks in the Web applications. Web applications are becoming the dominant way to provide access to online services. In this paper however we will deal with protecting some resources such as cookies using cryptography. Our research proposes a method to confute attackers in using stolen cookies by encrypting the data that will be stored in the cookie. We assume that users profile can be stored in a cookie, so we should encrypt such data with a dynamic key driving from some dynamic inputs. Each time user logging in web site a new key will be generated and will be stored in the data base. Also we suppose that the data base is protecting by server side mechanism and we will only deal with client side protecting.